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Plot Planning
Topic Started: Oct 13 2010, 03:10 PM (100 Views)
Dinah May Anderson
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((*tosses admin hat way back into a corner* I think at least some of you know that I am not wearing the admin hat most of the time anyway, but just to make it clear))

Sometimes I am under the impression that a lot of the plot planning happens on IM, in the cbox, or by PM. Sometimes I feel like things develop between players in small, closed circles. Sometimes that can be good, as it focuses attention, allows the people immediately involved in a plot to deal with what concerns them.

But... it can also lead to cliques forming - or at least the appearance of it. Sometimes people can feel left out when they catch only bits and pieces of a much larger plot brewing.

I know one potential member who is hesitant to join this site because she thinks there are too many cliques, too many closed circles operating here. And I must admit I am not much a fan of "hey, would you like to join plot XYZ, it'll be awesome as A and B will do C but you can do a few posts with D also" situations.

But - I readily admit - this could be just me.

Is this a real problem, or just me? (Honest answers more than just a little welcome.)

And if it is a problem, how best to avoid it?
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Wren
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[-steals your admin hat and runs off-]

In any case --

I completely and totally see what you're driving at Dinah, it's not just you. But it is one of the necessary evils of a sort of site that strives to develop very personal relationships in small groups. [MasterxSlave, SlavexMaster's Household, etc.] I mean, thus far I've seen a lot of branching out as compared with the older EoM, masters visiting and speaking with other masters, slaves with other people, we've certainly taken steps forward.

One of the only things anyone can ever do about cliques on this sort of site is just be aware of it. People get comfortable with other people, and that makes them less likely to branch out in some cases. However this could easily be a case of people assuming too much is going on, where really it's nothing.

-shrugs-

You could always suggest plots, or people to post with to others. Try to kindle some interest in people getting around a bit more. But it's important to remember that there may have been a reason they weren't RPing together in the first place.
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Dinah May Anderson
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You are right, we are taking a few steps in the right direction. I think Lucian's "Holiday" thread is one of the steps in the right direction, asking out in the open for people who might want to join the fun, when he could just as easily have talked about it with people in private and made it an "invitation only" event.

And now that I slept on it and think about it some more I would say that my problem is not so much with how the plot planning happens, but rather with how "closed" some plots sometimes feel.

It is inevitable that plots get discussed on IM or in the cbox. It's where dialogs happen, and those are most conducive to creativity. I'd say my main beef is with how those ideas generated 'off forum' are shared - which often boils down to 'not at all'.

I think it would be great if 'plot outlines' were shared here, on the forum, so everyone knows what's going on - once those plot outlines have been decided on. Not to open the whole plot to major revisions, but to give people a chance to suggest things about it and/or come up with ways they can get involved in it (even if it is only a minor part as a 'bit player').

Shar
Oct 13 2010, 03:36 PM
You could always suggest plots, or people to post with to others. Try to kindle some interest in people getting around a bit more. But it's important to remember that there may have been a reason they weren't RPing together in the first place.

Sadly I am not that good at generating ideas. Give me a plot outline, some rough guideline to work with, and my muse kicks in. In a way I guess I am more an "editor" than a "writer", if that analogy makes sense.
Edited by Dinah May Anderson, Oct 14 2010, 12:33 AM.
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Brinley O'Connor
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Well I for one am rather... against the sharing of plots.
In a small sense.

How would we go about sharing them?

Say Dinah and I discuss getting married for real in IM.

I wouldn't want it posted in some thread that "OH HAI - here's what we're doing. Read us."

I feel like it could give out spoilers. I like surprising people, to some degree.

Hex is a good example of that. I've lightly discussed a plot point for her but Izzy doesn't know and I'll share it - I want her to enter a rally race. This would allow others that would be considered good drivers to join in, such as Muro or slaves with the wheel tag.

I just would be against the declaration of spoilers and the like. Perhaps I'm missing the point, and if so, disregard me.

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Wren
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Quote:
 
I feel like it could give out spoilers. I like surprising people, to some degree.


I completely agree. I typically don't share whatever I've got planned, because in large part I either am not yet sure how it will follow through or if perhaps something might change along the way.

I was more suggesting the establishment of a board similar to LF Slave/Master, called LF Plot. That way if someone does indeed want to share their plotting with someone else, be it because they need help pulling it off or because they want someone else's opinion -- the LF plot board would be there.

Otherwise I'm sort of against putting up people's separate plotlines so other people can pick over them, even if it's just so we're all on the same page. I can see it being an issue.
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Dinah May Anderson
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Okay, to pick this topic up again after I neglected it for a while:

I wouldn't want to see major spoilers in a thread about a plot either. Of course what one defines as "major" might differ from person to person, but I agree that giving away the climactic events of a plot, or some major character developments, wouldn't be such a brilliant idea.

No, what I had in mind was more along the lines of two threads Lucian created in recent days, one looking for healer to be present at the engagement party, the other the more recent one about Lucian's holiday. I think both were excellent in that they described a framework, a bsaic situation, and left the door open for people to get into the plot.

I am not sure if we would need a new board for that kind of thing, but I hope we will see a bit more like it in the future - if only as an "advance warning" that an open thread might be created soon that will have room for everyone and sundry, so people can be on the lookout and start thinking if one of their characters would (realistically) be there and have reason to interact with the other characters in that thread.

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Rhea
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Slave
ok i admit i didn't read anything past the first two posts before posting this so any wrongness or already saidness is due to that.

it does seem a bit cliquey with alot of planning going on in the cbox and rping there, i know i've often felt like an outsider in the cbox but i brushed that off as just me due to having always felt it no matter the site. i can understand Brinley's side of being against for the surprise (i'm a bit guilty of that at one point) but in the cbox it should be to make people feel welcome, and not much surprise if the plotting is in the cbox due to anyone being able to read it.

but from what seems to be the major problem from the skimming of this thread is the not inclucding anyone, i know once i get back into rping (after i get normal internet time again) i'll join random threads rather they are open or only for one person (the one person though only in the slave market before a slave is bought or club) just for randomness and to help get people use to rping outside of their own "cliques".

well thats what i have to say now i'm gonna bounce off to the cbox or something. *hopes she wont seem rude with what she said*
To live a life worth living is a dream i keep hidden to serve only him.
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Dinah May Anderson
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Shar
Oct 14 2010, 07:25 AM
I was more suggesting the establishment of a board similar to LF Slave/Master, called LF Plot. That way if someone does indeed want to share their plotting with someone else, be it because they need help pulling it off or because they want someone else's opinion -- the LF plot board would be there.
Okay, lets give this a try, and see what becomes of it. If it sees no - or very little - use I can always delete the section board again and move the topics somewhere else.
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