Delusions of Grandure

The maus is at it again! Sticking his big snout in, where it prolly don't belong, but hey! That's the dreamer's job. To cut a long story short, I've had an interesting concept come to me as i was lying in bed, this morning. All be it, it's probably not a new idea, but a worthwhile proposal, none the less. I see many concepts for RP and people looking for 'free-form' RP groups... and i will give DarkLife it's due, and say that it was a genuinely good idea. The problem with structureing RP like that, especialy within a form such as SL is that developement and 'true participation' in the event is limited to the staff and technicaly eleet.. and thier's no room for the 'Dramatic override'. I think what would create a truley involveing experiance is something more allong the lines of a 'loose-form RP' enviroment. Although i understand that something like 4 of 5 people you meet in SL are RPing in some way shape or form anyway, i was thinking, more allong the lines of something that the rest of us can get into, as well, so here's the monster:


For starters, we procure a large space. At least one island. I say an island, seperated from the mainland, because that way it's easy to identify the boundries of play. It regulates and funnels the aproaching 'wanderers' in that they can be prewarned that they are entering an aria reserved strictly for RP, and those that are participateing can be directed to a place where history, background and other pertenant inspirational information can be procured.
Now i say 'strictly RP', and i mean it. All OOC newaunces, subjectmatter, drama, even the names over thier heads should be checked at the frount door. And that can be easaly done, when you have to physicaly port to a new sim, to get there. Names are subjective and the reason i sugjest being rid of them is that way, a player can RP different characters, without haveing to have different avatars. Everything else is just given. Any RPG you open up, the first thing the book tells you is: "Check your real life at the door" I think that's an important rule.
Now that we have a place and some general guidelines, we come to the rules: What book to use, what form to follow... answer: none! Don't even code anything. No goofey attachments or enfureateing contraptions to update or loose. The beauty and curse of 'loose-form RP' is that it relies heavaly on the players to create the tone. The only universal form is the background, the envyroment and the subjectmatter provided by the staff. Now i fully understand that thier are certain guidelines to follow, to avoid interfearing with other players, like 'no compleetly earthshattering events, without staff participation', and goofey stuff like that. That's a given! But my point is that an RP envyroment can be functional and enjoyable without imposeing RULES and specific physics. Leave the players the option and the ability to 'bend the rules' a bitsey.
One of the biggest problems i find with most structured MMORPGs is that it's one world, with about 4 or 5 thousand 'heroes'! And that's why it dosn't work. Thier's no place for 'everyone else' and certainly no place for 'villans'. How this form differs is that we're not regulateing player behavior (apart from the extreem of blaitant harrasment) Be a good-guy or a bad-guy... or somewhere inbetween. Why be any guy at all? Just be there to bare witness! The beauty of simply haveing an RP envyroment to interact in, with no real imposed purpous is that you're not pressured to level-up or go monster hunting or anything... you're free to simply imerse yourself as a person in a nother world... and that is what i find lacking in a lot of other mainstreem MMORPGs. Everything has to be life-threttening or exciteing to be worth happening... thier's no room for the 'little things' that make an RP experiance so emersive.
The crafter's delemah: The idea that in any MMORPG you are limited by the imagination of the origonal game developer. Thier's no true way to distinguish yourself as a builder in a structured RP enviroment. Not so, here! Build Spacecraft, or swords, guns or sofas, you are limited only by your own emagination and are free to truly distinguish yourself as a craftsman, not only within the confines of the RP enviroment, but in SL at large! Think of the RP enviroment as just a tool of inspiration.
Now, as i concive it, the project comes to me allong the lines of a large space-station, and actualy the concept is a lot more feasable and naturaly tennable to SL, than most. You have the station high above the surface of the planet below. Shuttlecraft and larger freighters/cruisers manuvering around it... Now, don't get me wrong! I love D&D, but it seems to be the VERRY first thing EVERYONE seems to think, when they think RP, to the extent that i'm getting about sick and tired of playing, watching or reading any fiction that is suposedly dated in some grecko-roman or midevel period. The whole key here is to put up something new, right?

The problem presents itself in many forms, to my limited artistic tallent. I am just a dreamer. I could posably conceptualize the station, outlaying vessels and the terain below, graphicaly, but my skill in modeling and textureing is infinately more limited... That included with the fact that owning, maintaining and affording an island sim is prohibitavely expencive for me, right now, being a student, otherwise i would have bought it alredy, handed out a couple sketches an said: "O.k. fellas... go nuts!" *LOL*
I'm serious, tho: if i could aford it, i would. This is something i would like to see. Mabey i can pass the dream allong to someone who CAN do something with it *shrug*

Well.. enjoy, kids,

~maus out!

You should have put this later in the text.