[Discussion] Player-Host Interactions

[Sethera]

So I was talking with Skaia earlier, and he mentioned something pretty interesting. I asked him why people start to post less in RPs and he said it's probably a combination of players wanting their characters to be in the spotlight and them not being in the spotlight for a while causes them to lose interest, as well as having nothing to do and not much to go off of in a world that's not theirs.

 

So then that made me think that it's super important for a host to have a solid idea of the world itself and where they want to go with it. Because I've seen times where the hosts sit back and tell players to "go at it" but then the players themselves don't really know what to do. The more the host has an idea of what to do and stuff, the better they are at conveying that stuff to the player, who will then have more information to draw from for when they post.

 

I had that problem myself with Forbidden Lands, since I was mainly going for a "less information at the start, more information as you go on" method, rather than my "post an info-dump in the OOC" method I used for Fire Emblem.

 

What I'm going for is for us to think more about this kind of stuff, and put all problem methods out there so we know what to avoid. To be honest, I'm the kind of person that puts more of the blame on the host for things not running well during the RP rather than the players, though I do realize that there are player-based problems too, such as laziness or not taking initiative. Overall, I think communication is key between hosts and players, but the best way to do that is the question.

 

I guess the point of this thread is I'm curious on some stuff. Is there a certain method you prefer as a host to make things easier? Have you noticed any problems with this? What about as a player? What bugs you about what some hosts do and what do you think they do right? What do you think you could do as a player to contribute as well?

[Mr. Hyde]

I think it's true that spotlight is usually spread out among hosts and cohosts mainly, and people's characters don't get time to shine.  Everybody wants to feel like they have an impact on a story, and it's really hard to do that with such a large cast.  I think more rp's should be strict about how many people get in.  Usually too much people means not enough spotlight to go around.  Characters get blended in and you can't really interact with everyone's characters at once.  You just feel like one in the crowd.  

 

I felt that way with Cherry Heart and Demon Blood.  To some extent I feel this way about Undertakers and Gijinka, although Gijinka has everybody doing their own different plot where they matter to that specific plot.  

 

I've tried to give the people in my Sonic rp a little special attention from time to time.  Hell, the first couple of posts my players characters were introduced, and even get to fight, one of the main villains mano y mano.  Teen Titans gives everyone their own little story ark from time to time.  .:Alive:. was really good about that too.  

 

All in all, I think hosts should be willing to stop shining the spotlight on their characters and aim it at others from time to time.  

[BANZAI!!!!]

Apologies in advance. Posting on mobile is hell so no proofreading from the Z man.

 

Couple things people need to keep in mind about roleplaying, in general but more speciically for how we do things here on YCM. I'm gonna be a little blunt, and people may not agree with my assesment of things, but this is generally how I see it.

 

Both the player and their character have roles to play in an Rp. Obviously, a player plays the role of their character(s), but something i guarantee that a lot of you are either unaware of or forget about is that a character has a role in an RP as well. For an RP, or any narrative really, to succeed (and for the record what we do on YCM is basically collaborative writing) each character has to serve a purpose and have a function. Theyre tools; parts of a machine, and each one needs to do a certain job to keep that metaphorical machine moving.

 

Players need to go into an RP with a relatively clear idea of what their character(s)' role is going to be. Part of this of course involves talking to the host about what ideas they have, and how that character can fit into those ideas. Open communication (which i don't always see enough of) is key. Figure out and define what purpose your character is going to serve in the overall narrative.

 

Now, here's where you might not like what I have to say.

 

That purpose isn't always (or ever, in some cases) going to be important or even relevant to the proceedings of the RP. Plain and simply, not all characters are created equal. Not every character in lord of the rings was a member of the fellowship, if you'll let me use an analogy. Its a fact that I think we as roleplayers try our best to ignore or circumvent, because we all want our characters to be important, but its a fact nonetheless.

 

What am I saying? Basically, we all need to be big boys and girls and know our roles, however important or miniscule, and play them. The RP itself should come before your character, and occasionally even your personal enjoyment. Sometimes posting is a chore and there's no way to avoid it.

 

Now of course, its the host's job to communicate this effectively and give players enough to work with. Like any good dungeon master in D&D, or any movie director worth his or her salt, its their job to flesh out the world and give their players enough good material to work with. Plain and simple, you need to be thorough, and be prepaired. Not to sound like im insulting players' intelligence when I say this, but players have trouble thinking for themselves. Theyre not in the host's head and they need at least some kind of direction almost constantly. To what degree and how said direction is given should vary, since its much more fun for a player to connect the dots themselves than it is to be told to go do something.

 

Tl;dr everyone in an RP needs to know what their job is, and be able to do it well. Its a team effort, and I think one of the problems YCM as a whole has is is that we put our own personal enjoyment and goals (and vicariously that of our characters) above telling a coherent narrative and keeping an rp going. To be blunt, if the only way for you to have fun is to be the star of the show, write a fic. We're all capable.

[Maeriberii Haan]

I firmly stand on the belief that a host, first and foremost, should act as a host in their RP, and should prioritize it before they act as an actual player joining in on the fun.

 

The host is the world, and the world is the host. NPCs, environment, events, every element of the roleplay that are not in the players' possession is how a host interacts with their players. If those are not established and the host did not bother to put anything on it, then the story ends up crumbling. We often believe that players, faced with supposed "infinite possibilities" and open choices would be able to craft their own answer, but the fact is, the world mainly resides on the host's head. Too much freedom is restricting, and thus, nothing will come from it.

 

Establishing this kind of interaction between players and the host is a responsibility one must wholly aware and gladly accept when they chose to be a host. RP is not a preprogrammed game, and RP doesn't have a gamebook either. Without the host, it won't run itself. If the host can't be bothered to play the world and only want to play their characters, then they shouldn't even bother hosting an RP in the first place.

 

RE: Causes of players not posting. RL issues and laziness aside, there are usually several reasons why they don't post, and mostly, hosts contribute a lot in either fixing it or causing it.

 

1. Getting burned out: Perhaps it's because something or an arc or a scene has run way too long from its supposed timeslot, or maybe it's because there are many "climaxes" happening that follows each other with barely any room for breathing. Don't be afraid to cut things short (although anticlimax is another issue entirely), make sure that the players have room for breathing and lowering the tension after the bombards of revelations or battles, and of course, try figuring something that could make them look forward to continuing, whether it's a promising next arc, or anything similar.
2. Confusion or getting stuck. Facing a puzzle or boss (ones that need to actually got its vulnerabilities figured out/something similar. Usually though, boss battles ends up getting to point no. 1) usually, or when a host post had a lot of things happening and the players left in an awkward place to post again. The former is easily fixed by giving nudges whether it's covert or overt, towards the supposed right answer. Note that you, even if it's supposed to be something for your players to use their head for, are not making this a test or making this a punishment for them. In the end what's important is the RP continuing. However, mind that it's still a challenge so don't make those nudges cheap or people will just lose interest. The latter, on the other hand, requires good communication between host and players, and things like OOC clarification, and nudges on what would you expect for them to post.
3. Relevance. "Oh, there's no one interacting with my character." or "Oh, the current situation doesn't really force me to post." or anything similar. The players felt that there is no need to post for the time being. In which case, it's either them losing interest, the situation being something that isn't stimulating them to post, or their character getting ignored, either by the players or by the host too. Make the situations you're giving your players with actually something that warrants response from all of them due to a sense of urgency or anything similar (laziness can also be handled this way. Make situations that will give penalties to someone's character when they're start getting lazy for laziness' sake), and if there's a character that is left out and alone, if the setting, timing, and situation makes it possible, it's your job as a host to make sure they have something to do. Usually, it's either the character is a loner, or the player is relatively new or still feeling awkward on interacting with others, so it's best to make them feel at home...by throwing them into a mess.
4. Having nothing to do. This is covered in the above point, however, an addendum is necessary. It is best to give your players as much details you can spare that you think will be important. Give them tangible choices. Make sure you have an idea on where they're supposed to go next. If things are getting too calm, put some spices into the scene. Basically, give them something to do in the immediate moment AND make sure that they are aware that they can do things now.
5. Spotlight. "My character isn't important anyway, so I don't really feel like posting since it won't do anything."

Alright, first things first. That mentality has to go. You're playing into the role of your character here. They're your hero. So what if they're not the chosen ones? So what if your character's doomed for the sideline in the final battle? They have their own story to tell. If the spotlight won't shine on your character when you want it to, go steal it! They can have subplots, they can do things, things that will matter in the main plot no matter how linear and rigid the narrative structure of the RP is. They can make impacts, and unless the host is really incompetent and selfish, the only one dooming them to irrelevance is you. You're the one that chose to play them as overly passive in the first place. The world won't revolve around your character if you don't actively push for it.

 

Back to the discussion. While this is something that I feel to be mostly on the players to deal with, of course, hosts can do something regarding this, however it depends on the structure of the roleplay itself. Say, if we're talking about any of the usual Superpowers RP. Everyone, not counting villains, are starting in a relatively equal standing while say, any given 5Ds RP would have the cast be unequal from the very beginning, since Signers seat are limited and not everyone can be one. In the former, I feel like spotlight should really depend on the characters' own actions rather than something the host should actively influence. Of course a situation where everyone fights for that spotlight is the worse case scenario, but that's where host comes in to control things. Being left out is a bigger issue here, so, outside of other things that I have mentioned in the previous points, it is imperative for hosts to acknowledge their players' posts at the very least. Not just by reading them, but make those posts actually matter. Incorporate them into your posts, respond to them if necessary, make sure that the posts actually exist in the narrative line. From there, maybe something like the occasional character-driven miniarc works, but make sure not to put someone into too much spotlight, either.

 

For the latter type of RPs where inequality exists, acknowledgement is still something important to keep. Here, it is important to play to the assigned roles, even if one is more important than the other. However, in a point that probably doesn't follow Zai's point, the most major thing from a roleplay is the experience of, well, playing a role. As much as we talk about working on a coherent narrative being something important, it's playing the characters that are the main draw of RPs, and what keeps people motivated to keep posting. Thus, I believe that even the most irrelevant character should have a chance in actually affecting the narrative line in a significant-ish way. Overly rigid structure, especially when it becomes painfully apparent, discourages people from posting because predestination makes them have nothing much to look forward to aside from additional percentage from the progress bar. Supporting players should be acknowledged, and they deserve some degree of potential influence since players are the most important asset of an RP. As long as they're actively keeping their interest and actually doing things, they deserve the occasional spotlight.

 

On the flipside, attention whores should pretty much get knocked down several notches. As much as you're playing your own story, the other players have their own stories to tell too. While the host should make players matter in the grand scheme of things, giving them too much influence outside of what would make sense is really a bad thing for obvious reasons. So pretty much just strike a balance. It's more on the players' side this time though. Agreeing with Zai on this, it's an issue if all you can think of is on how to hog the spotlight for yourself all the time.

 

 

An addendum: I feel like the biggest interaction between hosts and players, although it's not always applicable and can be hard or complicated to do, is to integrate the characters into the story. Makes them feel more important, and thus, they have more inclination to be invested in the RP. We all have that kind of thirst of acknowledgement, really.

 

But well, that's all really for now. Getting really late here and I can't think straight anymore. Will probably post again here later.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

It's a two way street. Hosts need to talk to their players and make sure there's things for them to do. However. When a player feels there isn't anything to do, or they are confused as to what to do, they need to talk to the host.

 

Too many times I've seen people just stop posting because they didn't feel like they had something to do. Instead of asking the host about things. A host can't be perfect. They won't always be able to fit everyone into everything. The main job, imo, is to keep the RP as a whole flowing and to open up opportunities when they can.

 

When you believe there isn't something you can do, ask around, figure out what others are doing/planning, work with the host to discover something you can do. Get more information.

GET MORE INFORMATION.

Really, this is big. If you can't post then that's mostly because of a lack of information that would allow you to do something. (Though I'm of the belief there's always something you can do) And with a few simple questions you can suddenly go from no post to several hundred words just like that.

 

A big flaw I see people do is less "I don't have anything to do" and more "I don't have anything super cool/important to do". People often have it in their heads that if each post isn't making a major change, or doesn't let their character do something "awesome", then it's not worth doing. But if everyone has this mentality nothing ever will get done.

 

So basically. Talk with the others in the RP, and especially ask the host things when you're stuck. Don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs because you don't see anything important to do.