[FULL] OOC: Dichotomy's Age of Worms Redux [FULL]

[TiCaudata]

Like This?

It just doesn't do it for me.

For 1) I'm not writing this adventure I'm living it
For 2) I generally prefer books that are in the 1st person narrative style, which is almost never in past tense.
For 3) Even though we are doing it a 3rd person style we should be doing it in limited and not omniscent, therefore no big thought bubbles
For 4) Switching between past tense descriptive and present tense talking is slightly annoying unless really well written. I have yet to read something really well written in the past tense on this board even though it may include full (if slightly long and cumbersome) sentences and proper grammar.

Ya know if any of the rest of you want to weigh in on this feel free... I'd even open that invite to pontential observers, although Dichotomy might overrule that.

 

[michael_noah]

Hrm.

1) Everyone else is reading it.
2) Isn't it? First example in Wikipedia is Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, large portions of which are in the past. That's just the first. The others listed are the same. E.g.

When petitioners used to come for information to the table at which I sat, I used to grind my teeth at them, and felt intense enjoyment when I succeeded in making anybody unhappy. I almost did succeed. For the most part they were all timid people -- of course, they were petitioners. But of the uppish ones there was one officer in particular I could not endure. He simply would not be humble, and clanked his sword in a disgusting way. I carried on a feud with him for eighteen months over that sword. At last I got the better of him. He left off clanking it. That happened in my youth, though.

Well, when Tom and me got to the edge of the hilltop we looked away down into the village and could see three or four lights twinkling, where there was sick folks, maybe; and the stars over us was sparkling ever so fine; and down by the village was the river, a whole mile broad, and awful still and grand. We went down the hill and found Jo Harper and Ben Rogers, and two or three more of the boys, hid in the old tanyard. So we unhitched a skiff and pulled down the river two mile and a half, to the big scar on the hillside, and went ashore.

Etc.

3) Thought bubbles are generally accepted practice in all the play-by-post games I've seen. I believe that they're necessary to really role-play anything in this form.

4) I'm not claiming to be some great author, but I just have to disagree with your assessment. Just about every other book I've ever read contains present tense quotes inside a past tense narrative. If that annoys you, I wonder how you've made it through, say, TWoT, which I think we can all agree is not that well written.

 

[TiCaudata]

I'll concede #2, but I don't think past tense is worth it here.

Now if anyone else would post in either thread...that would be swell.

 

[o3caudata]

all in all, i don't get why it's an issue. i didn't know pbp was so focused on the way posts were written, or the tense and structure of the writing. i like to roleplay and if i have to stretch my writing habits to be able to do it, even in a seriously modified form, i'll do it. if someone, kurt or mike, would be willing to help me correct whatever mistakes i make in posting, i'd appreciate it. i'll verify my grammar as best i can with word and my brain, but inevitably there will still be mistakes.

i think kurt wanted present tense, and that's what i'll use until he says otherwise.

i think thought bubbles are an incredibly blatant form of metagaming, if kurt agrees that they are fine, cool. but it's AMAZINGLY blatant metagaming. i sure hope no one mentions the secret location of that treasure horde i understand the absurdity of this and there's a line in there somewhere i just don't know where.

 

[Dichotomy]

So, I was asked if I was going to step in and stop the argument. I had refrained from doing so because I'd thought that the issue had been decided. The reason is because when I'd said this:

Link to GitP's PbP guide. Recall that about halfway down is the "Post Formatting" section. I prefer the Prose format, but in the FIRST person. Also, for OOC stuff, rather than using brackets, I prefer for it to be in a spoiler block.

I am pretty sure that rather than say "FIRST person" I'd intended to say "PRESENT tense." I am convinced that I must have been drunk [edit: because I thought that I had said "PRESENT tense].

In any event, I think we all recall that in our email discussions I'd noted a preference for present tense. When MNW complained, I decided to see if the rest of you wanted to change, since I'd have been willing to try it if you all wanted. The response (from those that decided to respond) was overwhelmingly opposed.

Does anything else need to be said on the matter?

 

[michael_noah]

I had no idea that you meant you prefered present tense. I was in fact attempting to follow the guide and thought that the past tense idea was a good one. If you want present tense, I guess I'll do it...

Because I like arguing, I would like to point out that what you actually said in the email was "Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about that. I'm not particularly partial to past tense, but it would make it more novelesque" (note the ease of quoting a statement that occured in the past). I took that to mean that you did not really have a preference, but that it was an interesting idea.

Anywho. I'd like to know what Boldak might know about this Nav guy, since it seems like he might be from around Diamond Lake from the way he's talking. I'll accept an answer from Ti or Dichotomy.

 

[michael_noah]

For those of you that don't like thoughts to be expressed in the posts - I've put it in an sblock so that you needn't read it. Let me know if that's acceptable.

 

[TiCaudata]

That works fine by me, it's actually a pretty good idea as a thought journal. I'm assuming we'll be backing these pages up pretty often (this time), but are we going to do any sort of quick summary of the adventure to date like was attempted with paper games in the past? It might be a good way to summarize what's going on?

Of course there's no need for it this early in the adventure, I'm just planning ahead here.

 

[Dichotomy]

We can see. If you guys are interested, we might as well.

The sblocking of thought bubbles sounds fine, too.

 

[worthley]

Reading is for suckers