I feel like the Rpgww I once knew is almost gone.

[FF Fanatic 80]

Despite the subject, this is also a bit of random, semi-angst inspired thoughts about a lot of things.

Maybe it's because I miss the early afternoon chats now, or for the past month have missed chats all together save the ones still on til the early morning, or that I haven't been RPing very much lately, or it could just be that I'm in a really bad mood at the moment... but it feels like Rpgww is slowly fading away, at least the one I remember.

I remember back in the day when, to me, Rpgww was a quirky message board I went to in order to have a little fun and forget a few of the problems that were going on with my life (school/aggravating parents/sibling). Everyone 'seemed' to be really interesting or silly, and everyone tried to outdo the weirdness/sillyness of other posters on the board. We've grown since then, changed boards, discoverd AIM to chat in real time with one another, made so many characters it makes my brain hurt thinking about it, and met so many new people, it's really amazing how much has changed in two years. In some ways, though, it makes me feel sad.

Rpgww doesn't feel that way from me anymore. When I really stop to think about it, I almost completely join AIM chat out of habit now more than anything else. It used to be because I was so eager to talk and have fun with everyone, but not anymore. When I go into chat now, I'm usually walking right into the middle of Person A complaining, and watching Persons B & C give conflicting opinions, while Persons D-G all lurk out of the chat to go and do other things. The chats just aren't fun. The people I've known the longest don't even seem to make an effort to chat anymore, they'd rather just lurk and either play games, or talk with other people privately, or work on stuff. It makes me wonder if they're just joining chat out of habit too.

I've tried to figure out what has changed so drastically that could have caused this, and after thinking it over, I think I finally have the answer, as painful as it is for me to openly say in this post. If I offend anyone, I'm sorry, but I'm sick of keeping quiet and hoping things will just sort themselves out.

When we all first met, we really didn't know anything about one another. We were all anonymous people who presented themselves with certain persona's. I usually did as the semi-obsessed final fantasy fan, others had their own way of doing it. When I was feeling like total shit, I would either find something else to do, or I'd come to Rpgww and be a bit silly, helping me feel better.

Then we started to get to know the people behind the screennames, their RL interests, feelings, etc. In some ways, this was cool. Of course, one thing anyone knows is, no one has a perfect life. So we slowly started to find out about things we had problems with in our lives. At first, it wasn't so bad, everyone has problems after all. Over time though, it seemed to me that anytime someone was having a problem, they needed to let everyone know they felt bad. And it started to happen more, and more and more. And this started to bring a lot of people (it seems to me) down, myself included. To the point it seems to be at right now. Anytime someone brings up that they're having problems, this feeling of dread seems to come over me and (to me) everyone else.

No one wants to chat because they figure someone's going to come in and complain, bringing everyone else in the chat down. Few people I've known for awhile seem to make an effort to have fun in chat anymore, and just go away instead of trying to make things better. Myself included v_v;;;;

Yes, I'm sounding selfish, and I sound like I'm saying "STFU AND STOP WHINING". I know people have problems, and I truly feel bad for people when they bring it up. But sometimes there's absolutely nothing others can do about your problems, I'm sorry. Sometimes we all need a chance to forget about how shitty life can be, and Rpgww used to mean that to me. But now all that happens is I get reminded that everyone feels like crap every day.

Were things better when we were strangers? If not, what can we do about this? I miss enjoying Rpgww, and I can't live with myself if I don't try to find out why this isn't the case anymore. I want to still have fun with all the people I've known all this time, but its feeling less and less likely. Why don't any of you hang around anymore? And what can I do to get Rpgww back?

Or maybe it's just too late, and I should stick to doing what everyone else does now. Logging in out of habit and being lurker #15 who's playing an online game the 2 hours he's logged into the chatroom, because its fun and the chat isn't anymore....

...so wee, now I'm bitching about life sucking too, go me Mr. Hypocrite.

[BrainWalker]

I would just like to point out one thing.

Quote:

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"No one wants to chat because they figure someone's going to come in and complain, bringing everyone else in the chat down."

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This quote right here accurately describes my thoughts on the RPGWW chatroom latley.

I'm not saying "don't complain". Life sucks somtimes, and it can be kathartic to discuss it with trusted friends, but some people whine about things that don't really need to be whined about, and other times people just don't konw when to shut the Hell up. That's when I stop caring so much.

At any rate, I don't think that getting to know each other a bit more in-depth is definately a good thing. It makes us much closer as a communnity. We're almost like a family here. However, because of this, not only do RPGWWers feel more comfortable sharing their angst, but other RPGWWers feel more empathetic with the suffering of their peers.

*shrug* It's 1 AM, and I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I'm not really sure if this post was useful at all. <p><div style="text-align:center"></div></p>

[Deeum]

I can't help but feel this post was partly myfault >_>;
<p><div style="text-align:center">

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<span style="color:black;font-family:verdana;font-size:xx-small;">.:StarDragon Studios:Star-Dragon.net:Livejournal:S-D.Net Oekaki:.

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</span>

</div></p>

[Dalin Rifthome]

So, if we're a family, that makes me the fucked up second cousin right? <p>------------------
"There is nothin' as sure in the world as the glitter of gold and the treachery of Elves."
- Old Dwarf Saying
</p>

[PriamNevhausten]

Yes.

That aside, take a look at your in-person social groups. People aren't always having great days in reality, either, and really, everyone has something to bitch about sometime. I've had days, often, that were STRINGS of bitchings. Man, I wish I didn't have to work so early. Man, I hope I get off work soon. Crap, I can't find my friends. Dammit, I don't have enough money to spare to DDR without being spotted some cash by a friend. Holy shit it's late, now it's too late to do anything. I wish so-and-so would stop bugging me with dumb questions. The list goes ON and ON and ON.

But. This does not mean the downfall of any given social group! Witness the IRL groups. People bitch, and discuss, and eventually move on to more interesting topics and activities. With guys, this tends to be a resolution of the conflict which is the subject of bitching; with gals, this tends to be more of a sympathetic emotional support network. So already we know that there are multiple ways to get this shit taken care of.

How, then, are we hampered, by comparison to real life social groups?

Firstly, and fairly ironically, I say that because we have so many members--with 20+ in a chat on any given early-evening--SOMEONE is going to have something to bitch about almost ALL the time.

Secondly, we have a near inability to disallow people into the group--if someone in real life is always playing the part of the 'fifth wheel' or whatever you wish to call it, you can always refrain from inviting them to any given activity, but here it is perfectly acceptable to invite oneself to chats--this is fairly apparent to anyone within the group, especially when one of the lesser-liked people enters.

Thirdly, we can not 'arrange and attend activities' in nearly the capacity IRL groups have. Sure, we can organize a playsite Monopoly game or whatever, but it's not even in the same ballpark as driving over to a friend's house, and going together to a club.

So, now that we have some things that are possibly causing the burden, how do we fix it?

It seems obvious to me that people should try to keep their bitchings in check (myself included). Yes, it's good to catharsize every now and then, but KNOW WHEN TO STOP. If you've typed more than five or six lines of text in a chat relating to the same problem, and you believe the problem to be unresolvable by people in the group (such as when I bitch about not getting laid lately), then you've typed WAY too much, and you should stop.

Secondly, I think it would be a good idea if everyone got some fresh fuckin' air every now and then. A lot of us spend practically all day on AIM in the chat, with no good reason. Go outside and find some people in real life to interact with. Yes, people here are fun, but there are fun people in your time zone, too. Don't be sacrificing face-to-face interaction in favor of online communication--we'll get over it. (Of course, planned things like plotted RP's and such are the exception, as they have become a personal obligation.)

Thirdly, jello pies.

Third-and-a-halfly, bitching is okay, and resolving problems is keen. But don't let the little shit get you down. It's not worth the anguish so many of us assign it. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"When I started training in Gung Fu, a punch was just a punch, and a kick was just a kick.
After training for a few years, a punch was much more than a punch and a kick was more
than just a kick. Now that I have trained a long time, a punch is just a punch and
a kick is just a kick."
-Bruce Lee, "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do"</span></p>

[Choark]

*lurker 14 comes from lurking briefly*

See. Way I was brought up, you never bitch to a whole group of friends anyway. You spend time with ya friends to have "fun" with them, you talk about crap to forget what was making you bitchy and life and all general things.

Maybe it was cause me and my mates were brought up in a generally bad area of the country and never really expected things to be good but we all assumed everyone was feeling crap so we made the effort to try and cheer each other up. Tis what a group friends are for and all that.

When you were alone with a mate you could bitch and such like, cause it was one on one and the "rules" change.

But eh. I don't know. Sometimes I think I lurk cause, like, of that, or other times I lurk cause I really do have other things to be doing. Its a mixed bag. I mean I lurk cause RO comes up as a topic... and before you go STFU I have a right to talk about RO.. you're right, you do, which is why I lurk through it as I have nothing to add =D Unless you want me to make fun of the game all the time - which I'm sure half of you don't as the it seems to upset everyone.

Yeah RPGWW feels a little different now but it is. And I am one of the people who is enjoying talking over IM's more then in the chat now. *shrugs* I've tried to talk a lot in Chat and regularly keep on coming back in to talk and have fun but... eh.

One thing I'm annoyed at myself with though is my lack of will to RP. =/ I used to sort of relied on others to get my interest going, especially in the early days with all those spontaneous RP's. With those mostly gone, I find it harder to join chat RP's. Though I *think* I'm still okay with board RP's.

It *has* been getting better though *touches wood*, least it seems to be at times but the chats still do kinda lack some of the "feel good" it used to. Or maybe I'm old ={ and generally a lot more miserable at other people these days?

damn whipper snappers, snapping whips! *shakes fist*


*cough*

Anywho, I'm not sure what can be done honestly, least in the chats. I have spurts of fun, where everyone seems instrested in having fun and chatting and all, then *shrugs*

HOWEVER!

I'm using this oppurtunity to still say I'm so looking forward to meeting loads of ya in Otokan =D that hasn't changed! And who knows, maybe meeting each other in RL might help us understand each other a bit more? Or at least give everyone a big whole area of FUN! =D

Still:

I'm still here at RPGWW and do still have fun here. I guess I just wish it seemed everyone else did as well.

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*this was a uncertain message from lurker 14 who rarely makes sence - sorry*

[Archmage144]

<blockquote style="padding-left:0.5em; margin-left:0; margin-right:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; border-left:solid 2">*touches wood*[/quote]
Not in public, Cho.

Anyway, my pre-work, "wow, this topic unsettles me a bit" thoughts:

I agree with Priam. I feel that as a community we've grown closer, for better or for worse--RPGWW has transcended the "internet community" mark and almost become like a real-life clique of some sort, not that I particularly mind that transformation I spend a fair amount of time offline (as anyone would know), but the time I do spend online I spend a fair amount of it in the chat. I don't think I join it out of habit--I join it for the time periods when people are actually around and chatting, and those tend to be in the afternoons and whatnot, so a lot of the time I'm "waiting for the rush," so to speak, and then I'll make sure to be around to discuss whatever.

I don't think the amount of arguing etc. is "too much" for a group our size and with the variety of people. It works out to be about right, really. However, there are a couple kinds of things that I don't like to see in chat, on those lines. I really dislike people attempting to make me feel lousy for bringing up a serious topic/lurking/not wanting to RP/playing RO/whatever. I happen to have little empathy for people who inform me that they're bored in chat every five minutes like we're expected to entertain them. And I'm not fond of, as Priam said, excessively long rants about people's problems where I get yelled at for trying to help or making suggestions (I admit I vent in chat sometimes, but I try not to sound ungrateful when people suggest things, and I usually make it clear that I'm venting and don't really need solutions to my problem).

Having an 8 to 4 job is going to detract from my time at RPGWW, and that makes me kind of sad in a way, but I know that it'll just make me look forward to being here more when I am around. I've met some great friends here and still continue to do spend time with them--I have no complaints about what RPGWW has done for me.

That said, I must be off, and will return for further discussion later.

~Brian "Archmage" Ford <p>

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<div style="text-align:center"></div>

</p>

[Vampire Jester Jinx]

*holds up a guilty as charged for lurking in chat out of habit sign* >->

you know the odd thing though? while aim chats have deteriorated a wee bit, the voice chats seem to have a wee bit more of the sillyness we used to have once they really get goin'. not that has any real relevance, but. *Shrug* <p>

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<div style="text-align:center">
Have you ever spent days and days and days making up flavors of icecream that no one's ever eaten before? Like chicken & telephone icecream.

Delirium, in Brief Lives[i][/i]</div></p>

[Jak Snide]

Perhaps because people don't feel comfortable talking about serious things in voice chat yet?

Also, I know what Dave means. I usually find myself struggle to stay interested in a chat for more than 10 minutes. There are exceptions, of course, but when a topic comes up which I know nothing about (such as RO =P) I just lurk myself out.

As for bitching, what really bugs me is when someone joins a a chat to bitch. I've been having a happy, lighthearted conversation with people about this and that, then WHAM, someone's whining about something, and the entire mood breaks down. It's totally self centred and annoying. If you've been in the chat for a while, and settled into it, then bitching bothers me less. But if it's like "Hello, I'm pissed off about THIS today!" immediately, it makes me scowl and curse.

[FlamingDeth]

*insert shite agreeing with people here*

I try not to bitch in chat. I really do. That's why I have a livejournal, and in some cases, I'll take it to IM with someone. Of course, I have relatively little to bitch about, as being an arse is amazing stress relief. <p>

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I AM A CHEF. MY MISSION IS TO COOK FOOD.

That was a recipe for kicking your ass!</p>

[pd Rydia]

The chat still gets crazy, the problem is most people lurk through the fun times.

We had arguments and bitching before -- hell one of the first things I did with Brian was get into a big argument about red mages with him (and Seph). Didn't even need to know them well. The complaining is just more pronounced now that there's more of us. I agree that as the community grows, people need to start leaving their shit out of chat more. That's what livejournals and IMs, and even posts on this subforum, are for.

Part of the perceived problem is due to the fact that for us oldbies, RPGWW is no longer new and shiny and stuff. Spam and silliness and even RPing becomes routine, so everything seems less fun. We try to find a reason for this, and attribute it to lurking and whatnot.

Look at what happens when we get voice chats going, and what's up with Rube's new forum. Same with say DF and second gen, on the RPing front. Once you get something novel, then things become fun again.

So, um, yeah. Draw your own conclusions, I'm lazy. ={ <p>

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<span style="font-size:xx-small;">-=- "Zoooooom...Zoooooom...CRASH! Enthusiasm counts. Never be afraid to try."
-=- "All cookies are good, dum-dum." -- Binky
-=- "Kazootles!"

{RPGWW -- an RPing community} -- {Hogwarts RP} -- {RP Boot Camp}
{Rydia's Pocket Dragon Encyclopedia} -- {StarDragon Oekaki}</span></p>Edited by: pd Rydia&nbsp; at: 7/15/03 10:43 pm

[Archmage144]

Speaking of voice chats:

Voice chats are cool. Voice chats are nifty. Voice chats can be a lot of fun, in fact.

But when someone is spamming the IP of an iParty server literally every 30 seconds telling me how much I should be voice chatting, I get mildly irritated for a number of reasons: one being that I don't always want to voice chat because I share this house with other people who don't particularly appreciate my shouting. <p>

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[EKDS5k]

I concur with Brian there. Any desire I ever actually had to get iParty has been crushed into oblivion by whatsername spamming the chat with the IP address anytime someone so much as blinks. <p>

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Canada....TO THE RESCUE!</p>

[Vampire Jester Jinx]

Quote:

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Coconut Monkey Purse

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*amused by this threads sponsery link* <p>

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<div style="text-align:center">
Have you ever spent days and days and days making up flavors of icecream that no one's ever eaten before? Like chicken & telephone icecream.

Delirium, in Brief Lives[i][/i]</div></p>

[Ajil6]

At the risk of possibly getting the big 'ol STFU. I'm going to mention this is probably or nearly the 10th time I've seen this sort of post and topic. o.o I'm nearly worried that every last member of the community is going to post one of these.

:D Hence, why I avoid the chats like the plague. :D

Except for, at say, 1 AM PST. :D <p>[--------------------------------------------]
FETUS. I am a FETUS.</p>

[SuperRube]

As usual... I have nothing to add.

However, I am glad to not be the one being complained about this time! :D <p>

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"Carrying a ham into a room, Mr. Connery says, 'hon mono.' It basically means that the ham he carries is genuine or real. We expect nothing less."</p>

[ChristianC]

During the short time I've been a regular AIM RPer, I've discovered two things.

1. Nearly none of the oldbies wants to CI, if they're even online.
2. Sitting up to 5-6 in the morning to RP is fun.

It may be that because I didn't have access to aim for a long time, I'm more interested in RPing, or it may simply be because I enjoy it very much. It's also a great way to meet people and learn from mistakes and things like that. Even so, when 7-10 people are RPing at the same time, I get confused and scared that I'll be ignored and therefore lurk for a better opportunity to RP.

However, in the RPGWW Chat, I'm only in as long as there's no CI going around. Mainly because the discussions there doesn't interest me. Especially the RO discusssions of late. Considering I was a real fan of the game for a while, I now can't stand it. Usually I also get into serious discussions, which due to my hot-temperdness, makes people react badly and makes me feel bad about it.

I can't understand why people aren't interested in CI any more. Last night, Dia actually came in and RPed, which made me really surprised. Occassions when AM, Jak or FFFan comes in are rare to, and I have yet to see DM RP. But I don't mind, I meet a lot of other interesting people, both older and newer members, and I have fun. Which is really the only thing that matters.

Who cares what is done at RPGWW? Who cares if we totally abandon the forum and go somewhere else? As long as we have fun, I don't mind. <p>

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<div style="text-align:center">Christian Cordeus - Shamelessly stealing school supplies since 1993.</div></p>

[Archmage144]

I don't RP much because I'm busy with other things--things that are not necessarily more important, but things that I want to do more. Some of these concern you people, and some of them don't! <p>

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[Nekogami]

I partially want to chastize myself for posting to this but I'll do it anyway if for anyone then for Dave.

I am not proud to be an RPGWWer. Not anymore I'm not. It used to be a fun place but now it's not. For me the main reason, I stick around is because Gaera is such a cool world and holds many RP opportunities for people I like to RP with.

Back when it first began there was plenty of silliness, yes, but more importantly for me, there was plenty of kindness and good vibes. I sense that most of that is gone and really the vibrant happy blue of this board is seems inaccurate to how I feel it really is.

It used to be a board celebrating RPGs, RPGW, and people that liked both items and certain affiliates, then its focus turned to RPing in general. C_C had a comic up dedicated with the insanity of the RPers. But now it's reached a new kind of evolved state. And I don't like it.

I lurk in chat because the discussion bore me/exclude people not aware of the topic. I don't join RPs because I can only do the same old thing over and over again. Maybe I do miss the 'fun' or the 'interesting stuff' but it seems to me that those things are drawing fewer and further between. Maybe I'm wrong but I rarely hear of anything that piques my interest.

In my opinion, RPGWW is preppy now. Maybe because it's grown so large but it certainly doesn't feel as friendly as it used to. But as much as I used to like it, I won't let it bother me that I don't like it anymore. I'm still going to keep doing what I'm doing until the people I"m doing it with don't want to do it anymore then I'll probably split.

Who knows. I'll still try to keep in touch with the people I like but it's just a board now. I used to try to invite people to come join, now I tell them to keep away. Kinda sad but ah well, things can't be good forever, I suppose. So chin up, Dave. A neko loves you, you're a good guy and you've got more lovely things to worry over, I hope. <p>

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<div style="text-align:center">
Nekogami Character Pantheon--Deviant Art Gallery--LiveJournal</div>
<span style="font-size:xx-small;">Words to live by:
OMG PRIAM: ninja sex would be neither felt nor seen by either partner
OMG PRIAM: each would just suddenly need a smoke
Choark: Good luck there. You'll have to shit out darkness and send people into oblivion.</span></p>

[pd Rydia]

To everyone disillusioned with RPGWW: Get to know the newbies. Spam with them. RP with them.

Eventually spam and RPing gets old for us oldbies, so we turn more somber and less happy-silly-spammy. It's still fresh for newbies, so if you want to be surrounded by oldschool RPGWWness, that's where to find it.


For me, RPGWW still is what it always was: a meeting of great people. Brain, Dave, Amanda, Joe, James, Shaun, Sean, Kate, Sarah, Mike...the list goes on and on. They might not always be happy, and they might show their faults and prejudices, but they're still great people, just as they were before that made RPGWW such a nifty place.

Topics like these are the "growing pains" of RPGWW. Hopefully with a little communication with each other about our problems, RPGWW can better adjust to its changes. People just need to be willing to change with it. <p>

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<span style="font-size:xx-small;">-=- "Zoooooom...Zoooooom...CRASH! Enthusiasm counts. Never be afraid to try."
-=- "All cookies are good, dum-dum." -- Binky
-=- "Kazootles!"

{RPGWW -- an RPing community} -- {Hogwarts RP} -- {RP Boot Camp}
{Rydia's Pocket Dragon Encyclopedia} -- {StarDragon Oekaki}</span></p>Edited by: pd Rydia&nbsp; at: 7/22/03 10:21 am

[Deeum]

Quote:

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and I have yet to see DM RP.

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Well Chat wise or board wise.

Chat: Not much i can do RP wise. Now adays its either @nd Gen or DF rps.
both of which I have NO characters for, and making ones for them is easier said then done. The ones I CAN RP in.. so much has went on without me knowing, I feel ym character nolonger belongs sometimes. Sometimes I feel Deeum's place in RPGWW has well.. faded. I always find out about what has happened weeks after. Rps I was once invovled in, get wrapped up without someone telling me.

Board: now thats laziness on my part. <p>

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<div style="text-align:center"><span style="color:black;font-family:verdana;">StarDragon Studios - Livejournal
S-D.Net Oekaki - Elitist Bastards

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