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dreamwidth rp Q&A
First of all, welcome to Dreamwidth-based roleplay!
I'm opening up this posts to general questions about roleplaying on this site because after seeing some newer players come into this format, I realized that there are a lot of things I take for granted and just assume everyone knows even though that's not always the case! We're a very unique format with our own standards, lingo, and what have you, and it's often difficult to jump into unless you have someone holding your hand along the way. There are a lot of resources out there to get you started, but at the same time, there's always something better about asking a person directly when you have a question instead of hunting for an answer in something that's already been written and may not even apply!
Just to give you a little background about me, since I'll be answering the questions, my name is Christy! I actually started out on journal-based roleplaying on Livejournal in 2006 more or less on a whim, and I've been continuously playing ever since. I've played a wide variety of characters in an even wider variety of games, and I've both created games from scratch and run them and helped mod ones that other people have made. So as such, you can ask questions about RP from the perspective of a player, but also from the perspective of a mod.
And of course, as a disclaimer, all answers I give are purely from my experience and my opinions! You might find that other people have different opinions or answers to questions, and I of course encourage people to jump in and answer questions as they see fit. This post is open to any kinds of questions at all, and if I don't have an answer for you off the top of my head, I'll do my best to try and find one for you. There's no such thing as a stupid question, so ask whatever you want! Even if it seems like the most basic, inane thing, I'm still happy to answer.
So go ahead! Ask any questions you'd like, and I'll answer them as quickly as I can. ♥
I'm opening up this posts to general questions about roleplaying on this site because after seeing some newer players come into this format, I realized that there are a lot of things I take for granted and just assume everyone knows even though that's not always the case! We're a very unique format with our own standards, lingo, and what have you, and it's often difficult to jump into unless you have someone holding your hand along the way. There are a lot of resources out there to get you started, but at the same time, there's always something better about asking a person directly when you have a question instead of hunting for an answer in something that's already been written and may not even apply!
Just to give you a little background about me, since I'll be answering the questions, my name is Christy! I actually started out on journal-based roleplaying on Livejournal in 2006 more or less on a whim, and I've been continuously playing ever since. I've played a wide variety of characters in an even wider variety of games, and I've both created games from scratch and run them and helped mod ones that other people have made. So as such, you can ask questions about RP from the perspective of a player, but also from the perspective of a mod.
And of course, as a disclaimer, all answers I give are purely from my experience and my opinions! You might find that other people have different opinions or answers to questions, and I of course encourage people to jump in and answer questions as they see fit. This post is open to any kinds of questions at all, and if I don't have an answer for you off the top of my head, I'll do my best to try and find one for you. There's no such thing as a stupid question, so ask whatever you want! Even if it seems like the most basic, inane thing, I'm still happy to answer.
So go ahead! Ask any questions you'd like, and I'll answer them as quickly as I can. ♥
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How do I stop being a flake, Christy... How do I choose one character and stick to it...
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ALSO assuming you want a serious answer for this... I hope so... bc i'm going to give one
Well! First of all, I don't necessarily think that being a flake is defined as having a character you really stick to, because as a whole? I wouldn't say that's common, actually. Even for me who soulbounds for [redacted] years, the characters that I play for years are definitely exceptions overall. Like just to use myself as an example, look at all the characters I've played over the years on DW alone! Sometimes I can be a little flakey too, since my style of picking a character tends to come down to throwing spaghetti at the wall until it sticks. Diva and Sebastian are defintiely exceptions, because most of the time? I tend to only play a character for a few months and then get bored of them.
So really, the key to not being flakey comes down to identifying why you're flaking, first of all. What is it that you don't enjoy about RP? What makes it difficult to stay interested in a character or a game? Because I mean, it's totally fair and not flakey at all if you try out one of those two things and just find it doesn't mesh. To me, flakiness usually comes more in terms of an OOC attitude and not managing time well.
Which at this point, I'm starting to speak much more in general, because I do think individual reasons are going to vary a lot here!
But in general, I think with a lot of people that I find a little flakey is honestly just that relative to the amount of time they have to RP, they're taking on too much or not using their time wisely. One of the important things I learned a few years ago was basically how to juggle RPing with my RL responsibilities in a way that didn't interfere too much with either. And on the RP side, that means being honest with both yourself and with others about the amount of time you have to RP. A lot of people I consider a little flakey just don't have as much time to RP as they want to RP, and end up spreading themselves too thin. It's a neverending cycle, because they get too involved, then feel bad about how many threads they've taken on, and then end up putting them off because they feel bad that they can't handle the threadload. This happens to me too! But I mean, in my experience, just being honest when you have to drop threads and also honestly trying to do better the next time means a lot to other people.
This all has to do with activity, but I think also in terms of characters, part of not being flakey is sticking with a character even if they might not be in a spot of development you're currently happy with. Like the fun of RP (to me) is that it's so dynamic, so there's a lot of freedom to make your own choices. There's definitely a limit in this case, but if you're unhappy with where a character is, then really sitting down and thinking about how to get out of a rut and plots you could do is what it takes to get out of them. No one else is going to do it for you, because the nature of RP is that we tend to be more focused on our own characters, so honestly, that's the sort of problem where the onus falls solely on you. But that's not to say other people can't help! Just coming to the table to CR with ideas you've thought of can send CR in new directions or start new CR. It's just a matter of being proactive.
Overall, I think the way to combat flakiness comes down to being honest with yourself and others though. Whether it's in terms of overall activity or with picking a character, it's just a matter of communication every time. Like it's okay to be slow or have off days where you don't feel like RPing! But I think keeping yourself to a standard of letting people know and evaluating the amount of RPing you can do realistically are the big steps to a non-flakey lifestyle. :)
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fingerguns