I was watching something crappy on my tv today while eating reheated pizza and the premise was interesting, an space crew that does a blind jump into space after some pirates begin shooting to their vessel they make a hyper jump and land into the unknown.

As I watched however I was uncertain if I was watching a cheap sci-fi movie or a cheap sci-fi pilot for a series since the concept could be fitted into a mini series.

That got me thinking about roleplays, sometimes a short well played movie with an interesting concept is better than a long dragged surprise that gets old, I recall that for example zombie land was supposed to be a series but ended up as a movie, lets check the walking dead I have heard several complains that it drags and it hurts.

Why is this? budget mostly, George R.R. Martin the author of a song of ice and fire said that in his time as screenwriter of the twilight zone he was frustrated by how many times the "budget" would limit him, which is why on the books he went absolutely epic with armies and flames and blood (yet in the series... well what comes around goes around).

We as RPers are not bound by budget (i would hope) so I have to ask, the media, be it books, series and hell even videogames have to at times convey a message, it can be something like humans are bastards or perhaps a critique about the corrupting nature of power.

As an RPer, more specifically a GM you have to ask, do I want to have fun or be more artistically and convey a message?

Which leads us to the next part of my question, should Roleplays be made with an end on sight? an ending provides the plot with a direction were the crew wants to struggle to get towards, right now I am active on two roleplays one is struggling because we don't really know where we are going and the other in which I am GM has a clear and definitive end.

Roleplays however in my experience are like videogames, they are entertainment, they don't need to carry out a critique or a lesson they just need to be fun and eliminate my boredom, then why should it have an end? should we not seek to keep on going and going and going, or perhaps would this lessen the impact of it all?

I want to know your opinions on this, do you rather have a clear, 10 pages or so RP that finishes or have a +60 pages long RP that does not seem to have an end on sight?

That depends.

The first series you described (the sci-fi ones) sounded like it was episodic, in which each episode there is a new problem for the team to resolve. These almost never 'need' an ending, although if you ever do want to end them, you can have a much bigger and more important 'double episode' so to speak.

The next 'type' if you can really say there are types, is the sort of soap opera type show, in which new problems keep coming up and the problems keep being resolved as new ones pop up. These usually don't have an ending.

Then there's the more normal roleplays, with a start and an ending. If you have a villain in a plot, the ending should usually be defeating that villain, if only to stop it dragging on and becoming stale.

Each has their strengths and weaknesses. The first can be good for a casual space opera with a group of friends that you do just for fun. The second can be a serious sort of drama where you intend to continually work with two characters. The last is your more standard heroic adventure or novel (or novel series). Its up to you to decide whether or not your RP should end, or if it'll end up dragging on if you don't.

I know indeed it is up to me on the choice of either having the narrow one that has a clear ending goal or the extensive one.

I would like to question for people`s experiences on this regard, while the only 2 roleplays I have finished were of a rather long duration in both content and time too often have I seen ambitious RPs go to dust, as of now I am trying something more compact and judge its success and so far i am rather pleased with it.

Thing is, I think that the long oriented RPs should be played with people you know and have played before with, since absences and loss of interest is the bane of a long RP (and the short one too but it does not hurt as much).

Besides if pulled right the ending of a short RP can lead to a sequel, but if so, why make 2 RPs at all then? why not make a huge one?

Has any of you have had some experiences with the short model that you could share with us? Im leaning so far towards the short format due to its ability to end, I absolutely loathe when RPs dont end it fills me with frustration

In personal experience it is best to have a roleplay with an ending, so you can constantly work towards that ending.

Roleplaying for me is more about the collaborative writing experience than purely entertainment in the sense of gaming providing entertainment. While it can and should be fun and enjoyable, it is a serious endeavor in which the writers (those who take my perspective) look to develop compelling characters in engaging settings that speak to a reader's sympathies and empathy, whether the writing is intended to be more humorous or dramatic (in the literary definition, not the angst-filled melodramatic way). Thus, a roleplay should have some form of end in sight, whether or not it is fully developed or clearly articulated.

Seeing as I'm on my phone, this will be short and sweet.

What you've written rinds me of something for of my English teachers said once, when we were studying Shakespeare. I personally live to dissect Shakespeare to shreds, and never get old of it, but this particular English teacher said to me once - shakeapeare wrote what he wrote to entertain, and it was likely he never intended for it to be treated like it is today, as such an important part of our history that we disect and disect, trying to find an end.

Somehow I feel this relates to the subject matter you have brought up. We as role players go forth into a new role play to enjoy ourselves with others who share an interest in what the role play is about. Sometimes a GM will have an end in site, which they may or may not share with the players until a later date (which came then mean some role players may be entering the roleplay without caring too much if there is an end, which would influence their writing and the plot), of they may just have an idea of a fantastic world they want to play out with others, and this could remain aimless or due to the awesomeness of the players, a structured plot with an ending will develop.

I think I've started rambling here, and I'm a little aimless of where I want to take this. I know I want to mention that I know of one role play that was born on this very site that began simply as a basic idea, setting, and character types and ended up a fantastical story that found an ending. If one were to study it like you would shakeapeare, it would produce ideals of how emotional and physical bonds will always outweigh the desire for material things, that the 'good guys' are not always right etc etc. the players never went into the roleplay expecting it to be treated like shakeapeare, but if the right audience comes along it just might be.

And there ends my big rambling table. I may return to make it a little more coherent and structured. And more relevant to the topic haha