[quote=@Guess Who] [@SevenStormStyle] Why not just bring up your ideas in the OOC and see if people like them before implementing them in the IC? If I were creating an event that I felt would make any sort of significant impact to the RP, that's what I would do. If people like it, they can say so. If not, they can explain why. I'd like to think we're all friendly enough with each other to not just shoot each other's creations down. [/quote] Seven probs wouldn't do that for the same reason I need to [i]stop[/i] doing that: because my ideas will cause people to get angry, and some of us don't handle confrontation very well. Just look at "Gren and his Fusion Core" or even read the book "Gren is a cyborg" to see how well those ideas went. And that's kinda the thing too; a lot of ideas have gotten shot down rather publicly, and while we're still together, there's no doubt that a lot of us have done stupid shit that has painted us in a negative fashion. I can really only speak for myself considering that I have been the source of a lot of salt and bullshit that has gone on in this RP. From the very notion that Gren is a cyborg with a semblance, to his affiliations with the White Fang, and even things I want to have but don't quite got, such as additional upgrades and his plot to take over the team. On the flipside, how everyone talks about how shitty RWBY is in canon also kinda kills me mood to RP. I won't try to convince you that RWBY is good because that falls under the purview of your preference in entertainment. But I'm also the type of guy who would take a fragment of something and become inspired to expand on it. Stuff like "extremely humanoid robots/androids exist" and "Youths are freakishly talented with combat and engineering before highschool" and go nuts with it. Or when there isn't anything to explain how something can happen, but it does happen, than I'd make up a reason for it that has neither been supported or disproved. But then I come here and see people talk shit about that when it actually becomes true in canon, and it makes me think that maybe I can't do what I want because people don't like that. Than it makes me think I made a bad character because there are so many people, or at least someone who's raising a big fuss about it, and that just kills any interest in not only my character, but in the RP as a whole. I'm digressing so I'll get to the crux of the issue: at some point the RWBY we wanted isn't the RWBY we got. I don't know what you guys expected but I'm going to guess that what we were given isn't really that interesting to you, and now you got a gift you don't know what to do with. Some of us handle it better than others, but it's gotten to the point where it's kinda hard to have [i]fun[/i]. [quote=@HereComesTheSnow] On this point, I've found that a good mentality for attacking the internals of the issue is this. Roleplays are, in essence, people coming together to tell stories. No matter how much or how little you may interact with whatever ephemeral, in this case formless and not quite there main plotline, [i]you are telling the story of your character[/i]. And they are, doubtlessly, the main character of their own story. It's similar to acting. You don't just become a cog in the machine of the play, you become the character you are cast as and are doing everything from their point of view, telling their side of the story through your words, actions, and emotions. It's actually [i]more[/i] liberating here, because despite interacting with others and following a general line of plot you have the freedom of tweaking the script in regards to your character. You're not locked into the role that only gets one line and is there in one scene, you are always able to really go into the meat of the character-- because you have complete creative control of what they do and who they are, so long as it meshes with this very forgiving setting. They can fail, They can suffer, They can go through complete hell on earth, even if they aren't important to anyone else's plot. The "camera", so to speak, is always on them through your posts and narration, even if it's well away from whomever's been designated BumFuck McGee and the Chosen Three. It helps for them to forge connections and get involved in big stuff, sure, but you always need to remember that for every bit that they are a part of that story, that story is a part of [i]their[/i] story. That's the story we're here to tell, to me. The roleplay comes about in how these individual threads weave together, how these stories interact, cross, and share with one another. That's where the magic happens, not in which way the whole rope goes but in how each thread tenses and slacks within. Or something like that. Just write their tale, man. Don't look at me. As long as they have somebody to play off of I'm set. [/quote] I'd like to say I agree to this, and I do, but once more personal experience has made me think that this sort of thinking doesn't pan out in practice. Once more, Gren is my example. I'll admit I do want to load him up with all sorts of cool shit I think it's possible in RWBY, shit like jetpacks, giant guns, and badass robot armor. In my own opinion that's stuff I can see Gren wanting and eventually getting. But the problem comes from the fact that he does have to interact with others, and in a semi-competitive combat RP, there needs to be balance. When Lugu said that Gren is likely the "strongest" character in the RP, I was confused and worried. I won't lie; he's pretty badass in a fight. But ideally, so is everyone else. We're fucking hunters, not Jaune. Each of us ought to be able to not only hold our own but carry others too, either when necessary or when possible. In my mind, Gren isn't the "strongest" character because I don't care if he's the strongest or not. He's just exactly what I want him to be, which is basically an ork-sized gundam. But now that he's the "strongest", I feel like I have this pressure to both maintain a high level of strength, but also a limit to what else I can do or add onto him because he's already "the strongest", even if he hasn't achieved or obtained everything I wanted for him. SO that, plus me pondering and asking about getting him more things, have tended to backfire on me and makes me wonder if Gren is more work than he's worth. In this world of super powered teenage warriors, giant shadowy monsters, and weapons with no place in logic, I just wanted to be a giant robot. But I can't. And that makes me sad.