Posting Guidelines -- Part II: Into the fray

[Tarbo]

In this part, we'll give a few pointers to posting in a group. These are strong suggestions and strong guidelines, but they are not hard rules.

First, we'll go over a few points that are encouraged to incorporate in your posts. Once we've gone over those, we'll take a look at a few common pitfalls and how to avoid them.


Encouraged posting styles

Have fun

This is the single most important advice we can give any player: you need to have fun. This means that you need to play your character in a way that you find entertaining; after all, you're not being paid for this (I didn't mention this?). If you're not having fun, something is wrong.

Take situations as they come and respond as you wish. There's no point in pleasing everyone but yourself.

Describe actions, thoughts, feelings

One could rephrase that to: “describe actions, reasons and motives.”

The host will want to know what your character is thinking or why she is taking a specific action. What does she have in mind? What is the desired effect? Does she actually want to do it or does she feel forced? Does she actually have any clue of what's going on? These are questions that pass a host's mind when reading your posts.

The host's reasons for these questions are mainly because results and effects are his domain and, in some instances, he may have to act on something the players didn't see coming. It enables the game to progress smoother than when purely actions are posted and he has to guess for reasons.

Post often

While posts need a minimum length simply to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, you also need to act within a certain pace. If pressed for the choice between two medium-length posts (one now and one later) or one gargantuar (probably later), go for the shorter ones.

The reason behind this is two-fold. First, the more often you post, the more you can interact with events as they happen. Last, but not least, posting 'later' often means not posting at all. Make no mistake: we do hammer on nice, prosaic posts, but sometimes you need to get pragmatic and just get your point across. It's when the prose drops to single-line, non-punctuated, grammar-less gibberish that you'll find your lower back riddled with bootmarks.


Disturbing posting styles

Oh, the angst! The angst!

There is a thin line between outlining your character's thoughts and mindset on one side, and engaging in a one-man opera of possible anxiety on the other. As hosts, we appreciate to know what effect certain events have on your characters, but our interest fades when those effects begin to revolve around imaginary relations with the cousin twice removed from the stranger you sat with in the park that time when the noble who lived two keeps down the High Road accidentally backed his Cold One over the puppy that you always believed was a cherished gift from your deceased grandmother who walked you through the great fields of wheat bordering... (continue ad infinitum), especially if said twice removed cousin has absolutely no relevance to the situation (or any situation, for that matter).

We do like a little emotion going back and forth on occasion, but we're not looking for tearjerkers. (And if we do, we'll rent Kramer vs. Kramer.)

You are a fool to think otherwise!

This has been done to death. We realise it is an easy way to show contempt for <generic passerby>, but the phrase is too easily used to excuse yourself from detailing a point of view.

Note that this points to descriptives; if using this phrase happens to be what your character does, then by all means, interject it as often as you like!

ne1 gr0p 4 xp w!11 t4nk n b0ff n3d m4g3

I don't really have to go over this, do I?


But above all...

Be respectful to other players. While we encourage a little strife between different player characters, we cannot stand for feuds being fought between the players themselves. Remember that everyone is trying to have fun, and you may have to give in a little to do others a favour. And you? You'll have a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling to help you sleep at night.


Conclusion

We briefly discussed a few topics in posting, mainly on what to include and what not to include. The most important things to remember are that you should enjoy the game and be descriptive in your posts.


If you have any questions, feel free to contact the author of this article.