Show Posts
1
Characters / Re: Az's Character Trove (Updated 9/19/17)
« on: September 24, 2017, 02:38:08 am »
I like Arren's design. ^_^
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
2
Game Discussion / Re: I am a accident-genius!
« on: March 11, 2014, 05:14:26 pm »
That's one way to do it. Another way to do it (if you know how to make maps and this only requires one computer and copy of the game. But if you don't, Brenda's is probably the better method for you) is just make your own map and then place a gate in it with the name and coordinates to watermill, save it and export it. Then all you have to do is go from your "new map" to the gate to watermill and boom, you're in watermill.
It USED to be in older versions that you could just export watermill from map maker and you would have a portal to it but that doesn't work anymore because if you DO do that then you can reach Watermill BUT all the objects end up being gone.
It USED to be in older versions that you could just export watermill from map maker and you would have a portal to it but that doesn't work anymore because if you DO do that then you can reach Watermill BUT all the objects end up being gone.
3
Game Discussion / Re: Popularity Among Groups
« on: March 11, 2014, 07:23:40 am »I don't know if this is just me, but, doesn't it seem like the FH Community will 'accept' certain advertising groups, while 'vetoing' others? For example, not to point fingers, just an example, TEC. TEC has endless members that have a pleasant obsession with the group. They're active, I think, exc. That's great, don't get me wrong. What about me for example? I've been working hard to make a well plotted, mapped, literate RP which accepts both canine and feline species. Certain types of semi-literate just might be accepted. I advertise by whispering friends, making movies in maps, and posting an advertisement thread on here, yet, nobody is interested! I didn't put in all of that work for 33 people...33, to just scan through my thread, shrug, and move on. Why is it that the FH'ers tend to bypass certain groups, and worship others?
Well, I can see a part of your trouble right there and this goes for a HEAP of players, both on Feral Heart and off. I'd be more than happy if I had 33 people [or even less!] in a group IF permitted to know them well. Ever since Feral-heart's release I've noticed players have put a greater emphasis on numbers and less emphasis on the people in it. Any group I've ever been involved in, be it on Feral Heart or something else, I HAD to know the players and they had to know me. We were friends and it only takes 2 people to make a RP, as opposed to the seemingly hundreds people seem to strive for. *eyeroll* Honestly, its WHO is in the group not how MANY are in it.
Second, I honestly don't think its any fault of yours at all in terms of how interesting your group is. Its rather funny, people get up in arms about wanting to be "unique" and yet they FLOCK to cliches and the overdone like sheep. [Warriorcats, wolf packs, lion prides, etc] So unfortunately, when you try to stand out, you end up ignored. And since having a RP group has kind of lost its value in Feral Heart [seeing as how most people join for a day and then are never seen again but their name remains on the list lest you kick them out] and how theres virtually dozens of the "same kind" all over, people will only glance over what is available.
As for TEC, as "unique" as some here have made it out to be, I'll be honest. It has NEVER appealed to me yet it has appealed to so many others and I think it is the cliche factor. For heaven's sake, kudos to the creator for making it and Im glad for their success but I'd be lying if I said that I had not heard the "I died, something tragic happened, Im a restless spirit...thing" routine. I've heard it a LOT. Regardless of whether or not that's what the creators went for when making the group, that is what is has been interpreted as by a LOT of its members as I've seen TOO many of their bios not to believe that.
Turns out the most successful groups are the ones that can rename a cliche without making it look like one by describing it with different words. Hence they end up appearing unique when in actuality, they're not and that is a trend that goes beyond Feral-heart but every game like it that is currently available out there. What people ask for (unique features) turns out to /not/ be what they want and /not/ what they end up flocking to.
4
Game Discussion / Re: Is it me or has FeralHeart suddenly become very empty recently?
« on: March 04, 2014, 07:52:48 am »Dat honesty.
I actually agree with most of your points. I honestly think the game is getting empty because of what all you had said. But, NEWS FLASH, age doesn't always level you maturity. Judging by your post, you seem to think that kids under 13 are always immature brats, when in reality, there are some decent mature kids 13 and under. Quite a couple of them really. I don't mean they can strut their butts on games that prohibit them because they are "more mature", by the way.
I don't want to meet another ageist jerk (STOP RIGHT NOW! NOT THAT I'M CALLING YOU ONE!).rant. don't attack me about it
You completely missed that part of my post. I said for every "mature" under-13 year old, you get about 10 [or likely more] immature brats. Yes I think that /most/ of them as in the MAJORITY of them are immature brats, not all of them. But even so that is how most children today are. Its like buying a bushel of apples for only one or two good apples, while the rest are bad rotted and nasty. You wouldn't buy that would you? Similarly, I did't like putting up with unsupervised children who DON'T behave just because someone wanted to let in a handful of them that do.
So my point is, they should all be prohibited for the majority being immature brats and that exceptions simply cannot be made for the minority few. Simple as that. And yes, I do judge people based off of age unless they can prove otherwise. Whining "I'm more mature than my peers" is the first step in the wrong direction. In one of the games I left to, there is an age limit and I am aware of several players who are just under the age limit but they're extremely cautious about their shenanigans and don't act up because they KNOW they'll be identified. So even if it doesn't keep all of them out [which it never will] in the very least an age limit can frighten them into behaving themselves, otherwise they end up banned/booted from the game until they turn 13.
I know because I was one of those kids years ago who had to put up with it growing up. You know what I did about it? I sucked it up and dealt with it. Yes, being under an age limit sucks but you realize down the road that there are reasons for it. If the majority of a group causes a problem for the rest of the age groups, I see it perfectly fair for them ALL to be penalized. Afterall, we can't separate one from another say "He's more mature, keep him" and then "Shes less mature, dont't allow her." That wouldn't be fair at all now would it? But permitting all of them to wreck havoc in an unsupervised environment is also unfair to those who are at or above the age requirement. Since that is also not fair, so you structure your system around how the average behaves and do it for the age range that it is aimed at, not the minority, not when you're working on this large of a scale. "That quite a couple of them" as you put it does not excuse the whole age group.
ANYWAY back on topic. Point being age limts can definitely influence who sticks around and who leaves. I was rubbed the wrong way when Feral Heart grew very open warm and fuzzy with allowing kids. Pardon for having to put it like this but shouldn't they be playing something more age appropriate? Animal Jam maybe? There are people there and other children there who would probably welcome their antics with open arms whereas in a game like this that's very vast, not very well supervised (lets be honest. I'm not pointing fingers and saying its anyone's fault and yes, people have lives but regardless of those things, that is the current state of the game. It IS poorly supervised.) and that is just begging for problems.
5
Game Discussion / Re: Is it me or has FeralHeart suddenly become very empty recently?
« on: March 04, 2014, 05:42:22 am »
As someone who's pretty much quit this game [and I usually only return for the sake of keeping in touch with friends who have decided to stay here, once in a while] after playing for several years, I think I can answer this question easily. Before I get to that, however, I do have to agree that the issue of the huge ice/snow storms and internet being knocked out is definitely a part of the problem, but not the entire problem.
Now ignoring some more controversial subjects such as the staff or the fact Kov is neither updating the game nor decided to make it opensource yet, let me just point out some little things could certainly cause some big problems.
1. The too warm of a welcome to under 13 yr old children.
I'm not sorry when I say I firmly stand by that a game designed in a manner such as Feral-heart, whether intentional or not is not suitable for anyone under 13 years old. Notice that a few of the Impressive Title servers forbid this and most of the younglings either learn to "Act like the grownups" in order to blend in so that they don't get caught or they just flat out don't play the game because they know if they act up, guess what? They're getting banned. Ever notice on online games, there are disclaimers saying "Online interactions not rated?" Heh. Yeah. There's a reason for that. I feel safe in saying that a 13 year old knows enough about right and wrong to make a decision on how to behave. Anyone under that age range [And I could care less about those little ones or their parents who think they're "more mature." You're never "more mature" as a solid whole, only in pieces.] on average is not and the hell that comes from giving them the freedom to make those stupid mistakes without consequence does NOT outweigh the good and joy that comes from a few "more mature youngins" who get to play. They can wait. Afterall, for every under-age you let in that is "more mature" there are likely ten or more immature brats that come with them, all of which if they only caused one problem each, is STILL ten problems. Children under thirteen still need to be on restricted games and websites or at least on ones that are tightly supervised. Feral Heart is not tightly supervised and that combined with underage children is a recipe for disaster.
2. Terrible Roleplay Trends. Now this, I can't pin on the game's fault. Its not the game's fault but this game is the point of origin for a lot of things that I can safely say were not present [or if present, nowhere near as extreme] in the original Impressive Title game before Feral Heart.
A. Realism is everything....too often. I can recall in the months before I left Feral Heart that I would be ignored and branded as a n00b roleplayer for having a character with *gasp!* an unrealistic color on it.
B. People have somehow gotten the idea that different species can't roleplay together. And before anyone opens their mouth and tries to say that its more realistic to keep the same species together, lets get our heads out of population mechanics and go to a slightly bigger area in biology. Community mechanics. Species in "real life" interact on a very frequent basis and it is what makes our world go round. Bacteria are interacting with you in your gut right now. That's not realistic? And for a more similar example, a wolf chasing a coyote away from his kill is not realistic either? Please. Save your breath. Personally I like to see species interaction on an unrealistic level [Cat's and dogs living together *insert quote-pun here*] BUT thats my personal preference but regardless of that, even on a REALISTIC level, species interact. All the time. So why does everyone seem so freaking bent on keeping them apart? Might be the problem below
C. The desperation to run a disorganized pack/pride/clan/group. Or not even that, its the way the groups are run and like letter B I have seen this spread to similar games, usually because FH players tend to head to similar games and take their bad habits with them. No big surprise. On Impressive Title, there was NO group system. If you wanted a group you had to make a thread with some actual effort put into it, not to roleplay but to keep track of your members, and you would have between about 10 and 40 and they were close knit groups. You knew all the people you RP'd with and they had to actually apply [and I don't mean just a RP sample] and make an effort. With the group system, people just add you at random regardless of whether or not you will commit. Everyone has become so number's focused and trying to be "big and awesome" when really all they have is a long virtual list of names, half of which won't play for more than five minutes. I'd rather have a close knit group of ten people to RP with regularly than a 100 I would lose in two days. Oddly enough for most of my time here I had that in a group of my friends but I know that most people do not. Consequently? That's more than enough reason to leave.
[[And don't tell me a 13 year old cannot be relied on to do something like that because when I was 13 and playing Impressive Title /EVERYONE/ did that just fine. What they didn't know, they asked and learned. Being a kid in that respect does not equal being incapable, ESPECIALLY in this generation.]]
D. Dang'd if you do, dang'd if you don't. What do I mean by that? Well for starters let me begin by talking about the novices. There are a few who want help and ask to improve. The problem? Anyone nice enough to do it is expected to play teacher all the time. So they lose. And the novice RPer? They tend to lose too because when they're /not/ around that one nice friend, they're getting bashed by /supposedly/ more experienced roleplayers [Though to be honest I've seen these bullies and their posts are usually filled with so many errors, its laughable to call them experienced.] for not being that good. And the other way that the "Teacher" loses is that BECAUSE they are one of the few experience roleplayers who is trying to help when asked, when they get too tired to play "Teacher" and just want to RP with someone on their level, they're branded as being one of the bullies. That's a seriously vicious cycle going there. And sometimes, even when they exhaust themselves to help out the novice roleplayers and do not refuse, this /still/ happens because goodness forbid that they post better than "how u doin?" and that automatically makes them a bully. Because of COURSE anyone who knows how to make a proper roleplay post is a bully. *Much sarcasm intended there* This is among one of the many, but main reasons why I left.
And can I just say that its incredibly sad that the novices can get branded as n00bs, those of us who were on the side of being experience roleplayers who were NOT bullies and got bashed, labled, and ignored by both novices and bullies alike did NOT have a rabbid-foaming-at-the-mouth support group unlike the little novices? Yeah, chew on that for a while because I can tell you from experience it sucks. At least someone sticks up for the novices, but anyone else? They're thrown to the wolves. [Not making a joke there.]
3. Overall presentation. Partly due to the clinging of players to same-species same-looks but the downhill roll of creativity is startling. I'm more than a little annoyed that the vast of variety of maps made in the early versions of the game, particularly the ones that took a great deal of effort [the ones that still work in the current version] are far superior to the ones being made now. Yes, I made a lot of complex maps but I'm talking about mine, I'm talking about everyone elses. How many people have actually bothered to learn how to use object maker? Or even use a downloaded mesh? [That one is a slightly more frequent skill in the FH population but still not frequent enough]. The better maps are getting buried by billions of copies of "LOOK AT ME! I put 100 trees of the exact same size, facing the exact same way, on a /grass/ texture. Its a bootiful forest!" No its not. Its ugly and its been done about a 1000 times before, why didn't you just save yourself the five minutes it probably took to work on it and download the carbon copy on the next page? Or does anyone even look on the second page anymore? I don't know but the lack of attention to detail and creativity is startling.
And thats even if you ignore the number of "Warrior cats maps" although I ignore that simply because /that/ is up for interpretation and Im all for different interpretations of the same thing. Fair enough. Now I would blame it being kids allowed on the game but this started happening long before Feral Heart got overly warm and fuzzy with letting under thirteen year olds in, so I won't place blame on that. And also, is there anyone even ALLOWED to download a map on the game anymore? Or willing at least? I ask that question sarcastically because toward the end of my time on Feral Heart, when asked if someone wanted to do a downloaded map RP their answer was "I don't know how [and it takes zero effort to learn, even for a 13 year old Its copy and paste!] and I dont want to learn, or its "My parents wont let me" [which is understandable in some cases but Id hope to god you're old enough they trust you. I take this one lightly], or its "My parents have to help me because I dont know how [again, if you're 13 and can copy and paste, I HIGHLY doubt this is true. If you can download a song on your ipod, you can download a map or preset.]
3. Availability of other similar games WITHOUT as many of the problems I've stated above. There is a vast array of Impressive Title servers, Last Moon, Wolf Soul, Royal Skies, etc. as well as other non IT-server games in the making such as Feral Tales [though as others have said I highly doubt that is accounting for the sudden drop in attendance but it is a possible factor for a few people], or Primitive Call.
That is what I did, I found a game with less of these issues and left. And you know what? I'm happy. Its sad when someone has to leave a game they were happy with for several years just because of a few silly little things that turned into huge problems because they managed to get out of hand. And as mentioned at the top, this is only addressing a few issues, not all of them. So yeah, I can see a LOT of reasons why Feral Heart is empty besides the bad weather.
And interestingly enough, several of the folks who vaguely claimed in the "leaving threads" that they were "leaving just because" or kept their reasons or where they went vague, I've run across some of them in other games. So yeah, there are definitely some things driving people out/elsewhere going on right now.
Now ignoring some more controversial subjects such as the staff or the fact Kov is neither updating the game nor decided to make it opensource yet, let me just point out some little things could certainly cause some big problems.
1. The too warm of a welcome to under 13 yr old children.
I'm not sorry when I say I firmly stand by that a game designed in a manner such as Feral-heart, whether intentional or not is not suitable for anyone under 13 years old. Notice that a few of the Impressive Title servers forbid this and most of the younglings either learn to "Act like the grownups" in order to blend in so that they don't get caught or they just flat out don't play the game because they know if they act up, guess what? They're getting banned. Ever notice on online games, there are disclaimers saying "Online interactions not rated?" Heh. Yeah. There's a reason for that. I feel safe in saying that a 13 year old knows enough about right and wrong to make a decision on how to behave. Anyone under that age range [And I could care less about those little ones or their parents who think they're "more mature." You're never "more mature" as a solid whole, only in pieces.] on average is not and the hell that comes from giving them the freedom to make those stupid mistakes without consequence does NOT outweigh the good and joy that comes from a few "more mature youngins" who get to play. They can wait. Afterall, for every under-age you let in that is "more mature" there are likely ten or more immature brats that come with them, all of which if they only caused one problem each, is STILL ten problems. Children under thirteen still need to be on restricted games and websites or at least on ones that are tightly supervised. Feral Heart is not tightly supervised and that combined with underage children is a recipe for disaster.
2. Terrible Roleplay Trends. Now this, I can't pin on the game's fault. Its not the game's fault but this game is the point of origin for a lot of things that I can safely say were not present [or if present, nowhere near as extreme] in the original Impressive Title game before Feral Heart.
A. Realism is everything....too often. I can recall in the months before I left Feral Heart that I would be ignored and branded as a n00b roleplayer for having a character with *gasp!* an unrealistic color on it.
B. People have somehow gotten the idea that different species can't roleplay together. And before anyone opens their mouth and tries to say that its more realistic to keep the same species together, lets get our heads out of population mechanics and go to a slightly bigger area in biology. Community mechanics. Species in "real life" interact on a very frequent basis and it is what makes our world go round. Bacteria are interacting with you in your gut right now. That's not realistic? And for a more similar example, a wolf chasing a coyote away from his kill is not realistic either? Please. Save your breath. Personally I like to see species interaction on an unrealistic level [Cat's and dogs living together *insert quote-pun here*] BUT thats my personal preference but regardless of that, even on a REALISTIC level, species interact. All the time. So why does everyone seem so freaking bent on keeping them apart? Might be the problem below
C. The desperation to run a disorganized pack/pride/clan/group. Or not even that, its the way the groups are run and like letter B I have seen this spread to similar games, usually because FH players tend to head to similar games and take their bad habits with them. No big surprise. On Impressive Title, there was NO group system. If you wanted a group you had to make a thread with some actual effort put into it, not to roleplay but to keep track of your members, and you would have between about 10 and 40 and they were close knit groups. You knew all the people you RP'd with and they had to actually apply [and I don't mean just a RP sample] and make an effort. With the group system, people just add you at random regardless of whether or not you will commit. Everyone has become so number's focused and trying to be "big and awesome" when really all they have is a long virtual list of names, half of which won't play for more than five minutes. I'd rather have a close knit group of ten people to RP with regularly than a 100 I would lose in two days. Oddly enough for most of my time here I had that in a group of my friends but I know that most people do not. Consequently? That's more than enough reason to leave.
[[And don't tell me a 13 year old cannot be relied on to do something like that because when I was 13 and playing Impressive Title /EVERYONE/ did that just fine. What they didn't know, they asked and learned. Being a kid in that respect does not equal being incapable, ESPECIALLY in this generation.]]
D. Dang'd if you do, dang'd if you don't. What do I mean by that? Well for starters let me begin by talking about the novices. There are a few who want help and ask to improve. The problem? Anyone nice enough to do it is expected to play teacher all the time. So they lose. And the novice RPer? They tend to lose too because when they're /not/ around that one nice friend, they're getting bashed by /supposedly/ more experienced roleplayers [Though to be honest I've seen these bullies and their posts are usually filled with so many errors, its laughable to call them experienced.] for not being that good. And the other way that the "Teacher" loses is that BECAUSE they are one of the few experience roleplayers who is trying to help when asked, when they get too tired to play "Teacher" and just want to RP with someone on their level, they're branded as being one of the bullies. That's a seriously vicious cycle going there. And sometimes, even when they exhaust themselves to help out the novice roleplayers and do not refuse, this /still/ happens because goodness forbid that they post better than "how u doin?" and that automatically makes them a bully. Because of COURSE anyone who knows how to make a proper roleplay post is a bully. *Much sarcasm intended there* This is among one of the many, but main reasons why I left.
And can I just say that its incredibly sad that the novices can get branded as n00bs, those of us who were on the side of being experience roleplayers who were NOT bullies and got bashed, labled, and ignored by both novices and bullies alike did NOT have a rabbid-foaming-at-the-mouth support group unlike the little novices? Yeah, chew on that for a while because I can tell you from experience it sucks. At least someone sticks up for the novices, but anyone else? They're thrown to the wolves. [Not making a joke there.]
3. Overall presentation. Partly due to the clinging of players to same-species same-looks but the downhill roll of creativity is startling. I'm more than a little annoyed that the vast of variety of maps made in the early versions of the game, particularly the ones that took a great deal of effort [the ones that still work in the current version] are far superior to the ones being made now. Yes, I made a lot of complex maps but I'm talking about mine, I'm talking about everyone elses. How many people have actually bothered to learn how to use object maker? Or even use a downloaded mesh? [That one is a slightly more frequent skill in the FH population but still not frequent enough]. The better maps are getting buried by billions of copies of "LOOK AT ME! I put 100 trees of the exact same size, facing the exact same way, on a /grass/ texture. Its a bootiful forest!" No its not. Its ugly and its been done about a 1000 times before, why didn't you just save yourself the five minutes it probably took to work on it and download the carbon copy on the next page? Or does anyone even look on the second page anymore? I don't know but the lack of attention to detail and creativity is startling.
And thats even if you ignore the number of "Warrior cats maps" although I ignore that simply because /that/ is up for interpretation and Im all for different interpretations of the same thing. Fair enough. Now I would blame it being kids allowed on the game but this started happening long before Feral Heart got overly warm and fuzzy with letting under thirteen year olds in, so I won't place blame on that. And also, is there anyone even ALLOWED to download a map on the game anymore? Or willing at least? I ask that question sarcastically because toward the end of my time on Feral Heart, when asked if someone wanted to do a downloaded map RP their answer was "I don't know how [and it takes zero effort to learn, even for a 13 year old Its copy and paste!] and I dont want to learn, or its "My parents wont let me" [which is understandable in some cases but Id hope to god you're old enough they trust you. I take this one lightly], or its "My parents have to help me because I dont know how [again, if you're 13 and can copy and paste, I HIGHLY doubt this is true. If you can download a song on your ipod, you can download a map or preset.]
3. Availability of other similar games WITHOUT as many of the problems I've stated above. There is a vast array of Impressive Title servers, Last Moon, Wolf Soul, Royal Skies, etc. as well as other non IT-server games in the making such as Feral Tales [though as others have said I highly doubt that is accounting for the sudden drop in attendance but it is a possible factor for a few people], or Primitive Call.
That is what I did, I found a game with less of these issues and left. And you know what? I'm happy. Its sad when someone has to leave a game they were happy with for several years just because of a few silly little things that turned into huge problems because they managed to get out of hand. And as mentioned at the top, this is only addressing a few issues, not all of them. So yeah, I can see a LOT of reasons why Feral Heart is empty besides the bad weather.
And interestingly enough, several of the folks who vaguely claimed in the "leaving threads" that they were "leaving just because" or kept their reasons or where they went vague, I've run across some of them in other games. So yeah, there are definitely some things driving people out/elsewhere going on right now.
6
Game Discussion / Re: Illiterates Role Players.
« on: January 15, 2014, 03:58:12 pm »
So I'm not a frequent player of the game anymore but I feel its safe for me to say this given this happens in roleplay regardless of where you spend your time (be it here or another game).
Anyway, I can't honestly say I entirely agree with this thread. I just cannot. Now before the bash fest begins let me say during my time in Feral heart I did roleplay with "illiterate" roleplayers even though other people have considered me to be "literate." Now with that said I can understand where the problems lie. Trying to make an ideal of "well why can't you just---" Just...doesn't work. Let me explain.
The first problem with people who post in complete sentences versus those who do not is that it does not give the other person enough to work with. "Sits" Mkay. Fine. For a first post it would suffice. I'm not a stickler for the length of a post but I would like SOME information even if it is short. So, while I can deal with something like "-yawns because shes tired-" because it least gives me some extra insight, something like "-lies down-" "-drinks water-" "-howls-" in the duration of several posts, unfortunately I can't draw ANY conclusions about that person's character's personality, likes/dislikes, fears, purpose of even being there so when it comes my turn to post [especially over time]... I have NO material with which to make the RP interesting. Can my character take advantage of their character being fearful? What about possibly having similar interests and the two befriending each other? What about the weather? I can't learn ANYTHING [or work with anything] because these things are presented to me in "-lies down-" "-drinks water-" and "-howls-"
Even IF you can deal with this, and I have for the sake of teaching other people how to RP who have asked me, you find yourself being the ONLY one working to move the RP forward ESPECIALLY when its a one on one. And teaching someone in a group is a heck of a lot more difficult because you have to give the person feedback about not just the part of their post toward you but everyone else as well. Thats a LOT to keep track of. Playing "teacher" all the time is EXHAUSTING and quite frankly I hate when perfectly nice people end up branded the "bad guy" just because they just want to be alone and RP with each other and not play "teacher." You really think they should be obligated to play teacher? No.
In addition to that, RP should be give and take. You give an amount of acknowledgement, I'll return the same unfortunately it is a very common trend that MOST [although not all] of the "illiterate" roleplayers are about as poor at reading between the lines and drawing their own conclusions and working with these conclusions as they are writing their posts. I'm sorry but its a truth, an ugly truth. There are a few exceptions but the majority are notorious for this. They also tend to lack character development. Now I WILL say I /have/ met literate roleplayers who have beautiful writing but their characters have zero development. And let me tell you I was looking for a reason to jump ship on the person because the roleplay was /incredibly/ dull thanks to their bland character [Additionally, any time me or my companions would try to bring excitement in, they promptly shot it down]. However because this person was nice and I could not find anything particularly /wrong/ with their posts, I kept roleplaying. The problem is illiterate roleplayers tend to have this problem AND the lack of details AND poor writing AND the tendancies to fall into cliches and predictable circumstances, make them both uninteresting and difficult to RP with.
Again let me say this isn't true for EVERYONE but it /is/ a frequent trend and I spent a LOT of my time befriending and teacher not-so-good roleplayers. I'm more than happy to help people but on /my time/ and /my terms./ I feel bad that people treated them like dirt. That is uncalled for. However, barging in on someone's roleplay and expecting them to teach you and deal with all of your conflicts while they're happily busy with someone else is /just/ as uncalled for. Understand that some of the literate roleplayers here in Feral Heart are REALLY out on a limb right now. They're strung between struggling with RPing/teaching people all of the time, often not all of which stay for more than a day before disappearing OR roleplaying with other literate people who unfortunately are a mixed bag of nice people [ a small fraction] and total jerks [the majority, at least in Feral Heart's case]. Its not a fun spot to be in and unlike the "illiterates" they don't have a little "support" group. They have people who bash them when they're tired of teaching people and would just rather be left alone and RP with people on their same level for a little while. There's a third side here.
Anyway, I can't honestly say I entirely agree with this thread. I just cannot. Now before the bash fest begins let me say during my time in Feral heart I did roleplay with "illiterate" roleplayers even though other people have considered me to be "literate." Now with that said I can understand where the problems lie. Trying to make an ideal of "well why can't you just---" Just...doesn't work. Let me explain.
The first problem with people who post in complete sentences versus those who do not is that it does not give the other person enough to work with. "Sits" Mkay. Fine. For a first post it would suffice. I'm not a stickler for the length of a post but I would like SOME information even if it is short. So, while I can deal with something like "-yawns because shes tired-" because it least gives me some extra insight, something like "-lies down-" "-drinks water-" "-howls-" in the duration of several posts, unfortunately I can't draw ANY conclusions about that person's character's personality, likes/dislikes, fears, purpose of even being there so when it comes my turn to post [especially over time]... I have NO material with which to make the RP interesting. Can my character take advantage of their character being fearful? What about possibly having similar interests and the two befriending each other? What about the weather? I can't learn ANYTHING [or work with anything] because these things are presented to me in "-lies down-" "-drinks water-" and "-howls-"
Even IF you can deal with this, and I have for the sake of teaching other people how to RP who have asked me, you find yourself being the ONLY one working to move the RP forward ESPECIALLY when its a one on one. And teaching someone in a group is a heck of a lot more difficult because you have to give the person feedback about not just the part of their post toward you but everyone else as well. Thats a LOT to keep track of. Playing "teacher" all the time is EXHAUSTING and quite frankly I hate when perfectly nice people end up branded the "bad guy" just because they just want to be alone and RP with each other and not play "teacher." You really think they should be obligated to play teacher? No.
In addition to that, RP should be give and take. You give an amount of acknowledgement, I'll return the same unfortunately it is a very common trend that MOST [although not all] of the "illiterate" roleplayers are about as poor at reading between the lines and drawing their own conclusions and working with these conclusions as they are writing their posts. I'm sorry but its a truth, an ugly truth. There are a few exceptions but the majority are notorious for this. They also tend to lack character development. Now I WILL say I /have/ met literate roleplayers who have beautiful writing but their characters have zero development. And let me tell you I was looking for a reason to jump ship on the person because the roleplay was /incredibly/ dull thanks to their bland character [Additionally, any time me or my companions would try to bring excitement in, they promptly shot it down]. However because this person was nice and I could not find anything particularly /wrong/ with their posts, I kept roleplaying. The problem is illiterate roleplayers tend to have this problem AND the lack of details AND poor writing AND the tendancies to fall into cliches and predictable circumstances, make them both uninteresting and difficult to RP with.
Again let me say this isn't true for EVERYONE but it /is/ a frequent trend and I spent a LOT of my time befriending and teacher not-so-good roleplayers. I'm more than happy to help people but on /my time/ and /my terms./ I feel bad that people treated them like dirt. That is uncalled for. However, barging in on someone's roleplay and expecting them to teach you and deal with all of your conflicts while they're happily busy with someone else is /just/ as uncalled for. Understand that some of the literate roleplayers here in Feral Heart are REALLY out on a limb right now. They're strung between struggling with RPing/teaching people all of the time, often not all of which stay for more than a day before disappearing OR roleplaying with other literate people who unfortunately are a mixed bag of nice people [ a small fraction] and total jerks [the majority, at least in Feral Heart's case]. Its not a fun spot to be in and unlike the "illiterates" they don't have a little "support" group. They have people who bash them when they're tired of teaching people and would just rather be left alone and RP with people on their same level for a little while. There's a third side here.
7
Finished Maps / Re: Silhouette's Public Maps [Over 30 different maps. Last updated 10/28/13]
« on: January 08, 2014, 06:44:50 am »Love your maps, Silhouette. The detail and how the maps are layered out is great. I really like the sewer and hotel room scenes. Keep up the wonderful map-making, eh? ~ ?
Thanks FoxPhilosopher, unfortunately I've quit Feral-heart for the most part except to keep in touch with a few friends so I will not be producing any new maps at this time. /However/ with that said, there are a large number of older maps I have kept solely for the use of my friends. My formerly private maps, that is. I'm considering releasing those since nearly all of my really close friends migrated over to Last Moon with me. They won't get used just sitting there so I figured I could afford to let them go, especially with as much work as I put into them which in some cases was significantly greater than anything found here.
[Such as An Itty Bitty House. Contrary to the name, its a large fully furnished in-side of a house [kinda like inside the hotel] with two bathrooms, three bedrooms [one a kids] kitchen, sunroom, dining room, etc. I put together and retextured just about every object in it. Things like that, I don't want them to go to waste.]
9
Game Discussion / Re: A slight surge in evil and 'Bad guy' RolePlay?
« on: November 15, 2013, 02:34:40 am »If its the younger players doing it, I'm surprised. I think they need to get their definitions of what dark, aggressive, and evil mean straight. Its pretty apparent that a lot of players, even some older ones, don't know the subtle differences between these things and consequently their "aggressive" characters become too over the top or their "evil" characters aren't really evil and just flat out suck.I have notice that as well, but I believe it is just a phase.
A while ago, I noticed that pokemon where very common. And before that I noticed that it was warrior cats. Everything is popular at one point, then it dies down. It works this way in the real world, too.
I, myself, tend to prefer "darker" roleplays. Although they are hard to pull off, as mentioned before, they can be interesting and can have many different ending because the characters do not have a stable mind.
Why people are attracted to such an odd thing? I guess we will never know for sure, but we can guess.
In the real world, most people are good. We do exciting things in ours lives, but can only express our feeling to a certain degree. We cannot commit these actions such as sacrifice, torture and so forth, without ruining the rest of our life. So, by writing about them, people can express their feelings without any harm done. You see?
I guess it could be just a break from the norm, and people could be realizing that there are many topics to roleplay about rather than just your average hero.
It could also simply be that people are copying others to fit in. But, alas, we will never truly know why there is such a sudden increase.
If people are planning to create darker roleplays, there is not much we can do about it, except educate them on the proper ways to go about doing so. (i.e not just about gore)
Does anyone else notice that it tends to be the younger players who are creating more of the "darker" roleplays?
I recall RPing with someone who when my character (who I've had in the past run into evil characters who were MUCH more intimidating) happened upon them, got frustrated with me because my character wouldn't cower in fear of them and refused to take them seriously. Then they proceeded to tell me how ruthlessly their character killed rabbits and-.....Back up a minute there. If you have to go OOC to tell me WHY your character is evil/scarey...you're probably doing it wrong. And bunnies? BUNNIES? Oh /please/.
I had a very dark RP with a number of evil characters that was loosely based on a story I'm writing just to see if people liked the idea of it. I kept it among just a few close friends but they ended up liking the concept and it lasted about a year and it only ended because it actually got finished. (The RP in the Bridgeston City maps) So as others have said, if you can do it right and you can do it fair, it can add a great deal of interest.
But if you try to RP an evil character and you don't think you can make him seem threatening without winning all of the time, or you have to ASK someone to make their character frightened of yours...You're better off not RPing one at all.
10
Game Discussion / Re: Is Always Winning Really That Important?
« on: November 15, 2013, 12:41:02 am »Spongebob episode where he gets those gigantic fake muscles and can't actually do anything useful with them.
YES.
I must have missed this. That is probably the best analogy for this I've ever heard. LOL