Have you ever thought of this idea you grow to love a lot and thought it would be awesome to share to the world… but found out it’s already been done by other people? I have, and it’s rough. And, apparently, it also happens in this world of roleplaying. Called “Duplicate RPs,” it’s when two RP ideas are too similar to each other that only one of them should be able to succeed. In this sense, first come first serve.
But what if you really, really, really want to give life to that idea? Well, hold your breath and rejoice because nothing is impossible! As someone who’s been to this situation a few times, I shall give my best to help you with it. In this thread, we will be sharing tips on how to solve the duplication problem in RPs!
Find out how similar your idea really is to the other idea.
Pull out your paper and pen, and start listing some aspects in both ideas. To be more organized, use the Venn Diagram organizer and write those things down. What are the similarities? What are the differences? How similar and different are they?
After that, tell yourself if they really are that similar or not. Either way, you gotta…
Introduce ideas that will set a bigger gap between these roleplays.
So, the ideas are the same. No matter how you look at it, there’re still some aspects that will probably make people think that you’re just plagiarizing this other idea. What if I tell you that even the slightest change can really impact the whole idea?
The best thing to do here is to definitely find more ideas or ways that will make your RP different from the other one. As a wise man said: Details make the difference. Change some details. Add some details. Big or small. So if the idea was like “The two kingdoms have been fighting for supremacy,” you can make it so that it’s like “and the winner was chosen, but the loser didn’t want to give up.” It might change what you originally made, but at least it’s better and it can’t be considered a duplicate now.
Make it seem like it’s your own spin-off of that idea.
This is connected to the previous tip, but thinking that your RP is like a spin-off of the other one can really help you generate ideas.
Discuss with the other RP’s owner about both of your RPs.
And, of course, you have to discuss to the one you need to approach about the problem. With them, you can make sure that they are okay about what you’ve come up with and you can make sure they’re not going to be duplicates anymore. Plus, what do you know? They might end up helping you about your own one!
The thing is that while there are different stories for everyone, there’re still some similarities in everything.
You don’t need to worry much about how similar your idea is to the other one. Everyone can experience the same story; it’s just that they experienced it in different ways. Remember the Chosen One or the Hero’s Journey kind of stories? Think about those tropes and relieve yourself of the worry about the fact that some people still love seeing them all over again.
Though, just remember—we will always love a twist in these ideas 
@RPers, are there some things you might like to add or change in these tips? Feel free to also comment your own below!
