[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

Back in my days, there were no plot pages. People interacted characters just fine without them, reading their bio and meeting the characters right from the thread. But those had been GM-based sites. People underwent through "journeys" interacting with events set by mod, which helped them learn more about their char and take a swing at it. I've been meaning to have a freeform RP someday and I was wondering if plot pages are necessary for it, or if a freeform site without plot pages has ever been done before.

[TSUKASA]

From my personal experience on the sites I've been on, people hardly use plot pages anyway. I see so many pretty templates all filled out, only to be barely used if they're not just collecting e-dust. Take this with a grain of salt as it's just how I've seen things, but threading/plotting with friends and/or people on things like cboxes are much more prevalent than the use of any plot page.

P.S. cause I forgot to mention that the sites I've been on do well so no, I don't think plot pages are necessary, but I wanted to make an observation that not having them doesn't quell the function they serve. It just removes one popular medium that, from my experience, isn't all too popular anyway.

[Zozma]

Yeah, not many on either of my sites use them. We do plot though. Usually in the cbox or over PMs. I don't know. I don't like to be boxed in but I hate wandering without a goal in mind. I also love to have a web of character connections so wherever I can, I connect my characters to others. If somebody makes a new character, I'll usually think about how they might know one another. That sparks at least a starting idea. Characters aren't born in a vacuum, after all, so to really ingrain them in their setting, it makes sense to say "they're in the same faction so they know each other" or "they're dorm-mates" or whatever gets the ball rolling.

[Deleted]

i am secretly whole heartedly against plot pages. that is no longer a secret.

I hate writing them because 99% of the time, the plots I get on my plot pages aren't plots that I'm interested in. Sometimes people just summarize their character and then link you to their profile and are like "HEY LET'S PLOT" without a single plot idea. Also, I tend to have characters that don't really care about anyone else, let alone their characters so they don't have any reason to know half the site. LOL.

I usually encourage people to have freeform no-apps kind of thing, so most people end up plotting in the cbox, over skype/aim/whatever people use nowadays, like Zozma said.

I didn't use plot pages until the last year out of peer pressure.
You don't need them. I've run lots of sites without them.

[pascaline]

I agree, I don't believe plot pages are necessary for a site to run successfully. I prefer plotting through messenger and PMs anyway. I find plot pages are interesting because they give more insight into the character, but instead of there being a plot page perhaps there should be like... a character sheet or something. Or the kind of plots you want written into the application, sort of like on Shambala.

Actually, there's an idea! Writing the kind of stuff you would in a plot page in a section of the application instead, and people contacting you after reading your character's bio where all the information is laid out.

[Deleted]

There are sites with Plot Pages as bios, too.
Some people prefer it because it gets plotting going faster, and shows off your character in the perspective of everyone else.
It's more... in-character, I've heard.

[milachan ★]

Honestly I think what works better than plot pages are Skype groups. I've been in plot pages hundreds of times and when "history applications" which were the plot pages of the avidgamers world came about, I never really liked them. People spent too much time thinking of plots and not of the fun that could be had in them. Maybe it's just me but.. I don't like them. I think people discuss plots and are more tempted to do daring ones in Skype convos where they're chatting than when they're posting in a little open thread where it can just be ignored.

Best plots happen when it's in real-time not waiting for replies.

That's my two cents.

[Starry Neko]

Hahaha, I never saw the point of plot threads- unless you're just too shy to ask I guess? I respond to all my member's plot threads if they don't know me very well. However with the amount of characters I have on my site, once I hit past fifteen characters- having a plot page to update in detail is just suicidal. I don't think they're really needed to keep a site working or functional. I always welcome people to PM me or chat me up in the chatbox- and I always have open threads open for other people to join. So...yeah. I don't think they're fundamental- and I don't think a site technically needs them besides 'I wanna do this' type of purpose.

[SIFR]

I dunno. Back in my day, there weren't even templates either. It made the plot pages null and void. People jumped in threads and then put in ooc tags, "HEY IT WOULD BE SO COOL IF-" if they felt the need for a predetermined plot.

Granted, back then, members created plots to share with other members. Admins just approved profiles, created the sandbox, promoted and participated.

Those days were bloody grand.

[WarriorArts]

I don't really see the point of plot pages where's it's just a summary of the character and then "hey, bring me your ideas guys!" because... the bio is what's used to display the character's information, so why post it twice :/
I like plot pages that give some ideas of what plots they want to do, so that it doesn't feel like only the repliers are doing the thinking and brainwork, and that the OP is actually motivated and likely to follow through with plots.
Similarly, if a replier only says "*throws character at you*" I'm just going to blink and stare at them, because okay you're throwing a character at me... that doesn't help. If they want a thread with me, they should have some sort of idea first.

On my site we encourage group plots/site wide plots, plot pages if people want to (because some people really do work well with them c:~), and plot ideas/requests, which are basically ideas you post up "hey I want to do this - who wants to do this with me/who's in?" and gather interest. That may the topic of the thread is already determined, and things can get moving quickly~

People can also pm for plots if they want to and this can make the communication a lot easier/hide plot points so not the whole site knows, but many people do consider plotpages an advantage when someone is new and might feel uncomfortable with pming people. Also, plotpages make characters and potential plots readily available and "open" to people to reply, which can be an easier and more comfortable process for members.
Basically: people like different things <x

[meg]

When I first started role-playing (eleven years ago) even free forum role-plays didn't have plot pages. Heck, I joined when applications weren't even necessary. You just picked a name and jumped in wherever you could. I usually prefer to have open threads where characters interact and then we figure out what sort of a plot will form after/during that. I still make plot pages though, for the people who like to pre-plan things. They're pretty, but nothing is really necessary for an RP except participants who are enthusiastic.

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

Aug 31, 2013 16:41:03 GMT -8 milachan ★ said:

Honestly I think what works better than plot pages are Skype groups. I've been in plot pages hundreds of times and when "history applications" which were the plot pages of the avidgamers world came about, I never really liked them. People spent too much time thinking of plots and not of the fun that could be had in them. Maybe it's just me but.. I don't like them. I think people discuss plots and are more tempted to do daring ones in Skype convos where they're chatting than when they're posting in a little open thread where it can just be ignored.

Best plots happen when it's in real-time not waiting for replies.

That's my two cents.

I don't like skype plotting since it's too...time-consuming? Having to maintain talks and all. I might just be a bit introverted and feel tired having to talk too much. My plots tend to go as a big bundle so plot pages have always been more convenient for me.

There was a site I saw that mostly used plot pages as a way of getting threads, not much of deep plotting.

I do agree that open threads are GREAT and I've experienced developing plots off the bat there. I guess I've experienced good things from both worlds. In the past, I think I was pretty traditional about plotting and was all I WANT TO HAVE EVERYTHING PLOTTED but now I'm more chill on that. Too much thinking hurts creativity.

I mostly like plot pages just to see who would be interested in plotting with me. It never fails to make you feel good.