[Completionist Session]Disscussion/Planning

[Guest]

[Completion]

The goal of this "completionist" session is to create a session with "completion" as its objective and standard. This "completion" does not simply refer to fulfilling the natural goals of a session, but also the aesthetic and co-operational aspects of the session.

Character do not merely react to their surroundings in a completionist session. Rather event are construed for and by the characters, comedy, tragedy, irony, moments of heroism and regret, everything should have a purpose and a place.

Simply put in role-play you are taking part in two activities 1) playing a game, 2) telling a story. In the "completionist" session the former category takes precedence over the latter.

To create such a session would require quite abit of effort and dedication on the part of the players to be successful; And all players would need to be equal, working together without any real direction from a DM.

Goals:
1) Take a story-first approach to RP
2) Fully develop all characters, elements and story presented and create a satisfying ending.
3) Promote artistic collaboration and communication within the group.
4) Have all the fun.

This Thread

This is not a recruitment thread, rather it is a thread to investigate what constitutes a [complete] session, planning how to carry out such a session and measurement of interest in such a session.

Id like to hear the community's thoughts on this, both in respect to the idea itself and what such a session should be composed of. Id also like to hear what you all think about what types of story's and story aspects you all truly enjoy.

[V.M.P.]

Hmmm, atmo, do you think that other sessions don't have satisfying endings?

What would you say is impeding such an end?

[Cardly]

In my opinion lack of interesting- they get abandoned half-way through... :o(

I shall contribute-

Jucker Rummie

[V.M.P.]

Well why do they get abandoned? And cardly continue that motherfucking cut off thought.

[Guest]

WARNING: Personal Conjecture
I would say that Role Play is made up of two distinct activities [playing a game] and [telling a story]. While these interests have a common root, they will at times come into conflict. A person who is mainly attracted to roleplay for [playing a game] wants quick and glorious victories, fast romance and clear objectives. Basically their goal is to "Win". While a person who wants to [tell a story] will be motivated by writing a complex and interesting story. They wish to "Create". It is obvious that if you cannot satisfy both sensibilities then the session will fail. So how do we fulfill both these challenging requirements? 

The DnD Model
First is the Dungeons and Dragons model. The idea here is to place the majority of responsibility in regards to [storytelling] on a single individual known as the "DM". The DM plans out the campaign, sets up the dungeon, brings out the villains etc. This allows the players at the board to focus on [playing a game]. These sessions are usually between 2-4 hours long and are done weekly. Many of these groups rotate between DM's so that anyone who is interested can take on the role and enjoy [telling a story]. This system works alright in the context of tabletop gaming, but is less effective when applied to PBP. For one thing the DM is hindered by the fact that he does not have the players directly in front of him. There is very little playful back and forth between them, the DM cannot easily control the pacing of the game and players, who have to deal with the same DM for weeks or months, feel that they have little to no input in the [telling a story] aspect of the game. If this where a political system it would be a monarchy.

The Collaborative Model
A second method to handle role play is collaborative writing. While DnD focuses more heavily on the [playing a game] aspect of RP this focuses almost solely on [telling a story]. In this paradigm you form a club or council that discusses the overall story you wish to tell, characters involved and themes expressed, then each write out your own characters portion of the story. This model gives everyone the right to [tell a story] which usually results in something that is more complex and artistically fulfilling then the previous model. The down side however is that you effectively arn't [playing a game] anymore, you know very well what will happen long before the story is over and are only filling in the details. Whats worse is that this is usually much slower a process then the previous method since it requires a great deal more effort and energy on the part of the average player. If this where a political system it would be aristocracy or oligarchy.

The Double-Blind Method
This method falls under the premise that RP'ers are equally motivated by [telling a story] and [playing a game]. The idea here is that you form two or more groups, each acting as creative and administrative forces over a specific portion of the session. The group must decide previously at which intervals the changing of power is to take place, whether it be at a specific time or point in the story, then switch from being an active [storyteller] to an active [player]. The purpose of this is to ensure that everyone can take an equal shot at shaping the story without giving up all the enjoyment from playing or spoiling the twists for themselves. This method will take the greatest deal of self-involvement, self-regulation and organization. It also may make the story inconsistent if the groups don't have the same vision, or unstable if both groups aren't on the ball. If this where a political system it would be a republic.

Other models certainly exist, but these are the ones that I am currently able to express. I would argue that this disparity between [playing a game] and [telling a story] is one factor in why people fall out of sessions. Another being a simple lack of personal involvement, or dedication to the story from the onset. The easiest way to solve that problem would to simply give players more influence in the games construction from the beginning, thus making them more personally invested with the games success (such as I am currently attempting here).
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PS. Cardly Im not taking applications juuuust yet.

PPS. I didn't mean to criticize the quality of any stories or endings thereof on this site. I only meant it as a goal to aim for, nothing more.

[V.M.P.]

Yeeeeeash, I prefer D&D, it's fun annoying the DM, and the second one sounds boring, and the third sounds boring AND chaotic.

I mean, with the D&D method, you can form relationships with other characters and have the fun of the game, the second seems like a somewhat decent alternative, I just don't like saying my character beats up a monster, it seems like a chore instead of a challenge, like playing checkers with myself, or solitaire, it's just... CardlyAnnoying.   YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH

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