(05-23-2015, 06:42 PM)Aya Wrote: Speaking just for myself I'll just say that I have no interest in any form of "outbreak", "plague", or similar epidemic based RP. There are all sorts of problems and negative implications that come up from these. Among these are that it alters radically a character's RP in a way that won't make any sense to those who don't accept it as canon, its so wide-open that it leaves you unable to craft simultaneous or near-future story as well, and really (the bottom-line for me) its not fun. If treated believably and plausibly its simply awful and terrible. A vehicle for meaningless suffering against an intangible foe. That might make something of an interesting horror story, but I can't see it making for RP that I'd actually want to engage in.
The advantage here is rather than a plague, it can be treated as a series of isolated incidents of a similar theme. The threat of an outbreak is more present than an outbreak itself.
But the fear of being corrupted by the void-sent through something so benign looking is something that can be explored, and explored leisurely.
Someone who's outside said cannon, can easily dismiss something along the lines of the individual involve falling ill or suffering temporary madness. Similarly, this can be simulated in any case featuring illness RPs, including plagues.
In my experience, RP's innately function in overlapping circles, the wider the circle, the broader (and often simpler) the interpretation of a shared chain of events become. Cross-Canon, Guild Canon, Personal Canon and Head Canon, are the inward progression of this function. The further in you go, the more personal, detailed and often possibly conflicting a set of events can be. To prevent such problems of conflicts, you typically keep things that are head canon and personal canon close to your chest.
So, person who's infected's head canon or group cannon plot is that they've got the Parasite. But your head canon, to prevent major conflict, is that they're sick. And you keep yourself distant from the details concerning that particular RP. That's usually the best way I've found to deal with matters such as the one you're describing. Incidentally Guild Wars 2 had a similar complaint about an actual plague rp that rippled through their community. Perhaps that's what you're recalling?
Outbreak is far more downscaled than that. The idea is that people develop personal stories based off the concept that these can be contacted in many different ways, or completely evaded whatsoever. If someone with your personal circle decides to use the plot, well, that's your discussion with them. That has no baring on the plot itself. It's okay to like different things.
