RP Discussion: RP Pitfalls

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

So the idea behind this is things in RP that people often fall into that cause problems within the RP in terms of keeping it alive, and more specifically, makes it harder to write your characters. I'd like to see you all come up with some problems you, and other RPers, can have in terms of this. And discuss how important/unimportant they are. And how to fix these issues and avoid them.

 

To kick things off, and further explain what I mean, here's some examples I was thinking of. Keep in mind you may disagree with these and if so, certainly explain why, just putting out some ideas.

 

Making characters reliant on others: This one sounds weird given the idea of RP. But I've seen it several times where people make characters that need another RPer to really function fully. This can be good, but if one person falls behind, it can cause issues that can lead to disinterest in writing the characters. This can be partially solved by making sure your characters can stand on their own without their "pair".

 

Focusing too much on "What can I respond to?": Part of what makes RPs great is that you can almost always do something. As long as you have permission of course. Don't have much going on? Make something, speak to someone, do an action. It doesn't have to be grand but even small things can lead to fun interactions and events. Which leads me into...

 

Worrying about length of post: Beyond the Advance Clause thing, people think too often that they need to write a lot to post, this can often make RPs stagnant and make it harder for the character to get into things once there's more to do.

 

Gimmicks and/or joke characters: This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you end up having your character's "gimmick" being the main thing about them each post, it gets dull, you lose interest, and it becomes harder to do anything besides that gimmick. And joke characters even more so. Does a character who can't move and has to be transported around by others sound amusing? Sure, but, it sure makes it hard to play.

Now this isn't set in stone and people CAN pull it off, and there are times and places for it, but it's difficult, and in the long run gimmick characters tend to be some of the first to be lost interest in.

 

Spur of the moment decisions: Huge one imo is that people will see something, go "I want to do this" and not think it through, and then make a character revolving around that one idea. If done poorly it can lead into, similarly to the above, gimmicks. And often by the time the actual RP is underway you've lost interest in whatever made you decide to write this character.

 

Forcing traits: Another big one I've noticed in YCM specifically is people who NEED to have certain traits in every character. Some can pull it off and it can be a fun quirky thing, but in many cases it becomes limiting, and forced, and just doesn't feel right in the setting. I am of the opinion that if people did this less they'd stay interested in their characters longer. Because you wouldn't be able to say "Well this one is a lot like them anyway".

[VCR_CAT]

"Me! Me! Me!"

It's super easy to get caught up in wanting your character to be the coolest, baddest mf around. Everyone wants their character to stand out and be special in their own way; but when too many people are too focused on their own characters and what can make them look better, then who's RPing with each other? Don't just focus on your own character; think of what interactions they can make and how this can grow them. While an RP can become quickly stagnant when everyone's looking out for #1, nothing makes an RP better when writers are working together to make their character interactions and growth as good as they can be.

[Hakima]

Differentiating an attack on you, and an attack on your character
Everyone, with some exceptions, loves their characters. Whether you love to watch them triumph, or struggle, or even just completely fall apart, there's something about them that you enjoy because they're a part of you. It's easy to get attached. Which is why sometimes people have trouble differentiating between an attack on their character in the IC--by another character in the IC--and an attack on them personally. It might not sound that common, but I've seen cases where someone will get angry at me because in the IC my character has done something to belittle or spite them.

 

Of course, sometimes it really can be an attack on you. When someone just has their character completely despise yours for no real reason, it might be because they have a problem with you, but don't ever jump to that. A crucial part of an RP's success lies with the cast being able to get along IC as well as OOC.

[Dova]

Not fleshing out the whole thing

Yes, RPs by definition are deeply influenced by those other than the host/creator, however a main plot and events within should be fully though out. This is something I am guilty of, and something I've seen in many other RPs not on this site, with the original creator having a good base but then not being sure where to go next. Again, characters could influence this deeply, but an end of some sort should be in sight, with the road in between at least predicted.

[Makο]

Making your character too self-reliant.

 

This one also sounds weird, doesn't it? But it's a problem I tend to have when writing characters and doing things, wherein I tend to make my character completely self-motivated and self-conversational in such a way that there's rarely a logical reason to have him interact with others. He/She'll end up isolated from the rest of the cast, going about and doing their own thing without even making note of the actions of other characters. While it might be easier to be gallivanting around, doing your own thing, RPs are places of interaction, and interaction should be done.

 

Also, am I the only one who finds post-limit lengths entirely unnecessary? I understand the point behind them, but the problem is, by disallowing very short posts, you make certain interactions and events difficult for the player, and it's not like the Host/Co-Hosts can't moderate post-length manually.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Not leaving room for growth

Arguably the biggest problem with Mary Sue-esque characters (beyond taking attention away from others) is that they become less and less interesting as time goes on. While other characters overcome hurdles, gain new capabilities, and show the parts of themselves that were initially hidden, a character made without foresight will be left behind, becoming increasingly boring.

[Sethera]

Gimmicks and/or joke characters

Funnily enough this is the one I fall under the most for (for RP characters, that is). Since my style for making them is checklist: like, checking off "tsundere, sadistic, gourmet, romantic, etc." I have a list of traits I want to use at some point in a character so I tend to make a character revolve around a specific trait. So then I can get carried away and that becomes the biggest part of their character. If I get the chance to write them more though, they start to develop beyond that.

 

I don't have this problem with story characters since I design them differently. I suppose I could try using that way for RP characters but I'm a bit lazy, plus RP for me is a place where I can try out ideas I haven't tried yet. It's more experimental.

[Dad]

Self Character Romances

 

I do this a lot.  And admittedly I think it's friggin' adorable, but it can be awkward or deterring for other posters if it's forced or rushed.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Self Character Romances

 

I do this a lot.  And admittedly I think it's friggin' adorable, but it can be awkward or deterring for other posters if it's forced or rushed.

By which you mean romancing two of your own characters?

[Dad]

By which you mean romancing two of your own characters?

 

Precisely.  It's hard to pull it off and I'm pretty sure both times up until now I've failed.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Self Character Romances

 

I do this a lot.  And admittedly I think it's friggin' adorable, but it can be awkward or deterring for other posters if it's forced or rushed.

Did this once, gets really forced, derailed everything.

 

No regrets.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

These are all good, I can see a lot of them having issues. Now the hard part.

Best way to avoid them OR make them work? Go!

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

These are all good, I can see a lot of them having issues. Now the hard part.

Best way to avoid them OR make them work? Go!

TALK.

 

A lot of these stem from poor planning with others. If you want to do something specific with your character, funking tell everyone else what you are doing. They may be able to help and cooperate, or if they don't like it, they can let you know before you derail the whole thing.

[Aix]

Not leaving room for growth

Arguably the biggest problem with Mary Sue-esque characters (beyond taking attention away from others) is that they become less and less interesting as time goes on. While other characters overcome hurdles, gain new capabilities, and show the parts of themselves that were initially hidden, a character made without foresight will be left behind, becoming increasingly boring.

implying RPs go long enough for character development

 

These are all good, I can see a lot of them having issues. Now the hard part.

Best way to avoid them OR make them work? Go!

I dunno, avoiding these is pretty much explained. Mostly, it's that we don't really notice we're falling into these pitfalls.

[King K. Azo]

These are all good, I can see a lot of them having issues. Now the hard part.

Best way to avoid them OR make them work? Go!

TALK.

 

A lot of these stem from poor planning with others. If you want to do something specific with your character, f***ing tell everyone else what you are doing. They may be able to help and cooperate, or if they don't like it, they can let you know before you derail the whole thing.

I'm in full agreement that we should talk and plan things, especially if you are planning something specific. However, all the talking in the world doesn't help if people don't actually listen. I've ran into that quite a few times.

 

Rule of thumb. Talk to people and actually listen if they talk back or if they also have an idea.

 

Also, don't spam the chat with pointless things. We are all friends and we can talk about our days and things. However, going into thirty minutes to sometimes hour tangents on LoL or Touhou or about how 'pure and great yuri lolis' is not okay. It makes it harder to find the conversations you want in the history, and honestly, not everyone wants to hear about it in the present.

 

Get a different group chat or talk about that in private.

 

Also, don't be like Saikazo and be a little jabroni. Being a jabroni is never a good thing.

[Maeriberii Haan]

I'd say a bigger issue is if important talks are only done in chats.

 

It's easier, but makes a big part of it unaccessible reliably. Spam isn't an issue if done on a downtime, it's only an issue if there's important talk happening at the time or nearby.

 

It doesn't really feel like it should affect RPs much tbh. If important information is lost in the sea of spam, then it's their fault for not posting it in OOC.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

I would agree that spam in chats only is a Pitfall when it goes over an actual discussion. There's plenty of times there's nothing going on.

The best thing imo to handle this is, if you have something important, and it's getting drowned out, PM the host and they can put a stop to the chat.

Cause people tend to listen when the host says that something important needs to be discussed.

[VCR_CAT]

I just want to add to my whole "ME ME ME" thing, because I've seen this happen too many times and it's really, really poor RP etiquette.

 

People want their characters to interact with others, and there's a lot of ways to kick-start that. Here's two examples of a "Do" and a "Don't":

 

Do:

Approach another character and start a conversation like any other person, or intervene in an action sequence that directly addresses someone else. Take the initiative and approach someone else.

 

Don't:

Do something big and flashy and expect others to notice and address you; wait for people to approach your character.

 

I mean, in all honesty, I've seen at least one RP completely die because the host didn't understand this. We had some intro character interactions to break the ice, and all he did was have his character announce some statement to nobody in particular out loud. Then he got super pissy at us because nobody was interacting with his character.

 

It kills motivation when your character isn't interacting with others, but kind for real life this statement stands true for RP's as well:

 

Be interested, not interesting.

 

To sum this up, prioritize others and learning about them and interacting with them over making your own stuff appealing to be interacted with. This helps RPs a lot because it helps build amazing interactions. One RP I'm in is one of the best I've been in in a while because everyone's riding on this idea; of having our character's growths and interactions depend on each other rather than be self-enclosed. It gets absolutely stellar from a characterization and from a story standpoint, and some real feels start getting pulled out when the big scenes get played out.

[King K. Azo]

Also, don't spam the chat with pointless things. We are all friends and we can talk about our days and things. However, going into thirty minutes to sometimes hour tangents on LoL or Touhou or about how 'pure and great yuri lolis is' is not okay. It makes it harder to find the conversations you want in the history, and honestly, not everyone wants to hear about it in the present.

 

Get a different group chat or talk about that in private.

 

Also, don't be like Saikazo and be a little b****. Being a b**** is never a good thing.

 

I feel I should be a little more clear about this, and not sound as spiteful.

 

It's okay to go off topic. It's okay to have friends in rp chats, show videos, talk, and other things. But when you start to fill the chat with a conversation between two or three people that no one really cares about, then isn't it better to get your own chat at that point?

 

And not being a b**** like Saikazo is still very relevant. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

Because stuffs like that are spur of the moment deal? Maybe it's because them having the people to talk only on that chat, and figuring that making its own chat would be excessive in the long run.

 

It's only an issue if it's between the same bunch of people in a discussion that is only accessible to them, if it happens in inappropriate time, and if it happens really often.

 

Even then, I don't really see it as a pitfall. While some people prefers slower chats, fast chats with a lot of character talks or rp talk is more discouraging than spam imo.