Asilynne
30th January 2010, 02:29 PM
Here it is, the promised (and hopefully awaited) epic idea Ive been going on about. Warning-this will be long, and it could possibly receive some devils-advocate esque comments saying how it may not work because of x or y. But, bear with me here because for the past few days Ive been mulling this over at work (and I have a LOT of time to just think at work...) and I think Ive covered my bases and worked out and solved any potential flaws. Could there be some flaws I havent thought of? Of course, and thats where you come in. And the last thing I ask of you, the RPers---have an open mind. This idea may be crazy but I hope it will also turn out to be revolutionary, and paving the way to solving some of RPG's problems. Now, onto the idea itself.
RPG has stood for Role Playing Games for as long as its been its seperate forum, spawned from fanfic. But in today's RPGs, there is very little, if any, "gaming" involved. What most of us do is start a signup topic, gather signups, and then start the rpg with the cast, writing each post and advancing the plot as an on-the-fly fanfic with many writers. While this is no surprise considering RPG's orgins, it also poses very little incentive to post in RPGs save for actual plot and character advancement, and almost no incentive to post elsewhere, like in RPG help topics, the news, polls, and other threads.
But what possible incentive could be offered for RPG? Its already been discussed and dismissed as an idea by the council, to have incentives for posting in the form of prizes. After all, what could RPG offer the players as a prize? We arent ASB which can offer pokemon, points, evos, etc. We arent Fanart which could offer custom art as trades, or banners in exchange for other artwork services. The only form of renoun the people of RPG have lie within the RPG awards, and all biases aside, its obvious some of these awards are largly a popularity thing. Most people who vote tend to all be in the same rpg, and have little to no knowledge of those they are not apart of. Most people also neglect to read rpgs they arent apart of, thats just how things are. And so when the council was first born, I asked the question What is it the people of RPG want?
I didnt have an answer then. I didnt have an answer for a long while. But out of the unfortunate drama that occured in the Council Room, an idea sprung like a reborn phoenix from its own ashes. What has caused more drama, more arguing, and more bitching and moaning than anything else in the history of RPG? Titles. Its a known fact that roleplayers are egomaniacs. Come on, you know its true so dont even give me that look lol. This person became a mod, this person is on the council, that person is being called the mods apprentice or helper or what have you. Dissent spreads like wildfire whenever the possibility of someone acquiring a title arises. Everyone wants to feel important. Everyone wants to feel they make a positive contribution to this forum we call home.
So my answer to the problem is this: Why dont we reward members for posting in rpgs, completing rpgs, posting in the news, rpg help topics, voting in polls, mentoring a fellow roleplayer, creating rpg fanart for someone, forming a revolutionary style of roleplay, trying out a different style of roleplay, etc? As for what to reward them with, heres an example. Roleplayer A just voted in a poll. For contributing to RPG's society in a positive way, Roleplayer A receives 5 coins. These 'coins' can be saved up to eventually purchase a title of the roleplayers choice. The coins could also be used to purchase a higher form of money, which I will call 'stars' (Im basing it off of mario if your familiar). Stars can be used to purchase harder to get titles that also come with more pristege.
Let me back up a bit and outline this a bit better. Everything you do on the rpg forum will earn you coins. Coins can be used to buy stars, and minor titles. Stars can only be bought with coins, the exception is that if you complete an rpg you can receive a star that way. In addition to the cost of a title, some titles may also have pre-requisites. For example, Roleplayer A wants the RPG Veteran title. Lets say this Title has a cost of 10 stars, but in addition, Roleplayer A must also have completed 5 RPGs, mentored at least one roleplayer, gave 50 constructive comments in the Yes or No topic, contributed to 6 monthly RPG newsletters, etc. This will give goals which a roleplayer can aspire to, and the possesion of such a title shows other roleplayers that this person has done what it takes to earn it, this being an active and helpful member of RPG. Along with the purchased title, a custom banner showcasing one of the persons characters can be made for them (maybe by Bex, although anyone can apply to be one of these banner makers), giving an additional reason to want to earn a title. Not all the titles have to be hard, there can be lesser titles that even newbies can earn after some time and activity on the forum, and the only limit to how many titles and what kinds are our imaginations.
I realise that if coins are given for every active thing done in RPG there may be the risk of SPAM, solely to earn such things. So a certain level of common sense is needed. If you do a post for an rpg and its a short paragraph and the RPG doesnt specifically say thats ok, it wont earn you a single coin. If someone asks for feedback on an rpg idea and you are rude or an asshole, you wont earn anything. The idea isnt to sacrifice quality for activity, so keep up the quality when you post in anything.
One more thing as Im running out of time before work and I want to be able to go eat beforehand ^-^() Should this be implemented and people begin earning titles, if you dont want to participate in gaining coins or earning the titles, you dont have to. It CAN be optional, its just a little something to give people incentive to become active. However participating in the title format is obviously the only way to earn these titles. I do have more worked out about this idea and more of the layout designed but I will open the floor for now, and maybe some of your questions I can fill in the answers for that way.
I await your thoughts, people of RPG.
RPG has stood for Role Playing Games for as long as its been its seperate forum, spawned from fanfic. But in today's RPGs, there is very little, if any, "gaming" involved. What most of us do is start a signup topic, gather signups, and then start the rpg with the cast, writing each post and advancing the plot as an on-the-fly fanfic with many writers. While this is no surprise considering RPG's orgins, it also poses very little incentive to post in RPGs save for actual plot and character advancement, and almost no incentive to post elsewhere, like in RPG help topics, the news, polls, and other threads.
But what possible incentive could be offered for RPG? Its already been discussed and dismissed as an idea by the council, to have incentives for posting in the form of prizes. After all, what could RPG offer the players as a prize? We arent ASB which can offer pokemon, points, evos, etc. We arent Fanart which could offer custom art as trades, or banners in exchange for other artwork services. The only form of renoun the people of RPG have lie within the RPG awards, and all biases aside, its obvious some of these awards are largly a popularity thing. Most people who vote tend to all be in the same rpg, and have little to no knowledge of those they are not apart of. Most people also neglect to read rpgs they arent apart of, thats just how things are. And so when the council was first born, I asked the question What is it the people of RPG want?
I didnt have an answer then. I didnt have an answer for a long while. But out of the unfortunate drama that occured in the Council Room, an idea sprung like a reborn phoenix from its own ashes. What has caused more drama, more arguing, and more bitching and moaning than anything else in the history of RPG? Titles. Its a known fact that roleplayers are egomaniacs. Come on, you know its true so dont even give me that look lol. This person became a mod, this person is on the council, that person is being called the mods apprentice or helper or what have you. Dissent spreads like wildfire whenever the possibility of someone acquiring a title arises. Everyone wants to feel important. Everyone wants to feel they make a positive contribution to this forum we call home.
So my answer to the problem is this: Why dont we reward members for posting in rpgs, completing rpgs, posting in the news, rpg help topics, voting in polls, mentoring a fellow roleplayer, creating rpg fanart for someone, forming a revolutionary style of roleplay, trying out a different style of roleplay, etc? As for what to reward them with, heres an example. Roleplayer A just voted in a poll. For contributing to RPG's society in a positive way, Roleplayer A receives 5 coins. These 'coins' can be saved up to eventually purchase a title of the roleplayers choice. The coins could also be used to purchase a higher form of money, which I will call 'stars' (Im basing it off of mario if your familiar). Stars can be used to purchase harder to get titles that also come with more pristege.
Let me back up a bit and outline this a bit better. Everything you do on the rpg forum will earn you coins. Coins can be used to buy stars, and minor titles. Stars can only be bought with coins, the exception is that if you complete an rpg you can receive a star that way. In addition to the cost of a title, some titles may also have pre-requisites. For example, Roleplayer A wants the RPG Veteran title. Lets say this Title has a cost of 10 stars, but in addition, Roleplayer A must also have completed 5 RPGs, mentored at least one roleplayer, gave 50 constructive comments in the Yes or No topic, contributed to 6 monthly RPG newsletters, etc. This will give goals which a roleplayer can aspire to, and the possesion of such a title shows other roleplayers that this person has done what it takes to earn it, this being an active and helpful member of RPG. Along with the purchased title, a custom banner showcasing one of the persons characters can be made for them (maybe by Bex, although anyone can apply to be one of these banner makers), giving an additional reason to want to earn a title. Not all the titles have to be hard, there can be lesser titles that even newbies can earn after some time and activity on the forum, and the only limit to how many titles and what kinds are our imaginations.
I realise that if coins are given for every active thing done in RPG there may be the risk of SPAM, solely to earn such things. So a certain level of common sense is needed. If you do a post for an rpg and its a short paragraph and the RPG doesnt specifically say thats ok, it wont earn you a single coin. If someone asks for feedback on an rpg idea and you are rude or an asshole, you wont earn anything. The idea isnt to sacrifice quality for activity, so keep up the quality when you post in anything.
One more thing as Im running out of time before work and I want to be able to go eat beforehand ^-^() Should this be implemented and people begin earning titles, if you dont want to participate in gaining coins or earning the titles, you dont have to. It CAN be optional, its just a little something to give people incentive to become active. However participating in the title format is obviously the only way to earn these titles. I do have more worked out about this idea and more of the layout designed but I will open the floor for now, and maybe some of your questions I can fill in the answers for that way.
I await your thoughts, people of RPG.