ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED

[moon]

not taking into consideration that RPs can potentially be read by anyone, as the purpose of the RP pretty much becomes exclusive for its own players. The endless bombardment of memes exclusively generated by the players or the lack of establishing a coherent lore which can only be obtained when directly asking GMs can give off a shaky first impression to even those who might want to join. Basically, it just feels like there's no payoff from ever joining and contributing to a project when the product is mostly just intended to please its own players and thus open discussions are rarely if ever promoted, and I feel like this is where most of Malignant's frustration is stemming from.

But RPing is for the players. We join a game, a collaborative story where we control a single (or a few) characters each, and develop them through plot and setting and each other. If we want to write for the public, we can write fiction (or collaborative stories with focus on being coherent and well read from the outside) and put it elsewhere. It seems like you (or Malignant?) want the RPT to be something it hasn't tried to be so far.

While it's true that I contributed to discussions within the OOC for Cornered on The Market despite the fact that I was never part of the IC, I do want to state that I was an unusual case; during that time I was still new and thus I was trying to find a reason to remain on the site, so I regularly attended the thread and actively conversed with Cornered's GM and its players. But I did find Cornered's IC much more easier to read through consistently as context was integrated into the narrative thus there was no real requirement on having to go through the OOC -- GRANTED, this RP relied on a much simpler setting so there was more leeway. Still, I feel as though this was a rather important factor that prompted me to engage with the players, even if it was initially just to present tribute for their work as a humble fan. I shouldn't, and probably can't, advocate for all newcomers here and I may be just projecting myself onto them. Still, I do think Malignant's point on keeping things neutral and averting a heavy reliance on Discord chats is something to take into serious consideration, as that extra accessibility could always draw in new members who may have wonderful ideas but simply struggle fitting into our community as a whole due to shyness that I'm sure most of us can empathize with.

I think that in the past, posting in RPs (even OOCs) you hadn't joined or had no intention of joining was not allowed. Or at least should be brief, so that you don't disturb the discussion among the players and GM. Nowadays, that's clearly changed. Perhaps it can be a good thing, seeing it the way you put it. I don't think I've told anybody off for posting in other OOC threads without joining haha - as long as they're contributing or fangirling and not spamming, harassing or interrupting the RP business, there's little point in not allowing people to post around and get inspired, I suppose.

I'm saying because a channel is hidden from the main server, there's a more intimate relief in that channel because it's just that rp group, from the standpoint of those only in the theater's gen-chat.

Yep, pretty much! In the past, every RP and their aunt made private Skype groups for their RPs. Sometimes people got backtalked and shit. We tried to gather as many "private" RP IM chats as we could on one "official" server instead, for better atmosphere and accessibility. Mods (and server helpers) can see all channels.

Letting the participants of a RP have their channel be private isn't strange at all imo; many RP gangs become close knit friends and really enjoy having a little spot of their own to chit-chat and develop their characters and world in without outside interference. This is one of the great things about the RP community here, from my experience. Certainly nothing bad or sad. If you want in on a particular RPs fun fam gang, then join the RP. All we've done is try to gather them on one server instead of letting them inevitably become truly private.

 

[Afterglow Ampharos]

But RPing is for the players. If we want to write for the public, we can write fiction (or collaborative stories with focus on being coherent and well read from the outside) and put it elsewhere.

Yeah I think that's the biggest problem with this issue. At the outset, the userbase is going to be divided into two groups: one who thinks RPs are only for those within the adventure to read, and one group who thinks it's also for others to enjoy reading from the outside.

And if we can't agree on that basic premise, it's hard to debate the topic.