Roleplayer Guild - Roleplay Forum

For those of you that have been constrained to forums for the entirety of your RPing career, I present to you a taste of something new.

Chat based Roleplay...

I'll break it down into sections.


1. Why is text based RP important?

The main aspect I wish to get at is that Chat based RP unlike it's forum based counter-part is instantanious and can move as qiuckly as one can type a response. Some may ask 'Why would you wish you use an IRC channel instead of forums?' The answer is simple, It gives you something to do while waiting for your Forum RPs to move ahead. Another good thing about chat based RPing is that it doesn't need as much detail as forum RPing and allows those who have little expierence RPing to jump in and start without any heavy storyline.

2. What does it mean?

We have an IRC channel for those of you who didn't know, Meaning we have a way to chat and communicate through instant transfer of thoughts and ideas. It gives us a chance to expand out Roleplaying knowledge and expand our sense of prowess.

3. What are it's uses?

Chat based Rping can be used to try out ideas befroe placing them in the interest check section. It gives you a chance to RP as a character WITHOUT constraining that character to a specific storyline. What does that mean exactly? It means your character is instantly flexiable and the backdrop can change in any way you wish. For example if your in an rp that is fighting with laser guns and ect, You can't have a person using lightning and fire from their palms; Though this is possible through text based RPing because you are not constrained to a storyline.

4. What other impact does it have?

By using the IRC channel in a chat based RP session you can experiment with different characters that you may not otherwise get a chance to exapnd on. For example; You might have a great idea for an awsome fire-blasting mage guy, The only problem is that all the RP's avaiblable right now are either filled up or they don't involve a fantasy setting. The IRC channel gives you a chance to expand on any character desired and see how they might react with others.

4.1 Extra: The box method
For those that have read this far, I offer some advice for veteran RPers to try. This is not my idea, So I do not claim credit for it.

Place two characters in a small room within yourm mind and lock them inside. The room has a table, a chair, a bed, a sink, and a bathroom. The sink and bathroom are within a second room off to the side. If you ever have ANY questions on how two characters might react to one another without prior knowledge of eachothers existance, Simply use the box method. Place both characters inside the box and let them roam, How do they react? I use this method whenever I desperately need a break from the old stoic faced characters that flood forum Roleplays. It also passes time.

5. Fighting

Speed fighting is also another topic that I want to hit on because it allows people to improve their typing speed and accuracy through a fun and competitive setting. Chat based fighting is usually carried out in a manner such as the ones described in the below link. If you have a question then ask it and I will reply with post-haste.

Roleplaying Combat Method

6. In closure

In closure I would just like to allow people to have a look at this kind of RP format. Some of the people here might have beenb involved with chat-based RPs before and others might not. If you have I encourage you to try it again even if you feel sick of it, If you haven't then I hope you will log onto the IRC channel sometime and explore it's wonderious setting.

Now that my rant is complete, Mingle and discuss.

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Chat-Based-RolePlay, What is it?
http://roleplayerguild.com/f5/speed-fighting-9775/

Speed Fighting, PM me if you want to fight over IRC instead of forum battle.
Rules:
http://rp.lagedorre.net/RCM/

My Poems, In the Gallery Section.
http://roleplayerguild.com/f17/poems-8203/#post258962

Oooh this is fresh and shiny! :3 I won't be participating in it however, I have slow and elaborate thought process, not to mention that I like limitations when fighting. But I do like this idea.

I've participated in my share of rps of this type, and it's good to blow some steam or for a quick-fix, but I'm a very modest person, and it's difficult for me to just say "um...Hey" *GOKU DOES KAMEHAMEHA* "..Yea, hey, buddy" *Keioken-ha!* "Yo, dude, I'm done."

"PWNT UR DED"

I'm not knockin' the style, just not my forte =X

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Add me on Facebook: Thomas Glynn Ashley. Brookhaven, Ms.

Chat RPs taught me to type faster than any typing class ever could.

Still, I prefer forum RPs. The writing is just so much better... Well, most of the time...

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If I disagree with you, it is because you are wrong.

Hmm, It seems so far we have a consensus leaning toward the Forum style. And I don't care whether or not you flame here, Because in all honesty I am seeking the truth from anyone that replies. If you think Chat Rping is something that should be done away with I want your honest opinion, And thank you for adding your replies, Every little bit helps.

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Chat-Based-RolePlay, What is it?
http://roleplayerguild.com/f5/speed-fighting-9775/

Speed Fighting, PM me if you want to fight over IRC instead of forum battle.
Rules:
http://rp.lagedorre.net/RCM/

My Poems, In the Gallery Section.
http://roleplayerguild.com/f17/poems-8203/#post258962

Izaka, you've got some of the basic premises down, but you're missing a crucial detail about chat based RP. Yes, often, chat based RP gaming is very loose, dimensional tavern style gaming where any character, no matter the genre, can come and interact. What you're missing is: that is not really the point of chat based RP. A good RP chat room will take the same storyline-form of a forum based RP, the dynamics are simply changed. The "uses", as you put it, are similar to what you have, but you're slightly off-center.

It's not simply a medium where you can test your character. It's a different format with its own strengths and weaknesses. Chat based RP gains ground where forum based RP loses ground; just as forum based gains where chat based loses. Forum based gaming is very useful for in-depth, detailed storytelling; epic, imagery dense battle sequences; and deep character development. Forum based gaming, however, is nearly useless for any kind of character conversation or fast paced, trading of blows action...as a character really only gets one line of dialogue plus however he's reacting to what was just said. Casual conversations are nearly impossible unless one line posts are allowed: "Hello, nice weather we're having." and the next character to respond, in a new post, with "Yes indeed, it's been lovely. Not like this in my homeland." (next post) "Really? It's too nice normally in the Duma Desert. Where do you hail from?" (Next post) "The Frigid Highlands...." (next post...etc)...this would really never happen for any typical casual conversation length of time in forum based gaming. Threads tend to hit 100 pages after two or three full conversations you see.

Chat based gaming, however, is perfect for conversations, especially between just two characters. With more characters, a turn order is usually established, just in case, so one character doesn't get drowned out in the furious typing skills of two or three others...but the benefits are obvious. Chat based is also better for faster paced, action oriented battling. The fast paced nature of it also allows for far less detailed storylines to begin a story without sacrificing the protential for the storyline to be revealed through the flow of the game. The problems with chat based gaming is that fine-detail goes out the window. Leaving aside the fact that most chat programs have word count limits, it takes forever to pound out a couple of detailed paragraphs of how your character is feeling, what the dust on top of the fireplace mantle is doing at the precise moment your character happens a glance, the flickering of the individual tongues of fire and how it relates to the dichotomy of good and evil that perpetuates the inner-struggle in your character's hardened-from-lost-love heart....you get the picture. To try something like what we do in advanced games on the forum would be ridiculous, and would get boring fast and would likely get a few of the players angry at you in a chat based RP, but it's expected (and people get angry if you don'tfollow those standards) in forum based.

You are touting chat based gaming as if it's a simple diversion...a fill in until the forum based games you are in pick up. I say, if you're into RPing, you should recognize chat based as simply another style of play, not a diversion. Some of the best, most in-depth (speaking of storyline, not post details) games I've ever played have been IRC based. Then again, some of the best dimensional-tavern games I've played have been forum based. The point is, you've outlined it as a way to test ideas before they get to the big time...the forum's "interest check"...and you've missed the idea entirely. They can be used for that, but use properly, they're as much of an RP as any of the forum games are. What you primarily play depends on both your general preferences and the mood you happen to be in at the time.

You are correct, though. Chat based gaming can be used to great effect for "...[giving] you something to do while waiting for your Forum RPs to move ahead"...and an always open dimensional tavern IRC room might be a good thing for RpG to have. I just didn't want chat based RP to be misconstrued as just useful for that.

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Sprite work courtesy of

Thanks for the input, If anyone else wishes to make their Idea's or thoughts known go ahead.

In the mean time, I would like to compare my thoughts with Magic's. Sure a Chat RP is fast paced and a different style, But it realy gives no chance for a good story line of any sort. I believe that Chat RP shouldn't be an organized thing; Rping on a chat site or IRC channel would need to be spontanous and without background of details. I agree with what you say about the pace of chat RPs, They go extremely quick. But another negative is that with the time Forum's give you to reply, One can usually sneak in their characters thoughts or mental ideas into the post. You can't do that in an RP that is occuring on a chat site. However on chat RP's such inner dialogue is usually uneccisary because most of the talking occurs in the fashion you described, By trading the words vocally. With Forum Rp's though Dialogue is never completely wasted, You can sometimes direct questions at multiple characters; This is something you simply can't do in a chat RP because without detail you don't have the time to type out the thoughts you wish to convey to each character.

In closing, I think that Magic is correct on many levels; Both Rping styles have their strengths and weaknesses in a sense and both can be overcome when you combine the RP styles. So, Why hasn't that been used in any Rp's yet. It would be a fascinating experiment, To try and mold both Forum and Chat Rp's together, Maybe using the forum's to describe actions while the Chat could be used to discuss dialogue and character developement. Another thought has occured; Perhaps by using the IRC channel one could potientally do away with some sections of an OOC or Interest Check thread. By ridding the need for lengthy posts on an OOC one could more easily discuss an RP's events. I guess what I am trying to say is an OOC is critical for character profiles and the like, Providing background information and discussing plot twists; But what about the chatter that floods OOC's with light twists. Like say when two people speed post on an OOC discussing a minor development on a character, Couldn't that be handled more effectively by the IRC channel?

A final thought for everyone, Maybe just leave it here as brain food... Phone-Based Rps.
Bizzare no? Well as strange as it may seem I have participated in a SINGLE Rp in this manner. Here's the concept, One person text's a bunch of their friends and get's them together for a collaborated Rp, Nothing different or groundbreaking there. But what the group doesn't know it that the Rp will be held on a phone text string. By using strings of text's and forwarding reply's a posting order is established and the Rp moves forward in the same fashion as any other Forum style RP. The pluses are that people are always available to post and the posting order is permenant. By using a forward system like so,

Patty -> Mark
Mark -> Bill
Bill -> Amy
Amy -> Patty

The only two people to know what has happened last in the story are the one who is forwarding and the one that's reading. Using this it is easy to build suspense. I may have adressed this but by combining the precision and detail of Forum Rping with the speed and take anywhere Chat-Style Rp ability of texting this kind of RP scheme might not be so far fetched for long.

I want some opinions on it, So get to mingling.

=-]

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Chat-Based-RolePlay, What is it?
http://roleplayerguild.com/f5/speed-fighting-9775/

Speed Fighting, PM me if you want to fight over IRC instead of forum battle.
Rules:
http://rp.lagedorre.net/RCM/

My Poems, In the Gallery Section.
http://roleplayerguild.com/f17/poems-8203/#post258962

There are those of us who do care if flaming happens -anywhere- so let's remember that when posting?

By the way, I think the options in the poll are rather biased, though barely. It's easier for us indifferent people to make decisions with other's words when they aren't so...eh.. I am not sure how to put it.

Anyway, I'll leave the discussion for those discussing it, now.

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Add me on Facebook: Thomas Glynn Ashley. Brookhaven, Ms.

I don't see any flames in here o.o;;; not even a cheap plastic lighter spark. But yeah, great idea, just not for me ^.^ Phone based rp's sounds expensive ;_; Reminds me of "passing the message" game where we pass on a message by whispering it to the next person. By the time it gets to Patty again, there may be gross inconsistencies with what she originally had in mind.

Look at the bolded part of the quote, Almond. It was a warning to those who might think they're allowed to flame here just because the thread-starter gave the "Ok".

The Guild has a zero-tolerance for flaming. We are a community of friends and peace. We can discuss things without flaming.

Moved to On-Topic.

__________________
Add me on Facebook: Thomas Glynn Ashley. Brookhaven, Ms.