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Niche RP


Anders

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10 hours ago, Anders said:

Since we're supposed to be realistic and all, why is nobody doing more niche rp? Not rewarding enough?

 

Niche roleplay, but this also covers roleplay in general to a point, requires a driving force. If it is not a script, it will be a player or a small group of players. These dedicated players get their fun from organizing situation, scenarios, themes, and will work to make niche roleplay work, despite not receiving monetary rewards, or having script support.

 

These players need to be attracted to the server, and those that are present should be in a position where they don't want to leave for greener pastures.

 

  • Server policies, from the applicable rules, to the style of enforcement of said rules are important here.
  • Resources, such as scripts and features that give them the option to plan things out or make things more appealing to those participating, need to be available to them.
  • Community, this needs to be somewhat free of toxicity. Players guided by OOC motivations and desires should be replaced by those who have the greater good of the community in mind. Essentially, you need storytellers instead of players that are only here for their own entertainment.
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14 hours ago, joshua said:

the community, for the most part, shuns away niche RP that isn't part of their very idealistic norm. anyone doing anything outside of the "meta" will be ignored or alienated for being "trolls". go max out an elegy instead and make loads of friends 😄

 

This one is a big factor contributing to the same 5 stereotypes seen on the server - because anything that is different is seen with very strong scrunity and easily pushed in the corner 'mallrat' or 'bad RP' if it does not meet a person's expectations of being one of a few stereotypes that established themselves on the server.

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9 hours ago, orca112 said:

 

This one is a big factor contributing to the same 5 stereotypes seen on the server - because anything that is different is seen with very strong scrunity and easily pushed in the corner 'mallrat' or 'bad RP' if it does not meet a person's expectations of being one of a few stereotypes that established themselves on the server.

 

15 hours ago, TinyPotato said:

Niche RP needs 2 be something sustainable/interactive to do

spamming empty /me's into the void is just boring

 

the reason social rp dominates is other players offer a level of interactivity other features on the server dont. 

ur either interacting with another player, with the script, or with ur own made-up /me's

 

like for example if u go out on a boat and rp sailing, there's no scripted wind, waves, weather etc. u can make it up in /me and /do but then ur just reacting to your own content - its like playing DND by urself where ur both the DM and the player; that's boring. 

 

 

I think these are two pretty great points, additionally I'd say that roleplay that revolves around more passive social interaction; clubs, bars, roleplaying in closed interiors. Hell, even just driving around and talking. Comes a lot more easier to most players, because although the vast majority of characters on the server aren't self-inserts. There are absolutely elements of a player's real-life personality and interests in their characters. So, at times it is just simply easier to do these more passive forms of roleplay, then engaging in niche roleplay; roleplay that might be out of a person's real-life wheelhouse and knowledge base. Resulting in the niche roleplay being avoided.

 

You will encounter player's judging the roleplay as being "mallratty" and so long, as the roleplay you are doing is of a good quality. Just keep doing what you're doing and progressing the niche you want to accomplish. If someone is really that caught-up in judging your niche as being mallrat roleplay, then let them. Clearly you're doing something correct and noticeable enough to get under their skin. 

 

It would be nice to see player's try to tackle more niche avenues of roleplay. When creating niche roleplay it's important to remember that it isn't consistent. The majority of niche roleplay isn't going to be backed by any script, meaning you're going to end-up with less people being interested in the roleplay on some days, compared to other days. That's a big challenge player's creating the roleplay will face. But, it's important to remember that the slow days won't always happen and there will be days where the roleplay is healthy and active.

 

Niche roleplay can become quite exhausting to force yourself to do, as the person creating it. As TinyPotato explained pretty well, it can become pretty boring doing it on your own, or even in the same small groups. It's okay to take a break from your niche roleplay and let it fade out for sometime, just to revive it again. If the niche exists, people will be interested in it at some point or another. You will experience player's joining and leaving, very frequently and eventually your niche probably will die out. It's a harsh reality, but it's just how niche roleplay works, in any roleplay community, not just GTAW. That's why it's important to interact with these niches while they exist (if you're interested in it, of course).

 

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On 1/18/2022 at 4:46 AM, joshua said:

 

each time i've done this, i've been reported on the forums, shit-talked in faction discords, or berated in PMs. and as much as i don't really care about players getting upset (for some reason) about a very common and prolific activity in the US that never actually makes it past a forum report, it makes it a bit of a commitment to do because i know it's gonna end up in some OOC drama. and that makes less people willing to get involved as they don't want to have to deal with that.

 

the community, for the most part, shuns away niche RP that isn't part of their very idealistic norm. anyone doing anything outside of the "meta" will be ignored or alienated for being "trolls". go max out an elegy instead and make loads of friends 😄

if I ever had to pick a reason if GTAW ever fails, it’s this culture of picking things apart OOCly and harassing people OOCly because of niche IC conflict.

 

it’s everywhere in faction roleplay and why I dread joining any illegal/legal faction.

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you will just be told by staff "We're not looking to have something like this on the server." Whenever I've tried to rp an unique character it's what I heard. Server is boring all you can do is rp a civilian who goes club/bar hopping or an illegal character and it feels even criminal rpers are starting to get pushed out. Anything original get shut down real quick or made fun of by other players that do nothing but bar hop and erp because that has become the norm.

 

One timeI tried rping a man who lives in the forests, between the animals hunting for food etc. Got told by admins i'm not allowed to.

Edited by Khalabeeb
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On 1/18/2022 at 3:32 AM, Anders said:

how one can "lure" players from dancing in clubs and drinking in bars.

to put it simply and lay the truth harshly...You can't. 
The most niche idea at the time, that someonewhat made it through, is aviation roleplay. /atc makes it way better and interactive and immersive as well.

Edited by Gambler
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3 minutes ago, Gambler said:

to put it simply and lay the truth harshly...You can't.

 

You definitely can. If you'll notice, a lot of people around the world are playing video games that aren't related to chatting and dancing in clubs. What those other games do is support a specific activity well, which makes it fun to engage with. If you avoid supporting these things, then people will not remain or become engaged and check out. If you support a specific type of activity, a subculture, a theme, or something along those lines really well, people will engage with it. In GTAW this is most obvious with 'cars', LEO, gang roleplay, and a few other similar things. 

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On 1/18/2022 at 10:46 AM, joshua said:

 

each time i've done this, i've been reported on the forums, shit-talked in faction discords, or berated in PMs. and as much as i don't really care about players getting upset (for some reason) about a very common and prolific activity in the US that never actually makes it past a forum report, it makes it a bit of a commitment to do because i know it's gonna end up in some OOC drama. and that makes less people willing to get involved as they don't want to have to deal with that.

 

the community, for the most part, shuns away niche RP that isn't part of their very idealistic norm. anyone doing anything outside of the "meta" will be ignored or alienated for being "trolls". go max out an elegy instead and make loads of friends 😄

They're just trying to give you the experience of the hate a first amendment auditor is getting IRL.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Most of the people already mentioned the heartbreaking fact about the niche RP, the lack of interest after some time is the main reason killing this type of roleplay and you can't do anything about it. I had my own encounters for these types of roleplay from back in times. Once I first approached a high-class clothing store, mostly focused on suits for males I faced the same problem. 

 

If I really wanna be honest, I never regret my approach towards those unique ideas. I know I could earn 100 times more if I went for a bar or a restaurant but the thing is it didn't make sense for my character and I really didn't want to have that in my background. Word of advice for anybody reading this, if you're planning to take these steps towards niche RP, know the fact that it might be a tricky way but at the end of the day, you won't regret developing your character in a way it makes sense for you. 

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