I think a genuine desire to make RP interesting for the other party goes a long way, and I’d argue that it’s more important than excellent writing. Obviously this is a writing hobby, but I’ve seen decent writing be elevated significantly by a person who’s very skilled at RPing, and conversely seen amazing writers who I absolutely hate to play with because they just don’t think about anyone but themselves.

For me to personally be interesting to others (and I’m sure all of this is going to be really obvious but YOU ASKED THE QUESTION OK), I try to:

• Look up the person I’m RPing with’s sheet/hooks/background before we play for the first time so I can try to see their characterization (I don’t read every single background in detail but I do try to have an idea of who this character is, and then think not just about how my guy would react to what they do, but how their guy might react to what I do)
• Think about the ways where my character can be silly/dumb/wrong, then BE WILLING to look silly/dumb/wrong, often purposefully being silly/dumb/wrong bc humor like @sao said
• Use props (I especially like to use kids but also animals are fun, or random NPCs who are there for a purpose that others can react to)
• Think about when to press myself forward and when to pull back to allow someone else’s character to shine, especially if it’s a scene where their character is more suited to whatever’s happening

ANYWAY those are my immediate thoughts!

@Faraday I think there’s a pretty big difference between a business you go to for a few minutes to an hour at a time, and a hobby where you may spend a significant amount of your leisure time.

MUSHing isn’t a business. It is an extremely niche hobby that new people rarely find. Most if not all of us have had intensely negative experiences with one or more players, some of which even extend to RL doxxing and stalking.

I don’t think that means everyone in it needs to be completely transparent about who they are at all times, but comparing a MUSH gamerunner to a business owner is not very apt imo.

I’m very sure this has been posted here before, but it has come up again in my RP life and it continues to frustrate me.

If someone is setting a scene for you, YOU then need to engage THEM. Don’t pose yourself doing your own thing and make them basically set twice. DEFINITELY don’t pose AVOIDING them and make them chase you.

It’s obnoxious.

Something could be the coolest, best, most interesting theme in the world, but if someone doesn’t engage with it, they’re going to be disappointed. I’ve had some of the most fun on games with themes that aren’t my favorite at all.

We’ve all seen the “waves” come and go, and honestly it comes down to the fact that a large amount of folks don’t take initiative to engage beyond “oh hey this is new and everyone’s here.” The amount of fun we have on these games is really pretty largely up to us, and it doesn’t require newness or hotness. It requires effort.

Of course if things don’t grab us, there’s no reason to force it, but this take has always been weird to me. Even in the “heyday” of MUSHes, you had to engage. Maybe we had more time or more energy or whatever the case may be (I certainly understand that for my own self), but the way to hook in has always remained the same.

Most of what I try to do has already been said by better RPers than me, but maybe slightly different is I try to be the one who comes up with the scene premise. I think (hope?) it’s fun to be able to run with something but the “thinking up” part might be more difficult. Obviously no one is the one who does it every time, but I did shoot for at least usually having a concrete idea in mind, even if a scene ended up being something my partner suggested instead.

@watno

When you open a random scene with an absurd premise, and everyone who ends up joining is 100% on the same page and fully committed to ‘yes, and’-ing to compound the absurdity, resulting in multiple actual laugh out loud moments.

There’s always more nuance than can be expressed in a peeve thread, but I think there’s quite a big difference between someone asking for RP and being willing to hash out a quick and dirty “what are we rping about” where both people are offering up some ideas (and which alt coming might be in the discussion), or even someone saying, “Hey, I would love some RP with you but I really don’t have have any ideas today, does anything come to your mind,” or asking me if I mind setting, and someone who asks for RP and then puts the onus of choosing every single thing about a scene on the other person. The former two are great, and I never mind setting a scene. The latter can quickly become frustrating.

Asking for RP can be really difficult. I also get brain blocks and feel anxiety about putting myself out there into the void. I’ve been on games where I’ve never once gotten a response when I’ve requested on the RP request channel, which of course isn’t unique to me, but it’s always tough and never feels great. But it’s also tough to be asked for RP and then have to come up with everything myself including who the other person is bringing, especially if it’s happening a lot.

@Yam You’re just acknowledging that if a game has more than 30 but fewer than 45 players, it’s automatically doomed. I think that tracks.

@Serafine Re: number two, your questions could probably be answered by extremely uncomfortable poses in logs that are publicly available.

@tsar OF COURSE

So many funny moments, but a very non-exhaustive list:

@tsar more than one ridiculous bowling alley scene on multiple games, how do we always end up in bowling alleys??
@bear_necessities agree re: the fridge (also @KarmaBum)
@Pyrephox for the best/worst/best non-date date, complete with star-studded cake
@sao with the most amazing dialogue I’ve ever seen in a barfight
@Yam my pc trying to diffuse a situation and yam pc coming in with “YEAH AND YOU’RE UGLY TOO”
@Roz’s excellent poking of all my stoics
@Tat I remember a scene on SL where we got very drunk and ended up in a lake (predictably @tsar also there being hilarious)

OH YEAH AND @Rathenhope stealing a candy jar from a bank instead of money

This hasn’t even happened to me in at least a year, probably more, yet when I think about it happening it still makes me unreasonably annoyed.

When you come into a scene that’s already going on and don’t wait for anyone to pose any kind of set, you just pose in lalala whatever with no regard for anything you might be walking into. One day that’s going to happen to me, and I’m going to pose back that the entire bar is flooded yet somehow the barstool you just sat on is also on fire. Because HOW HARD IS IT TO WAIT FOR A TINY FUCKING SETPOSE FOR GOD’S SAKE TURNS OUT THINGS ARE ALREADY HAPPENING IN HERE THAT AREN’T YOU.

@Pyrephox Awwww what a nice thing to read about myself You are also A+ excellent. Also @KarmaBum YOU TOO I SAW YOU

This forum is pretty much a who’s who of everyone I’ve ever liked in MUSHing. Thank you to everyone for being awesome.

@tsar so belatedly