Open topics, and ways to RP

totally agree with u mighty Jess.. lol

It's an unspoken RP rule that you match what the other person is posting. No one should have to be told that. It's manners. It's polite. It also makes the other person believe that you actually want to roleplay with them.

Large posts are better than short ones in so many ways. You explore your character, the other person begins to understand your character, and your character really reacts in the situation. A thread isn't all about speech. Threads tend to be a lot deeper when there's barely anything said. Words paint a picture and a picture is worth a thousand words.

Plus, if all you write is a tiny bit of reaction and some speech then after a while all of your characters are going to sound the same and no one will know whether it's Sadie, John or Maggie that their character is with.

I can understand what you're saying Eli, but if I've started a topic, and said that I'm just going to be posting a paragraph, then I will do that, whether you like it or not. You choose to write a short story, not me, and in order for me to continue enjoying myself, I will continue posting at my comfort level.

If you think it's rude to have people not match your big long post, I think it's doubly as rude to make people post at lengths they don't want to.

if it's an open post they are posting to.. then how is it rude to ask that the person posts at the same length as you? it was open, they CHOSE to go into that post.. it's not rude if it's their own choice to go into a post that is longer...

But the whole point of this discussion, was saying that people need to post shorter posts, not trying to convince people to post HUGE posts... I'm confused at your comment saying 'You choose to write a short story, not me, and in order for me to continue enjoying myself, I will continue posting at my comfort level. '

that's fine and dandy good for you! We aren't asking people to change their ways of rping... but you seem to be.. because yes, us longer posters, we tend to get annoyed with short posts, just because we see the potential in these posts, and the person only speaks and then does a single action.. when inside.. there is such more going on.. sometimes things such as one tiny movement changes an entire post.. puts more depth behind a person, makes a character not just a flat thing, but gives them a dimension that real people have... You see BEHIND the eyes, you see a sparkle, a light, and a soul developing from your fingertips... longer posts help to make that.. instead of a ton of short little posts, of just speaking... sure people speak, but sometimes, where the person is looking changes the entire post.

If you've ever read Memoirs of a Geisha.. you'd have learned the importance of little details... things like where the eyes go.. when you are looking away from someone... say at the gutters along a roof... it can go from just looking at something with mild interest, to being to afraid to look at someone.. but if you look at the ground, and when you pass, flick the eyes upwards, all of a sudden it's like you want to speak to someone and don't know what to do or say. Details make a person real, and put a certain demension behind them, that words just can't do... This is why people like me and Elijah post such long posts, we enjoy making this soul in our minds.. we enjoy the reaction... and if someone doesn't want to post.. they don't have to.. it's all I'm saying.

Long posts are annoying. I find that very few of them are filled with meaningful sentences which someone can reply to. Most people just throw in a lot of random stuff just for the sake of making their post long, and in the end, their post just becomes very hard to read through. In my opinion, you can say everything you want to in a post in 2-4 paragraphs, max 5, or 500-600 words. If you have a lot to say and its not all just random words, then go ahead and do more then that. The problem is that most long posts are just not interesting. Putting a maximum word count is just stupid though, so I'm not sure how to solve this problem.

One good point that was made in this topic is the amount of characters. I have just one character, but he is well developed and has plenty of contacts with other RPers. Many members are now creating characters just because their friends wants them too. Usually these characters fill in an important part of the other characters plot then just dissapear. I think these characters are lifeless. Instead of asking your friends to make new characters, why not just roleplay with a different member? IMO, this makes PA into a much more closed site. Closed meaning that most members only roleplay with a few others. To stop this, we should have a cap on how many characters one member can have. say 6-7 max. Some members here have around 14-15. Thats just not realistically manageable.

Heh vincent your first paragraph is basically what I said. That's why I can't read Chase's,Eli's,Darren's,Ginerva's posts.It's because they are just too long and some of them have no meaning.

I agree with your second paragraph as well.What's the point of having 14-15 characters,that's nuts.I only have 2, one good, one bad but they need to have,sad,happy,mischevious,nice,mean,angry. It's just annoying.

Whoa! Xem, I can understand if you don't like reading long posts, and you have the right to not like long posts. But its not okay to diss someone else's writing. I rarely see someone post with no meaning behind them. And in the list you gave, none of those folks have ever, to the best of my knowledge done meaningless posts.

If you arent' involved in a thread w/ them, then, while I appreciate your input on the overall writing of PA, perhaps the longer posts aren't as meaningful to you because you're not actively involved in some of those threads.

I rp with some of those folks regularly, and I find the information they contain to be very useful and some of that "extra stuff" as you seem to think it is, is very useful to help me understand whats going on with their characters and it often cues me on what I need to be doing with mine.

Its okay for you all to express your opinions, but its not okay to diss someone else or their writing in your expression of your opinion.

As far as multiple characters, the rule is, and has always been, that the maximum number of characters without admin permission is 5. That isn't likely to change. Those people who have more than that have had administration approval because we feel that either they can handle it or that the new character to be added is necessary for one reason or another. We don't just add them without thought.

k.

well I'm not really dissing anyone,just stating my opinion .I also said some,hardly,but some.And if you believe none well all that is still opinion. If anything I think they'd consider it as a compliment, writing so much that a person can't read it, I know I would.I just can't stand meaningless posts

Aurora told me they had about 15, but maybe she lied whatever

Xem you don't even attempt to read the posts. You have no right to pass judgement on the posts if you don't read them; especially if you're just basing your assumptions and opinion on size alone. From the point of view of the person reading the post that who isn't in the thread then perhaps the content has no real significance for their own character but that doesn't make the posts meaningless as you so put it.

I don't think you'd like it at all if I turned around and said that you're posts were meaningless so please refrain from commenting about mine, Chase's, Darren's and Ginerva's in the same manner.

Can I just attempt, without causing another riot here, to explain our thoughts about shorter posts?

Its not to criticize anyone for their desire to write long posts. Nor to criticise those who want to write shorter ones. Largely, thats personal preference.

Here's our point. We need more people to post more often. Longer posts by and large take more time. There are people who will come onto PA and write one long post a day and then bugger back off. And if that's what they want to do, there's nothing we're going to do to change that.

However, what we're trying to ask is simply, wouldja consider, if those long posts take so much out of you--if it applies to you--to do some shorter ones too so that you post more often. The site needs more activity, and by that I mean more IC activity. Not just playing games. I mean actually doing IC rp.

I love long posts, and I love doing them. But when I do shorter posts, I can post more often and sometimes that is a lot more fun when I can keep that exchange going for awhile with another player. It also reduces my frustration when I can do that sometimes as opposed to waiting for days for someone to respond to one of my replies because they have difficulty getting up the time or energy to write a mega-post.

I'm just saying--Consider some variety here, all, for the sake of the site and for the sake of other players that would enjoy rp'ing with you!

Does that make sense?

K.