Warning: This is going to be long...GIFs are supplied to provide brief intermissions and momentary comedic relief.
Everyone has a personality. Everyone also has an RP personality. If I feel that one or both will not mesh well with mine, I will generally not RP with that someone. That is to save you, and myself, from one of two things that inevitably come from this kind of clash, whether intentional or not.
Regardless of whether or not it is a new or seasoned writer on the board, I check the profile and character list of the people that want to write with me. I check for three things:
If any of those questions involve the answer Yes, then I am sorry but we are not a good match to write together. Let me explain a little as to why. When I engage someone in a fight, or an RP story in general, I try my best to visualize exactly what is happening, what the characters are thinking, how they would logically respond in the Star Wars universe. I take into consideration that the basics of science, physics, and medicine are there, but in a Fantasy setting, where the Real World doesn't always equate. I try to visualize how a fight would be handled in the Star Wars movies, and TV show. Characters are able to take more hits than in real life, sustain injuries that would likely kill us in the real world, but yet, they still feel plausible because of the setting.
I take a lot of joy in seeing other characters react to something, whether that be words or strikes, and I have zero issue with getting my ass beaten to near death, so long as it makes sense and the other writer wasn't simply out to write a story where their character is some HULK and indestructible because of some odd armor they wear, or because they can simply think of a way to "get out of it" whenever an attack is made against them. Sure, Sera wears armor, but I treat it as a small little piece of the story to add more content to my posts. I don't try and powergame over another writer with it. I don't expect them to have to go and read all of my factory submissions to understand it, nor do I expect them to have a degree in physics. I don't want someone to feel like they need to read a document to understand how to RP with me. This is where a lot of problems arise for me, when certain writers decide that their gadgets and gizmos are more for "the win" than the writing, despite their best attempts to hide it as such. The worst offense of this was being told "If you want to hit me, you have to earn it, I don't give out hits." by a very prominent writer on this board. Well, that's a piss-poor attitude to take when you are writing "collaboratively" with others. If your character has to be backed into a wall, surrounded by 3,000 enemies, and Force Choked to take a single hit, the problem is with your writing, not the other way around.
It's not about being fair, it's about being sensible, and being respectful.
I could care less if the fight isn't fair. Seraphina has lost nearly every single fight she's ever been in despite now being a master. Why? I hope not because I am a terrible writer, but if so, then so be it, but because I enjoy writing with other people, seeing what happens, being understanding and being logical about the limitations of a fantasy setting, and imagining how it might happen if it were on the screen, not because I am wearing an armor that I wrote 30 posts for and now I am nearly untouchable. Once the thread and/or fight devolves into what I feel like is you simply showboating your tech and/or superior knowledge in a certain field of expertise, I'm done. I'll drop the thread quicker than a 100lb weight.
My RP personality doesn't mesh with that at all. So now you know. If I've offended you, chances are you are the type of personality that doesn't mesh with mine, and that's OK.
Everyone has a personality. Everyone also has an RP personality. If I feel that one or both will not mesh well with mine, I will generally not RP with that someone. That is to save you, and myself, from one of two things that inevitably come from this kind of clash, whether intentional or not.
- A thread stalls out and dies. I hate this. I hate doing it to others, and I really hate when it's done to me.
- OOC angst. I came back last month with determination to avoid this, and thus far have done a good job. I'd rather not ruin it.
Regardless of whether or not it is a new or seasoned writer on the board, I check the profile and character list of the people that want to write with me. I check for three things:
- Do I already know you?
- Do you have decent grammar (I don't want to try and decode your words, I understand English isn't a first language for 90% of the world but I have to be able to read your writing.)
- What is your writing style like?
- Does my partner write two sentence posts that give me vague details as to what their character is doing, and force me to drive the majority of the story?
- Does my partner write 3,000 word novels, performing a dozen actions while the environment and NPCs react, all the while my character is seemingly blissfully ignorant, thereby forcing me to supply details as to what she was doing for the past 5 minutes while all of these absolutes happened, meaning, I was unable to intervene because it was now in the past?
- When involved in a fight/duel is your character a seemingly invincible powerhouse, where I cannot use in-the-moment cues to determine how best to counteract your actions? Do I need to go to your factory submissions to determine a viable weakness, despite my character having no in-game knowledge of such? Do I need to both learn and utilize real-life physics, medical terminology, biology, and aerospace engineering in order to successfully write an RP duel? Are you about to ask for edits to a post because you felt the damage was insignificant? Do you refuse to allow your character to be harmed unless it is "earned"?
If any of those questions involve the answer Yes, then I am sorry but we are not a good match to write together. Let me explain a little as to why. When I engage someone in a fight, or an RP story in general, I try my best to visualize exactly what is happening, what the characters are thinking, how they would logically respond in the Star Wars universe. I take into consideration that the basics of science, physics, and medicine are there, but in a Fantasy setting, where the Real World doesn't always equate. I try to visualize how a fight would be handled in the Star Wars movies, and TV show. Characters are able to take more hits than in real life, sustain injuries that would likely kill us in the real world, but yet, they still feel plausible because of the setting.
I take a lot of joy in seeing other characters react to something, whether that be words or strikes, and I have zero issue with getting my ass beaten to near death, so long as it makes sense and the other writer wasn't simply out to write a story where their character is some HULK and indestructible because of some odd armor they wear, or because they can simply think of a way to "get out of it" whenever an attack is made against them. Sure, Sera wears armor, but I treat it as a small little piece of the story to add more content to my posts. I don't try and powergame over another writer with it. I don't expect them to have to go and read all of my factory submissions to understand it, nor do I expect them to have a degree in physics. I don't want someone to feel like they need to read a document to understand how to RP with me. This is where a lot of problems arise for me, when certain writers decide that their gadgets and gizmos are more for "the win" than the writing, despite their best attempts to hide it as such. The worst offense of this was being told "If you want to hit me, you have to earn it, I don't give out hits." by a very prominent writer on this board. Well, that's a piss-poor attitude to take when you are writing "collaboratively" with others. If your character has to be backed into a wall, surrounded by 3,000 enemies, and Force Choked to take a single hit, the problem is with your writing, not the other way around.
It's not about being fair, it's about being sensible, and being respectful.
I could care less if the fight isn't fair. Seraphina has lost nearly every single fight she's ever been in despite now being a master. Why? I hope not because I am a terrible writer, but if so, then so be it, but because I enjoy writing with other people, seeing what happens, being understanding and being logical about the limitations of a fantasy setting, and imagining how it might happen if it were on the screen, not because I am wearing an armor that I wrote 30 posts for and now I am nearly untouchable. Once the thread and/or fight devolves into what I feel like is you simply showboating your tech and/or superior knowledge in a certain field of expertise, I'm done. I'll drop the thread quicker than a 100lb weight.
My RP personality doesn't mesh with that at all. So now you know. If I've offended you, chances are you are the type of personality that doesn't mesh with mine, and that's OK.
