Post by Rarity on Feb 25, 2014 7:59:26 GMT -5
Darlings! Tis I, Rarity, The pony who hopes you find that you have the music in you, will be preforming in Fillidelphia in two weeks, and ALWAYS has time for autographs. Thats right, this is another "Fine Art of Role Play!"
Tonight's topic? TP. (That is, Tiny Plots, darling)
But, darlings, before I get into this, there is something I simply MUST Address: These views discussed below are simply my own opinions and not such that of Equestira Muck’s Staff, or the hard working wizards that run our little corner of the web!
Now then, lets leap right into it, shall we? A tiny plot, is basically a mini little story arc you envision, and play with your characters of choice. The current muck wide event is Bardigan's play. If you haven't heard, Bardigan crafted a play depicting the history of Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, before Luna becomes Nightmare moon. To that end, Fluttershy and Applejack have become Celestia and Nightmare moon respectively, and are galloping about Equestria attempting to recruit others for the side of darkness, or the side of light! Exciting!
This topic, is to help our budding, imaginative community, to introduce plots and story arcs of the like. You might be saying "Rarity, darling, you're so fabulous! I should like to write a tiny plot! How can I get in on this action!"
I would say, "Thank you darling, I am fabulous, I know. "
Writing a tiny plot takes a great deal of work, effort and communication. You do not simply log in one day and decide "I am going to do this really awesome and extensive scene!" You must work at it! There are some steps, I might take, to aid a pony in setting up a tiny plot, (Which often lead to muck wide RPs once you have enough of them under your belt) The following at some key traits which will help a great deal!
Let us say, you want to do an Role play that involves an artifact from the crystal empire accidentally ending up in Ponyville, and turning everyone into *Gasp* beautiful Crystal ponies!
(Some of you may not appreciate it, I for one, welcome our new crystal overloads.)
...ahem.
1. Garnering fame.
The first thing to do, would be to gain some popularity with the character you wish to portray in your plot. If you are new to the muck, you will want to gain a presence and trust of the denizens of EQM. Skyblue is more or less infamous for being a disaster. Firefly is the Princess Luna's personal Squire. Scope is of Princess Celestia's Sun guard. Bardigan is a playwrite of great renown and success. Red Velvet is a PR pony. These are characters that have started from being unknown and alien OC's to being popular and muck canon crucial. If you want to write a TP, (Or plan a muck wide event) you'll have an easier time if you have a character with fame, and a number of Rp's to read from.
For example, Bardigan is well known for his plays. He's become a staple of entertainment for the community, and being in one of his shows is a great deal of fun. He started with small story arcs, slowly working his way through RPs, until he had gained enough trust from the ponies in general to have successful Tiny Plots. What I mean by this is; Is the character (Bardigan) fun to RP with? Does the character have new, interesting ideas? Does the character respond quickly, and coherently to poses? Does the plot allow me to interact and feel like I'm a part of some grander story?
Ponies knowing Bardigan will respond with yes to most of these, so when Bardigan announces "Hey, I've got this great idea for a Tiny plot" (Or a muck wide event) He has a much easier time getting ponies to agree to join in, as they know that Bardigan is worth lending your character to. They know they'll have a lot of fun, and his stories always go whacky with lots of comedy, adventure and action to be had.
2. The story.
Tiny plots require your character to interact with numerous ponies, but things can get a bit tricky in doing this. If say, the tiny plot revolved around retrieving a stolen gem stone from an ancient cave, it might be fun to get a number of ponies to join you on your quest, but once you and your party enter the cave, you suddenly can't involve anyone else! How would X pony know to go to the cave once A,B, and C pony are there? Once you change locations and advance the story along, things become harder and harder to involve more ponies. (That is to say, pending on how many ponies you WANT to have in your plot)
Now the clever trick to this, is crafting a plot in which any number of ponies can join at anytime. A self sustaining plot, that can work with two, or fifty ponies.
An example of this is Luna's solstice. It's an event where Luna offers gifts and presents, and any number of ponies can join whenever they see fit. Luna sits in town square, handing out wishes, and ponies take said wishes, and leave to have their own little story.
Another example, would be the Pinkies that swept through town, crashing scenes and singing "Apples to the Core" (This is a specific example as it is not recommended to go crashing through other ponies scenes) But for the 'Pinkie Parade" it works in the core nature of the show.
The trick is to have an open ended rp, that has loose enough rules that you can bend them without breaking them. One of my all time favorite examples of this, was when Rarity and Rainbow Dash accidentally switched bodies. Rarity and Rainbow involved the entire town trying to pretend to be one and other. It's another specific case since nopony knew Rainbow and Rarity were playing other's characters. (In a way you were not aware you were part of our TP
) But ponies reactions were perfect since only two ponies knew what was going on.
Back to our example of the artifact from the Crystal Empire. If say, the artifact was in the middle of town, you could have it zap random ponies and involve as many passerby as you wanted to participate. (Random, because if somepony DOESN'T want to participate in your TP, this way they , and you, can avoid any hassle and simply say, "Hey, the artifact didn't zap you, you got lucky, moving on" This example allows any number of players to join in on the mayhem taking place, and gives them an excuse to continue playing along with you. Now they need to find a cure. Now they can write in a new Desc. Now they can get to know your character better. Etc etc. It's a great way to interact and garner fame at the same time!
3: Multiple Endings.
The hardest part is ending your story. How does everything wrap up? How is the problem solved? Does the magic of friendship shine? This is difficult because adding ponies into your TP will always lead to something you hadn't quite planned. You can't predict what another player will do- and that's half the fun! The dragon stomping around town, and burning thatched roof cottages has every pony running away- as you planned, but Dynamite Rave appears, brandishing his magic and firing fire at the creature.
Wait, he's a pony, he's supposed to be running away! Uh-oh, what now?
Here's where your story telling skills are put to the test. You needn't (And can't) have a solution for every random thing a player might do, but you CAN have multiple endings, which can proceed with certain reactions. Forks, as it were.
Alright, our dragon is rampaging through the city. You expect every pony to run. Some ponies don't run. Now a fight breaks out! A big action and adventure scene. But now what? The dragon could turn out to be friendly, it was all a misunderstanding. Or, maybe it's looking for something and doesn't WANT to fight. Maybe it's defeated, and the day is saved. Planning out a FEW of these endings can save time and aggravation, and keep you from being caught of guard. It's important to note, that you cannot force a single action to happen if it depends on another pony. You always want to have at least one 'back up' scenario set aside in case things go astray.
4: Communication
Sometimes you'll come up with an idea that involves very specific ponies. Does Rarity come in and save the day? (hahaha, of course she does) is it an Rp that requires Princess Celestia specifically? Do you need Spike to send an urgent message? These kinds of TP that hinge specifically on one other pony are tricky to accomplish, due to time constraints, time zones, and "Do I feel like logging in today?" in general? The best way to secure and work out an tiny plot with a friend, is communication. Send them a message, write them a Pmail, ask if they have a messenger outside of the muck. Keep in contact, and let them know whats going on, if there are changes, or ask them if they're willing to be in your Tiny Plot! (Heres a secret tip; most of the FC's LOVE being involved in tiny plots that are fun and creative. Send us a message- you might be surprised.)
5: Drop Outs
The trick here is to figure out a way to keep your plot moving along at a steady pace, and keep the story going so everyone remains entertained. Often, with plots with large numbers of ponies, something will end up hinging on needing a -certain- pony to move the story along. If said pony's player happens to be out of town, at work, or sick, then the story can't proceed until they return, and once the story starts to stall, ponies have a tendency to look elsewhere for entertainment.
You can circumvent this by having a back up plan, communication, or crafting a work around to figure out how to continue. You need one of Twilight's spells to help close the portal, but Twilight isn't on? Well, Twilight is powerful, but busy. We need three other unicorns to even match her strength. Ok, lets find some unicorns. Trixie, Rarity, Lyra? Ok, but not Rarity can't log in tonight, and the next night, Trixie is out of town... same issue.
Generally, to solve this problem, you would want to find a single solution. It doesn't need involve more players, but it does need to have an obtainable goal, that 1-50 can achieve. Instead of needing to close the portal with a spell, perhaps a trinket is needed to do so. Toss the trinket into the portal, portal closes- didn't need to hinge the story on Twilight. This way, if a pony drops off or disappears, you can continue along unabated.
6: Length.
oh yes, lots of large, sprawling plots out there, with twisty turny loops and squiggles. Let me give you a tip, darling. Writing tiny plots need not be a lengthy affair. They WILL take on a life of their own, and they WILL go much longer than you anticipate. Rule of hoof? Keep it short and simple. Oh a few twists here and a few twists there are all well and good, but you needn't have Soap Opera style plot twists. The simpler things are, the more fun, and rewarding it'll be. It'll be easier to keep things straight while also having quite a bit of fun. And plots needn't be to extensive in the first place. The simple baking contest hosted by Mr. Cake was a one day event that lasted the entire night. Poses take a long time to craft some times, and a short jaunt from your home to Sugar Cube Corner could take an hour. The more ponies that enter, the longer things are going to take- so keep your TP's short!
To that end, you can also -set- up stories. Your RPs can lead to TPs and your TPs can lead to muck wide events. As an earth pony You BEG Rarity to come along and help you get some gems for a birthday present. She agrees, and the two of you find this strange rock you've never seen before. You take it home. End of scene.
You return to Rarity to ask if she knows ANYTHING about the rock, and ask her to help you find some information about it. Being around it is giving you a headache...You and her head to the library. Twilight isn't home, but Spike is, and the three of you look for clues regarding the rock. You can't find anything, so you decide to take it to Canterlot, and see if you can find someone who knows about it. Your head still hurts. End Scene.
You and a friend leave for canterlot, and arrive at the castle. You discover an old text about the rock, but it doesn't reveal anything more, and just offers more puzzling clues. You pass out finally from the pain in your head. End Scene
You wake up in the hospital with a HORN. You're now a unicorn, and your powers are new and unfamiliar. What happened? Where did the rock go? You've got to find it! Maybe you can reverse the situation, and get back to being your normal self. End scene.
You approach the castle, and go searching for the rock. You're not used to using magic yet, and it's very confusing. The rock is in the hands of a unicorn who wants to use it to make his powers unstoppable. You discover this nefarious plan and find a group of friends to help you stop him. End scene.
You and your party have a showdown, grabbing the rock from this evil unicorn, you shatter it to the ground and suddenly, your horn disappears, and the town is saved! YAY!
A story composed of short RPs, and entertaining as well as self sustaining (The action focused around you) with plenty of leighway to lengthen, or shorten the story as you see fit. (The rock alters your body chemistry, turning earth ponies into unicorns, Unicorns into pegasi, and pegasi into earth ponies) You can add as many ponies as you want, and when the rock is shattered, all the effects change back, so anyone who dropped out, no longer has to worry about being a different species!
7. Advertise!
Once you've got a few RP's under your belt, you're known for having fun stories and great interactivity, you can set up an RP or Scene on the forums. Come one, come all, to the grand opening of your new pillow store. Comfiest pillows in all of Equestria! Made from Phoenix feathers! Free donuts! Keep ponies posted, post logs on the RP board, tell us stories that will make us want to be a part of your next one!!
These are all just some loose guidelines to help you get going. Ask the Wizards or some of the FCs if you'd like some help, or just want to bounce ideas off of us! In no time flat (probably longer than ten seconds) You'll be helping us establish muck wide RPs and carving history into EQM as you know it!
See you next time, my darling little ponies!
Tonight's topic? TP. (That is, Tiny Plots, darling)
But, darlings, before I get into this, there is something I simply MUST Address: These views discussed below are simply my own opinions and not such that of Equestira Muck’s Staff, or the hard working wizards that run our little corner of the web!
Now then, lets leap right into it, shall we? A tiny plot, is basically a mini little story arc you envision, and play with your characters of choice. The current muck wide event is Bardigan's play. If you haven't heard, Bardigan crafted a play depicting the history of Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, before Luna becomes Nightmare moon. To that end, Fluttershy and Applejack have become Celestia and Nightmare moon respectively, and are galloping about Equestria attempting to recruit others for the side of darkness, or the side of light! Exciting!
This topic, is to help our budding, imaginative community, to introduce plots and story arcs of the like. You might be saying "Rarity, darling, you're so fabulous! I should like to write a tiny plot! How can I get in on this action!"
I would say, "Thank you darling, I am fabulous, I know. "
Writing a tiny plot takes a great deal of work, effort and communication. You do not simply log in one day and decide "I am going to do this really awesome and extensive scene!" You must work at it! There are some steps, I might take, to aid a pony in setting up a tiny plot, (Which often lead to muck wide RPs once you have enough of them under your belt) The following at some key traits which will help a great deal!
Let us say, you want to do an Role play that involves an artifact from the crystal empire accidentally ending up in Ponyville, and turning everyone into *Gasp* beautiful Crystal ponies!
(Some of you may not appreciate it, I for one, welcome our new crystal overloads.)
...ahem.
1. Garnering fame.
The first thing to do, would be to gain some popularity with the character you wish to portray in your plot. If you are new to the muck, you will want to gain a presence and trust of the denizens of EQM. Skyblue is more or less infamous for being a disaster. Firefly is the Princess Luna's personal Squire. Scope is of Princess Celestia's Sun guard. Bardigan is a playwrite of great renown and success. Red Velvet is a PR pony. These are characters that have started from being unknown and alien OC's to being popular and muck canon crucial. If you want to write a TP, (Or plan a muck wide event) you'll have an easier time if you have a character with fame, and a number of Rp's to read from.
For example, Bardigan is well known for his plays. He's become a staple of entertainment for the community, and being in one of his shows is a great deal of fun. He started with small story arcs, slowly working his way through RPs, until he had gained enough trust from the ponies in general to have successful Tiny Plots. What I mean by this is; Is the character (Bardigan) fun to RP with? Does the character have new, interesting ideas? Does the character respond quickly, and coherently to poses? Does the plot allow me to interact and feel like I'm a part of some grander story?
Ponies knowing Bardigan will respond with yes to most of these, so when Bardigan announces "Hey, I've got this great idea for a Tiny plot" (Or a muck wide event) He has a much easier time getting ponies to agree to join in, as they know that Bardigan is worth lending your character to. They know they'll have a lot of fun, and his stories always go whacky with lots of comedy, adventure and action to be had.
2. The story.
Tiny plots require your character to interact with numerous ponies, but things can get a bit tricky in doing this. If say, the tiny plot revolved around retrieving a stolen gem stone from an ancient cave, it might be fun to get a number of ponies to join you on your quest, but once you and your party enter the cave, you suddenly can't involve anyone else! How would X pony know to go to the cave once A,B, and C pony are there? Once you change locations and advance the story along, things become harder and harder to involve more ponies. (That is to say, pending on how many ponies you WANT to have in your plot)
Now the clever trick to this, is crafting a plot in which any number of ponies can join at anytime. A self sustaining plot, that can work with two, or fifty ponies.
An example of this is Luna's solstice. It's an event where Luna offers gifts and presents, and any number of ponies can join whenever they see fit. Luna sits in town square, handing out wishes, and ponies take said wishes, and leave to have their own little story.
Another example, would be the Pinkies that swept through town, crashing scenes and singing "Apples to the Core" (This is a specific example as it is not recommended to go crashing through other ponies scenes) But for the 'Pinkie Parade" it works in the core nature of the show.
The trick is to have an open ended rp, that has loose enough rules that you can bend them without breaking them. One of my all time favorite examples of this, was when Rarity and Rainbow Dash accidentally switched bodies. Rarity and Rainbow involved the entire town trying to pretend to be one and other. It's another specific case since nopony knew Rainbow and Rarity were playing other's characters. (In a way you were not aware you were part of our TP
) But ponies reactions were perfect since only two ponies knew what was going on. Back to our example of the artifact from the Crystal Empire. If say, the artifact was in the middle of town, you could have it zap random ponies and involve as many passerby as you wanted to participate. (Random, because if somepony DOESN'T want to participate in your TP, this way they , and you, can avoid any hassle and simply say, "Hey, the artifact didn't zap you, you got lucky, moving on" This example allows any number of players to join in on the mayhem taking place, and gives them an excuse to continue playing along with you. Now they need to find a cure. Now they can write in a new Desc. Now they can get to know your character better. Etc etc. It's a great way to interact and garner fame at the same time!
3: Multiple Endings.
The hardest part is ending your story. How does everything wrap up? How is the problem solved? Does the magic of friendship shine? This is difficult because adding ponies into your TP will always lead to something you hadn't quite planned. You can't predict what another player will do- and that's half the fun! The dragon stomping around town, and burning thatched roof cottages has every pony running away- as you planned, but Dynamite Rave appears, brandishing his magic and firing fire at the creature.
Wait, he's a pony, he's supposed to be running away! Uh-oh, what now?
Here's where your story telling skills are put to the test. You needn't (And can't) have a solution for every random thing a player might do, but you CAN have multiple endings, which can proceed with certain reactions. Forks, as it were.
Alright, our dragon is rampaging through the city. You expect every pony to run. Some ponies don't run. Now a fight breaks out! A big action and adventure scene. But now what? The dragon could turn out to be friendly, it was all a misunderstanding. Or, maybe it's looking for something and doesn't WANT to fight. Maybe it's defeated, and the day is saved. Planning out a FEW of these endings can save time and aggravation, and keep you from being caught of guard. It's important to note, that you cannot force a single action to happen if it depends on another pony. You always want to have at least one 'back up' scenario set aside in case things go astray.
4: Communication
Sometimes you'll come up with an idea that involves very specific ponies. Does Rarity come in and save the day? (hahaha, of course she does) is it an Rp that requires Princess Celestia specifically? Do you need Spike to send an urgent message? These kinds of TP that hinge specifically on one other pony are tricky to accomplish, due to time constraints, time zones, and "Do I feel like logging in today?" in general? The best way to secure and work out an tiny plot with a friend, is communication. Send them a message, write them a Pmail, ask if they have a messenger outside of the muck. Keep in contact, and let them know whats going on, if there are changes, or ask them if they're willing to be in your Tiny Plot! (Heres a secret tip; most of the FC's LOVE being involved in tiny plots that are fun and creative. Send us a message- you might be surprised.
)5: Drop Outs
The trick here is to figure out a way to keep your plot moving along at a steady pace, and keep the story going so everyone remains entertained. Often, with plots with large numbers of ponies, something will end up hinging on needing a -certain- pony to move the story along. If said pony's player happens to be out of town, at work, or sick, then the story can't proceed until they return, and once the story starts to stall, ponies have a tendency to look elsewhere for entertainment.
You can circumvent this by having a back up plan, communication, or crafting a work around to figure out how to continue. You need one of Twilight's spells to help close the portal, but Twilight isn't on? Well, Twilight is powerful, but busy. We need three other unicorns to even match her strength. Ok, lets find some unicorns. Trixie, Rarity, Lyra? Ok, but not Rarity can't log in tonight, and the next night, Trixie is out of town... same issue.
Generally, to solve this problem, you would want to find a single solution. It doesn't need involve more players, but it does need to have an obtainable goal, that 1-50 can achieve. Instead of needing to close the portal with a spell, perhaps a trinket is needed to do so. Toss the trinket into the portal, portal closes- didn't need to hinge the story on Twilight. This way, if a pony drops off or disappears, you can continue along unabated.
6: Length.
oh yes, lots of large, sprawling plots out there, with twisty turny loops and squiggles. Let me give you a tip, darling. Writing tiny plots need not be a lengthy affair. They WILL take on a life of their own, and they WILL go much longer than you anticipate. Rule of hoof? Keep it short and simple. Oh a few twists here and a few twists there are all well and good, but you needn't have Soap Opera style plot twists. The simpler things are, the more fun, and rewarding it'll be. It'll be easier to keep things straight while also having quite a bit of fun. And plots needn't be to extensive in the first place. The simple baking contest hosted by Mr. Cake was a one day event that lasted the entire night. Poses take a long time to craft some times, and a short jaunt from your home to Sugar Cube Corner could take an hour. The more ponies that enter, the longer things are going to take- so keep your TP's short!
To that end, you can also -set- up stories. Your RPs can lead to TPs and your TPs can lead to muck wide events. As an earth pony You BEG Rarity to come along and help you get some gems for a birthday present. She agrees, and the two of you find this strange rock you've never seen before. You take it home. End of scene.
You return to Rarity to ask if she knows ANYTHING about the rock, and ask her to help you find some information about it. Being around it is giving you a headache...You and her head to the library. Twilight isn't home, but Spike is, and the three of you look for clues regarding the rock. You can't find anything, so you decide to take it to Canterlot, and see if you can find someone who knows about it. Your head still hurts. End Scene.
You and a friend leave for canterlot, and arrive at the castle. You discover an old text about the rock, but it doesn't reveal anything more, and just offers more puzzling clues. You pass out finally from the pain in your head. End Scene
You wake up in the hospital with a HORN. You're now a unicorn, and your powers are new and unfamiliar. What happened? Where did the rock go? You've got to find it! Maybe you can reverse the situation, and get back to being your normal self. End scene.
You approach the castle, and go searching for the rock. You're not used to using magic yet, and it's very confusing. The rock is in the hands of a unicorn who wants to use it to make his powers unstoppable. You discover this nefarious plan and find a group of friends to help you stop him. End scene.
You and your party have a showdown, grabbing the rock from this evil unicorn, you shatter it to the ground and suddenly, your horn disappears, and the town is saved! YAY!
A story composed of short RPs, and entertaining as well as self sustaining (The action focused around you) with plenty of leighway to lengthen, or shorten the story as you see fit. (The rock alters your body chemistry, turning earth ponies into unicorns, Unicorns into pegasi, and pegasi into earth ponies) You can add as many ponies as you want, and when the rock is shattered, all the effects change back, so anyone who dropped out, no longer has to worry about being a different species!
7. Advertise!
Once you've got a few RP's under your belt, you're known for having fun stories and great interactivity, you can set up an RP or Scene on the forums. Come one, come all, to the grand opening of your new pillow store. Comfiest pillows in all of Equestria! Made from Phoenix feathers! Free donuts! Keep ponies posted, post logs on the RP board, tell us stories that will make us want to be a part of your next one!!
These are all just some loose guidelines to help you get going. Ask the Wizards or some of the FCs if you'd like some help, or just want to bounce ideas off of us! In no time flat (probably longer than ten seconds) You'll be helping us establish muck wide RPs and carving history into EQM as you know it!
See you next time, my darling little ponies!
