Concept RPs

[Chainlinc3]

Has anyone ever tried doing a concept RP? Like, an RP with little to no plot involved, designed almost entirely around a simple concept? If you don't really get what I'm talking about, it would be something along the lines of an RP where everybody dies. No plot, no story, they are all probably dying for vastly different reasons. But within the space of the RP, every last one of them will somehow die, and the RP would just be about exploring death and the emotions that it generates. I don't know why these sorts of ideas appeal to me, I guess they are kinda like psychological experiments-- you know, "Hey, I wonder what would happen if we locked fifty people in a room with one doughnut and a sign that says 'Do Not Touch The Doughnut.'?" Anyway, I guess I was just wondering if anyone else had actually tried something along those lines. And... I think I'm out of things to say now. >.>

[Gadreille]

Well, ours doesn't revolve around dying, but the role play Emoria was created without an original plot or storyline. The original concept was just to take the avatar that was made by Kalon (usually something representative of yourself) and build a worldspace around it...then put all of the worldspaces together on a single map and see what happens!

I don't know if it quite qualifies as concept RP becauses eventually we worked together to create a plot...so if it doesn't qualify then disregard this

[Chainlinc3]

The lack of plot isn't really what makes it a concept RP (at least according to the idea I'm trying to communicate), it's the focus on just exploring a single topic and the emotions associated. You could do a concept RP on loss, a concept RP on love, or even one on religion if you felt the mood. It's just the somewhat limited scope that sets it apart, if you get what I'm trying to say.

[Kingmaker]

I think a concept RP could be quite fun. I mean, if you give it the minimalist rules, and let it go wild from there, it could actually be a concept all it's own.

A study of human interaction. Give no plot, no rules, just have people post, and watch what develops. If it's within human nature to search for stories, you'll find them, but overall, the interactions will grow and intensify.

Emotion-based concepts are fun too. I particularly like the thoughts of paranoia or terror. You know how logic flies in the face of fear, as would sensibility and reality fly apart in an RP of paranoia.

[Gadreille]

A study of human interaction. Give no plot, no rules, just have people post, and watch what develops. If it's within human nature to search for stories, you'll find them, but overall, the interactions will grow and intensify.

You describe the beginning of Emoria perfectly! We all had to work together, and eventually a plot and rules formed later. But the beginning was all up to the players interaction, we really didn't enforce any certain rule, but once we started running into issues would implement rules upon the agreement of all players. I do agree that it is a concept all of its own, but perhaps not the type that the original author of this thread was aiming toward.

[Guest]

Emoria is at its heart, I believe, a concept role-play. When I first created it, there was no plot in mind. Of course, it would have been in a fantasy setting, but that was already decided by the character icons that it was based off of. So that doesn't count, inasmuch as it wouldn't make a difference in declaring any other conceptual role-play taking place in a contemporary setting. That is obviously not a criteria for conceptual.

For Emoria, the core concept of it was collaboration. My goal was to have a group of people create a world-space based on the character icon created for them by Kalon Ordona II. That, at the beginning, was all the planning that went into it. The goal for the role-play was to make all those world-spaces fit into a single setting, and then see what came out of it. So, in my opinion, that fits the definition perfectly, if only a little bit more broadly than what Chainlinc3 had in mind. It is no longer a concept role-play of course, though the original goal is still there: collaboration. It is still something we have trouble with from time to time, but I must admit that the role-play has survived far longer than I ever believed it would. And if we make it passed the council...I will be extremely surprised, and extremely happy. I currently have high hopes for it.

And still Emoria retains many of the elements that made it a concept role-play. For example, we don't really know yet how it is going to end. Of course, most role-plays can say that. But for Emoria, that is really a strong part of it because there are so many players that are contributing to it. An ending that works for one player may not work for another. Because of that, it is hard to really plan for anything. So we all just kind of go along and see where it ends up, because the ending will sort of just come naturally if we let it.

/end Redbull powered rant.

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