A Comedy of Species

[Splke]

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

The fact of the matter is that he has a character designed to be special (which in itself is bad practice), one that makes new assertions about a world that has to be shared between all of the players, so shut the hell up.

Where would any RP go if nothing new was inserted? Dwarves, Elves, hell, mythology itself was at a time new, and yet it's commonly used in RP now, so why not his idea? :|

[zell12]

Originally Posted by Splke

Where would any RP go if nothing new was inserted? Dwarves, Elves, hell, mythology itself was at a time new, and yet it's commonly used in RP now, so why not his idea? :|

You can't have everyone making their own races, just think about it.

[GoZelda]

Originally Posted by zell12

You can't have everyone making their own races, just think about it.

And what if people would be interested in this particular race?

[Kaimetsu]

Originally Posted by Splke

Where would any RP go if nothing new was inserted? Dwarves, Elves, hell, mythology itself was at a time new, and yet it's commonly used in RP now, so why not his idea? :|

I'm not saying that there's anything fundamentally wrong with the idea. I'm saying that unregulated roleplaying is a bad thing. Letting individuals make drastic changes to the shape and history of the world is dangerous.

[busyrobot]

My 2 cents....I hate it when every player uses an amnesia backstory, but I don't mind at all when people use it rarely. Kai is talking about a theoretical danger, that everyone could as it stands, be a bunch of wierd made up races that result in a very disjointed community where no one knows what the heck anyone else is.

However, this has not happened in practice. Gryf is a rare unique race, and that can be consistant as long as rare and unique races in general are rare and unique. If and only if they become commonplace, is it an issue.

Also, the fear of everyone wanting crazy rp based powers as demons that can destroy whole cities - that is not happening either.

Considering that all of Kai's issues are with hypothetical problems that COULD occur, and given the number of literal and existing problems with RPing in GK today that DO occur and still persist and are problematic, I think the argument should be dismissed on the 'you are worrying about what?' note.

If everyone wanted a unique race, yes that would be annoying. However, its rare and he's been playing this character since 2k1.

[Kaimetsu]

Originally Posted by busyrobot

My 2 cents....I hate it when every player uses an amnesia backstory

Why is that, exactly? I mean, I feel the same way, I'm just wondering what you'd give as your reasons.

Kai is talking about a theoretical danger, that everyone could as it stands, be a bunch of wierd made up races that result in a very disjointed community where no one knows what the heck anyone else is.

However, this has not happened in practice

There's that fox guy, I think? I'm sure there would be others if the average Graal RPer actually bothered to design a backstory. Currently they're not doing that, so we don't see too many objectionable origins. But would you agree that designing an identity and history for your character is something to be encouraged? If we are hoping to have more people undergoing this process, it makes sense to agree on some ground rules beforehand.

Also, the fear of everyone wanting crazy rp based powers as demons that can destroy whole cities - that is not happening either

I dunno. Have you read this thread?

Considering that all of Kai's issues are with hypothetical problems that COULD occur, and given the number of literal and existing problems with RPing in GK today that DO occur and still persist and are problematic, I think the argument should be dismissed on the 'you are worrying about what?' note

What other problems am I capable of addressing?

[busyrobot]

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

Why is that, exactly? I mean, I feel the same way, I'm just wondering what you'd give as your reasons.

When its overdone its annoying, and is often a lazy way to become mysterious or not think of a backstory. If Gryf had chosen an unknown race at a time that 'everyone was doing it' and didn't think it out at all, that would annoy me too. Its just not the case.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

There's that fox guy, I think? I'm sure there would be others if the average Graal RPer actually bothered to design a backstory. Currently they're not doing that, so we don't see too many objectionable origins. But would you agree that designing an identity and history for your character is something to be encouraged? If we are hoping to have more people undergoing this process, it makes sense to agree on some ground rules beforehand.

There have been a few Furres in Dustari, most with well thought out backstories. Of course, rp character backgrounds are 'good' regardless of how mundane or 'special' they are. As for the process, usually the kingdoms regulate themselves, when a person has a question on what sort of backstory to write, they ask the advice of the King/Queen or an Rper in a senior rank. I helped many people write decent ones. When they work, then it helps RPing work, and if someone's story seems difficult, it works itself out and will likely get modified. In any case that is what kingdoms are for. If there are genuine inter kingdom problems 'ground rule' wise, they are worked out by the leaders if they are any good at engaging with the community as a whole.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

I dunno. Have you read this thread?

Doesn't seem to be very encouraging of the idea of having demonic origins, its sure not an endorsment of that by any means. If anything it supports what I am saying.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

What other problems am I capable of addressing?

[/QUOTE]
Use your brain for that one.

Just a side note, about the 'not RPing on Thursdays' and such, you are making bad comparisons here. Same with the purple hats. What determines relevance of experience is participation within the community that it is in regards to. No one says "you don't rp so you don't know" or "you don't rp here so you don't know how" people are saying "you don't rp with this community, and it explains why your theories about this community are wrong and ill informed".

The thing is, we ARE in agreement that people don't want everyone having random races. If a few people added that element to their RP histories, their kingdom community would offer suggestions, and if it looked like it was becoming a fad, the kingdom community would directly discourage it. You are wrong to think it is all chaotic free-form. There is not supposed to be a centralized RP Rule Of Law dictator, the kingdoms are supposed to have good leaders that work with the members to help keep a good consistent community that works fluidly with the other communities. If that is flawed, its another discussion.

[Kaimetsu]

Originally Posted by busyrobot

When its overdone its annoying

Well, yeah. But I asked why you find it annoying.

As for the process, usually the kingdoms regulate themselves, when a person has a question on what sort of backstory to write, they ask the advice of the King/Queen or an Rper in a senior rank. I helped many people write decent ones

Excellent, I commend you on your efforts. But what if other kingdom leaders fail to do the same, or do it in a way that encourages bad practices? I mean, wasn't Gryffon once a king? Self-regulation is great, but only when it's done properly.

Doesn't seem to be very encouraging of the idea of having demonic origins, its sure not an endorsment of that by any means

That's not what it's supposed to demonstrate. Rather, it is an indication that people are engaging in this kind of unbalancing make-believe, and that more active discouragement might be a good thing. Certainly we could do without ex-kingdom-leaders setting a bad precedent.

Use your brain for that one

Well, that wasn't a very mature response. If you cannot think of any then just say so.

Just a side note, about the 'not RPing on Thursdays' and such, you are making bad comparisons here. Same with the purple hats. What determines relevance of experience is participation within the community that it is in regards to

I'll say to you what I said to Gryffon: Why? Because you say so? Who gets to draw the line between absolutes and relatives? Do you not agree that some things are universal?

The thing is, we ARE in agreement that people don't want everyone having random races. If a few people added that element to their RP histories, their kingdom community would offer suggestions, and if it looked like it was becoming a fad, the kingdom community would directly discourage it

So, what, is it first-come-first-served? Or I'll-let-you-be-special-because-you're-my-friend? How is either of those fair?

You are wrong to think it is all chaotic free-form. There is not supposed to be a centralized RP Rule Of Law dictator, the kingdoms are supposed to have good leaders that work with the members

But is that actually the case? If not, it is chaotic.

[busyrobot]

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

Well, yeah. But I asked why you find it annoying.

Same reason other people find it annoying - when everyone is doing it usually its a quick solution to not having any other ideas. It rarely contributes something unique and creative.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

Excellent, I commend you on your efforts. But what if other kingdom leaders fail to do the same, or do it in a way that encourages bad practices? I mean, wasn't Gryffon once a king? Self-regulation is great, but only when it's done properly.

Um, he is the current leader of Forest, unless I missed something recently. When its not done properly, we all post threads about how much the kingdom of such and such sucks and how its ruining GK. Search for references to KJ etc, you'll get the idea.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

That's not what it's supposed to demonstrate. Rather, it is an indication that people are engaging in this kind of unbalancing make-believe, and that more active discouragement might be a good thing. Certainly we could do without ex-kingdom-leaders setting a bad precedent.

Its only a bad precedent if there is a problem, and it has not. If there was a pandemic of people rping as unsual creatures I could consider agreeing with you, but that would be a stretch. For instance, paladins are rare there is only able to be one Paladin of Dustari, and if he did that job well, would he be encouraging a problem of lots of people wanting to play paladins who are not in Dustari? Gryf, as one of a very few who play unsual species is not causing a problem any more than one good paladin would.

What determines the problem or level of unbalance is not myself or you, but whether the community is caused problems by it.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

Well, that wasn't a very mature response. If you cannot think of any then just say so.

I can, I just don't have any interest in discussing them. I have already in many posts.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

I'll say to you what I said to Gryffon: Why? Because you say so? Who gets to draw the line between absolutes and relatives? Do you not agree that some things are universal?

Its by loose consensus of the community as a whole.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

So, what, is it first-come-first-served? Or I'll-let-you-be-special-because-you're-my-friend? How is either of those fair?

Usually its first come first serve, because when something is unique and creative it contributes to the community in a novel way, but when someone tries to do something that has already been done before that just doesn't fit at all, its a drag on the community. That is perfectly fair, because its about what works and what doesn't. Ironically, you are proposing that no one be allowed to, even when it doesn't cause any problems, which is unfair to people who are currently playing such characters.

Originally Posted by Kaimetsu

But is that actually the case? If not, it is chaotic.

It is not so chaotic that everyone is playing some strange race from beyond the known lands. It is managed to a degree, and certianly can be better. However, improvement will be based on fixing the problems that bother the community, not fixing 'problems' that you, who does not RP with the community feel exist on a theoretical level.