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Your thoughts on panfandom games


Keaton
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On 5/21/2021 at 11:13 PM, Keaton said:

 

I've done this as well; we referred to it as everyone being an AU version of the character for the setting. I enjoyed it a lot, as did some others, but I found that it was hard for certain people who were super used to the standard panfandom "dropped in straight from their canon" (or, alternately, who had played in single-fandom games) to get their brains around it. They really tried, but it was a challenge and they felt out of their depth, partially because they were coming from a culture that so intensely emphasized characters aligning with their source canon. It was hard for them to think outside of that box without getting anxious. I really loved it, though, and would absolutely do it again.

 

I've also tried to play in games that altered the base canon's experiences/memories to reflect a new and unique setting, and I've found it really challenging as a roleplayer. The thing I like about canon RP is that you are essentially taking the reigns of someone else's creation and guiding them through new adventures. They have a baseline personality and set of memories (that you presumbly like), and you get to use those to inform how they will react to new situations and stimuli. They then go through changes organically, and you can use the blueprint of their existing memories/personality while still being creative in how you choose to adapt them to change. 

 

My issue with nontraditional/AU panfandoms is that some of them remove a lot of the experiences/memories that shape a character's personality, and you get into a kind of weird, philosophical area when you start building that AU character. For example, personified/amnesia panfandoms are popular; basically, your character exists in a new world with a completely different identity and memories, and can eventually start to remember their original life -- or not. So when you start building this alternate identity, you have to start asking some pretty heavy identity questions. Is a person born good or bad, or are they made good or bad by their experiences? How deeply do childhood memories affect growth/development as an adult? Etc.,.

 

As strange as it sounds, I feel like it puts too much of the creative control back in the roleplayer's hands, and you can end up with a character who is wildly different from the original -- which, for some people, is a big plus! They like to take the character in all sorts of different directions from there. But for me -- if I wanted to play a largely original character, I'd just go on an OC site. If I wanted to play with characters that were nothing like their canon selves, I'd just forget the canon bit and go on an OC site.

 

So I'm very much the person you are talking about, haha! I've been doing canon RP exclusively for almost 10 years, so I suppose I'm just very set in my ways. 

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I don't mind fandom mixes that work well together (example: Teen Wolf and Twilight or something?) but I'm not a fan of pan-fandom. Mostly because of the fact that most pan-fandom websites/groups lack a set focus or goal with their site --- and there's almost no continuity with canons. If canons aren't a thing, there's still issues with conflicting graphics, and if only one kind of graphic is allowed it can be weird to really invest or believe that it's the thing it's supposed to be to begin with.

 

Add all that onto a community whose plots overall tend to fall flat due to the initial point of the forum itself lacking focus (it's a sandbox)...and well...it gets old very fast. I'd much rather have a smaller but more focused setting to be creative in, over a sandbox with nothing to do unless I force it constantly.

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2 hours ago, Hysteria said:

Add all that onto a community whose plots overall tend to fall flat due to the initial point of the forum itself lacking focus (it's a sandbox)...and well...it gets old very fast. I'd much rather have a smaller but more focused setting to be creative in, over a sandbox with nothing to do unless I force it constantly.

 

This is a misconception that I'm coming to realize is really common in the forum RP space, that panfandoms are by nature sandboxes, which isn't true. If they were, I definitely would agree about the lack of focus and the need to constantly push your own plot. This conception of what a panfandom is and can be I think may be why there aren't more in this setting, and that makes sense. I personally have always struggled with sandboxes, and I say that as someone who loves to create her own plot.


But again, it's a misconception — I come from journal RP, where panfandom is king, and there are almost no sandboxes. (And when sandboxes do exist, they tend to be short-lived.) Almost all games have unique, dynamic settings, often with the same interesting "hooks" or dilemmas you see in many OC games, with regular plotted events. The panfandom game I ran before my current one was one of the most deeply-plotted games I've seen anywhere, of any type, with a entirely unique world with its own encyclopedias of things like native animals and plant life, and monthly events related to its three-year mystery arc where players signed up to accomplish specific aspects of the plot. The one I've just started doesn't have a three-year meta arc, but is still deeply-plotted, with many opt-in events laid out for players to take advantage of and use to push their character development. In short, like any other plotted game. I'd really love to see a greater diversity of this type of actively-plotted panfandom game in the forum space.

 

2 hours ago, Hysteria said:

If canons aren't a thing, there's still issues with conflicting graphics, and if only one kind of graphic is allowed it can be weird to really invest or believe that it's the thing it's supposed to be to begin with.

 

I don't understand what you mean by graphic here; can somebody can explain for the (relative) forum newbie?

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3 hours ago, Keaton said:

This is a misconception that I'm coming to realize is really common in the forum RP space, that panfandoms are by nature sandboxes, which isn't true. If they were, I definitely would agree about the lack of focus and the need to constantly push your own plot. This conception of what a panfandom is and can be I think may be why there aren't more in this setting, and that makes sense. I personally have always struggled with sandboxes, and I say that as someone who loves to create her own plot.


But again, it's a misconception — I come from journal RP, where panfandom is king, and there are almost no sandboxes. (And when sandboxes do exist, they tend to be short-lived.) Almost all games have unique, dynamic settings, often with the same interesting "hooks" or dilemmas you see in many OC games, with regular plotted events. The panfandom game I ran before my current one was one of the most deeply-plotted games I've seen anywhere, of any type, with a entirely unique world with its own encyclopedias of things like native animals and plant life, and monthly events related to its three-year mystery arc where players signed up to accomplish specific aspects of the plot. The one I've just started doesn't have a three-year meta arc, but is still deeply-plotted, with many opt-in events laid out for players to take advantage of and use to push their character development. In short, like any other plotted game. I'd really love to see a greater diversity of this type of actively-plotted panfandom game in the forum space.

 

I'm forced to respectfully disagree based upon my own experiences. Every pan-fandom site I've seen has been highly sand-box based. A few of them had a cool opening "plot" as an introduction, but it would often leave players to explore for an unbeknownst amount of time without ever really picking up what players provided to progress forward.  I've seen this happen, at minimum, ten times when apart of one and far more than that whilst being an advertising mod and just looking over things.

 

I'd love to see a pan-fandom that actually enticed and rewarded it's members that actively pushed things forward, and I'm not against that sort of roleplay environment, but based upon statistics I don't think that it's a misconception. Pan-fandoms are rarely rich in story and plot progression.

 

However, you're welcome to provide active forum-based examples to the contrary.

 

3 hours ago, Keaton said:

I don't understand what you mean by graphic here; can somebody can explain for the (relative) forum newbie?

 

Ow my hip.

 

Graphics essentially mean anything used to portray a character or scene. So, for example you have one character using IRL FC's and another using anime FC's interacting in a thread on a website that has an IRL banner with both realistic looking people and 2D anime characters together on it. It's quite odd to look at and pulls you out of the setting visually.

 

It's a similar logic when a movie uses "too much" CGI in the wrong way, detracting from what would have or could have been an interesting scene, due to how distractingly different the set is from the character's portrayed on it (A good example of CGI was the original Jurassic Park since it incorporated both CGI and robotic elements - a bad example might be, say, the Berserk movie which relied on heavy CGI for the entirety and suffered in quality as a result).

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25 minutes ago, Hysteria said:

I'm forced to respectfully disagree based upon my own experiences. Every pan-fandom site I've seen has been highly sand-box based. A few of them had a cool opening "plot" as an introduction, but it would often leave players to explore for an unbeknownst amount of time without ever really picking up what players provided to progress forward.  I've seen this happen, at minimum, ten times when apart of one and far more than that whilst being an advertising mod and just looking over things.

 

I'd love to see a pan-fandom that actually enticed and rewarded it's members that actively pushed things forward, and I'm not against that sort of roleplay environment, but based upon statistics I don't think that it's a misconception. Pan-fandoms are rarely rich in story and plot progression.

 

However, you're welcome to provide active forum-based examples to the contrary.

 

I may not have been clear enough in my reply. I understand that's your experience, and I recognize that this is a common experience in forum RP. I was specifically using examples from journal RP to clarify that games do not have to be sandboxes (Originally you said "it's a sandbox," implying all are), and that there are places where they actively are not -- Places where the game works exactly the way you've stated you'd like to see.  As I said, "I'd really love to see a greater diversity of this type of actively-plotted panfandom game in the forum space." I get that there currently aren't many examples in forums. There are loads of them on sites like Dreamwidth and InsaneJournal, although I don't recommend either site because of their often-toxic culture.

 

27 minutes ago, Hysteria said:

Graphics essentially mean anything used to portray a character or scene. So, for example you have one character using IRL FC's and another using anime FC's interacting in a thread on a website that has an IRL banner with both realistic looking people and 2D anime characters together on it. It's quite odd to look at and pulls you out of the setting visually.

 

It's a similar logic when a movie uses "too much" CGI in the wrong way, detracting from what would have or could have been an interesting scene, due to how distractingly different the set is from the character's portrayed on it (A good example of CGI was the original Jurassic Park since it incorporated both CGI and robotic elements - a bad example might be, say, the Berserk movie which relied on heavy CGI for the entirety and suffered in quality as a result).

 

I know what graphics are -- I do graphics and web design, and have done for over 20 years. I thought you were maybe referring to a less-broad meaning of the term specific to forum RP, sort of like how the meaning of "canon" has been changed in these spaces from the original meaning. Like maybe "graphic" to you mean just a sidebar image or something.

 

What you've explained here isn't something that's a concern to me, personally, although I've seen plenty of games where they require a real-life PB/FC even if the character is from something animated.

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34 minutes ago, Keaton said:

There are loads of them on sites like Dreamwidth and InsaneJournal

 

Is journaling rp...not done via shared notebooks now? What separates it from forum rp and how is the pan-fandom on online journaling sites different from forum-based? You've given the base but not the information behind it so more information would be appreciated.

 

 

35 minutes ago, Keaton said:

I know what graphics are -- I do graphics and web design, and have done for over 20 years.

 

Sorry if I offended you, dude. It wasn't intentional.

 

 

35 minutes ago, Keaton said:

What you've explained here isn't something that's a concern to me, personally, although I've seen plenty of games where they require a real-life PB/FC even if the character is from something animated.

 

To each their own. I like art, and photo editing, and so on, and clearly so do you, even if it isn't a necessity. I find a good environment to write in and get you motivated is important, but that's just me. I get motivated through selectively chosen graphics, and FC's that can easily fit into a scene in my imagination without clashing in an unrealistic way (be they animated or not).

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20 minutes ago, Hysteria said:

Is journaling rp...not done via shared notebooks now? What separates it from forum rp and how is the pan-fandom on online journaling sites different from forum-based? You've given the base but not the information behind it so more information would be appreciated.

 

Obviously there are differences in how the platform works, but mostly what I'm referring to here is culture. In journal-based RP communities (Sites like LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, InsaneJournal, etc), panfandom as I said, is king. Almost all games are panfandom, and most of those are plotted, not sandboxes. Particularly on Dreamwidth, you almost never find single-fandom or OC games. Not sure exactly when the switch happened with that, as there used to be lots of single-fandom games. Even for the lazier journal-based panfandom games, they'll have monthly events, whether stand-alone or part of a larger plot. Otherwise you can't keep players. As I said, they don't really tolerate directionless sandboxes well in that space.

 

20 minutes ago, Hysteria said:

Sorry if I offended you, dude. It wasn't intentional.

 

No worries!

 

20 minutes ago, Hysteria said:

I find a good environment to write in and get you motivated is important, but that's just me. I get motivated through selectively chosen graphics, and FC's that can easily fit into a scene in my imagination without clashing in an unrealistic way (be they animated or not).

 

I like well-done, well-placed graphics, too, so I appreciate what you're saying -- Funnily enough, journal RP that I described above can actually be very graphics-focused, as they use different 100x100 px icons for every post (as opposed to the single avatar or sidebar image you tend to see in forums). There are definitely games over there that draw a hard line on whether you can use RL or animated PBs. Not my thing, but it's a pretty constant point of argument in that space.

 

The equivalent for me personally to what you're talking about is probably the site layout -- There are a LOT of games I've passed on because I found the layout mega-distracting or just bland. So I get it! We all have our quirks and preferences.

Edited by Keaton
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  • 11 months later...

I love panfandom games. I find it fun and interesting for my character to interact with characters from different fandoms as well as meeting and befriending writers from other fandoms. 

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  • 1 month later...
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I'm always jealous of the people who can do panfandoms. They seem like they're a ton of fun but the way my brain works I really like writing and leaning heavy in to the setting and there's something that tells my brain 'no' when Sonic and Geralt are hanging out. It's entirely a personal hangup cause I KNOW there's a ton of characters I could play on one that I'd never get a chance to otherwise. I'd like the idea of one where everyone was integrated fully in to the new pan-world made, but I don't think I've come across one before :c

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  • 2 months later...

I love the idea of panfandom games. I've only joined and enjoyed one in my history of roleplaying. I think they need a specific execution in order for me to enjoy it. 

 

I really like when all of the panfandom worlds are open to explore, there's an overarching plot but not an overbearing one and a focus on adventure. It has to invite cross-fandom writing somehow. I've been on sites where members only really request characters from their own fandom and don't rp with anyone else. My favourite part of a panfandom site is the randomness that ensues when you get two+ characters from completely different worlds. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a difficult time with panfandoms. When dealing with canon characters, my understanding of how to play them is informed by the world around them. Removing them from their context removes my understanding of how they measure up to other characters, how they react to certain happenings, etc. Or you get those panfandoms where the characters are spirits/personified or all their powers have been removed and they're all living in a small town or something and it's like... well... I don't want to write Wolverine if he doesn't have any of his abilities or experiences. It basically defeats the point.

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  • 7 months later...

ive been on a few and always end up leaving them in the end, i feel more inspired to rp these canons in their home settings and with other characters from their world.  i do like them for the ability to interact with other characters.  but  most of them are "slice of life", or  "im stuck here and have to get home".  its hard to get excited in fight threads, or have the same drama that makes a character stand up. i think they are good for people who want to chill, but if that isn't the roleplay life you want then they are kind of boring

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