Forums » RP Discussion » Random thoughts/observations on RP

We clearly did things differently... I know I said I wasn't going to put a number out there, but I've been at it online for about 16 years and while my writing has improved grammatically and structurally I just haven't experimented much with canonical characters or other genders. I suppose I invest a lot of my own personality in my characters, and that doesn't jive with pre-established characters or women.

I find this topic and the views expressed in it to be rather interesting. I enjoy learning of other people's opinions and about their tastes. I don't have an idea regarding canon characters or genders worth sharing. But as someone who's notorious on Furcadia for posting quite lengthy, I'd like to share my personal reason for such.

I'm an avid lover of the English language. It fascinates me, because more than most languages, there's a descriptive word to alliterate to almost every emotion, thought, or gesture. Many other languages are not so fortunate. So... in my musings, I find that I often lose myself in written descriptive flow.

I don't write for an elite status. I don't write for other's benefit. I write because my mind gets caught up in the story of my characters and how they interact with others. And as such, I find that my writings tend to challenge others to 'match the bar' that I set through my posts. Most people take delight in being handed something beautiful and trying to return such sentiments with their own. I'm not trying to gloat. But I receive compliments many times about how my posts are 'little stories that I read over and over again, like a good book that I don't want to put down'.

I understand that some people write so lengthy at an attempt to fill space. But many times there's those of us who write because we love to write. My posts rarely hold much 'fluff' in them anyway. They're more often either amusing and anecdotal, sultry and provocative, or even on occasion- highly emotive and soul searching.

I encourage anyone who loves roleplay to maybe once or twice, try and push yourself into focusing more on the whims of your words than length. Because you might be surprised at just how long your replies end up. :p

While I like to think it was unintended, there is a tacit claim that I see that I'd like to address, that being that a lover if the language necessitates longer posts.

I, too, fancy myself quite a fan of the written word, and I, too, gain quite a few compliments on my use thereof (my bad-brain-days and missing typographical errors notwithstanding). That has absolutely zero bearing on the length of a post.

What affects the length of a post is the whim of the writer, not the words they use. Some people enjoy writing and reading paragraph after paragraph after paragraph of verbal and mental soliloquies. I enjoy neither. There really is such a thing as "far too much", in my opinion, but that, too, is dictated by my preferences as a player, not my command of the English language.

I prefer something far more real than such polysyllabic-primed paragraph-laden posts usually offer. They tend to include either far more conversation than any real person would actually get away with, far more actions than any real person would actually get away with, or far more thought than any real person would actually engage in.

I see these posts, and I tend to write reactions how an actual person would react. If someone offers a few paragraphs of speech, most of it is going to be ICly ignored with some verbal commentary involving vernacular like "motor-mouth". If someone writes a dozen actions, there would likely be some reaction to them "zipping around the room like a hummingbird on uppers". If someone spends a dozen paragraphs on the character's internal monologue, there'd be a reaction to them staring off into space for ten minutes.

I am not, for the record, daring to say such writing is bad. I do say that such writing has nothing to do with linguistic skill; it only has to do with the preferences of the players involved.

I also write for my partners, specifically to get them to groan at a bad pun, to wince when my character or an NPC is hurt or killed, or otherwise cause some kind of actual reaction. Otherwise, I feel, I'm just writing for myself, and if I'm going to do that I may as well open up NotePad.

I do agree that the content should be what matters, but I maintain that the length of a post is completely unaffected by one's linguistic skill, and I say that as, if I may be so bold, a very cunning linguist.

*runs away giggling like an idiot*

Honestly, as long as it's all substance and no fluff, I don't care if it's a short novel. If it's well-written and useful, I should as a result find it a pleasure to read, after all.

I really like this. I find as much beauty in a concise, to the point post that beautifully conveys the situation at hand. It takes a particular skill of its own and is equally as elaborate in storytelling as a whole page of writing can be. Language is expressive in many forms after all.

I also don't agree with other languages not being so expressive. I speak four fluently, and there are many words in the other languages I know that have no translation in English. They convey emotions and feelings that the English have no words for, whereas most English words I know all have translations or even see use in their original form in the other languages I speak.

That doesn't mean one language is superior over the other in my opinion; I just think they're all different enough to warrant their own beautiful way of writing, and someone's native culture tends to be quite evident in their writing.

(Random, fun fact: my client often has to 'deformalize' articles I write for her clients in English. I'm a native Dutch speaker, and our writing tends to be more formal in nature which seems to translate into my English. This is apparently not as prevalent in English, especially when the clients have smaller businesses. It's considered very foreign! It was interesting to find out when I was told about it, and in a way it makes sense. That's one of those differences that makes each language beautifully unique.)

1) In my experience with roleplay, and mostly due to my experiences being forged in the fires of Yahoo Messenger, I tend to gravitate toward 2 or three paragraphs at most, if, and only if, major details need to be set out. Else, one paragraph to get the point across generally is fine. I'll open strong, because one always needs to set the scene, but after that, I'm fine with posts getting shorter. Fluff doesn't always bother me, but I do take issue with using fluff. Why describe the individual blades of grass in a field when the characters are on horseback at full gallop and cannot enjoy their surroundings? Repeated details, unless that repetition is to make a point, seems pointless to me.

2) I generally stay neutral to the Canon/OC debates. I have played the occasional canon character, but I usually worry I cannot play the character true enough. Some may accept the canon if it's altered to their fantasy, but then, I still feel out of place. However, when an OC has enough background and nature to their character, and the world they come from, playing in their world is akin to joining a canon. All of that said, I do not like to be asked to play well known canon characters.

3) Between NPCs to keep the story going, and the occasioned experiment, I have played a few characters of the opposite gender, and while I generally avoid romance, I have found that there are certain groups of roleplayers that likely jump out at any female character that shows up on the spectrum. I've found three major groups, I'd say. 0: Those that don't bother you. 1: The one trick pony/one track mind that asks the same thing of every profile that's created. 2: The slightly less unoriginal mimic who's profile is no different from half the others out there, even using the same character images. 3: The decently original that is rare, alright with no longterm commitment, and can produce a fulfilling play.