rpanons | Hear the voice of thanatos

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AU games aren't bad, but they are certainly harder. Unless they're set on a mostly normal Earth, it requires a lot of research into understanding the game. More than just a jamjar, because you can honestly learn as you go in most jamjars, but in an AU game you have to have it all figured out when you start. And then of course the entire application process is harder because you have to write a history that complements their personality within the constraints of the AU world.

I actually enjoy doing this, but it's not everyone's song and dance.

That said, I'd like to see a good AU game without a school setting with a large world to go around and explore. When I first started RPing, all RPs were set in open worlds and you could go wherever the hell you want. Communicators weren't just lazy conveniences, but vital because you might be talking to someone hundreds of miles away. The best excuse for hiatusing your character was just that they were traveling from X to Y and that takes time. Since entering panfandom, I've always been bummed that travel has been taken out of the equation and everyone is always in the same area, even with AUs. I'd like a game where there is no central hub save for one where characters, for whatever IC reasons, decide to converge at.

I like AU games where characters can use the open world for their backstory, but where most of the in-game action is centered on a specific place for plot reasons. That's really the only way to have an open world game that's not dependent on communication devices (which aren't appropriate for all settings). I prefer face-to-face threads and that's hard if most of the characters aren't in the same place. But if characters need to travel somewhere else for a scene, they should be able to do so. As long as the mod has enough control to ensure consistency, open worlds can be fantastic.

In trying to make every game "easy" and accessible to every type of player and every type of character, we've ended up with a lot of very similar, very formulaic games.

I do enjoy my face-to-face stuff a lot. Which is why, honestly, communicators seem pointless in games where everyone is in one place. Even moreso in game where there's no generic NPCs. But I like the idea of people being all over the place. There can be a central hub, sure, but it's a little boring if over half the player characters are all there at once. When there's no central hub, it's easier for factions to form and people to have to pick loyalties. If 80% of the game is in one place, then it's going to be Us vs. Them where Them is just the NPCs.

I do wish that there were more games without communicators... I mean, sometimes they're a lot of fun, but there's no reason why they have to be the "default."

You can also build good factions by having some of them defined by the mods ahead of time.

Hear the voice of thanatos

Re: Non-Jamjar Ideas

Re: Non-Jamjar Ideas

Re: Non-Jamjar Ideas

Re: Non-Jamjar Ideas