Roleplaying Game based Fic's

[Guest Zanthious]

I was asked recently by a friend of mine why I haven't written one. And I've been thinking about it every since. I talked to a few people I know, and got mixed responses. So, what do you think of Rp based fic's?

[Helluin]

It's the same as anything other sort of fanfiction: if the source material has well-defined characters, a developed world, and a modicum of good plot and setting, that's a springboard that you can use. Even better if there's hints of character backstory, quirks, and loose ends that you can weave together.

You need enough details of character in the original RPG to be able to construct plausible social interactions. Having a more recent game with good graphics helps in visualization (which is important for erotica). If the game character's aren't well-developed, it's harder to write them, since you don't know anything about them and have no emotional investment in them. Then, basically, you're writing original characters inspired by a game, and you're going to have to do more work to catch your readers' interest. Readers are more likely to check out a Tifa Lockheart / Vincent story because they know who Tifa and Vincent are, than a story about "two minor-character blitzball players from FFX whose names you've probably forgotten."

It's possible to select characters from a game or other source that really don't work as erotica (I'm assuming you're talking about that since you're posting on the AFF board): Pokémon or Katamari wouldn't really be very good for anything except "crack" (spoof/crazy) fic. But that has nothing to do with the format of the story; it's the content that's problematic.

Finally, fanfiction is bad when writers nab characters they think are "cool" and manipulate them through certain plots, situations, and/or sexual positions without much thought for who the characters are, what they care about or do or feel, their mannerisms or individuality. That's "paper doll writing." You have to be true to the characters. But surely, Reno of FFVII and Lara Croft have as least as much personality and vital zing to them as some of the characters from early Mercedes Lackey stories, or in most mainstream movies.

Edited August 7, 2008 by DemonGoddess061

[Guest Zanthious]

I can understand that. There is just so much material to draw from in the Rp game genre, that I decided to try and get a general concensus of how some of the other users on the site felt about work in that area, before I made a commitment to post any of it here. But, along with what you said, you could, in theory, take nearly any resource that wasn't made for little children, and turn it into erotica....The rub would then be how much sense it made, and if it made for good all around reading.

See, I had been thinking of doing a D&D based story. Just still trying to work some of the kinks out of it, and get some feedback. Thanks for making some good points!

[Helluin]

But if you work all of the kinks out of it, it won't belong on AFF!

(edit: I have no idea why this forum keeps adding </div> to the end of my posts.)

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Edited August 6, 2008 by Helluin

[Guest Zanthious]

(Try going to your controlls section, and put a signature in for yourself, maybe that will fix it.)

[hanyou-elf]

it's possible, and i've seen a lot of very well written rp's turned into stories. the thing to remember with that though is that you have to go about editing that rp with a serious editor's eye. you can't leave any traces that it's an rp put up for reading.

if people are going to read a story, they want to see well thought out plots and they want to see things that flow. rp format can be very disruptive, without an editor's surgical eye to fix it. but, if you can read through it seriously, you can create a decent, enjoyable story.

the best way to do it is to edit it as a third person. don't edit it as one of the authors of the story, think of yourself as a third person completely, so that you can stay objective. when you've finished it and you're satisfied, find a beta who is completely unfamiliar with the rp and have them read through it. if the beta can read it seamlessly without finding obvious clues about the different authors, than it's good to go. that's my advice.

[Guest Zanthious]

Good idea, I'll try it, thanks.