Coming Soon: A Guide to Forum Based Role-Play

Our hardworking PR&M manager had a wonderful idea, and after having tried in vain to free up some free time in my schedule to follow up with it, I have decided to start pushing things aside as I am able rather than find wiggle room. Some who join our community are those who have years of online role-playing experience under their belt, and find writing out posts and crafting evocative writing to be second nature, a time honed skill they no longer need to consciously think about as they weave you outstanding pieces of writing. On the other side of that, we have had a countless number of people come in admitting that they have little to no experience within the Play by Post world, and would love some pointers.

Well crowd number one, chances are, nothing in this soon approaching series is going to be news to you, but if you can take something from it, I shall be pleased nonetheless. Crowd number two, on the other hand, this upcoming set of installments will be crafted, tailored, and specially designed to help you- an aspiring writer, role-player, storyteller- learn tricks of the trade ranging from simple aesthetics to ways to methods to improve the quality of your writing. I cannot promise to make the most mundane writer the next New York Times bestseller (if I could do that, do you think I’d be working nonstop overtime and fighting with my schedule to squeeze blog posts in? Heck no, I’d be writing my own books and doing educative seminars on the side!), but I can offer you some valuable insight that just might be that nudge you need to start seeing some positive gains in your writing.

Now, as I have already emphasized forty times over, I am pressed for time and this very moment approaches me no differently- I cannot begin working on the first of this series which might run anywhere from half a dozen to a score, all depending on how the material gets covered, at this present time. Perhaps over the weekend, perhaps into mid next week, but soon, you will have the first of many nuggets of information for you to throw in your writer’s toolbox. By the end of this series, I hope to see not a group of people with one or two tools apiece, some trying to fix things only with a hammer or others with a monkey wrench nearly as large as them- nay! I want to see a group of master craftsman with scores of tools available to them.

Well, I’ve rambled enough, so until next time.

-          Acies

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.

-Kurt Vonnegut

Writing With Eachother - A Template for Successful Roleplay

As one of the official Chosen Tournament judges, I've overseen a fair share of T1 matches. One of the most difficult things to do when issuing a judgment is trying to figure out what's actually going on. This is due to the contradictions and paradoxes that occur when two players are writing against each other, something I'll get into in a moment. Because of the difficulty in understanding fights, we often ask the participants to supply us with a detailed list of actions that have occurred up to the contested point. Oftentimes, we find that the timelines don't even match. Why is this and what is going wrong?

This doesn't just happen in T1. A trend I've noticed among certain roleplayers is that they tend to write against each other as opposed to with. This, I think, is due to two reasons:

1. Ego - players want to be at the center of plots, so they're constantly fighting to be the center of attention. This also leads to a lack of accommodation, which can cause a clash of style.
2. Minimal Communication - This is especially noticeable in T1 matches. Players who frequently communicate seem to have the best synergy. If you know where the plot is headed and have a good idea of everything that is going on, you can make your post better integrate with the plot.

I know many people pride themselves on their writing and look at roleplay as a sort of writing exercise. This is good and a sentiment that should be facilitated and supported by the community. The problem lies in the fact that most threads read like a broken mash-up of events that seem to make little or no sense.

How is it fixed?

I don't have a sure-fire way to address the problem presented above, but I do have a few tips that may help those that wish to improve their literary relationship with other writers.

My first recommendation is to obviously drop the ego and communicate with your partners more. This should come as no surprise given the fact that I mentioned both of this issues above.

My second recommendation is to agree on the flow of time between posts with your partner. My intention here is to address the several temporal paradoxes that seem to arise when players fail to take time into consideration. If you're not involved in competitive roleplaying, it is advisable to give each player a certain amount of "IC" time with which they can play. Their post should be focused on their character's actions, but it can also address certain things that your character is doing.

The final idea I wanted to share has to do with the distribution of responsibilities. What I mean by this is that, in any given thread, you'll often find that a certain player takes on the responsibility of painting the setting, while another might describe major non-player actions. I feel that, for the flow of the thread, that it's important to share these responsibilities. The first post should always set the scene, but there is always more that can be described. Additionally, players can take turns controlling NPCs so to optimize the flow of dialogue and action. This, in my opinion, will provide the largest increase in synergy.

Leave some comments and tell me what you think!