Experiences Lengthy replies

ZephyrHatake

I see you.
So, I've peeked over my gfs shoulder while she responds to some of her rps, and she has a partner that does long replies and the other gives short-medium replies. What is your guys' preferred response length?
 
With me it's generally the more than better, both in what I give and in what I take. Of course, this only apply if the person is even half-competent at writing detail, but beyond that I just like juicier posts with a lot of description and atmosphere that really let me get immersed in the roleplay, and tend to find shorter replies to be bland and uninteresting to me.

I write a minimum average of 15 full PC lines per post over 3 or so paragraphs, and request a bare minimum of 10 such lines over 2 paragraphs. However, I expect my partners to stay above that minimum and closer to my average.
 
As of late I am okay with shorter replies except one liners because I primarily use a phone or tablet and doing a 3,000+ word post for me takes a couple of hours which I sometimes don't feel like spending half a day doing. However, I do enjoy longer replies receiving and giving. Having a detailed, thought-filled, character is actually showing action and emotion type of post I enjoy. To me it means my partner is as interested as I am in telling a story. Three chunky paragraphs works at minimum for me. If people want to do more that's perfectly fine.
 
It usually depends on what your partner writes and what the RP in general requires. If it's an incredibly detailed affair, or there's a lot to respond to, or you're moving places, that might require a longer length.

Sometimes it also depends how big your "paragraphs" are. In a few of my RPs they're only two paragraphs per character, but they're beefy paragraphs. In others, I write longer responses with somewhat shorter responses. Catch my drift?

And then there are others where you're writing a full out novel and I kinda like those because it means I have an excuse to write a heckuva lot.

But yeah, definitely not a fan of the one liners. I usually try to match whatever my partner/group does. Unless I accidentally go overboard and write a novel in response to three shorter responses. O///O
 
It depends on rp, but I write around 300-1000 words on average per reply.
I honestly have no idea how many lines this is or if this is considered short or short-medium, but this is what my comfortable length is.
The length also depends on what is going on in rp, whether it's an action scene, or a conversation between the characters etc. Action scenes and interactive scenes between the characters are usually shorter replies because I want to give space to my rp partner to add into the action as well. Scenes that require reflection or a lot of description, or starting posts etc are usually longer.

My rp partners also produce replies around the same length which leaves all of us happy, so I can't complain. That kind of length is comfortable for me to write and to read.


I do one-liners only in a specific rp with only one person upon mutual agreement, when we want to rp a conversation/short scene in a fast-paced way without thinking too much over the replies. And even then our 'one-liners' usually end up being at least 3-4 sentences lol so that's at least 30-50 words or more. So I can safely assume the real 'one-liners' are not enough for me XD
 
I tend to go for long since to me RP is a form of collaborative storytelling, thus I like to capture my character's inner thoughts and feelings as well as their external actions.
 
Going to get the cliché out there, for me it's more about the quality, not so much as the quantity. It's just that I think you're more likely to get less quality with either short or too long replies. I'm more inclined to prefer longer posts since they usually give more material for other people to reply to, if I had to pick between that and shorter posts, though. Considering I do group RPs and prefer slower pacing, it's more convenient for longer replies as well, since you have more time to come up and improve them before posting.
 
I try to consistently write about 800-1200 words for a serious roleplay, and about 500-700 for a more casual one. The exposition or first few introduction posts and posts addressing internal thoughts tend to be the longest scenes I write. Interestingly, action sequences are the shortest. My paragraphs vary, but I define a paragraph as having 5+ sentences. Not just single lines or "takes."

Generally, I try to stay at the same length as the rest of the group, but I try to give other people enough to bounce off of if the replies start getting short during a "static" point in the story. I like to use a word count as a guideline for what's easy to digest in one or two readings of a post. Anything longer is often tedious to read because of long-winded descriptions trying too hard to make the experience more "sensual." I don't like having to use ctrl+f for a single reply.
 
It depends on the skill of the writer; professional authors typically don't overdescribe as much as you would see with rp. In fact, there's a "keep it tight" rule in terms of modern prose where the focus is precision and economy, trusting your reader to pick up on the hints you leave about the character. Personally I don't enjoy emotes going on and on about minor details because I would rather be pulled in and use my imagination to fill in the blanks. Most pro writing agencies will just dismiss you if that's what they get. For example:

The temptress hardly has time to groan as the pair are distracted before her eyes widen. She knew exactly where they were. It was only a matter of time before a certain guest would be arriving at the scene. Letting the Amazon and her partner continue through the caves. The agonising minutes dragged like a tonne of bricks, and the outcome was like a blow from Charybdis. One could see it coming for miles, yet there was no way to avoid it.
“Stupid, stupid, STUPID” The woman screams at herself, slamming her porcelain fists onto the cauldron’s iron lip. “You knew where they were, why didn’t you consider for a bleeding second that them being in the tomb of– GAHHH!” In a fit of anger, she kicks the vat onto its side, letting its contents douse the candles that were intricately placed throughout her workspace. The livestock surrounding her began to back away, cautiously eying her as they would a brush fire. Circe digs at her temples and spits slurs at herself. As she lets out one final wail, she points a finger at one of her many pigs, sending a bolt of light at the creature. A split second later, the only thing supporting its existence was a fine layer of dust coating the area. “With Ares’ power emanating over the catacombs, my magic would be about as effective as an Athenian to a Spartan,” she reasons with herself to keep her blood from continuing to boil, “Regardless, picking fights with gods is out of the question.” Her eyes narrow on the puddle forming atop the hard stone floor, which was still displaying the feed from the caves. “And so, we only have one option now, Diana…” Circe mutters as she drops to her hands and knees, crawling to the projection. With eyes affixed to the daughter of Hippolyta and her friends, Circe grits her teeth, barely able to spit out: “Be thankful for this, Amazon. But soon… it will only be you and me.”

⟪Wally⟫
「Keystone city: 8:00pm.」
A flash could always give hope in the darkness; speed could always reverberate around time and time was what he had. Twists and turns, he left a vertical line of blue as if there were no heartbeat. The people couldn't see the male with a heartbeat as they only saw the discoloration what was a flash.
A two story home, once blue and now black with its square frame windows evaporating flames as if the house had built in furnaces the firemen couldn't make it in time. But again time was what he had, the block was nice, a maze of houses next to each other all the same sizes with streets that reflected light. However, the lights were red and blue now from cars issued by the KSPD, a name wally was familiar with being a hero all of these years, even though he's known them for an exodus he still felt his heart in his throat. As the cars began to get bigger and clearer whilst he approached at a mile per second, coming to a smooth decrease to roughly twenty miles an hour as he came upon reach to the houses right side.
His body felt the walls density—solid so it was condensed yet with such a vibration he caused the wall and himself to witness a thermodynamic process loosening the molecules up then coming condensed once through the wall giving him a ghostly appearance.
⟨By the sight I only have a few seconds... But to me I have a few hours⟩
Phenomenons fired off in the muscle within the shape of his head, the world became slow as a falling piece of debris fell like a piece of paper in a vacuum. He looped the kids hips in his elbow pit carrying him like a football to touch down, stiff arming a falling flame whilst leaning the opposite way it fell releasing a blue whirlwind that dispersed it before dispersing itself.

So here we can see a very good example of where tightly made content beats tons and tons of description quite easily. I don't know about you guys, but that second one is a slog for me to read and that's because it's too detailed. Compare that to the first piece where the writer opts to just move on and lets the reader discern emotion through action. There was one moment of lingering description but it was a picked opportunity and was strategized, unlike the style that, unfortunately, most literate rpers have of making description their whole thing and outright telling you what their character is feeling for a paragraph or more. Not to bash anyone or say their style is invalid, but my point is that good rp does not need a ton of detail everywhere. In fact, I'd like to start seeing less of it.
 
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So the good thing about roleplay is it’s not a guessing game. All groups will have in the rules how much your need to write and how often.

99% of 1x1 will do the same. And if the person is new and doesnt post the how much/how often requirement you can just ask.

There is no universal answer either, if you look hard enough you can find people on all ends of the spectrum.

Personally I hate math and I refuse to count word. I will write until I have a full though out and I am happy with my contribution to the story.

If that means two paragraphs than my post is two paragraphs. If that means two pages than my post is two pages.

I tell my partner to write whatever makes them happy as long as it responds to my post and leaves something for me to reply to.
 
Edit: Sorry, I accidentally made a new reply when I meant to edit my old one.
 
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