Goggle Docs - any advice or experience with it?

[Kakihara]

So, although my writing muse is on the fritz right now, before it happened I was contemplating starting to do some PBEM games like in my old days.  My job has some down time while I wait for a program to pull info, so I was thinking of using that time to do some quick post throughout the day from my phone.  However, I've seen it and my girlfriend suggested Goggle Docs?!?

So, my question is if anyone has any experience with it and can recommend it as a good forum for doing some RPGing/writing like is done on the threads?  Also, from what I've read about the Goggle Docs, I'm unclear, does it require all users to have Goggle accounts or only the one who uploads it?  Any advice or experience people have had with it would be appreciated. 

Eventually my muse will return to normal and just want this info for then to consider non forum request post here on Elliquiy.

Thanks,
Kakihara

[Autumn Sativus]

I'm a big fan of Google Drive (the new name for Docs) for RP if you're not big on the forums - it's essentially the same thing, just a continuing document instead of separate posts. The auto-save feature is great (saves every couple of seconds while you're editing it). Only the uploader needs to have a google account, but you'll need to set the privacy settings on the doc to allow for any user with the link to edit it.

[Beguile's Mistress]

I use Google Docs and like it for a couple reasons the first being that it's portable.  It's on a cloud drive and accessible from any computer with your account login.  The other is that it's a fairly good word process with a built in spell check.  There are other features that can help with research and such.  Get yourself a gmail account if you don't have one already and check it out.  You may like it.

[Ellipsis]

Hey there, I hope you don't mind me chiming in.

I actually use Google Docs for a lot of off-site writing. I'm not sure whether or not all parties have to have a gmail, but it doesn't take long to just make an account. Usually, you make a doc and then there's a sharing feature where you input the recipients' email addresses, so I'm assuming others will work.

As far as the system goes, I find it's really handy. In terms of posting speed, I'd place it in between IM RPs and board RPs. If you're looking to RP on it, my partner and I usually use two different colors for writing. I'll write in a maroon and he'll write in black. We usually put some symbol at the end our "posts" or paragraphs to signal that we're done writing and the other can respond. A pound sign, asterisk, or something. I know there are other features, where you can insert a drawing if you wanted to do some mapmaking, or one where you get email notifications if a comment has been left. I suppose the latter could act like notifications that you'd get here on E when someone replies to a thread.

I've used it a couple times on my iPhone, but I find the process still to be a little finicky, but it's certainly doable. In a browser, there's also a chat function, but I'm not sure if it's available on phones. Anyway, I hope I've helped and feel free to ask any questions if I've been unclear.

[Kakihara]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....  well, it sounds like it might be a better option then PBEM.  It's just hard to join the 21st century sometimes.:)  Thanks for all the input.  Sounds like I need to log onto my account and just play with it.  I figure either option is going to be a little cumbersome from a cell, but unfortunately my work blocks everything but Google search engine from our work computers.

And thanks for the tips on how you use it Ellipsis.  I'll have to remember that if I go with using the Goggle Drive/Docs when I consider offsite role playing/writing

Thanks again everyone.

[Oniya]

If nothing else, you can always use it to store posts until you get to a real computer.  I used to email things to myself when I worked in an actual office.

[yobo]

I've never used it for roleplaying, but I've used it to update a document in real time with a co-worker while we communicated via Skype. I found it a very effective way, as the document just needed some fine tuning when the conversation was over, and I would imagine it would work very well for roleplaying as well.