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A Problem with TL;DRing Threads


Minx
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Today I'm looking for advice on how to encourage one of my players into not TL;DRing a thread before entering it. Essentially we have an important event that will effect the entire board and the thread is open for all to participate if they so wish. Because it is important, the intro post was a bit on the lengthy side. I have a player who has a habit of skimming and/or skipping posts before inserting their characters which kind of makes their posts hard for others to follow along with at times.

 

This person is a hell of a writer when they have time to write, so I want to encourage their participation but I'm wondering how to approach them about not paying attention to what posts have come before them. I don't want to come off as a jerk or anything like that. I want my players to feel like they can post and jump in on open threads, I just would like them to read stuff a little more thoroughly. Is there a way to encourage this without sounding like an arsehole or should I just let them continue to dismiss entire characters being involved in important situations?

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I don't join ongoing threads for this reason. I cannot read dozens of posts before I even post in, because when I have the time to write, that's when I have time to read. Now, once I've joined the thread, it's rare that posts are so quick that they interfere with my ability to keep up with them. Also, from a realism standpoint: if you're just walking into an event, you don't know who all is there/what's going on/etc, and to assume that a character would and would react so is borderline metagaming, in my opinion. To have them basically repeat everything posted before their post is equally unnecessary. Do they make an effort to acknowledge these characters/situations after their initial post? Because I feel that is where things matter.

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The post in question was at the beginning of a thread designed to set up for a board-wide plotline. They described another character doing stuff he wasn't doing, completely ignoring the other two characters there and had details that they technically wouldn't yet. I'm not trying to meta game, I just would like the player to read a little more thoroughly so that they can post like I know they can (we've been playing together for years) and so they don't feel like they look silly if one of my other players ends up talking to them. I'm mostly asking options because I don't want to hurt their feelings.

 

As far as their follow up post, they again missed details that were kinda important that had been stated in the post immediately before them. Thus far I have let it slide and attempted gentle correction ICly but I would rather not do that all the time. It's just getting frustrating for my other players and I want to avoid things that can be dealt with with some tact and positive encouragement if possible.

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Be honest with them. I actually misread threads and posts all the time. Just the other day I had accidentally replied to a post with my RP partner that I replied to her characters internal thoughts. I was mushy brained and had, had a really long week so I didn't even realize.

 

If they do it regularly they may not realize it. I know I don't all the time.

 

I would just DM them and be like. "Hey... I noticed in your post that XYZ. Did you miss ABC doing this?" this makes it to where you're not making an IC correction and you're doing a gentle nudge of "Hey you missed shit."

 

When they respond with "Oh I didn't realize" or whatever, that's when you broach the subject of "I've noticed that it happens pretty regularly. Is everything okay?" the reason I say to ask if everything is okay instead of offering help or whatever is it may be as simple as they didn't realize they were doing it or they have limited time so skimming is their only way to get through long posts to be able to post/contribute etc.

 

One thing that I do, especially in threads with tons of people and really long posts, is I skim. I read really slowly (my children hate it). I have a high comprehension/retention rate even with skimming but that doesn't mean I see/remember everything. This could be the case for your player too.

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Ok, I'll try that. Thank you guys for all your responses. I really appreciate it.

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On 12/20/2020 at 5:59 AM, SithLordOfSnark said:

 

I really doubt that's the type of situation the OP is talking about. I mean, there used to be a player on my one of my sites who would literally ignore the post before them when it literally addressed their character.  That's the type of situation that is likely being discussed here, not a bunch of stuff that doesn't apply.

 

I really hope so! This is one of those things that I said something because this is a learning opportunity to me, and from a player standpoint that was my conclusion. See, in that case yeah. No, it's completely unrelated. However, when I make an action as an admin, I need to be capable of thinking like the average player, and it's that sort of stepping back and looking at what you're doing when you handle things that I feel is most important.

 

I figured it wasn't, but unfortunately as someone new to using forums as a medium, this is something I wouldn't necessarily pick up on, as it was never relevant in the type of roleplay I came from, because you showed up, and you were there.  So knowing that my input actually doesn't apply in this situation makes sense. However, in text we can only respond to what we're given. Moving to forum roleplay has been the worst experience ever from a personal standpoint, but I'm not tied to anyone's game in a place where I can create my own. So all I can do is ask questions and learn, which in this case.... it doesn't apply. Being able to address concerns such as mine diplomatically is vital, because I don't have anything to lose if I quit a site or get myself banned.

 

On 12/20/2020 at 3:29 PM, Minx said:

The post in question was at the beginning of a thread designed to set up for a board-wide plotline. They described another character doing stuff he wasn't doing, completely ignoring the other two characters there and had details that they technically wouldn't yet. I'm not trying to meta game, I just would like the player to read a little more thoroughly so that they can post like I know they can (we've been playing together for years) and so they don't feel like they look silly if one of my other players ends up talking to them. I'm mostly asking options because I don't want to hurt their feelings.

 

As far as their follow up post, they again missed details that were kinda important that had been stated in the post immediately before them. Thus far I have let it slide and attempted gentle correction ICly but I would rather not do that all the time. It's just getting frustrating for my other players and I want to avoid things that can be dealt with with some tact and positive encouragement if possible.

 

Ahh, see. That's a completely different thing that can easily be misconstrued and more details make it more cut and dry. Yeah, no. You can't fix lack of effort, period. The idea that that is a problem that needs dealing with baffled me, because it's not an issue I've personally seen in the medium I came from and, because of that, it's one of those red flag issues. Sorry if my input wasn't necessary for addressing your current issue.

 

What Morrigan said, 100% in that case. Bring it up and go from there.

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