Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

[Kestrel]

Solution; present immediate goal in op.

[Herzinth]

Kestrel said
Solution; present immediate goal in op.

You find yourselves in a corridor with a giant stone ball rolling towards you. Please take this time before your demise to introduce yourselves.

[Brovo]

What. I don't think you understood me. Let me try again.

You just move forward and say hi along the way. That is all. You write a regular post to move the plot forward and somewhere in there add "oh and by the way my name is Jimmy Junior Senior San Sama." And that is all you need to do.

If the Rp is set up in such a way where it drags out intros otherwise and gives players no options for just moving forward, we have a term for that. Railroading. Choo choo mother!@#$er, you get no choices, you must move at the incredible terrible and entirely inorganic pacing set by the guy or gal running the show, who probably has complete shit tier writing.

[Jig]

Kestrel said
Solution; present immediate goal in op.

Again, this is the GM's purview, not the player's.

Brovo said What. I don't think you understood me. Let me try again.You just move forward and say hi along the way. That is all. You write a regular post to move the plot forward and somewhere in there add "oh and by the way my name is Jimmy Junior Senior San Sama." And that is all you need to do.

I understood. The above, I find, is frequently difficult to avoid because-

If the Rp is set up in such a way where it drags out intros otherwise and gives players no options for just moving forward, we have a term for that. Railroading. Choo choo mother!@#$er, you get no choices, you must move at the incredible terrible and entirely inorganic pacing set by the guy or gal running the show, who probably has complete shit tier writing.

- frequently you're bundled on-board the Nowhere Express. This is exactly the thing I'm bitching about and just didn't have the term for it.

[Kestrel]

Again, this is the GM's purview, not the player's.

I know. Herzinth's example sums it up quite nicely. You create an immediate goal for the players. Good luck just writing about your life from before your village was burned while running away from Aztec boobytraps.

[Dervish]

Best solution to the player introduction conundrum I've experienced was seriously a simple and surprisingly effective solution, which is all of the characters knew each other already and players could mention something that happened in their history (in-game references) that other player characters could fill in the blanks. For instance,

"Oh, Tom knows all about dangerous caves. He ran into a tiger's den when we were on an exhibition three years ago."

"Hey, you were the one urging us to get out of the rain!"

"Don't forget about the tribe of cannibals that were on our trail, either."

It doesn't have to be predetermined, it can just be spontaneous. You can be surprised by how easy it is to just go with the flow and get into the juicy stuff. Some of my favorite RP moments happened because of situations like that.

[Rilla]

I don't experience that too much honestly. my biggest issue in that vein, is telling people to get to X place to start, but they take forever.

partially my fault for not just starting them there. But still, they take their precious time.

In Allaria, I usually set it up so they know where to to go in their first/second posts.

[Brovo]

Rilla said
I don't experience that too much honestly. my biggest issue in that vein, is telling people to get to X place to start, but they take forever. partially my fault for not just starting them there. But still, they take their precious time. In Allaria, I usually set it up so they know where to to go in their first/second posts.

lol yeah. I have a solution for this too.

Situation A: Players move on their own based on things I describe because of their own motivations. They have spatial awareness, all is well.

Situation B: Players move on their own loosely based on things I describe because of their own motivations. They lack spatial awareness. Play the course correction game and carefully repair any time paradoxes they will inevitable create. (This is the most common.)

Situation C: Players aren't sure what to do but have spatial awareness. NPC tells them where to go.

Situation D: Players aren't sure what to do and lack spatial awareness. Give them a chance to prove me wrong with an NPC telling them where to go. Failing that, have the NPC lead the way to a visually clearer and more open area, and consider creating basic ELI5 maps to help them learn spatial awareness.

[SyrianHamster]

Rilla said
I don't experience that too much honestly. my biggest issue in that vein, is telling people to get to X place to start, but they take forever. partially my fault for not just starting them there. But still, they take their precious time. In Allaria, I usually set it up so they know where to to go in their first/second posts.

In my RP, I thought it a grand idea to start 20 players off in a dungeon - with the obvious aim of escaping into the wider sandbox world. A sort of semi-tutorial phase, if you will, that was supposed to be quickly skimmed over so that the RP could properly begin.

Well, about 30,000 words and ten frustrated drop outs later, we finally made it into day light.

Yup, from now on I'm throwing people into where they need to be at the start.

[vancexentan]

Trying to put guns/magic/other weapons that are completely different or game changing in a roleplay where everyone else is using basic melee or basic ranged weapons.

[Cuco]

Oh hai Vance.

I don't mind you venting on that topic, but let's just hope the newbie doesn't wander in here and get offended XD

I must say that in regards to people thumbing around without a heading, I more often than not see GMs that are content to pitch a fit about it but not do much to actually address the problem. They seem to think everyone ought to make their own little events inside a greater one. They give you a war, and then they complain when people indecisively mill about wondering what to do. Are they all supposed to invent a small battle to dick around in? When did they become responsible for getting things done in the RP? I like that most of the people here are confident enough to give people something more specific to do, because I really feel like going back in time and slapping the people I'm thinking of for just expecting everyone to get moving on their own.

Fyi, I happened to be amongst the few enterprising people that made their own fun in the example I'm thinking of. I still got pissed that the GM seemed to think it was everyone's fault but their own.

[AlienBastard]

It annoys the hell out of me how in a sci-fi NRP it seems that what space ship types a faction has evidently matters more than culture, history/historical connections, economics or ideology.

[Lotrix Molick]

AlienBastard said
It annoys the hell out of me how in a sci-fi NRP it seems that what space ship types a faction has evidently matters more than culture, history/historical connections, economics or ideology.

Agreed. The ships are a result of their culture. I like to have RPs where culture is either displayed or explained so I can maneuver within it.

For my bitching, I hate sci-fi colonization RPs that disallow players to develop an alien race also transitioning into colonization. Humans aren't the only race out there that may begin galactic colonization. (I view space colony RPs much like the game Deadlock)

[Lotrix Molick]

EDIT: It double-posted

[AlienBastard]

UnseenShade said
Agreed. The ships are a result of their culture. I like to have RPs where culture is either displayed or explained so I can maneuver within it.For my bitching, I hate sci-fi colonization RPs that disallow players to develop an alien race also transitioning into colonization. Humans aren't the only race out there that may begin galactic colonization. (I view space colony RPs much like the game Deadlock)

But there's a good reason to disallow such thing if the RP only takes place in a few star systems or just one- if one player had a alien race to themselves that had interstellar ability they'd be more powerful than everyone else since where everyone else has to be multiple factions of humans who only control a world or two a player with a alien that's interstellar gets to have entire star systems for themselves.

The solution I see is to make it so the alien race is one that is controlled by multiple players through multiple factions like the human colonists. However you practically never see this, instead it's almost always one player with a alien race that runs a whole species despite the RP not being space opera in scale.

Even when a similar alien exists I have seen players who make a second alien colonizing race that is similar to one that already exists. For instance in Final Frontier there were space elves who were a alien empire that has sent colonists to the world the RP takes place at. Yet a second player decides he wants interstellar matriarchal aliens too, the only difference being instead of space elves they're technicolor women. However both shared so similar a archetype I saw no reason why they couldn't just share a alien species instead of having two separate ones.

[Engel]

People who just stop responding to PMs, disappear or come online and still don't respond. I've even tried asking some of them why and rarely got a response. I find it very rude and annoying.

Also, how difficult it is for me to start any 1x1 RP at all on this site, even if I PM others.

[Lotrix Molick]

AlienBastard said
But there's a good reason to disallow such thing if the RP only takes place in a few star systems or just one- if one player had a alien race to themselves that had interstellar ability they'd be more powerful than everyone else since where everyone else has to be multiple factions of humans who only control a world or two a player with a alien that's interstellar gets to have entire star systems for themselves.The solution I see is to make it so the alien race is one that is controlled by multiple players through multiple factions like the human colonists. However you practically never see this, instead it's almost always one player with a alien race that runs a whole species despite the RP not being space opera in scale.Even when a similar alien exists I have seen players who make a second alien colonizing race that is similar to one that already exists. For instance in Final Frontier there were space elves who were a alien empire that has sent colonists to the world the RP takes place at. Yet a second player decides he wants interstellar matriarchal aliens too, the only difference being instead of space elves they're technicolor women. However both shared so similar a archetype I saw no reason why they couldn't just share a alien species instead of having two separate ones.

I would treat it like any colonization procedure. The aliens are fresh to colonizing and they are not likely to get help from their home world. I wouldn't make it some experienced empire as that would be unfair, but I would temper the new race by having them just as resource desperate and unlikely to receive reinforcements.

[vancexentan]

People who don't respond to a roleplay when even if it is as simple as them reflecting on what has happened, going to get a bite to eat, admiring what scenery there is around them, or whatever be it. Just SOMETHING to show activity.

[Jig]

vancexentan said
People who don't respond to a roleplay when even if it is as simple as them reflecting on what has happened, going to get a bite to eat, admiring what scenery there is around them, or whatever be it. Just SOMETHING to show activity.

Counter-B!tch:

when people post fluff posts for the sake of posting. A character reflecting on what has happened doesn't advance anything or help the plot out in any way.

Activity can be shown in the OoC more than adequately, and it's fine, in my book, to say "I have nothing to write atm".

[Kestrel]

For once I agree with Jig. Don't post garbage. Instead communicate.