System/Mechanics How do you handle interaction between players in group RPs?

[Quin-]

Hello, i'm very new here, and attempting to get back into RolePlay after many years.

I started out doing roleplay in live chatrooms years back, and became used to conversing and interacting in a very fast and intuitive way.
The result felt like a genuine dialogue, fight, or interaction between our characters.
But it was also more than a bit chaotic, with real plot developement, and good prose, being somewhat rare.
But I also made allot of very personal connections between our characters. We really felt like friends.

Later I got into forum roleplay, where longer form posts tended to be the norm.
The result felt much more like people each contributing a small chunk of a novel, with more thought put in, but the dialogue, and interactions between characters controlled by seperate authors felt like it suffered.

Somehow...it felt like several novellas being written by different authors, but set in the same time and place, rather than one novella being written by several authors each with their own character, and input on plot direction, if that makes any sense?
From a readers perspective, it seemed like a group of loosely related characters each pursuing their own thing, with limited interest in really interacting or working together, rather than a real group of people on a quest where they must rely on and thus interact with one another to create bonds.



How do you deal with this?

Do you write your post up until the point where you need to involve the other author, then open a private chat to form the dialogue/interaction together, then insert the result into your post?

Or, do you just write your post as best you can, writing the opening portion of any intended interaction, and wait until the other author hopefully responds, by weaving their response into their own post?

Or maybe you have a different method entirely?

I would love to hear any advise or input you have on this.

 

[Darkmaster006]

Both are good. I was in one RP where, basically, one could write 'joint posts' or 'individual posts'. 'Joint posts' where posts where two or more characters interacted continously, let's say: they met for lunch and talk about some stuff. This was usually done over at an online pad like 'pirate pad' (basically the same as writing in a Google Drive in real time, but the pads work better and are lighter for old computers). The post would then be posted at the forum, that is at the thread here in RPN. This way, interactions could flow more easily and fastly while things where happening at the same time. So for example if my character is getting lunch, then ambling the sitting, and I wanna do it while interacting with other characters, this is handy.

If I want to have my character do the same thing but without a joint post, it lacks that... swiftness and interactionness that the collaborative one has, since you cannot really interrupt the asking for food, the walking, nor the searching for a table and sitting. I mean, the other RPer could add something in-between, but either it's something I wouldn't be able to answer, or I sacrifice some logic in order to respond to whatever they said when my character was asking for food and instead answer it when they are sitting, like picking up the lost conversation. This also might create a two or three pronged conversation where multiple conversations seem to be happening at the same time between to characters.

Now, I think both are good and their use depends on the situation and context. The 'two or more conversations going on at the same time' problem can be solved by either having a character answer to those three things being talked about in the same line, but I guess it can re-occur, and it's no thaaat much of a problem although it can look iffy (see here for an example, this post and the next one: Fandom - Noragami: Corrupted World). It does give way for longer, more explanatory and descriptive posts, and can also move the RP forward faster, I guess. You can also always shift to almost one-liners when having a more casual conversation between the two characters, and then go back to more descriptive and longer posts when not necessary.

As for your pondering about that 'it feels like separate novellas', I think that might be due to poor or lack of communication between players and where the plot is headed rather than the way answers are handled?

There's also the issue of post order, which I think you should keep in mind if you're going for a group roleplay. Usually the GM or the players with the GM set a post order that might change with each rotation (or can be decided at each rotation depending on needs and time) but tends to stay relatively fixed unless someone is taking too long with their answer.

You can also ask your partner for what their character's answer to a question your character makes in the post would be and include it in your post, though I don't think I've ever done that, but it might be helpful for getting little questions and interactions that are aiming for something else to progress faster and more naturally.

Overall, I think the key here was 'depends on', because it definitely depends on time, context, who your partners are, etc. So you can definitely try different things and see which of those suits you (and your partner!) best. I don't know if I just wrote like three paragraphs that are practically tautological but, well, I hope it was of some use to you ha ha. Good luck getting back into roleplaying!

 

[Grey]

I run GM-led system supported RPs, so in that case I basically work to make sure everyone is on the same page and handle a lot of things external to the characters so the players can better focus on interactions with each other and the world I'm presenting. Basically, by taking a measure of authorial control over the setting away, the players are forced to interact because they can't pursue their own plans without the external input.

 

[Quin-]

Both are good. I was in one RP where, basically, one could write 'joint posts' or 'individual posts'. 'Joint posts' where posts where two or more characters interacted continously, let's say: they met for lunch and talk about some stuff. This was usually done over at an online pad like 'pirate pad' (basically the same as writing in a Google Drive in real time, but the pads work better and are lighter for old computers). The post would then be posted at the forum, that is at the thread here in RPN. This way, interactions could flow more easily and fastly while things where happening at the same time. So for example if my character is getting lunch, then ambling the sitting, and I wanna do it while interacting with other characters, this is handy.

If I want to have my character do the same thing but without a joint post, it lacks that... swiftness and interactionness that the collaborative one has, since you cannot really interrupt the asking for food, the walking, nor the searching for a table and sitting. I mean, the other RPer could add something in-between, but either it's something I wouldn't be able to answer, or I sacrifice some logic in order to respond to whatever they said when my character was asking for food and instead answer it when they are sitting, like picking up the lost conversation. This also might create a two or three pronged conversation where multiple conversations seem to be happening at the same time between to characters.

Now, I think both are good and their use depends on the situation and context. The 'two or more conversations going on at the same time' problem can be solved by either having a character answer to those three things being talked about in the same line, but I guess it can re-occur, and it's no thaaat much of a problem although it can look iffy (see here for an example, this post and the next one: Fandom - Noragami: Corrupted World). It does give way for longer, more explanatory and descriptive posts, and can also move the RP forward faster, I guess. You can also always shift to almost one-liners when having a more casual conversation between the two characters, and then go back to more descriptive and longer posts when not necessary.

As for your pondering about that 'it feels like separate novellas', I think that might be due to poor or lack of communication between players and where the plot is headed rather than the way answers are handled?

There's also the issue of post order, which I think you should keep in mind if you're going for a group roleplay. Usually the GM or the players with the GM set a post order that might change with each rotation (or can be decided at each rotation depending on needs and time) but tends to stay relatively fixed unless someone is taking too long with their answer.

You can also ask your partner for what their character's answer to a question your character makes in the post would be and include it in your post, though I don't think I've ever done that, but it might be helpful for getting little questions and interactions that are aiming for something else to progress faster and more naturally.

I really like that "Individual" or "Joint" post RP idea. It sounds like a really great mixture of the two systems.
It's a shame they don't have a little livechat or similar option worked into the site here.
It would be way more intuitive to not have to go off site for it.
Being able to, for instance, open a livechat and invite multiple members from a thread you are currently playing in, and keep that livechat, seperate from livechats with possibly the same person in a different rp thread, would be an awesome feature.
Not to mention keeping the livechat "in character" stuff seperate from your "OOC" planning and so on with that same person, would be very usefull.

On the point about lack of communication between players etc, leading to a feeling of being seperate novellas.
Agreed.
It just seems to me like perhaps the medium is playing into the tendency to not communicate between one another, because the site doesn't have easy, intuitive collaborative features of the sort brainstormed about above.

Thanks for pointing out the convention of post order.
I'm new to group RP, and was wondering if post order was even a thing that people would be willing to do. I'm glad it's already a standard thing, since I can see it's advantages.

Overall, I think the key here was 'depends on', because it definitely depends on time, context, who your partners are, etc. So you can definitely try different things and see which of those suits you (and your partner!)
Good luck getting back into roleplaying!

Absolutely agree.

Thank you for all of your input.

Thank you. I hope I can find something matching my interests to join soon. Been at this for a week, and still no luck.

 

[Quin-]

I run GM-led system supported RPs, so in that case I basically work to make sure everyone is on the same page and handle a lot of things external to the characters so the players can better focus on interactions with each other and the world I'm presenting. Basically, by taking a measure of authorial control over the setting away, the players are forced to interact because they can't pursue their own plans without the external input.

Wow! Good point.

That really does seem to take out allot of the confusion on this subject huh?

You've kind of convinced me that perhaps that would be the best way to go, atleast until I find other writers who I jive with.

 

[Darkmaster006]

I really like that "Individual" or "Joint" post RP idea. It sounds like a really great mixture of the two systems.
It's a shame they don't have a little livechat or similar option worked into the site here.
It would be way more intuitive to not have to go off site for it.
Being able to, for instance, open a livechat and invite multiple members from a thread you are currently playing in, and keep that livechat, seperate from livechats with possibly the same person in a different rp thread, would be an awesome feature.
Not to mention keeping the livechat "in character" stuff seperate from your "OOC" planning and so on with that same person, would be very usefull.

On the point about lack of communication between players etc, leading to a feeling of being seperate novellas.
Agreed.
It just seems to me like perhaps the medium is playing into the tendency to not communicate between one another, because the site doesn't have easy, intuitive collaborative features of the sort brainstormed about above.

Thanks for pointing out the convention of post order.
I'm new to group RP, and was wondering if post order was even a thing that people would be willing to do. I'm glad it's already a standard thing, since I can see it's advantages.



Absolutely agree.

Thank you for all of your input.

Thank you. I hope I can find something matching my interests to join soon. Been at this for a week, and still no luck.

Glad it helped! Haha, don't worry, it always takes time, you're gonna have to persevere. It's probable that your first RPs will die unless you're really lucky and find great partners. Anyways, usually, for group RPs, Discord is used for OOC stuff, lore, and any other thing you'd need. There's also the OOC section for an RP OOC thread too where people can chat and see where the RP is going. Discord is really helpful, though, especially to build a sense of community around the roleplay itself and the people who play it. Have you done a search thread yourself? It's good to have one that is pretty complete with what you want play, post length, etc.

 

[Quin-]

Glad it helped! Haha, don't worry, it always takes time, you're gonna have to persevere. It's probable that your first RPs will die unless you're really lucky and find great partners. Anyways, usually, for group RPs, Discord is used for OOC stuff, lore, and any other thing you'd need. There's also the OOC section for an RP OOC thread too where people can chat and see where the RP is going. Discord is really helpful, though, especially to build a sense of community around the roleplay itself and the people who play it. Have you done a search thread yourself? It's good to have one that is pretty complete with what you want play, post length, etc.

Thank you, you've given me a boatload of great tips and info, which I will take wholeheartedly.

I was thinking of creating a search thread as you suggest, but I struggled to really define what exactly I was looking for.

But your input, and browsing through other threads on here is starting to resolve that uncertainty.
I'll give it another shot.

Thank you again, for all of your input and encouragement.

 

[Crayons]

Thanks for pointing out the convention of post order.
I'm new to group RP, and was wondering if post order was even a thing that people would be willing to do. I'm glad it's already a standard thing, since I can see it's advantages.

Although posting order is usual in most RP, it isn't a standard thing on RPN as I found to my surprise after talking about it with people on here, so it's best to check with the GM rather than assume anything.

Good luck.

 

[Quin-]

That's good to know.
I'm glad that atleast some proportion of the the community practises it, as it is very soothing for my autistic mind to know up front exactly how things work.

I will keep that in mind moving forward.
If there's one thing I can be counted on for, it's annoying people by asking every possible non-explicitly answered question.

 

[Grey]

Wow! Good point.

That really does seem to take out allot of the confusion on this subject huh?

You've kind of convinced me that perhaps that would be the best way to go, atleast until I find other writers who I jive with.

In which case, you might find my guides on the topic are helpful for learning the ropes!

Tutorial - Grey's Learning Annex

Just going to link all my advice, essays, and etc., here because I see situations where they'd be relevant come up often enough but haven't got the patience to always link or bump them. Also, if anyone wants to discuss or request anything this is as good a place as any...

www.rpnation.com