Jun 6, 2018, 7:22 AM

@roz said in Earning stuff:

You're misunderstanding my point. Note that I didn't say the purpose needs to be about plot. ... I'm saying that, in good writing, every word has some sort of purpose. Sometimes that purpose is plot, but sometimes it's about character... but it's still relevant and interesting in some way. Good writing has a point.

Yes, that's what I was trying to say as well. One of my favorite scenes on BSGU was the pilots going to a karaoke bar during shore leave. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, but it was funny. And the uptight squadron leader kicking loose with a self-deprecating song was an important icebreaker for the group, and a key moment for that character. In contrast, some of my least favorite scenes were random "let's stack some Cylon planes up and mow them down" combat missions, because they had no real point other than people turning up to pad their kill counts.

And when people have limited time to RP, they may not want to risk ending up in a total dud of a scene, even if there's also the possibility that they'll get something brilliant.

That's it exactly. If the ratio of "dud to brilliant" was high, I wouldn't mind chancing it. But it sadly isn't. So I view the random social scenes as a necessary ice-breaker to something more fun, as opposed to the reason I play.

@surreality said in Earning stuff:

It's why the 'more games is better' principle is one I still believe in pretty strongly. It's why I worry when there's too many loud voices pushing for a 'one true way' all games must be in some respect or another, whatever that is.

I agree wholeheartedly, and want to clarify again that what I'm talking about here are just my preferences, not "The One True Way of RPing". I have nothing against Theno's preferred style. It was the "Remember when people actually liked to write?" remark I took exception to, thinking it implied an unhealthy disdain for the modern status quo.