(02-21-2015, 11:46 AM)Khoure Wrote:There's a standard baseline in communal RP as far as what is acceptable and what isn't. Due to sheer number of players, this baseline has to be watered down, with stricter adherence to lore than the baseline in... say an FC or a small group.(02-21-2015, 11:19 AM)Edvyn Wrote: i had the idea for a plotline involving ancient, never-before-seen primals where i lead a couple players through this long convoluted series of connected events and they see strange M-shaped runes everywhere they go and then at the very end they find out that these never-before-seen primals are just ronald mcdonald, grimace, birdie and hamburglar. only the burger king can save eorzea from the impending big mac attack.
i'm not sure if you wanted a reply for this, but okay. I should have clarified to, any idea can be written if one is serious about it. Obviously, there is no one willing to be serious about writing something like that. And in addition, the ability to write something well is sort of like an exponential graph, difficulty approaching infinity as you approach the asymptote of "nothing to do with canon whatsoever" that being said, Padjal are actually a thing in canon, and imho while definitely not near 0 difficulty, certainly not near infinite difficulty either. Something approaching infinite difficulty would be like someone trying a weird crossover as you've proposed.
In other words; safe. Communal RP has to be safe, otherwise you stretch and bend lore in all kinds of weird, contorted directions, until what you are left with is Tera; a game that really had very little lore, and a straaaannnnggggeeee variety of rp characters like vampire princesses, and a thousand year old horse-warlock, and everyone and their brothers, mothers, and dogs played assassins.
Thing is, none of this was backed by lore. And none of it was necessarily disputed by lore either, because there was such a lack of it. I understand the tendency of others to shoot down ideas deemed too radical, as you then start to create that strange amalgam of mary sues, special snowflakes, power creep, etc. etc.
But the whole reason FC's and smaller groups exist, is because communal RP can be so vanilla. Too safe. People get so caught up in what is lore appropriate, and what will be accepted by the masses, that they can, in a very real sense, cripple their character of anything that would make them interesting. There is a skill in itself in making a 100% lore-friendly, will never offend anyone"S OOC sensibilities, character... well... interesting. People are constantly pushing and prodding the lore boundaries.... because the extraordinary is a lot more inspiring creatively to a lot of people, than just writing about an everyday joe.
With that said, there are some ideas, no matter how well written, that just will not find acceptance in the baseline communal rp. They muddy the waters far too much, and elevate that character above the efforts everyone else has put in to creating a workable, believable rp community. Those types of characters are much better off finding a small group, or an FC to rp in, that is more accepting of radical ideas.
Exploring new boundaries has always been a part of fantasy, but when you go far off the charted map, you can't expect the masses to follow you, because their interest lies in more identifiable, recognizable fiction.
