Where do you RP? - Discussion

[Watervoir]

I've been wondering about Gaia's RPer user base and activity lately and came across the question of where it is that RPers hang out. At the moment, on a personal level, I'm GM for the forum RP Blue Caravan and am an RPer in The Organ Trail, so it's a combination of guilds and forums. Historically speaking, I've moved from guilds to the forums and now I RP on a combination of guilds and forums, but I've seen others who have only RPed in forums or have only RPed in guilds.

So here are my questions for you:

gaia_spoons Where do you RP? Whether it's in guilds like SDRP, Gaia's Barton Town, even if it's just PMs, through profile comments (how does anyone manage this??), or anything else, come share your experiences!
gaia_spoons Are there reasons why you might prefer one over the other, if you do?
gaia_spoons This is also a chance to plug in an advertisement for role-plays and/or guilds that you run or to show support for an RP or guild that you're in. Have at it what you will!

I want some serious discussion about a serious topic. (No not really.) Annnnnd go!  

[Admiral Frog]

Watervoir asks: Where do you RP? Whether it's in guilds like SDRP, Gaia's Barton Town, even if it's just PMs, through profile comments (how does anyone manage this??), or anything else, come share your experiences!

I say: I use to only role-play specifically in forums. For the sheer fact that, honestly, there are a lot more people running through the forums. I enjoy writing literately. I am some what of a grammar nazi, at least when it comes to the obvious. <--- Like that period, it should be there. Sometimes however, the forums can go two very different directions. They can be very elitist. Where you are to design your character before hand with a spot reservation. Then you have to come up with this seriously elaborate back story with mundane information such as how often your character craps per day. It gets time consuming and takes away from the creative process of allowing your character its birth through your writing. Not to mention that there is no guarantee that the hard work you have put into that character will be good enough for the forum leader. That is the crushing blow, in my opinion that turned me off of forum role-plays, even more so than the other way that they can go. Which is bad. I mean so bad that *Monica continues to type this with a bad expression on her face that is bad* Like that. No effort, no care.

But the down side of guilds is activity. It's been that way since the dawn of time. Regular guilds that discuss a singular topic do just fine. But a guild based entirely on role-playing usually is survived by a certain select few holding out for the day the traffic picks up. Forum role-plays spread fast like a pyromaniac in a vacant field of dead grass with an unlimited supply of matches. Or bunnies in a lover's lounge at the local motel 8. It's just that bad. In guilds, it's not like that. It's a moderate to some times slow pace. It is because of that that I had to go to forum role-plays, though I am patient, there gets to be a serious: "Come on people, I work and go to school full time and I am living on my own and manage to post at least 5 times a week. I know you can do at least one." For me, I honestly post where posting actually happens. Whether it be through private messages, forums or guilds with this one included. I just want to be able to post in a good story, develop a fun character (or an evil one because I am a sucker for antagonist or antithesis like characters) and enjoy the company of others. I take it where I can get it. Which... kinda makes me feel cheap now that I have said that...... >.>

Watervoir asks: Are there reasons why you might prefer one over the other, if you do?

I say: I just realized I combined the first question and the second question in the first question's spot and now I feel entirely foolish. Refer to the top for this answer. Q Q

Watervoir asks: This is also a chance to plug in an advertisement for role-plays and/or guilds that you run or to show support for an RP or guild that you're in. Have at it what you will!

I say: I am currently involved in only one role-play, which happens to be a one on one with my dear, dear friend Jikial. I would love to be in more. But... eh... you know how it goes. =D  

[Watervoir]

Looks like we have another forum lover. :D

I recently found out that Breedable/Changing Pets is another popular roleplaying area. The main difference between that place and others is that you have to pay for your character (but you get lovely art in the meantime!). Anyone have any thoughts/experiences with that forum?  

[Shade264]

I do online roleplaying in both forums and guilds, and some roleplaying offline when I can manage to find some players. Personally, I prefer guilds to forums. There is less of a variety of roleplays in guilds than on forums, but you get to know the people you are interacting with better and that helps build the stories you join and the characters you play. Though lately it seems every rp I join dies within a week.  

[dragonblade629]

I used to do a lot of RPing in the guild Why Not?, then in Barton Town. Recently I've tried coming back but nothing seems to pique my interest. I've been in here for god knows how long, it was likely one of the first guilds I joined way back in 2007, but have never RPed in here because I haven't seen any RPs that have really yelled out to me.  

[saya shiver]

On Gaia, I started RPing back in the day in guilds that were exclusive to one setting. I'm still really used to that. You can get to know everyone and even if there are only a few people present you have the whole guild to run around in and it feels really organized on top of that. However, recently I've found out that not only are these guilds hard to come by (good ones, anyway), they die out pretty quickly. So now I'm RPing in my own guild that's mostly for walk-ins with a section for lit. RPs. Hopefully it lives, lol. I hate just going into the forums to search for something because I don't like not knowing anyone and a lot of those RPs also require really detailed applications, reservations, or levels of commitment I just can't adhere to.

 

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Admiral Frog

...But the down side of guilds is activity. It's been that way since the dawn of time. Regular guilds that discuss a singular topic do just fine. But a guild based entirely on role-playing usually is survived by a certain select few holding out for the day the traffic picks up. Forum role-plays spread fast like a pyromaniac in a vacant field of dead grass with an unlimited supply of matches. Or bunnies in a lover's lounge at the local motel 8. It's just that bad. In guilds, it's not like that. It's a moderate to some times slow pace. It is because of that that I had to go to forum role-plays...

This really makes me sad. There was a time-- say, four years ago-- when this place was thriving. We had two or three roleplays that were active and large enough to demand their own sub-forums, Level One was a buzzing hive of constant posts, and Two and Three had at least 4 actives at any given time. And there was at least one new roleplay a week, though naturally not many of them made it through their initial launch.

I haven't been around for about a year now, so my answer to the actual question is, "Not at all for for the last 15 months." Before that, however, I was an adamant supporter of the Guild. Before SDRP, I was heavy on the forum roleplaying. It's where I got my start-- way back in my childhood on Neopets of all places (Flaming Shoyrus 4 lyfe)-- and though I dabbled in that chat room business, It wasn't home. You couldn't build a solid story there unless it was one-on-one, and there's only so much you can do when two people are playing everyone. It can get very contrived and predictable.

But with some time on my plate all of a sudden, I'm going to jump right back in and reboot something old of mine with a few new touches. Hope some of you will give it a look.  

[Admiral Frog]

I am in the market for a new role-play, since I myself
are not currently involved in a single one. Hit me up
if and when you do. ^^  

[School Of Dedicated RPers]

Mr. Blackbird Lore

But with some time on my plate all of a sudden, I'm going to jump right back in and reboot something old of mine with a few new touches. Hope some of you will give it a look.

This sounds good. Let me know if you need any help.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

School Of Dedicated RPers

Mr. Blackbird Lore

But with some time on my plate all of a sudden, I'm going to jump right back in and reboot something old of mine with a few new touches. Hope some of you will give it a look.

This sounds good. Let me know if you need any help.

Hard to let you know when you're running around with the Captain-face on.

Admiral Frog

I am in the market for a new role-play, since I myself
are not currently involved in a single one. Hit me up
if and when you do. ^^

It'll be this week now that my test is out of the way, but I'll shoot you a PM when it's up.  

[Watervoir]

Mr. Blackbird Lore

School Of Dedicated RPers

Mr. Blackbird Lore

But with some time on my plate all of a sudden, I'm going to jump right back in and reboot something old of mine with a few new touches. Hope some of you will give it a look.

This sounds good. Let me know if you need any help.

Hard to let you know when you're running around with the Captain-face on.

Well, you could send it to me directly too but it might get buried in my inbox. d:  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Watervoir

Mr. Blackbird Lore

School Of Dedicated RPers

Mr. Blackbird Lore

But with some time on my plate all of a sudden, I'm going to jump right back in and reboot something old of mine with a few new touches. Hope some of you will give it a look.

This sounds good. Let me know if you need any help.

Hard to let you know when you're running around with the Captain-face on.

Well, you could send it to me directly too but it might get buried in my inbox. d:

Good to see you stuck around, and stuck with the crew. Good group of folks. You'll be getting that PM- whether you like it or not! Probably tomorrow.  

[Dokuro Togiretogire]

Well currently I do try and roleplay on Gaia but I've become very picky and good set roleplays seems to die becuase adults play it and we adults have a major issue: Time. We need to earn money. Trust me, it's very time consuming to earn money.

So my major roleplay scene is on my own table in my very own (my wives) living room. Wehere pen and paper is played between 1-4 times a month. Yet these session can last for up to 4 days, thus being the most used roleplay forum.

Then I play here and trying to fix my own RP but there are so many small details i'm working on that halts development.

I've dropped barton town RP since five sixh years ago?  

[BowserAngel]

I've never role played on Gaia. My experiences with role playing lie elsewhere, most notably at a website called Neoseeker. However, I haven't been an active role player in years. Between school and work, there's little time left in the day for me to dedicate to writing. It doesn't help that my interests are severely limited, either.  

[AceWildcard]

With me I often do one on one role play stories. I get to know the person or hope so. Yet I yearn to do a group role playing game. Yet whenever I do so it often goes bad. Either I do something bad, or the game loses steam and ends. I love to rp because I get to talk and play with people. I want to improve my writing as well and improve my skills all together.