Emoting in the past tense

[Mykey]

In it something is. Earlier I thought differently, many thanks for the information.

[Mykey]

Has casually found today this forum and it was specially registered to participate in discussion.

[Doug R.]

I made a poll. Yay for me.

http://www.cantr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10669

[Missy]

If you want to have your character notice someone but he has to stop doing something first...


For example, *He looked up, TO notice* You have to have past tense. He looked up in-order to notice what is going. It still happened when it happened and when it happened it was present. As soon as he started noticing, looking up had become looked.

[Doug R.]

I and others have already made my case. For me, this is a matter of what is natural. It's about how reading it makes me feel. There is no way that you can change my mind, and apparently no way I can change yours, so I'll step aside and let others voice their opinions.

[Mykey]

It can be discussed infinitely

[Black Canyon]

Well, perhaps it is difference in thinking styles. Although I use present tense generally to adapt to the majority, when a character that uses past tense comes along, it reads like the most natural thing in the world to me. Maybe because I do kind of think of it all like one big novel.

In addition, because the roleplayers who do use past tense tend to be very talented (my opinion), the last thing I am inclined to do is quibble over it. I am so thankful that we still have some creative minds in this game that I can learn from, I say let it be!

[Phalynx]

It really really hurts me to say it but I am with Doug on this one!

I see the pages of cantr as a log not a narration.

IE:at time stamp X.XX you see something happen
NOT: at timestamp some thing happened.

The latter puts you outside what happened, as if you character was not there but is tolds about it.

It comes down as to whether you believe your characters are aware whilst you are not logged in (sometimes referred to as sleep).

If you believe your character switches of and needs some external voice to tell them what happened while asleep the past tense is fine (although thats a bizarre logic to me).
If however you occupy the mind of the character and experience it as it happens, the past tense becomes clunky and can be confused with a other character telling you what happened.

[SekoETC]

I tend to write in present tense mostly but as some major players tend to use past tense (at least in big blocks of text) it can make me slip. I keep switching back and forth... Usually it's present tense but in some cases it looks cooler, especially in private moments.

In general, present tense is good for the short ones like *smiles*, but when the texts get longer, present tense gets heavy to read. How many books in real life are written in present tense? Not a very large proportion. So when speaking of using past tense in Cantr, I usually connect it to detailed long postings, which are, as Missy mentioned, rarely for the public.

"She smiled, gleeping the giddery mungles of her dungan pareille". (And the example is complete mumbo-jumbo but resembling English and it flows beautifully, in my opinion.)

As I sometimes see it fit for descriptions, the problem people have might actually be directed at seeing blocks of narration in the game, since it's not a novel. But actually I wouldn't mind if it were. Maybe the people who hate it are also people who don't read books and only emote in oneliners?

I am appalled that such a thing could be seen a problem and the people who are siding with Doug (and of course Doug himself, although I generally consider him a nice guy) certainly go down a notch on my list.

[Mykey]

I apologise that, I can help nothing. But it is assured, that you will find the correct decision. Do not despair.

[Missy]

Im offended is what I am. It bothers me that you have a problem with this, as much as it bothers you to see it. Five years of playing and your the first person to have ever said that this type of rp bothers them. So for five years of playing and being told I have some of the most realistic characters, I'm supposed to suddenly change my playing style (which would indeed bother me and hinder making realistic characters,) so you're not annoyed by it? And you want to prevent people from doing it, when it happens to appeal to my senses and likely other peoples.

I couldn't stop using past tense if I tried. It often makes a character appear differently if you use past tense rather than present tense. I use them both.

And the fact you have such a problem with it makes me feel like crawling into a hole and crying. Seriously.

~Not~ that I don't understand where you're coming from. Because I have a problem myself with certain ways people do things. In fact I have a problem when someone says *I touch you.* rather than using he/she or him/her. Or when they say *She looks up at you.* That shit just doesn't float well with me.

And that's totally in relation I suppose as to why I rather past tense at times. I rather be disassociated with my characters actions and I don't want some player thinking that if they say *She smiles* To my character that they're actually smiling to me because I see it. I don't like to think in real time so much because I want others to think of the character and not the player behind it. Narrative form makes me feel more at ease.



Like BC said, to me it reads better sometimes.


And Phalynx, it actually bothers me from here to high heaven to talk to someone and it's a day before their character logs on, they pretend like they never heard it due to sleep. That irritates me to no end.

[Doug R.]

I am appalled that such a thing could be seen a problem and the people who are siding with Doug (and of course Doug himself, although I generally consider him a nice guy) certainly go down a notch on my list.

Wow, that's just bigoted. So, because I "become" my characters and "live" them in the present, I'm now some kind of substandard person?

Did I once say that the players that do this are somehow defective? No. But now I am for expressing my opinion. Thank you Seko, you've dropped a notch on my list too.

[Phalynx]

He He He...

at least I can't drop a notch on anyone's list!

[Mykey]

In it something is. Earlier I thought differently, many thanks for the help in this question.

[wichita]

*rushed off to implement vehicle fuel while they were distracted*