Oliver

The Caravan - A Halloween MiniRP

Ivan nodded, waving as Raven left. He did his level best to stay where he was, but it eventually hit him that he really needed to pee and he wandered off a ways into the woods.
On his way back, he tried to remember exactly which spot he'd been left in. He hadn't gone far, but all the trees looked exactly the same to him. Deciding not to get himself more lost than he had to, he climbed up a tree so he wouldn't have to sit in the mud to wait. He kept his eyes on the ground, listening for footsteps... or pawsteps, as the case might be. Wolves couldn't climb, but bears and wild cats could. Ivan shivered, resisting the urge to climb higher. He had to be able to get down by himself. Getting stuck up a tree would just make him look like even more of a fool.

Are we expecting too much from newbs?

Believe me, it's not because I'm self aware. I've had this drilled into me by just about everyone I know. "Oliver, you have a shitty attitude." "Oliver, you have severe anger issues". "Oliver, get control of yourself or you're going to be a burden on society" yada yada yada.

The Caravan - A Halloween MiniRP

"Ve need to go back! I need my bow!" Ivan cried out suddenly, bolting to his feet almost as soon as he was put down. He grabbed Raven by his arm, mostly to hold himself upright but also as a gesture of urgency. "It is not even mine! It is my father's..." He wasn't really listening as Raven talked to himself. He was still fidgeting around, shifting his weight from foot to foot and standing on his toes, bouncing up and down slightly. "Come on, you do not even have to take me. Leave me here, get the bow and come back to me. Please..."

Are we expecting too much from newbs?

@McHaggis

Seriously. That post is beautiful. At first I was like... eh, and then as I read more and more of it.. holy crap. I mean, can this be archived?! I know this probably makes zero sense, and me expressing my love for your post may be weird, but I loved the way you worded this, especially the part about choosing which players to and not to accept as a GM. Personally, I learned a few things myself just by reading your post.

@HaleyTheRandom

This. So much this.

Thanks for all your help and advice, guys.

I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with. That's an understatement, actually. I'm a raging angry jackass half the time and I have zero social skills. But at the same time, I have some bragging rights when it comes to writing on an academic level that's generally considered high for my age group. So those kind of conflict with each other. A lot of people have said that while I'm fun to work with IC, I can be a total brat when it comes to dealing with people OOC. And it's not really my fault, either. I mentioned that I have some mental/psychological issues, and I'd rather not delve too deep into it, but yeah. A lot of more advanced RPers are also more advanced socially than me, and don't want to put up with my putzy attitude.

I appreciate that you all took the time to write all this, @McHaggis. I really don't deserve it, honestly.

Are we expecting too much from newbs?

Hello, newbie here.
Just some background info on me: I just turned 13 a few weeks ago, and I'm a writing enthusiast. I'm new to play-by-post RP, but have a few months of experience with GURPS, D&D and other tabletop systems.

I've been trying to get into RPing for a few weeks now, and one thing I've noticed pervades this forum is a strong sense of entitlement by seniority. A lot of the users here are several decades older than me and have vastly more experience in the play-by-post world. I've been told no less than four times, all by different people, that I should stick to Free RPs for "a few years" before moving onto more advanced RPs. A lot of people have also told me that I lack the emotional stability to "handle" the social expectations of Casual or Advanced RP.

But the thing is, I'm linguistically advanced enough to handle postlengths of up to five paragraphs, and the grammar standards of Free tends to allow for a level of newbism that is not my own. I get that I'm young and mentally challenged and not always easy to get along with, but it's hard for me to find RPers in my age group who are on the same writing level as me.

So what I'm basically trying to ask is, should I dumb myself down for the sake of not annoying the older and more socially advanced members of RPG, or is there a way for me to RP with older people without getting on their nerves?

Writing mental disorders

I think the best way to go about writing mentally ill characters is to talk to someone who actually deals with the disorder on a day-to-day basis. If it's something severe enough that it would be difficult to discuss with an actually sufferer, I'd suggest talking to a medical professional trained to understand that kind of mindset.

That said, anyone who wants to know anything about writing characters with a slew of crazy emotional disorders, I'm your batshit crazy kid for that.

The Awakening (A post alocalyptic survival adventure)(ACCEPTING PLAYERS)

Ciel curled up and whined quietly as cold air hit him. The boy didn't seem to want to wake up, as if 300 years wasn't enough for a good night's sleep. 'Mom, Dad?' He signed before he even opened his eyes, slowly pushing himself upright and having a look around. His parents, who had promised to be right by his side when he woke up, were nowhere to be found. All he found was a crossbow next to him, the one he'd selected to take with him into whatever world he'd wake up in.
The other thing he noticed when he sat up was that he urgently, desperately needed to pee. Not good... He thought, carefully edging his way out of the pod and landing gingerly on his feet. He swayed and nearly tipped over, as if barely able to keep his balance. Over those three centuries, his legs had grown unused to walking. He whimpered again, taking a wobbling step forward and cautiously hobbling around the room in search of his parents. Maybe they just hadn't woken up yet. he checked pod after pod for the two individuals, but found no sign of them. He was starting to panic, his light blue eyes widened and frantic as he broke into a run, noticing an open door. what he didn't notice was the man he was about to crash into.
Ciel was sent tumbling to the ground, hitting his back hard on the concrete floor. The shock caused him to leak just a little bit, gasping sharply as he sat up with a jolt as if he'd had a wire thrust up his spine. He looked up, his blue eyes carrying a glassy sheen of embarrassment. 'I'm sorry!' He signed several times, not counting on the man being able to understand. He heard more voices in the room, but couldn't really process what they were saying right at the moment.

@The Architect

The Awakening (A post alocalyptic survival adventure)(ACCEPTING PLAYERS)

Name: Ciel Jaquith

Nickname: None.

Age: 11

Appearance:
post images

Skills: Ciel, while young, is a marksman like no other. With the right equipment, he can hit almost anything from impressive distances. While he favors the crossbow, he can use light rifles as well.

Background: Ciel was born to rich and highly overprotective parents. He essentially grew up in a plastic bubble, constantly shooed away from the outside world. For whatever reason, Ciel never learned to talk. His parents started to suspect something was wrong when he still hadn't said a single word at the age of three, so they sent him to several doctors and speech therapists to try and break him out of his silent shell, yet nothing worked.
Other than that, however, Ciel seemed pretty normal for a kid who never really had much time to interact with the world. In spite of his asthma and several allergies, he kept himself in good physical shape. He took up archery at the age of seven when his aunt and uncle gave him a toy crossbow at the age of seven, and he soon moved on to real bows and even had some practice with guns (when his parents weren't around, of course).
At the age of ten, he started sneaking out of the house more, exploring his town and trying to make friends despite his lack of ability to speak. He really broke away from his parent's idea that the outside world was too dangerous for a frail little rich kid like him. He started taking his shooting lessons more seriously, even winning a few competitions. Of course, when the asteroid hit, his parents jumped at the opportunity to protect their son by placing him in for hybernation. They intended to do so for themselves after they finished with a business venture they had going on, but they never got to, naturally, and now their son will wake up alone.

Personality: Ciel doesn't talk, ever. It's unknown whether or not he can at all or if there's really something wrong with his vocal cords. Despite this, he's not terribly shy, and is capable of communicating through sign language and writing. He's very intelligent and mature for his age, though he is dependent on others for basic survival needs. He is headstrong and hates to seem weak, even though physically speaking he is. He hides his inner sensitivities and insecurities behind a hard and guarded shell. It takes him a while to truly trust people, and he often holds doubts in his mind about even his closest friends. This may make socialization a bit more difficult, but in a situation like this it makes him safer in the long run. In general, he's very well held together for his age and is a loyal companion.

Blooper: The biggest one is his age. Ciel is small, weak and sickly. He's not a solo player by any means and needs to be cared for by others to survive. Think of him as a glass cannon. If he has the element of surprise, he's a valuable member of any team. If not, he can be quite the hinderance.

The Caravan - A Halloween MiniRP

Ivan cringed back as another mud creature appeared. He couldn't help but think that it was the mud creature from before, perhaps... they were following them. They weren't supposed to leave. Ivan tightened his grip on Raven and tried to think of something else. He thought about wanting to go home, the still existing ache in his lungs... and his bow.
Ivan fought the urge to protest and beg to be taken back to Regina's place for his bow. The bow had belonged to his father, and if he ever made it back home, he wanted to be able to return it. Besides, that was the bow he'd learned to shoot with. He didn't know if he could just as easily use another bow. A light hunting bow was about right for him, but most bows were larger and heavier, likely too much for someone so young.
He kept fidgeting around in Raven's arms, as if trying to find a more comfortable position, but he never seemed to. He just kept tossing and squirming like an anxious animal. Raven's pace was a bit fast, and Ivan kept getting jostled around. He was beyond grateful when the man slowed down to preserve energy.
For a brief moment, he thought about how suspicious it was for Raven to just take him and leave without consulting any of the other caravan members. Was Raven being entirely trustworthy, or did the situation just go from bad to worse to... whatever comes after worse but before worst?

Death In The Air

Ivan had fallen back asleep, slumping over onto Charles again. He dropped his gas mask to the floor, sniffling quietly as he slipped into a heavy unconsciousness. He seemed to be having trouble staying awake this morning, to say the least.
@Vortex