Hey, trinalin! Remember this?

[capri0mni]

I was going through my "Doctor Who Stuff" bookmark list, and found this: #DrWho Roleplays. Someone probably sent me the link back when we were doing the Pro-Fun Troll Hoedowns in rec.arts.drwho (the last sign of life was in August, 1998) ... I'd always meant check it out, then never got around to it. :-/.

I also noted that trinalin has pride of place on the introduction page, as an editor-n-such. Yay! I didn't know who that was, back then... now I do! (:::Pauses for happydance:::).

Ahem. Yes. Anyway... I was thinking that I'd like to do another pro-fun troll something, just so the whole movement and spirit does not die a slow death. ... And I was thinking that the Doctor's regeneration and return to television is the perfect excuse for such a do?

But in what form should this do be (doo-be-doo-be-doo)?

The Round-Robin-on-the Newsgroup form is what I am most familiar with, and that would let certain old friends (Who, afaik, don't have access to LJ or IRC) participate. However, that form is also vulnerable to attacks from munchkins and nasty trolls.

There's also the Roleplay-in-LJ form, which would be easy for people here to take part in (I'm guessing), but harder for new people to just jump in and join the fun, as they could with the previous "hoedowns."

And then, there the Roleplay-in-IRC form, which has the benefit of being fast 'n' furious, and as we're all there in real time, could get the real feeling of a real party, but it also would also rely on people actually able to be there at the same time (right?).

So, which should it be? Here's a poll:

[Poll #471587]

Comments

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, I remember the IRC Roleplays. Those were fun. :-) Editing them was hell, however.

Ended up using Haem's and my dialog from Dodgy Deals for a story I wrote (called Dodgy Deals, funnily enough). Completely removed the Doctor from the story (the idea of which was mine in the first place). Haem was nice enough to let me use his Mel dialogue. (I was Glitz, so I gave myself permission to use that dialogue.)

I haven't reread any of them in years, however. Wonder how the Mars one holds up? (I just loved the Doctor (Seven, of course) in Birkenstocks...)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I haven't reread any of them in years, however. Wonder how the Mars one holds up?

Do you remember the title (I don't see any title or description with "Mars" in it)?

Dodgy Deals is there... you want me to give it a twice-over, and tell you my opinion?

Oh.. and if I/we go with an IRC roleplay, what are the steps for setting one up? I know nothing of the tech of such things...

[pedanther]

googlegooglegoogle...

It's #8, "Footprints in the Sand", which from a quick skim appears to be set on the Moon, but does have Martians in it.

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's it. I remembered the title & the Martians & with a bit more remembering, would probably have recalled the Moon. Doc7 & Jo Grant, IIRC.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Good Googling! Interesting choice of keywords.... Thanks, I'll bookmark it!

And, pedanther, If I do hold this shindig, will you grace us with your gracious participation? ;-)

[pedanther]

Well, of course. I'm shocked - shocked - that you needed to ask!

:-)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Well, I only ask because (Aiui), if we do it as a Live Journal Roleplay, than that would mean setting up a livejournal for each of your characters, and writing about the events of the story as if (they) were writing about it in their journals.

(Right, dreethal and warinbabylon?)

And I know you've taken a vow of LJ silence, so...

[pedanther]

Well, technically (and I'm all about the technicalities, me) it's only pedanther that I've vowed not to update. If I have to create new livejournals for my characters, there's nothing stopping me updating them.

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Dodgy Deals is there... you want me to give it a twice-over, and tell you my opinion?

If you'd like. I could even send you the story of it written for The 13 Crimes of Doctor Who if interested. :-)

Oh.. and if I/we go with an IRC roleplay, what are the steps for setting one up? I know nothing of the tech of such things...

There are many ways to do it. The way that we did it was VERY freeform. We'd first discuss which Doc/companion combo to use (we loved mixing 'em up) and then someone(s) would come up with a basic plot. And then we'd all improvise. And then, usually, we'd get tired (or timed out) before the play was done and hope that everyone who was in it returned for the next week. Which rarely happened.

And sometimes you'd get someone like TheLittleWoodenBoy to really f*ck things up. (See the story with Romana/Tegan/Bernice and the vampire cows to understand...)

One of my fondest memories is of EvaJ donning the 7th Doctor and making passes at Jamie... ;-)

They were fun, bizarre, and a lot of work. I really enjoyed doing them at the time, but I dunno about now.

[pedanther]

I think Ann was thinking more basic than that: What is IRC? (Okay, she probably knows that one.) How does one set up an IRC channel?¹ What software would Ann/whoever need to run the event? What software would each person need to attend the event?


¹Alternatively, is there anyone who'd be likely to lend us the keys to #DrWhoRPG, if we promised not to break any of the furniture?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

If you'd like. I could even send you the story of it written for The 13 Crimes of Doctor Who if interested. :-)

Oooh! please do!

The way that we did it was VERY freeform. We'd first discuss which Doc/companion combo to use (we loved mixing 'em up) and then someone(s) would come up with a basic plot. And then we'd all improvise

Heh! That's a lot more structure than how we did hoedowns -- the first three, anyway (Which were the best). Basically, I just threw a message up on either the RADW newsgroup, or ADWC, with the following gist:

"You come upon a little house in the suburbs. There seems to be a wild party going on, and the door is open. You wander in... OOh! It's bigger on the inside than the outside! Sure is freaky, but looks like fun... you think you'll stay a bit and find out what happens..."

And whoever replied added to the story, or complicated it, or slipped off to the wet bar to get drunk (pssst! That was usually lyssie). And the thread just continued until the story naturally wound up to some kind of conclusion.... The fourth, and last, story we did this way, we tried to add structure and plot before we started, and it just ruined it -- turned it into a competition.

I will hereby pimp our third story -- Goodnight, Sweetheart ((http://profun.roundrobins.info/2002/). It won an Adric for Best Collaboritve Fiction... and is as long as any BBC Novel, I fear) -- and especially Chapter 26 (http://narm00.tripod.com/gs26.html), since the opening scene was the longest individual one I wrote (I won an Adric for Best scene in a Collaborative story... I forget if it was that one, or the one in the last chapter... Basically, any scene from Eloise's POV is mine)

That's Eloise in the icon, btw...

[warinbabylon.livejournal.com]

I answered 5 thinking that was for really likely. :D

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

That's what I intended... I realized later that maybe I should have spelled it out more clearly, but you can't edit polls once you insert them :-/

[warinbabylon.livejournal.com]

Sokay!

[pedanther]

You could also try a web-based alternative - message forums, say, or web chat. I'd be prepared to look into what would be involved in hosting either at roundrobins.info, and either would (arguably) be more accessible than LiveJournal or IRC.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I'd be prepared to look into what would be involved in hosting either at roundrobins.info

Would you? Thanks so much! :::Mwah!:::

[pedanther]

My webhost - according to the documentation, which I have not yet tested - offers easy installation of a variety of message boards and chat servers.

I still think a message board could work.

The more I think about it, though, the less I like real-time chat, either web-based or IRC-based, as a medium. I can see its advantages, but I think the requirement to be in a particular place at a particular time would be a sticking point for a lot of people who would otherwise join in. (Time zones are a problem, for one thing, since we have people in Britain, the Americas, Australia, and points between.) The opportunities for people being inspired to join the thing-in-progress would also be limited.

[narm00.livejournal.com]

Hi, Ann! Imran from adwc here. Paul posted to the newsgroup about the current discussion.

You're right in saying that certain of the adwcers don't have access to IRC or LJ; however, that'd be something of a problem whatever option was chose. Some people don't use IRC, some don't post on newsgroups. Whichever choice is made, it's going to leave out a possible audience.

Myself, I'd lean either towards a newsgroup or a web-forum; adwc hasn't /seemed/ prone to trolls or munchkins, although depending on the server there is a chance of spam, while a web-forum would allow some degree of control in case of aforementioned trolls/munchkins/other things.

One note: given Christopher Eccleston's departure, there's a fair chance we may have /two/ new Doctors at the next shindig (even if we don't know what one of them'll be like ;) - we knew /Chris/ had been cast, but didn't know what his Doctor was like till the series showed).

Another thing: I'd give it at least another month before starting off, whatever form we take; that way, we'll have the Adrics ceremony out of the way for those adwcers who want to join in (admittedly, I'm saying this as one of the co-presenters who's got to write the thing up; Graham Woodland's the other).

Imran

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Imran! How are you?!

Yeah, I'm not planning on doing this party right away... basically, I'm just at the stage of thinking it might be nice, and eeping at the thought of cleaning the squirrels' nests out of the rafters of the dance hall (which, if we do it as a LiveJournal Roleplay, is most likely to be over at the swept-out pro_fun house).

Besides, I've got an Art Garden at the end of this month, and I really should be writing for that. Also, We've got people in Canada and New Zealand, who are seeing the New Who some ten days behind Britishers.

So, in all likelyhood, it looks like we'll be back on our original schedule of holding this thing in mid-May.

[(Anonymous)]

Daibhid here. Just thought I'd add my tuppenceworth. I'm certainly prepared to join in in whatever format is picked, as long as there's advance warning, should I need to download something or register somewhere. If it's going to be an IRC thing then I'll give it a go, but I suspect we'll see a running gag about how slowly my characters react...

I like the message board idea, personally.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Daibhid! Howdy! You know I'd welcome your participation in whatever format is picked, as well.

As I noted to Imran, above, it will probably be another month, at least, to get this thing off the ground.

In the meantime, watch this space for further developments.