Hi all!

I'm just starting my first rp, it's going to be quite action based, with lots of traps and combat, so my question is, in your experience, is it better to have a posting order or a free for all. I worry that without a posting order some characters may be quickly left behind, or action scenes will lack coherency due to somewhat random interjections, or characters being completely in active in them (which would be out of character). However if there is a posting order, due to different time zones and availability to write the rp may slow to halt and lose any adrenaline as it could be as long or longer than two days between characters actions and responses to, and would become boring!

I'd love to here any advice from more experienced RPers as to how you've tackled situations like these!

There is a GM that I like who has a rule were there needs to be 'X' number of posts after you have posted before you post again. That might work.

Here's how I see it.

Instead of a strict posting order, you should just encourage players to wait for everyone else their character is interacting with before posting themselves. If you're in a group with three other characters, then wait for those three before moving on, as opposed to just jumping in again after only just one.

The problem with a thread-wide posting order, though, is that when not all your characters are in the same place, it creates needless stalling. Take the example I brought up above, except there are four more characters in the roleplay, in another area. If you impose a strict posting order, then RPers in group A are waiting for posts from those in group B despite the fact that they shouldn't have to depend on group B's posts at all. In the worst case scenario, let's say that the posting order just so happened to line up so that everyone in group B had to post before group A could continue. That means group A has to completely halt its activity while it waits for everyone in group B, and vice versa, stopping them from running at a good speed by letting them both move at once.

Not to mention, with a strict posting order, everyone is completely held up if one person leaves, causing the entire RP to halt while the GM figures out a solution - as opposed to the alternative of just letting a few people get held up, while the rest of the RP moves. The few who did get stuck can get caught up and meet up with the other players later without too much effort - it's better than letting the whole RP freeze and forcing people to wait for the solution to the drop-out of a character that they had nothing to do with, in my opinion.

In short, strict posting orders are best avoided. In fact, in most RP's, I place a rule telling RPers not to wait for players they're not doing anything with, because it just slows things down and holds people up. It's much better to just encourage players to use common sense and wait for the people they actually need to wait for, and no one else.

I agree with Kaga, a strict posting order can slow RPs down. In my opinion, it can sometimes be the death of a RP.

I was once a part of roleplay that handed players numbers. Number one would post first followed by two then three then so on and so forth, but somewhere down the road one of the players vanished and we had to pause the RP for a few weeks while the GM looked for a replacement. It was definitely a motivation killer, but that wasn't the only problem. We could never post when we felt like we wanted to or when we were free to do so because we had to wait for our turn. It was a problematic because sometimes we'd be free when it wasn't our turn but busy when it finally was,

A looser posting order tends to do just fine, and it makes the RP move at a quicker pace.

I prefer it when GMs create posting cycles.

Example: Post once every 2-4 days.

The GM's post is the start of a new cycle, the players post after the GM and if all of them gets a post in before 4 days the GM posts again, if not then the GM waits for the four day mark and posts again whether everyone else has posted or not. That way people need to be active or left behind, but it isn't chaotic and gives everyone time as well. If the GM feels like things have been too fast they can opt to wait a few days before starting another cycle. It's kind of like an order, but people are free to post anytime between the given amount of time.

I go by: "Just post once a week" No posting order, you have your time frame, you miss it, you miss it. You miss it twice, you're out. No ifs, ands, or buts, unless you've come to me and explained your situation.

Kaga said
Instead of a strict posting order, you should just encourage players to wait for everyone else their character is interacting with before posting themselves. If you're in a group with three other characters, then wait for those three before moving on, as opposed to just jumping in again after only just one.

This is my preferred system, but it depends on everyone respecting the others they're interacting with. If one rude person steps out of order, without consulting others or giving them a reasonable time period in which to post, the whole system collapses. That's not really fun.

Thanks for all the input guys, it's not only helped me decide to not have a strict posting order, but also helped me realise splitting the group into smaller parties would probably be a good idea!

Captain Jordan said
This is my preferred system, but it depends on everyone respecting the others they're interacting with. If one rude person steps out of order, without consulting others or giving them a reasonable time period in which to post, the whole system collapses. That's not really fun.

Every system has flaws. If you get that one problem player, then you just have to talk to them about it. As the GM, they kind of have to listen to you, or else you have every right to toss them out of the RP. In my experience, anyone who cares about staying generally listens to the GM.

racoonman said
Thanks for all the input guys, it's not only helped me decide to not have a strict posting order, but also helped me realise splitting the group into smaller parties would probably be a good idea!

Ah yes, that too. If you don't have a strict posting order, then large groups are confusing - people suddenly aren't sure who they're supposed to be waiting on, and people can think they're waiting on someone who is actually waiting on them, and the whole thing freezes up. Such is the biggest weakness (I think) of not having a strict posting order. Not to mention, this can also lead to players not having any ideas as to where to go next plot-wise, so yeah. Smaller groups are better. Mix and match who's in what group from time to time, sure, but don't let a large party stay large for very long.

Joegreenbeen said
There is a GM that I like who has a rule were there needs to be 'X' number of posts after you have posted before you post again. That might work.

This or having a rule where every person can post once per round, and each round is defined by a new post from the GM, works.

While I'm inexperienced with GMing, as an RPer I think it depends on the people you're playing with. Some players have a fantastic sense of appropriate timing for their posts, and you can let them have free reign as you know they're both dedicated enough to the RP, and intelligent enough in their decisions of when it's appropriate to post, that they'll manage themselves well. Much of the time, however, there will be at least one or two players who are either too lazy to post without getting a kick up the arse from their GM, or who post every second response in the IC, when there's nothing new to actually say or do. When that happens, you're better off introducing one of the systems above.

Double-post.

There is no doubt that free-posting should be controlled, but a posting order? Interactions should be more like a mix between suggestions and statements in a GM controlled environment, so the 'action' is the role of the RPers and the 'reaction' is the role of the GM.