Gowi

Pariah Online: Prologue [ closed ]

Graves smash!

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

As a GM and someone who's been on the receiving end of callous posts, I believe that while it's important to be direct, it's also just as important to be polite. Like @Jacobite says, a little kindness goes a long way especially as a person in authority. 'Lacking hostility' doesn't mean polite, just as being 'brutally honest' is more brutal than honest. Because you made that distinction however, I think you already know your answer.

@Sylph

I don’t go out of my way to condescend, antagonize, or be glib, if that’s what you mean? I’ve been managing role-playing threads for a very long time, so believe me when I say I’ve made mistakes and have learned from them. I try to be respectful and reasonable. I do believe myself as polite. Outside of one or two missteps, I would probably say outside of venting here the worst I did in the RP in question regarding communicating with other players is not taking the initiative of PMing them and working out their issues like I normally do.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@Gowi

Fair enough.

I think what's important to remember is that a little politeness goes a long way - especially as a GM. It can be tough being in the moderator position and being the bad guy all the time, receiving repetitive questions and so on. Most of us have been there.

But here's some homework for you––something to contemplate. Are your posts in the OOC of your own roleplays as polite as they could be?

@Jacobite

I believe most of them are direct and lack hostility, yes. The only time I essentially responded a little “irked” was in 1968. I’ve been pretty easygoing in most of my other projects (Saisei, Polaris, Maximum Comics, Avalon Academy, etc.) with the exception where a situation occurred in Pariah Online that didn’t need to which furthermore escalated privately. Honestly, I would’ve preferred if you and the others could’ve communicated with me and we resolved all our issues but I find that with preceding events unlikely.

It is what it is, I suppose.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Ah... I just realised I got hooked by vague-booking. Now I feel like a teenager.

@Jacobite

I wasn’t vaguebooking, or at least that’s not my intention. I didn’t even know what that term meant. I just had to look it up. Anyway. a lot of comments in this thread dating back to its inception is about writing posts that open conversation about things they find frustrating, vexing, or tiresome in relation to RPing; thus people reply and create a conversation about it.

It's a bit unfair to say that people are fickle because they decided to leave when they had their own reasons and communciated.

@Jacobite

That’s a fair point, but is it fair to state the GM has lost dedication or questioning their activity in a passive tone? Things aren’t fair and fairness is based on how we perceive it. Seems to be a case of the shoe being on the other foot and people not knowing how to take it. I could be absolutely wrong, of course, which is why I am responding to you honestly and directly with no intent of offense.

A decent GM wouldn't immediately dismiss other people's concerns as 'insubstantial reasoning', especially if multiple people left for a similar reason.

@Jacobite

A good GM doesn’t necessarily view every problem as a problem worth introspecting about. Challenging your actions is all fine and good, but only when it is needed. I personally believe in the framing of “a vocal minority doesn’t necessitate change”; also if any issues were constructive or communicated to me via PM I may have acted differently.

Had anyone had the inquisitive notion to ask me about things, I definitely would’ve explained what was going on and my plans to do such. Especially considering I viewed all three of them as excellent writers and collaborative partners who could provide interesting perspectives that I was looking forward to reading.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

I don't think it's too unexpected that people would leave, @Gowi, when the GM has rapid-fire communication when it comes to snapping back at people bowing out, but when it comes to writing xir own post, moderating the roleplay (by accepting character sheets, updating the thread) or even letting accepted players know that they can post while the opener was still a work in progress, it's dead radio silence.

But you didn't answer my follow up question - what's the purpose in bitching out people announcing that the roleplay's lack of communication is killing it, and prospective interest? It's not on the players to force a GM or moderator to show interest in a project they created. To do so, it requires two-way communication. Otherwise, how would we know?

I try not to make a habit of leaving projects without saying anything, but honestly this is the first time I've ever seen a GM go on the defensive for players giving a modicum of respect to them, even when the roleplay appears silent on both the OOC and IC fronts––before it's even started, at that. It seems like this is the first time where flaking and never posting again would be preferable; nobody would have even noticed I was gone!

@Jacobite

I appreciate the response, Jacobite I do. I prefer it to people speaking for someone else.

I admit there was some flow of information that was lost to me, but once I was corrected or informed of it I got around to it rather quickly—or as quickly as happenstance allowed me to.

What is the purpose in bitching out people? I want to vent, which is this threads purpose. It’s really that simple. Sure, I expected some public response and if I didn’t want that I would’ve vented privately.

Anyway, to me there is a difference between someone dropping out respectfully and politely criticizing the GM whilst doing so, at least it is in my view. In the last decade plus of working on collaborative projects I’ve seen a lot of ways for players to leave threads and by my definition this wasn’t done in the nature of a respectful departure. You can disagree, as we all have different perspectives and experiences, of course. Anyway, I went on the defensive because people were criticizing my dedication over presumptions instead of actually talking to me about their concerns—over a post that only took me two or three days to actually complete from when I initially posted a working in progress post to get the momentum going and signal others (as has been done in countless comic book sandbox games, by the way) to get to it.

Instead I got people leaving in the course of a few days for what I personally find insubstantial reasoning.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

When an hour means a week does that make it slow paced, Gowi?

@HalfOfLancelot

Yes.

I made no allusions or communicated ideas that any project I do is going to be a quickly-paced endeavor. However, sometimes engagements throw planned schedules out of rotation, yes. Many people including myself are guilty of saying suggestions of posting schedules to only actually get around to something in several days or even a week.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Is it really weeding out fickle players when they announce their leave because the GM has been neglecting a roleplay?

Follow-up question: is this the right thing to do when someone voices their reasons for bowing out to you for future reference?

@Jacobite

That entirely depends on your definition of “neglecting” a thread, I suppose. It would be important to understand context and actual communicate with the GM if they are actually neglecting their work that they put a lot of effort into rather than making assumptive deductions. But to answer your question, yes, it is weeding out fickle players who have no dedication to an admittedly slowly paced collaborative project. Perhaps it would be more agreeable for players to contact a GM rather than creating their own narrative.

Also, I don’t buy into the idea that I shouldn’t be allowed to state my frustrations in a thread designed for it just because I’m an active GM and people [former players] can see what I’m posting. If they feel it disheartening, it is understandable and I should recognize the consequences of that action. There is really no argument about that. To elaborate on my first sentence, I don’t subscribe to supposed moral beliefs if something is or isn’t the “right” thing to do because they are absolutely subjective. You are welcome to disagree in the discussion of free thought on it, but it will not change what I am doing and will continue to do.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

It sure is nice to weed out fickle players.

I say this knowing this will get a degree of salt, since this is an open forum, but it is really interesting seeing how the cards fall.

①⑨⑥⑧

Ciao.

①⑨⑥⑧

Upon hearimg that the GM is retiring their current account, I'm going to bow out of this roleplay. While this RP could be switched over to another account of their's, I've lost confidence in whether or not they're 100% dedicated to this roleplay. So, best of luck to you all!

@MiddleEarthRoze

It will be a process of several months to actually make a full transition due to the amount of roleplays I am currently in (and GMing). I will still be making IC posts in this roleplay, so this assessment (that I am not committed to my own RP) is incorrect.

@Hellis, I suppose with this in mind you have no competition for your application due to the above. Presuming that Roze doesn't rescind their withdrawal it seems that you remain as the only Gambit application with any merits of activity. I look forward to what you end up doing with him.