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| Long Posts on the Streets | Started by: Crowley on Jan 15, '09 17:53 |
| Is it just me or are the street posts incredibly long? I'm always a little afraid to read them, because I know that they will be way way way to long to actually understand. RP threads can sort of be forgiven for this, but not regular threads. I don;t really think every post needs to be introduced with your current physical status and stuff. What do others think? Too long, too short, just right? | |
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| Length of the thread or post is not the problem. The problem is when the writer drones on and on about nothing. A good writer should grab the reader's attention quickly and keep it. Some long threads are enjoyable to read from beginning to end. Then like you said, some have unnecessary long intros. I don't care if you walk by a fire hydrant, look at the nice clear blue sky, take a swig of whiskey, or clear your throat. If the writer does not catch my attention in the first paragraph, I've lost interest. | |
| Reply by: MrsButterworth at Jan 15, '09 18:03 | |
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I've been known, at times, to bring some great length into the streets. Now, the quality hasn't always been great. When I was younger, even if I kept going for a long time, I really didn't know what I was doing, so the overall experience probably wasn't that good for everyone involved, even if I enjoyed it. But you shouldn't be intimidated be length alone. True, it can be a bit rough while you're getting used to it. But if you give it a chance, you may be surprised. And if your argument is "I can't be bothered to ever read anything more than a paragraph or two even though I'm playing a text based game" then I have nothing to say to you (even though this is just two paragraphs). I have strong philosophical disagreements with anyone who falls into that subgroup of people. |
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| Reply by: MacLeod at Jan 15, '09 19:23 | |
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| I totally agree that they are to long. I allways start to read then when I get to the end I forget what the hoel thing is about. after that I like to reaed the replys and I hate when there are 5 pages or more. so now I just read the post then the last page | |
| Reply by: Soft_Turn at Jan 15, '09 19:39 | |
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Yes. Threads are too long. Definitely. Sigh Mafia Community: Losing its ability to reason steadily since '03. |
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| Reply by: Phantom-Ghost at Jan 15, '09 20:53 | |
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Thank you for letting me know that Soft_Turn, it speaks volumes about you. Long and well thought out threads are something I treasure. I hold them close to my heart. They are far more entertaining than short crud like this one. Shunning those who put effort into the game.. Wow. |
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| Reply by: Angel at Jan 15, '09 22:51 | |
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| May I ask how old you are, Soft? | |
| Reply by: MacLeod at Jan 15, '09 22:53 | |
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It's not that I can't read a few paragraphs, you know? But look at this http://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/39181. Not to single out one person, but that OP is huge. Its a lot of to-do all just to say that crewleaders need to pay 2 million a week to attack IAs in Detroit. Compared with http://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/38884, it all seems unnecessary. I understand that like a 3 paragraph reply might be necessitated by circumstances, but I don't know. Brevity is the soul of wit. |
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| Reply by: Crowley at Jan 16, '09 00:45 | |
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Crowley, To some extent, I'll agree with you. I think that Occam's Razor can certainly be applied to street speeches. But speaking in the street isn't just about the efficient conveyance of information. If it was, I would agree with your 100%. You'll certainly admit that there is an artistry and a style involved as well. And while some people may prefer to speak succinctly, there are others with more... verbose tendencies. (I certainly admit to being in the latter group.) But as these speeches serve art as well as function in this text based world of ours, there is always a certain amount subjectivity involved. I apologize for perhaps misconstruing your original statement- but hey, if you'd made your original post a little bit longer, maybe you could have discussed your idea more fully and everyone would have understood, as opposed to having people question you about it. |
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| Reply by: MacLeod at Jan 16, '09 01:03 | |
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Dearest Crowley, Yes, you mentioned not wanting to single out any one person, but you cited my thread as an example, so I get prompted to retort and defend the opposite side of the argument. Yay. I wrote a "long" thread because I felt like writing a long thread. And not even necessarily that- length wasn't a factor when I was caught up in the moment of creating that story. Writing is a passion of mine. That's why I started playing online RP games in the first place. Yes, over time I've made friends, found joys in the other areas of each game, but when a writing bug bites me it bites hard and I'm powerless to do anything less than 500 words. So sue me. It's been said before and I'll say it again- this is a Text Role Playing Game. In the particular speech of mine you used as an example, I not only wanted to deliver a point, but to make it entertaining as well. You wouldn't pick up a book and read it if it were dull, straight forward and boring (unless you had to for, you know, a school assignment or something). When you read things for pleasure you expect them to be worthwhile. Being a leader is especially hard. You get criticized if you don't give, as you stated, your "current physical status and stuff". And now, apparently, you get discredited if you do. I've seen a lot of people complain about many things over the months. Never did I think people would start complaining about the massive length of threads. Short threads irk me beyond belief, and some RPs are so 'straight-forward' in the style of writing that Crowley so favors that I often times can't help but cringe and ask "why?". Yet I haven't started the campaign on eliminating all the people who write threads in less than five sentences, now have I? On the websites I played before this one it was common to have RPs that were written in 5 or 6 page Word documents. There was one website where you actually had to write an application and a sample RP before you were allowed to join, and if you did anything less than something I had done for my Detroit Tax thread you would've been laughed away and shamed into not returning. Perhaps instead of trying to drag the already waning level of RP down, why not try to help build the standard or normalcy up? If you are the type of person playing MR as an aspiring author or lover of the written word, than it should be a challenge that most people would accept readily to build the state of the forums up. If you're the type that is here for the Bang Bang, You're Dead aspect, then to be honest why are people even commenting on the forums? They're not outputting any effort, so it's the highest form of hypocrisy if they say one word against them. In summary, if it's too long for you, simply don't read it. To each their own. I have people I know will read my threads no matter what length, because it most likely pertains to them or their business, just as I'm sure you have people who will read yours. And I'm sorry my reply to your thread was really long too. |
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| Reply by: Marietta at Jan 16, '09 02:21 | |
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Personally i am a man who believes in quality over quantity, if you can get both great, if you can get neither, practice, have friends look over it for their opinions. If they fall asleep reading it, or run off scratching their eyes out maybe is not so good. RP is not an art that comes easy for all, neither is working the streets in general(no not that form of working the streets :p). People will test the water or try and get notice, but the streets can make you as famous or infamouse depending on the quality of post or as simple as if is a re-hashed version of something said before. |
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| Reply by: BetterOffDead at Jan 16, '09 02:34 | |
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First of all, Mariettas reply was far too long, all I got from it was "And I'm sorry my reply to your thread was really long too. ". I'm sorry too! Additionally, there are two issues here. The first is one of GOOD WRITING, yes, a short well written thread is MUCH better than a long rambling something that really does not know where its going. The second issue is that of GOOD WRITING AS WELL! long or short, if it cannot catch you and bring you in to the story that its telling in the the first quick scan, then it indeed is an inferior quality of writing. On the flip side, long speeches or stories are just one way of roleplaying, another very acceptable one is of short ping pong posts back and forth between the persons who are participating, less story telling and more conversation like. Alas, at least from what I can tell (AND I AM JUST GUESSING AND MIGHT BE WRONG), the former mode of RP will have more of an impact on your game character than the latter. |
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| Reply by: Fu-ManjuRourke at Jan 16, '09 10:28 | |
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Considering that I can send clear, concise mob-mails which elicit such brilliant responses as: "wut?" Well... |
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| Reply by: Diamond_Jim at Jan 16, '09 11:02 | |
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| huh? | |
| Reply by: Fu-ManjuRourke at Jan 16, '09 11:59 | |
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You shouldn't feel like you have to defend yourself. Your post just happened to be the longest one on the front page of the streets. I'm not discrediting you either, I just joined. I have no idea how you run your crew:probably pretty well since you are a Godmother. This isn't a personal attack, just constructive criticism against no one in particular. Frankly, 90% of the threads are way too long. I am not leading a campaign against shortening threads. Most are just overly verbose and pointless. I sit in a chair, I get a whiskey, I speak slowly and confidently blah blah blah. Set the tone and move on. You came to the streets to make a point. Save the length for the RP threads. In essence, my remark was merely to point out that I think some threads are too long, and to see if anyone else felt the same way. |
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| Reply by: Crowley at Jan 16, '09 13:47 | |
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Phantom sits in a chair, gets a whiskey, and speaks slowly and confidently. You said yourself you just joined, so I'll enlighten you on the fact that this game ORIGINATED from simply a few features, and the message boards. The message boards were the main part of this game and they will remain that way. I pride myself on creating RP. "Save the RP for the RP threads" you say? Stick to the OOC then, the streets ARE for RP. |
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| Reply by: Phantom-Ghost at Jan 16, '09 19:12 | |
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We will just make the game forum based again... nothing else, just forums. *nods* |
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| Reply by: Ganelon at Jan 16, '09 21:23 | |
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Here's a simple solution. If you don't like long threads don't read them. Is that short enough for you? |
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| Reply by: Mirage at Jan 17, '09 10:27 | |
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what if the thread is very important? what if not reading it can get you killed? lets say a CL says that no one can fly to his/her city, if they do they will die. Why make that thread so god damn long? Is it not better to just get to the point directly? When you have read a long thread you often see that 70% of the content is not even worth to read. ofcourse when you make a long thread with a story that has nothing to do with important MR stuff, thats fine since i would not read it. Everyone is not a reader and you should think about that before you put up something important that everyone should know. (i mean no disrespect to anyone, if you have been offended or something send me a hate-mail) //Storm |
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| Reply by: _Stormvind_ at Jan 17, '09 10:57 | |
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Personally it would make my die if someone died for, say, not abiding by the Detroit tax because they were too much of a lazy shit to read the thread. That's just me though. |
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| Reply by: KingOfOnePercent at Jan 17, '09 12:56 | |
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