Alright, so the "Feeling ignored in a RP" thread made me think of this. Now here, Im not talking about being ignored. This is concerning RPs that are agreed upon by two people. And Ill go ahead and say, Im going to struggle to explain what I'm trying to say here so if some things do not come across clearly I will do my best to clarify them.
So let me make this clear upfront, yes, some characters are oblivious due to it being their nature. There are derpy characters, clumsy characters, and characters that zone out or purposefully ignore others. That's pretty expected. However...
...What about the rest of them that /arent/ supposed to be this way? Somehow I think some players don't really process the information in someone elses post. Its as if something needs to be upfront and in their face for their character to notice. And its not just that. The players do not even acknowledge what your character is doing inside of your post. [And understand, this is between a VERY small group or only two people so its not like the player of the other character has anything to do or look at that might incline them to ignore you.]
For example, if you and another person were alone in a room and one of them begins shouting and you're half asleep when they begin shouting.... odds are, you're going to react to that in some way, shape, or form. Maybe you'll perk up, maybe you'll ask them what they're shouting about or ask them to stop, maybe you would tell them to flat out shut up, or.... maybe even you'll just kinda look at them before nodding off again. The point being YOU WOULD NOTICE. This particular example may overlap with the "ignoring" bit so let me back up with another example.
Your character is sneaking from cover to cover to assasinate another character. They're a little nervous, they dont exactly want to, but theyre going to because for one reason or another, they think they have to.
....The other character does'nt notice your character's sneaking around until after several posts. Fair enough, that makes perfect sense. EXCEPT..... their character does'nt question why your character is sneaking around, dose'nt wonder why your character is'nt making eye contact and is stuttering, or why they have something hidden behind their back. And it is not until your character acctually attempts to strike out or kill them that they show ANY sign of curiosity or suspicion. [Ok, extreme and not-so-great example there.] But come ON. I know SOME characters are like that but seriously, not everyone [or rather, every character] in the world is overtrusting or oblivious like that.
There are times in real life where you may not necesarily be speaking but you would react. Heres one final, and probably crazier example but I feel its effective here. If a lunatic went screaming across the mall running as fast as he could waving his arms. You're not going to keep reading your magazine. You're going to at /least/ look up if not move away. Why do some of these roleplays make me think that if yourcharacter was in that position that the lunatic would have to speak TO them or run and plow directly INTO them for them to take notice? I mean really. 8/
And I tend to see behavior like this common among the more iliterate players but I've seen it in literate players just the same. If you agreed to roleplay with me, why do I have to plant a big neon-green sign in your character's face BEFORE they acknowledge my character's actions? It drains a lot of the fun out of a roleplay, having to spell things out. I suppose I'm just annoyed at the large number of people who are unwilling to read between the lines even the slightest bit. 8/
