[OOC] Fourth Dimension

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

I don't see a friend option. Have you gone crazy Jollan? I do however see that they've finally implemented arena stats. It's taken them a while, but hopefully those over on the arena section are grateful for it. If anything, I hope that arena section can grow a little bit because of it too. I used to love arenas, it's where I made a few of my favorite characters. Tek might be the only one to know this character, but Nu was made originally for arena RPs.

Jollan, I feel like the only way to fix your predicament is by joining 50 different RPs, and GMing 3 of your own. This way, no matter what, you have something to reply to, or post on, about... Every 5 minutes or so.

Happy pageclaim to me! Happy pageclaim to me! Happy pageclaim dear Ragna~! Happy pageclaim to me!

[Jollan]

Nice pageclaim lol. Well, I am thinking about starting my own RP here soon, I just want the story to be kinda set before going off and making it. Also, if you click on someone's name and go to their profile, you can click "add friend" I sent you and tek one, but I'm not sure where the requests pop up.

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

No request pops up. It's like a one-sided friendship pretty much then. "You wanna be friends?" "No." "Too bad, it says friendship added."

[Jollan]

"I'm friends with _____, I'll get them to kick your ***"

"Oh really? Do they know about that yet?"

haha, I guess they are still working on it

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

I hate buying Visual Novels, just to find out that the route I wanted only takes 4 hours to beat. If you make a visual novel, make sure that each route is at least 10 hours or it's a waste of money and time. Can't believe I spent $15 on pretty much a 4 hour game. Granted, those 4 hours were all amazing, but I hate when things are cut too short. Length is probably my priority now with VNs.

Maybe I shouldn't have bought a VN made specifically for smart phones though. I should have expected it to be short, but not 4 hours short! That's inexcusable! Who here would pay $15 for a 4 hour game? I'm pretty sure no one would raise their hand.

[Jollan]

nope, maybe 4 or 5 at most

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

Exactly. I've played longer Visual Novels that were free too! They didn't have much production value though. The art was bland and generic, and the events weren't really that good, but it was about 15 hours per route, and I enjoyed it to no end. I just hate paying a lot for nothing, even if it's a very well-made piece of nothing, it's still nothing. I'd rather take 10+ hours of okay, rather than 4 hours of something good that ends way too fast for me to soak in.

[Jollan]

I've never done virtual novels, closest thing I've done to that is regular rpgs... or i guess final fantasy tactics.

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

I don't recommend them unless you're like me to be honest. I love to read, I like being able to influence what I read, and I'm a hopeless romantic. If you don't like doing even one of those things, VNs might not be for you. It's rare to find one that has absolutely no romance at all, and a majority of them have romance being the main theme. Even the so-called "legendary" Visual Novels still have major themes of romance, despite what the general consensus says.
Saya no Uta is a horror VN, but one huge arc is your love story with the main heroine.
Fate/Stay Night is an action VN, but one huge arc is falling in love with your chosen partner.

So you pretty much need to be comfortable with three things:

1. Reading, a lot, and keeping all that you've read in your memory to pull up in later situations.

2. Influencing stories. Options will pop up that give you an option to change the story for better or for worse, this is where your reading knowledge comes in.

3. Romance. If you don't like romance, nor are romantic in the slightest, the vast majority of VNs won't appeal to you at all. I am sadly a huge sucker for romance, so I gravitate to VNs like they're giant planets.

The closest video game series I can say that compares to a VN experience is the Pheonix Wright series, but that's stretching it really, really far. Mostly because it's argued that simply picking dialogue options does not mean "gameplay," and Pheonix Wright does far more than simply picking dialogue options.

[Teknonick]

Telltale Games. Look them up. I guess they'd be considered 'graphic novels' without the romance. They have The Walking Dead, Borderlands, Minecraft (Upcoming), Game of Thrones, Some game about fairytales. Albiet, I admit, I only played TWD, BL, and the first episode of te fairy tail one.

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

Meh, those examples aren't anywhere close to VNs really. VNs normally have static images and environments that you can't move around in. It's like a picture book pretty much. Everything looks like this:

Image is put in a hider for space reasons.

Hider

Just static images with text, and that's it.

You get the uncommon fancy image, or maybe animation every now and then, but this is what most VNs look like. Also, they usually have voice acting, though some won't.

There aren't any 3D environments, there's no exploration, there's no "actual gameplay" because you don't even directly control the main character. It's just something you read, and get to make decisions on.

I honestly prefer this simplistic style, because the whole point of a VN is enjoying the story. You don't have to be on guard for random QTEs, nor do you have a limited amount of time to select an option.

You go at your own pace, at your own leisure, and in a way, I do enjoy that more than video games with "oh man, there are zombies, and you have a split-second to decide who you're going to save." Granted, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I'm showing you how it's different from the average Telltale game. You can enjoy QTEs and rushed selections as much as you want, but those frankly aren't for me.

I went way off topic lol. This is what happens when I talk about something that I have a passion for I guess, haha. Or when I go a long time without doing anything IC.

[Jollan]

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

Tek is doing stuff I guess, but I guarantee you something will happen Jollan. Never Give up hope! Don't let the memes put you down!

[Jollan]

So, is anyone else just REEEEEAAAAALLLLYYY tired of WAITING..... HUUUUUUHHHH?

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

Yes yes, I do hate waiting. But, Tek still has his flighty testy stuff, and I still have cousins over (They're leaving tomorrow).

[Jollan]

-_- cant wait for things to pick back up

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

It'll come back eventually, I hope. Since I'm Co-GM, I could just take over... Kidding of course, considering I have no idea how far ahead Tek has planned in terms of plot. I'd imagine he doesn't plan much too far though, mostly because any decision that our characters make can drastically change the course of everything.

That's kind of the crux of Forum RPs, and I think it's why less and less people want to make them. You have to plan a lot, and at the same time, very little. It's part of the reason I haven't made an RP in a long while. Open-ended RPs probably benefit a lot from this. The ending is kind of made by the RPers rather than the GM, which makes it feel a little more special. By open-ended I mean, "your thrust into a world of fantasy and magic. Here are the different empires, kingdoms, and how they interact with each other. Here's also a basic plot to get it all kick-started, and we can take it from there."

Sadly, it's the RPs with limitless potential that die out the quickest. I'm fairly sure I've only ever completed 3 out of the 30+ RPs I've ever been in. A success rate of 10% is kind of saddening, but it's just how role players are these days. They don't commit half as much as they used to. I feel like this is what's going to kill forum role playing.

I e-mailed Fray, and as it turns out, she's done with the site, (if it wasn't obvious already) so can we please move on? Please? I'm begging you Tek!

[Unraveller]

And pretty much all of my free time is spent streaming on Twitch (522 Followers yipee!)
Although it physically and emotional drains me, leaving me incredibly tired.

[RawrgnatheBloodfridge]

Twitch?! Unraveller, gibe to me your name, so that I can follow, and potentially subscribe.

[Unraveller]

Try not to be TOO weird, alright?