Experiences Why do people like school roleplays so much

[BackSet]

I know what your thinking:

This is just gonna be another guy complaining about how nobody notices his roleplays.

Let me tell you, it's not.

I'm just genuinely curious as to why people like school roleplays so much. Isn't Highschool hard enough in real life without living it in fake life too?

 

[Onmyoji]

I think the simple answer would be: it's relatable
Most people who rp are either in high school right now, or just out of high school, or at least had been to high school and graduated, or just enjoy watching shows about high school even if they hadn't experienced it. Well, high school or college, or university - the settings are vaguely the same.

It might be easier to write the characters and settings you're familiar with. But roleplay allows to add some twist to usual school routine: magic, vampires, aliens, katana-wielding ninja teachers etc. Making the setting both familiar and unique.

At least that's my opinion on what might draw people to school roleplays.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Well it's not about reliving your exact high school life. I mean not everyone's high school experience was necessary bad to begin with. And for those who did have bad experiences wouldn't it make more sense that they would want to live out an idealized version where everything went right?

To be honest high school roleplays are popular because they are universally accessible. We all attended a high school or at least have seen a high school on TV. So we know the general set up and what to expect.

So this leave people free to put their own creative spin on it. You are not doing a school roleplay to do a point by point replay of your actual high school experience. Your using the setting and coming up with different interpretations.

Example : Spy High School, Superhero High School, Magic High School, Monster High School, Magical Girl Academy, Anime Inspired Vaguely Japanese-ish High School, Elite Royal Academy, Music/Model/Art/Etc. Specialty School.

So yeah it's a familiar foundation that makes it easy to jump in and add your own creativity.

 

[BackSet]

fun fact: In Japan High School is not required by the country or whatever.

Most people choose to go anyway because they value their education and so does Japan.

That is your fun fact for the day.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

All of the above, plus it's a very easy setting for characters to meet and be inclined to get to know each other.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Yep and students are the ones who maintain the cleanliness of schools in Japan. I mean I'm sure their is maintaince for big ticket items. But like sweeping, cleaning up trash, etc. is all done by the students themselves.

Also high school is determined by entrance exams. Which is why some Anime mention cram schools, these are basically designed to help kids get good grades on their high school (and sometimes college) entrance exams. So they can get into the best possible school.

 

[ShadowWolves]

T=

Yep and students are the ones who maintain the cleanliness of schools in Japan. I mean I'm sure their is maintaince for big ticket items. But like sweeping, cleaning up trash, etc. is all done by the students themselves.

Also high school is determined by entrance exams. Which is why some Anime mention cram schools, these are basically designed to help kids get good grades on their high school (and sometimes college) entrance exams. So they can get into the best possible school.

welp, I learned something new today.

 

[BackSet]

Yep and students are the ones who maintain the cleanliness of schools in Japan. I mean I'm sure their is maintaince for big ticket items. But like sweeping, cleaning up trash, etc. is all done by the students themselves.

Also high school is determined by entrance exams. Which is why some Anime mention cram schools, these are basically designed to help kids get good grades on their high school (and sometimes college) entrance exams. So they can get into the best possible school.

Sounds like finals except that they're actually worth taking. Zing!

 

[floral]

Now I don't rp the whole magical school setting or a regular high school/college setting or plot. However, I can see why some people find them appealing.

One: Most of the rpers here are either teens or young adults. Including myself. So it's easy to incorporate a character into a setting or plot you have been in or will within your life. The twist of magic makes things more fun and creative.

Two: That high school d r a m a. A lot of rps with a school setting have drama in the plot or between the characters. It's relatable stuff and getting to create angst and drama appeals to a lot of people unsurprisingly.

Another factor: There is a lot of them and they don't typically last long or live through the plot. Sometimes people just crave them because of that, having a rp where they can relax with replies and just have character arcs/development instead of sticking to a more thought out plot.

 

[Jarrecko]

I think in some sense it allows people to live out a fantasy as well. I had a TERRIBLE high school experience so if I could Roleplay a persona in that same setting that would have had a more positive experience I can see the allure. Personally I can't see myself joining an Rp themed around School just because it's not my cup of tea but, I get why people enjoy it.

 

[Idea]

Before I begin detailing what I think may be the primary reasons, I want to make something clear: Why people like something is mostly done on an individual level. There isn't so much a large reason why people as a whole would like a given genr, just a pile of potentially similar but not for certain individual reasons. So nomatter how well thought out, nothing I can say will even cover the vast majority of scenarios in terms of defining tastes, but on the other hand, it's not strange either that some of the things I have to say have in a sense already been spoken.

With that out of the way, the first big thing to account for is existing audiences. Both in media in general (books, anime, tv, movies...) and in roleplay, school as a genre is very popular. The potential reasons why I will get into later, for now what is the focus is the fact that it has this level of popularity. Naturally, one of the biggest concerns a Gm, especially new and inexperienced GMs have, their fear of failure. Of their RP not being able to get off the ground or sustain itself. Naturally, experienced GMs are concerned with that too, though they more easily take it in their stride and adapt or try again. Because of this, the Hollywood trap of doing what's currently popular even if you don't fully understand it is very tempting for said newcomer GMs. It's a fun idea with lots of paths to explore that you also happen to love in other places, what could go wrong if it's already popular on top of that?
However, as mentioned, this pre-existing audience is also sourced from media containing an enormous amount of school-genre fiction. People consume it a lot, and it just becomes something they will associate with what they like. Which leads me to the second point:

Familiarity. The vast majority of players has gone through or will go through highschool. If you know how to write well enough to be in a forum, you've probably experienced school, even if not yet highschol. The aforementioned presence of the school genre in media is precisely a result of many of it's most avid consumers usually falling or still deeply connecitng to an audience directly impacted by the experience of school. Add to this prior school roleplays and what you get is a bombardment of the genre in your life. It's easy to feel like you know it like the back of your hand, and just as easy to treat it as some form of "default" too.
At the same time though, they can also count on others to be familiar with the matter as well. This means that, by having a highschool setting it's easier for the Gm to focus on other matters, such as developing the plot, allowing for one to better manage their task load.

Task loads are also at the center of the last major reason: Freedoom. A typical highschool roleplay, followed only by freeform sandbox fantasies, is usually one of the places where you'll find less restrictions regarding what you can do or who you can play. This lack of rules and generally undemanding requirements posting-wise is very appealing to players that care a lot about the flow or prefer more immediate visceral replies as opposed to more complex, detailed and well-constructed ones that may take more time or not feel as sequential. Add to that that you can play your favorite OC with little effort often and that the plot is often vague enough for you to do your own thing, and the surface-level appeal of school roleplays becomes almost evident. Through these, they become great points to come to attempt to do something more lax/relaxed.


I hope you find this post useful or that you enjoyed reading it at least. Good luck and happy RPing!

 

[salty_ moustachio]

I do HS roleplays. A lot because it's usually one setting with people you see every day and therefore has a greater capacity for drama and you don't have to scramble to come up with settings.

 

[Lynnnnn]

Sometime after a heavy fantasy rp, slice of life is a good one to chill to.

 

[KinglyLion]

I think Idea hit the nail on the head pretty thoroughly if I may so. Back in my early cringy days of role play, high school was an easy setting to throw any OC into the fray. Actually, Some of my characters were developed in high school settings. It wasn't till down the road my characters became more finite and "graduated" so to speak from Cringe RP High.

People must remember their infant days of role play, it was brand new, exciting, and very addicting. Those fast replies were like a high. A euphoric slowly budding literary high. I used to want more. The faster the replies the better. I was a crappy role player but it didn't matter. All the mattered was replying fast almost chat style. It wasn't until things got repetitive that I craved substantial substance to meet that same high again. My taste went from cheep beer to craft beer if I must compare.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

I think there is something compelling about a high schoolsetting beyond mere convenience and familiarity. Afterall these RPs are to a great degree inspired by existing media right? and even though a lot of that rp is derivative and uninspired, the hacks are taking cues from earlier works that were legitimately engaging. High school stories can trace their lineage back to the Coming-of-Age or Blidungsroman genre, stories about the transition from childhood to adulthood have fascinated people for a long time. The teenage years are a period of rapid growth and change. Teenagers develop new interests, form new kinds of relationships, have new responsibilities, their world suddenly expands in a way that can be exciting and scary. That kind of character development is really interesting to explore.

That could all be explored just by having teenagers though right? you could have them doing anything and still cover a lot of that that ground. What the highschool brings to the table is tension and conflict. In most places high school is mandatory, everyone has to do it, so all these people from different backgrounds, with different personalities and interests all have to be in the same place and do stuff together, after they graduate they'll go off to do their own thing, they'll go to university and they'll pick the major they're interested in and spend time with other people in that major or they'll get jobs and be spending more time with people doing they work with who do the same thing they do. So high school is like a crossroads where all these people on different paths meet for a while. Good high school stories examine the tensions between these different people or they come up come up with contrivances that force them together right? Like the main characters include a jock, a nerd, a popular girl, a goth and they don't get along but they have to work together on some project, or solve a murder, or save the world or whatever it is.

The strictures of the highschool itself can also provide a source of tension and conflict. Teenagers are much freer then they were as children, but are still restricted in a lot of ways. They have to go classes, even the ones they don't like, they have to participate in the sports festival, or the spirit drive even if they think it's bullshit. And teenagers are just old enough that their conflict with the system can go beyond "I don't want to do X" to "X is unfair, or unjust," The highscools functions really well as a metaphor for larger society, teenagers are starting to put together where they fit in society and how they feel about, maybe what they're gonna do to change that.

Not every highschool RP is necessarily going to explore all this, the people running a highschool rp might not be able to articulate what it is they're reaching for, but on some level they probably realize there's something about the setting that's exciting to them.

 

[BackSet]

I think Idea hit the nail on the head pretty thoroughly if I may so. Back in my early cringy days of role play, high school was an easy setting to throw any OC into the fray. Actually, Some of my characters were developed in high school settings. It wasn't till down the road my characters became more finite and "graduated" so to speak from Cringe RP High.

People must remember their infant days of role play, it was brand new, exciting, and very addicting. Those fast replies were like a high. A euphoric slowly budding literary high. I used to want more. The faster the replies the better. I was a crappy role player but it didn't matter. All the mattered was replying fast almost chat style. It wasn't until things got repetitive that I craved substantial substance to meet that same high again. My taste went from cheep beer to craft beer if I must compare.

Wh, eh, get it?

 

[Morlock]

It's something we can all relate to. We all have things we would have liked to have done, or liked to have done better etc RP allows us to do this. Oddly enough it is not an area that I have played a lot of. But there is lots of potential all the same.

 

[Contingency]

Maybe because they want to immerse themselves as a younger person lol

 

[Sig]

I lean more towards college roleplays since I recently finished highschool and don't want to be back there. I think some people do those roleplays because it is like redoing high school and maybe they don't like those memories

 

[Hablmet]

It has been already said, but I personally think it's natural for you if you experienced HS or college. Some of the less fortunate people, like me, probably do this to try and make their ideal setup for the roleplay - which I don't deem really to be flawless, considering each school has some sort of a problem. With mine one, it's most of the teachers and the timetables are hardly ideal - but I'm straying off again here.

TLDR: It's done because it's easy

 

[BackSet]

The sad thing is this thread is more active than most if my roleplays have been for the past few months.