Communication and its importance in rp

[Canon Lover 69]

So I have a query in regard to communication. How much do you require in terms of communication with your rp partner? Is it a little? Is it significant? Do you require absolutely none and focus primarily in rping itself? What does communication contribute to rping itself? Does it cease to exist once you have the essentials necessary to get the rp rolling or does it still play a part in general idle chatter and keeping in touch with your rp partner? Does nudging or bumping take away from the rping itself or is it such a hinderance and annoyance it is best to leave responses when good and ready?

So much goes into an rp and in my mind communication is a huge aspect of what makes rping function. Keeping in touch through that one pm or say a chat on a server goes a long way to making sure that the rp is still relevant and active without letting it fade away. I get that communication can vary between rpers and that includes giving your rp partner a nudge or bump as a way to keep things moving. Everyone again is going to have differing answers and for me this is just something I thought to pt out there. Honestly there is no right or wrong answer and perhaps someone has already pitched this prior but for me when I think about rping communication is often at the forefront of my mind and it continues to be so long after the rps are underway.

 

[Carpe Diem]

Technically, I'd say I require none because I can go along with the roleplay just fine, but in reality if there's no communication, I can't say there's really a roleplay. Roleplaying is a social hobby, after all. Or at least, the type that's practiced on this site.

I will say though, that I generally do not bump someone for a response. I understand that there are forgetful people, but I think that if it's that easy to forget our roleplay, then it probably isn't that important to you anyway. I'll maybe send a quick message to someone and tell them I hope they're doing alright, but I'm not going to be constantly reminding someone that I exist.

But to bring it back to the original topic, I think communication in an RP is probably one of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect.

 

[echo]

I will be the first one to admit that my communication skills are lacking when it comes to returning messages at times. When I have the time to respond, I can knock them all out in that time frame, but if on limited frame, I tend to answer the one's that are dated the longest. I am also extraordinarily easy to distract and have a home life where no one can find anything, even if it's blinking in front of their faces, so I get "Mom"ed... A. LOT. So whatever I had just read or typed out, will usually sit because in my brain, I hit the "Post reply" button or had responded already.

I am also really bad at hyper-focusing. If I have a quiet time frame that is longer than an hour, I will immerse myself in that hour with whatever I have the creative Muse-Jooce to do, and then everything else fades into the background until the hyper-fixation is finished, or at least mostly done.

I will admit that I can be rather pester-ish since if I am unsure about a scene or what is supposed to happen, or even after I post a reply, I will message the individual, double checking if it was to their liking or if editing needs to happen... forgetfulness will usually lead to multiple messages because I forgot to add something, or had an afterthought... lost a couple the interest of a couple of people by doing that... so I try to make sure everything is edited nicely before sending—if I remember to actually send it. :/

It's truly nothing to do with the individual the messages are meant for... I am just an airhead who requires the friendly "nudge" once in a while if it's been a minute since one has heard from me. Not that I enjoy needing a babysitter for messages, but sometimes, it is needed :/

 

[BeeWitch]

I won’t rp with someone who won’t communicate ooc. I find that barrier awkward, weird and honestly more than a little intimidating. It also makes me anxious and self-conscious about my contribution, and I have enough to be anxious about irl without adding to it in a hobby.

I want a partner who is receptive to “Hey, would my character know xyz about yours?” so I can write a dynamic reply. Also a partner who is receptive to messages like “Oh shit, I just re-read that and I’m so sorry about the unfinished sentence I left dangling in the middle. My dog distracted me and I hit send before proofreading.”

We don’t have to be BFFs but I don’t want to wring my hands over whether a message OOC is going to send someone posting a rant in r/BadRPrs.

 

[Siph]

Probably the #1 thing I've learnt from years of roleplay is that communication is key. I've seen great stories be ruined due to poor communication, and salvaged bad relations through OOC communication, which is how I've met some of my long-term partners. Back when I hosted group RPs and had to moderate conflicts between players, the root cause was always some miscommunication that was ironed out by simply talking about it.

Roleplay is, inherently, a collaborative effort and a social hobby. Given that current technology doesn't allow me to beam my ideas right into someone else's mind, I don't see how a creative collaboration can function without an open line of communication.

This doesn't mean we need to be best friends and talk on a daily basis, nor do we ever need to talk about IRL stuff -- but categorically refusing OOC communication is about the biggest red flag you can fly in this hobby. Even just a "I really liked what you did with your last post" or "how do you feel about doing X in the next scene" can go a long way.

 

[Sync]

Probably the #1 thing I've learnt from years of roleplay is that communication is key. I've seen great stories be ruined due to poor communication, and salvaged bad relations through OOC communication, which is how I've met some of my long-term partners. Back when I hosted group RPs and had to moderate conflicts between players, the root cause was always some miscommunication that was ironed out by simply talking about it.

Roleplay is, inherently, a collaborative effort and a social hobby. Given that current technology doesn't allow me to beam my ideas right into someone else's mind, I don't see how a creative collaboration can function without an open line of communication.

This doesn't mean we need to be best friends and talk on a daily basis, nor do we ever need to talk about IRL stuff -- but categorically refusing OOC communication is about the biggest red flag you can fly in this hobby. Even just a "I really liked what you did with your last post" or "how do you feel about doing X in the next scene" can go a long way.

All. Of. This.

I generally like to bounce an OOC message with every IC post. Just keep in touch, talk about the current scene, throw ideas for future scenes based on things mentioned in the current scene, check that my partner is happy with the story writing, check whether there's anything that should be done or not done...useful things like that.

But at the same time, this is a hobby. Real Life happens, and must always take precedence. So if you go silent for a few days, that's fine. If you're silent for a week, that's okay, too. I'll send a nudge after a week or two, but I'm not going to pester you. Likewise, I expect the same courtesy.

And it goes both ways: if you're not going to communicate with me, then I'm not going to feel you're really interested and may decide to drop or ghost ("ghosting" is probably a misnomer here, given that if you're not responding to me then I'm the one who last messaged you, so...).

There's my $0.02

 

[Baka]

For me it really depends. My ideal situation is to be internet-buddies with my RP-partners, and with majority of them I have casual OOC-chats going on. They may not be instant back-and-forth kind and I sometimes take my time to get around, but the fact that I can chat about our interests, share music, memes and whatnot and just talk about this and that with majority of my RP partners has in my opinion contributed to the longevity of the said plays.

However I also have one or two RPs where communication died-down a lot or is practically non-existent, but the roleplays are still going smoothly, and I have faith that if some problem or uncertainty in terms of the ongoing RP rises they will talk to me about it, or I will hit them up with OOC-message in turn. Do I wish I could talk to them more just about casual OOC-stuff? Yes, but since our collaboration work I am fine with the things as they are.

I have to admit that in terms of starting conversations, or casually just sending a meme for example I am really bad. I always feel like I am bothering the person with my goofy meme or song recommendation for example, so I could definitely be more proactive at least in the casual department.

As for poking my partner I don't do that at all. If someone wants to reply they will do so when they want to. If they forget then they can return to me when they remember that they have not responded to me or whenever. If they decide it is too embarrassing to message me after a month or so radio silence then it is what it is and that's the end of the road for the said RP or collaboration. I can wait as long as the cows come home, but if I did the last reply on OOC/RP then the ball is on their side, and I am not going to ask or poke them or do any checks. Like I already said: If someone actually wants to reply to you they will do so without having to be pushed to do so.

I don't mind in-turn if people poke me after two-weeks of silence or something like that. I usually try to keep my partners informed and most of them know I can take my sweet time cooking up replies, but if the poking is constant then I will usually bow-out sooner or later.

tl;dr: Communication is important to me, but depending on RP/partner at hand it is not a constant necessity as long as I feel we can chat about the RP at least when need be.

 

[Saber]

I appreciate communication, but it is not necessary after hammering out fine details of the rp. Once that is over most communication is minimal and purely focused on the rp or random life updates I it's been a long time. Unless I've known my rp partner as a friend before starting up a story.

 

[Revelations]

I find communication to be a make or break thing for me RP wise. Like... I need to at least have some sort of rapport/dialogue with a partner. Doesn't need to be an every day thing, but it should be something where I don't feel I'm bothering any partner by sending them an OOC message.

That being said I am awful at communicating as well.