Bad Form (Subjective)

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MonkeyPants4736
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Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby MonkeyPants4736 » Wed May 17, 2017 9:16 pm

We've all seen examples of immersion breaking posts by characters, or other post that simply feel like bad form in this type of game. This might range from god modding to a seemingly intentional neglect of grammar.

What's an example of "bad form" that irks you, and what might the other player have done differently that would have been more beneficial to the scene?

(If posting specific events as example, please be nice by not calling out offending characters by name as the aim is not to bash anyone but rather to both rant and give constructive criticism).
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Ahrta
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Ahrta » Wed May 17, 2017 10:26 pm

Texting shorthand.....

R U ok? Y U mad? ......makes me want to reach through the screen and slap the offender
What can be done better? Just don't do it.....just don't, please.
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MattWithoos
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby MattWithoos » Wed May 17, 2017 10:54 pm

Don't judge me but this is a really minor one: capitalising the first letter of an emote/RP. I won't hate the person if they do it, but I just personally consider it bad form. I like lower case *emotes* because they flow with he sentence, they're not a new sentence imo.
Millhouse
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Millhouse » Thu May 18, 2017 1:51 am

I'm far from being a RP snob, but there are things that irk me. OOC rants are the worst. Nothing will make me want to write of another character completely like a damned OOC rant.

Grammar and punctuation (and to a certain extent spelling) are pretty important, too. We all make mistakes and nobody expects perfectly executed grammar but when there's not even an attempt at it, it's pretty frustrating.

Reusing the same or very similar names for all your characters. Especially when they are pretty much played identically.

I realize I'm just ranting here and not providing much in the way of "how to fix that". Like Ahrta said just... don't do that.
Hommer
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Hommer » Thu May 18, 2017 2:04 am

Millhouse wrote:I'm far from being a RP snob, but there are things that irk me. OOC rants are the worst. Nothing will make me want to write of another character completely like a damned OOC rant.

Grammar and punctuation (and to a certain extent spelling) are pretty important, too. We all make mistakes and nobody expects perfectly executed grammar but when there's not even an attempt at it, it's pretty frustrating.

Reusing the same or very similar names for all your characters. Especially when they are pretty much played identically.

I realize I'm just ranting here and not providing much in the way of "how to fix that". Like Ahrta said just... don't do that.



Im kinda chuckling at that last part of the names and what they used to do
(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(" )_(" ) signature to help him gain world domination.

5211-1.20: You skillfully kill a hawk using a brand new screwdriver.
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Snowdrop
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Snowdrop » Thu May 18, 2017 3:12 am

Millhouse wrote:Grammar and punctuation...when there's not even an attempt at it, it's pretty frustrating.

Reusing the same or very similar names for all your characters. Especially when they are pretty much played identically.

Absolutely! This really does my nut in too. It's just plain laziness in both cases. As for the txt spk Ahrta mentioned, I don't feel that even has a place in modern day texting - it's not necessary with predictive text. I can't help but think it must actually be more difficult and time-consuming these days?
Those things all seem to be becoming very common in game in recent times and it is really draining away my enjoyment and desire to play.


Millhouse wrote:I realize I'm just ranting here and not providing much in the way of "how to fix that". Like Ahrta said just... don't do that.

Let me offer a fix: pay attention in school, kids, so you learn some basics for writing :wink: And if you're already out of school, then pick up some good books (second hand from a charity shop is a cheap way, and helps others at the same time!) and give them a read. No, not the trashy rubbish like Fifty Shades, something proper :P

And for the similar character issues: take a notepad and pen to a local coffee shop, buy yourself a drink and sit in a corner by the window, where you can people watch both inside and out. Jot down observations about interesting styles (hair, clothes) and mannerisms, little quirks you notice. Just all those things that make every person unique.
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Ahrta
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Ahrta » Thu May 18, 2017 4:47 am

Another thing that ...well not sure if its bad form....but it is boring form...

Perfect characters.....
give 'em some flaws, flaws make us interesting....bad temper, phobias, shy, bad memory, a crazy dislike of the color green....something!
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nateflory
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby nateflory » Thu May 18, 2017 12:32 pm

Most of my "peeves" were listed above, with good suggestions to resolve them.

However, one that tends to throw my brain off-track is newspawns who seem to have an uncanny knowledge of towns simply by looking at a map. Granted, it's more "CRB" than "bad form" to mention this town or that's excellent trading as opposed to this other towns dogmatic culture, when you literally spawned less than one year ago and never left town, nor heard such things said out loud that my char overheard... ;)

But then again, I totally have accidentally done something similar when thinking I was playing CharacterA, instead of NewSpawnB.
How to avoid? Drink more coffee (or less scotch) and pay attention to who you are logged into, I guess? :P
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Snowdrop
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Snowdrop » Thu May 18, 2017 12:46 pm

Oh, you've just reminded me of another...

Newspawns that act like the town laws are ridiculous right from the moment they spawn, when they haven't been anywhere else or even spoken to anyone from another place. I'm not even talking about a set of laws that are completely out-there, just ones that aren't the exact same as about 90% of towns :| At least wait until your character has lived with the laws for one Cantrian year before you start criticising them! Play along with the little idiosyncrasies of the existing citizens, it's all your character knows at first! :roll: And then maybe you'll learn a bit about why they are like that.
thamior757
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby thamior757 » Thu May 18, 2017 12:53 pm

The thing that really boils my bananas is a flurry of speech from one character, such when multiple sentences are all posted independently, all meant for the same conversation. It makes it very difficult to interact with, respond to, and generally know when it's done. I understand there are instances where this is fine. I do it myself if I have two or more conversation to keep them seperate. But when it is:

"Where is the stone?"
"How much stone can I have"
"I'll just take a kilo I think"
"I might need more, should I get it later or now?"
"I really want to start on this bench"

That makes me want to pull my armhair out. The solution is simple. Condense your actions into a block that somebody can reasonably reply to. Or give some indication that you are going to keep talking so that I know there is a foreseeable conclusion to which I'll be able to respond. Especially when I do long speeches or something, I try to tack on an emote at the end to let other players know I'm not expecting them to reapond quite yet.

Condensing just really helps remove splinter conversations, which are also not fun. If I responded to even two of the lines mentioned above, imagine how many other directions that conversation could go. All at the same time. Before I can respond.

*collapsed from weight of rant*
Circumlocution built under her expectant gaze, her lips ushering a soft sigh. He resigned, face flush. Next up ordered a venti latte.
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Ahrta
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Ahrta » Thu May 18, 2017 1:37 pm

thamior757 wrote:The thing that really boils my bananas is a flurry of speech from one character, such when multiple sentences are all posted independently, all meant for the same conversation. It makes it very difficult to interact with, respond to, and generally know when it's done. I understand there are instances where this is fine. I do it myself if I have two or more conversation to keep them seperate. But when it is:

"Where is the stone?"
"How much stone can I have"
"I'll just take a kilo I think"
"I might need more, should I get it later or now?"
"I really want to start on this bench"



Ummmmmmmm...... I am totally guilty of this on one of my characters( ok, maybe two?), especially when she gets excited and her brain goes off in ten directions at once and her mental filters get short circuited....hehe..... she will verbalize every little thought going through her head often at rapid speed and short bursts
thamior757
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby thamior757 » Thu May 18, 2017 2:15 pm

Ahrta wrote:
Ummmmmmmm...... I am totally guilty of this on one of my characters( ok, maybe two?), especially when she gets excited and her brain goes off in ten directions at once and her mental filters get short circuited....hehe..... she will verbalize every little thought going through her head often at rapid speed and short bursts


Nooooo!

Ahem. Again, I understand how this can sometimes fit, and is certainly something that works with characters personalities. But, as a player, it can be really hard to respond to this. I just feel you can get the same frantic feel, and still condense it all into a single post. I could be alone in my feelings on this.
Circumlocution built under her expectant gaze, her lips ushering a soft sigh. He resigned, face flush. Next up ordered a venti latte.
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Snowdrop
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Snowdrop » Thu May 18, 2017 8:14 pm

I get what you're saying thamior, I struggle with that sometimes too. Mostly when it's a flurry of questions and I'm stuck with using my phone - though it can still be a pain to keep up with on the computer. On my phone, I might open a character up to see one question, go through the long process of answering that (my phone is kinda slow) to then find half a dozen more waiting for me. Then it often seems that by the time I've typed another reply answering all of those ones, the other character (or usually I get the feeling it's the impatience of its player) will be asking why I only answered that first one and start asking all the others again! :roll:

One of mine recently told someone to calm down because they were getting confused by so many questions all at once...it totally would get that particular character flustered, but to be honest, I was as well! I'm waiting for it to happen near one of my meaner characters so I can just slap the guilty fool instead! :twisted:

Certainly sometimes, with some characters, it can be done well to show off a fidgety, excitable personality. I think in those cases, it usually starts with an emote hinting that there might be several more lines following, then ends with another emote signalling that they've finished reeling off their multitude of thoughts/queries and are now awaiting a response (or not, if they were just simple ramblings of the mind!)
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MattWithoos
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby MattWithoos » Fri May 19, 2017 2:37 pm

I've got another one!

There's a vehicle near one of my characters called "a man in his twenties".

While it's funny seeing someone "enter a man in his twenties", it's an entirely OOC joke, and thus an OOC motivation for naming it... there is no good in-game reason for it.
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Snowdrop
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Re: Bad Form (Subjective)

Postby Snowdrop » Fri May 19, 2017 3:28 pm

I doubt that the OOC reasons for that are down to jokes related to 'entering' it, Matt. More likely that they want the vehicle to pass through towns disguised as just a person:
5437-4.16: You see a man in his twenties arriving in Town, coming from expressway to Another Town.
5437-4:17: You see a man in his twenties leaving Town, taking expressway to That Other Town.

Which, actually, is worse than the joke...

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