What Does It Mean?
First, it's pretty early in the morning, especially for a weekend, and I haven't had any of the hot brown beverages that usually start my day. This means you might be in for a more ramble-y ramble than usual.
Second, this is about plot, role-play and the essence of story. Your mileage may vary.
I've been thinking about the nature of role-play and story, and the purpose of plot, and what makes stories work. For me. Like I said, YMMV. In the stories I write and in the stories I predominantly read, the doings, the plot, the events that carry the Main Character along are instances that open wide the doors of change. That's their purpose. Sometimes the change is small and subtle, and sometimes it's like taking a crowbar to a china cup, but whatever it is, the events outside the character create the space in which the character himself changes.
And without change, without the character being challenged to consider himself or his world, without adaptation, or reconciliation, or rebellion, and ultimately some type of understanding, all the doings that happen, all the plot points, are just so much stuff. They're meaningless. Worse, I find them to be ultimately boring. I find myself asking, "So what? Why should I care?"
Which means, in role-playing contexts, the plot points aren't so much the reason for the game, as ways to challenge the characters to make choices; to keep them reaching for their goals, whatever those are, and to continually come closer to what is true for them. I want to discover (along with them) what is important enough to stand up and fight for with everything they have? What are they willing strive to achieve? How are they defining themselves in this world of change? What are they willing to do to get what they truly want?
In table-top gaming, we don't often get the chance to get into deep motivations, because time for the conversations necessary to show what's going on inside a character is often at a premium. Some of my best memories of gaming, though, is where characters had to make hard choices, and we could see all that went into the choosing. Those are the gems that make RP awesome for me. It's not about winning, though obtaining your personal goals is awesome, especially when you've had to work for it, it's about how the characters grow.
In one-shots, there's no room for such namby-pamby, squishy stuff, though there's plenty of room for choice. Play-by-post gives ample room for such things, but the gamers/writers have to be willing to indulge in it, and if they aren't, then it's like reading a story where stuff continually happens, and nothing changes for the character, even if change is happening all around them.
One of the phrases that comes up a good deal when I write is, "But what does it mean?" Now, granted, this mostly comes up when I'm writing a sex scene (cause mechanics are just porn, and I find porn to be ultimately boring), but it is something I think about in regard to plot as well. What does this mean to the character? That's the juiciness of it. That's what I want to see, to experience through their eyes, their lives. What does it mean?
What I want to know if this is just a "Kath" preference thing, or if it's a "female" preference thing, or if it covers a broader base than that. When you game or write or read, what is it you want most out of the experience? Why?
Please discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Second, this is about plot, role-play and the essence of story. Your mileage may vary.
I've been thinking about the nature of role-play and story, and the purpose of plot, and what makes stories work. For me. Like I said, YMMV. In the stories I write and in the stories I predominantly read, the doings, the plot, the events that carry the Main Character along are instances that open wide the doors of change. That's their purpose. Sometimes the change is small and subtle, and sometimes it's like taking a crowbar to a china cup, but whatever it is, the events outside the character create the space in which the character himself changes.
And without change, without the character being challenged to consider himself or his world, without adaptation, or reconciliation, or rebellion, and ultimately some type of understanding, all the doings that happen, all the plot points, are just so much stuff. They're meaningless. Worse, I find them to be ultimately boring. I find myself asking, "So what? Why should I care?"
Which means, in role-playing contexts, the plot points aren't so much the reason for the game, as ways to challenge the characters to make choices; to keep them reaching for their goals, whatever those are, and to continually come closer to what is true for them. I want to discover (along with them) what is important enough to stand up and fight for with everything they have? What are they willing strive to achieve? How are they defining themselves in this world of change? What are they willing to do to get what they truly want?
In table-top gaming, we don't often get the chance to get into deep motivations, because time for the conversations necessary to show what's going on inside a character is often at a premium. Some of my best memories of gaming, though, is where characters had to make hard choices, and we could see all that went into the choosing. Those are the gems that make RP awesome for me. It's not about winning, though obtaining your personal goals is awesome, especially when you've had to work for it, it's about how the characters grow.
In one-shots, there's no room for such namby-pamby, squishy stuff, though there's plenty of room for choice. Play-by-post gives ample room for such things, but the gamers/writers have to be willing to indulge in it, and if they aren't, then it's like reading a story where stuff continually happens, and nothing changes for the character, even if change is happening all around them.
One of the phrases that comes up a good deal when I write is, "But what does it mean?" Now, granted, this mostly comes up when I'm writing a sex scene (cause mechanics are just porn, and I find porn to be ultimately boring), but it is something I think about in regard to plot as well. What does this mean to the character? That's the juiciness of it. That's what I want to see, to experience through their eyes, their lives. What does it mean?
What I want to know if this is just a "Kath" preference thing, or if it's a "female" preference thing, or if it covers a broader base than that. When you game or write or read, what is it you want most out of the experience? Why?
Please discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts.