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Forums » Smalltalk » Thoughts on Military themed rps

So I have just been reading the room of everyone here for a while now, and it seems to me that a good chunk of people here like fantasy rps, and sci fi rps, which is to be expected. Of course there are a million different rps out there, but those two are very far reaching to people and I can almost wholeheartedly assume everyone here has done one if not both. Anyways, the reason I am posting is I am just wondering if people here are actually interested in military themed rp? Now I feel like that kind of rp gets a bad wrap because when most people here Military Rp the first thing that goes through their minds is, "Oh here we go, now I gotta learn what guns are, and know how to do all this tactical fighting, and understand all the lingo, and make sure I got everything as accurate as blah blah blah..." I think that is a rather toxic behavior to expect everyone to need to be 100 percent accurate with things that would not be common knowledge, not just in a military rp, but in any rp environment that is suppose to encourage fun, creativity, and escape, but unfortunately, anyone who has been in contact with a military nut who would most likely be the type to want a military rp would be like that and has no doubt tarnished the genera's reputation.

I know it sounds like I am rambling but hold on I am going somewhere with this.

For a few weeks now I have been working on creating a group, a group that is inspired off the ideas presented in the Metal Gear franchise. Metal Gear is in essence, a military genre. However, instead of tormenting itself with keeping everything stuck to reality, it does a unique thing where the military angle, provides the setting and plot devices that gives everything its purpose, and reasons for the plot to be happening, but it does not keep its focus dead set on the authenticity and real nature of the military and instead it acts more as a flavoring for everything that goes on. The games always had a lot of fun introducing impossible paranormal aspects and cool sci fi gadgets and tech, and the military themed aspects is just the thing that gives its cohesion and makes everything fit into its place. Inspired by all this, I wanted to make a group here that would work in vain of the Metal Gear series, in fact at first I wanted to make it a Metal Gear thing, but I didn't want people to have to worry themselves with the complicated lore and world in case they never played the games and instead opted for something that is defiantly inspired by Metal Gear, but is its own thing. However I ran into a bit of a wall because I had to ask myself,

Would people on this site even care for that sort of thing? I have been here almost 2 years now(lost an old account) and not once have I seen anyone up for a military-esque role-play, or even any characters that carried a military atmosphere. I would rather not follow through with my plan entirely, then to go through with it, only to find out no one would ever really be interested. This is not an advertisement for this group, there isn't anything concrete just yet, I just want to know if there would be at least a handful of people interested in these kinds of ideas before I make up my mind on rather or not I will go through with all this.

Edit: I think there was some confusion with my intent on this rp, I have an idea to make a group on the website, like a place where everyone can join in on the rp and branch off into forums and play out their stories in the world I plan to craft, and I am just trying to figure out if it is valuable to do that or if I should just not waste the effort and keep it to a simple one on one rp or something
Mipps

Personally I enjoy Military RP just as much as other genres. A long time ago i was part of a big Fantasy war campaign that was pretty fun.

I think there are plenty of people who enjoy this sort of RP in various genres. I have seen them post ads in the LFRP section before. Sure it might be more rare then fantasy or modern romance RP ... but there are a LOT of players on RPR,

Dependenting on the era, setting and what not even I would be interested in a military RP.
Rogue-Scribe

The Divide's Quote
TheDivide wrote:
So I have just been reading the room of everyone here for a while now, and it seems to me that a good chunk of people here like fantasy rps, and sci fi rps, which is to be expected. Of course there are a million different rps out there, but those two are very far reaching to people and I can almost wholeheartedly assume everyone here has done one if not both. Anyways, the reason I am posting is I am just wondering if people here are actually interested in military themed rp? Now I feel like that kind of rp gets a bad wrap because when most people here Military Rp the first thing that goes through their minds is, "Oh here we go, now I gotta learn what guns are, and know how to do all this tactical fighting, and understand all the lingo, and make sure I got everything as accurate as blah blah blah..." I think that is a rather toxic behavior to expect everyone to need to be 100 percent accurate with things that would not be common knowledge, not just in a military rp, but in any rp environment that is suppose to encourage fun, creativity, and escape, but unfortunately, anyone who has been in contact with a military nut who would most likely be the type to want a military rp would be like that and has no doubt tarnished the genera's reputation.

I know it sounds like I am rambling but hold on I am going somewhere with this.

For a few weeks now I have been working on creating a group, a group that is inspired off the ideas presented in the Metal Gear franchise. Metal Gear is in essence, a military genre. However, instead of tormenting itself with keeping everything stuck to reality, it does a unique thing where the military angle, provides the setting and plot devices that gives everything its purpose, and reasons for the plot to be happening, but it does not keep its focus dead set on the authenticity and real nature of the military and instead it acts more as a flavoring for everything that goes on. The games always had a lot of fun introducing impossible paranormal aspects and cool sci fi gadgets and tech, and the military themed aspects is just the thing that gives its cohesion and makes everything fit into its place. Inspired by all this, I wanted to make a group here that would work in vain of the Metal Gear series, in fact at first I wanted to make it a Metal Gear thing, but I didn't want people to have to worry themselves with the complicated lore and world in case they never played the games and instead opted for something that is defiantly inspired by Metal Gear, but is its own thing. However I ran into a bit of a wall because I had to ask myself,

Would people on this site even care for that sort of thing? I have been here almost 2 years now(lost an old account) and not once have I seen anyone up for a military-esque role-play, or even any characters that carried a military atmosphere. I would rather not follow through with my plan entirely, then to go through with it, only to find out no one would ever really be interested. This is not an advertisement for this group, there isn't anything concrete just yet, I just want to know if there would be at least a handful of people interested in these kinds of ideas before I make up my mind on rather or not I will go through with all this.

Edit: I think there was some confusion with my intent on this rp, I have an idea to make a group on the website, like a place where everyone can join in on the rp and branch off into forums and play out their stories in the world I plan to craft, and I am just trying to figure out if it is valuable to do that or if I should just not waste the effort and keep it to a simple one on one rp or something


As a military gaming buff of old, I've always had a 'thing' for military RP, usually in the modern-historical (read '20th Century') era. I have two characters set in WW2 era, both that are in a slow-moving RP with another writer, and one (Rolf Steiner) in a deep gritty war RP on the Russian Front. I also have my Vietnam soldier I dedicated to my cousin, John Roby Wolf. He is more a tribute character but I am in a 'China Beach' fandom RP using this character but a different name. Thirdly, I have a 21st century historical-current soldier, Chris Silas who is in a 'on leave' RP at the moment, and my old high school playboy Steve Harrison tied in with Chris in Afghanistan.

So there is some interest out there where I have been lucky to find likeish-minded people, and I've run across some military based characters while browsing the character list, and I think a group would be pretty cool, but as you pointed out, the military interest writers seem to be few and far between. It usually tends to be futuristic si-fi stuff or medieval history stuff (not that there is anything wrong with those genres).

I would do what I can to support you should you take on the creation of your vision.
TheDivide Topic Starter

Well it sounds like maybe it would be a worth while investment. The idea too be more in detail about it, is about a PMC(Private Military Contractor) called the Exiled Saints, who are dedicated to finding lost and forgotten soldiers a place where the belong in a alternate reality 1980s setting, smack in the middle of heightened tensions between America and the Soviet Union. I dont want it to be something too grounded in reality, so I thought making it a PMC would help that a little. I also enjoy gritty and realistic Military rps, but I also know that plenty of people are turned off to the concept of having to basically be a big military buff to understand how to do the rps, so I wanted to try and make it a much more simple form of the military. Since they would be a PMC I could make a simplified ranking system, and a more relaxed environment for the people where they can do missions and operations at their own discretion and be able find time to relax and be themselves at the base. I also dont want to be shy from using paranormal or moderate sci fi elements( such as an occasionally rare use of a primitive mech, or enemy soldiers that could have super enhanced qualities). I am trying to formulate a way for people to be able to keep the gritty real fighting and harsh warfare stories, while incorporating a more digestible and fun concept for people who would otherwise be a little turned off to Military Rps. Like I said, military in theme and scenarios, but not to the point where everyone has to accurately depict ranks, and weapons, and tactical warfare and everything. That can all be a little too much. Once again, anyone who had a taste of the Metal Gear games would know where this is coming from.
Novus

Funny enough, I usually don't enjoy military RP, but my current main roleplay (off-site) involves an officer in a fantasy-like setting. He's my favorite, the world is my favorite, everything is my favorite, but I'm not biased or anything, oh no.

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