|
Post by Geralyn on Oct 24, 2014 23:08:39 GMT
RP Open Discussion Sessions
Recently, I started doing little informal get-togethers to discuss roleplaying in a sort of open discussion format. The intent has been to discuss the state of roleplaying in STO and the fleet, and to get some collective brainstorming going. These meetings touch on a variety of roleplaying topics that are relevant to the majority of members. It originally started as a spontaneous discussion of how to jumpstart Starbase RP, and that first meeting went so well that several people asked if there could be more of them. There are a few things to keep in mind regarding these meetings, as follows: What this is:This is a personal little creative project of my own, to brainstorm ideas about how to improve RP in general. Any member of the fleet may walk in and participate, and indeed participation is encouraged. And though seeing key individuals online, such as those who have been working with me to find ways to improve the state of RP, may inspire calling a meeting, it will never be scheduled to specifically exclude anyone. That would utterly defeat the whole point of this idea, which is to get feedback from as much of the fleet as we can. We're going to attempt to have the meetings on different days, at different times, in order to allow the participation of as many people as possible over time. Whoever is available at the time may attend. An effort will be made to PM any Storytellers, Mentors, and Pathfinders who are online at the time, and announcements will be made in Crossover several times throughout. Once a meeting has taken place, the next meeting ideally will not be conducted until the summary of the previous meeting is posted here on the forum. This will allow people to see where the last meeting was going, and thereby allow them to contribute their thoughts on those subjects. What this is not:This is not an official fleet meeting or event. This is strictly a creative discussion, something I've started voluntarily in my free time. I'm just making it available to the fleet as a whole, both participation and results thereof, and as such it will have no set schedule or participant roster. This is not where decisions will be made on fleet policy. This is not mandatory. The whole point of this is the creative endeavor, and will be done when people feel inspired to contribute creatively. I'm looking to prevent anyone from feeling like this is a chore, or not fun. No one is required to attend, nor should anyone feel obligated to do so. This is not a venue for complaints or grievances.There will be no time given to complaints, grievances, or personal attacks of any kind – there is a proper channel for complaints, and these meetings are not that channel. This is being conducted as a positive, creative, and constructive event, and that is where the focus will be. Where it will be:So far, the meetings have been held on the Starbase in the conference room. It is possible that we may occasionally take it to a bridge or other location. Bridges are being considered to allow the convenience of permitting people to attend on their KDF characters, instead of having to take the time to switch to a Federation character. The meeting will be held in Local at the location in question. Crossover was proposed on several occasions, but there are numerous reasons why I chose not to use the channel, including but not limited to: - This is not an official fleet function, therefore use of channels would be inappropriate
- By holding it in the fleet channel, we would be subjecting the entire fleet to the discussion, defeating the purpose of stating that attendance is strictly optional. Yes, we could say those who don't want to see it could turn off Crossover, but now something I'm doing is causing inconvenience to others, and that would be unacceptable. Also, if they did turn off Crossover, it would cut them off from the fleet until they turned it on.
- We have non-fleet members, friends and fellow roleplayers, who share the channel with us. It would not be considerate to subject them to the chatter that would clog the channel during such a discussion.
- It would also be very difficult to keep the discussion focused if I don't see who's involved.
This post will not be open for comments itself. This is an announcement and summary thread – any discussions concerning this thread's subjects will happen in the meetings themselves, since that is the purpose of the meetings from their inception. Summaries of each meeting will be posted as comments on this thread.
|
|
|
Post by Geralyn on Oct 24, 2014 23:21:22 GMT
Meeting, mid-September, first meeting:
The original purpose of the meeting was a brainstorming session to give base RP a jumpstart. It was determined that a wiping of the roster would be necessary, and re-staff the base with people who were online more regularly. HS arranged for the staffing, and in the process came up with a more toned-down base defense setup for better RP-friendliness. The meeting was largely considered a success, and requests were made to do them again, on other topics related to RP.
|
|
|
Post by Geralyn on Oct 25, 2014 3:06:42 GMT
Meeting, first week of October:
Those present looked over the results of our attempt to kickstart Starbase RP. The general opinion was that it has been highly successful. A major plot involving a good portion of the fleet was run, and showed both the numbers we could draw and the type of stories we are capable of telling. But it did something else.
When we had our first big station RP, I figured we'd see huge increases in RP, but I also banked on it showing what weaknesses we had in our handling of base RP. We've focused on Ship RPs as a fleet, so our process for base and holding RP isn't very well developed. I counted on this RP to show us where we needed to focus better, as well as tell a good story, and it did both very well.
The biggest thing I learned: People are not as aware as they should be that they can opt out of any RP. ANY at all.
I can not stress this enough. YOU CAN OPT OUT. And that goes from Free Trial Members to Pathfinders. No one is obligated to participate in any RP with any person.
So, a reminder, for everyone to spread the word:
Official RPs are in channels, including Base RPs. Anyone wanting to opt out and RP casually on the base may do so in local AT ANY TIME.
Under no circumstances will an official RP prevent someone from OOC access to the base for fleet bank/stores/etc.
The issue of the length of the first station RP was brought up, and I suggested a (possible) solution, one used in tabletop RP all the time: time compression. When a group plays a weekly game, each session doesn't take place a week after the last. Usually it takes place the next day, ICly, or even later the same day. Time compression could be used to "speed up" a situation that realistically wouldn't be left to stretch out for weeks or months. How/if this concept would be implemented, however, is entirely up to the GM running said RP.
The last topic brought up was the issue of determining how to encourage others to speak up about their expectations for RP. Some discussion happened, but we mostly put it out there for consideration, and I intended to bring it up again at the next meeting.
|
|
|
Post by Geralyn on Oct 25, 2014 6:12:36 GMT
Meeting, October 24th:We started the meeting off by announcing the posting of this thread on the forum, and a recap of the two meetings that came before to bring new people up to speed. On the issue of the suggestion of time compression, there were concerns expressed about using it too often, especially if it was intended for people to be able to discuss the RP during the week ICly. It was re-iterated that it was not a rule or policy, but merely a suggestion for the GM to use or not, at their discretion, and to what extent. hszmv also brought up another issue with opting out: "retconning". GMs do make plans in advance and sometimes the story that would be retconned affects the over arching plot. Specifically, and especially in GMed RP, retconning events becomes difficult. It is important for someone opting out to make that decision early. Ideally before the RP starts, more practically as soon as possible. The opening new topic was the issue of expectations. Most of the time, when someone indicates they are having difficulty with getting involved in RP. When asked what the expectations are, the answer tends to be a variation of "I dunno.". emulator suggested a short list of options to throw down, and Tiana further suggested taking options and asking along the lines of "Here's X and Y, more X than Y, or more Y than X?" Both options were very good, and Tia was able to demonstrate her idea with a newcomer to the meeting. Both options are ideas worth developing further. Throughout the discussion, a recurring theme was apparent: the importance of communication. Between players, between players and GM, and even between GMs in a collaborative manner. A reminder was made that not every player speaks English natively, and the possibility for misunderstanding is very real. And even between two native speakers, the lack of tone, inflection, expression, or emotional context can lead to misunderstandings. On the other side of the coin, non-native speakers were asked to remember that not everyone realizes how their English may be perceived by non-native speakers, and non-native speakers are reminded to please give native speakers the benefit of the doubt. Some initial discussion about IC/OOC separation was begun, as well as Gming styles and story villains, the idea of a 'task resolution' system, and how much realism should science/technology have in a Star Trek story, but will in all likelihood be topics given more focus in future meetings. Another topic brought up: types of RP stories we'd like to see to add variety to the pool. Suggestions included exploration, first contact, mysteries, survival stories, "Featured character" episodes focusing on new characters each time, flashback RP stories, Mirror Universe stories, off-duty/casual stories for RP Ship/Base personnel, Diplomacy RP, revisiting of stories/planets/species from series episodes, and the occasional courtroom RP. This is something that will definitely be explored further.
|
|