RPG-ing: 'Why does it feel like a task?'

RPG-ing: ‘Why does it feel like a task?’

So, a short summary of what has been mentioned so far by people (ok, I lied, turned out longer than I thought, you people complain too much :P):

• People drop out of rpg’s too quickly.
• Some people don’t like the new structured feel of rpg’s while others disagree and find it to be better.
• People are only excited for new ideas at first, but once that dies down people lose interest and it starts feeling like a task.
• I feel pressured into writing, this can be because of the pace of the rpg or the large posts other people write.
• It’s too much of a popularity contest.
• I don’t know what or how I should write it to fit into the story.
• People aren’t willing to change things themselves and depend on others to do it for them.
• The rpg-community is much larger than what it used to be so it’s difficult to make your mark on a rpg.
• I feel my post is simply ignored in the rpg and that people don’t even read it.
• Big canon rpg’s go way too fast and there’s simply too much to read for me to keep up with.
• People are left out of the loop so they don’t know what to do in a rpg so just do their own thing.
• I have a lack of time to write posts that I feel are up to the standard nowadays (large posts, elaborate descriptions etc).
• People will only flock to a new rpg if there’s an established rpg-er taking part in it.
• People ‘whine’ about new rpg’s being too similar to rpg’s that have already been done.
• (New) rpg-ers are quickly shunned out of rpg’s if they make a mistake. Instead of explaining what they did wrong and how to improve.
• You have to be on a team to do anything noteworthy, if you’re solo you just wander around aimlessly.
• Teams do rpg’s that affect the whole vine but keep it to themselves, this is fine, but eliminates the welcoming factor the vine is known for.
• People are forming cliques and not branching out.
• Rpg’s are too slow, it takes weeks/months before the story actually gets going. Some rpg’s used to be finished in one day in the early days.
• The posts are too big nowadays to keep up with. 70% of the post is filler and has nothing to do with the story at hand.
• Why bother joining rpg’s anymore? People are gonna get hyped for a couple of days and then drop out and let the rpg die.
• RPG’s are too predictable nowadays. One or two people lead, the rest follows without them doing anything noteworthy. 

So basically you're not liking the structured feel of the current RPGs? Totally understandable really, although I'm not really sure how I could help out with that, without stuffing in random plot twists in a RPG or something.

I have my days when I just don't feel like RPGing and I also have my days when I can't stop because it is so fun. I also know why it sometimes feels like a task.
 
After the rookie excitement starts to wear off you find that you aren't as fast with responses as you used to be and you start to have real life obligations to take care of. So you start to come here less. There is nothing wrong here, at this stage you show up fairly constant, just on your time. But when you join an RPG then others are waiting for you so you feel obliged to post quickly so others won't wait on you. It feels like a task because you aren't working at your convenience.  

I agree with everythin youve wrote. I honestly feel like every post I write is for the benefit of someone else and not because I enjoy writing it, I feel pressured. I might get in trouble for this but ive always felt like rping is more like a popularity contest, and even when I enjoyed doing RPGs I noticed it. I mean ive seen people say you wont make it as a rper until youve battled a certain person. SERIOUSLY so your not a good writer untiil youve battled someone who has just been here a little longer. Being here longer does not make you a better writer or a better rper for that matter. I would go on but im to kind to go on this rant :p
 
I think for me ever since I left Mobb Deep I havent enjoyed rpging, and as time has gone on most of the people I enjoyed wirting with not just in rpgs but in the threads have either gone or I dont see them around anymore, and maybe thats my fault for leaving on different occasions and not putting in the effort to build that relationship back up again.

I agree that it doesn't feel as fun as it used to in the beginning.
Though part of that has probably to do with the fact that I'm not having an easy time making up my mind on how I should write and stuff...

Why do it if your just gonna complain about it? If your going to, then don't. That's my simple answer.

" Why do it if your just gonna complain about it? If your going to, then don't. That's my simple answer. "

"And please, if your answer is going to be “you have to make it fun” or anything like that, please don’t post in this blog.. "

I hate to say this but as much as I agree with a lot of your points, my problem is that no one seems to want to try to make changes. Its the same old thing, everyone relies on the "old crew" to get the big rpgs going and any time little rpgs start, because none of said old crew are involved, few people want to play! 
 
Gambler and Arrow have both stepped aside lately and this should make room, but it doesn't.  
 
It will take time to change, but it will change if we all keep pushing, I think the vine is coming along great guns, there are "newbies" of sorts who are taking up the reigns, but fewer and fewer people are playing (including yourself) because they are upset at how its all either a task, or its not fun anymore...  
 
I actually think the whole twist thing is not so much a problem anymore as people not wanting to be involved in the greater story, large rpgs are now a platform for people to tell their own story, so then we are left with the people who started the rpg scratching their heads going wtf, are you in the same story as us?? 
 
It will change, it is, but do not pull out, jump back in, we need more people to guide.. not give up

The Vine is much bigger than it used to be. Back in the day (Never thought I'd be the one saying that) Rpgs could be more free flow simply because there were less people to account for. Thats also why big canon rpgs occurred on a more regular basis. Since the vine's spike in population team rpgs have started to takeover because most people don't want to read 10+ posts everyday. And considering that people also write wayyyyyy more then what I used to see it makes reading every post cost more effort. 
 
Me thinks the best way to fix this is to have not only an OOC and an rpg thread but a recap thread as well. There after anyone posts, they can site the important points of their posts. Therefore ppl can reference that when they need to post, instead of having to read so many posts before they do so. Some may call that being lazy but this isn't school and it shouldn't feel like it.

" Me thinks the best way to fix this is to have not only an OOC and an rpg thread but a recap thread as well. There after anyone posts, they can site the important points of their posts. Therefore ppl can reference that when they need to post, instead of having to read so many posts before they do so. Some may call that being lazy but this isn't school and it shouldn't feel like it. "

" @ Starkin: wth... you have magical fish?! o_O 
 
Goes to conjure up a magical chimp as a sidekick :p "

"  Me thinks the best way to fix this is to have not only an OOC and an rpg thread but a recap thread as well. There after anyone posts, they can site the important points of their posts. Therefore ppl can reference that when they need to post, instead of having to read so many posts before they do so. Some may call that being lazy but this isn't school and it shouldn't feel like it. "

" @Ethan Starks said:

"  Me thinks the best way to fix this is to have not only an OOC and an rpg thread but a recap thread as well. There after anyone posts, they can site the important points of their posts. Therefore ppl can reference that when they need to post, instead of having to read so many posts before they do so. Some may call that being lazy but this isn't school and it shouldn't feel like it. "

I really like this idea.  The only modification to it is that I'd rather see that in the OoC than an entirely different thread (under spoiler tags, though). "

The pm suffers from the same thing as the ooc, thats why I hate team pms.

Fine points are being made.

Of course this is all talk, for it to actually catch on is like going through the political process here. lol

Sounds good.

I'll expect you to be in that rpg. No if ands nor buts.

Naturally =)

Is it a coincidence that your rocking a batman AV and I'm rocking Nightwing? lol

I just chose batman because I liked the picture lol. But if you want to be my sidekick, i can't blame you :P

For me, RPGing is fun, but can still at time feel like a chore, (when writers block, or lack of inspiration)  
 
But to answer your question...I feel like lately, there has been a twinge of elitism on the vine's RPG section. Those who aren't in the "loop" then they're left to just do whatever. But then you start to have two separate sects, which is a problem. 

" @Ethan Starks said:

" Me thinks the best way to fix this is to have not only an OOC and an rpg thread but a recap thread as well. There after anyone posts, they can site the important points of their posts. Therefore ppl can reference that when they need to post, instead of having to read so many posts before they do so. Some may call that being lazy but this isn't school and it shouldn't feel like it. "

I don't think that's such a bad idea actually. "

" I hate to say this but as much as I agree with a lot of your points, my problem is that no one seems to want to try to make changes. Its the same old thing, everyone relies on the "old crew" to get the big rpgs going and any time little rpgs start, because none of said old crew are involved, few people want to play!  Gambler and Arrow have both stepped aside lately and this should make room, but it doesn't.   It will take time to change, but it will change if we all keep pushing, I think the vine is coming along great guns, there are "newbies" of sorts who are taking up the reigns, but fewer and fewer people are playing (including yourself) because they are upset at how its all either a task, or its not fun anymore...   I actually think the whole twist thing is not so much a problem anymore as people not wanting to be involved in the greater story, large rpgs are now a platform for people to tell their own story, so then we are left with the people who started the rpg scratching their heads going wtf, are you in the same story as us??  It will change, it is, but do not pull out, jump back in, we need more people to guide.. not give up "

To be honest, even after a year, I still find RPGs fun. Sure there are times, when I'm overwhelmed with school work and have barely any free time at all, when posting does feel like a chore. And I do occasionally curse this Vine tradition of making huge posts, since where I come from (the RPG communities I was on before the Vine) posts were pretty damn small. But on the flipside, I love reading a really awesome post in the same way I love reading a really awesome book, and often the massive posts are very very good. Which I guess is why War Killer and Talon are two of my favourite writers on the Vine. 
 
But I'm not dissing your point, because sometimes it really does feel like a task. Sometimes. Although I can't comment on them not being as good as they used to be, as I wasn't around back then.

There are a few new RPers that are always coming up with ideas coughcoghazrael, but like MR said people only flock to it if a seasoned RPer is on board. And then complain when things don't go there way. Mainly quitting the RP. If you feel your ideas aren't good, collaborate with other MEMBERS. This is a community.  
 
There are things that need to be changed, but take action. Do what YOU want to see on the vine, trying isn't going to kill you. 

My only issue is that people whine, and no I'm not saying your whining because I understand what your saying and I actually agree on certain parts, but like with the Skrull Rpg for example, when it was first ut ubp as an open storyline, people actually threw in I guess what you would call curve balls, but they curved so much that it took the whole story on a road that it even the a story anymore, so I believe that Rpg's still need to have some form of structure, from how it should start and how it should end, now the middle part I always felt is where you have fun and throw in all of those "OMG" moments, and yes the story may end on how it was supposed to, but not it may not end the same way for every character, and again I'll use the Skrull Rpg as an example on how we had a beginning and we had an end, everything in the middle was for us to make up and go crazy with, and even though it did end like we wanted it to, with the Skrull losing and all, people still managed to throw in a few curve balls like Eclipse did at the end.
 
My main issue is that, what may be fun for one person may not be fun for someone else, so really it's up to what's fun for you? I mean I had fun with the Skrull Rpg, but others didn't even like they idea for the beginning and a few even dropped from the story all together. Today it's so hard to have a good story when "EVERYTHING HAS BEEN DONE" which in really isn't true, with so many new users, so many up and coming Rpg Legends, there are so many stories to be done and so many ideas people have but never get around to doing them, why? Because if it sounds anything remotely closed to an idea that's already been done, people shoot it down right off the bat, or if sounds to crazy or "it's all about your character!" then they shoot it down as well. I mean MR put so much work into the Skrull Rpg, and did everything she could to make it fun fro every member of C.O.P.'s, but even then! People still didn't like it and whined about it, which isn't fair to anyone who puts so much time and effort into a story that is so big but still managing to make it fun as well. Honestly, some Rpger's are just spoiled to be simply blunt about it, even the older Rpger's, never willing to give a new idea a chance because THEY feel "It's been done before" and are never willing to give it anything look. And what's wrong with it being the same? Can you not do the same story, but throw in a few twist to making something totally different in the end? And if you can, then we most likely will never see them because no one is ever willing to give it a chance because they'll never get past the whole "seen it, done it, I'll pass" mode many Rpger's have nowadays, and it's sad because I know there are plenty of Rpger's out there, even some who have been here forever, who have ideas, but are afraid of it getting shoot down or bruised aside because no one is willing to give something that could turn out to be the most epically fun Rpg ever to happen on the Vine a chance.
 
Personally, it only takes the fun from me if I'm being rushed, which is one of the reasons that lead me to dropping from the KOV, it's not that I hate the story or aren't finding it fun, it's the fact that "okay, you have to it by so and so date" or having your fellow Rpger's rushing you to get a post up. I mean I know that you can't wait forever to write a post, but when people are forcing you to post so that THEY can post, it's annoying and it doesn't make writing the post fun anymore, no then that's when writing a post feels like a job, which is probably why I like team-up and small team Rpg's, I remember back when Vine Titan's had Rpg's, we took FOREVER xD But we still had fun nonetheless, same with team-up Rpg's, sure it's only two people Rpging, and maybe a villain here and there, but you get to write at your own pace and never feel rushed, and no! I'm not using that as an excuse to slake on your posts xP I'm just pointing out that it's easier to write and have fun when you don't have people breathing down your neck, demanding that you write. It's unfair for you, it doesn't make you write any better, and honestly, it takes away from the fun of writing some epic post, and all and all, it will in the end take away from the whole Rpg completely.

All I says is dat you gitz iz mucking about.