Post by Night Bear on Dec 23, 2011 18:48:13 GMT -5
While I no longer roleplay so much anymore, after having burnt myself out years ago when I had too many character and too many RPs to keep track of, I still remember how much fun it was. I remember the joy I used to get from participating in a collaborative story, unsure of which way the story was going to go and what not.
But I have encountered some problems while roleplaying. Namely it was particular people that made RP more difficult for me, and at times others, to enjoy. See, roleplaying is more fun when everyone who participates does so fairly, compromising so that the majority can be satisfied. A collaboration is more interesting than a one person attempt.
There's two incidents I'm going to bring up. These really happened, but not on this board. They were on two separate boards and with people who do not even come to this board. So do not think I'm pointing fingers at anyone here, because I am not.
The first one involved a roleplay with a friend of mine. At the time, he was very controlling. He wanted things to be done his way and his way only. He wanted control over when people respond and who fast. He wanted fast replies and he'd give up within a day if he got no replies. It was hard to roleplay with him because he wouldn't budge, and even worse was that his roleplays were not interesting. Most of them were just repeats of the same thing, but a different genre.
In fact because of his behavior, the board there had modified its rules prohibiting the roleplay creator that kind of power over the other participants. I think this helped straighten him out and now my friend is ashamed of his behavior and would rather forget it. So I don't bring it up with him anymore.
The second incident was on a board I no longer go to. On this board, I played as only one character, and there was..one or two other people. Now what bothered me wasn't this guy's behavior. He never tried to make me hurry up or complained or anything. No, the problem was his character.
The character he played as was a gary stu, as in too perfect. He had too many powers and it didn't feel fair to have my character fight against him because she wouldn't have been able to do anything. I eventually left because of that.
Roleplaying is teamwork. And teamwork can only work when everyone is willing to compromise. If your character is too strong for the others, make sure you give the other characters more of a fair chance to fight so the fight doesn't feel too one-sided (unless that's the intent of the battle). If you are in charge of a roleplay, make sure you don't let your title as RP creator get to your head, and let people add in their own stuff.
If you are roleplaying with one or more people and you find that they aren't showing the kind of interest you hope they would, try to think about the way you are acting. Are you becoming too controlling, too demanding? What about your setting? Is it too boring for them? If you encounter a problem, talk with the other members about it. Have a discussion and make compromises to the best of your ability so people are more happy.
As I said, roleplaying can be very fun, but it can easily be ruined if you or anyone else start either giving themselves too much power or their characters too much power. And when you encounter a problem with another participant, talk to them and try to work out the problem. Be willing to sacrifice; don't always expect to get only your way. After all, it wouldn't be fair for other members to give up something and never you.
That's all I have to say for now. If anyone else would like to add something, go ahead. And keep in mind, this is not addressed to anyone. This is just in general, so please, I don't want anyone to say I'm pointing fingers at someone, because I'm not.
But I have encountered some problems while roleplaying. Namely it was particular people that made RP more difficult for me, and at times others, to enjoy. See, roleplaying is more fun when everyone who participates does so fairly, compromising so that the majority can be satisfied. A collaboration is more interesting than a one person attempt.
There's two incidents I'm going to bring up. These really happened, but not on this board. They were on two separate boards and with people who do not even come to this board. So do not think I'm pointing fingers at anyone here, because I am not.
The first one involved a roleplay with a friend of mine. At the time, he was very controlling. He wanted things to be done his way and his way only. He wanted control over when people respond and who fast. He wanted fast replies and he'd give up within a day if he got no replies. It was hard to roleplay with him because he wouldn't budge, and even worse was that his roleplays were not interesting. Most of them were just repeats of the same thing, but a different genre.
In fact because of his behavior, the board there had modified its rules prohibiting the roleplay creator that kind of power over the other participants. I think this helped straighten him out and now my friend is ashamed of his behavior and would rather forget it. So I don't bring it up with him anymore.
The second incident was on a board I no longer go to. On this board, I played as only one character, and there was..one or two other people. Now what bothered me wasn't this guy's behavior. He never tried to make me hurry up or complained or anything. No, the problem was his character.
The character he played as was a gary stu, as in too perfect. He had too many powers and it didn't feel fair to have my character fight against him because she wouldn't have been able to do anything. I eventually left because of that.
Roleplaying is teamwork. And teamwork can only work when everyone is willing to compromise. If your character is too strong for the others, make sure you give the other characters more of a fair chance to fight so the fight doesn't feel too one-sided (unless that's the intent of the battle). If you are in charge of a roleplay, make sure you don't let your title as RP creator get to your head, and let people add in their own stuff.
If you are roleplaying with one or more people and you find that they aren't showing the kind of interest you hope they would, try to think about the way you are acting. Are you becoming too controlling, too demanding? What about your setting? Is it too boring for them? If you encounter a problem, talk with the other members about it. Have a discussion and make compromises to the best of your ability so people are more happy.
As I said, roleplaying can be very fun, but it can easily be ruined if you or anyone else start either giving themselves too much power or their characters too much power. And when you encounter a problem with another participant, talk to them and try to work out the problem. Be willing to sacrifice; don't always expect to get only your way. After all, it wouldn't be fair for other members to give up something and never you.
That's all I have to say for now. If anyone else would like to add something, go ahead. And keep in mind, this is not addressed to anyone. This is just in general, so please, I don't want anyone to say I'm pointing fingers at someone, because I'm not.