Am I the only one out there who is really annoyed by plots? My very first actual RPG, after I realized RPing on Neopet boards is not RPing, was plot-less, nor did anyone play any canons save for the professors. And I totally loved it because of the freedom of it all. Once that RPG closed down, I was lost. I couldn't find another one like it.

I don't mind a simple plot but the in-depth ones with like, tons of stupid details annoy me. I don't like plots that involve the characters of the board either, actually. Just a simple one, maybe, that explains what is going on in the backdrop is what I prefer.

Does anyone agree? Or even partially?

I disagree. In my opinion, it's funnier when there is a "final" goal. I can be content with plot-free games, but I prefer the ones with a (good) plot.

I could go either or. But I prefer no real actual plot it does give you a lot of freedom to do your own and expand.

im with you phoenix. i like a plot when it gives enough details like when it is set, where and the general attitudes/recent happenings (like Dumbledore's dead, or Xavier's dead) and thats it. no other plot, nothing that makes member do this and that, just letting members roleplay whatever the heck they want and if they want to set up their own plots. when its something like hogwarts i also like things like balls and such to be organised, but they are more events than plots.

^_^

I very much agree with you.

Personally, I can't even really understand how they work. I see these boards with a bunch of members and posts, and I see all this information about canons and events and a timeline and I just...I don't get it. I don't know how they do it. How do you coordinate all those characters and all the RPing? It seems to me like a hassle, and that it would be pretty restricting.

My first RPing, though, was actually quite story driven, rather than character driven. And I still enjoy RPing in the "discussion board" style, I'll call it - where a person starts a thread that's one story, with a start and an end (and typically pre-established events in between, even), and that thread is just a stand alone little story. But while I enjoy it, I don't really know if it can be called "roleplaying." It's more like group storytelling. I like it, but it's not RPing to me.

Real RPing for me must be completely character driven, because "playing a role" is what it's all about. It's not writing a story from a certain point of view, because you're supposed to be your character, not just writing about them. Really, there should be way more detail and simpler events in RPing than there would be if you were just writing a story about your character, because your focus isn't going to be on the important events to the story - every event is pretty important when you're just living (while in the present...you look back on things differently, of course, or you see what is to come differently, obviously).

You can't let the plot drive your character, or you just become another omniscient narrator, and that's not what you're supposed to be. At least, in my insignificant opinion.

Anyway...sorry about the side rant.....

I really dislike canons, as well. I didn't even know "canons" could exist outside of a based-on RP. I mean...why? If there is a plot, keep it basic so that all of the characters have an as equally as possible place in it. But setting up characters as already important, though I certainly see the purpose behind them when it comes to storytelling, is molding characters out of a plot. And that's not the idea!

Right. Anyway...I have a real respect, though, for people who can keep track of all the plot stuff for a plot driven RP...I think I'd get too many headaches to want to RP...

I think the plots aren't too bad unless they're really complex and really hard to get into once its already started up.

Complex plots are dangerous ground because interest can be lost and people demand you take more time with them - with players coming to rely on the plot movements to keep things going, that makes things tricky. They require people to carry them out that can give over a lot of time to them, and not everyone can.

I like freedom. Complete freedom where the admins are as down there mixing it up plot-wise as everyone else. In my experience this inspired players to do more with their characters, to spread their wings and really interact with one another because they weren't waiting on staff to do things for them anymore.

However, I do like throwing people a bone - a set up to spark their ideas and give staff the chance to do something crazy maybe, with an anonymous account.

In Harry Potter RPGs, random events that the admins set up are always fun. In the few RPGs I've been an admin of, I've done that.

I completely agree with you. When the plot drives the character, it also ruins the character. I could never do that; I spend long, tiring hours developing my characters. XD

Ah, canons. I hate canons as well. I don't get it either. I never join any RPGs like that. It just doesn't make sense. Canons in a Harry Potter RPG make sense, but I still don't like them. Especially when whoever is RPing them, ruins the character. I've often seen Tonks lose her spark, Ginny lose her audacity, and Ron lose his fierceness. It just doesn't.. work.

I agree, which is exactly why the RPG I'm currently working on has no plot but I do have some other fun things planned.

That's always fun and it works too! Stuff like that gets members to actually RP! A friend had suggested that in one of my old RPGs and it worked really, really well. Our plot, on the other hand, sucked; no one liked it.

In the board I'm currently working on, the plot exists souly to set the scene and explain the current situation in the world around player-created characters. As far as I'm concerned, going that far is fairly essential, becuase it means a certain amount of believable conformity among threads.

I'm also offering a selection of canons, but neither myself nor my co-admin intend to play any of them, and they are of such a nature that they can go unfilled without causing problems to subsequent original character threads. They are there for people who wish to play them.

For everyone else, I intend to provide both social class and employment oppertunities, as well as different races (it is a fantasy board of sorts) so that players can mix and match to create their personal alter-ego that still fits within the bounderies of the setting of the board. For example, if one did not wish to play the canon Captain of the Guard, they may create their own character with the position of trainee or constable. So long as they are able to provide a background to their employment, the possibilities are endless, with the oppertunity to take on literally any role the admin deem fitting for the setting.

I knew that's how I'd like to play a board, and I hope when it opens it will strike a happy medium between creativity and.... whatever the opposite is. =)

I could go either way, depending on the concept and the players of the board itself. The only problem I see with freeform plots is that they damper out pretty quickly. With a more structured plot, you can spice things up with a new movement. Yeah it takes a lot more work than a freeform plot, but it's kinda more satisfying - like you are actually working towards a endproduct and not just spending time rping.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.
I'm just a overly productive person or something.