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

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

I am impressed that @NuttsnBolts is not the only one who has issues with English. I have always been a writer, truly typing but I digress, yet I know nothing of how or why the English language works and what rules are used in it. Even the terminology eludes me, as I have no idea what a pronoun or vowel is, but as I am certain you can see I am not a total incompetent with the written word. It all stems directly from the fact I taught myself to read and write by observation, hence the strange cadence or bizarre punctuation and of course the wordiness of it all.

That said, @The Mage, I know the feeling of being stuck in a way of writing. And yes, I do in fact speak in this manner as well, which results in only more issue.

[Weird Tales]

why the fuck isn't there an MVP award on the guild?!

[tsukune]

Just a few babbles from me about different topics:

1. On Characters and Character Sheets
When writing a CS, for me I actually hate doing the appearance section the most - whether using gorgeous face claims or superb illustrations and then further beautifying the character with the power of language, and maybe plaster a couple of tattoos and piercings somewhere... I would prefer to place more emphasis on the personality aspect of the character, which in my opinion is the most important part that define who your character is. The personality can reflect the way they dress, what they have been through in their past history... and decisions they will make whether in the IC or even in their backstory. One of my English teacher had said this: the personality is the core to any character, that makes them an unique individual in the world they are in and relatable to the audience/readers. I will also admit that the personality section is probably the hardest to write in a CS (again, at least to me; you're free to disagree with me but no need to start a drama here just to convince me otherwise by force and keep your sour opinions to yourself, thank you very much).

2. On English Language
If a native English speaker like @NuttsnBolts said that he had issues with English, then what about non-natives like me? Especially so when my first language, Chinese, is a completely different language system altogether from English, and anyone who tries to learn my mother tongue will also understand that the rules and "grammar" in Chinese is as complicated as English. Similar to @The Harbinger of Ferocity, I learned English through self-taught methods like reading books from a wide array of genres and observation, asking questions and getting advices from the native English speakers (and I was once crazy enough to actually read the dictionary like a storybook - don't ask XD).

[The Mage]

Just got back on without comp troubles

anyways, thanks @The Harbinger of Ferocity,@NuttsnBolts(btw thank you for being a Tau fan :D), and @Pair of Hearts, That's helped me a bit. I just didn't feel on par due to factors that really shouldn't play into it. As for me opening a roleplay with my roleplaying friends,that's kind of hard. I only roleplay with 2 people,and one of them hasn't been on for over a month. And it's extremely hard to find people to roleplay with that I can get along with. I will attempt to find some more, I'm sure there are some that are into Medieval Fantasy/Sci-Fi roleplays.

[Pair of Hearts]

@tsukune
You read the dictionary like a storybook? And your first language is Chinese? Why, hellooo, brethren!

Nothing more soothing sometimes to know you're expanding the teaspoon-sized vocabulary, right? (And for non-native English writers like us, we will always wonder if our vocab is enough; it rarely feels like it is. Darn critical Asian eyes and mind!)

I spoke Cantonese first, and while it's a dialect, it actually has its own grammar at times. Compare 嫉妒 qnd 妒忌 for example - both mean "envy", but the former is jì dù and the latter is dù jì (Cantonese, read in Mandarin). Back in my hometown, and for some Hong Kong folks, we call English "chicken intestines". Go figure how much the older community like this language.

And I think backstory can be a close runner-up to that difficulty for a CS. Look at all these edgelords populating the site! //mobbed

[Bee]

@Pair of Hearts You speak Cantonese too? MY HOMIES.

Backstory's a bitch to do so I rarely require it for my RPs, even though I looove reading them and making them.

[tsukune]

@Pair of Hearts@QueenOfTheBee

ASIAN HOMIES UNITE YEAH XD

I used to do crazy stuff like that when I was a kid with too much free time to spare (and even marathoned all the Harry Potter books in one day).

I once felt critical of myself when I saw how native English speakers have such colorful vocab (both good and bad, haha), but now I'm not overly harsh on myself anymore. I mean, it depends on what you're writing, and using the vocabs appropriately is more important than showing off your vocab bank.

(Lately I've been experimenting other writing styles, such as light novels which emphasize the use of simple everyday language instead, and six-word stories.)

I can understand Cantonese, but can't speak well enough to save my life (aka really broken Cantonese lol). I'm better with Min/Hokkien (the dialect spoken in the Fujian area of China and Taiwan).

Backstory can be hard, especially when you don't have a good grasp of your character's personality and personal traits. ^^; Not sure about others, but I feel that a story begins from the character, then the character's quest, and later the obstacles to create events to use as plot. For character, it starts from their personality, to their personal traits (such as appearance) and qualities, then their backstory and whatnot.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

I feel as though I am horribly out of place then here. The only language I officially know, if one can even call that knowledge that, is the aforementioned English, but I am able to work some of the intricacies of the feline dialects. At least being able to not only read cats small and large, but predict them while getting them to "converse". Surprisingly useful, as while you get a lot of strange looks when you chuff like a tiger and the other tigers respond, you are the one to reap the reward when they actually approach close enough to touch without irritating them. A debatably practical talent, I admit... certainly not for novices either. Being mauled or eaten has a way of ruining the whole experience.

Digressing from that, I do need admit that one thing I have encountered several times over in our roleplaying community here in rapid succession as of late was the outright vanishing of several different, unassociated roleplayers with no obvious reason. Several stories all ground to an absolute halt and now I repeat the cycle of hunting down new stories that I would mesh well with.

[tanderbolt]

@tsukune If you want some authors that do minimalism well, try looking into people like Raymond Carver, Cormac McCarthy and Charles Bukowksi. Hemmingway's famous for writing that way, but he owes much of his style to working as a journalist and studying under Gertrude Stein. Minimalist prose has also really shaped certain genres like noir (eg David Goodis and Jim Thompson) and science fiction (eg Frederic Brown and Kurt Vonnegut)

[tsukune]

@tanderbolt I'm inspired to write six-word stories because of Hemmingway. It's actually really fun, to be able to write a quirky story with only so little words (I've been having fun to write a Harry Potter fan fiction using this style). I used to do flash fictions in Chinese, and maybe I should give it a try again, but this time in English.

Really appreciate your suggestions - I'm adding them to my reading list. :D

@The Harbinger of Ferocity Aw. Please don't feel that way - it's good that you have a much stronger grasp of the English language than I do (at least, this is how I feel whenever I read your writing). Even if I can understand a multitude of languages... well, as the saying goes: "Jack of all trades, but a master of none". ^^;

Coming back to what this thread is supposedly meant for...

Less about others, but more to myself. Seriously, slang is the hardest part to understand in any language. Worse when I can't tell that my character's dialogue sounds horribly awkward and I have to ask the natives to point them out to me. XD
One way I curb this is to actually read what I've written out aloud to feel whether it sounds weird, but ultimately English is not my native tongue, so there are times when something sounds perfectly fine to me is actually funny and wrong to the natives.

[vancexentan]

As a GM I hate it when players never even TRY to interact with other characters forcing me to throw people into each other or make NPC's do things when they should just be chilling out. For god sakes you can do something you're not railed roaded onto things all the time especially when it's down time in roleplay. If you have issues coming up with ideas ask other roleplays or ask the GM.

[HeySeuss]

I just dislike negative people, especially in RP's. It's urine in the wine when you're collaborating and brainstorming to have someone complain constantly.

[NuttsnBolts]

I just dislike negative people, especially in RP's. It's urine in the wine when you're collaborating and brainstorming to have someone complain constantly.

@HeySeuss

Maybe some people just like to get... Pissed. ;D

[Jig]

but ultimately English is not my native tongue

@tsukune

I'd never have noticed, so, as somebody who is trying to achieve fluency in a couple of extra non-English languages (French, German, and Dutch), I'm frankly jealous of your proficiency. :P

That said, most people here are, I think, American, who certainly speak at least a variant of English with different colloquialisms and slang to British English so it typically doesn't help British English speakers either. Consequently, for American settings I tend to find some excuse to play an immigrant (so I don't have to worry about my character using American English) or, in my games (which I would typically set in the UK for my own ease), try to find some convoluted way to enable people to play characters of their own nationality so that no American accidentally tries to play a Brit and refers to a sidewalk, cookies, (non-under)pants without realising. That thing would really piss me off. Nothing against the players that would make those mistakes, but I think it really shatters at least my suspension of disbelief, so I try to find a way around it. This is normally so convoluted as to be restrictive or at the very least left-field - but is better than the alternative.

[Pfroggy1]

My major role play annoyance is when people just ditch you after you make the first post. I HATE IT! It's like we put all this effort into planning and talking that I like you enough as a partner, we then sit down and start the sucker and what do I get. They leave. For the love of God, have the metaphoric (or literal) balls to tell me you don't wanna RP anymore.

The other thing that makes me mad is characters that aren't believable. Sure I don't care if it's a little off, but don't make it painfully off if we are RPing something historical. My favorite story is someone I once RPed with tried to have a Greek goddess read a Mark Twain book. Then I also had someone make a Chinese charcter who didn't have a Chinese name nor have any Chinese features (this RP was like Marco Polo traveling to the East and she was a charcter from the East). Simple accuracy matters to me. It's all I ask.

[vancexentan]

I hate it when a roleplay just starts and everyone specializes in the same general area in a roleplay that has the possibility to be diverse. (I.e too many healers, fighters, bards, etc.)

[NuttsnBolts]

I hate it when a roleplay just starts and everyone specializes in the same general area in a roleplay that has the possibility to be diverse. (I.e too many healers, fighters, bards, etc.)

@vancexentan

It always seems to be an issue when given a choice. I've noticed it a few times and people seem to gravitate towards a certain class, species, genre, etc. I think this needs to be always in the back of the mind and if the GM wants to limit slots, than he or she should.

Another way to get around this could be crossing classes over. Don't have a great example but it might be enough to break that general mould.

[VKAllen]

I hate it when a roleplay just starts and everyone specializes in the same general area in a roleplay that has the possibility to be diverse. (I.e too many healers, fighters, bards, etc.)

@vancexentan

<Snipped quote by vancexentan>

It always seems to be an issue when given a choice. I've noticed it a few times and people seem to gravitate towards a certain class, species, genre, etc. I think this needs to be always in the back of the mind and if the GM wants to limit slots, than he or she should.

Another way to get around this could be crossing classes over. Don't have a great example but it might be enough to break that general mould.

@NuttsnBolts

What do you mean? I wanna 360 no scope somebody!

Or I want to compromise myself with a giant badass rifle!

[NuttsnBolts]

<Snipped quote by vancexentan>

<Snipped quote by NuttsnBolts>

What do you mean? I wanna 360 no scope somebody!

Or I want to compromise myself with a giant badass rifle!

@VKAllen

Not everyonecan be a level 72 Salvador Gunzerker with twin Norfleets. ;)

[The Elvenqueen]

When people just stop posting without telling you why. Especially if it's because they're stuck or they don't have enough to work off of from your last post.

For the love of Christ, if that's the reason then just TELL ME that and I can make edits to try and help you, don't just flake on me with no warning when the rest of the RP has been great and rather enjoyable -_-