It never occurred to me that I could edit and add in chunks of it at a time in a way to work around the bug or feature.
...
So I tried that. It worked. I'll admit it, it took me five months to figure that out. Shameface. So here's a second go with this. Hopefully this works, otherwise, this might be awkward, and I'll have to get one of the mods to delete this. Fingers crossed.
ć GM INTERVIEWS ć
"GMing in General"
"GMing in General"
ā¤Hi guys, Vin here coming at you with a segment called GM Interviews where I and a group of GMs sit down (not literally in the same space) for a panel discussion on a variety of topics related to that thing called GMing, otherwise known as Game Master-ing. In this segment, I spoke with four experienced GMs from different corners of the site. I learned a lot from them and I hope you guys will too. Hopefully we can make this a series with future installments that go more in depth. Until then, enjoy what weāve got here.
vin
Hey guys, glad you all could join me. Okay, so let's get right into it, so my first question, this doesn't really count, but still. How's everyone doing?
lawoftheland
Wondering why I was invited to this.
rulke
I sorta know, but not too bad.
bethelit
Hi everyone. I've been doing pretty good, been busier. Thanks again for inviting me down.
macco
Yo! Iām doing fine, although being back in schoolās proving an interesting challenge.
vin
School, work, life, it's close to a wonder how we still manage to tell the stories we tell. Maybe it's not a wonder, but it might be a love of storytelling. Okay, enough of my maudlin rambling. Who or what got you guys into roleplaying in the first place?
lawoftheland
Before I called it roleplaying, I called it "talk-playing" with my brother. It was a little something we did to avoid going to sleep as kids.
bethelit
Prior to roleplaying, I did collaborative storytelling with school friends. It was something we did as an after school hobby, nothing too formal. We started out with good old pen and paper, and eventually branched out to rp sites. Still, I didn't engage in "serious" roleplaying until high school. One of my internet friends introduced me to competitive forum-based RP on Gaia, and I was hooked.
macco
On this old penpal site I used to frequent, I made friends with other people who wrote stories and the like. They were the ones who introduced me to roleplaying, and like beth, Iāve been doing it since then. I think I was around nine back thenā¦ I can still remember my Mary Sue vampire. Whoo whee thatās over a decade of experience.
rulke
I began roleplaying on a site called Young Writers Society, there they called Storybooks and it was entirely forum based. I was rather awful and unintentionally godmodded at times. But overtime I began to understand it. I really enjoyed it, arguably I did that more than writing. It was rather addictive. My first character was a Paladin called Adrian who felt forced into being a Paladin by his drunken Father... It's as bad as it sounds XD
vin
We've got talk-playing to avoid sleep, collaborative storytelling after school, pen pals writing about mary sue vampires, and the pretentious Young Writers Society with the paladin Adrian who has daddy issues. Yep, sounds like standard fare roleplayer origin stories. At some point you guys each decided, hey, maybe it would be better if I tried to ~roleplay as God~, erm GM. How did that happen?
rulke
My first time doing actual GMing was with my ex in an rp called Carradyne. We dragged it on for ages, and discussed heavily in skype calls planning and such. It was great fun. But my first real try at an rp GMing with a group was Location Unknown: Mission Failed a story about a science ship that got lost through the Captain's own negligence. Again tons of planning.
lawoftheland
First time game mastering? Well, my bro and I took turns running the story, as it were. I wasn't introduced to roleplaying as a formal term until I was, wow, 18 (and no, not in the sexual sense). Rolling dice and all that...that's my uncle's fault.
bethelit
First time GMing was a wild ride; I made my fair share of mistakes. My first time doing actual GMing was also coincidentally with my GM buddy Eva in a Kuroshitsuji-themed rp. Shameful origins, I know, but we still retrospectively get good laughs out of it. The idea appealed to our tween selves, and I'm still proud of us for doing the best we knew how. Nevertheless, we learned very quickly that RP was more than just collaborative storytelling. We were definitely too inexperienced to handle customer service well at the time, but I wouldn't have done anything differently. Our errors were valuable, and the journey was fun.
macco
Oh damn I actually canāt remember what my first attempt at GMing was, although one of the earliest ones I remember was one a sandbox-type university life thing. In retrospect I was very underprepared and definitely not equipped to handle it, and it died without going anywhere. I was around twelve I believe. What a scope for someone so young, I know, but taking into consideration that it was around when I first started high school and it gives you perspective as to why I decided to choose such a subject.
vin
I don't think anybody is ever prepared to GM the first time around, but it's definitely fun. I think alot of people would share that sentiment, but some can be really discouraged because it seems daunting. I know that law and rulke, you guys run plots in the MV. Why do you like running plots in the MV and what do you guys see are the advantages and disadvantages of the MV when it comes to roleplaying? And to macco and bethelit I pose a similar question in regard to your forays outside of the MV because I know you guys have run mostly MV independent projects. What's great, what's not so great?
lawoftheland
I don't so much run plots as I help other people with managing theirs. Marin isn't around as much as she has to be to run a sandbox that's grown to be as big as it has, so I pick up the slack there. The great benefit of the MV is that it has everything. The great drawback is that not all of it mixes well. Take an incident a few months back, when Warhammer 40K orks decided to pay Ruula a visit....or one that just started right now. God. Fucking. Damn it. (roleplay/the-multiverse/characters/ductu-sanctus-myrkul)*
vin
Yeah, I guess I'm a bit OCD about that, I'd like for each world to have its own aesthetic, no mixing, or rather a mixing of a certain kind. Warhammer 40K orks and Ruula? ā¦One of the reasons I'm glad I'm not in the MV, but you guys manage to keep it "organized" somehow. That's pretty impressive in my book.
rulke
For me, it's the freedom it allows. Let me explain, I have run many plots from grand plots that are based on fate of the world as we know it, to plots that are heavily based on character and evolution. I love the freedom the MV gives for plots and how you can do anything as long as you roleplay it out. Like, people prefer when ideas are set up. The setup is usually the best part. Take my Masquerade a plot I did to introduce Elysium a drug I created, a really bad drug. It was a massacre of utterly horrific order. Death, carnage, but it led to an Elder Thing called Bob sacrificing himself to save everyone who was still alive.
vin
Bob eh? Elder Things? That's some weird and trippy stuff there. I'm glad you mentioned freedom, we'll get back to that point. What about you guys? bethelit and macco? What do you think are the benefits and disadvantages of RPG's system? I know it's similar to a lot of other forums as far as play-by-post goes, but what stands out to you, and what works?
macco
I personally enjoy playing in āboxesā wherein Iām given parameters, and Iām supposed to fill out the box as opposed to being given endless room. Thatās partially the reason why I tend to stray away from the MV. I have nothing against its infinite possibilities, but I just personally prefer to manage and limit my world. Seeing how myself and my roleplayers interact and push its limits to confine but still belong is honestly one of the more interesting aspects of creating your own universe.
RPGās system is designed to accommodate a GM, which is why I take such pleasure in GMing my independent projects. RPG makes it easy to manage your roleplay; you donāt need to think about linking your ooc or individual CS pages. The site does it for you. Of course, itās not without faults, the greatest of which would be how focused we are on roleplaying. Most of our features relate directly to the process of rping itself, and there are few that accommodate the more social side of the game. OOC talk is second to the roleplay, I would agree, but an rpās much more fun when youāre friends with the people you roleplay with.
vin
Boxes. Okay, sure, let's go with that metaphor. The idea of the independent roleplays is a certain kind of self-enforced series of rules that make every world just as rich or vibrant as any other. It gives it a shape. It allows one to focus on and even narrow in on deeper particulars and nuances. As a friend once told me, every decision you make is constrained by the last one that you made. You've been narrowing your choices.
bethelit
Like Macco, I prefer "boxes" due to their nature of challenges. Independent roleplays give people less places to run if they make poor design decisions. If your plot/characters don't align with the roleplay's architecture, it's entirely on you. Your mistakes belong to you, and exist within the vacuum of your own creation. Naturally, independent roleplays are great for testing how well your creative side plays with your logical side. As part of the creative industry, I'm constantly having to create something engaging that works within established parameters. In this sense, I treat every roleplay as an "art test" for a hypothetical concept art job. That being said, I have nothing against the MV's own challenges and benefits. It's just that I'm time-pressed as is, and if I'm going to create/sign-up for something -- I want my design challenge to be specific.
I like how RPG gives players the option to host tab-based RPs, and that GMs actually have admin permissions. It's easy for me to manage my roleplays, and I can easily toggle between tab topics. Most of my gripes with RPG have to do with how the site isn't caught up to its contemporaries in regards to its social aspects. For example, I'd love to be able to leave comments and compliments on other players' profiles or add them as friends. Little things that make everyone on the site feel closer.
vin
I like that idea of it being a design challenge, that's a pretty cool way of looking at it. The buzz phrase that often gets tossed around is 'creative constraints,' and, like your professional experience, is applicable to almost every creative field. Rules are nice to work with, bend, or even break, as they say. You also mentioned poor design decisions and mistakes, which brings me to my next question, what are some of the biggest mistakes that you guys have seen a GM make? Or rather...is that even possible? (according to the Austrian School of Roleplaying Thought) (don't quote me)
lawoftheland
I made a pretty big mistake when I tried to run a Pokemon RP and make each gym leader and Elite Four a player character. I didn't realize that the people who signed up for the later roles would be waiting quite a long time for their moment in the sun. To this day I encourage people who want 10 or more players in their RP to reconsider the number of slots.
macco
Unless a GM intentionally makes it such that their roleplay dies without completion, then I believe itās a mistake. The biggest one I see from GMās is lack of communication. If you need to take some time off to deal with personal life, thatās fine, but give them a due date as to when youāll check back in on them and give your yay/nay. The same goes with expectations of your roleplayers; you should be understanding of their IRL struggles, but donāt be a pushover and sacrifice the pace of the roleplay to accommodate their absence.
rulke
For me the biggest mistakes I seen GM made including myself is not fully comprehending the scope of the story and either being overwhelmed by it or ignoring it. Planning an RP takes time and there should be an idea of a beginning and end. Middle is far more difficult to pin point especially when there is multiple GM. The key is good communication.
bethelit
To add on to Mac's points, I feel that lack of rule reinforcement is the worst mistake a GM can make. It's okay to have a more casual roleplay, but rules need to be protected. If GMs aren't firm and fair with their rules, their roleplays will reflect this both in the IC and the OOC. More than being their fellows' friend, GMs are the guardian of the story. Great GMs lead by example and are fully committed to the rules imposed upon everyone.
vin
We've got GMs underestimating the scope and scale of a roleplay, GMs who need to work on their communication, and GMs who are not as firm with their rules. I think Macco hit it on the forehead with the communication. Collaboration is essential to roleplaying, and communication is essential for collaboration, therefore communication is essential to roleplaying. Rulke brought up a point earlier about freedom that I wanted to return to before we close this. I also know you guys kind of addressed where you stood as far as designing a story goes. I guess this would be more of a preference question, but we could all guess the answers. Where do you draw the line as far as your players' freedom go? Someone once said that a roleplayer's freedom ends where a GM's freedom begins, or something of that nature.
bethelit
Player freedom totally depends on the nature of the story. If you're writing a good ol' cozy mystery, giving players too much freedom defeats the purpose of the plot design. An open-world adventure (Ć la One Piece or Skyrim) might encourage more player freedom. But I feel that it's possible to give players a lot of freedom while also maintaining necessary GM control. At the end of the day, everyone's working together to tell a story, so it's important that no single person has too much influence over plot.
lawoftheland
Adding on to bethelit 's comment, there's another reason you don't want one person to have too much control. If that player was unable to get online for any reason, the plot would slam to a halt. I think [Eric] Martindale called it a high bus factor, because there'd be a big impact if someone was hit by a bus.
bethelit
lawoftheland flawlessly phrased the phenomena. The high bus factor can turn fatal the longer a story continues. Distributing story control among players is a good way to make one's plot sustainable while ensuring everyone gets to contribute.
rulke
It all depends on the setting and plot. I myself have no problem with exploring more taboo or erotic side of plots. Of course not on Gateway, just largely in general. But sometimes setting call for lack of freedom or knowledge. For instance a group exploring a Haunted House won't know about secret room in the building unless they explore, but if not they will think the house is just the area to explore.
macco
Since everyone else covered story and genre freedom, Iāll tackle the limits I set when it comes to character creation. Unfortunately, I donāt typically provide my players the same freedom as I do myself or people I trust. This is simply because, well, I donāt trust them. How do I know that I wonāt have to kick them off for godmodding/power playing, effectively leaving whoever they were interacting with in an abrupt spot?
Like for example, my roleplay Morgen has a ranking system for pokemon trainers, and a general ban on legendaries. My co-GM and I have unanimously agreed that weād rather not deal with āstrongā characters, as itās a common trend in Pokemon roleplays that people who ask for top spots typically have trouble finding limits and flaws for their characters. We allow people to get them; weāre just very picky about who gets these top spots.
vin
Alright, I'm gonna close it out, this interview has been very enlightening and insightful to me. I hope it has been the same if not moreso for the rest of you guys. I want to thank all of you for sharing what little time you had with me and the roleplaying community here at RPG. It would be great to have you guys back along with newer GMs to explore more about roleplaying, writing, and storytelling. You guys did drop some serious knowledge here. Any last words? This is the time to go crazy.
rulke
To me roleplaying is very much about freedom when rping, the MV may have restrictions, but if you can handle that it is probably one of the best examples of a world allowing for utter complete freedom. Roleplaying, as a whole to me, is a way to manage and help myself. I am autistic and through roleplaying, I have learned how to socially interact with others because I see what my characters do. It is a coping mechanism and why I view it as an integral part of my routine whether offsite or onsite. It does not matter, I greatly enjoy plotting, and finally beginning to learn from my mistakes of the past where I let ideas run away from me and lose control. The current calamity on Terra has shown me with support and others helping me, that is Kreen and Princess, my ideas, though ambitious, can work.
Though rping is about fun, because of how I used it and how I use it, without it I would be lot worse off. It's also made me a much better writer and I have grown because of it. That in essence is why I roleplay.
lawoftheland
Don't be afraid to follow your passions. If PokƩmon, Digimon, RWBY, DBZ, Heroes, Supernatural, etc. is your thing, go for it. Thanks to the death of the monoculture, don't feel bad if people don't get your references...there's just so much out there that it's impossible to keep up with everything. Be passionate about your subject, be careful with your explanations, don't proselytize to those who are clearly uninterested, and fellow fans will come to you.
macco
Last words sounds so grim. On a more serious note, be unafraid to go against the conventions when it comes to roleplaying. While there are some tried-and-true methods, itās hard to find something better when you never leave the norm. It worked out for me. If you fail in your endeavor, then youāve at least proven that it doesnāt work for you. This extends to beyond roleplay. I firmly believe that any lessons we get in these little pet projects of ours will and should affect us positively.
bethelit
My closing words are short but sweet. Have fun, be kind and respectful, and write like a motherfucker. Learn while you're at it, and expand your world!ā¢
(Law is a self-styled keyboard smasher, smut writer, and pokemon apprentice.)
(Rulke lives in Scotland and loves roleplaying and gaming. A high-functioning autistic whose favorite movie is Laputa: Castle in the Sky and favorite dish is Steak Pie with chips.)
(Beth is an illustrator and concept artist operating in California. She roleplays to train her creativity, and loves collaborating with visionaries. Currently, she works as an Art Assistant at Lucasfilm.)
(Maccoās a silly newbie CS major with an intense need for making her shit #aesthetic. Sheās launched many a roleplay and while not all have been a success, theyāve been fun experiences.)
*This happened at the time of the interview, but it's probably outdated now.
Thanks again to these guys, and if you would like to participate in a future segment as interviewer or interviewee, or have suggestions for topics/questions/design, or if you just want this series to continue,
