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OOC: On Ending RP Topics and other random thoughts

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
My mind is buzzing with quite a few RP-related thoughts after a convo with Kimi about different styles of RP. One is the idea of having the same character in two or more topics at a time: a good thing, or a plot hole disaster waiting to happen?

Another is on double posting or autoing someone elses charrie if they are inactive for an extended period of time with no word on why.

But what I'm really wondering, and I know others must consider it too since it NEVER seems to happen, is how to go about ending a RP topic.

Some topics set out to be lengthy novel-ish things, like pretty well any trainer-based or journey-based topic, but since they're fun to do people enjoy getting into them. It's when they drag on over months and months that activity dwindles, people get new ideas and want to start new topics, etc. So, what happens to these older topics?
A lot of the time they're just left to die. People may poke at them every few weeks with a new post, but overall the topic is dead. What do you do? Should you officially end topics that are going downhill for the sake of ending them, or just let them trail off until you're sure nobody is ever going to reply again?

I think if a topic seems to be failing and nobody is really interested in it anymore, it should be given a proper burial. That way nobody feels obligated to continue replying and can move onto fresher ideas with the same characters. It may take a few posts to get there and A LOT of fast-forwarding, but if everyone can get in the key plot points they wanted for their characters it makes things a lot easier. Maybe it wouldn't take multiple posts either. Just give your ideas to one poster and have them make an all-encompassing ending. Hell, even just one final post that says "This topic is dead. Go away." would be better than nothing, tho I'd rather go for something a bit more creative :p

Why am I asking this at all? I guess it's because, a lot of the time, topics start feeling like an obligation - not just for one poster, but for all of them. Nobody says anything because they don't want to be labeled as a quitter. Why not just end the topic then and be done with it? It'd save people a whole whack of stress and time. Ie. It'd save people like ME a whole whack of stress and time :p

Thoughts on that rant or the stuff I mentioned above? It's currently 4am. If none of this made sense, humor me :p
 
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I concur!

Once you're in an rp, you're trapped there. And since you can't magically be in two places at once, you would have to situate which rp happened before the other. IF you are in two at the same time, it limits what can and can't be done.

Sure you could catch a pokemon, then say it was in the box, which is why it isn't in your other rp at first. But what about evolution and whatnot... If your squirtle evolves in this topic, then that means this is the 'future' topic of what happens in your other one, thus, limiting what you can or can't do. You can't evolve squirtle in the other, cause it happens on later.

You could bring about time travel, or paradoxes, which have to be self-repaired for the sake of existance, leading us into tangent realms. But the realms rarely combine...

Rant

Even when there are ways around being in multiple RPs at once, there are other issues. Maybe one RP is more active than another, and so the posters of one get discouraged. Maybe you don't enjoy one as much as the other, and just feel obligated... or you neglect one and drag it out for everyone else.

Topics should always come to an end, but before that happens, you need to ensure its finished/dead.

Even if you were the last to post, maybe someone doesn't entirely comprehend what you did, or they don't know how to react. They may be too embaressed or don't want to hurt your feelings by saying "I dunno whats going on. Could you tell me just what those last few posts meant? I thought we were here, but she is there and you are somewhere else, when we should be together somewheres... So where are we?"

If someone isn't replying, without reason, just go on without them. It may be 'auto-ing' a tinsy bit by saying the group went on while so-and-so hung back for reasons oblivious to everyone else, but it gets the rp moving. If someone has the time to read you 'auto'ing them and bish about it, then they have the time to make a reply of their own.

Even if they get mad, just tell them to make a reply and you'll delete yours, so long as the rp is moving.

And don't be afraid to double post! There may be a rule against it, I'm not sure, but sometimes its just needs to be done.


Now, as Katikins was going on about: Actually Ending the topics..

Just end it like it was a flashback or something. If you are in new rps, then obviously the old ones happened in the past. Just have a post that summarizes what your charrie did/learned/accomplished.
You don't have to be specific. If your group was going against a massive evil or something, tell how it all came out. Seeing as the evil isn't apparently around in the new rp topics, you either destroyed it, chased it away, or its hidden somewhere and still plotting.

I've said enough, and maybe what I have stated ammounts to nothing at all, but I've got a lot of free-time, so I'm ready to RP.

I come off as an ass, and that is because I am. Sorry, but I am.

We have really really talented RP-ers here! I could be somewhere where there are 100s of people in a pokemon rpg, but no, I like it here. I have read what you guys can do, and its awesome! Lets keep it going, a'ight?
 

Sem

The Last of the Snowmen
Former Administrator
Bah, I'm totally for having your RP character in multiple topics. If one of my pokemon happens to evolve, (Which probably wont happen if I'm in two topics.) Then I wont have it happen in the other. I will take everything that happened in the two RP's and have them count in the next one I'm in. I think the matter depends on the RPer and how he/she works. Also depends on their view of the timeframe. One RP could've happened before or after the other which I see no problem with. o.o I dunno.... That's just Sem's ramblings.
 

Doctor Oak

Staff member
Overlord
I've finished a topic before.

In fact, i've finished a number of them. The last time I did, though, was back in the days of the Pokeschool Snitz so bleh.
 

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
Bah, I'm totally for having your RP character in multiple topics. If one of my pokemon happens to evolve, (Which probably wont happen if I'm in two topics.) Then I wont have it happen in the other. I will take everything that happened in the two RP's and have them count in the next one I'm in. I think the matter depends on the RPer and how he/she works. Also depends on their view of the timeframe. One RP could've happened before or after the other which I see no problem with. o.o I dunno.... That's just Sem's ramblings.

People have to agree on which topic fits where in the timeline, tho. If they don't, or it isn't discussed, they could unintentionally screw things up. I guess the simple way to avoid that from happening is going by creation dates, but some posters don't always view it like that. Either way, I agree about the evo issue. Generally if I DID plan to evolve a Pokemon my charrie wouldn't be in two topics at once, or if they were it'd be very clear which topic came first.

I've finished a topic before.

In fact, i've finished a number of them. The last time I did, though, was back in the days of the Pokeschool Snitz so bleh.

I've finished topics before, too, but like you it happened ages ago. I can't remember ever seeing a topic finished on Pskl PRP that wasn't a battle topic. Nowadays I'd be surprised if one actually did reach completion. Surprised, and damn proud :p
 

Yoshimitsu

Former Moderator
Yes. Because I finished topics after you did. Or I was a part of them anyway. In a strange and obscure way.

I'd prove this fact too, but me and RLRL managed to get the old boards deleted.
 

Prof. Cinders

Mathemagician
Staff member
Administrator
I still have a link to an archive that was made just after the boards were closed, but that's not really important. :p Hardly any of the topics I've been in were actually finished. Even the first KI topic was left for dead about a third of the way across the islands, after ten successful pages.

I try to avoid plotholes where possible when one of my characters is in more than one simultaneous topic. There's nearly always a continuous timeline in my head for where each of my characters are going (which is hard, since I have over 20 characters at my last count), so I know pretty much what happens in each topic. Unless there are unexpected twists. But they don't do anything major to my characters, since most of them are secondary to the adventure itself.

Ending the topics themselves shouldn't be hard for anyone, since that would just put people off doing that as well. A brief summary of events where they are and what should've happened should be enough. Perhaps a flashback, as Kimi suggested, or maybe a few sentences on a successful conclusion. It'd probably be better for all the participants to make a few posts before it's actually closed, even if one poster just isn't there anymore, so the end's a bit more rounded. It'd make everyone feel like they've achieved something at least, however small. When it gets to the point of no one wanting to post, though, the person who created the topic to begin with should either have a go at them (not the best thing in the world) or just end the topic quickly. Sometimes just letting it drop's a good thing.

On another forum I go on frequently, the main admin just locks the topics once the main plotline's out of the way. If something else crops up that branches off from that, then another topic's made to continue it, or whatever. It makes things look a lot more full, especially when she pulls a Rosie and bugs you to reply as it is. :p Some of the topics on that forum've got to a lot more than ten pages, too. Considering that there's only about... 3 active posters, that's pretty good.
 

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
With my current "mainstream" character here, I flashbacked to the catch of her Pikachu in my profile because the topic it should've happened in died early. Considering that Charms already has lax rules on forming a team it didn't break any rules, but should it?
 
Nah. Gary (Alex-no-more) is right. The boards are too small to have such rules. To be matched against the stronger trainers, sometimes you need to start a little stronger. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in their league for years. But there are newb trainers out there, (ME!) that give more reason for others to start weak.

I 'DO' think that after you post a profile, you must start from there. For instance, lets say Bob had 6 pokemon, and Bill has 6. Bill had 4 advantages on his team over Bob. The two of them had been rp'ing for months now, and it lead to a friendly battle. Bob doesn't want to lose. So Bob edits his profile to say that he had 'such n such' pokemon in storage. No Bob has all the advantages and wins, wii!!

There should be certain restrictions, but not-so-much as a full blown rpg.

A question I've always wondered:

Is Pokecharms PRP a continium?

If certain events lead to the destruction of Cerulean.. Would that affect it in all other topics as well?

Or is the prp a collection of 'what-ifs'?

=/


Hmmmm..

I vote for the first, but when an event is to effect the boundries and constants of the world we rp in, it must be agreed upon by the moderator. KAtikins!
 

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
I have some issues against large scale destruction of key cities. For one thing, it screws up people who want to RP in those cities but have no clue it was supposedly destroyed a few RPs back. Without an actual seperate RP history topic, tho, they shouldn't be expected to know either.

Although, having mainstream characters already signifies that it is, indeed, a continium. Large scale destruction just hasn't come up in any topics yet. If it did start happening, though, I'd almost be inclined to make a rule against key cities from the games being destroyed. Unless, again, everyone chipped in to keep a history topic going for easy reference. The ones who destroyed it would also need to explain what came about by the action if the city originally contained a Gym, Contest, specific location, etc.

Thoughts?

I 'DO' think that after you post a profile, you must start from there. For instance, lets say Bob had 6 pokemon, and Bill has 6. Bill had 4 advantages on his team over Bob. The two of them had been rp'ing for months now, and it lead to a friendly battle. Bob doesn't want to lose. So Bob edits his profile to say that he had 'such n such' pokemon in storage. No Bob has all the advantages and wins, wii!!

IMO, that'd just be kinda dumb, and said person would probably be smited for it. If it were me in the situation, I'd tell 'em to change it back or I'm not battling :p

IF, tho, say a year passed and someone hadn't been RPing for one reason or another, I see no reason why they can't revamp their bio a little. It'd save them from creating a brand new bio, which is what most people would just end up doing. Still... There is the Kitten rule for a reason.
 

Prof. Cinders

Mathemagician
Staff member
Administrator
The destruction of large scale cities would be hard to deal with, but possible. I know we managed it at pskl, simply because, well, we had a history topic. ^^ Of course, that was before the move, but whatever. They can be destroyed, and doing so would indeed lead to consequences. Consequences like large craters where gyms, houses, train stations and whatnot used to be, for example. And that would mean stuffs would be relocated. History topics are your friend. :p Only if it starts happening, though. And that would probably only be in a huge war or something, or a large-ish group of legendaries going on a rampage. Always fun. ^^ Seeing as there are, after all, only a few members who contribute to PRP as of yet, a history topic would be easy to keep up to date. Of course there are difficulties, but they can be dealt with when they arrive.
 

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
Heh... After ranting at El, I've got one more question to ask.

Do people care about continuity?

Do you care if timelines get screwed up, or if a city destroyed in one topic is untouched in another? Do you find it helpful having rules on each or enjoy it being more open, with really only the character themselves and their Pokemon being the constant factor?

I was going to post a topic with voting n' stuff, but I don't even know if its worth it. A lack of responses proves to me that it really isn't an issue with most, and that's fine as far as I'm concerned right now. I just want to RP :O
 
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