IC Chat Threads

[KiKi Kitsune]

So, for an RP I recently started, I was considering the idea of a casual little IC chat. Like a tavern for when the characters are "off of set", so to speak. Everyone would still be in character, but it would just be little interactions. Statement and response, single line stuff. 


Since my RP requires quite detailed posts, I thought that a casual way to chat between characters may be fun and retain interest. 


However, I'm not sure how popular these are or how well they work. What are your experiences with these types of threads? Any tips would also be appreciated ^-^

 

[Bacon is fluffy]

I'd suggest being less strict with your rp and allow people to gauge appropriate post length based on the situation. Thus you would not need anything more than an Ooc and Ic thread. This just seems unnecessary to me.

 

[Jaye]

I'm going to directly contradict @Bacon is fluffy - detailed posts are well and fine, but it can be intimidating to get into a thread with a character you barely know and be expected to put down 1000+ words. Short IC 'chatboxes' are a really good tool to very quickly let all sorts of characters interact - especially characters who you would like to roleplay with but have no idea how they would act around each other. It also means you can invest more in detailed threads because you don't have to wade through the teething period of the characters meeting for the first time, figuring out how they react to each other, etc.


That being said - I think it's a great idea! I suggest making it a little 'noncanon' area and try to enforce 'no long-term plots' (if people have a long term plot, they can take it to the canon IC). When I was on proboards and jcink and rp sites like those, they would almost always have a little non-canon, IC chatbox that was basically a little instant messenger that people could RP in. I thought it was great and really useful - it certainly helped me click with more characters than I otherwise would've.


I'm... not sure how it would work as a thread instead of an instant messenger, but in theory I think it's a great idea.

 

[Bacon is fluffy]

@Jaye Matter or preference I suppose. Considering the fact that short instant messages give you a character dialogue but would be missing out on the rest of what makes a character who they are. You don't get to see their decision making, describe their qirks and see how they approach a situation. And pretending to be someone else in a chat room? Pretty sure that sounds like a bad 1990's aol situation.

 

[StoneWolf18]

This sounds like a great idea...but only if they are kept seperate for risk of power-playing or using OOC knowlage IC. A character could reveal something about themselves in this "tavern" which they might've not had the time or reason to do so during the actual story, but it's the used as if it was.


Its just the concept of running two roleplays at once.

 

[StoneWolf18]

@Jaye Matter or preference I suppose. Considering the fact that short instant messages give you a character dialogue but would be missing out on the rest of what makes a character who they are. You don't get to see their decision making, describe their qirks and see how they approach a situation. And pretending to be someone else in a chat room? Pretty sure that sounds like a bad 1990's aol situation.

The responses wouldn't have to be short, thoughtless, or without substance, in my opinion anyway. Like I said before, similar to running two seperate roleplays.

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Thank you all for your input!


Just to clarify - since it seems to be causing some confusion - I see it almost as if the main RP thread is like the movie set which the characters are actors in. The "tavern" IC chat is just where they go to chill when they aren't busy. I understand that metagaming would be a plausible issue, and do intend to keep a close eye on that. 

 

[Bacon is fluffy]

The responses wouldn't have to be short, thoughtless, or without substance, in my opinion anyway. Like I said before, similar to running two seperate roleplays.

Also could be looked at from a practical perspective, every post you spend pretending to shoot the breeze in an ic thread other than the main, is time and energy taht's being diverted from the main thread. As it is, some people have little time to be making paragraph responses in a thread that does nothing for the real bread and butter of the rp. If you have specific questions, an actual straight forward question gets more done than possibly diverting hours of time away from your real thread. This is ocourse, if you're actually posting posts with actual substance and not useless one liners.

Thank you all for your input!


Just to clarify - since it seems to be causing some confusion - I see it almost as if the main RP thread is like the movie set which the characters are actors in. The "tavern" IC chat is just where they go to chill when they aren't busy. I understand that metagaming would be a plausible issue, and do intend to keep a close eye on that. 

As an exercise for funsies? That sounds fun even if I wouldn't personally do it. Try it and post a link in a week or two if it actually turns out to be interesting. If you wanted

 

[Chordling]

I think this is a really cute idea. ^^ My only suggestion would be to also have a regular OCC thread.  As a GM, I like to be able to speak with my fellow partners directly, without the mask of their character.  That way, I feel like details are being given effectively.  Otherwise, I may not know whether I'm talking to KittyKatLover98 or their badass character.

 

[fluticasone]

I actually used to do this regularly, especially in situations wherein I wanted relations with someone's character but we couldn't figure out how exactly was their dynamic. It's a good way to test the waters and see if personalities are compatible IC-wise, and as many have said, it would have no bearing to the IC. Hell, in these short little chat rp's we'd do funny shit that would never happen canonically but we all thought would be hilarious to do (ie gijinka, sex switch, body switch).


Honestly speaking, as long as my players are interacting with each other and actively using their characters, then I wouldn't worry about posting activity. It's a lot more encouraging to see people regularly chat rp'ing vs an empty OOC where people are just awkwardly waiting for each other to post. In my experience, the less often you get into the mood of writing as your character, the harder it will be to write your post come your turn.

 

[Squirrel Man Huey]

If there is a point to the tavern, plot wise or character driving wise, I would say do it. I started RPing in 1995 in a AOL chat room, it was something something Tavern. So I know the awesomeness that this could produce. Though I was a one-liner ten year old pretending to be an eighteen year old.


On the other note, I despise word count restrictions. Though I do a minimum of a paragraphs. I know contradictory and I know this wasn't the overall point but multiple people tapped on it so I wanted to address it. If there is a requirement for X amount of words or X amount of paragraphs it tends to limit my enjoyment and motivation. Especially in a conversation. There is only so many thoughts between sentences in a conversation. That is where the Tavern style chat RP comes in.


Who knows, I may be broken.

 

[Just A Potato]

One of my best friends and I RP all the time, and we have little chats specifically for our characters. I think it's a lot of fun. For example, at one point, one of her characters was kidnapped, and we were discussing the possibility of killing off one of my main characters. (Hers was Chloe, mine was Freddy.) The conversation went similar to this, and was So. Much. Fun. to write out:


Chloe: Kidnapped? I'm going to be kidnapped?


Freddy: Dude...I'm about to be dead. Count your blessings.


Chloe: *evil glare* Sounds like a personal problem.

 

[cadence]

This reminds me so much of a lot of manga I read, it ain't even funny. I personally think, like many others said, it would be a great idea. I must agree with @Musician as well, though. A lot of people like to speak with their GM and other members of the roleplay directly, and I can only imagine how difficult it would be to let people know of important announcements and whatnot through a character, if you know what I mean. 


But yeah, sounds great. Like those little manga extras with chibi characters doing adorable stuff that's noncanon. So cute.