Forums » RP Discussion » Anyone else who likes IC text formatting?

i like to do a bit of text formatting in my roleplays, and even though most if it i dont do here, it can make my posts look pretty different from others. with rps that have more code that you can use easier, i like to have my speech in posts bolded and the color matching the character, often a picture at the top of the post, and central alignment-- although what i all do usually depends on how "formal" the rp is, post length, and if its a group rp or not. and if i can actually do that all easily. theyre almost all (besides the image bit) habits that i grabbed from an old (sadly dead) group rp that i did when i was often on a RPnation group rp

so is there anyone else that likes to make posts look nice like that? and what do you like to do? or if you dont like to do it, could you tell why?

I'm legally blind without my glasses on (which i pretty much never wear because the migraines r real) so text formatting is basically a must for me. Anyone who writes their posts in "aesthetic smolcaps" will get pimp slapped into oblivion by me personally

RPR's BBCode is very limiting compared to what I'm used to on RPN, so really all I can do here is bolding dialogue and the occasional collapse for music. I've got some friends that like to color their text, but I don't personally do it. On RPN tho I like to pull out all the stops. I'll make graphics that take forever just to decorate my opening post with lmaooo, plus I'll index the hell outta that shit too cause (beep)es love indexes

I am also a person with terrible eyesight though I only wanted to state that. I prefer text format to be nice and simple when I am roleplaying; however I do enjoy colorful and aesthetic text for opening post about the rp. I tried color coding dialogue for twin characters once and though everyone liked the idea but I on the other hand, got tired of it.

I am lazy and usually stick to some very basic formatting, usually just the occasional emphasis in italics. I also tend to put direct thoughts in italics for a little differentiation, often (but not always) indent things that are supposed to be written notes, and tend to switch to monospace if something is supposed to be an electronic typed message.

I have gotten fancier in the past, incorporating colors at times, decorative characters to "frame" the post (and sometimes decorative dividers, too), and I've gone so far as to have "frames" incorporate brief verses. I did that mostly in places that moved a bit fast, partly because the decorations could be helpful in identifying posts from the person you were actually playing with at the moment - and, yes, partly just because it looked neat. Maybe mostly just because it looked neat. Yeah, probably mostly.

There are times I find some formatting distracting and kinda annoying, but I don't often see anything too bad in RP posts here. And for my own formatting, thought I am, indeed, lazy, I'm also very willing to discuss adjusting my formatting if it would be helpful to a partner.

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Okay, and... uh... despite being lazy... Those who play with one of my mute characters occasionally get to deal with having to decipher actual (digitally) hand-drawn "notes" with a mix of often-poor writing and quick, crappy little sketches. It will literally sometimes be a puzzle to just figure out what the heck the character is trying to communicate. But if I can relay the whole thing with just text, I will, rather than bother with an image.

Should someone let me know they aren't able to see images... then yeah, it'll be on me to figure out how to adequately describe it instead.

I think there is a time and place for it, I just did an rp post where it had a Help wanted job posting sign and I did use BBC code to make the sign for aesthetic reasons and to help bring the person in to rp. Like many people who have commented I have sight issues and migraines and I use the dark theme it's more comfortable for me. Sudden color, text, size and boldness effects can be extremely painful. So I think just communication would be key let people know your style and you can work out what is comfortable for everyone.

Tbh, styling the living hell out of my writing's become part of the RPing game at this point, it's absolute bullshit of course but to me, my posts have to be pleasant on the eye and I feel like sometimes I take that way too far. An image or song here and there, some italics to put emphasis on important crap & colored bold script for dialogue, that ain't a big deal, but I usually go out of my way to 'space out' my rubbish so that it reads airy and comfortably, with blank lines for breathing pauses and healthy variation between thick chunky para's and shorter lines. For no reason whatsoever aside from serving my own weird uselessly over the top taste for perfectionism, I also used to worry about this:

Slick nice good sexy paragraph end

Ugly stupid stinky paragraph end

I used to make a big deal out of it in the past but since it puts a severe dent into my replying speed I just check if it looks good in RPR's preview screen & then just roll with it, never lookin back at the post once I tossed it onto my partner's lap ghuehueuhe

MIRAINES ARE REAL!! *hug*

I do to some extent, but not all the time. I tend to use italics for things like internal thoughts and text messages, and I sometimes link to visual aids in the text, with an occasional image in a post. Of course a lot of that has to do with how much time I have to reply.

I do try and make sure I present a readable post which means I try to use proper sentence (capitalization and periods) and paragraph (double line break) structure so that it is readable on a screen. I have a hard time when presented with a 'wall of text' post where I have to try and sort out sentences, narrative, and dialog from it. I tend to get my headaches and eye strain from those sorts of posts, so I make the effort to try and present to others properly.

The use of colors I found can be an issue depending on what style one is using. I myself use the dark as it strains my eyes less, but some dark colors are hard to read.