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Post by Avalikia on Jun 25, 2012 2:45:10 GMT -5
One of the trickier problems that roleplayers can run into is when you're in a thread, especially one with a lot of people, and then it becomes someone's turn and they don't reply for days and days. You reach a point where you start to ask yourself whether or not that character's player has fallen off the edge of the planet somewhere, condemning that thread to never be completed. However, there is an alternative! It's called 'skipping'.
"But wait!" you protest, "Nobody hardly ever skips on this site! And when they do people get angry!" Ah, but there's a certain etiquette involved. It's when you fail to follow it that people become angry demons. Appropriate skipping, on the other hand, usually results in the player who got skipped feeling somewhat guilty for not being around and holding everyone up rather than being angry with whoever did it. And it's good if they feel that way since it can encourage a player to get onto the site more often to prevent that from happening in the future. Of course, if you're not used to skipping other players then it can be hard to tell when you're doing it correctly. This guide is supposed to fix that.
Signs You Should Skip
Signs You Should Not Skip
How To Skip
What To Do If Someone Skips Someone Else In A Thread You're In
What To Do If You've Been Skipped
"But wait!" you protest, "Nobody hardly ever skips on this site! And when they do people get angry!" Ah, but there's a certain etiquette involved. It's when you fail to follow it that people become angry demons. Appropriate skipping, on the other hand, usually results in the player who got skipped feeling somewhat guilty for not being around and holding everyone up rather than being angry with whoever did it. And it's good if they feel that way since it can encourage a player to get onto the site more often to prevent that from happening in the future. Of course, if you're not used to skipping other players then it can be hard to tell when you're doing it correctly. This guide is supposed to fix that.
Signs You Should Skip
- Always skip if the player either asks you to or gives you permission. Don't argue!
- Given the pace our site tends to run at, whenever someone in a group thread that isn't important to what's happening keeps you waiting for a week or more they should be skipped. Usually when there's a big group there are those that are controlling the action, and those who are more or less spectating - the latter is who we're talking about here.
- If a player with a character who is mostly spectating in a group thread posts a player notice that they'll be gone for more than a few days, you may not want to wait at all - it's unlikely that will be a big deal.
- If someone more central to the action in a group thread doesn't show for two weeks without a notice, they should be skipped if possible. (See below for ideas.) If they do leave a notice and are that important to the thread, you should wait until at least the day after the day they said they'll be back.
- If you're in a thread with only two people, the other person has been missing for two weeks, but it's open so someone else may be able to join, then it's acceptable to skip them by replying to your own post if by doing so it would make it easier for someone else to join in and carry on with whatever you were doing.
- When someone in a group thread is being rude, stupid, or inconsiderate somehow, skipping may be appropriate. True story: I was in a very fast paced thread with two other players. Another player joined the thread, and the very same day posted a player notice that she would be gone for the next two weeks. Did we skip her the entire time she was gone? Of course!
Signs You Should Not Skip
- If you're in a thread with only two characters in it that is not open, it's never appropriate to skip. Just wait for the other player to get back!
- If you've been waiting less than a week - give them a chance!
- If you know for sure that everyone waiting doesn't mind the wait.
How To Skip
What To Do If Someone Skips Someone Else In A Thread You're In
What To Do If You've Been Skipped
- Get your character back into the thread as quickly as possible, even if it's only to make them leave at that point, unless you've been gone for so long everyone's forgotten you were there to begin with - might as well leave it alone at that point.
- Don't capitalize on the fact that you were skipped by saying 'well, since everyone's been ignoring my character, that means that my character could have snuck up behind someone...' or anything at all like that. That's extremely poor manners! Instead, come up with a reason why your character did nothing important in your absence - if they gave you a reason when they skipped you, run with it! If not, options range from 'I was sitting here listening quietly the whole time' to 'I tried to shoot you with my gun, but it jammed and I spent this whole time trying to fix it'. Or anything else you can come up with.
- Avoid responding to each and every post that happened while you were gone - instead focus on replying to the last full set of replies - try to keep comments on what happened before that as brief as you can, as everyone else in the thread is already past all of that.
- Avoid getting yourself into that situation again. If you must frequently go for long periods between posts, I highly recommend avoiding any threads with bigger groups, especially if they're otherwise going at a fast pace. Joining those threads when you don't have to causes a lot of people to have to wait for you and is inconsiderate for that reason. It's better to stick with two character threads in that situation, because then you're at least minimizing the waiting.
