Critique and Advice; the treadmill of adventuring.

The way I see it, forum adventures are a collaborative process. I actually enjoy them more than webcomics sometimes because the user input is there. Forum adventures aren't so much about the story as they are about the journey. The world they take place in and the characters involved become rapidly more important than the story itself. They have a lot of potential, I think most people just aren't aware they exist. What? A comic I can suggest stuff to? Egads!

It brings the author so much closer to the audience because they're relying on them to push the ideas forward. And sure, a lot of bullshit happens, but that's the fun of it. It really tests an author's ability to be loose with their ideas (and to remember their cannon) and to not focus so much on the plot as they do on the development of the characters (or not, I mean you could always just ignore arcs and have that be fun too). Forum adventures are loose enough that they allow for the suspension of disbelief to be pushed a bit further, since the audience is meant to take the rules, apply them, and suggest based on what they know.

What's better than one mind? How about a whole bunch of minds all working together to push something forward and see where it goes. Like btp said, it's a game. But it's a game where even the creator doesn't know everything and I kind of like that form of spontaneity, it's like a storyboard driven TV show, or improv acting. The fun is in not knowing what comes next. You have a loose outline, then you hit play.

Or you can use them just to dick around and have some fun. Like I said, it's a loose genre, but with lots of potential.

And (bringing this back around town now) the mirror helps people who want to catch up on a popular adventure actually get to the point where they can suggest stuff too, or if they prefer to stay on the sidelines and watch it happen from a safe spot.

I think this is really well put. I dont have anything to add, but it made me reconsider a little of how I thought about adventures.