Hey,
I hope you’re all well.
As a forum roleplayer, I have always been fascinated with games that blend strict, mature roleplaying with visuals as opposed to solitary text. Incidentally, I was previously an administrator on ‘Hidden Wind Clan’ and creator of two games that followed a similar formula, as such I am quite familiar with my “fascination”.
THE POINT
My interest lies in crafting a mature and communal strict-roleplay game based within a Naruto setting. Much like Hidden Wind Clan, Yamagakure and other games I have worked on and created, this game will not make use of attack verbs or visuals. It will, instead, rely upon the use of an ‘emote’ command that allows the player to essentially roleplay battles, emotions, responses to events and so forth.
However, the game will still make use of visuals and a map so a degree of interaction is achieved. Furthermore, the visuals allow for the roleplay to come to life and provide immersion. After all, it is fundamental that the player not only witnesses the visual growth of their character, but also the growth of the world in which their character resides.
THIS TOPIC
I must stress that I am not looking to create something that insults the integrity of other roleplays on BYOND or Naruto games in general. Simply put, I want a strict-roleplay game where mature and community driven individuals can create and grow a character within a Naruto setting.
Finally, I will use this topic as a critique of my experience of strict-roleplay on Naruto BYOND games and how I hope to improve it with this game I wish to create. Entries will be entered throughout the topic, feel free to reply to any posts I make with questions and so forth.
Thank you.
ID:2129820
 Aug 10 2016, 10:19 am (Edited on Aug 10 2016, 10:37 am)
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Aug 10 2016, 10:39 am
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Ishuri
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So is this like a devlog or something. Can you post some of the art.
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Hey Ishuri.
I would not call it a DevLog due to the game being largely complete. As I mentioned before, I have developed Naruto roleplay games along the same lines. Some were not release, so what I have done is played with the coding and such to create something richer. And the art is nothing great, much like Hidden Wind Clan, previous games I have created with others utilised the Naruto GameBoy Advance art. This was not meant as a particular insult to the creators of those Naruto Gameboy games, but more so appreciation as their flatness allowed for roleplay to stand out. Equally, as roleplay was the main objective, we were more concerned with the mapping of the world as opposed to the usage of original graphics. But, I will take complaints and such from those who believe the graphics should be original - I believe that is fair. I also do not want to boast about the graphics as they do not belong to me and are not the selling point, but I understand the importance of graphics nonetheless. As such, what I do want to change is the ‘base’ appearance of characters. Where I, and HWC and others, failed was the lack of character customization. What I hope to achieve with this game is some character creation so the player can truly realise their creation - whether that is scars, scabbards and such - and become immersed within the particular setting. In all, I was going to make a short information post about the graphics but I guess this is a quick and more direct answer for you. I hope that answers your question. Addition: For now, I am mostly focused on the management of roleplay and how I can create a particular vibe in the Naruto setting. So this whole topic is about me posting ideas, such as using 'CHARACTER APPLICATIONS' to source mature roleplayers, and getting feedback from the BYOND Community. | |
ROLEPLAYERS FROM PLAYERS:
In order to begin your roleplay in one of these worlds, whether Hidden Wind Clan, Yamagakure or this game I have in mind, you had to register on a forum before creating an application that outlined your character’s history, personality, Jutsu and appearance. This method was primarily used to locate and drag in seasoned and keen roleplayers due to ‘character applications’ being a common occurrence on roleplaying boards. Additionally, they situated the games within the arena of strict and mature roleplaying. Solution: However, where these worlds failed was the length of the application. Forum roleplay, especially animanga roleplay, have evolved to a state where applications are no longer five to a thousand words but far less. Most require concise information that appropriates the character within that world and nothing else. As a result, this game will utilise a similar method. Personally, I enjoy the implementation of the ‘character application’. It effectively allows for the separation of roleplayer from player, and it shows a degree of devotion and enthusiasm, after all would you spend time writing a character if you do not wish to implement him or her in a specific world. Therefore, this board will require an application, albeit a simpler and more effective one. For a general template, I believe this is the most efficient: BASIC INFORMATION Note: This section is rather plain and fleshes out the more rudimentary elements of the character. NAME: restricted to Japanese names; for immersive purposes ALIAS: self-explanatory; although I believe monikers should be earned in roleplay GENDER: self-explanatory AGE: self-explanatory RANK: self-explanatory ALLEGIANCE: village name; not applicable if nukenin, wanderer or non-nin APPEARANCE Note: As opposed to simply requesting extensive paragraphs or a few from the roleplayer, this section will give the roleplayer the option of writing out a list of appearance traits (e.g. blue hair, scar below right eye and so forth) or opting for two or less paragraphs. The roleplayer is, of course, free to write more but the general idea is the stray the roleplayer away from writing too much so their in-game icon or character base can define their look. I will speak more about this later. HISTORY Note: Roleplayers applying for higher ranked positions, primarily positions that fall into C-Ranked and above, will be required to write a short, yet informative history. However, this will be broken down into ‘ages’ that are no more than a few lines. See the example below for a Jounin: AGE 5: (Description of youth and beginning of career as a student) AGE 14: (Exploration of character’s time at the Genin Exams) AGE 16: (Significant Event that changed character) AGE 17: (Character’s Chunin Exam and subsequent Chunin Career) AGE 23: (Character’s promotion to Jonin and current life) As a whole, this free-form history could amount to around two hundred words that are still very descriptive. Nonetheless, roleplayers can utilise other methods for writing their character’s history. For roleplayers beginning as Students or fresh Genin, they are not permitted to create a history unless they desire to. ABILITIES Note: I will write about this in greater detail soon. Nevertheless, the idea of the ‘ABILITIES’ section is to get rid of the usual ‘how many and which Jutsu do you have’ question. Personally, I believe that Jutsu are named within Naruto for marketing purposes. You can, of course, find other reasons that dig into the mysticism of chakra and such, but I believe that the naming of Jutsu should not be taken so seriously. As such, this game will not ask roleplayers to list which Jutsu they have but rather how proficient they are at a certain skill, element, clan/Kekkai Genkai or (INSERT). For instance, if your character utilises Futon (Wind Element) you would list his/her mastery over that element and not which specific Jutsu they have. To be more specific, you would speak about the strength of their Futon techniques, the range, size and how much chakra they usually have to implement in order to achieve greater results. This method of abilities will not only allow the roleplayer to truly indulge in the freedom of roleplay, but it will also make combat more interesting and allow the roleplayer to train their character’s overall ability as opposed to one technique – I understand that grinding for one technique often causes distress to the Naruto roleplayer. However, characters will be restricted to ‘slots’ that work with a tier system. Naturally, higher ranked characters will begin with more slots with bigger tiers. But, like any progressive roleplay that enforces character development, more unique abilities and such will be obtained within roleplay. I also want to note that I do not want to prohibit canon techniques or unique abilities seen in Naruto, the main being things such as Mangekyou Sharingan, Rinnegan, Sage Mode and so forth. I believe such abilities allow for immersion and prohibiting them will take away the taste of a true Naruto roleplay. Nonetheless, these will be treated as rare instances. Again, I will write about these in greater detail later ---- Note: I have decided to remove ‘PERSONALITY’ from the character application due to the fact that it slightly insults the integrity of in-game roleplay. The personality of the character can easily be and will be established in roleplay. And, as human emotion varies, a standalone exploration into a character’s personality will not do he/she any justice. | |
I noticed you mentioned canon abilities.
As you probably already know, one of my favorite abilities is the power to summon the frog Narto rides on. Please discuss the topic of the frog Narto rides on when you talk about abilities again. Best regards, Empirez-sama | |
Hey EmpirezTeam,
It's fine if this does not interest you, but please refrain from posting attempts at humour or mockery as it just disturbs the flow of the topic. Normally I would not mind but I am genuinely trying to find some roleplayers, from any universe, to critique what is being proposed. Suffice it to say, if you have an issue just move on or if you're looking to make jokes just come back later. Thanks! | |
Cited wrote:
Hey EmpirezTeam, I actually only typed that to see if you were really someone fairly new to BYOND, or if you were someone on an alternate account ( because your account says it was created today ). You immediately recognized my "Narto frog" remark as a joke which is only possible if you've been here long enough to have seen my previous antics involving that phrase, which began several years ago. Either that or someone PMed you telling you it was a joke. Carry on. | |
Oh. I’m not new; I actually haven’t been here in some time. My created this new account because the name of my last key, The Drunken Monkey, was a bit eh. It’s the first time I have seen you use it, but I searched through your post and saw that you were simply playing.
But, I will seriously answer your question soon, in long form, as I believe it is relevant. For now, all I can say on that is the toads of Mount MyĹŤboku will be allowed. Your joke actually is one of the reasons why. As your joke is a mockery of a typical young Naruto fan, it goes without saying that removing the toads from the roleplay would essentially be a type of deterrent to young fans and that, to be frank, is not something I want to do. Nonetheless, as the game will be strictly roleplay with no stats, verbs and such it will be down to the roleplayer to discover Mount MyĹŤboku and attain these toads. And with the setting of the game being original, meaning that it will not be set in canon locations such as Kirigakure, Konohagakure and so forth, it will be down to the roleplayer to use their wit and creativity to achieve these toads. I'll speak more about this later, like I said. I may get a forum up soon too so all this information is condensed as these posts are far too long. | |
Sorry to tell you but no one that plays Anime games on BYOND uses the main forums. All your gonna get is slashing and jokes
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Hey Ganite. I figured as much. Its a shame to be honest. Nevertheless, I'll maintain some posting with the hopes that some roleplayers see this. I also guess this is a matter of getting the game up and testing the waters.
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You'd have better luck roleplaying on popular anime/naruto roleplay forums or even https://www.ninonline.org/forum/index.php
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Hey Zagros,
I already roleplay on forums. I just wanted to take the idea here as I have done it before and the game had a few devoted players, but it failed after myself and the majority of the individuals who created it with me left. I'm going to give it a shot anyway, nothing to lose. Ninonline has really grown, thanks for reminding me of that. | |
The issue is that I feel like the people who are still heavily into Naruto, despite it being a largely irrelevant IP, are generally not mature enough to facilitate even medium-level RP, let alone handle mature themes.
I say this because it typically takes a roleplayer several years among several different platforms to understand what goes into a good communal story. This usually starts with people learning how to write authentic stories on their own first before trying to incorporate others into their play. Someone who's bad at writing will be a bad roleplayer, or at very least, nothing more than a bland, Mary Sue-ish NPC. Being bad at writing has very little to do with how good your grammar is or how your use of adjectives affects how others view what you say (although that's a part of it). Bad writing means weak character design, overusing often-satired tropes, poor pacing, forced character interaction or reaction and the like. The next fundamental a roleplayer has to understand is that they are not the protagonist of their story. Immature roleplayers more often than not try so hard to be the protagonists and the main characters of whatever story they're roleplaying in and tend to be extremely pretentious, competitive and overall pilot very bland characters who are just, "I'm good because it's the right thing to do!" or "I'm evil because plot armor!" These kinds of players tend to argue, whine, complain when they fail an action and try to use any backwards or technical logic they can to make their characters bigger and better than everyone else because "it makes more sense". A good and experienced roleplayer will understand that they are not the protagonist. That they are more fun to RP with when they play characters who make OTHER characters look good. They facilitate a community atmosphere where it's less competitive and more along the lines of everyone trying to generate fun for everyone else. Once they understand that the most successful method of entertaining yourself in an RP is to entertain others, they can classify themselves among the intermediately experienced and are suitable for mature RP's. TL;DR The Naruto fan community is, in a broad, general sense, simply not mature enough to hold an RP of decent quality. Regardless of their writing quality, their immaturity makes them more inclined to compete with other players for having the best characters and being the "real protagonist": an attitude which will kill any opportunity for meaningful roleplay on a long-term scale. | |
Hey Kats,
For the most part I agree with you, especially your descriptions of how roleplay and the roleplayer interact. However, where we start to disagree is your description of the Naruto Roleplaying community and the roleplaying community as a whole. But, before I get into that, I must note that I’m not as familiar with the fan community on BYOND anymore so excuse any out of place assertions. Now, the issue of ‘I am the protagonist’ is absolutely widespread in the Naruto roleplaying community but I would argue that it is widespread in just about any roleplaying community. I have been roleplaying for several years now and have seen the issue in geopolitical roleplays, where players treat their countries as some form of mortal hero or villain, to medieval roleplays that produces bland, and very irritating, versions of King Arthur, the all good, and Vlad the Impaler, the all bad. To cut it short, this is an issue that most, if not all, roleplaying communities will encounter. But the good ones, such as the current Naruto one I roleplay on, counter this issue by having a selection of mature roleplayers with highly skilled and aged characters that operate like regular characters. What this does is show newer roleplayers that skill, which is primarily captured in how combat effective your character is, does not transform your character into a protagonist but long-term interaction with other characters does. Another counter is providing pockets of events. Essentially, players would sign up their character to a limited event, say ‘Attack on Bridge with Six Characters’, and live out their protagonist dreams in that sole event. And as these events occur regularly with many different characters purposely and inadvertently taking up the role of protagonist, the self-centred idea of the ‘sole protagonist’ stops existing as anyone, regardless of skill level, can have a taste of the role. But, as I said before, I agree with most of what you said. I also believe that any mature, meaning experienced, roleplayer would also agree. Nonetheless, I will still be pursuing the creation of this game as Hidden Wind Clan and similar projects proved to me that young, yet enthusiastic, roleplayers would engage and learn in a communal and story-driven world if that world is presented right – I know I can present it right. Plus, a lot of player recruitment for HWC and such did not take place on BYOND but more so on external roleplaying communities - the most prominent being RPG-Directory. To wrap this up, as I don’t want to hit you with a wall of text, I think the issues you brought forth can be fixed with good and active management of the roleplay and roleplayer by the creator of said roleplay. Lastly, I am not explicitly looking for a big community. In roleplay, five to seven active players are enough to create an enjoyable environment. Thanks for posting and I hope you reply or at least keep looking because this was the type of feedback I was looking for. | |
I agree with Ishuri, post some screenshot. And you can link the forum to ingame browser making it easier for players to create and view other players characters. Basically design the forum and link as if it was going to be used in game.
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Some suggestions: First, I imagine a game where when you roleplay it does the actions.
Step 1: Activate a sequence of skills. Each activation requires rp. This rp is written as if you don't know the results because you won't. Step 2: Game checks each action and compares with other players action. Step 3: When all actions are submitted, rp and animations play back accordingly. Cinematic almost. Details: When Rping the target's are selected. If the targets don't have actions set up to respond to your actions. Then the game waits until they submit their actions. Once everyone clicks submit the game animates actions based on variables. I also think a confirm actions should be supplied in case you want to change your response to another's player's newly submitted response. The beauty of this would be in the animations and variable checks. To make for awesome rp purely based on rp (mature.) | |
Great idea, BabyDwarf, Ive been trying to brainstorm on how I can implement a roleplaying system that empowers players to fulfill better enactment of scenes, doing things like summon a boss if that's apart of the story or perhaps changing it day into night showing transitions. I just don't have much experience in roleplaying so I don't know whats all viable. All events would also be automatically into the games history or timeline where anyone could look at whats happened in the past.
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Just wanna say, as a former roleplayer I think BabyDwarf's idea is absolutely amazing. Been trying to think of something similar for a long time.
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I think procedurally generated events, strict sometimes permanent death rules and roleplaying go hand and hand.
If you can always go east to the goblin fields to hunt for low level characters and the only drawback of death is starting in town then it really limits the experience. If you have to work for shops in town doing petty errands to build up for basic equipment and then look through requests that the server makes at the town guards for caravans that take you to randomly generated mini stories that alert everyone who wants to join and modifies the difficulty appropriately by the time the caravan takes off now that is something real. If everyone is scared to crap of losing their character it makes it that much more exciting. | |