Post Length - An Indicator of Skill, or Preference?

[LegoLad659]

Hey, guys ( ) Correct me if this is under the wrong tag, I wasn't sure whether to put it under Meta or RP Theory.


So, there's something that's been on my mind for a little while (Read: Since this morning) that I'm curious about. And that is, whether posting long, detailed paragraphs (Let's ignore the contents for now and imagine that the text is filled with entirely relevant information) is a hallmark of a veteran roleplayer, or if it's simply how the roleplayer prefers to write. Some people, I've noticed, have taken to demanding upwards of 5-10 paragraphs per post for their partners, while others prefer to keep it smaller at around 1 or 2.


Personally, I myself don't like really long posts. I prefer to keep things simpler than most people, it seems like, and this shows in my average post length as well (About 3 or 4 lines of text). Now, I don't think this means I'm not a good roleplayer, though some might disagree with me. I just simply prefer to keep roleplaying a simple experience, rather than having to process gobs of information at a time and cranking out the longest paragraphs I can. Others might enjoy doing that, and that's fine. I just don't, and try to stay away from it. This could mean I just prefer length like this, or it could also mean I'm simply not interested in getting better at roleplaying. To be perfectly honest, both answers are completely fine by me.


Of course, I'm not a big fan of incredibly short responses, like three words or so, and I'm sure we can all agree on that ( )


What do you guys think? Does posting long, detailed replies mean that a roleplayer is better than another, who only posts a paragraph or two at a time? Does it mean they're simply not interested in that kind of detail? Or something else entirely? I'm interested in hearing your opinions (^.^) Don't worry, I won't hate you for anything... Though you might hate me ( )

 

[Usuru]

I know I said this before on my post in the "RP "Standards" thread lol but, I'm a pretty simple roleplayer, but three words and stuff, yeah, that I can't tolerate LOL but honestly, I'm just going to let my version of Sonic's theme: It Doesn't Matter speak my opinion of this in a nutshell


IT DOESN'T MATTER?


HOW MUCH YOU WRITE?


I WILL NEVER JUDGE YOU ON THAT?


LONG AS THE RP IS FUN, I WILL STAY WITH YOU AND CHAT?


IT DOESN'T MATTER WHOOOO IS WRONG AND WHO IS RIGHT!!?


....So, if no one understood that, what I'm trying to say is,

IT DOESN'T MATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!!!?

​

 

[Daiagnosis]

I think it's more of a mix of preference and skill, though weighing more heavily on the preference side. If we're assuming that the large post is full of relative information and not just fluff, then I think it's skill in that instance. More often than not, when someone does make a large post, a lot of it doesn't necessarily need to be there, and it adds an ungodly amount of fluff. To be able to write a large post and still keep the information relevant, that is in fact skill, at least in my opinion. Though that same person can write maybe a three paragraph post, with relevant information as well, and that's where the preference side of things comes in.


Long Detailed replies doesn't make someone better than the other, because all of that detail could be unnecessary fluff, as I stated earlier on. I prefer the "Quality over quantity" way of thinking about it. As long as the post develops the character(s) or advances the plot, than it's fine by me if it isn't very long.


So I'd think it's fair to say it's a mix of the two.

 

[call me rae]

I would say it's less a matter of experience and more a matter of inspiration and effort of your partners.


If I get a short response in which barely any thought was put into the post and the person is just basically regurgitating the highlights of my own reply back at me then chances are - assuming I don't quit right away - I'm going to stop putting in effort and my responses are also going to get shorter and less dynamic.


But if on the other hand if someone gives me a nice reply - regardless of length - that really inspires me to write then I can go upwards of a page in response. Now that person could have put barely a paragraph out and as long as the content of that paragraph was inspiring than I'll run with.


Now another thing that can effect length - besides inspiration - is time. If I'm on a tight schedule in real life and all I have time to put out is just a paragraph in response then as long as I give my partner something dynamic to respond to that's good enough for me.


As for preference yeah I do think it's a preference as well as probably a bit of a ingrained stereotype. We are taught as roleplayers that the more you post the more experienced and "better" you are as a roleplayer.


This is not necessarily the case. I've seen people churn out a page of text that was truely cringe-inducing to get through. Misplaced Capitalization, grammar issues, words used incorrectly, barely any paragraph breaks, it was a chore to slog through.


So obviously length alone isn't a mark of whether or not your a "good" roleplayer. If you can give me something dynamic that progresses the story in less than four lines I will stand speechless in awe of your ability to simplify.


Me I like stories, love reading them and enjoy working on writing them in collaboration with other people. So for me the longer posts are fine because it gives me more information and lets me really immerse myself into the plot. For that matter I just happen to be a verbose person by nature - why say with five words what I can stretch out into fifty? Does that make me a better roleplayer than you? No.


It just means we have different priorities. As long as your contributing to the story and keeping your partners inspired to do the same then that's all that really matters.

 

[JayTee]

This has come up so many times....


TLR of all my previous arguments: Long posts =/= good posts.

 

[LegoLad659]

This has come up so many times....
TLR of all my previous arguments: Long posts =/= good posts.

Ah, sorry xD I suppose I should see if there are other threads about the same thing before I post my own, huh?

 

[JayTee]

Ah, sorry xD I suppose I should see if there are other threads about the same thing before I post my own, huh?

Man, don't even worry about it. This has come up so many times with so may different people that I doubt it will be going away anytime soon.


But yes, doing a quick check to see if a topic has come up before is always a good idea. =p

 

[Lady Warlock]

I personally like to write 3-4 paragraphs of material when I make a post for a roleplay. I don't mind how long another person in the roleplay writes so long as they give me enough content to reply to so that I can still maintain my own standard of writing.

 

[Seiden]

I don't know if this happened in English-speaking roleplays too, but I've seen this a lot in French-speaking roleplays :


Roleplayers were judged over their post's length, and only this. The quality of the character or plot, what could happen within the roleplay didn't matter anymore : the more you could write, the better you were. And it went to an extend where people were writing about 4000 words per roleplay reply (not even an opening! Just a reply!) just to show how "good roleplayers" they were. How can you write 4000 words per reply when you are supposed to interact with others? Well, first, you details every thiought of your characters, adding in some flashbacks, and then, you detail several actions of your character. Yes, several. In the only aim to make the reply longer, their characters were doing several actions, saying several things, and they wouldn't let you answer to those actions or things as, within their so long reply, they assumed your character does not react and they continued acting and speaking without minding you. And this was annoying at hell. You could not stop their action, cut them short or even answer to what they were saying in the beginning of their post.


But whatever, if you wanted to write shorter replies (and I don't mean "2 lines replies", but even if you wanted to write 'only' 20 lines), they were mocking at you, considering you a "bad" roleplayer, no matter how good your writing skills, characters or plots were. They were not even reading (who has time to read such long roleplays?), they were just counting the lines, and basing their opinion on players only on how much lines they could write for a roleplay reply.


And every roleplay forum was like "60 lines minimum because quality!!".


This was so fucking annoying.


So, please, please, don't start considering a post length shows the roleplayer's skills. You can be way more skilled by writing 15 lines than someone who would write 85 lines of shit. Quality over quantity. Who wants a roleplay where nothing happens within 2 pages of 100 lines long replies because the roleplayers are too busy describing every blade of grass around just to make sure they have more lines than their partners?


I think you should just write what you have to write. Of course, you can make the effort to write at least 5 lines, but don't try to write a lot just to look good or cool. Do not flood your reader with useless descriptions, flashback and thoughts just to make your post longer. And, please, let your partner answer everything you do. I think there should not be more than one action per post if you think your partner may want to interfer with what you are doing. If you want to write tons of text all alone, write a book or a fiction, not a roleplay.

 

[LegoLad659]

In the only aim to make the reply longer, their characters were doing several actions, saying several things, and they wouldn't let you answer to those actions or things as, within their so long reply, they assumed your character does not react and they continued acting and speaking without minding you. And this was annoying at hell. You could not stop their action, cut them short or even answer to what they were saying in the beginning of their post.

This, THIS, is the exact problem I have with long posts. They usually contain actions that they assume your character doesn't react to. And I consider that a type of Godmodding, myself.


Now, that's not to say that long posts are bad, per se... If your character is telling a story, you're narrating something related to the post you're replying to, or even if your character is by themselves, I don't mind long posts. If your character is casually beating up my character through a flurry of different moves all in one post... Yeah, no.


Anyway, thanks for your input (^.^)

 

[JayTee]

This, THIS, is the exact problem I have with long posts. They usually contain actions that they assume your character doesn't react to. And I consider that a type of Godmodding, myself.

Pointless actions that do nothing to but pad the length of a post that people aren't expected to to reply to is nowhere near godmodding. It's just obnoxious and serves no purpose.


But yes, @Seiden's example are exactly why I think people who believe long posts = good post are, to be frank, idiots. Super long posts like that aren't contributing anything, they aren't helping to drive the plot forward, they don't give good characterization, they just eat up space and make me have to sift through a wall of garbage in order to get to something of value I can actually do something with.

 

[LegoLad659]

Pointless actions that do nothing to but pad the length of a post that people aren't expected to to reply to is nowhere near godmodding. It's just obnoxious and serves no purpose.

I wasn't talking about pointless actions, though. Refer to the last sentence of my second paragraph for what I meant by that ( )

 

[JayTee]

The way your post was formatted in what you were responding to implied otherwise, but fair enough.

 

[LegoLad659]

The way your post was formatted in what you were responding to implied otherwise, but fair enough.

Looking back at it, you have a fair point. That was my fault, I probably should've been more clear.

 

[Pseudonym]

In my opinion its the content, rather than the length.

I have seen many rpers who can churn out thousands of words, and frankly, it would be crap.

I have also seen people who can concisely and effectively get the plot moving in a couple of sentences.​

 

[sorrow made you]

I originally came from a website where length = quality, which was incredibly annoying. Showing that you can write multiple paragraphs does not mean that you are a skillful writer, but rather, that you are capable of writing that much. I have struggled through so many posts, trying to get to the main point, only to find that the character really did absolutely nothing. 1400 words of your character sitting in a chair and waiting for someone to show up could be interesting (though, I'll admit I'd probably not want to read something like that), but completely unnecessary.


I'm guilty of writing lengthy posts by default. I can't help but to want to write out my character's senses (sight, touch, smell, ect) as well as their thoughts. Sometimes I have to describe background information to show my audience what mindset my character is in and put emphasis on certain aspects I want to highlight.


Example; if I have a character that's waiting outside of a building for someone, but is an incredibly impatient person, I will write about how they fidget, why they are impatient in the first place, and maybe some complaints they might have. Maybe I will explain what they see, what they smell, what they hear. Maybe they'll even speak to themselves for a moment. All of this can get kind of lengthy, but it might turn into a good read if moderated.


When a post is filled with unnecessary information like description on the weather and how white delicate snow flakes fall against a gray sky (on more words...), then it gets painstakingly long. I'm less inclined to read that and will search out dialogue to break from the excessive descriptions.


Doing too much or too little in a post could also change the length and get somewhat frustrating. Too little action in a long post might be more infuriating than too much action in one post. however, if you have too much action going on in a long post, it may leave out room for others to interact with you. And then you may have to deal with the idea that people are afraid they have to post-match you (post-match is the inclination that they have to meet or exceed your post length).


I'm sure these points were already mentioned at some point and I just felt like rambling. ;;A;;


Sorry if this doesn't make sense. @___@;;

 

[Hokori]

I'm personally a big fan of length when it comes to post. While I'd never refuse to rp with someone because they can't type thousand word responses, it's still a reflection of how much effort you're putting into the experience. Smaller posts tend to lack character, and can quickly get boring. The most interesting parts to an rp to me isn't simply the actions that your character takes, and their responses to what's happening. I care more about how they feel, and why they choose the actions they do. I don't think length exactly makes you a better role player, but it's important if you want to get most details about your character across to everyone. You can describe your character unsheathing a sword in one sentence, but that doesn't mean you should. I'd love to know what was going through your character's mind before he did it, did he hesitate before going through with it?, or did it come naturally and with a fluid yet stern motion akin to a trained knight?


Of course there's diminishing returns on this. If you post a thousand words about you unsheathing your sword, you're only wasting time and upsetting anyone who has to read through your wall of text. Also it's probably not the best idea to explain something in such detail if it's happening frequently. If it's the 15th time you've unsheathed your sword, you can probably skip out on some of the details.

 

[Elle Joyner]

It's not that length makes for a good post - it's that shorter posts tend to have less to respond to, and in roleplaying, this can be pretty tricky. But you have to find the balance. Filling a post with loads of useless description or with introspect aren't necessarily giving anyone anything to work with either. Rather, when you post, you shouldn't be thinking about length, so much as quality. Am I including a few reactions to the post before mine? Am I giving people something to react to? Am I descriptive enough that people can tell where the heck I am and what I'm doing or am I too vague? Is this a post people WANT to read or is it a stubby one liner with no content, or a wall o'text of useless prose.


That said - I don't think that "long posts" are exactly what people think they are, either. It's only my opinion, but I don't think it's remotely difficult to get out three paragraphs a post (granted, this is in group RPs. 1x1s tend to be a different story, but not always). People freak out, because I put a two/three paragraph post requirement in my RPs, but honestly, if you don't want to read/write, what are you even doing on an RP site? What I see a lot of times is sheer laziness, and people who just wanna crank out as many posts as they can with no actual concept of what makes for a good, entertaining thread/character.. It's easy to forget, I think, that there's someone who needs to respond to what you're writing, and the less effort you put into your post, the less they're gonna give in return. That's not to say that people don't occasionally get long winded or showoffy with the length of their posts - but I'm so sick of seeing people complaining about not wanting to read that much, or saying they skipped someone's post. If you're not gonna put effort into your work, and that includes READING, then I'm not going to waist my time trying to RP with you.


2cents.

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Well, not much I can say here that hasn't already been said. But, because I haven't seem it in my quick skim I'd like to mention this. SHORT POSTS AND LONG POSTS BOTH HAVE THEIR PLACE. It's not even a matter of not having much to reply to, or matching your partners post length, either. Different events and actions merit different levels of detail in what you're doing, and, I don't mean something like... Sitting down only taking a word or two, that much is obvious. But rather... Difference in the character and/or of the scene. For example, a blazing, fast paced battle between two speedy, glass cannon characters should probably being going for five paragraphs a post. Sure, splurging out paragraphs of their thoughts and detailing their movements may seem like a good idea at the time, but, imo, all that will really do is take away from the impact of the scene. This is supposed to be a blazing dance of death! Two opponents throwing out and trading blows until one slips up and meets their death!


...And then you spend four-hundred words describing how amazing their plans are and how smart they felt when they thought of them on the toilet that morning and the mood of the post changes from that of a blazing rush of action, to a slow slog.

 

[Bone2pick]

I'm not sure generalizing about the skill or value of IC post length really goes anywhere without context. I need to see the example; I need to form my own opinion at a case by case level. I imagine most folks don't have a problem with five + paragraph posts when they're delivered skillfully. And if that's true, then the majority of complaints about excessive post length are skill related rather than word count related.

 

[Grey]

Quality trumps quantity, always. Length has nothing to do with skill; you can brute-force post length.

 

[Kylesar1]

Length isn't a decider of skill. I've seen 5 paragraph posts with 4 of them completely meaningless filler. However, one line posters are usually beginners or those with not much time


It's somewhat inbetween. That's why I'm usually following Casual rps. It doesn't require long posts like Detailed, but doesn't allow one-liners like Simple. I can long post if I want


Not even the best players have 3-5+ paragraphs in them on every post. If you start requiring long posts, you're gonna end up reading too much meaningless filler.


I am highly prone getting lazy and skimming if I see an essay per post, because in my experience they've ALWAYS had a lot of filler. Write what needs to be written and post it. If it's less than 3 paragraphs, then whatever. If it's 3+, then whatever. Just don't give me filler

 

[Bone2pick]

Quality trumps quantity, always.

I take it you view the two as competing?

 

[Capella]

I chose other. Here is my explanation.


I think the hardest skill to learn as a writer is how to write effectively/economically, which can translate to "how to deliver high quality writing in a small amount of space" or "how not to waste words". This is how I judge how "experienced" a writer is. Length indicates nothing to me. It doesn't intrigue me as much as how much "work" each sentence is doing. One well-written sentence from an effective writer can accomplish more than a paragraph from an average one.


As for role playing (I consider it to be different from writing even though writing is involved), I suppose length could signify how thoughtful one is being when it comes to contributing to the scene and plot. As previously mentioned, length could be character development or it could be fluff. When I role play, I care less about how well my partner writes and more about what they're putting into the plot/their character. What bores me most are people who are not confident with their ideas, who always make me shoulder the burden of carrying us forward, or who seldom seem to know what they want to do. In a word: passivity. It's very possible to be a good writer and a passive role player.


tl;dr:


Role playing skill is derived from the quality of one's thoughts.


Writing skill is derived from quality of one's diction.


Length is only sometimes a symptom of one's experience in either.

 

[Coward]

I always think RP writing should be treated similarly to writing a book, that is, write exactly how much you need to and not a single word more. Start as close to the action as possible, keep it tight and focused and move the plot forward with every single post. You wouldn't want to read a book where the characters stood around and pondered each action before taking it, so why make someone else read that to get to the bit they reply to? Or why describe some trivial part of the scene that your partner could easily have imagined themselves?


I find that a lot of what people consider to be 'detail' is actually useless crap that no one cares about, like the style of a persons hair or what type of windows a room has. If something in a scene is unusual or interesting then describe that. If it's completely normal then you can safely leave it out, because it will already be there in the mind of the reader.


There's always a sweet spot for length, and it might be ten paragraphs or a single line.