Membership What is True Creative Freedom in RP?

[Rouskei 5]

 Honestly, you should be able to play your character how you want in post-based rp I feel. Stat systems do have a place, but I don't that they're suited for every roleplay that has combat in it or any sort of natural tier system already in place normally , they're set to make things more fair and pretty much build rpers efficiently.  It can be nice, but the same aspects of balance provided by stats can come from a simple discussion with the roleplayer. 

[JD Hart 72]

I'm of the opinion that there IS no such thing as creative freedom in roleplaying. Personally, I think if you want total creative freedom - write a book. On your own. If you want to roleplay then you have to accept that there are going to be limitations to your writing. But that the flip side of this is more creative stories as I feel like plots and characters go in directions you might have never expected were you writing on your own.

 

Even if it's just restricted to the "setting" or "style" of the site - you will always be in some ways restricted when it comes to roleplaying.

 

That being said, once working within those parameters, I think that the creative freedom a lot of people are looking for in roleplays can be achieved through mature rping and helpful staff. So, for example - if someone has an idea for a plot but is unsure how to make it work, you need to have staff with a creative mindset who can (if need be) help the member to tweak or adjust the idea so that it is setting appropriate. Just about everything can be adapted or adjusted to fit almost any historical or fantasy style and generally members will be grateful and more confident in their writing when they have discussed it and seen that the staffer is eager to try and make it work. Rather than someone who doesn't take the time to look at how an idea can be adapted and just shuts it down then and there.

 

I have a historical forum and I don't have a stats system in place. Personally I think this limits creativity in a different way than I think people often mean... here's how I see it -

 

If you have a stat that puts your character's strength as lower than someone else's, the other player might insist that there is no way your character could knock them out. Or you might, as the owner of the weaker character not believe a fight is worth trying because you assume you'll lose. But what if you character was crafty? What if they tripped the bigger character to fall over a barrel and bash their head, knocking them out? I feel like stat systems give "powerful" members too much arrogance/security that their character will never face a comeuppance and discourage "weaker" characters from certain plots or stories. I would prefer to see characters that are well thought out and have their own strengths and weaknesses that are much more details and complex than a stat system could define...

 

With regards to gmodding or acting upon another character...

 

The way I have it set up on my site atm is a Damage Limit. As well as triggers, members can select how much damage they are happy for their character to be struck by in threads. While this doesn't allow gmodding (people still have to keep to the rules), it means they can have more confidence that, when they launch an attack, the victim will allow themselves to be injured.

 

Also, on a side by related note in this... what's to stop people just talking? I mean, people do stuff to my characters all the time - hit them with arrows, punch them in the face etc. I have absolutely zero issue with this and everytime someone launches something at one of them, I make my characters take it (like a man!). But if ever there is an issue or someone goes to far it doesn't have to be an "OMG YOU BROKE THE GMOD RULES! SHAME SHAME SHAME!!" fest. I just pop them a message be like - "hey dude, you mind dialling that down just a tad? I promise next time I want an arrow in the eye, you'll be the first I call on, but I'm not ready for an eyepatch just yet... :P" and then they are always fine with it? I mean, maybe I'm a bit naive and maybe this will come acropper for me in the future but I don't see why there needs to be so much drama about it. Posts can be edited, you know?