So, how do you "have fun" with Forum Roleplays?

Started by Zack Seamus, November 23, 2015, 02:41:09 PM

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Zack Seamus

I have aways wondered this. I was never a huge fan of Forum RPs because they take too long. For example, I make a post now, and then I'll only get a reply in a couple hours or even days.
In my point of view, RPs done over Instant Messenger are much better, faster and dynamic. It all seems like its happenning in real time, something like a table top RPG where each person describes the actions of his characters.
So, what I am curious is, how do you guys "get off" with forum RPs? Does it arouse you? Why not do something more dynamic such as Real Time RP using IMs?
I know you can elaborate things much better with Forum RPs. Your posts, everything looks so nice, almost like an erotic tale or book, but still, I don't think its worth the trouble.
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Skynet

It really boils down to diffterent strokes for different folks, but in regards to this matter I can only speak for myself.

When it comes to RPs I tend to view them as writing a story, even the system-based ones like Dungeons & Dragons and such.  Instead of IM or livechat I have the opportunity to look over earlier posts and responses so as to better tailor things.  For example, I may make a mistake where a character says something which doesn't sound "right," or I forget an earlier detail to work into the current post.  There's also the sense of accomplishment, and sort of a camaraderie of helping be responsible for a shared tale resulting from months' worth of collaborative work.

As for Instant Messaging, I tend to find that a lot of the services require some form of ID check like your phone number or such, which turned me off quite a few of them.

My 2¢.

Moraline

Quote from: Zack Seamus on November 23, 2015, 02:41:09 PM
... you can elaborate things much better with Forum RPs. Your posts, everything looks so nice, almost like an erotic tale or book,...
That last line pretty much sums it up.

For me personally, writing on the forums is more or less about writing a work of collaborative fiction. I generally don't "get off" on the role play in the first place. I just enjoy writing and want to write with people that are like minded. Plus, I originally came to this forum not for the erotic aspects of it but because I could have them if I wanted to, along with all manner of other adult related material. It's all about freedom.

I agree that fast paced IM or IRC style chat RP is great fun but it has limitations that cause me to pursue forum writing more often. Although in an ideal world I would have both as a mix. When I used to run my own forums we would play all week on the forum then on the weekends we'd book a window of a few hours for an IRC style group session. That's what truly works best for me.

Those are just my feelings on the subject but you'll find people that do one, or the other, or both for a myriad of reasons.  The Elliquiy forums are full of all types of role players / writers.


Blythe

#3
Personally, for me, IMs are just too fast. I've also had too many bad experiences with people poking me or trying to get too personal with me on IMs. I just don't typically have a lot of extra time to sit on an Instant Messenger for a long time to finish out a scene, either, for the most part.

I'm better able to vet writing partners on a forum (I can look at their posting history to see how they write, see if they've been rude or unpleasant, etc.), better able to block them if they bother me, better able to think about what I'm posting to them, OOC discussion is far more easily separated from the RP for me, and if something goes wrong or is rule-breaking, I feel like its easier to file a report if it happens on the forums. In short, forums are just more secure to me. I also don't write for the purposes of personal arousal (to each their own about that, but I don't), so IMs just don't feel like a good fit.

Anyways, the above are the reasons forums have become more enjoyable for me over the years rather than IMs.

It comes down to different strokes for different folks, as Skynet said. Some people like forums, some like messengers, etc. I don't think there's anything wrong with folks liking either one over the other, and people come from very different backgrounds when it comes to RP. YMMV when it comes to different mediums.

Erythrite

I could just as easily ask how you have fun with IM roleplays, because they really do not appeal to me at all.

I don't RP to 'get off'; for me it is a collaborative writing project that may or may not contain sexual elements, and if it does, those elements are not there for the sake of my personal arousal.  In addition, I don't need instant gratification, so waiting hours or days for a post is not a problem for me.  Yes, there is such a thing as waiting too long for a post, but so long as my partners and I agree on a posting rate and more or less keep to it, I'm not bothered.  For me, RPing is a form of writing literature.  Forums allow me and my partners to get into what the characters are thinking and feeling, to elaborate on the setting, and to easily archive posts for fact checking or just reading them back over for fun later.  I have never tried IM RPing because I know that I wouldn't like it.  Quick, shallow, one-line responses are not what I crave and would bore me very quickly.
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Nico

#5
Personally, I do not like IM RP. Pretty much for the reasons Sherlock pointed out previously. It really creeps me out, in the end.

Quote from: Zack Seamus on November 23, 2015, 02:41:09 PM
So, what I am curious is, how do you guys "get off" with forum RPs? Does it arouse you? Why not do something more dynamic such as Real Time RP using IMs?
I know you can elaborate things much better with Forum RPs. Your posts, everything looks so nice, almost like an erotic tale or book, but still, I don't think its worth the trouble.

No, I do not 'get off' with my writing. I am really not interested in that, and this isn't the reason why I write. I write because I love writing, because I love creating a story with someone, and because I love creating characters and see where they go. Of course, erotic content is stimulating, but so is reading a good book. But, my main drive is creating awesome stories with my co-writers, and they generally contain a lot more than just erotic. That is a part, or I hardly would write here, but it is not everything for me.

And yes, I like having pretty posts. That's why I am writing on a forum. To share the beauty with my co-writers.

Lilias

Quote from: Zack Seamus on November 23, 2015, 02:41:09 PM
So, what I am curious is, how do you guys "get off" with forum RPs?

I don't. :-) I don't write to get off, either; I write stories that may or may not include sexual content.

QuoteDoes it arouse you?

No. I might think 'that was hawt' once a scene is over and I read through it, but arousal at the time would get in the way of the writing.

QuoteWhy not do something more dynamic such as Real Time RP using IMs?

Even if I enjoyed real time RP, I'm several time zones away from most of my partners. We'd never be able to find time to get on IM for any length of time. Real life comes first, every time. I'm grateful that a forum post will wait as long as it takes me to get back to it.

QuoteI know you can elaborate things much better with Forum RPs. Your posts, everything looks so nice, almost like an erotic tale or book, but still, I don't think its worth the trouble.

Eh, to each one their priorities, I guess.
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To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
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Rhedyn

QuoteI have aways wondered this. I was never a huge fan of Forum RPs because they take too long. For example, I make a post now, and then I'll only get a reply in a couple hours or even days.
This is exactly why I like them. I take my time over my posts, I don't like feeling pressured by the need for a quick reply and I like my writing partners to take their time if they need it too. It's always a lovely surprise when I then get that post and I can sit and read it over a few times at my own pace and really think on how I want to reply. As Lilias said, to each one their priorities.

QuoteSo, what I am curious is, how do you guys "get off" with forum RPs?

I don't write to get off, period. I love creating worlds and stories with people, those stories can include sex but for me I'm more than happy to not write the erotic scenes all together.

QuoteDoes it arouse you?
No. Reading my own writing doesn't arouse me at all. Again as Lilias said, I may look over a scene once it's written and think 'wow, that worked really well/that's pretty hot' but I don't get off to my stories, especially not when they're being written.

QuoteWhy not do something more dynamic such as Real Time RP using IMs?

I have neither the time or the inclination to sit on IM and roleplay. I used to a few years ago but I discovered that it made me very uncomfortable as it often quickly moved away from the story and just into writing sex for the other person to get off on. For me that's creepy, boring and doesn't hold my interest. That's not why I roleplay so I stopped roleplaying via IM completely. I'm also in a different timezone to the majority of people here and don't want to sit up stupidly late roleplaying when I could be getting some much needed sleep   :-)

To each their own though, I suppose.

Zack Seamus

Thanks everyone so far for the answers. They have been clarifying. Still up to more points of views. xxx
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HannibalBarca

I think, like others have said, I do not write here to receive sexual gratification in the form of masturbation fantasies.  I can't think of a single RP post I have either written or received from a partner that I 'got off' on physically.  I have enjoyed many, many posts mentally in a sexual way.  I'm primarily a writer, not a roleplayer, and co-creating a fiction here with like-minded people is a great joy to me, sexual or not.

Now I have had cybersex, and done so through IMs in real-time, but that was not the same kind of writing as I do here.  It was more akin to comparing filet mignon steak to beef jerky.
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Sorchaa

I like both! I mean, if I want to get off, I'll usually take it to PMs or an IM service. But play by post is also fun - it's not as sexually gratifying, but you get a lot more time to think and plan. In fact, I often use Play by Post threads for ideas for more intimate chat sessions. It's also great for finding a good partner, since so many chat partners are terrible writers or don't respect your ons/offs.

Ontan

Quote from: Rhedyn on December 01, 2015, 04:36:58 AM
I'm also in a different timezone to the majority of people here and don't want to sit up stupidly late roleplaying when I could be getting some much needed sleep   :-)

This!

I tried IM roleplay (and roleplay servers in MMOs, for that matter). I really put some effort into making it work, too… but I’m neither USA nor UK, so my experiences were universally awful. The time differences were insurmountable, but unfortunately it seemed to be the rule that all online communities (and their admins in particular) actively discouraged any meaningful RP occurring outside of their peak hours, because they loathed the idea of a story arc progressing without them.

I don’t know that IM and Forum roleplays are really substitutes for one another – as noted by everyone else, they offer very different experiences – but forums are my only option for RP, especially group RP. At this point, I've been sticking with forum writing for so long, it seems weird to think there are other ways of doing it.

Lyron

Once upon a time, when I first started roleplaying, I had similar views where I liked real-time and didn't care at all for forums, but then I actually gave forums a chance and that eventually reversed my perspective on the two. A good portion of it is because, while a purely erotic scene can be nice sometimes, I'm more interested in story, and forums seem a little more conducive to that, especially for groups, but I think most of it is because something slower is a much better system for me. I like details, and I'm a slow writer, so not being poked every two minutes is kind of nice, and I agree with what someone said earlier about forums making it easier to look back at previous posts. I don't like PM-based roleplays for that reason.

Do I find forum-based roleplay arousing? When a sex scene happens, sure, and writing something sexual just because it's hot can be fun, but I never write something with the intention of getting off. With that said, I suppose I would say that I find forum-based roleplaying hotter in a way. It might not be as instantaneously gratifying because the scene probably isn't going to be completed in one sitting, but I'm a sucker for details and characters/characterization, and I feel like forums make players provide those two things better. However, I've only had one IM-based partner, and neither of us were very skilled at writing at the time, so this is coming from a limited perspective.


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Ariel

I don't care for IMs because of how informal it is. For me, IMs are used to chat and discuss the RP, not to RP. I like the features the forums provide, such as previewing my post before posting it, having a spellcheck, having the ability to add photos and colorize/italicize/emboldened/etc. my text, and so on. With some IMs, I'm sure you can do some of those features, but on the forums, it's a guarantee. And I just like the way it feels. A bigger text box, better features, room to breathe.. I'm weird but I like it!

That's just me. Different strokes for different folks and all. :-)
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Twisted Crow

Given the subject, I find myself snickering at repeated phrases like "different strokes..."  ;D

Song

Fast paced roleplay, such as IM or other chat RP for me are indeed mostly about 'having fun' Forum RP is storytelling. It's not, for me, something I do because I'm feeling 'hot and bothered' even if I may find the themes arousing. Personally though, I never RP on traditional IM systems, as I find people often get a little personal, and I hate it when in the middle of roleplay someone asks me if I'm 'having fun' I do my fast paced roleplay mainly in SL in dedicated RP areas where people know not to confuse the RP with what happens on the other side of the screen.

So, I can enjoy both. In different ways.
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MrDisclosure

Really... how do I have fun with Forum Roleplays? It boils down to three things:

1.) In addition to the already quoted 'Different Strokes for different folks', I could invert the question: How can one not have fun with Forum roleplays? I have come to Forum Roleplays from Chat and Messenger-based roleplays, but those, summing things up, had a lot of flaws. For once, I am bad at fascinating someone with a story seed at call. I have ideas sometimes, good ideas every now and then, but I can't just draw those from my pocket. With a forum, there is the option of putting these ideas on a list, and a partner can be found, if not now, then at some later time.

2.) The other issue is time. Particularly in a chat roleplay, it's either that while you're chatting, some other matter that is more pressing arises, or that you just can't reserve enough time to enjoy a play from the beginning to the end. With a Forum roleplay, I can answer when I have the time. I can store a reply and write it bit by bit when I have the time, I can edit and polish a post before I put it in a thread. When I'm not feeling creative, I can postpone a reply until I have something adequate.

3.) And last but not least: Forum roleplays tickle my fantasy just more. You're right - it may take hours, days or weeks even until you have a reply. But on the other hand, with all my partners, every post has been worth the wait. And in the meantime, you can re-read the story up to then, bask in the sexiness that it already had, and draw some inspiration from that. Also, a complex story just writes better on a Forum, with more explanatory parts in between the smutty sex.

4.) And last, but not least, there's one more thing that made me have fun with all my Forum Roleplays: It's the partners. All of those have become pretty good acquaintances of mine (I shy away from saying friends, because we haven't gotten daft-drunk together so far). And people whom I really have grown to like.

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Lithos

I think it depends on what you want to do, and what the time zones are. IM mediums are irreplaceable in that you actually have to react fast, and display quick wit when situation calls for it in RP; you do not get that sort of experience in forum RP. Sadly IM rp needs guaranteed frame of time, and both to be free at same time so generally only people in similar timezone than you work.

Forum or Email RP allows you to give a lot of thought for each post, it is horrible for quick action or actually needing to think quick, but it is great for thinking great deal about surroundings and giving them detail. Also, Forum or Email RP allows you to rp with people from vastly different timezones than you. In that way what is good in Forum or Email style of role play cannot really be replaced either.

Both forms of play have their good place but they are fundamentally very different animals. As far as sexual gratification seeking goes, both forms of RP work well for that in my mind, forum or email story is something that can be enjoyed at any time by revisiting the thread if it is forum rp, in that way I think it can work even better than fast paced action in IM rp - I would imagine that it is difficult to enjoy anything when one is busy writing, surely those could be only enjoyed after the fact too.
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Arsha

I personally think it comes down to what you're familiar with, and in a lot of cases how people started roleplaying.

From my own personal experiences people differ quite a bit depending on how they initially started roleplaying. In my personal instance I started roleplaying in non-smut group forums, and as such I tend to have a craving for OoC interaction and socializing that many 1x1 roleplays don't find all too appealing. Likewise, I've found roleplayers who entered through writing creative fiction pieces to be more immersive in their writing, and more plot oriented than those who started off throwing a character into roleplay and panning things out from there.

As many have stated before me (plus one of my own);
- Time compatibility is a major issue for me since I don't live in the US or EU.
- I like to write at my own pace, and don't like worrying about someone potentially waiting irritably for my slow responses on the other side.
- I also find 'chat' roleplay partners to be incredibly difficult to maintain as meeting them online again is usually purely chance.
- Due to past experiences I also like the 'within a community' feel, since I've had several experiences in the past where people tried to get a bit too friendly. Within forums there's usually expectations that counter that.
- I'm particularly fond of going back and reading my old roleplays with people, I know I could still do this in IM's, but the forum layout makes it so much easier for me to distinguish between each story I've taken part in.

Blank

For me, I don't have large stretches of time to sit down to write with someone and wait for replies. It is a matter of having large blocks of consecutive time and some how being on at the same time as someone else. Also I tend to write larger posts that don't fit well in the context of an im.

Emphatic Enigma

I thought I'd throw my two cents in here.

It's nice to see other views on this as well.

For me, personally, I enjoy forum posts. Mainly because I tend to write a good deal sometimes, so I find the forum posts are a good way to display that. I also enjoy rather relaxed posting times. So once a day to once every few days; messengers would be hell for that. Not to mention it's not really my type of role play platform since it's quite a bit of pressure to reply quickly and maintain a good level of detail. I also enjoy multi tasking, like watching a series or playing some game between posts so. ;p

I don't think I really have to try to have fun. As long as my partner and I chat and work out a plot we both enjoy and feel that umph to reply when we get a post, and they have time, then I'm happy. :)

As for 'getting off', I don't role play for that purpose at all. I write because I adore writing and it may or may not contain mature content, it's not really a motivator for me. If the plot is great, I'm there.

I think each to their own, some will enjoy some methods etc. ^^

Atropus

I thought I might as well add my own take. If anything? I find forum posting a bit easier when dealing with larger groups of people, as while you can successfully use IMs for groups, the posting order habitually gets muddled, and it only gets worse as the 'player count' grows.

EuphoricDysphoria

Like others, I'm a creative writer first and foremost. I enjoy developing scenarios, plotlines and character biographies, I enjoy setting the scene and taking things slowly and when a character of mine does finally get laid it will that much more satisfying to write about as a result.  I enjoy thinking about the RP or a recent post throughout the day and planning how I'm going to respond. I enjoy writing creatively, incorporating detail and exploring more than the purely physical aspects of sexual encounters.

I also prefer forums because what some see as moderation and constraint, I see as safety within a community. Nobody has access to an iota of my personal info and I can report anyone who gets persistent about it. I also value the other aspects, forums and threads where you can hang out and get to know people, discuss current affairs etc. The whole point I think of the longwinded approval process is because if you just want to 'get off' this isn't the best place for that and long may it continue.

IM doesn't appeal to me at all. If you just want to 'get off' surely porn would do the same job? I'm interested to know how you type with one hand too. If I tried that sort of caper my iPad would end up with water damage!  Plus, as a woman I would have to constantly reinforce boundaries and there is nothing hot about that at all. Already in my real life it can be exhausting.  Here I can put a big sign up on my profile saying 'don't even bother because I'm taken and no, you can't see my tits' and know that most people at least will respect that.
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Stone

IM conversations are rarely satisfying for me. IM based play never so. The same immediacy that appeals to the ones who prefer it turns me off.

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Kia

I like both methods, though I prefer the forum rp.

Let's see...

First I like having time to really think about my response. Sometimes I can bolt out a good one in minutes. Sometimes I want to really sit and think it over a while. Forum rp has an unspoken understanding that the story will take time, which takes the pressure of making a great response in seconds off. Also, you don't need to sync your clock against time zones or schedule a time to continue in real-time with forums. In forums, if someone has a last second errand to run, got sick on the appointed hour, or just has life happen-- it does not interrupt game flow. Each person picks up at their own pace.

In the emotional part-- I like to explain it as something like a book or tv series that isn't finished yet. You get invested in the characters. You go back and reexplore older posts to see if you missed anything. And when it gets good, you get that spine-tingling thrill of excitement when you see the next 'episode' is posted. Plus being there is no set posting rate, that revealed episode is always a surprise when it comes!