Role plays and literacy

[Carossa Fan]

I am certainly not the only person to have noticed the dwindling quality of the many role plays on this site, am I? The quality, or more specifically the lack of, is almost disgusting. Unless there has been an influx of people unaware of basic English grammar, no matter how hard it is to learn, there can be no good reason for the lack of quality in most of the role plays I notice. If there has been such an influx of people unable to write even mediocre English then my following critique is meaningless, however if that is not the case then the rest of my critique stands.

I am very cynical, asocial, and maybe even a bit vitriolic but I am also intelligent, literate, and aware. I do not profess to have the best grasp of English grammar because if I did I would be writing this in a formal manner and would then be using terms such as 'whom' and 'persons'. My grasp of the English language is, at the very least, adequate. I write this passage to show any reader(s) that I am fit to critique the ability of many role players. On that note, and to be quite frank, I do not mean to overly offend anyone but if offense is taken it is rather warranted in my opinion.


Many (not all of course) of the role play threads that are being updated frequently have hardly any consideration for the English language. I do not care whether there is a larger population of United Kingdom or American English speakers, it is still English! Besides being of very poor grammar they are also incredibly short. For instance "Sam got to the restaurant." instead of "Sam jogged to the restaurant, running into and jumping over various objects and people, hoping to make his date on time." Do not ask me why Sam is in such a great hurry as to abandon conventions of civility to make his appointment, I have no idea it was just the first thing that popped into my head. Hopefully though my point is clear, the detail is lost with such abrupt posts. I would give an example of the grammar mistakes I see but I cannot even form a sentence with such bad grammar as it makes my stomach turn.


I am not insulting any one person or even trying to insult anyone for that matter, it is just that the frequency of role plays I normally see with so little quality have finally gotten to the point where I needed to at least say something about it. If changes are made because of this that is great but I am not expecting any change to occur, I am just trying to bring to light the fact that the majority of this community could stand to improve their role plays. I do not mean seven paragraph long, formal English, posts but the consistent one liners, lack of description, bad syntax, etc. are not quality pieces of work. If anyone cares, I admit that this sounds more like whining than an actual critique and I am sorry for that but I cannot express myself well so this will, unfortunately, have to do. I also admit that there may be, and most likely are, errors in this post but none so like that of the critiqued material.

[Liliel]

For future reference my friend if you happen to follow or even skim through my rp's and notice any spelling or grammar issues just know that I'm trying my best to get it right. my grades In english class never were good even with all my effort which is ironic since I have a very refined way of actually speaking and by that I mean I actually sound rather intelligent according yo my friends and family. But I diegress( likely miss spelled that ).

[Rye]

Nope , you're not the only one. But language is a very complex thing , along with grammar. It is arguably what can be used to define us. You have to take into account that in different regions there are more lax terms and not everyone goes to immense detail. Although you argue that you are fit to dictate who is good at rping and who isn't that really isn't fair, as not everyone has a doctorate in English and may not stand up to your standards.

As for post leanth , yes it would be nice for poeple to post with substance but you have to remember the purpose of a rp, it's not there for the readers engoyment , rather ;the poleplayers taking part in the role-play , if they are happy then who are you to say otherwise.

I thank you for trying to not be insulting and I appriciate that you're just trying to help a dying site but admins and mods just don't have the time to make great changes. I think in order to save this site a massive clan up has to happen and we can't rely on the owners to do it, we're a part of this site too so maybe we should take responsibility and do something about it.

[xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Unfortunately, while I don't roleplay, I notice that the overall appearance of this place is continually degrading for similar reasons all over the place. I've attempted showing this place to some people in hopes they could join us and maybe add to some of our conversations, though the surface tension for this place seems to be a bit too great for them because of this appearance.

I really hope we get out of this rut, if a community doesn't grow, it shrinks and eventually fades away.

[AmaraDash19]

I roleplay quite a bit, and even trying to get past people like that I cannot. The lack of basic grammar and spelling disturbs me. I can understand that some people cannot spell well, and when it is obvious that they are trying. But there are some people that give no regards to spelling, grammar, and make horrible run-on sentences if there is any actual length to the posts. I'm willing to help anyone actually wanting to better themselves. I am not the best at description, but I can at least make a 3-4 sentence post most of the time.

Now about post lengths, I do understand that people don't always want paragraphs in their rps, which is fine. But these short posts are generally accompanied by poor grammar and spelling. This is saddening.

I do hope that there will be an increase in people that have a basic grasp on spelling and grammar. I'm not trying to complain if I come off that way, but it does make me upset.

[The_Silence]

I've written about this issue a few times in the past, and unfortunately, I got a lot of flack for it. I'm not going to repeat myself in this thread, so you should check out some of my old posts if you can find them. They pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I have an excellent grasp of the English language, but cannot seem to find anyone who can write worth a damn or anyone who likes original stories. I either get criticized for "having a story that doesn't have a point A to point B plot," or the people who want to start one with me are incompetent when it comes to writing well thought-out posts.

Why would one simply post *(insert name here) changes ur dyaper* when they could instead write a more detailed scene? There is NO imagination or vivid storytelling without these things.

What drives me more crazy is that I've seen some folks who've been on here for a long time, and even after all these years, their writing has not improved. Granted, there are others who have come a long way, but I still find the same people writing the same things, using the same plots, with different characters. Yes, I lurk the RP threads a lot, but it's not because I'm a creeper; it's because I'm looking for someone worth RPing with.

[The_Enigma]

This thread is awesome. Honestly, simply reading an unbroken string of well formulated posts on this site has given me hope that not all is lost on the forums here. I would be delighted to start an RP with any of you. (And that is an offer; should you be interested, please PM me)