Post by Anna on Jun 16, 2009 22:33:35 GMT -6
One cool thing about forum based RPs and having each scenario be it's own subforum is that you don't have to limit how many topics you've got going at one time.
Kris and I have been trying to think of a way to have the best of both worlds: time for all members to participate and respond to the RP, but also allowing members to post as often as they like. Some groups, as mentioned before, use a posting order. The benefit is that all participants in a particular group of characters interacting together have a chance to post, in order. The drawback: one person who only responds once a week can bring that group of players to a screeching halt. It can take two weeks just to say 'Hi!' to a handful of characters.
I'm too impatient to be completely happy with that option.
At heart, Kris and I are writers, not RPs, and when we get our teeth into a story, we want to keep going.
However, I HAVE noticed - and heeded! - some comments about being behind, catching up, and things along that line. Clearly, we're moving things too fast. Moving to fast is just as frustrating and off-putting as moving too slow. So we need something that'll make us all happy.
And that's where the cool thing about forum based RPs presents a solution.
The core thread, the one that contains the central story arc and progresses the story forward, will be the stickied thread at the top of the current RP's forum. That's where the main action will take place, where all characters can, and should, react to the major events of the plot.
However! Interactions between just a couple of characters, or a smaller group, that aren't central to the story, or part of the general story arc, can take place in a separate thread. Everyone should be able to start their own threads in these forums. So if Lightgaze and Redthorn want to step aside and gossip about the three strange elves, they can start their own thread and do that, and it won't have the main, central story arc shooting ahead like a runaway horse, leaving another member who can only sign on every few days in the dust and way behind.
These tangential topics should be have a subject of the characters that are involved. Other characters, unless made clear in the posts, could easily pop in and participate - but the tangential threads won't have an impact on the central storyline, so members who are trying to catch up won't need to read, and won't be expected to respond, to those topics.
Future RPs will be arranged so that events that move the story forward will be posted at regular intervals - the same day, each week, so everyone knows when to expect a something new and everyone has ample time to respond to the new development.
Kris and I really, really hope that this will prove to be a happy solution for everyone: the fast posters and the ones who take a few days. We want everyone to have fun, but we understand that everyone has different priorities and schedules.
But, this is trial and error! If these ideas prove to be problematic or unsuccessful, we'll continue looking at ideas that may suit us better!
We're going to implement the tangential topics almost immediately, though. Feel free to start your own tangential if you want to.
Kris and I have been trying to think of a way to have the best of both worlds: time for all members to participate and respond to the RP, but also allowing members to post as often as they like. Some groups, as mentioned before, use a posting order. The benefit is that all participants in a particular group of characters interacting together have a chance to post, in order. The drawback: one person who only responds once a week can bring that group of players to a screeching halt. It can take two weeks just to say 'Hi!' to a handful of characters.
I'm too impatient to be completely happy with that option.
At heart, Kris and I are writers, not RPs, and when we get our teeth into a story, we want to keep going. However, I HAVE noticed - and heeded! - some comments about being behind, catching up, and things along that line. Clearly, we're moving things too fast. Moving to fast is just as frustrating and off-putting as moving too slow. So we need something that'll make us all happy.
And that's where the cool thing about forum based RPs presents a solution.
The core thread, the one that contains the central story arc and progresses the story forward, will be the stickied thread at the top of the current RP's forum. That's where the main action will take place, where all characters can, and should, react to the major events of the plot.
However! Interactions between just a couple of characters, or a smaller group, that aren't central to the story, or part of the general story arc, can take place in a separate thread. Everyone should be able to start their own threads in these forums. So if Lightgaze and Redthorn want to step aside and gossip about the three strange elves, they can start their own thread and do that, and it won't have the main, central story arc shooting ahead like a runaway horse, leaving another member who can only sign on every few days in the dust and way behind.
These tangential topics should be have a subject of the characters that are involved. Other characters, unless made clear in the posts, could easily pop in and participate - but the tangential threads won't have an impact on the central storyline, so members who are trying to catch up won't need to read, and won't be expected to respond, to those topics.
Future RPs will be arranged so that events that move the story forward will be posted at regular intervals - the same day, each week, so everyone knows when to expect a something new and everyone has ample time to respond to the new development.
Kris and I really, really hope that this will prove to be a happy solution for everyone: the fast posters and the ones who take a few days. We want everyone to have fun, but we understand that everyone has different priorities and schedules.
But, this is trial and error! If these ideas prove to be problematic or unsuccessful, we'll continue looking at ideas that may suit us better!
We're going to implement the tangential topics almost immediately, though. Feel free to start your own tangential if you want to.