Mustacheo Rants: A Roleplay System of Turns (Trisell) (Semi-Guide)

Mustacheo Rants: A Roleplay System of Turns


There are situations often in roleplays where people reply or don’t reply, which leads to problems. Either someone does not reply, or someone (or multiple people) replies too many times. I’m going to go over the issues of both and how I would suggest resolving such problems.





THE CASE OF THOSE THAT HAVE TO WAIT


In a roleplay of two or more people, if someone has neglected to reply in a timely fashion, there is a line of actions one can take.



FIRST
Wait for the absent user to reply. A host, or group including the host, can decide on how long they will wait before taking action after someone has remained absent from a roleplay. While however long it will be is up to the group/host, I generally go with a day’s time, though in cases of more people or if the roleplay was progressing rather quickly—such as a reply every other minute or so—I may wait as short as an hour.



SECOND
If the individual does not reply in time, it is best to post a reminder. Start by making a quick comment on the roleplay itself, be it on the script or in the comment section. If after some shorter time, they don’t reply still, then go out to contact them, be it on their profile, facebook, skype, and so on. (Don’t remind them on more than two at a time.  We don’t want to be obnoxious.)



THIRD
If after being informed and given another amount of time to reply, the individual has not acknowledged or responded to the roleplay, inform them that they will be left behind in the roleplay due to their neglect (respectfully), and then continue on from the roleplay. Whether you remove their involvement entirely from the roleplay or simply move on and leave what they already added alone is up to you. I would recommend that if after two whole days, you receive no response and/or explanation of the circumstances, that is when you can move on.



FOUR ALTERNATIVE
If the person has responded at any of these phases, the process would restart. But if the situation repeats itself during the THIRD stage (Basically forcing you to wait 1-2 days repeatedly without explanation, or longer depending on how long you are willing to wait), you are free to inform them that you will be moving on due to their absence.



NOTE: As stated, this applies only if no explanation is given about the circumstances. If there was an explanation prior to the roleplay, or absence (Such as the person saying they would be inactive), it is preferable that you wait. And if the person neglecting the roleplay has given a substantial reason for why they were unavailable past the deadline, please consider keeping them in it.

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IN THE CASE OF THOSE THAT DO NOT REPLY
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Before joining a roleplay (or make a roleplay), look ahead and make sure you will have the time to take part in it reliably. The average I keep is that the individual is able to make a minimum of FIVE responses to each roleplay they are part of a day (which of course does not apply if the roleplay is slowed or paused by another participant and you are unable to move it forward). How many roleplays you take part in is up to you. Some of us can handle a massive amount, but please roleplay responsively (and don’t drive while OP, bd’m tsh).

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">In addition, make sure you have a reliable way of keeping track of all your roleplays. Regardless of how you do so, always check them daily at least once to make sure you haven’t neglected any. I personally use a sticky notes program where the URL of each roleplay are copy-pasted for easy access.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">If you are in the position where you have neglected a roleplay, when it is addressed, explain yourself if there was a reason beyond forgetfulness. That will help people understand better if you should be allowed to continue. For instance: if you aren’t interested in the roleplay anymore and just neglect purposefully, those involved will probably kick you out, but if you were forced off due to outside circumstances like a trip or a family member in the hospital, they won’t hold it against you.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Do not assume that you will be let back in regardless of your reasoning, and as such, do not get upset with the others for moving on after they had WARNED YOU SUBSTANTIALLY about the circumstances.

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TO AVOID THE CHAOS
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Many people get too invested in the roleplay and end up replying beyond their turns: progressing the event to the point where others have missed situations they would normally become involved with. In addition, people can lose track of who has replied and who hasn’t in situations where usernames aren’t provided next to responses. People get forgotten and left behind.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">NOTE: This is NOT a scenario in which someone has neglected a roleplay and is left behind due to not replying in a timely manner. This is a scenario where responses are made without them within the time limit set for all members. For example: The time limit for the roleplay responses is say… three hours. Player 3 has made a reply on the roleplay but then Player 1 and Player 2 start replying afterword more than once back and forth with each other over the course of twenty minutes. Player 3 returns after twenty minutes, and is now behind by some amount in the roleplay, and is forced to catch up, and has potentially missed sections of the roleplay they would have liked to be a part of.

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SOLUTION
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">When roleplaying with 3 or more people, there needs to be a turn-based system. Everyone needs to reply once within a turn. This doesn’t mandatorily mean it has to be in a specific order, but it is recommended.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">If you are in a situation where someone does something that immediately affects a character, the character affected may respond to this action—making a second comment within a single turn—but they would ONLY be acting in response to the immediate action. They would not be adding anything else that would be out of turn.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">For example: Character 1 Turns to the left. Character 2 throws a knife at Character 1. It’s Character 3’s turn now as Character 1 and 2 have acted, but because the action immediately affects Character 1, so Character 1 would be allowed to dodge or catch the knife as a secondary move. However, Character 1 would not be allowed to then throw the knife back, as that would be a cause action rather than just a reaction. At the same time, Character 3 can try to act still in turn by blocking the knife from hitting Character 1 if Character 1 does not respond before Character 3 does. That is entirely allowable, and whoever misses the opportunity would change their response if they came second granting that they made a response to Character 2’s action in the first place.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">It is recommended ESPECIALLY where many users and/or characters are involved that after one finishes their response, that they write their name below it to signify who made the reply. It’s best to make it noticeable, in brackets and in a bold font perhaps; maybe even a signature.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">In a scenario where characters are in different parts of a roleplay at the same time (such as Person 1 and 2 in event A and Person 3 and 4 in event B), as long as there isn’t something tying both parts of the roleplay together, the Persons within each event should be allowed to act without waiting for the turns of the other group until a point where it is required to wait.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">For Example: Group A finishes their event before Group B finishes theirs, but Group A now needs Group B to finish so that they can unlock something needed for Group A. Thus, Group A now waits until Group B is finished before progressing.

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IN SUMMARY
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Always make sure to wait and understand the context of a situation. If someone isn’t responding in time, inform them. If you are neglecting a roleplay, address it and accept the results. If you notice someone being left behind, pause the roleplay to wait for them. Above all, make sure you CAN do something before you do it, or you and everyone else involved will have a lesser experience.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I hope that wasn’t too confusing and that this is used by those that feel they’ve missed out/left others out. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

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<p class="MsoNoSpacing">God Bless,

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Eat Pie and Prosper