Story Mode Network

I'd recommend finding a concrete reason for what the implications of waking up in the game are. I'm not familiar with Log Horizon, but I know with Overlord, there was a degree of "I'm suddenly immortal, I can do whatever I want" and "I'm going to exploit my power and scout the world for any other people online". So bring stuck in the game served to start the plot and inform the protagonists decisions. In a multi player game, there are a few reactions people are likely to have (after the mass panic and confusion subsides).


1. Try to find a way to get out. Groups will form and people will search for any possible loophole that can get them out. Characters with family to return to, jobs to get back to, etc. are likely going to be working together en masse 


2. Make the best of a bad situation. People who don't believe there is a way out, or those who aren't happy with their real life, are likely going to focus their attention on making a life for themselves in this virtual world. They might even be happy to have an excuse to escape completely (though they may eventually become disillusioned and decide that the fictional world is not better than the real one, or perhaps they'll end up happy that they could reinvent themselves)


One thing you could do is let players be on either side and do whatever they want and play around. You could also focus the plotline on a single side and explore how they react and work to accomplish their goal (this has the benefit of keeping players together and in the same area). Another interesting thing you could do is focus the plot on a conflict between the people who put their effort into trying to get out and the people who think that things are good as they are. I'd imagine that neither group would be happy with the other side's attitude.


Or you could decide to not use any of that ;P If you have something different in mind for what you'd want to focus the rp on, it'd help me to understand better what you're going for if you explain what the rp will focus on. Background is helpful but you also need a roadmap for where you want to direct the plot ^_^
 
WEll to start the rp PCs will start in the same place. They will then branch from there. I will get more details up later.
 
While we're discussing stuff in production, if anyone fancies offering their two cents on this project I'd appreciate it: 
 
Reinhardt said:
I'm don't know much about dice games, but I'll try to see if I can give you something.
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You don't need to know anything. But this clearly demonstrates I need to write a more in-depth guide to the format sooner rather than later.
 
@Grey


I will have to check that Lain show out. I get tingly when I see high reviews for shows I'm recommended. You are correct in my opinion as well. When I see VRMMORP's, they always leave me wondering, "And why exactly are we playing in this virtual world?" There is never a serious reason like in the Matrix. It's always people playing a game and getting stuck. Where is the impetus in that?


I will look at your post!


@clarinetti


=P. Chime in or not; it's up to you. Do suggest some things if you ever have an idea by the way.


@ApfelSeine


Yess! There should be a reason why there is a virtual reality. And going even deeper; why everyone is not on it. Age restriction? Only certain Blood types can log in? Only disease free people can hook into the interface? A VRMMORP fusing with a medical setting would be really cool. Like, everyone is dying and there is a cure hidden somewhere in the VR universe. Having a cold or say, chickenpox would affect your VR avatar in some negative way. I don't know. Something along those lines. Something significant to drive why the virtual world is being used.


Yes. If you want to practice you came to the right place. Maybe somewhere down the line there will be a proposal for a plot making class or competition.


@Mr. Gideon


I like that it is a single-player game. I do wonder if you have a reason why they're waking up as their game avatars though? Are they trapped in the game? Please say no  :(


@LifeNovel


You know it. It was about 2 days ago, haha. It fits you for sure.
 
Grey said:
You don't need to know anything. But this clearly demonstrates I need to write a more in-depth guide to the format sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...



Oh man, let's not get started on the state of dice games. The aversion is strong.
 
That's another tutorial I need to write - how the medium shapes the message. Some stories work best as movies, some as plays, some as films, some as books...
 
That's true. Different mediums convey vastly different things, making each one ideal for particular stories that suit the medium. So it makes sense that one would have to change aspects of the message to work the story into the medium. Nothing inherently problematic with that, though it always bothers me when an adaptation fails to realize what the key point of the original message was and cuts it out instead of trying to work it in.
 
Grey said:
That's another tutorial I need to write - how the medium shapes the message. Some stories work best as movies, some as plays, some as films, some as books...
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Is this tutorial for RpNation or personal? If RpNation, how come?


@ApfelSeine


Definitely. I do Fandoms exclusively, and the best way to do one is to live the material, but focus on the pieces that defined the franchise/series/etc for you. There's a good chance it did also for other people. Some movie adaptations of books have made me frown as they try to do too much.


@clarinetti


Gotcha. No worries. May you learn lots!
 
White Masquerade said:
Is this tutorial for RpNation or personal? If RpNation, how come?
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Why would I write a personal tutorial? I wouldn't write them if I didn't know their contents well enough already.


And I'd write it for RPN for the general purpose of teaching the userbase something, and because if you can identify the best medium for your story, you won't waste any time or energy, or get the mistaken impression the idea simply doesn't work just because it doesn't function as an RP.
 
Grey said:
Why would I write a personal tutorial? I wouldn't write them if I didn't know their contents well enough already.


And I'd write it for RPN for the general purpose of teaching the userbase something, and because if you can identify the best medium for your story, you won't waste any time or energy, or get the mistaken impression the idea simply doesn't work just because it doesn't function as an RP.
Click to expand...



I meant for a personal blog or piece to share with others off-site. I am iffy on it if it is for RpN. Like Apfel was say saying, it's really not a problem. Only have to present the material in different ways depending on the format. Say WW2 for example. In a movie you may focus on the action/emotion of Pearl Harbor. A long book may focus on the musings/psyche of Hitler. An RP may focus on the adventure of prisoners escaping a concentration camp. All 3 speak of WW2 but present it in ways best to the format. I don't think it'd be good to say outright something is not good for a book/movie/etc.
 
You can tell a lot of stories about WWII in different formats, yes, but a story specifically about the experiences of Holocaust survivor is probably not best told through a roleplay. The story of a specific battle may be best conveyed in film where in an RP, it'd just be a succession of action sequences. The distinction is about the kind of story being told, not the backdrop or time period. 


And yes, you might well be able to make the appropriate cuts and expansions for an adaptation to a different medium, but look how many screen adaptations of books balls that up. You expect a bunch of hobbyists to do, without any instruction or advice, something professional storytellers manage to botch with alarming frequency?


It's not going to hurt anyone if I explain how different media might suit different stories better than others - ideally, it might inspire them to take a stab at writing comics, or scripts, or short stories if what they want to do won't work in an RP. It might encourage them to examine stories in other media and see if they can learn things from them which can be applied to their roleplaying. They may spend more time adapting their idea to function as a roleplay.


Look at Portal, for example. You cannot reasonably reproduce that experience as an RP because it's a combination of level design, visual cues, player skill, voice acting, dialogue, and mechanics. But perhaps you can take some core concepts and adapt them to express the same idea, or something similar, or perhaps even something quite different. But it won't be the story of Portal any more than it would be Portal. 


Or Harry Potter - yes, you can set a story in that universe, but you can't tell that specific story as an RP because it's so contingent on plot convenience and hidden information.


Or, in terms of film, anything by Dario Argento or something like Neon Demon are so contingent on the language of cinema that adaptation would render them wholly unrecognizable. You could hit the same themes, but it wouldn't be the same story. 


Although by all means, prove me wrong. I will be fascinated to see the result.


This is something I deal with a lot. I have files full of concepts, and I have to spend a while looking at each one asking myself - is this an RP, a novel, or a short story? I have one concept that could be an RP, but would actually be more effective as a comic book. If people don't know this is a skill you can learn, they can't learn it, and they'll waste a lot of time and energy reaching the point of realization.
 
S I havw decided to change the rp up a bit. While people will be their game characters essentially it will be different from the actual game, and the characters wont remember much before wakinf up IC.
 
They won't remember much about anything? Or about how they ended up in the game? If it's the former it may as well be a fantasy rp right? They'd be disoriented but just accept the world being like it is. Though I suppose if it functions like the game in some way there'd be a reason to have it be that way. But it wouldn't even need to be a trapped in a VR story and could just be about characters in a video game.


I'm not sure how functional it would be for them not to remember anything. Though if it's the latter (them only having amnesia for events immediately preceding start of the rp) and they're just not sure how they ended up there, the premise is still mostly the same as it was before so it's not a significant change. Nothing wrong with it of course, it's just something I think it's worth considering if you want to make yours unique. If you're happy with it just being fun (which has merit in it's own right) then don't struggle to try to make it make too much sense and just do what will be interesting and enjoyable.


If you want to go for uniqueness, you need a premise that is different from what people normally play, but which is still functional and draws people in. Why even have them trapped in a VRMMORPG? You could follow the lead of 1/2 prince and devise a separate conflict that's different from the popular "stuck in a virtual world". Though not my favorite manga, it fairly well conceived and adds a unique conflict near the end of the story by having the NPCs gain sentience and resent the player characters (either for exploiting them or because they resent being programmed a certain way). The conflict doesn't need to follow the cliché of people being trapped for them to get together and bond, and the stakes are upped by the requirement that in order for player characters to destroy an NPC for good, they have to make themselves vulnerable to their avatars being destroyed for good. That's enough to give a gamer pause, because when you play a game you kind of fall in love with the character that you put months of work into. So the stakes are high for the characters, even if it's not as dramatic as the usual "being trapped" thing. (Though again, if you enjoy the idea of having characters be trapped and want to explore that, you should ahead and do it ^_^ I'm just being nitpicky in case it helps with forming ideas for conflict)
 
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