Your favorite style of roleplay

[Eastep]

So, I was thinking- I know, that's a scary thing!
I had a quick question for the community! It shouldn't take up too much of your time, and it can help me better understand how popular the different types of roleplays are!

What kind of roleplay do you prefer to play? Do you like character driven more than a strict checkpoint to checkpoint scenario? Do you like pre-made character stories with a general direction, moreso than The Multiverse style of roleplaying? Maybe you're into slightly tweaked pre-existing work such as books and popular Tv shows?

Tell me what you like, and why! Feel free to discuss the ups and downs of various types, but try to keep everything cordial please!

Thanks a million! Eastep out.

[LawOfTheLand]

I've had some bad experiences with sandbox-style games at the table (otherwise referred to as "character-driven"), so I prefer to have as much control over the PCs and their antics as the players will tolerate. That being said, checkpoint games are my favorite by far. While I understand that railroading and NPC spotlight time are big no-nos for a game master, a checkpoint storyline allows everyone at the table to have a general idea of where to take the story next. Timetables are a good way to accomplish this: Sure, you can spend 3 days gathering information about the big bad's hideout and weaknesses, sleeping with bar wenches the whole way and generally painting the town, but keep in mind that that volcano in the distance looks like it's no more than 48 hours from eruption. Admittedly, that's not the best sort of story for those that wish to play preparation-based casters that don't have as many spells per day as their spontaneous counterparts, but it's by far the best way to make sure that the characters stay on track even if the players do everything but. If you just need to play around with and flesh out a character concept, the Multiverse is a great place to do that, but sustained plots usually require weeks or even months of planning to even get people to take notice, much less to get themselves involved.

RPs based off of most pre-existing media are a big turn-off for me, however (a notable exception being Pokemon). The way I see it, if you're creative enough to come up with an original story, you're creative enough to hammer out a campaign setting. The latter isn't inherently more difficult, it simply requires you to sit down and think about how things like geography, climate and ecology might intertwine and affect historical as well as current events. (In fact, the Japanese word "kamikaze" originally referred to a storm that Americans would refer to as a hurricane that forced Genghis Khan's Mongols to abandon their plans of invading Japan in the 12th century AD.)

[Northern]

I am mostly a fan of essay-type role play. There have been many different styles I have picked up on over the years, but essay has been the most beneficial to me, as it is a beautiful way to paint a picture of any action your trying to do.

On a style basis, nothing gets me off more than a good fight between me and another skilled role player. Don't get me wrong, I love story role plays as much as the next person, but they never seem to have endings. They always end up failing due to lack of participation from the joiners.

I hardly see any story-based role plays that actually have an ending, conclusion, ect. Combat role plays, however, generally always have one. Unless the opponent drops off the face of the Earth.

[Village Alchemist]

Both as a gamemaster and a player, I liike for there to be an obvious goal in mind from the start of the game. When players are free to do what they want, they usually end up doing nothing but standing around talking about their backstories or getting into meaningless fights. As a player, I want to know where I should be going, and as a gamemaster, I want to have some control over what is happening around the players. So I do prefer what Eastep refers to as a "checkpoint to checkpoint scenario."

[tyrade]
In regards to what qbsuperstar03said about fiction-based roleplays: I disagree (obviously; see my signiture). For me, the purpose of basing a game on pre-existing media is not so that you do not have to do less work coming up with ideas, but so that your players can jump right in to a complex setting without having to read the pages of notes you posted up for them.

For example, with my "Power Rangers" RP, (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL TOTALLY JOIN NOAW! :-D), I intitially just wanted to host a superhero game. I started to create a new superhero universe with its own rules and backstory, but it occured to me: "Is this what people will want? If, instead of making a new setting, I use an existing one, players who already are familiar with that setting won't have to sit through reading the details of my setting, deciding whether they like it or not, then ask me for details. I could just use a popular superhero universe--say, 'Power Rangers'--and people will immediately know, 'Oh, so this is Power Rangers. I know how Power Rangers works.'"

Incidentally, I take a little bit of offense to the implication that gamemasters who host fiction-based games are either uncreative or lazy. If the game is based on a long-running or complicated franchise, then a good gamemaster will have to sit down and do research on the timeline, metaphysical rules, et cetera of that setting. In preparation for my "Power Rangers" RP, (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL TOTALLY JOIN NOAW! :-D) I sat through Linkara's "History of the Power Rangers," watched multiple episodes of each season (even Power Rangers Mystic Force. That's the kind of sacrifice I have to make for my art!), spent time on the Power Rangers wikia, and still have to fact-check what I write to make sure it doesn't conflict with existing cannon.

[/tyrade]

On a style basis, nothing gets me off more than a good fight between me and another skilled role player.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, EEEWWWW, too much information! :-0 j/k

[Kestrel]

To be a hundred percent honest, the kind of RP's I've enjoyed most lately were... Action-packed, over the top and had plot in the backseat.

No seriously, I think writing how a character gets killed, wakes up as a zombie and clenches itself to a bumper and is dragged behind the van that just drove over her, tearing off whatever legs she still had in the process - was the most fun writing I've had in ages.

Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy some of the more plot-heavy, atmospheric roleplays, but... Yeah, I don't know. It is more... Interesting than it is fun. It is like comparing 1.) reading something you're eager to learn about and then discuss it, with 2.) playing some silly drinking games with a mix of friends and complete strangers.

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But anyhow, because the over-the-top-action-packed RP/drinking game doesn't really warrant a lot of discussion (other than, duuuude that was so fucking sweet) I say that for more plot-orientated RP's, you're going to want a goal, a problem, a mean and a big fat load of freedom in the middle. Although some seem to enjoy it, the last thing I wanna do is write the GM's story for him/her, and I don't ask any RP'r of mine to do that either.

I'm not too interested in purely character-driven RP's either, mainly because... They don't go anywhere unless the players appoint a main character. Unfortunately in most cases, everyone always wants to be the main character.

My favourite kinds of plays are dynamic, where players and GM's are flexible and adapt to each other. However, I do like myself a clear GM-figure, that can take charge and take care of trouble, get things back on track, do something exciting when stuff slows down, etc. That sorta thing.

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As for fiction-based or... 'Original'... Well, most 'original' fantasy roleplays are Tolkien rip-offs, excecuted where everyone has a modern mindset and for some reason emancipation took place very early. So yeah, I'll take a grain of salt with that. I'm not really into doing canon RP's, but if someone uses an interesting world, well, I don't really care. Chances are I won't know whatever they're playing anyway.

I took part in a bleach RP, even though I dislike the serie itself. What we did was make my character the 'only human, which was just like the main guy in the original series. He was introduced to the whole phenomona in the same way the audience was; starting with zero knowledge, taking one thing at a time. My character didn't know shit about the supernatural, so was explained all about it in-game by the other characters.

So for me it really depends on the roleplay itself. Did you come up with the setting yourself? Cool beans, bro. Ripped it off from popular media? If the premise is good enough, I'm still in. Sure, coming up with a full-fledged world of your own is pretty neat, but let's be honest here; whose name is on the world's copyright-label isn't really going to affect you all that much as a player.