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Member is OnlinePost by Ticoga on Jul 26, 2022 3:08:18 GMT -5
I probably don't have much of a hat to throw into this discussion, but I figure adding my own perspective to the matter may be at least worth the effort.
I've been roleplaying since 2012, first on a Star Wars site that I now Administrate and own, and then joining Souls in the latter half of the site's life before Turbo was announced. When I joined Souls, I was given the run down on how word count and such items were how "leveling" essentially worked.
At first, I thought it was neat as a system, and the mechanics made sense - until I saw what the community called "Power Leveling", where players would create the maximum amount of threads they were allowed to participate in and would write often very padded posts that, as I read them, didn't seem to actually say anything about the characters. Sometimes, though the scenarios and decisions seemed different, a lot of them were narratively similar.
In order to even contribute to the site's player driven overarching storyline, I felt a pressure to try and keep up - but found that focusing on word count and how things affected my "earnings" was making me miserable and sapped enjoyment from what I wanted to do - tell a story and participate believably in the site.
My style of writing was also a huge hinderance to my forward momentum, because I typically only participate in one thread at a time. In souls, I had to split my attention between multiple threads just so I could introduce my character to others. After six months, I had accomplished NOTHING but literal introductions. With Taiga, my only notable accomplishment - and one I was proud of - was when the Namekian Xylo went to Arcose to conquer it. Because of my writing style negatively impacting my character's power, the fight was honestly a joke as it was a SOUND whipping. But I FINALLY felt like I was part of the story.
That rekindled my desire to write only to tell a story. But the Arcosian faction hemorrhaged members, and then the site shut down was announced. I did not feel that I had done my character any justice. And then TURBO came. Due to events best left in the past, I wasn't able to properly get a foothold for my character once again. I ended up taking a break from RP. When I was ready to return, TURBO was being shut down now!
And then Sparking came, and I thought I could really do right by my own characters and contribute meaningfully. With the new system in place, I felt that players like me that focus more on Storytelling rather than Power Gaining were finally able to engage in a creative-friendly writing environment.
The new system has its flaws, but I personally do not feel affected by any of the issues that others have brought up; but I am not in any way arguing against their personal views, only stating that the system has not been unkind to my writing style like Souls and Turbo had been.
That said, my posts always range in the upper hundreds - but not because I want to pad my posts. I write long posts because I LOVE to be detailed. I LOVE interaction between characters; I LOVE expressing emotions, the scenery, the FEEL of things. When I write, I want people that read my posts to be able to SEE my words as images in their minds.
The proposal to raise the rewards for longer posts works only in my favor, so I feel my opinion would seem to carry some bias on the matter. But .4 and .5 may be too much of a rise, even with the Malus mechanics in place. .3 at most seems to me to be the most fair if a rise must be implemented at all.
Ultimately, I am not for or against rising the Overage rewards. But I understand how players that like to be detailed for the sake of storytelling feel when their writing doesn't seem to yield any real results that brings them favorably into the overarching player driven site story. I, personally, do not have much interest in whether or not I can be the big wig in AT's or other major events - but I DO want to be part of the site in more than just another profile. So, I hope my perspective lends some kind of addition to the conversation.
I've been roleplaying since 2012, first on a Star Wars site that I now Administrate and own, and then joining Souls in the latter half of the site's life before Turbo was announced. When I joined Souls, I was given the run down on how word count and such items were how "leveling" essentially worked.
At first, I thought it was neat as a system, and the mechanics made sense - until I saw what the community called "Power Leveling", where players would create the maximum amount of threads they were allowed to participate in and would write often very padded posts that, as I read them, didn't seem to actually say anything about the characters. Sometimes, though the scenarios and decisions seemed different, a lot of them were narratively similar.
In order to even contribute to the site's player driven overarching storyline, I felt a pressure to try and keep up - but found that focusing on word count and how things affected my "earnings" was making me miserable and sapped enjoyment from what I wanted to do - tell a story and participate believably in the site.
My style of writing was also a huge hinderance to my forward momentum, because I typically only participate in one thread at a time. In souls, I had to split my attention between multiple threads just so I could introduce my character to others. After six months, I had accomplished NOTHING but literal introductions. With Taiga, my only notable accomplishment - and one I was proud of - was when the Namekian Xylo went to Arcose to conquer it. Because of my writing style negatively impacting my character's power, the fight was honestly a joke as it was a SOUND whipping. But I FINALLY felt like I was part of the story.
That rekindled my desire to write only to tell a story. But the Arcosian faction hemorrhaged members, and then the site shut down was announced. I did not feel that I had done my character any justice. And then TURBO came. Due to events best left in the past, I wasn't able to properly get a foothold for my character once again. I ended up taking a break from RP. When I was ready to return, TURBO was being shut down now!
And then Sparking came, and I thought I could really do right by my own characters and contribute meaningfully. With the new system in place, I felt that players like me that focus more on Storytelling rather than Power Gaining were finally able to engage in a creative-friendly writing environment.
The new system has its flaws, but I personally do not feel affected by any of the issues that others have brought up; but I am not in any way arguing against their personal views, only stating that the system has not been unkind to my writing style like Souls and Turbo had been.
That said, my posts always range in the upper hundreds - but not because I want to pad my posts. I write long posts because I LOVE to be detailed. I LOVE interaction between characters; I LOVE expressing emotions, the scenery, the FEEL of things. When I write, I want people that read my posts to be able to SEE my words as images in their minds.
The proposal to raise the rewards for longer posts works only in my favor, so I feel my opinion would seem to carry some bias on the matter. But .4 and .5 may be too much of a rise, even with the Malus mechanics in place. .3 at most seems to me to be the most fair if a rise must be implemented at all.
Ultimately, I am not for or against rising the Overage rewards. But I understand how players that like to be detailed for the sake of storytelling feel when their writing doesn't seem to yield any real results that brings them favorably into the overarching player driven site story. I, personally, do not have much interest in whether or not I can be the big wig in AT's or other major events - but I DO want to be part of the site in more than just another profile. So, I hope my perspective lends some kind of addition to the conversation.
