What's new
Star Army

Star ArmyⓇ is a landmark of forum roleplaying. Opened in 2002, Star Army is like an internet clubhouse for people who love roleplaying, art, and worldbuilding. Anyone 18 or older may join for free. New members are welcome! Use the "Register" button below.

Note: This is a play-by-post RPG site. If you're looking for the tabletop miniatures wargame "5150: Star Army" instead, see Two Hour Wargames.

  • If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 October and November 2024 are YE 46.8 in the RP.

Open Roleplay Feedback

Wes

Wes

Founder & Admin
Staff Member
🌸 FM of Yamatai
🎖️ Game Master
Discord Booster
🎨 Media Gallery
I've asked for feedback on Open Roleplay. One of the more useful responses that I've got is this:

"There is a very limited amount of open role play opportunity currently set up. I know that it is basically the world is your oyster do as you will (within reason), but again new people who don't know the setting have a hard time creating their own locations, they don't know what is acceptable. Can they start a giant floating space casino? Is there one that exists that would allow them to go in and play games and better yet, interact with other players? The open role play forums need open environments for players to gather in. Neutral territory space stations for Yamataian and Nepleslians to get together and have a drink without the ability to go killing each other on sight. The plot ships are nice, but it is pretty hard to get into one. People need places and settings that will allow them to play out their own individual character plots. At current it is so wide open it is stifling. And who moderates these open plots? Who can a new player turn to who is able to say yay or nay with authority, especially if they aren't going to be a part of a plot ship?"
​
Some neutral ground would be a good thing for RP. More than anything, we need RP locations where:
  1. Characters are motivated to flock to it (like social hub zones in MMORPGs)
  2. Characters have reasons to interact with each other.
@ Everyone: Now that it's been running for a few months (since September 2013), I'd like your thoughts on the Open RP forum, too.

Here's some ideas/thoughts I've had:
  1. Maybe the faction forums should all be in Open RP and the plot forums in their own category instead of under the faction ones.
  2. A new international relations conference and related trade fair might be a good reason to create a place where everyone could cross paths.
  3. Maybe we need a list of detailed RP locations. One per faction?
  4. Yes, there are answers to those questions
    1. Yes, you can start a casino
    2. Yes, one exists (Fruna Ruica, right?) - but it has no Open RP thread AFAIK
    3. Thread creators act as GMs for Open RP threads, Floodwaters is the Open RP moderator

      ...but are those answers easily found?
  5. Dead threads are not really "open." Should we sort them into the relevant factional forum (or SARP noncanon if needed) once they're 30 days old?
 
It strikes me that Dawn Station from Origin Industries might be one of those places where people could mingle. Star Fortress Psices might've been too, but it might be too official/military to serve in that capacity as presented, and it being on the Yamatai/Nepleslia border makes it more of a embassy under imperial supervision than anything else.

There's another casino in Nepleslian territory, on the planet Fortuna. It's called "The Lady of Oceans" and it's owned by Nepleslian Senator Laj Vinross.
 
It just occurred to me that White Harbor is another location with great potential for being a central hub of Open RP. It's like the Babylon 5 of the SARP setting, complete with the rough Nepleslian sector and little Elysia. It also happens to have casinos, too.
 
Fred said:
It strikes me that Dawn Station from Origin Industries might be one of those places where people could mingle. Star Fortress Psices might've been too, but it might be too official/military to serve in that capacity as presented, and it being on the Yamatai/Nepleslia border makes it more of a embassy under imperial supervision than anything else.\
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I've intended for Dawn station to be. If people want to roleplay in it, they are pretty much free to (within reason) there are several shops, restaurants, and things like that which have blurbs already, and it certainly has room for more. Dawn is one of those places where anyone from anywhere (Except mishhu) can travel to and from freely, and it supports a population of Nepleslians, Yamataians, ELysains, and Abwehrans, as well as a few Lorath and others. As for Pisces station, I would do more with it as the person in control of the Fifth fleet, but I have no idea how much jurisdiction I have over the station itself.
 
SARP has at least ONE casino of note: Shlock's Communion Base, which provides virtually any sort of themed locale one would want. Think like Disneyworld, Las Vegas, and Universal Studios had a threesome and a confusing affair with NASA ensued after.
 
Moogle said:
SARP has at least ONE casino of note: Shlock's Communion Base, which provides virtually any sort of themed locale one would want. Think like Disneyworld, Las Vegas, and Universal Studios had a threesome and a confusing affair with NASA ensued after.
Click to expand...
If people (characters) knew how to get to it, it'd be destroyed by now because it's part of the NMX.
 
Characters do know, Wes. Just not your characters :)~

Joking aside, its Schlock's attempt to study culture and civilisation and give the Mishhu one so they'll have something to do other than to blow each other to bits, so they can settle down and just be civil.
 
On top of that, nobody technically KNOWS shlock is Mishuu, beyond suspicions. Except his inner circle. On account of all the proxy bodies he uses.
 
I've been thinking the best way to get people involved in RP may be to actually start more RP threads. One thing I've noticed is SARP gets an average of only 1-2 new threads on the entire forum per day because mostly it's just replies. I'm trying to think what I can do to encourage you guys to create more RP threads in Open RP. For example, a fun thread idea might be to have random encounters that were set "between missions" of your character's regular plot - things like visiting bars, shopping, or doing things in public places where other characters can run into yours. Basically getting players out and about where they can meet other people's characters (particularly meeting the players who don't know many of us yet, and giving them a good RP experience), instead of just staying cloistered in the plot subforums for years at a time. I would actually love to "hire" an Open RP moderator whose job was just to make and encourage open RP threads like this.
 
Well, the best advice would be to lead by example.

Beyond that I think most people don't have the sort of free time to juggle more than the main plots they're already involved in.

There have been some crossovers recently, though they usually get nested as side threads in their a character's plot's sub-forum.
 
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top