Roleplaying Limitations

[Soviet Heavy]

I'm a relatively new member in the Role Playing section, so if this sounds ignorant than so be it. I'm not entirely sold on the direction some of these RPs tend to go, because it feels like after a while, they start to fall apart from a number of things.

The first problem I find is when there are a number of posts made by two or three members in rapid succession. Not only do I feel this break the flow of the story, but it makes updates confusing. Where one poster might cover hours of in context content in a single post, these fast posts might take up mere seconds.

The second problem is the inverse, where posting is few and far between. This seems to happen with the smaller RPs, where the lack of a real drive leads to disinterest. It is made worse when mixed with the above fast post style, where one or two posts might make you think it is still alive, only to see that the additions are four sentences in two updates. Rather disheartening.

Grammar is another problem, but almost entirely my own fault. I try to hold myself to a high standard when I write, unless I am being sarcastic. It drives me nuts when I see conflicting or even just poor writing styles, since they clash with the better written material. If you are going to put a post in, put some effort into it. Make it look nice. You might be playing, but others are reading.

Combat is a big sticker as well. When godmodding is frowned on, this can very quickly lead to a circle jerk until one player gives up. Since you have no control over another character, you quickly fall into "he punched the man." "The Man jumped away from the punch and pulled a gun, shooting the puncher." "The puncher dodged the bullets and threw a table at the man."

Dialogue is also tricky. Since the RP is meant to be player on player interaction, this can cripple conversations, especially when some posters go days without updating. Creating NPCs to have talks with is a workaround, but depending on what each player wants, this can lead to the NPC having a schizophrenic personality, if even that.

These are just a few of the problems that very quickly have become apparent during my short time here. How do you go about fixing them?

 

[CounterAttack]

The first problem I find is when there are a number of posts made by two or three members in rapid succession. Not only do I feel this break the flow of the story, but it makes updates confusing. Where one poster might cover hours of in context content in a single post, these fast posts might take up mere seconds.

Posts that cover extended periods of time should always be run by the GM, if not everyone else involved, before they are posted. Faster posts, in my experience, are often conversational: two or more people going back and forth. They do not take up much in-character time.

The second problem is the inverse, where posting is few and far between. This seems to happen with the smaller RPs, where the lack of a real drive leads to disinterest. It is made worse when mixed with the above fast post style, where one or two posts might make you think it is still alive, only to see that the additions are four sentences in two updates. Rather disheartening.

This can happen - I know, I've been in role-plays that do that - but depending on what happens both in and out of character, it can take time to write up another post. Some people take days, weeks even, to write their characters' actions. Although I will say that most threads I myself am in rarely feature posts shorter than two paragraphs, so I don't really have the 'four sentences in two posts' issue into which you appear to have run. Perhaps it depends on the writers you are working with.

Grammar is another problem, but almost entirely my own fault. I try to hold myself to a high standard when I write, unless I am being sarcastic. It drives me nuts when I see conflicting or even just poor writing styles, since they clash with the better written material. If you are going to put a post in, put some effort into it. Make it look nice. You might be playing, but others are reading.

Many writers that I know of and trust hold correct spelling and grammar in high esteem, though some are prone to errors. Still, minor issues do not ruin a post. I too hold myself to a high standard of writing, but I'm always looking to improve. One of my career paths may actually be in the field of writing: I can see myself as a possible novelist. As such I do my best to maintain high quality spelling and grammar in my posting.

Combat is a big sticker as well. When godmodding is frowned on, this can very quickly lead to a circle jerk until one player gives up. Since you have no control over another character, you quickly fall into "he punched the man." "The Man jumped away from the punch and pulled a gun, shooting the puncher." "The puncher dodged the bullets and threw a table at the man."

PvP combat should always, always be discussed with the other player. Granted, both parties want to win a fight, but there will come a time when you have to take the fall. When describing combat situations in PvP, I myself will never ensure that my character's attacks actually land: that depends on the opponent. I don't want to force people into a certain situation unless I have no choice. Again, communication is vital.

Dialogue is also tricky. Since the RP is meant to be player on player interaction, this can cripple conversations, especially when some posters go days without updating. Creating NPCs to have talks with is a workaround, but depending on what each player wants, this can lead to the NPC having a schizophrenic personality, if even that.

Dialogue can be difficult, and I know what it's like to be left hanging in the middle of a conversation, but friendly reminders never go amiss. Throwing in an NPC to talk to can be useful, but only in certain situations. It doesn't really work all that well if, say, the player-characters are in their own little band and no-one else can really show up unless they have a justifiable reason to be there. And of course, such things would need to be discussed with the GM.

One thing that leads to both frequent updates and a fair bit of out-of-character discussion is just, well, getting to know your fellow writers. It's better to write alongside someone you know and are friends with than complete and total strangers.

My answer to a fair few of the points you bring up is communication between players (including the GM), and I realise that. But communication is a vital, powerful tool in a role-player's arsenal. For example, most of my friends and I use Skype, and often discuss things that go on in role-plays behind the scenes. We bounce ideas off of one another, or check information to see if something has already been covered. Heck, we even come up with ideas for character development, or plan out the future of the role-play. As an aside, it helps a lot to get to know one another during downtime or while waiting for posts. I know I said that before, but I'll reiterate it.

 

[JoJo]

Pretty much everything CounterAttack has just listed is true, so I'm not going to reword any of his answers for the sake of it but I will add that in my mind, RPing is the least worst way of writing a story, at-least from my situation. I have neither the time nor patience to write a novel, and I'd rather take part in something that others can instantly read. It's certainly not perfect and the other players being humans of varying dedication and skill means that it's always going to be a messy affair, which is sadly why so few RPs ever make it to a proper ending. That said there are exceptions, I'm currently in an RP that's been running for almost a year and a half which is just coming to a final conclusion this month, even if we've only got three players left down from starting with twelve it's been a heck of a ride along the way ;-)

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Pretty much everything CounterAttack has just listed is true, so I'm not going to reword any of his answers for the sake of it but I will add that in my mind, RPing is the least worst way of writing a story, at-least from my situation. I have neither the time nor patience to write a novel, and I'd rather take part in something that others can instantly read. It's certainly not perfect and the other players being humans of varying dedication and skill means that it's always going to be a messy affair, which is sadly why so few RPs ever make it to a proper ending. That said there are exceptions, I'm currently in an RP that's been running for almost a year and a half which is just coming to a final conclusion this month, even if we've only got three players left down from starting with twelve it's been a heck of a ride along the way ;-)

I know, and don't take this as me being dissatisfied with our RP JoJo. This is just the personal problems I have with the format in general. I'm a stickler on some things, and it makes things a bit more difficult. However, I understand that it is a collaborative effort, so I have to take the good with the bad.

 

[sky14kemea]

Combat is a big sticker as well. When godmodding is frowned on, this can very quickly lead to a circle jerk until one player gives up. Since you have no control over another character, you quickly fall into "he punched the man." "The Man jumped away from the punch and pulled a gun, shooting the puncher." "The puncher dodged the bullets and threw a table at the man."

PvP combat should always, always be discussed with the other player. Granted, both parties want to win a fight, but there will come a time when you have to take the fall. When describing combat situations in PvP, I myself will never ensure that my character's attacks actually land: that depends on the opponent. I don't want to force people into a certain situation unless I have no choice. Again, communication is vital.

I always appreciated when people said what attack they were going to do, but never specified that it landed. Although I have had experiences with people who really want to win, so in the end I have to kind of give them the victory just to move on to something else.

The first problem I find is when there are a number of posts made by two or three members in rapid succession. Not only do I feel this break the flow of the story, but it makes updates confusing. Where one poster might cover hours of in context content in a single post, these fast posts might take up mere seconds.

The second problem is the inverse, where posting is few and far between. This seems to happen with the smaller RPs, where the lack of a real drive leads to disinterest. It is made worse when mixed with the above fast post style, where one or two posts might make you think it is still alive, only to see that the additions are four sentences in two updates. Rather disheartening.

I always hated the really fast paced RP's, where 3-4 people would post a few sentences (at most) so quickly, that by the time you had your post written up, it was too late to use it... :/

When those faster RP's became more popular, I just ended up leaving RPing behind, mostly.

For the really slow ones, I don't mind those as much, it gives me a lot more time to think of something, and you can discuss things with other players easier before you post.

I'm in an RP right now, where we do most of the discussing and plot points in a User Group, so our actual posts in the thread are few and far between. It can be a month or more sometimes before we post something again. (Although that's partly due to us being a bit lazy, since there's only 3 players and 1 GM.)

I know I'm talking like I was a decent RPer, I actually wasn't that great. My grammar was fine, but the competition of too many great writers stopped me from entering the better RP's. While the thought of being in an RP with really fast posters who didn't use much punctuation was worse. :/

That and the writers block. Sooooo much writers block.

 

[CounterAttack]

That and the writers block. Sooooo much writers block.

In my experience, the best way around writer's block is to do something else for a while. Listen to music, play a game, talk to someone, maybe even talk about being blocked. A fair few people on Skype can definitely help with that kind of thing.

I'm curious now: which role-play are you in? Is it a private one or something?

Side Note: There will always be someone out there better than you. Don't let that discourage you from joining other threads: I myself regularly work with people whom I consider to be better writers than I, but that doesn't stop me trying to improve.

 

[sky14kemea]

That and the writers block. Sooooo much writers block.

In my experience, the best way around writer's block is to do something else for a while. Listen to music, play a game, talk to someone, maybe even talk about being blocked. A fair few people on Skype can definitely help with that kind of thing.

I'm curious now: which role-play are you in? Is it a private one or something?

Side Note: There will always be someone out there better than you. Don't let that discourage you from joining other threads: I myself regularly work with people whom I consider to be better writers than I, but that doesn't stop me trying to improve.

Sometimes I go away for days doing other things, and I still have nothing to write when I come back. xD

The one RP I'm in now is called Clans Of Garrus. It's not private, but it probably scares newcomers since we all know the backstory and things, while they have no idea what's going on.

I know there's always gonna be someone better than me at something. I just don't think I'm cut out to be a writer. =P I prefer visual things, I think.