Plot ideas

[COLA]

So! As we spoke of before, earlier tonight, CA needs more kick. For those who weren't around, I will restate the ideas I had. However, these three are not the only ideas. This thread is for members to post possible plot ideas, and I shall add them to the list! Once we have a good amount, we will have a pole. So far, these are the choices.

• School Shooting. A unknown suspect (possibly more then one) take up arms against the school. There are many injuries from both the weapons and fleeing students, and in the chaos the culprits escape. Now, Chishiki is left in a tense, paranoid state. The halls are filled with whispers of who did it. A local, a mad man, a angry student? No one knows. Rumours are flying though and no leads have some to service. The school is left in a constant worry.
  
  
• Turf wars. Within the city, a storm is starting. Small gangs which before had barely been noticed are taking the spot light. Graffiti started to appear more often, many tags layered over each other until finally, both sides exploded. Now, the small groups are strong and quite easily called a gang. Violent, angry and ruthless, the two sides are clashing in the streets and no one is safe. Just walking outside at night makes you a target. The local school is no safer. For even within the school grounds, students are tempted and bribed by the violent members to join their ranks. It seemed their turf war is starting to trickle into the school. No one is safe. Civilians are to be home before the street-lights come on, more security guards have been added to the school grounds and there have been threats of searching dorms for any suspicious weapons. Between the students though, everyone is discussing a side for their own safety. Those who cry neutral are just simply easy targets.
  
  
• Paranormal showdown. Every school has rumours of ghosts. For years, the former boy only school often had their male students whispering stories of hearing the piano play in the music room when it was locked and dark. Some tell stories of hearing voices or lockers opening in the changing gym rooms. All this was just fun little tales. Most believe there are ghosts - left over from the fire long long ago that took the lives of some students. Other say past students practised dark arts. None of it really had any proof. Recently though, everything changed. As the girls have come into the school, there have been more them rumours, but true stories. Disembodied voices in the hallways, locked classrooms left in shambles. Many girls have have reported their belongings tossed about the room while they were at class. At first the boys were blamed, but now it was happening to them too. It seems there really are spirits at rest here - at least, they were. The schools new open doors have caused a shift and lots of changes within the school - and it would seem some 'people' did not want this change.
  

[/justify]

[rin takahashi]

Why is this so empty? o^o
Allow me to fill it with all my fever-induced rambles ~

I'd have posted sooner, but I was hoping that someone with ideas or a student/faculty member would before me. Because seriously, I'm totally neutral right now. However, I do want to participate and cast an "educated vote" so to speak, so it'd be nice to see some thoughts kicked around before throwing my hands up and just rolling a die. 3:

If I haven't expressed it already, I like the ideas mentioned above, and I see neat potential for the first two to be blended together, the first essentially being a climax of sorts--if there's a tie or something. I also like how well the third idea integrates the sudden inclusion of girls, which is already an established factor.

On the other hand, I feel like a gang/ghost slant may be a bit overdone, an opinion I have based on other forums' plots, and I can't help but wonder if it's possible to come up with something more unique? Granted, nothing is original, but I would want to know how we'd make these plots truly our own if we were to include them. How would we advertise it? Why would it bring in fresh meat?

Would the gang plot require a significant amount of outsider-based gang members to function? Who intends to play the first conversions within Chishiki? Whose characters would join a gang? Are these gangs full of troubled teens just looking for something to fight about, or are they fighting because they legitimately need the territory to push their product? How entrenched in the underground are they? (i.e. what links would they have and how dangerous would those links be?) How entrenched do we want them to be?

As for the ghost plot, I'm wondering about the shift in the supernatural direction. Are we going to make it crystal clear that there are ghosts and a rift between this world and the next one? Or is it going to be left kind of ambiguous with a few thought-provoking clues to leave us all wondering what was really going on once it's all said and done? If the former, would we be allowed to play ghost characters? Would students begin seeing investigators, the media, and whatnot roaming the halls hoping to document these strange phenomena? Or are the haunts going to be so rare and subtle that no one will have reason to believe those that experience them?

And again, do you (anyone) think these ideas are enough to pull in new members? Because we're doing this to stand out as more than just a typical boarding school roleplay, right? And I totally don't know what kids these days want in a forum, so I'm genuinely asking. What plot are you leaning towards and why? If none, what would you like to see? What interests you? What doesn't?

Let me repeat, I'm neutral on all fronts--my character has little to no investment in much of anything--so the most I can do is ask a bunch of questions and hopefully stimulate some thought juice. So... thought juice, anyone? 8)

[COLA]

Yeah, i kind of reflect and I realize this is pretty much a dumb idea. I am sorry for shoving these on you guys. I really am not good with plot ideas. I tend to come up with things that are over done, over rated, and never have enough answers. This probably was a very bad idea. I just wanted to try and tug in some new people. I don't have any certain type of person I want. I just want more people to come in. I want to make this place more active, to give it life.

• Gangs being overdone - you are right, they are. That is why I was a bit iffy offering up this idea. However, in large cities, they are expected. I can't answer all these questions, I am not very good at coming up with major details.. but I will try to do what I can. I can't control who joins the idea. It's up to them. I have no control over that. If outsiders want to join, go for it. If students want to, go for it. This site was designed to be very loose and character-driven, so I am trying to think of plots where there is lots of room to breath. I would assume, though, the more adult members of the gang do want the territory to push their things. While the younger (children, students, outsider teens) are merely just to add to their numbers and give them more muscle, while unaware to the darker things that are happening. Maybe they do know and don't care. It really is up to the players - as well as the gangs created as to why they want toe turf. I am trying to give members as much control as they can have.
  
  
• Ghost thing - I would think it to progress over time. Let's use stages. Stage 1 being just little rumours and stories ( already happened.) Stage 2 being louder noises, more noticeable events. This probably happened when the girls entered the school. Stage 3 being possibly actually SEEING them, and more more defined, undeniable events, this is no doubt going to happen the longer the girls stay here. yes, people could play ghosts, in a way. I had planned to make an side account, sort of an NPC in which people could log in and play a ghost. Perhaps even have a thread where people can make mini profiles for spirits ( example: their name, age at death, why they are tied to certain rooms/area's of the school (( like, someone named Adam who was brought here on a musical scholarship and spent everyday at the piano, he would linger around the music room and probably be very noticeable since he had such a deep, emotional attachment)). People can't RP themselves and ghost in same thread though, but other members can have a fun little spirit buddy pop in to threads randomly ( though use a C or P for closed/private so people don't intrude on those )) As for investigators, no there would be none. Because this school is so high up, and image concerned, I am sure they would cover it up the best they could and do what they could to keep the students hush.
  
  
• Members - I don't know if it will pull people in. This is merely an attempt I am giving, at hopes it will. I honestly don't know what kids these days like either, hence my attempt at trying to spice things up. However, I am not leaning towards anything. I merely want to give it more of a kick then just 'boy school with added girls'. It needs more appeal, more room to play around and come up with twists and fun things. However, I still want it to be loose and character driven..
  

[rin takahashi]

No, no, no, no! Do not put yourself or your ideas down. We all want to see more activity and a twist is an excellent way to do that. All of your ideas are very loose, which is exactly how these things should be, and just... No. You've done a good thing bringing this up. I think coming up with a twist should not only bring in newcomers but rally the members we already have. Meaning that more people should join this discussion right about now. Again, I like your ideas. I just play the devil's advocate. All the time. Don't think of my comments as shooting you down, and if you don't, then I just wanted to throw that out there now. n.n;;

Overall:

I like the character-driven element of this site. I'm here precisely for that, so making optional plots is a good thing, I think. That said, perhaps it'd be ideal to make a number of small-scale, multi-genre, and at times interwoven plots so that each member can fit their character/s in somewhere--if that makes sense? That'd be really hard to pull off, but the array of choice may be worth it. Plus if it all comes together nicely, it could look really impressive or appeal to all kinds of roleplayers. Maybe.

Gangs:

The mix of adult and teens in the gangs sounds good to me. Variety and such, especially if some of the kids are kept in the dark about more sinister elements. I do think this is realistic for a big city. My only concern is that Chishiki is supposed to be high-end, and I'm not sure how well a slum-based gang could spread its influence past the school's gates, largely because I imagine that most students would be sheltered or stand to lose their inheritance/scholarships if they were caught being in any way involved. I'm sure the staff would crack down hard if they saw any indication about what's going on and then the parents would probably use their influence and connections to counteract that of the gangs'. Meddling with Chishiki may sooner be a one-way ticket to a police crackdown than anything, I mean.

However, there could be a few students that are tied to the gangs via family, as in they are the sons/daughters of the leaders of the two gangs and a shitstorm could develop if these kids start disrupting the peaceful atmosphere. Maybe this leads to the shooting, and instead of focusing on the gang-element, it's about the aftermath and the mystery of who and why--so leaning more to plot idea number one--where curious students may find answers by interacting with the street kids, which may lead to even more trouble. Of course there'd need to be a twist away from the obvious answers, but...

Ghosts:

So I'm guessing that no one would ever be physically harmed by these spirits if no serious "investigation" is to occur? It would be fun to create profiles of past students, I feel, though I'm not too sure how this one would develop. Would there be a group of students that band together and decide to go around, meet ghosts, and then help them find eternal rest?

[basil a. kingston]

Personally I think all of the ideas sound pretty cool. I'm leaning more towards the paranormal showdown though because it sounds like a lot of fun and has a lot of possibilities. haha~ imo anyway.

As for ideas I don't really have any atm. bahthisisshortsorry..