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Spiderbus Discussion Thread


keira

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The reason the RP died was because there were eight billion things going on and no direction. It was like having twelve drivers on one bus all trying to steer.

 

I still think the RP should be controlled by a single storyteller who knows exactly where we are going and how to get there. Or risk one of the short-sighted RP participants creating a big twist (however interesting it may be) which makes the story ricochet off in a totally different direction than what was intended. And then we are standing in the middle of nowhere wearing a Santa Claus costume, holding a fluffy turtle, totally out of ideas and wondering what to do next. Posts once made in the RP can't be undone either, so every about-to-make-plot-twister-poster will have to first ask permission in a 'discussion' thread first, which makes the entire thing too boring and 'work'-like.

 

Reading the Discussion Thread before posting in the RP shouldn't be a requirement, as it had turned out to be. I mean, the idea never was to get together and create a perfect story, was it ?

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To me it seemed that no-one was driving the bus. None of the many nominal "things going on" really seemed like something going on, except perhaps to the person who introduced them. I can speak for myself, at least: nothing anybody else seemed to be doing registered with me as a story with a momentum I could perceive. There was a bus, that stopped, and wasn't going anywhere. There was a castle, that sat there, and wasn't doing anything. There was a shopping expedition, that didn't actually happen, and didn't promise to provide anything but mundane groceries anyway, so whatever. There was a raptor attack, that somehow faded away. There was a Tardis thing, that was incomprehensible. Blue dot, ditto. The gremlin thing actually looked like it might be moving somewhere, but it was hard to connect to, because it was so different from everything else. I tried to contribute where I could, but I never felt I had much to work with.

 

Everybody seemed to expect everybody else to grab their ideas and run with them, but nobody offered an idea with any momentum to pick up. It was all, "Here's a vague hint that in my mind might go somewhere, please take it somewhere interesting." Nobody else could see what to do with that, so we all offered our own vague hints instead. We nudged the RP to death. I would much rather have had somebody give it a shove, and actually drive the bus somewhere, then jump out of the driver's seat leaving us all screaming downhill or something. At least we'd have been moving, you know?

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Did the initial premise provide too little direction? I would have thought we could all have just improvised something fun together. Somehow, though, nothing much seemed to happen. Even though we had a freaking raptor attack. Sheesh, you know? Maybe that's just my bias, though. I want to see wild things happen. Otherwise I might as well just go back to work.

 

I got yelled at for making wild things happen. And so did Upon Mars. And HH got more than one earful about the way he was posting, one such from myself... sorry hare. I think there was too much "that can't happen" instead of taking what was written and moving forward with it; events were either ignored or changed or both. Then it didn't help that key players stopped posting.

 

I agree, also, that the 'vague hints' didn't help. I cornered Sylae to ask what her big post meant but it was probably something that should have been disclosed in the ooc so that other people could run with it. The blue dot was too many things to different people because it was not defined. imho, the tardis could have been comprehended if people had asked questions about it instead of ados just changing it because he didn't like it. It was congruent with other peoples' transformations until it was changed from a transformation of tyran and nikki to the ACTUAL tardis with the ACTUAL doctor. The gremlin things was ignored as 'too confusing'.

 

I think there are two camps of writers. One that likes wild, crazy, didn't-see-that-coming things to happen, and another that likes things to be simple and planned and sensible. Put those camps together in an RP and you invariably pit them against one another.

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I got yelled at for making wild things happen. And so did Upon Mars. And HH got more than one earful about the way he was posting, one such from myself... sorry hare. I think there was too much "that can't happen" instead of taking what was written and moving forward with it; events were either ignored or changed or both. Then it didn't help that key players stopped posting.

 

I agree, also, that the 'vague hints' didn't help. I cornered Sylae to ask what her big post meant but it was probably something that should have been disclosed in the ooc so that other people could run with it. The blue dot was too many things to different people because it was not defined. imho, the tardis could have been comprehended if people had asked questions about it instead of ados just changing it because he didn't like it. It was congruent with other peoples' transformations until it was changed from a transformation of tyran and nikki to the ACTUAL tardis with the ACTUAL doctor. The gremlin things was ignored as 'too confusing'.

 

I think there are two camps of writers. One that likes wild, crazy, didn't-see-that-coming things to happen, and another that likes things to be simple and planned and sensible. Put those camps together in an RP and you invariably pit them against one another.

 

Although I was upset by certain things which happened namely that I discovered that the Tardis was a spiderweb forum member, I still enjoyed some aspects of this: I didn't feel that people where being pushed out of the story (actually Captain, although at first ignored was quite well integrated into the tissue of the story) and I was even surprised by a few things. I just wish that something ought to be rewritten.

 

If the gremlin thing was ignored I don't believe it was good or bad, or even out of place. I just offered a way to plan the eventual rescue of a character at the hands of a dinosaur. And not necessarily a raptor.

 

Also I'd like to point out that we could consider whether or not we should first start with a defined beginning and ending, knowing how the story is going to end. That could put more impetus in the Spiderbus stories.

 

 

@Jewels I don't consider being a wild writer, even though I'm writing a book with a narrator who is both authoritarian and conservative. I certainly don't agree with this line of thought.

 

Also Student, sensible doesn't need to be boring.

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A defined ending might be a bit discouraging. I agree that it could still work out well, but only if a lot of things other than the overall plot arc worked very well. The fun of finding out what happens, on the other hand, can cover a multitude of sins.

 

Maybe one way the pre-defined ending could work would be if there were a large scale event that was predestined to happen at a certain time, maybe even on a certain calendar date in the real world — exactly six weeks after the start of the RP, for instance. For example, we could have a game set in Avernum, and the Tower of Magi is scripted to blow up at a certain fixed time. The question will be what happens to all the people in the story by that point. The characters won't know that's coming (probably), but the writers will, and they can try to work the predefined end into their stories in some meaningful way — even if that's just the irony of having a promising, personal story cut savagely short by events out of individual control.

 

We did once do a story-sharing game here where both the first and the last line of a story were given at the start. The next person contributed the second and second-last sentences, and so on, until one person figured out a way to tie the two halves of the story together in a single sentence. I remember feeling that it worked very well. But I don't think that kind of thing is well suited to an RP. Maybe, but it'd be tricky.

 

In general I can see it might be good to start with more structure. A defined theme, for instance, as well as just a defined setting. Or perhaps a pre-RP OOC thread, where people hashed out a bit what they felt they could contribute, so that we all started, maybe not on the same page, but at least in the same book.

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And Reverend, why did you have to slug yourself? It's your fault I'm laying on my back counting birdies!

That morning, while running at the park with my daughter, we saw a banana slug and she asked (in the way that only three year olds can), "Daddy, what if we were slugs?"

 

Later that day when I was browsing the forums, I thought it would be fun to change things up a bit for The Rev. So I made him a slug. My apologies for making you slip-n-slide. Hopefully our characters can use that to their advantage against the raptors ... :)

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Rev, I was pulling your chain, but I appreciate your motive. Besides, you gave me an plot line leading to an excuse for a break, and a method to break the break. I was hoping BMA could fix you up; your guitfiddle would be a powerful defense. Ah, well, how about plan Bee?

 

BMA, I apologize for being a bad influence on you.

 

Some random thoughts re the end of the story:

We've got velociraptors, on both sides. The ones chasing Trinit Eye and Cpt Charles are wanting the little raptor that Dikiyoba has. Jewels, now in raptor form, and now able to speak both people as well as raptor can do a better job at negotiations than Harehunters feeble attempt.

 

We've got the bus started again thanks to those mischievous gremlins, although I wonder at how well it will run on gremlin wine. We could all climb on board and escape to the next adventure, (or not).

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I hope no one objects to my use of their character. I loved what The Reverend did with the slug thing, but I really needed him back for this bit. Thanks for the Brain Cloud, Jewels. It is better than a light bulb. Credit for the goose thing goes to Lilith. And thanks go to Jewels for bringing up the name "Angus". It reminded me of Angus Young. Now that BMA has a Big Gun, maybe we can get this raptor thing straightened out.

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Sorry about the Angus Young outfit, Reverend. It was just to complement the Big Gun riff. I'm glad you're feeling more like yourself.

 

As for feeding the raptors, it's turning out to be like feeding sea gulls; it just encourages them to want more. But maybe the gremlins offer a solution.

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