Originally Posted by Cassirin

That's what I was remembering, Tori. Characters in the school were named after the RPer, and typically the username ("harrypotterulz ran into class and sat down") (that's it. that's the post.)

And watching people move from tiny short posts to these long epics now, and the emphasis on character development we've seen happen over time... it's a very cool journey.

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

I was also apart of the whole short-form RP stage (cringe example). While not many of my posts pre-2007 are archived anymore I distinctly remember using it basically how twitter is used now. I think at the time virtual chat rooms were heavier on the internet than today and forums were an extension of that so typing long posts wasn't as common. Since he was my first character and like mentioned the user name was our character's name basically so it was written in a first person point of view versus nowadays it's all third person.

Since then I do also make a conscious effort to make sure my posts are long enough in the previews. Making sure the format doesn't look too "uneven" if that makes sense. :xD: In an effort to fluff out a small post I'll try to add a subtle thought they may have to add to what they say in a conversation.

Originally Posted by Daemon

I wish I could say I'm better at RPing now than I was 'back then' (there are a few 'back then's for me), but I think my personal journey has been more of a rollercoaster than a continuous uphill climb towards being a "good RPer", whatever that means.

Right when I FIRST first started, I had no idea what I was doing. I was writing because I liked writing and I wanted to retain my fluency in English, and I was writing my own personality with a different name because I knew it would be easiest.

Rachel (middle name Danielle, so maybe not a wholly different name) was my learning curve. We started out with short, single paragraph posts. Very short sentences. Very "typical" reactions. When she hit fourth/fifth year, my posts swelled in size. I even remember this one RP in the library where my posts were so long you had to scroll for a bit to get to the end. I thought I'd reached peak RPing, that I was the best I could ever be. She became separate from the "what would I do in this situation", it was more "this is what Danielle would do, but Rachel's different here, Rachel would do ___". I flourished! The sky was the limit!

Then I left, and I came back, and there was twitter and multiple characters and more SS friends and a whole new world of RPing and SS and everything I thought I knew, I didn't. My posts condensed, my writing became less 'psuedo flowery' and I realised that I preferred it that way. Limiting myself made me consider each word more, each turn of phrase. There were physically less words in my posts, but I still got everything I wanted across. It made me understand why I was always so starstruck by Touz, because her posts were never long but they were ALWAYS filled to the brim with personality and clear intent and were a joy to read.

So I think that my post lengths and learning curves are more accordion-like than anything else, but my own understanding of how I RP, what I like to RP, how I get my point across, how I manage to pull forward my characters' personalities and quirks, that has been a slow but steady climb in the eleven years I've been playing around in this world.

Also, I'm still here to make sure I don't lose my fluency in English, so not much has changed in terms of general life goals ^___^

Originally Posted by emjay

I think for me, my RPing has developed and changed several times over the past 11 years (a similar experience to Dani's, I think!). When I was a new member here, I had never RPed before and it looked fun, but slightly intimidating. I had a loose structure of a character and sort of jumped in to the RP without really developing her - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes a good way of fleshing out a character is to just start playing them.

My initial posts (like many, it seems!) were very short and not a whole lot of insight too them. But then I developed into some idea of longer is better, so an entire novel in one post must be the best, right?? Some of my posts were SO long, and I think in a way it helped to develop my characters and my writing, but honestly who wants to read all that at once lol? It started to feel chore-like to write my RP posts, and I'm afraid that's what it was like for people to have to read my walls of text. I honestly don't know why I made so much work for myself lol.

But I feel like I've come a long way since then. I feel like my RP posts are more concise while still maintaining some deeper information about my character - at least I hope so! And I've definitely learned quite a bit about breaking up my paragraphs for better legibility. I'm still learning and developing though, and I'm just thankful I have this community to grow and play in - because it's still so much fun for me.