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Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Set the record straight.
Okay, I'm here with a semi-rant. This is a subject that I've talked about before, but I am constantly being reminded of it lately.
The issue in question is my RPGs.
Quite often, when I talk about something I am going to make, I will get people who say "That sounds great, but I know I won't get in." Now, I have to admit, I don't really know where that attitude comes from.
But it disappoints me a lot. Why? Because it's unreasonable.
If you look at the stuff I've done most recently (particularly The Reanimatrix), you'll see that getting into any of my RPG/writing threads isn't exactly rocket science. Provided that you follow the most basic of requirements (and believe me, there are plenty of other RPGs have have stricter/harsher requirements than mine), you'll be just fine.
I can see why people may feel intimidated in one sense -- with Kill Adam, for example, only a limited number of people got in. But for me, Kill Adam is the exception and not the rule. In that RPG, it was necessary to have fewer characters. And I really wanted to do justice to the great writing that the people in Volume 1 had produced, so I wanted to be very careful about who I chose for Volume 2. But as I mentioned in that thread, everyone's submission was excellent -- which made it insanely tough to choose the final participants.
I just want to make that extra clear, because this is the one thing that has been consistently annoying me at OB. If I were somehow highly strict with every RPG, I could definitely understand it...but I'm not like that at all.
I also understand that Kill Adam set one precedent; the use of HTML in RPGs.
My hope was that the introduction of things like that would simply provide an example of what is possible on OB. In other words, you don't need to use graphics/HTML/chapters if you don't want to. But they are there to show you one possibility that you may not have considered.
I bring this up because I read Boba's story in Sara's 55 Fiction thread.
I'm not sure if it was just a joke or what, but that really stung. It stung because it implied that no matter how great your writing is, it doesn't matter unless you have pretty graphics/HTML.
And that concept goes so heavily against my own philosophy that it kind of makes my head spin.
As I said, it's true that Kill Adam introduced some of those things.
But you know why Kill Adam has been such a good RPG? It has nothing to do with HTML or images or music. Go and read it. Read Shy's interwoven histories/tangents (we all love his tangents). Read Tori's highly emotional and raw posts that discuss her character's life. Go and read Tony's brilliant post that goes into detail about his character's childhood and how terrible it was. Or read HC's posts, which are laced with great dialogue and a really fantastic pacing (as well as providing just enough glimpse into the past).
It's good because it's about the writing and not about the HTML. The visuals only help to add to the atmosphere and presentation, but they are not what make the RPG special.
Chances are, I'm probably coming off as incredibly concerned about all of this.
The truth is, I just find it somewhat annoying. These things misunderstand what has been done...and they misunderstand what my own RPGs are all about.
Don't forget that Reanimatrix had no sign-up requirements at all (other than that your post had to be about Matrix, or related to it). And what is the result? A collection of short stories and poetry that I'm incredibly proud of. Each one is unique and each one is fantastic. I love everything in there, regardless who wrote it.
So, please. If you have an interest in any of my RPGs, all you have to do is follow the basic requirements that get laid out. But believe me, most of you who think that you "don't have a chance of getting in" are probably the same people that would write the sign-ups I'd love to see.
Alan was saying that same thing about Maverick Hunters recently, but I love his sign-up. It's ideal for the story.
This thing about not being good enough? It's all in your mind, people. Besides, you'll never know if you don't try.
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