solution: redesigns that give everyone bootyshorts

[socksuke_uchiha]

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Comments

Hooky tags without making your character seem too volatile?

[(Anonymous)]

It's been a long time since I've RPed, though I've written the whole time and I think I'm a pretty good writer. A problem with the genre I've been having is that I know it is important to make sure that each tag gives the other player a hook or something interesting to do in response.

But sometimes I've been feeling like that means that the character is just doing too much. Maybe this is because some of the people I've been roleplaying with haven't been very good at moving the narrative along in their tags, but I feel like my character is like, coming to realizations/reacting strongly/doing something engaging so frequently that I worry that he just seems excessively volatile as a person.

Everything is consistent with what I feel is his characterization and the situations he's found himself in is intense--just like, what takes a couple tags to get to would take me thousands of words in a fic.

Am I overthinking this? How do y'all think about pacing in RP?

[(Anonymous)]

I think you're probably overthinking it a bit too much, but it's just as likely to be a culmination of factors, the most prominent of which you've already mentioned — the fact that some of the people you've been playing against haven't been very good at moving the narrative along in their tags. That said! Whilst there are RPers who aren't very good at this at all, there's also, based on the fact that you've said 'important to make sure that each tag gives the other player a hook or something interesting to do in response', the possibility that you're trying to do too much each and every tag.

The question you might need to ask yourself is: are the people you're playing against bad at moving the scene on or are they not moving it on enough for you each tag? If it's the latter, then there's probably a little more balance to be struck.

Without seeing your threads or your writing, it's hard to give an entirely accurate read on the issue you're encountering but if you're in a game, it might be worth opening OOC communication to a couple of players and ask their perspective on it (or if you've memed/PSLed with some people you're comfortable opening OOC communication with).

Personally, I find it can be a little hit and miss and I know I don't always get the balance right, but it also depends on who I'm playing against. Some RPers require more handholding to move things along, others don't and it's a delight when you end up playing with someone you just click with in terms of pacing (and writing in general), but it's not something that has a 'one size fits all' answer to it by any stretch of the imagination.

Re: Hooky tags without making your character seem too volatile?

[(Anonymous)]

i feel your struggle, it seems like most players are really bad about keeping things moving. it's just easier to react than it is to active push things forward.

but i think it'd help to remember that not every tag needs to have a "significant" hook. for most people, "hook" just means something easy to respond to. if the dialogue that spawns naturally from the interaction gives the other character something to react to then you're good. i think you only really need to worry about artificially adding some greater hook if your character goes silent or gets really curt about a subject or something.

and if you're worried about making your character seem to volatile, you could also use the setting and random npcs to provide some hooks. take some of the burden of being "engaging" off your character and give it to something else instead. prompt your characters to hurry inside by having it start to rain, break up a mundane conversation with a random pickpocket, whatever suits your situation.

Re: Hooky tags without making your character seem too volatile?

[(Anonymous)]

i'm going to be honest, this post reads kind of like a humblebrag