Tuesday, March 2, 2004

The history of Yoda's Otaku life...
I remember when one 14 year old boy stumbled upon Otakuboards completely by chance, after being introduced to theOtaku.com, because it had good Dragonball Z pictures. (This friend was Andrew, he and I liked to print off pictures and draw them... and we're both pretty good.) The boy, a newbie in every sense of the word, originally tried to join up as SSJ Trunks... but input a wrong e-mail address. Second attempt, and SS Trunks was born. After spending sometime in the Dragonball, Pokémon and Lounge sections exclusively, I came across the Arena...

This place was a new experience to me, and it was something I wanted to be a part of. I was the typical newbie though... I had imagination and enthusiasm, but no clue of structure or post equality. Through admirable veterans, particularly Sephiroth, my RPing talents were allowed to bloom, and I was lucky enough to witness what I call "The Golden Age of the Arena".

Every single RPG was guaranteed commitment, and the creator was certain to be spoilt for choice in his applicants. Final Flash, Warlock, Raiha, Sephy, Pyro, James, DBZman, DeathKnight and of course Chaos, would make and take part in so many RPG's, making such effort that each one was successful. A 100 post minimum on every RPG on page 1 of the Arena was a glorious thing to see. Sadly, those days are since gone.

Nearly 17 years of age now, and called Yoda, I look at the Arena, and I see RPG's dying with only 15 posts. Besides the rarest gem, each RPG I come across seems to have been thrown together on the spur of the moment. There was a time when people were simply passionate about making long, detailed posts that left you gasping for more. Now, every other post is three lines long, with a "I hope that post was OK" comment at the end.

Of the RPers mentioned above, only one posts regularly anymore, the revered Raiha. Thankfully, her posts are still as good and as abundant as ever. Perhaps it's because the veterans are so use to quality now, that newbie's seem to struggle so much, and are as intimidated as they are. But if this is so, why were some "newbie's", Boba Fett being a prime example, able to learn their trade as I did... and now flourish as greatly respected RPers?

New comers to the RPG world it seems, want to jump in the pool too quickly. They haven't even learned to swin yet, and they throw a sub standard RPG straight into the deep end... no-one joins, and it sinks. They climb straight out of the pool, and they never come back. Yes, it's harsh... but over eagerness is often a mistake.

All I would ask of new RPers, is to persevere. At your first rejection, don't get pissed off, take it as a learning curve. Next time, try harder. Look at the sign up's of people like Raiha, Boba, Ben, Drix and Lynx. See the effort and the quality of their posts. This is what you should be trying to emulate. Eventually, you'll get there. Everything requires practice, and this is no different.

This is what is required for the Arena to flourish as it once did. If there is to be a "Second golden age", it will need far more people with a desire to role play, not simply to win, or be accepted. The latter type are the ones who give up after one attempt. I'm going to be blunt with those people... look. Just look at your own sign up. You see that three line biography you just wrote, riddled with mistakes? Now look at the guy's above you, who has a three paragraph biography, detailed and, most importantly, relevant. Sure, you can say the guy with a 3 paragraph bio hasn't got a life if he's willing to write that much... but you both signed up for the RPG, you wanted it as much as he did... but he knew how to get it. So, instead of whining about how the board is unfair to newbie's... step up. Take your time, look about you at others' posts, take in as much as you can... and post a sign up that will blow the others away. Then, realise that every post you make must be of this quality. Dedication is what is needed for the Arena. Skill and maturity are a direct product of dedication. You don't have to know what iambic pentameter is to be a good, well respected RPer.

Magic Advise for the Day: Read the above rant, and follow it's advice.
Comments (3)