I've been thinking of this topic for a little bit, now. I know this topic has been discussed before, but it's been a while and I'm hoping other, more experienced writers and Role-players might provide some input.

Since this is RPing and not writing a novel, the decision to do either may be difficult or even unknown.

When should you show?
When should you tell?
Which do you prefer to read?
In which areas of RPing do you prefer to see either/both?
Do you have any examples of really great/impactful "Showings"/"Tellings"?
Is it appropriate to switch from one into the other? When?
etc.

>When should you show?

I tend to show during the important bits of the prose, where it matters. Everything that you put down on the page has to have a purpose, and when you're showing all those details and pointing fingers at something, that's when you want to produce a profound effect on your readers.

>When should you tell?

I tell when I need something abridged and skimmed over. There are plenty of people who'd keep chanting 'show, not tell' as if it's a universal law, but they're just being sheeps chanting 'two legs good, four legs baaaaad'. Telling has just as much use in the prose. There is no point in pumping so much detail into a story and bloating it up when not everything is essential. The other method is total omission, but if you use it too often, it's going to destroy the pacing of a story and make it hollow.

>Which do you prefer to read?

Both. I want a prose that has found a harmony between the two.

>In which areas of RPing do you prefer to see either/both?

Ideally, a harmony achieved between show and tell should be everywhere.

>Do you have any examples of really great/impactful "Showings"/"Tellings"?

I'm sure you can handle finding examples of this.

>Is it appropriate to switch from one into the other? When?

Urm... Yes? You switch from show to tell when you've gotten the impactful moment out of the way - impactful moments can be things such as a revelation, a fight between protagonist and antagonist, an encounter with the primary antagonist, uncovering a clue... You switch from tell to show when you've fast-forwarded past low-impact moments - low-impact moments referring to parts of a journey where nothing much happens, of a few days passing with little incident.