Other Activity Level

[Jannah]

What do you consider to be an appropriate level of activity for a roleplay? I just essentially got kicked out of a RP because the GM couldn't handle the fact I have a life outside of the internet too, thus couldn't reply daily. He kept nagging me daily and then finally today I responded to him to stop. It's only been like two days so absolutely uncalled for, imo. I could understand nagging after a week or two, but daily? That's a bit much.

Thoughts?

 

[weldherwings]

This is why I only like to do onexone roleplays. I work full time, I'm married and trying for a baby, I have church and social life. Writing is my gateway to creativity. You can't force creativity and muses and I think people are quick to forget that.

 

[Jannah]

This is why I only like to do onexone roleplays. I work full time, I'm married and trying for a baby, I have church and social life. Writing is my gateway to creativity. You can't force creativity and muses and I think people are quick to forget that.

Precisely. I can't just force myself to write simply because some impatient person expects it.

 

[weldherwings]

Precisely. I can't just force myself to write simply because some impatient person expects it.

And also I get super anxious when people reply super, super quick and are still online that same time I am (even if I'm spending time just trying to iron out some character profiles or browsing etc). My mind goes 'AHHH, THEY WANT YOU TO REPLY QUICK' and when I do, it's complete trash and I'll read it back a couple of days later and just sit there like what the faq was I on?

 

[JadeGreen17]

If I had to give it a hard number anywhere from a live/real time text chat with scheduled sessions to replying consistently once or twice a week with a bit of OOC communication when things get slow.

"Hey I'm busy with school this week and a little low in inspiration but I promise I'll have a post by the end of the week ok?"

"Ok great. Thanks for letting me know. Good luck with school."

 

[Jannah]

And also I get super anxious when people reply super, super quick and are still online that same time I am (even if I'm spending time just trying to iron out some character profiles or browsing etc). My mind goes 'AHHH, THEY WANT YOU TO REPLY QUICK' and when I do, it's complete trash and I'll read it back a couple of days later and just sit there like what the faq was I on?

I often get left behind in group RP's because there's people who post back and forth multiple times daily while I'm the person who can only manage a post like every couple days. It's one reason among many that I rarely participate in them.

 

[Damafaud]

I can post usually only on weekend, so I look for groups that have the same posting speed as I do.

Daily is a bit much for me since my post tends to be paragraphs long and I have school and work and stuff, but it isn't too unreasonable for kids on holiday or those on break, I think. Especially if the posts are only three sentences each or less

 

[rae2nerdy]

What do you consider to be an appropriate level of activity for a roleplay? I just essentially got kicked out of a RP because the GM couldn't handle the fact I have a life outside of the internet too, thus couldn't reply daily. He kept nagging me daily and then finally today I responded to him to stop. It's only been like two days so absolutely uncalled for, imo. I could understand nagging after a week or two, but daily? That's a bit much.

Thoughts?

I would say this is a matter of communication. I tell all my partners exactly how often I can post and will give them updates if that estimate is off due to IRL.

This way they start off knowing exactly how often I post.

Now if they get impatient I give them one warning. I reiterate my post schedule and tell them I can’t reply respond to replies from X - X

If they continue I leave. As they are clearly showing a lack of concern for my wishes.

So yeah I think with activity it boils down to just being clear about your expectations and not letting people get away with rudeness.

 

[Coward]

Unpopular opinion time.

Dudes... you can totally force yourself to write. How do you think authors write entire books? Do you think they love every second of it?

If you have time to sit at the keyboard and your physical body is ok, you can force yourself to write. People talking about the ‘muse’ not coming or whatever, that’s just because your interest level is low.

In those instances I think you have 2 polite options:

1. Politely drop out, or apologise and work something out.
2. Force yourself to write, and hope that your interest increases until it’s fun again.

Both are totally fine imo. Where it gets rude is if you enter a RP with post requirements, and then fail to fulfill them and just silently drift off. Of course that GM is mad and kicks you out.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Unpopular opinion time.

Dudes... you can totally force yourself to write. How do you think authors write entire books? Do you think they love every second of it?

If you have time to sit at the keyboard and your physical body is ok, you can force yourself to write. People talking about the ‘muse’ not coming or whatever, that’s just because your interest level is low.

In those instances I think you have 2 polite options:

1. Politely drop out, or apologise and work something out.
2. Force yourself to write, and hope that your interest increases until it’s fun again.

The third option is just rude:

3. Don’t post, and don’t say anything. Hold up the RP because you don’t have the willpower to do a task you find mildly difficult.

I think they meant literally they could not reply as they were not on the computer.

They mentioned that they have IRL stuff going on so I don’t think it’s the case of “lack of muse”.

Further I would say that some people just take longer to make a post than others.

Like just because Susie can knock out three paragraphs in an hour doesn’t mean that Jack can do the same. And it doesn’t mean Jack is lazy or not trying hard enough.

Just that they’re a slower writer who might need a bit more time to plan things out.

 

[Coward]

I think they meant literally they could not reply as they were not on the computer.

They mentioned that they have IRL stuff going on so I don’t think it’s the case of “lack of muse”.

Further I would say that some people just take longer to make a post than others.

Like just because Susie can knock out three paragraphs in an hour doesn’t mean that Jack can do the same. And it doesn’t mean Jack is lazy or not trying hard enough.

Just that they’re a slower writer who might need a bit more time to plan things out.

I think all of that is legit, but if you’re an extremely slow writer or super busy just don’t join the fast RPs. Problem solved. I only do 1x1 these days for that exact reason.

I don’t know I just sympathise with the GMs who pour all this effort in only to have people hold it up

 

[Onmyoji]

If you stated clearly in the beginning that you can only post every two days, they accept you to rp knowing that and still poke about faster replies - you shouldn't feel bad leaving a rp that doesn't respect its players.

I don't think there can be a "default" level of activity overall. It's all should be decided on case by case basis.

The level of activity should be established before the rp starts between all the players. My experiences clearly showed to me that if there is a clash in schedules, rp will not last long. Or at least players who are constantly left behind will drop out fast.

This is why I don't do group rp at all.
Well, not "at all" but the only group rp I have pleasure to play in for almost 2 years, is the one that has fixed posting order that players don't ignore, despite the rp being one liner'ish. The only times players ignore this rule is when they do something irrelevant like a conversation that doesn't really progress the story or some sort of a side-quest that doesn'tneed to involve all players. I believe it's one of the reasons of this rp longevity.

In 1x1 I usually don't start rp unless we agree on activity level. Having slow activity for me is a must. So if rp partner agrees to monthly replies we proceed to rp. If they don't then we part ways. If they agree to monthly replies and then bother me every 10 min then it's a huge red sign to nope out and never rp with them again.

Tldr; activity level is a thing that should be clearly defined between players before rp starts, and it can be different for every rp.

 

[Jannah]

Unpopular opinion time.

Dudes... you can totally force yourself to write. How do you think authors write entire books? Do you think they love every second of it?

If you have time to sit at the keyboard and your physical body is ok, you can force yourself to write. People talking about the ‘muse’ not coming or whatever, that’s just because your interest level is low.

In those instances I think you have 2 polite options:

1. Politely drop out, or apologise and work something out.
2. Force yourself to write, and hope that your interest increases until it’s fun again.

Both are totally fine imo. Where it gets rude is if you enter a RP with post requirements, and then fail to fulfill them and just silently drift off. Of course that GM is mad and kicks you out.

In this case no such requirements were made clear before I agreed to join in.

 

[Coward]

In this case no such requirements were made clear before I agreed to join in.

In that case it's a pretty big oversight on the part of the GM, daily posts is a strict requirement :/ They should have warned you.

 

[Jannah]

In that case it's a pretty big oversight on the part of the GM, daily posts is a strict requirement :/ They should have warned you.

Yea, daily simply isn't feasible for me. The most I can manage is every couple days.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I think all of that is legit, but if you’re an extremely slow writer or super busy just don’t join the fast RPs. Problem solved. I only do 1x1 these days for that exact reason.

I don’t know I just sympathise with the GMs who pour all this effort in only to have people hold it up

And as has been shown I don’t think that’s the issue. What your describing is sort of the opposite side of the problem where people over-estimate their ability to participate. That isn’t really the focus of this particular thread.

This thread is more about people who are impatient and don’t understand that not everyone has their time table.

Like this isn’t well Susie said she could reply every hour and she lied.

It’s Susie has to eat and sleep and live her life but Joe is acting like a stalker bombing her inbox asking where she’s at.

I would say both are a problem with communication just from opposite ends.

 

[Bone2pick]

The level of activity should be established before the rp starts between all the players.

I completely agree. So assuming the roleplay's activity level requirements weren't made clear before the RP launched, it follows that what happened to the OP is both their fault, and the fault of the GM.

 

[Coward]

And as has been shown I don’t think that’s the issue. What your describing is sort of the opposite side of the problem where people over-estimate their ability to participate. That isn’t really the focus of this particular thread.

This thread is more about people who are impatient and don’t understand that not everyone has their time table.

Like this isn’t well Susie said she could reply every hour and she lied.

It’s Susie has to eat and sleep and live her life but Joe is acting like a stalker bombing her inbox asking where she’s at.

I would say both are a problem with communication just from opposite ends.

You're right. OP clarified after I replied to you, that no one actually gave a requirement up front. I guess I just haven't had this weird experience of a guy jumping down my throat within a day after giving no post requirement. I didn't guess it would be so bad.

That said my original post was responding to the early thread, where there were several comments like 'creativity can't be forced'. I just wanted to talk to that attitude, because I think it's like an RP/writing/art urban myth that you can't just make yourself do it like any other task.

I guess saying that kind of talked past the point of the thread though, which was like 'exercise basic human decency online'.

 

[Jannah]

I don't believe replies can be forced. Roleplay is a hobby and is meant to be fun. Forcing a post when one simply isn't feeling it makes it into something not fun. Professional writers may have to force themselves, but that's different because they need to be published to pay the bills.

 

[Coward]

I don't believe replies can be forced. Roleplay is a hobby and is meant to be fun. Forcing a post when one simply isn't feeling it makes it into something not fun. Professional writers may have to force themselves, but that's different because they need to be published to pay the bills.

Sorry I wrote this out more clearly in my first post. I think you can force yourself but you don't have to. You can just drop out if it's no fun.

I would say we should choose slower RP though if we have no intention of ever forcing ourselves. It's basically guaranteed that daily posters are occasionally forcing it, since no one is really in the mood every single day.

 

[PhoenixMire]

I avoid group RPs for this reason. There are so many stressful little factors involved that it ruins the fun for me. It's a lot easier to be picky with 1x1 RPs... so I prefer those.

I agree with the idea that GMs should specify how often they want their RPers to reply. It's pretty ridiculous to not include that particular detail and then expect people to reply daily.
I feel like a lot of RP issues would be solved if GMs would be as specific and communicative as possible, and if the RPers themselves would only take on projects they know they can manage.

Everyone has different activity levels, and that's fine - some people can reply once daily, or even more frequently than that. Others can only reply once every week or two. Finding people to work with your schedule is important... although it can be pretty hard sometimes.

 

[PhoenixMire]

I don't believe replies can be forced. Roleplay is a hobby and is meant to be fun. Forcing a post when one simply isn't feeling it makes it into something not fun. Professional writers may have to force themselves, but that's different because they need to be published to pay the bills.

And I totally agree with this...
The whole reason I gave up on my dream of writing professionally and getting novels published is because I loathe forcing myself to write. It's beyond boring for me, it's flat out disheartening and aggravating. RP is supposed to be fun. Let it be fun. If you have to start forcing yourself to the point where you dread replying and it just feels frustrating, then tell your partner you're not interested anymore.

 

[Idea]

Well, it seems a few issues have developed since the original topic, and I'll try to adress a couple of them, but first the main matter.

Personally, I like long, detailed posts, and of course I like them well-written. To get this I am quite willing to wait as long as I have to, and while I try to deliver my own responses as fast as I can, it can still take me upwards of a month. It typically takes me one to two weeks to deliver a response (on a regular week), but from my partners I am willing to and often wait two or three weeks to a month for a reply. This is excellent for me, because:
1. I get the exact kind of content that I want to read and respond to, the kind of content I am happy to work with and don't regret nor feel like I am wasting my time with
2. I get time which I can occupy with whatever I am busy with, or if I have free time I can dump it on my other hobbies (anime/manga, TCGs, worldbuilding, philosophy, reading...) or I can try to get new roleplays

Pacing, detail/size and quality are a trilema. Save for some particualrly skilled roleplayers, whichever two you take come at the expense of the third. Thus your goals and your mentality, wherever it may fall on the simple to detailed mentality spectrum, affects which ones you give priority to (well, mostly the ratio of pacing and sixe/detail, everyone wants quality). This leads me to the next matter:

I don't believe replies can be forced. Roleplay is a hobby and is meant to be fun. Forcing a post when one simply isn't feeling it makes it into something not fun. Professional writers may have to force themselves, but that's different because they need to be published to pay the bills.

You can't force creativity and muses and I think people are quick to forget that

Replies can be forced, and that is precisely where the other side of the coin falls. The muse, inspiration, those things are feeble and addictive. To speak more precisely, the more you use them, the less you are able to function without them. When you only write when you're in the mood, not only does it become harder to write without being in the mood, it becomes harder to actually get into the mood because your body becomes more averse to the idea of putting in work- something potentially fatal for a productive activity (by which I mean you put in effort which produces something, in this case your writing has to produce what is written, and writing it is an unskippable step).

Professional advice on the matter is that forcing yourself to write regularly is good for you not because it immediately produces better results, but because it helps to develop good habits, which in turn make writing itself less of a chore overtime and allow you to produce content better and more easily. All because, if your body is used to put it in the effort, it doesn't seem nearly as heavy.

And this is all not to mention how the attitude of stopping the moment one doesn't feel as motivated easily kills a good chunk of RPs due to inevitable existence of down moments where the action drops and so does the hype.

Now this isn't to say "force yourself to write" is an absolute. As I mentioned, it has to do with your goals and mentality. If the immediate gratification of making the post is what you want, a perfectly valid stance of course, then forcing the post may really not be fun. But for one like, for instance, myself, the fun lies not in the production of the post itself, but in the reactions people have to it, in the response posts and reading those, in building a great story full of rich and flavorful posts, in the pride over what I made...in other words, it's all stuff that comes after the post itself has been done. I put in effort for a later reward, I'm thinking long term, and as such, to me the long term benefits of discipline in writing my posts are simply more valuable.

Lastly, on the third topic, a little bit of advice. People have talked about the GM responsability to inform player of things like the post requirements, but I want to mention as well:
Players, always ask (if you're not already informed) about those technical aspects, like posting requirements when considering whether to join an RP. And I don't just mean the post schedule either, but also things like any potential size requirements.


Anyways, I hope this post was useful. Best of luck and happy RPing!

 

[obieblu]

I'm only interested in chat interactions, so I make that very clear and look for that specification from someone else. Clear communication over standards, limitations, an expectations is how to prevent these problems. I've never done the forum thing, but I can see how holding everyone up for 2 days would get annoying if that expectation wasn't set. Though, they should have had a civil conversation about it with you.

 

[Fable]

I believe all those who have joined a group RP have found themselves in at least one that has the issue you are dealing with. The first group RP I tried to join on here I got blasted into nothingness because there was so many 1x1 replies going on in the thread so I didn't even know what was going on because it was 20+ posts per day. So, I just told the GM I was out because I couldn't keep up.

Look for group RPs that use what I call a round robin system (based on MMORPG loot options, lol) where each round starts with a GM post and players can only post once per round; doesn't even need a post order. Additionally, look for group RPs that are not having players breaking off into constant 1x1s which can overwhelm a thread fast when there are 6 players all posting 1x1s in the same thread. That isn't exactly what I would call a group RP if the group constantly is breaking off from each other.

The problem is going to be finding these RPs, so it's best to just ask at the get go. "How often do you expect players to post? Is there a posting order or a post round system? Are players in the groups allowed to wander into 1x1s in the group RP thread?" And so forth.

There is no standard appropriate reply period because each RP and GM is different in their expectations. You just have to find a roleplay and a GM that will work with you.