I’m sure this convo exists already but IDC, I don’t want to do work right now.
MUSHes originated supporting live RP, as in responses expected within maybe 7-10 minutes. We had a few oldbies on Otherspace that would RP purely in one-liners, because that’s just how RP happened early on, especially in MUDs. Eventually the prose stuff came along, so “live” became less instant. This is what appears to be most common currently, in most live MUSHes. You’d expect to get through at least 1 scene in 1 evening, if everything goes smoothly.
But there are many different platforms/formats/styles out there!
I’m a big fan of collaborative writing in general, and I’ve been all over the net, through all sorts of mediums, probably like the rest of you! Our hobby has evolved and seems to be settling into Discord, although I see forums have persisted.
In my journeying, I have RPed on IRC, AIM, old Homestead chatrooms, Neopets forums, social-graphical RP applications like Furcadia, web-based graphic chatrooms like Wolfhome, 3D avatar social spaces like Feral Hearts and Second Life, dedicated Discord servers, Google Docs, guys I sent in an application to join the giant LOTR Minecraft RP server, MINECRAFT. Although I lost interest quickly I think. RPI MUDs, the usual MUSHes/MUXes/MOOs, MMOs, specifically the various dedicated Warcraft private servers, through deviantart messaging, avidgamer forums, journal platforms like livejournal, and in the earliest of days, RPing via writing with pen and paper and passing notebooks to friends.
If it involved media or theme I was interested in, and it had some way of communicating through text, and people were generally on-board with the idea of RPing with me, I was going to RP.
All of these have different pacing. My personal perceptions:
Instant - From SECONDS to minutes. 3 minutes would be pushing it (MMOs/Warcraft/FFXIV, 3D social spaces like Second Life, VRChat, Feral Hearts, MUDs if they’re RPI)
Standard/Live - 7-10 minutes, but can stretch up to like, 15-20 in some cases. (most traditional MUSHes/MUXes/MOOs, I think perhaps some IRC places used to expect this pace)
Async - Ye olde play by post, where response time is loosely defined. I gather some async players generally go for a lighter pace at around 3 or 4 poses a day, or 1 a day. (Forums, Google Docs, Discord, web-based/ares mushes centered around a more casual pace)
Novella - I’ve seen 1 pose a day for the novella posts, up to one WEEK. And I’ve participated in them! And finished scenes, somehow! (Specific Discords billed as “Literate only”, usually, some async settings, some forum settings) Honestly this is just async on crack.
I prefer standard/live, because there’s nothing like being in the moment but still having enough description to FEEL the moment, and still be permitted to exchange quips like you would in MMO RP, where it’s seconds between responses. You can dip back and forth, from conversation to descriptive moments, and that’s the sweet spot for me. I say this as a slowass poser!
What about you? What pace do you like and why? Try not to get too caught up on what you think is superior. ALL GOOD (maybe) VIBES.
