Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 6.2K All Categories
- 3.1K Everything Achaea
- 1.5K North of Thera
- 26 Archives of the Terraformer
- 257 The Matsuhama Arena
- 885 The Golden Dais of Creation
- 299 The Scarlattan Theatre
- 149 The Blank Canvas
- 2K Getting Help
- 412 General Questions
- 258 Quick Class Questions
- 1.3K Tech Support
- 313 Client Help
- 486 Curing Systems and Scripts
- 841 Off-Topic
- 255 The Wander Inn
- 586 The Universal Membrane
- 298 Class Discussions
- 298 Individual Class Sections
- 20 Alchemist
- 9 Apostate
- 30 Blademaster
- 9 Depthswalker
- 14 Druid
- 4 Infernal
- 20 Jester
- 19 Magi
- 34 Monk
- 11 Occultist
- 8 Paladin
- 7 Priest
- 29 Runewarden
- 18 Sentinel
- 26 Serpent
- 20 Shaman
- 9 Sylvan
Original RP vs RP from books and movies
I am a big believer in originality, but I wonder what everyone else thinks?
Do you think RP that takes entire themes from popular books and other media is great, good or something else?
Do you think RP that takes entire themes from popular books and other media is great, good or something else?
0
Comments
Tropes are anyone's game, and if we're just talking about particular tropes or aesthetics that inspired people's RP, I see no problem with that.
On the other hand, RPing hating embroidery and running off to practice fencing is more of a trope that one could build on that I'd find interesting, as it probably was more universal than just happening to Arya Stark. But if you did it with your direwolf and met an assassin who taught you what word to say, then it would be a bit more.
So, something more than a trope or an aesthetic.
It is this broader perspective that influences my opinion on the actual question being asked. As long as you are not plagiarising, I see nothing wrong with being inspired by movies, games, written stories, etc., especially if you are using them to inspire a storyline that resonates within you. In other words, using the themes are fine, so long as a) you're not trying to re-create a character from your favourite book/movie/etc., and b) you find a way to make it work within the medium, with the medium in this case being the MUD itself.
Note: I wrote this when Madelyne's post was the latest comment, so keep that in mind for context!
"Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that [everlasting] life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man."
Even if I could add my own flair and give it that Achaean twist... it's still someone else's idea and theme.
Take the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones, for example. (I finally was able to watch that episode last night after moving past my Shawn Bean addiction [I refused to watch the series after that certain part. Same with LotR until I remembered that he is still alive and happy outside of the movies/series]. The feels, man, THE FEELS.) At first, I thought it would be an interesting concept to incorporate into a wedding idea in Achaea (avoiding bloodshed in some cases is unavoidable, especially if a God demands that blood be spilt [I'm lookin' at you @Sartan, you Suffering devil, you.]) and in this case, it'd be between the Kindfires and the Van Helsings (then @Draqoom ruined it with his ally status post. Jerk.) Then.. I realised I don't want to take George R. R. Martin's idea because, well, its silly to do that. With a little creativity and originality, I could do so much more than that.
I can also understand using said events in books/movies as inspiration, however taking them completely and utilizing the ENTIRE idea into your roleplay.. is practically just stealing the author's/screen writers entire time trying to come up with that particular scene.
This right here.
Hell, the official world of Achaea borrows a bunch of things whole cloth from all sorts of world mythologies. Myth pastiches can be done poorly, but they're a venerable tradition that can also be lots of fun.
But there is a difference, in my eyes, between, say, having watched a movie that dealt with betrayal of blood relatives, and trying to incorporate that into one's Achaean life, using the appropriate context/situations/modifications/motivations, and straight up trying to make Achaean elements fit into the movie's plot.
Inspiration versus plaigiarism, I guess.
There are just some things that are so unique that they scream THIS ENTIRE THING IS A PLOT FROM DR WHO! or whatever.
"Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that [everlasting] life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man."
There's also the possibility of playing out your own stories within someone else's setting. MKO is set in the world of Ray Feist's Riftwar Saga, which was in turn based on an RPG Feist played in based on a setting published in the 70s. I don't think that makes roleplaying on MKO any better or worse than roleplaying on Achaea, just different (I've never played MKO, this is not a comparison of how good or bad the RP is in general).
So yeah, I'd say it's all a matter of context. If you're pulling things from other works that disrupt or don't fit with the setting in which you and your fellow players have agreed to play, then that's probably bad. If it fits well and is believable in the context you're playing in, then whether it's good or bad comes down to whether you enjoy doing it and whether it adds to the game.
*Stoning beforehand available on certain days.
I meant in general, not at weddings.
And as much as I would enjoy that, quite hard when I don't play!
Stuff I steal from: More non-fiction than other fictional realms. A lot of the backstories and personal things for my character were blended together from bits of native Hawaiian and Gaelic history and lore, beyond just the name (which, in retrospect, is the perfect name for a preacher).
These days, I find there's a lot of interesting material to be had from looking at Ayatollah Khamenei (misspelled his name in an earlier thread) and stuff from the Inquisition-era Catholic Church.
...
And then I saw the movie, and lo, was verily disappointed
Admittedly, I've been guilty of a lot of heavy "inspiration", even unwittingly. For instance, I, for awhile during the dirty pirate era, wasn't even aware how much I was RP-emulating until someone likened Tart to a female Jack Sparrow.
I find myself wondering from time to time, because of the inherent nature of the personality type that comes along with playing Achaea for srs, just how heavily others are influenced by characters and/or storylines they've enjoyed (be it literary, cinematic, historical, whatever) without even realizing it. I think a creative mind will inadvertently snag something that they admire or appreciate, stuff it away like some scatter hoarding scavenger, and the seed will manifest itself organically.
That said, I do find it pretty tacky and/or unpalatable when there's blatant plagiarism or theft going on (i.e. entire IC texts that are not paraphrased, but copied word-for-word from RL texts); at least slap a veneer on that shit, and make it Achaean.
On that note, I always loved "Gaillardia Aristata". I wonder if the flower meant something special to his player, or if he just thought the name sounded cool (it does); either way, it's a fun reimagining that took on a life of its own.
Enough with the siren mudsexors at Minia stereotype. Why can't a group of sirens found an oceanic/desert all-women bene gesserit-like cult dedicated to breeding/training/controlling/buying artefacts for a Jhui-like Kwisatz Haderach superman? Start a -new- tradition. "Boobs? What are boobs. We wear hijab, aba robes, and artefact veils."
Granted, any real Dune fan will spot it instantly if suck at it, but here's tons of potential there. Idk. You could change all the names, switch up the flavour, give it your own customs and Achaea-specific traditions and really work to base it on Achaea lore. Cherry pick stuff, make it unrecognizable from source material, then totally claim that shit as your own. Worship those sandworms Dala'myrr, man.
Oh man, this.
So much this.
It's really funny you mentioned this exact trope, because I..vaguely started to fashion Tillie a bit from Arya Stark when I converted her to a bard. She's become much more tomboyish after I sort of accepted it- but she's evolved as a bard whereas Arya has evolved as -somewhat - of a swordswoman.
Every time she unsheathes her rapier, though, all I can think of is: "Stick 'em with the pointy end."
Tropes can be great starting points for characters, as well as great ways to filter through objectives and flesh out the seed of a personality. I ultimately agree though, that contextually, that trope should fade out once your character has been influenced by events and experiences in Achaea.
So you have your dual-scimitar/rapier/longsword/katana-wielding trenchcoat-wearing anti-hero who left the decadence of Mhaldor with your magical panther in search of truth and justice. That's cool. So you have your shapely-curved, scantily-dressed siren who's actually a misunderstood scholar whose culture is woefully unaware of the concept of modesty. That's cool. So you have your anime hero with spiky hair and is prone to shouting IT'S OVER NINE-THOUSAAAND! while being overly-boisterous and buddying up with everyone. That's cool. So you have your cruel, scheming conniver who always tents his fingers and goes 'Just as planned' while wearing the obligatory billowing black cape and long moustache. That's cool too.
As said before, there is no such thing as originality, and that 'Totally Original Character(do not steal!)(tm)' of yours? Somewhere, sometime, some-universe, some-alternate-history, some-reality, someone has already done that before you. But does the fact that your character concept is unoriginal mean that your character is, to use a swear word, 'shit-tier'? Absolutely not.
The way I see it, given the multiplayer nature of the medium you are in, character concepts are a springboard for development. Whether the development happens in a natural direction(the scheming conniver finds a home as a member of Twilight and goes and connives schemingly with other conniving schemers of the Order) or takes an interesting twist(the anime hero's ideals have eroded with the passage of years, eventually turning to the path of Oblivion and preaching eloquently about the nihilistic nature of mortals BUT IS TOTALLY NOT SEPHIROTH, SO SHUT UP YOU FANGIRL HORDES), your story is never finished.
This same concept applies to RP themes. The concept of 'bloodshed in the midst of festivities'? I recall as one example the Greeks with their Odysseus and his infiltration of his own halls to punish his wife's would-be suitors and their abuse of her hospitality and their demands that she marry one of them. For me, there's nothing wrong with using known works of literature and/or art as inspiration for your own RP stories. So long as it is executed well, meshes with the atmosphere of Achaea, everyone involved is having fun(OOCly at least), and is subtle enough that it does not terribly jar suspension of disbelief, then go for it.
Stories by Jurixe and Stories by Jurixe 2
Interested in joining a Discord about Achaean RP? Want to comment on RP topics or have RP questions? Check the Achaean RP Resource out here: https://discord.gg/Vbb9Zfs
-
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important
Also, Talysin's death songs are getting pretty fun! http://forums.achaea.com/discussion/comment/198656/#Comment_198656