Other Activity Level

[Jannah]

I believe all those who have joined a group RP have found themselves in at least one the 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 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.

When I host RP's I typically make it so there's a post order. People can only post in the designated order, which means nobody can post until the person before them does. It usually works pretty well as it accommodates for different posting speeds.

 

[Fable]

When I host RP's I typically make it so there's a post order. People can only post in the designated order, which means nobody can post until the person before them does. It usually works pretty well as it accommodates for different posting speeds.

Post order I find too restrictive because if a player for some reason can't post when it is their turn, other players pester them about it, much like you being pestered to post frequently. Round Robin sets up a single post round where it's simply one post per round. Of course this requires heavy GM activity in the RP since the rounds are determined by them, but thus far i find it works much better than a post order. It's ultimately fine to do what you want as a GM, just offered a type of post system that I found works best for keeping a thread from getting crazy overrun.

 

[Jannah]

Post order I find too restrictive because if a player for some reason can't post when it is their turn, other players pester them about it, much like you being pestered to post frequently. Round Robin sets up a single post round where it's simply one post per round. Of course this requires heavy GM activity in the RP since the rounds are determined by them, but thus far i find it works much better than a post order. It's ultimately fine to do what you want as a GM, just offered a type of post system that I found works best for keeping a thread from getting crazy overrun.

I guess I'm just fortunate since I've never had players pestered in my system for not being fast enough.

 

[bool]

I think a lot of this is similar to running a campaign in person or just in general with these sorts of group roleplay-esque events. Preparing before you begin and setting standards/expectations is really healthy to the life of the group. This obviously doesn't just include the time you can commit every day/week to replying, but it does make up a decent portion of it. You have to make sure expectations are properly aligned for everyone and to communicate especially when something like availability changes.

Sometimes people can just be impatient, though I can see it from their perspective that they'd feel very excited and passionate about doing a roleplay like this and feeling like you weren't as invested, even if this wasn't true and it just came down to real world obligations. I've never really done official post orders or anything along those lines; communication in general helps in the long run I think.

I'm sorry you've had to deal with that thought

 

[kevintheradioguy]

I RP in my downtimes. Breaks during work and alike. I relax and escape via RPs, it's my coping thing. Thus, I'm a daily poster (multi-daily if one can catch up), but since it's coping, and thus is not healthy, I do think that daily is a bit too much. Every 1-3 days seems to be a good speed.

 

[Jannah]

I RP in my downtimes. Breaks during work and alike. I relax and escape via RPs, it's my coping thing. Thus, I'm a daily poster (multi-daily if one can catch up), but since it's coping, and thus is not healthy, I do think that daily is a bit too much. Every 1-3 days seems to be a good speed.

Back when I was younger and had more free time I would do multiple posts a day, but now I'm simply satisfied with getting one out every few days.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

Back when I was younger and had more free time I would do multiple posts a day, but now I'm simply satisfied with getting one out every few days.

I don't believe it's tied to the age, though. Teens might go for a weekly post; 30-year-olds - for daily.

 

[Shuusuke]

It's really the OP's duty to inform you of the posting schedule or discuss that with the players, since it's one of the things you're supposed to agree with when joining. If they don't bring that up at all, then they're to blame for the sort of thing that you went through. But as was also said here, if they failed to do that, help yourself and them out by asking in OOC, though preferably this would've happened before there even was an IC. Some people might frown at the idea of even having an activity requirement, but it's a matter of preference and a case-by-case issue. For group RPs it's more of a necessity given that you're dealing with multiple people, so if you don't establish anything, more chances of their preferences not matching. I very much require knowing what I'm getting into before joining an RP, because half-assed planning goes sideways even faster on group RPs.

That said, personally I gravitate around 1 post per week, since I feel like that's enough time to plan my posts without rushing. I don't start to lose interest unless it's been like a month with no new posts, so I don't mind extending that to a post per 2 weeks at all, but if it gets to that point I'll start wondering if the others are losing interest. I only do group RPs so I don't particularly care about the schedules or time zones of other people, as long as they meet the posting requirements I'm good.

 

[CrowOuttaHell]

Seeing a lot of posts from the perspective of players, so just my two cents in with activity level from the perspective of a GM.

I can't stand rapid fire posting especially in a group RP (hell, even 1x1s sometimes). That was one of the pitfalls I fell into when I was just starting out forum rolepalying for real, and have since learned my lesson. I prefer making a long post that manages to sum up everything that happened before than rapid fire posts for the sake of placating my players.

Which brings me to another point. I hate when people try to (subtly or even not very subtly) force replies.

I try my best to be a lenient GM on posting and activity, but it's maddening when someone pops up in an OOC kind of passive aggressively asking for more people to reply. Look, I get it, you like the RP and want to keep going and you have character interactions you want to continue playing out. But, again, we have lives outside the game, and no, as the GM, I'm not going to post when barely anyone's replied to the last post I've made.

I guess my main point is to not overly attach your enjoyment and whatnot to a certain RP. You have other hobbies to keep you from getting bored if an RP isn't progressing as fast as you'd like.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I don't believe it's tied to the age, though. Teens might go for a weekly post; 30-year-olds - for daily.

I am a little confused by this point as you seem to be contradicting your own point.

Kids post more often because they have steady schedules and fewer real life responsibilities.

Adults post less often because they have more variable schedules* and also more responsibilities. Like shopping/maintaining the house/cooking/etc. all the stuff that is taken care of by a teenagers parents.

So therefore most adults are not going to have the kind of free time available to post daily.

Anyone in college is going to have even less free time than the average adult.

Basically the adults you see posting most often are the ones with a lot of free time. So they work from home/don’t work but take care of kids.

Or their like you and their doing short things during whatever free time they can manage. Which as you said isn’t that healthy long term.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

I am a little confused by this point as you seem to be contradicting your own point.

Kids post more often because they have steady schedules and fewer real life responsibilities.

Adults post less often because they have more variable schedules* and also more responsibilities. Like shopping/maintaining the house/cooking/etc. all the stuff that is taken care of by a teenagers parents.

So therefore most adults are not going to have the kind of free time available to post daily.

Anyone in college is going to have even less free time than the average adult.

Basically the adults you see posting most often are the ones with a lot of free time. So they work from home/don’t work but take care of kids.

Or their like you and their doing short things during whatever free time they can manage. Which as you said isn’t that healthy long term.

Where do I contradict? Maybe you misread me? I am saying that it's not tied to the age, as there might be teens who post much fewer than adults, on the contrary to implication of the previous poster.

As the matter of fact, most of the teens I played with post slowly, while my main partners of roughly the same age as me (that being 36) post multiple times a day. While we all work, have familes, friends, cook, clean, etc. So, no, it is not really tied to age.

And I say that coping using text isn't healthy, not the whole posting thing.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Where do I contradict? Maybe you misread me? I am saying that it's not tied to the age, as there might be teens who post much fewer than adults, on the contrary to implication of the previous poster.

As the matter of fact, most of the teens I played with post slowly, while my main partners of roughly the same age as me (that being 36) post multiple times a day. While we all work, have familes, friends, cook, clean, etc. So, no, it is not really tied to age.

And I say that coping using text isn't healthy, not the whole posting thing.

Ah forgive me I misread, that said I do disagree. I think it is in general tied to age with a few exceptions that prove the rule.

Like most teenagers post more often than most adults.

The reason for this is actually down to the variable schedules I mentioned earlier.

Teens all have more or less the same schedules within a specific time zone. So as long as you adjust for time zone and whatever after school activities each teen has you will have a consistent schedule each time. And that can actually increase post response.

Adults do not all work the same shift. So not only do you ya have to adjust for time zone you have to adjust for what each persons hours of availability is.

Now again some teens will have a lot of after school activities and thus only post weekly. That is the exception though not the rule.

The same as there are some adults who have more free time than others.

You and I for instance are roughly the same age but have radically different hours of availability.

You have significantly more free time than me.

If we were both sixteen the chances of us having the same schedule (adjusting for time zone) would go up. At that point the difference is down to whether or not we do after school activities.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

Ah forgive me I misread, that said I do disagree. I think it is in general tied to age with a few exceptions that prove the rule.

Like most teenagers post more often than most adults.

The reason for this is actually down to the variable schedules I mentioned earlier.

Teens all have more or less the same schedules within a specific time zone. So as long as you adjust for time zone and whatever after school activities each teen has you will have a consistent schedule each time. And that can actually increase post response.

Adults do not all work the same shift. So not only do you ya have to adjust for time zone you have to adjust for what each persons hours of availability is.

Now again some teens will have a lot of after school activities and thus only post weekly. That is the exception though not the rule.

The same as there are some adults who have more free time than others.

You and I for instance are roughly the same age but have radically different hours of availability.

You have significantly more free time than me.

If we were both sixteen the chances of us having the same schedule (adjusting for time zone) would go up. At that point the difference is down to whether or not we do after school activities.

Well , I did have the same point of view, but changed it drastically after it had proven to be merely a good theory, and not prove itself in practice. Truth is, people that use the web, and RP forums in specific, are way too introverted and way too different to abide to this logic. Honestly, I don't think I have played with anyone to prove this theory right for me.

It makes sense, but my personal experience is absolutely different.

Sorry for the lack of eloquence, I'm missing my keyboard.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Well , I did have the same point of view, but changed it drastically after it had proven to be merely a good theory, and not prove itself in practice. Truth is, people that use the web, and RP forums in specific, are way too introverted and way too different to abide to this logic. Honestly, I don't think I have played with anyone to prove this theory right for me.

It makes sense, but my personal experience is absolutely different.

Sorry for the lack of eloquence, I'm missing my keyboard.

I think that might just be a case of experience. One of the things that plagues roleplay sites is People tend to assume their experience is more universal than it is.

As my experience is the opposite of yours but I am also roleplaying very differently to you as well.

I look specifically for people without a lot of free time and find that almost of them are adults in college or older. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have been approached by teens with not a lot of free time.

So you an I are both running into people which are showing us completely contradictory trends.

But that’s probably tied to our completely contradictory roleplay styles.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

I think that might just be a case of experience. One of the things that plagues roleplay sites is People tend to assume their experience is more universal than it is.

As my experience is the opposite of yours but I am also roleplaying very differently to you as well.

I look specifically for people without a lot of free time and find that almost of them are adults in college or older. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have been approached by teens with not a lot of free time.

So you an I are both running into people which are showing us completely contradictory trends.

But that’s probably tied to our completely contradictory roleplay styles.

Well, it works both ways for us, innit?

I had to adjust my theory according to proof I had at hand, and I really have no other experience thus far to revert back to the original theory. Kind of like a white crow/raven philosophical exercise (for the lack of better word). We're just two people who only saw crows of different colours and try to prove our points here.

Like, yes, logically this should be the case: 25+ people writing slower, younger being quicker. But in my experience it never really worked that way, som presented with no other proof, I have to admit that I was wrong.

Even then, even if from how on I will only get adult slow posters and teen quickies (now that sounds all kinds of wrong), I still do not believe that "you are ## and therefore..." is applicable to posting frequency... or pretty much anything, come to think of it. You don't really have to do or be anything based on your age. I choose to spend those ten minutes in-between tasks to post, being daily poster, while still working two jobs, storyboarding, taking care of the house, cooking, and caring for my woman and our pets. Some twelve-year-orld girl chooses to spend her time in the sun, talking to her friends, to her mum, watching youtube videos or playing Fallout while inline, and posting once a week. And with how... specific RP community is, I do believe that there are more people fitting this "exception" if you will, rather than general rule, solely based on the fact that most RP-dwelling people are extreme extroverts, and would rather be here, online, than anywhere else. Were we to speak the entire human species - sure, ages apply, but... honestly, here we are, two almost 40-year-olds, playing pretend via typing. People like us are hardly the core of statistics.

 

[Jannah]

My experiences have been largely the same as Middleagedgeek's. I RP on a lot of sites that are 18+ and even getting a couple posts out a week is considered fairly active. Some of the people take months to post because they're all adults with busy lives. Jobs, children, and various other responsibilities. It's only when I came here that I remembered that a lot of RPers like to whip up multiple posts a day.

 

[Vanira]

This is why I am up front before starting a roleplay what my activity level is. I'm an adult that cannot guarantee every day. At most, 3 - 4 times a week or less for 800+ word replies. There is no right/wrong activity level just preferences. You want someone to respond every single day? Be up front before either commits to a roleplay.

Communication is key. Don't expect someone to respond everyday unless they say they would. That is always a good rule of thumb.

 

[rae2nerdy]

kevintheradioguy and my point is that our two experiences contradict to each other which sort of proves the whole "don't make assumptions, it makes an ass out of you and me." thing correct.

Because you can say - Well in my experience X is true. But I can say - well in my experience Y is true.

Neither of us are lying or wrong. We are both simply making an assumption based on our own personal experiences. But since those experiences contradict one another it tells me that neither of us are right. We've just had different experiences that support our own particular viewpoints.

 

[Malphaestus]

I don't really have any expectations of peoples' activity on IC matters if they are easily reachable or active daily on discord, for example. So long as I know where you are and where you can be found, I give you a rather generous luxury in your IC frequency.