InsaneJournal

There's something I've been thinking about a lot in terms of Roleplay Games. This is specifically for Journal Platform Games and Tumblr Games--because while they have different styles and rules at times there are also similarities in play and, I believe, sometimes similar pitfalls. Perhaps the most troublesome thing I've had to learn how to manage, and I think others have as well, is the disconnect between Para/Threading (novel style responses) and Gif-Chats or Icon-Chats.

Before we get into the differences I want to define these two methods of conversation:

Paraing or Threading

the style of interacting through novel style writing. Its often, but not always, written in third person (past or present depends) and each writer focuses predominantly and mostly exclusively on their character.

Icon Chats

Chats on journal platforms often in first person--written as dialog or as written dictation with Icons used to convey tone or expression of the character. Example

Gif Chats

Chats on Tumblr often in first person--written as dialog or as written dictation with gifs included so that tone or expression of the character can be conveyed. Example

Its not a complete cross-over but I think Icon Chats and Gif Chats are pretty easily equitable. Yes, there are different ways of indicating "locked" posts and open ones, yes there are different lengths--but by in large they are closer to being similar than, say, either of them and Para/Threads.

So what's the big deal?

Something I think a lot of players have trouble with, and something that took me forever to figure out in my very first game, There often needs to be a disconnect between how a character would interact face-to-face para/threads and in gif/icon chats. Gif/Icon chats are sometimes face-to-face, yes, but they are not always--they function within a gray area until the players decide what's going on--are they writing or having a discussion from a distance? Or are they right next to each other?

And in that disconnect, in that way that there is nothing but dialog/dictation and an image, there needs to be a difference in manner of communication.

Why?

Because you are presenting your character interacting in a different space and an different way. Also, people don't interact the same way through different mediums (at least not always). Think about how you write a letter verses talk on the phone or text message. The same should be true of your character.

There is also the trouble that through gif chats and icon chats you simply don't have the space (provided its not a short para with an icon) to over indulge in the quirks of your characters. While you shouldn't make your nervous character, for example, the class clown... a player needs to strike a balance between conveying the character's mannerisms and being able to make headway within a conversation. In overindulging in the quirks you can easily ull a conversation because characters and players don't have as much to draw from. While some added indulgence can be viable in a para or thread it is simply not as useful in the short dialog/dictation of the icon/gif chat format.

Most recently I've been playing Regulus Black within a scope of being extremely socially isolated and under high levels of stress with a support system of... one. If I played him solely as a neurotic nearly homeless man: I would have only one or two lines, possibly less due to the flux line involved in any group roleplaying game.

But that's boring. That gives only a few characters something to bounce off mine. It would make Regulus Black a virtually useless character who provides little for his own plotline and even less for anyone else. So to be able to (hopefully) allow him to influence and interact I had to create a disconnect between gif/icon chats and para/threads. This is the same character, but what aspects of that character I put forward depends on the conversation medium I am utilizing.

More directly: I'd say in gif chats my portrayal of Regulus may seem more put together, a little weird, but also to the point and sometimes vicious. In Para's he's still vicious--but he's weirder and the description is clear: he's practically homeless with borderline self-harm habits which he uses to attempt to focus. His dialog is often circular and his movements are agitated.

Half of the latter can't be accurately portrayed in gif/icon chat even if I changed his Play By or Face Claim. If I played him the same in both places A ) there'd be more circular conversation (which there is already some) B ) he'd be a lot less clear with a lot more start and stops in dialog which would make it less fun/less easy for for others to play against him.

So am I playing two different characters? I mean, I’m saying here that I’m portraying him differently in two different modes. Isn’t that bad characterization?

I’d say no.

Much of what I have Regulus say in Gif/Icon chats is similar to what he’d say in Paras or Threads. The only difference is that I clip it more--I make the dialog more pointed, less disorganized. Regulus is still neurotic, still nervous, still vicious--but different modes of conversation in game require different finessing.

And that is something I think it takes a while to understand (because, lo, the first time I played Regulus Black it took me six months to make in game connections and have fun). It’s something I’ve heard others mention before, too. This is not isolated and its not something that only "bad rpers" do. Its something that takes learning, finessing, and working out your own way of differentiating.

But! You say. But! My character has a distinctive speech pattern. They have mannerisms or wouldn't say more than x.

In this I think you have to give a little. Lets say your character can't say the letter Y. Its in the application--but you know a lot of players don't read the application (sorry, its true). So how do you address the letter problem? Do you display it in the gif/icon chats dialog every time? I'd say no. Certainly do so during some of the chats. Do so when it would be most pronounced (under duress, for example, or excitement) but eventually that quirk would be part of the window-dressing. It would be understood. Let it be known but don't get hung up on it.

This is especially true when that quirk would limit the conversation capabilities of a character.

My character wouldn't say more than x.

Alright. So. You're in a situation where your character won't spit something out. This can be great fun to play--but its also really difficult to do in gif/icon chats. Having 2000 posts of "Yes/No/Yes/No/Yes/NO" just doesn't quite hit as hard as it could in, say, a para or thread. You can’t see the inner conflict of x character even with the very best Icons or Gifs used just for this reason--and it makes it harder for other players to feel, if only tangentially, involved in your characters troubles.

So my advise is to condense, use strikeouts, and find ways to have your character give more than they meant to.

Condense

In a Para you have a lot of room to explain a character's mindset and for them to cycle through thoughts and ideas before another character can respond. In a gif/icon chat: you don't. So you need to be able to sacrifice some of it. Here's an example of Regulus talking to Marcus and whipping between emotions:

Regulus abruptly got to his feet. He needed to move. He had to do something with his hands or his feet or he thought he was just going to stop making sense entirely. So he paced two feet and then stopped and turned around to answer the next question. "As for Marlene—" He swallowed and tried to keep his voice even. He had told himself before he came: he needed to pull himself back together for this meeting. He needed to not be so emotional. But it was becoming harder and harder to do that, even in such short of time. "Marlene thought I was an Inferius." He threw his hands to the side. "I barreled into the flat, babbled something I don't even remember, and then realized that Marlene wasn't you and started laughing."

The chuckle that followed was completely involuntary, but Regulus slammed his left fist into his hip instead of over his mouth to stifle it. It didn't keep his eyes from looking a bit glossy and mad in the yellowed lamp light, or the tremble that started just short of his shoulders. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore." Another useless hand gesture—right hand out towards the path. "Scaring little girls in kitchens because I'm dead."

How might I do the same scene in a gif/icon chat?

Gif Chat

I don't even know what I'm doing anymore.

I barreled into the flat, babbled something I don't even remember, and then realized that Marlene wasn't you and started laughing.

Icon Chat

I don't even know what I'm doing anymore.

I...I just...barreled into the flat, babbled something I don't even remember, and then realized that Marlene wasn't you and started laughing.

Now I could have just used "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore" and left it at that--but by giving more I give something more for whoever is responding to bounce off of. Another option would be to just have him go "As for Marlene?... Marlene..."

Why isn't that a useful piece of dialog for a gif/icon chat? It shows the upset--even better than an icon or gif I could use! ... But it doesn't give the person responding much to do with it. All they can do is try to prompt Regulus to go on. That IS actually a useful tool--but it should be used sparingly. Its hard for players to get into a conversation with characters they constantly have to bait and prompt the other player/character. no matter what format you are writing on you should be providing at least half the prompting and giving the other player (or players) something to be challenged by or something their characters could be influenced by.

Use Strikeouts

So your character is having trouble spitting things out. In addition to avoiding the topic my recommendation is to use the handy strikeout--provided that the game allows strikeouts to be read (abet with implied difficulty).

Why? Because using strikeouts allows for the topic to be implied as difficult to say, as something mumbled or written near illegally, while still allowing for x, y, z difficult topic to be brought into the conversation. Its the cheat code for a character in a difficult situation and it gives you an easy way to side in some headway on the real issue beyond a characters refusal to respond directly.

Lets take another look at another example--same Para/Thread but later.

Para

Marcus kept his voice strained, but soft—Regulus didn’t. The crack of his voice was loud enough to startle himself and he flinched back with it even as he knew it was his own, "I don’t know." The shout could have been on anything: what had they done that wasn’t dangerous? He didn’t know. What did he want? He didn’t know. Was Marcus a danger? He didn’t know.

He had the majority of everyday to think about it. Sometimes he spent time thinking about what he could do later or what he would do if he could do anything he wanted. Most of the time he simply tried to figure out how to unravel the tangle of his, and therefore Marcus’, situation with too little information. It never worked. Every possibility, when thought of logically and without idealism, was laced with fallout that Regulus had always anticipated—but never really assumed he’d have to face.

"I don’t know." He tried again, softer this time. "I feel like I’m going mad, okay?"

Now in this example I would argue that its very difficult for Regulus to say "I feel like I’m going mad, okay?" and in a gif/icon chat it would be easy for him to just reply with "I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know." Right? But that would get boring and so here’s how I might play it out as a Gif chat (Icon chat you can assume would be very similar).

Gif Chat

I don’t know.

I don’t know, okay?

I feel like I’m going mad.

Find ways to have your character give more than they meant to

This one is simple as it is obscure. It means let your characters make mistakes, let them spit things out they might not have meant to--if only a little. It means give a little when you have to--because even the most stoic, the most disorganized, the most losing control character will give away something. The trick is to find what that something is that will allow other characters to bounce off of it. This can be an accidentally unlocked/unwarded/whatever post. This can be with alcohol, or a head injury, or just well timed trust (or accidental trust). This includes strikeout conversations, and condensing. I am not giving an example of this because I did with the strikeout but there are other ways to do it--its all about figuring out what your character arch is, what you want for your character, and what you think your character can give to others.

So what does all this mean?

It means having characters strikeout dialog (it is often considered legible but harder to read in most games) which characters can then still respond to it while still preserving your characters feelings of difficulty addressing x, y, z. It means giving as much as you get, and it means finding ways to work around your characters quirks because there are places where they are best explored and places they are simply hindering your play through over indulgence. It means making a difference in conversation styles based on perceived ideas of distance--between Para/threads and Chat/Gif Chats.

All of my examples are plays on extremes but the same thing can be seen in even the most well-adjusted character. The ones with quirks are just sometimes the ones most hindered by play choices and ways of conveying information.