blackline_mod (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} blackline_mod) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} rp_tutorials,@ 2009-07-05 16:24:00 |
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| Entry tags: | resources: fandom specific |
Player Interest in X-Games
| The Premise Many would-be X-mods find themselves at a loss for why their games do not take off when another game which is less organized or appealing seems to be flourishing. While there will always be an element of chance as to if any particular game will last, there are elements of player interest and the distribution of that interest which can greatly impact the success of a budding game. I will attempt to explain this dynamic and how to best use it to benefit your potential X-game. The Basic Types When it comes down to it, there are three basic kinds of X-Men games. School oriented, Team oriented and Radically Alternate Universe. These three do not have to be separate and distinct, there is room for overlap, which will be discussed later. Each type has an appeal or a lack of appeal to different groups of players. School games generally focus on younger characters, high school to college age. The key elements of the game can include class schedules, room assignments, dances/balls, etc. These games tend to focus on the training of abilities and personality clashes between classmates/teammates more so than clashes with the 'bad guys' or global-type disasters. School games often pay more attention to the 'political climate,' focusing on the views or treatment of mutants and/or how the mutant characters can better mutant/human relations. Team based games generally focus on two or more teams of characters and how they tackle the problems raised by the mutant debate. The two usual teams in this setting are the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, but many games take things much further, including groups such as Excalibur, X-Factor, Generation X, Alpha Flight, the Mutant Liberation Front, the Friends of Humanity, the Hellfire Club, the list goes on and on. Generally, the more teams involved in a game, the greater the game will focus on politics. Simple two-or-three team games tend to mostly involve fights or various kinds of face-offs between the teams, where as games with a greater number if teams tend to focus on manipulating the political climate or key individuals (be they characters or NPC's) to try and achieve the goals of their specific team. Games with several teams often involve a good deal of team ups, of characters switching 'sides' or teams and tend to employ global crises/events to draw multiple teams to interact together. The next batch of games, I label as Radically Alternate Universe because in essence most every X-game is some form of alternate universe. Characters are generally made older or younger than in the comics, usually have condensed histories and have different friendships or team relationships from canon. These changes are basically a necessity for RP, given how complex and downright strange the pasts of some characters can be. Because of this, I do not consider games which attempt to follow the general histories/settings of a movie/cartoon/comic AU, simply an altered version of the main reality so that it will more easily fit into the realm of RP. Radically AU games go out of their way to ignore canon mostly if not entirely. The majority of these games will ask that characters keep to canon so far as family relationships, powers/abilities and basic ethnic backgrounds are concerned, but most everything else is able to or is encouraged to be changed. These games include settings where the world has been greatly changed: The X-Men never existed, the X-Men are bad guys, all characters are human and mutants have never existed, elements such as gender or powers are opposite or swapped, or every character is suddenly gay or consistently, extremely randy. Yes, the dreaded smut-games fall into this category 99% of the time. Mixing and Matching As said before, there is a bit of a mix-and-match element involved with the these three types of games, such as a school game where mutants are all human, a team game which focuses heavily on class studies for one or more of the teams, or a game where mutants are outlaws and have formed multiple teams to try and fight their way to freedom and acceptance. There are also additional elements that can be added to a game, such as crossover games which allow non-X-Men characters, games which allow or encourage OC's, an alteration in the time line or time of stetting, or a focus on a character, group of characters, team or event that is usually ignored. There is also the issue of comic canon vs movie canon vs cartoon canon--and then which cartoon series? For every group you include, there is a group you exclude. If you insist on Movieverse versions, you exclude comic fans who want to play Multiple Man as a good guy. If you insist on Evolution Shadowcat, you exclude those who want to play her as more of a highly-trained badass with a pet dragon. If you insist on only comic canons, you risk scaring away new players who are only or mostly familiar with the TV or movie versions. What it all Means The problem which many new games face is that while they are offering a tweak to a basic game plot or idea, such as a game where the X-Men were never formed, the basic, overall concept is already being used by an established game and the unique angle the new game is offering is often not enough to draw players already at one game to the new one as well. Two or even three of the same basic kind of game offers a good variety, gives more opportunities for players to find their favorite character open or to play various characters across multiple communities to see which best clicks with them. The X-Men fandom is not massive, compared to some other fandoms we could be considered downright small. We are a long-lived fandom and are very visible, as there are constnatly new X-games being created and advertised. However, the turnover rate for games is surprisingly high and the number of actual players is small, so it is wise for potential mods to consider other active games when forming one of their own. If there are already three school games going strong, odds are a fourth is not going to be terribly successful. Often, X-games die off before they even open because of their similarities to another game which is also opening, or which is currently very successful and is drawing in players by reputation. Find and Fill the Need Try to find what elements the fandom is currently missing and fill that need. How do you find this out? Ask, watch rpvents or join a game and see for yourself. Ask other players what they want, post in one of the Marvel advertisement communities or in modcooperative, offer examples of what you have planned and see what draws interest. Watch for trends, there will be more of a desire to play a certain kind of game if an X-Men movie or cartoon is coming out, and plan for ways to keep players interested long term, after the immediate craze has died off. Offer interesting plot to keep players active, do not fall into the trap of believing that the hype will carry the game for you, or that short-term plot between a few characters will suffice. Be sure to ask about interest in specific categories. After all, some people love school games, where as some players would rather put their head in a deep fryer than deal with class schedules. Some want a game with a light, happy feel while others prefer a darker theme. Some want a fighting game and some hate writing action and would rather play a more political game. If you have your heart set on a specific game or setting, then by all means power through, draw in all the players you can and do not abandon the game if it does not immediately grow. A small, highly active game can be great fun, a game does not need dozens of players to be 'successful.' It is generally easer to get a game successfully started if you are willing to take the time to listen to the fandom and customize your game to the needs at the moment.I hope this was helpful, thank you for reading. Questions? Comments? Did I miss anything? By all means speak up! |