RP size vs. allocated space

[unanun]

Alright, I know I was reminded to do RP discussion elsewhere, but since there is an 'article' prefix and general chat is .. general, I'll once again post in this sub-forum.

I noticed that RPs here can become top heavy with characters very quickly. How do the administration balance one thread <-> many characters? Have you ever considered opening up sub forums to give RPers more room to breath or do you feel that will lead to segregation?

 

[Asmodeus]

Like some kind of mass roleplay?

 

[unanun]

Naw. I'm not a missionary or anything; oom and it's related brethren require special circumstances to set up and proliferate, and I acknowledge that. I fondly remember my roots but to make the tree that grows from it the same as the root is silly.

I am just curious about balancing many players with one thread. I can see phantasm quest getting unwieldy, broken rose is somewhat in between.

 

[Diana]

It's really up to the Game Master to decide how many characters/players they are comfortable with managing. Everyone has very different opinions on what way is the "best" way to do it. XD We're trying to provide a system here that gives GMs the most flexible options for their style. (I personally get really overwhelmed when I get more than 6 players. x___x )

We avoid having extra subforums for roleplay sections as we just don't have a large enough player base to really make it well used. Plus, the more subforums we add, the more confusing the system can get... D: And we don't give members subforums for their single rps anymore, because that caused a lot of unnecessary stress and expectations on GMs and Players.

BUT: We allow GMs to start multiple threads for their RPs when they need to separate players. All they have to do is title their threads so their players know that's their rp.

AND: We also have the "Groups" area, where many people have started a group for their Mass/Large scale roleplay projects. This lets people have their own private area to organize their rp the same way a subforum would work, but without making chaos on the forum index.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

In general the GM will set the number of people they want in a RP, the staff does not make decisions on how many people can get involved. In general some plots can be top heavy but as a GM, you tend to know the posting styles of the people that have signed up within a week or two. Sometimes you get a lot and others you don't. It's largely based on whether or not a GM feels that they can handle a lot or just some. We also recommend that in the larger plots that people try discussing their roles with others, so that you have a group working together for some scenes. I personally set the limit to 5-7 people and I generally have a secondary GM if I am not around to post.

Instead of making subforums, the staff recommends Group RPs, for example this. That way you have complete control of how you want your RP to be run and for example if you need mutli-threads you can add them in one spot.

 

[unanun]

Neat! So a group is like a thread aggregator?

 

[Blind Hemingway]

Yes, in a way. They function almost exactly like a normal forum or subforum but without adding additional things to the main boards.

 

[Diana]

Yeah, the only sucky thing is that you can't use sticky threads in the groups. >< I am still crossing my fingers that the feature will be added in the future.