Roleplay Forum Questions and Suggestions

[Kain Aerostrough]

Ok, ok, ok. I can see what you're getting at. But isn't 75 words a bit...lengthy? I can write a paragraph and still not hit that mark.

Also, I've had a talk with some of the rpers. Quite frankly, we're seriously distressed by this new rule. A good deal of us, myself included, are thinking about just flat out quiting. I think that if something is not changed about that, then this board is just about shot.

EDIT: this post was made in regards to the post made on the Roleplay Forum Rules! -Yay! thread. Edited by JackHammer

[Kittyana]

the idea of a word limit s good... but 75 is a bit extreme i just ried doing it.. its going to involve a lot of repitition and if you just need to pst a little thing like your in dialog then its gonna be really hard...

[Tina]

Dhite..your post easily exceeded that with just the short points you made. So let me ask..if you think 75 is lengthy..what do you suggest?

To me, for role play, 75 words to clearly convey a 'turn' doesn't seem lengthy. You are conveying your actions next in the scheme of events, and doing so only with text.

If we're going to take under advisement that this rule isn't popular, we're gonna need to hear some alternative suggestions from you guys. The point here is to make the string of events more specific and thought out...get rid of some of the pointless posts that don't move play along.

As with any aspect of this game and these forums, we are open to suggestions. However, 'We'll just quit if we can't do what we want' isn't going to solve anything for any of us, is it?

Personally, I'd rather see some discussion from those of you who are opposed.

[Kittyana]

im not saying the word rule is bad. i think its a good idea. just make it shorter like 50 / 25 something like that... else youll have people babling about nothing...

[Delak]

I don't mind the restriction that much, but like kit, I think 75 words is a bit much. I'm trying to write a post right now and am at 57 words. That gets my point across, and there's not much else I can do in the situation. 50 is is a bit more reasonable.

[Kain Aerostrough]

Personally, it wouldn't bother me for a second if I quit, however...I'm thinking more for the other people who spend their time doing this for the sake of diong it. I'm just saying, limiting our capabilities isn't going to make this any more enjoyable, as a matter of fact, I'm getting complaints about this already...

Shouldn't something made for fun not be limited? I always thought this was a concept that went unspoken...we're not talking about something as serious as a war, we're talking about the entertainment in the forums. Now, I've worked to try and make people feel at home here, and I'm not willing to just give it up on the spur of the moment. I'm speaking for the rest of the people who RP here, not just for myself.

If anything, shorten it to at most 50 words...you have to realize that some of us aren't literate enough to expand what should be short into something long and repetitive.

[Tina]

hehe...we already have people babbling about nothing! that's the point! *grins* Okay...let's hear from some more people here...thoughts on this rule..and any other suggestions?

[Tina]

Dhite...you're getting extremely confrontational. I'm asking for discussion here. That whole 'wouldn't bother me for a second if I quit' thing..I'm not sure what that's about! No one wants you to quit! And no one's asking you to give anything up that you've worked for. In fact, I think I've more than applauded your efforts here. And thanked you on more than one occasion for your contributions. So how bout we take a step back on the defense..and discuss what you guys think is reasonable?

[Kain Aerostrough]

Fine, fine. I'm just a bit preturbed by the whole thing.

Like I said, I think 50 would be a bit more reasonable.

[Tina]

Okay..so I'm hearin 50 repeated...you guys think 50 is reasonable? No one is trying to kill enjoyment here, sweets. On the contrary, our goal is to make it so that the people posting are the one's involved in the thread...that the random posts aren't interrupting the flow..and that you guys can get some real role play happening.  And please be assured no one wants to take away from all you've done here, Dhite..as far as spurring the imaginations and provoking participation. You already know how I feel about that!

[Kittyana]

yeah sorry about the amount of posts... i'll try and calm

but 50 does sound a lot more resnable i can get to 50 but then i start to ramble... till 75

[Zare]

Yea, I like the idea of making it 50.  I already done two posts that were 75(or close to it), and found it quite hard to pull off.  I'm not the most talkative person either, so it would really help if it was lowered.

[Shiris]

OK, I admit I've been rather intimidated by the recent explosion of this forum and found it difficult to catch up, much less join in...so I suppose this may be the opinion of an outsider.  And I'm speaking on principle, not practicality, too.  So take it for what it's worth.  But I must say it's additionally intimidating to join in if you know there's going to be a mod breathing down your neck to see if you meet a length limit on a post.  Even if it's five words...there's the control aspect, which I think is diametrically opposed to the spirit of free roleplay.  It gives off the aura that this is not general roleplay, but one person or one group's opinion of good roleplay.

Pushing for quality is one thing, and certainly a worthy pursuit.  But I don't think a word limit is going to change that...it's just another "rule" that people are going to have to take in when considering how to go about stuff.  Furthermore, the nature of certain kinds of roleplay is more conducive to shorter styles -- especially in the case of a dialogue between characters.  Make the limit too high, you limit the scope of roleplay.  Make it too little, and it never needs enforcing and just serves as another long list of rules that the mods can feel happy about having and serves as a reminder that people are watching whatever you post.  I don't think that's the aura we want to convey on any discussion forum if we can help it, but especially not one where creativity and design are the focal point of the posts.

My suggestion?  Toss it.  The six rules above do not place limits on the creative content of the forum beyond things that shouldn't be posted anyway (e.g., "erotica has no place here," or "make your posts readable").  They're basically caveats and common-sense measures.  A word limit is more concrete, and something more likely to establish presence of moderation, and by extension, a measure of control on what a post must contain.

Are you saying that even if someone does manage to convey a significant point in 15 words, that it will be deleted until it's dressed up?  Or how about a 74-word post that somebody miscounted?  I assume this "rule" is to provide justification for deleting the majority of nonsensical and/or ill-informed posts...but if you're going to justify deleting a crappy post because it was less than 75 words, then you're going to have to apply that to EVERY post based on the wording there, even the potentially good ones.  And if not, then we're back to the control issue with the mods just having that rule to feel good about themselves when deleting stuff at the expense of some people worrying about their post content.

If this is going to be a guideline rather than a requirement, then fine.  But say that, and be clear about it.  Don't say "ALL POSTS MUST NOW BE MORE THAN 75 WORDS."  Recommend that a good rule of thumb is 75 words for most roleplay on the forum.  In my opinion, making a statement like that is weighing in very poorly from an administrative standpoint, and would either be a hindrance to creativity on one hand or unnecessary red tape on the other, with very little benefit from trying to find a suitable in-between solution.  If the originator of a roleplay wants to impose such a rule in addition to the forum-wide rules, you're welcome to offer your services to help enforce that.  But I don't think it's a good idea for the entire forum.  I trust you guys to know what's crap and what's not, and to act accordingly...I don't think you need this rule in order to do that.  If a post is detracting from a story, then I think the reason lies in the lack of content, not in the lack of length...you can dress up drivel to be any length; that's the magic students learn while writing papers in high school.  Perhaps people won't be willing to put forth the effort, though?  While that may be true, I don't think it's a good idea to institute rules as deterrents, lest you deter other things inadvertently.

In conclusion...and for those feeling lazy, I think the rule has a strong potential to stifle some forms of roleplay that may or may not be currently present on this forum.  Additionally, I think the implementation of this requirement will prove either 1) intimidating for regular users, or 2) ineffectual in dealing with problem cases.  Lastly, I think that the goals that the new rule represents can be accomplished well within the bounds of the rules already present; if you do feel something needs to be deleted, PM the person and let them know what you did and why you did it, and how they can improve.

Or if you want the really short version:  please don't do it, guys.

[ronin46x]

Tina and Jackhammer were placed in charge of this forum because they're going to do the best job for it.  Saying that, I say let them do what they feel, they're the ones reading all this and making sure it all fits into place.  I think you're interpretting this number of words thing a little too literally Shi...I can honestly say that I don't think anyone is going to cause a fuss over a 74 word post.

[hoya999]

well i can see a bunch of posts were already deleted, because kitty and dhite's post counts went down about 100 each since last night when i made a rant about 200 posts in one day, lol.

[Tina]

I'm sorry, Hoy...but I'm not sure what that's about or where it fits with this discussion??? Course, I been known to be slow...I know.

[Kain Aerostrough]

It doesn't, tina, he's just complaining, lol.

Really, I think the rule should be removed, but I wouldn't be too bothered if we stuck with fifty. *shrugs*

[Tina]

Thanks, Dhite. Compromise can be good. We're thinking up a couple other ways that may be able to keep everyone happy...well...maybe not everyone.Some people are never happy. But as soon as they're flushed out a bit, we'll get em on here for some feedback.

[Kain Aerostrough]

Well, as it is, I'm already hearing a sigh of relief from everyone about 50 words. As I've put it: "It's short enough to make the point and not ramble".

[Shiris]

That's the point, though, ronin.  If you're going to say "all posts under 75/50/2/500 words will be deleted on sight," you'd better be prepared to support that in full and the recoil associated with it.  Otherwise, the rule loses its meaning -- if you start allowing multiple exceptions, it becomes taken as merely a guideline.  If you start enforcing the rule more tightly, you have people complaining about how it wasn't enforced before; if you stop enforcing it, there's no point having the rule to begin with.  The fact that some posts will not be deleted if they are 74/49/1/499 words leads me to believe that there are other qualities of the post that must be called into question, such as the content or the potential to move the story along, and this is what should be moderated and stated as the rule if anything at all.  Post length is merely a catch-all and allows far too broad an interpretation.

I am fully aware of why they were selected for moderating this forum; that's why I'm merely giving my opinion on the matter, however strong it may be, rather than either directly backing it or shooting it down.  That said, I do have an opinion on it -- I think this is a contextual, potentially high-frequency matter being globally applied, and the step being taken is the wrong one for the nature of the entire forum.  I feel the decision of such a requirement should, at best, be left up to the originator of the roleplay in question, rather than exercising control over everyone due to the shortcomings of a few.

Like I said, make it a guideline, not an official rule -- that's what it would be in practice, right?  Or, alternatively, make a rule that more clearly states the kind of content you are going to delete.