Present:
AelKennyr Rhiano
Belenos (belenosstormchaser.magic)
Shawn Daysleeper
Lihan Taifun
Rhûn Darkmoon (zu.dragoone)
Rajani (rajani.milton)
Leo (leonardo.rainfall)
Summary:
Entering and leaving a group roleplay:
If you need to leave, generally you would make an Out-Of-Character comment to the group, something along the lines of: ((Sorry, rl is calling. I have to go.)) You would make a similar OOC comment if you have a temporary interruption, like a phone call.
Generally, if someone crashes, the remaining players continue on, if that is possible in the scene. If the crashed player is important to the action, everyone may have to wait to see whether that person returns, and if they don't get back online, reschedule the scene.
Players may make other arrangements: “if I crash, say that my character ....”. You would only say something about what an absent character is doing if the character's player had made specific arrangements in advance.
Likewise, if you are joining a roleplay, always either ask Out-of-Character or IM one of the players. This is polite.
- •:||:• -
Timing – when is it your turn to post next – is an important issue, and gets more difficult the more players are in the scene. The group's style (one-line posts vs. paragraphs) makes a difference in how timing is handled.
With one-line style, the posts in a large group can come in very quickly and chaotically. There is a danger that slower posters (whether because of slow computer, slow internet, slow typing, or non-native speakers of the language) will be left behind.
Good group dynamics and good roleplay manners help to insure that everyone has a chance to post. Groups may develop guidelines relating to the order of posting. Some examples of guidelines:
1. Everyone who walks into the rp is allowed to identify themselves with a greetings upon arrival.
2. Anyone directly spoken to by one rp er is allowed to answer before anyone else posts.
3. Creation of a round robin rp...In which each rper is allowed one post in an agreed upon order...perhaps clockwise around a room, for example.
The details would depend on the specific group, and what works for them.
We tried a sample of one-line, free-for-all roleplay.
We found it fast-paced and confusing. Several conversations were happening at once, and it was difficult to remember who was talking to whom. People frequently "missed" a chance to respond to something, and sometimes didn't notice important pieces of the action.
The sample was less chaotic than it might have been. Everyone was an experienced good roleplayer. Many of the post were longer than "one-liners", though much shorter than the paragraphs we usually do. We included a lot of body language, and generally gave the other players things to respond to.
The conversations started out in small groups (in this case mostly pairs), and then people began to respond to other people who had interacted with them. This is typical of ordinary human social interactions. A crowded room will break up into smaller conversational groups. You won't reply to everything that is said in the room. In general, it is hard to interact with more than two people at once. Don't try to respond to everything that is being said in the roleplay.
Some well-mannered people in the group deliberately waited for other people to respond to what they had posted. Some others were limited, not by how fast we could type but by how fast we could read what everyone else was posting. At least we were reading what had been posted, which is more courteous than going off in one's own direction regardless of everyone else.
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok...so we were going to talk tonight about rping as a group.
Lihan Taifun: yes
Shawn Daysleeper: ok
Belenos: that will be useful
AelKennyr Rhiano: And we will start with the discussion talking about in real time. May I ask for from feedback from each of you about what you may want to discuss tonight in specific?
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Timing, I think.'
AelKennyr Rhiano nods
Shawn Daysleeper: timing is a good place to start
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'As in, when do you know when you should next post.'
Lihan Taifun: That is an important issue
AelKennyr Rhiano: It is.
Belenos: i agree
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok...well, let's look at that. It is very important, and somewhat tricky. The more people, the more complicated it can get.
Lihan Taifun: maybe something about how to join and leave, if not everyone is one the same schedule -- ooops
AelKennyr Rhiano nods...That is important, too.
Shawn Daysleeper: nods
AelKennyr Rhiano: In general, when someone has to leave a rp...say they have to go to rl...they usually will make an OOC comment...
((Sorry, rl is calling. I have to go.))
Like that. Or if they have to answer the door, or the phone, or let their pushy pooches out...they will tell everyone OOCly
Belenos grins
Shawn Daysleeper: yes
Lihan Taifun: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: In general, if someone crashes, then everyone plays on, and IC, no remarks are made about their sudden departure, unless all were in agreement to do so before hand.
For example....let's say we are all rping together, and Lihan is aware that there is a bad storm that may knock out her internet connection, so she warns us all. We may agree that should that happen, and she not come back within a specified amount of time, we will explain her absence in the rp IC with some agreed upon explanation.
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'That would make sense.'
Lihan Taifun: so there might be a contingency plan
AelKennyr Rhiano: Yes. But notice that you never do that to another character without their permission.
Lihan Taifun: right
Shawn Daysleeper: right
AelKennyr Rhiano: Now, say like with Shawn and I...we have rped together a long time. We can actually give each other permission to do that. And that is fine. But we would never do it without the other's permission.
Shawn Daysleeper: nods
Lihan Taifun: if we lost a critical player -- the dragon in the middle of the attack -- we might have to wait, or reschedule
Belenos: so it's all about communicating OOC.. either about expected issues beforehand, or an issue that arises immediately
AelKennyr Rhiano nods. And yes,you are right, Lihan. In that case, we would pause the rp and see if Belenos came back. And communication is vital in rping in groups.
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'That is the impression I have gotten when I observe them.'
Shawn Daysleeper: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: With regards to "timing"....communication is critical. Now, there the difference between those who do one-liners and those who do text-based rp really stands out. The group rp is those who do one-liners has a very fast, sometimes frantic pace.
Belenos: and the faster typers can literally hijack a scene
AelKennyr Rhiano: And do, at times.
Lihan Taifun: and it is often confusing, because of chat lag
AelKennyr Rhiano: How many of you have been in that kind of rp?
{Rajani arrives. Greetings}
Belenos: i have
Shawn Daysleeper: I have
Rajani: what kind of RP?
Lihan Taifun: I have
AelKennyr Rhiano: one-liner rp, Rajani.
Rajani: hmm, like one line back and forth as if you're in a chat like this?
AelKennyr Rhiano: yes, more or less.
Rajani: I've done that once or twice
AelKennyr Rhiano: In that kind of setting, the group dynamics is very important. Because otherwise, you can sit there most of the rp and never get to type a thing.
Belenos: i've actually spoken to a rper i was with once in im asking him to please wait for my replies. he had rocket fingers when it came to typing
Shawn Daysleeper: ugh, I do not type very fast and have to read the lines carefully sometimes before I respond
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'And that has to be allowed for.' 'Even in casual conversation like now.'.. smiles
AelKennyr Rhiano nods. This is where employing rp manners is very important.
{Leo arrives. Greetings.}
Rajani: nodnod
AelKennyr Rhiano: A lot of group will create some guidelines to follow ... let me give you some common ones?
Shawn Daysleeper: ok :)
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'yes please.'
AelKennyr Rhiano: 1. Everyone who walks into the rp is allowed to identify themselves with a greetings upon arrival.
2. Anyone directly spoken to by one rp er is allowed to answer before anyone else posts.
3. Creation of a round robin rp...In which each rper is allowed one post in an agreed upon order...perhaps clockwise around a room, for example.
4. Order? We don't need no stinking order...Good luck! Free for all!! :P
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'I suppose it all depends on what is agreed upon between all the players beforehand?'
AelKennyr Rhiano: And very much upon what they are used to doing in that rp. Shawn and I have been together in a rp where...omg...we could not get in a word, and our characters were central to the rp.
Belenos: really?
Shawn Daysleeper: I don't like choice 4 hehe
AelKennyr Rhiano nods. It was frustrating.
Shawn Daysleeper: ya I remember that rp
Leo gets frustrated just thinkin about it
Rajani: wow
AelKennyr Rhiano: Now...recently, Belenos, Rajani, and I were rping, and someone dropped in out of the blue.
Rajani: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: Immediately the person started rping with us, without any warning or greeting.
Leo: Was it a noob?
Belenos: nope
AelKennyr Rhiano: In a group...if you want to join into the rp, you should ALWAYS either im someone in the rp or ask OOC if you can join.
Lihan Taifun: but is that common on that sim? what are the local conventions?
AelKennyr Rhiano: Oh, no, I talked with her. She knew she was being rude.
Lihan Taifun: oh my
Belenos: my sims are NOT official RP sims at all Lihan. some people may choose to RP between themselves and that's fine....
AelKennyr Rhiano: It is a matter of general curtesy to ask someone before you just join in.
Belenos: and that person knew it too.. and admitted to Ael later she knew she was being rude..
AelKennyr Rhiano: Now, we have had people show up in Alqualonde, be noobs to the rp, and if I know them, and know they really didn't know better, and we can rp with them, I don't mind.
Lihan Taifun shakes her head
AelKennyr Rhiano: She told me it had been a week since she had last rped, and she knew she should ask, but she thought if she barged in, she might get lucky.
Shawn Daysleeper: ya but it is not a new idea how to be courteous
AelKennyr Rhiano: THEN she informed me that she could not be bothered to fill out a rp application, although she wanted to rp, and yes, she saw teh blog, but didn't really want to take time to read it.
Belenos: see, again it is the common flaw with many rp'ers.. the need for instant gratification and attention regardless of storyline or others
AelKennyr Rhiano: "Thank you for your interest...move along."
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'Exactly.'
AelKennyr Rhiano: Group rp works best when everyone is respectful of each other.
Lihan Taifun: I guess that tells us everything we need to know about her application
AelKennyr Rhiano: her "non" application.
Lihan Taifun: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: Let's do an exercise.
Belenos: this should be interesting.. :)
Shawn Daysleeper: hehe
AelKennyr Rhiano: We are all at the drunken swan. You can be whatever rp character you want. Let's try one-liner rp. And Leo can start :)
Belenos grins
Rajani: hee
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Poor Leo.'
Rajani: do we say who we are? ((ooops))
AelKennyr Rhiano: Up to you.
Rajani: ((ok))
AelKennyr Rhiano: Probably would be kinda helpful.
Rajani: clockwise or counterclockwise?
AelKennyr Rhiano: heh heh...ahhh...but we didn't make any agreements on that, did we?
Belenos: I was just going to ask that.. are we going to do it politely or the who needs any rules bit?
AelKennyr Rhiano: opps...brb...pardon...puppy puking...
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Uh oh.'
Shawn Daysleeper: lol
Lihan Taifun: or random *grins wickedly* 'cause I can type fast
Belenos: lol; i was rp'ing once trying to give tiger codliver oil for hairballs.. the only reason I succeeded is that i could type faster.. :D
Rhûn Darkmoon grins
Lihan Taifun: eeeep
Belenos: hehehe... hey.. she deserved it; she kept doing these 'coughcoughbullshitcoughcough' comments.. *grins* so I said she had hairballs and needed some codliver oil.
Lihan Taifun: you really wouldn't want that tiger coughing up hairballs all over the sim
Belenos: oh trust me.. it fixed the coughing.. :D
Rhûn Darkmoon grins, 'So just how much of that stuff did you get down it's throat?'
Belenos: oh... i'd say about half a bottle?
Rajani: hee -- wait are we rping now or just waiting on Ael?
Belenos: I'd say waiting for Ael... and Leo who seems to have gone afk without mentioning it... *throws a stick at him*
Lihan Taifun: I thought we were waiting
{Conversation goes even more off topic while waiting}
{Ael comes back. Greetings again.}
Lihan Taifun: another question -- are we being Tolkien RP characters, or anyone?
Rajani: yes good question
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok..are we ready?
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'So the rules of it are?'
AelKennyr Rhiano: none
Rajani: oh dear, now I'm nervous
elenos (belenosstormchaser.magic): so we are at the drunken swan, one liners and we start with Leo.. ?
AelKennyr Rhiano: yep
Rhûn Darkmoon grins, 'Ok'
Leo is catching up real quick
Belenos: we are doing an exercise in one line RP. ... no rules.. setting as I stated above.. and you start..
Leo: A one line at the bar as my Balrog? oh boy...
AelKennyr Rhiano: nope
Rajani: hee
Belenos: no no no
AelKennyr Rhiano: ANY character
Belenos: it doesn't have to be your current character
Rajani: but it should probably be the same character from line to line :P each time you type
Leo: lol, alright
Belenos: lol.. well yes
Rajani: :P
AelKennyr Rhiano: unless you want people to smack you..yes. :p
Rhûn Darkmoon grins at Ael
Rajani: eyes assembled worthies....nope, not saying a single word!
AelKennyr Rhiano: Leo?
Leo: Gabriel swoops cockily into the bar, half plastered and his eyes scanning for entertainment of any kind be it a barfight or flirting with a lady
Rajani: "Hmph, kids these days." Naury thumps her drink on the bar and flicks a ragged ear in annoyance.
Rhûn Darkmoon: Mort sits nursing his Ale in a far corner, warily watching the carryings on of the other occupants of the bar
Lihan Taifun: "Bah, you said, it, Naury!"
AelKennyr Rhiano looks up from his drink and eyes the stranger. "How be you?" he growls.
Shawn Daysleeper: Manwe, Lord of the West, serves Moosehead Beer from behind the counter "Free beers from the Breath of Arda himself!"
AelKennyr Rhiano: ((CHOKES))
Belenos: ((Giggles))
Rajani: "And who are you? Smart enough to leave those silly boys alone, are you?"
Leo jumps at the growl. "I'm...uh...goooooooood." He laughs
Rajani: ((LOL Manwe's beer!))
AelKennyr Rhiano curls his lips and rubs a thumb along a long, nasty scar on the side of his face. "That a fact?"
Belenos: Fanny the barmaid eyes the stranger who seems determined to take over her job tonight. Tossing her hair over her shoulder saucily she decides he's handsome enough and reaches out to grope his behind, leering drunkenly at him as she does so
Rajani: Naury eyes the drunk newcomer. "Gonna get his ears off shortly," she murmurs to her neighbour
Rhûn Darkmoon: Morts eyes dart to the newcomver, narrowing warily
Leo stumbles forward, barely catching himself on a stool. "I heard free beer..."
Lihan Taifun: "He is," the captain whispers back to Naury. "Silly boy"
AelKennyr Rhiano's eyes flick to Fanny, and he reaches out and snags her wrist. "What do you think yer doing, woman?"
Rajani: Naury snags a claw in the edge of Manwe's robe as it goes by. "A beer for the Captain and me, if you please."
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok...laughs..we can stop now...Thank you.
Shawn Daysleeper: Manwe, intent on getting everyone drunk, he leans up against Ael. "Here you are you handsome Champion of the Children, have a beer on me!"
Belenos: Fanny snarls angrily at having her wrist grabbed so roughly, 'Me's just having some fun. Who're you to say different?' she slurs drunkenly
AelKennyr Rhiano: lol! AelKennyr Rhiano claps. Excellent job.
Shawn Daysleeper: ✦✧HaHaHa✦✧
Rajani: "Fancy a fight, sister?" Naury raises her eyebrow at the captain
Leo collapses fully to the ground, face first. He simply laughs in his intoxication, finding something or other funny
AelKennyr Rhiano: Thank you.
Leo: lol
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok...
Rajani: hee
AelKennyr Rhiano: Tell me please...your impression of how the group rp worked.
Leo: A tad confusing...
AelKennyr Rhiano: How so?
Leo: Unorganized *nods*
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Fast paced. I had to concentrate a lot more.'
Rajani: Would help if everyone was in costume, heh, yes, quite fast
Shawn Daysleeper: it was pretty chaotic, I couldn't respond to all the people wanting beer and also do what I wanted to do
Rajani: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano nods
Rajani: haven't doen "live" RP like that in a while
Lihan Taifun: and about 5 conversations going at once
Belenos: yes.. fast paced enough Manwe didn't even notice the barmaid grope his butt
Rajani: yes--though that was very bar-like. I thought the barmaid groped Leo's butt!
Leo: My butt?
Belenos: no no.. the one intent on taking her job
Rajani: oh! LOL
AelKennyr Rhiano: Did you find that you "missed" some opportunities to say something at times.
Rajani: yes
Belenos: manwe.. giving out free beers
Rajani: ohhhh
Belenos: geeez.. lol
AelKennyr Rhiano: Cheeky Lord of the West.
Rajani: it went by too fast, LOL
Belenos: oh yes.. definitely did... it went so fast
Rajani: hee
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok...let me point out some things you may have missed?
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'And I had to stop and think who was saying what to whom.'
Rajani: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: Actually this was alot less chaotic than I thought it would be.
Shawn Daysleeper: sorry hehe
AelKennyr Rhiano: For one thing...you are good rpers.
Shawn Daysleeper: smiles. ya everyone did well
AelKennyr Rhiano: Ok...most of us didn't stick with one lines, although our rp was considerably shorter than we usually do. But...even out of disorder, you all created order.
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Maybe because we didn't stick to one lines? That little bit more helped?'
AelKennyr Rhiano: Quite possibly. It gave others something to act upon easier. Also, when Leo came in the bar..people fell into groups.
Rajani: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: There was Rajani and Lihan, who apparently were friends. There was Manwe and the barmaid Fanny. I responded to Leo. Rhun watched.
Rajani: yes, those where characters we have played together before, I wonder if that was obvious?
Belenos: so you were both 'AT' the bar
AelKennyr Rhiano: It was.
Rajani: things going by too fast to connect with the other characters I didn't know, but would have if the RP had kept going. the clumping of characters reminded me of actual social scenes
AelKennyr Rhiano: but notice, too...after the initial "pairing " up, you started to respond to those who responded to you. Exactly.
Rajani: yes
[20:15] AelKennyr Rhiano: And so here is what alot of people forget...even in totally freeform situations, we are social animals, and we tend to try to break down the group into smaller units, where possible.
In my case...first I responded to Leo. then I responded to Fanny. but I didn't try to respond to both at the same time.
Belenos: and I responded to manwe and then to you
AelKennyr Rhiano: Part of that was the pace of the rp, but also part of it is our social nature.
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Well, we don't usually, do we, even in ordinary conversation?'
Rajani: nodnod
AelKennyr Rhiano: In general, as a general rule of thumb, people have trouble responding to more than two other people at the same time. And in this case responding means engage socially.
Belenos: are you talking one liner or text chat here?
AelKennyr Rhiano: Either. Think of your real life social situations. Say you are at a party...a big one...how many people do you try to engage at one time?
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'It's not something we do usually in life is it? We may notice the words or actions of others but we only repond to one or two.'
Rajani: depends how noisy it is :D
AelKennyr Rhiano: Right
Rhûn Darkmoon blushes, 'Snap.'
AelKennyr Rhiano: Right again.
Rajani: but yeah
AelKennyr Rhiano: And that is true with rp.
Rajani: yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: the noise in our case here is the chat from the others.
Lihan Taifun: it usually breaks up into little circle of 3-6 people
AelKennyr Rhiano: Exactly, but seldom are all speaking at the same time. Unless it is a mob, and that may be bad for you.
Belenos nods a lot.. mobs are usually bad
AelKennyr Rhiano: The reason I point this out is because some rpers try to respond to every single person in the group rp. It's not feasible.
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'They would not be able to respond well if they tried that, and it would clutter up the Rp and rob others of their chances to speak, wouldn't it?
Rajani: I feel back when I am only responding to one or two people...but that is a good point. Yes, I've seen people try that and it comes across clumsy and floods the chat
AelKennyr Rhiano: it does, it truly does, Rajani and Rhun.
Now in our little rp, you all still seem to pause and give a few moments to see if another would respond. Is that what happened?
Rajani: I did
Leo: Yup
Belenos: it took me that long to read what others posted after I did and then think how to reply
AelKennyr Rhiano: So you were a group of well mannered rpers. :) Unfortunately, not everyone will be as well mannered.
Lihan Taifun: yes, same as Belenos -- I couldn't read any faster
Belenos: <--- nearly bit the hand that grabbed fanny.. *grins*
AelKennyr Rhiano: lol I nearly died when Manwe started serving drinks. omg...too funny.
Rhûn Darkmoon grins
Belenos: so it's not how fast we can type, but how fast we can read
AelKennyr Rhiano: It is both.
Shawn Daysleeper: hehe
AelKennyr Rhiano: But honestly...there are alot of rpers out there that all they do is type one rp post after another. They don't read what you wrote.
Lihan Taifun: at least we were trying to read what everyone else wrote
AelKennyr Rhiano: snap!
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'They have their own bus they are driving and really aren't interested in yours.'
AelKennyr Rhiano: Exactly.
Rajani: yeah, that is annoying
AelKennyr Rhiano: And common.
Rajani: isn't the point of RP to *interact*?
Shawn Daysleeper: nods
AelKennyr Rhiano: I have always thought so, but some people get so wrapped up in rping their lines, they forget the others.
Want to stop here and pickup next week?
Rajani: tends to go along with "I am great all-powered winged Jedi from the future with a mystical talking sword and a pet rhino, in my SPACE SHIP" school of RP
AelKennyr Rhiano: yes!
Lihan Taifun: I remember him. not his pet rhino, but the rest of it :P
Rajani: yes I thought you would :D
Shawn Daysleeper: hehe
Belenos nods.. I think it's a good time to break it
AelKennyr Rhiano: Fear me! I am King of all the elves in Middle Earth! And I know Legolas personally!
Rajani: hee
AelKennyr Rhiano: Oh...and I am on first name basis with Manwe! I call him "Manny!" :p
Belenos: LOL
Lihan Taifun: only once
Belenos: and I squeezed his butt
Shawn Daysleeper: ✦✧HaHaHa✦✧
AelKennyr Rhiano: lol
Shawn Daysleeper: yay
AelKennyr Rhiano: ok...we will continue next week.
Rhûn Darkmoon smiles, ' I think this was awesome.'
Shawn Daysleeper: thank you everyone
Lihan Taifun: this was fun
Rajani: yes, this was fantastic :D
AelKennyr Rhiano smiles. I am so glad.
Shawn Daysleeper: yes this was fun
Rajani: Naury claps Belenos on the back in congratulation, hopes Belenos has hands left :D
AelKennyr Rhiano: And you were all great!