Tef has felt like this to me lately a well. I do believe a big part of it is activity (dang school n such) though I don't think i would spend over the time i do on here if I did have the time. I did once and that was good enough. I feel ya lady. Its hard to branch out of the friends you already make on here it feels like. At least to me.
It is difficult to branch out, and if I remember right there's been a lot of thoughts on that too. Too many shy people in one place, or we all agree that everyone needs to branch out, but we all expect the other person to be the one that does it. That, and frankly, what shy person really, really wants to get outside of their comfort zone, especially here when they have a good five or so people to talk to, or a really successful character? It's almost like...starting from the ground up again. I don't blame them from not wanting to, honestly, but at the same time that leaves a whole bunch of people very happy to be in their spot, and the comm/character interactions pretty much comes to a standstill save for the people who are unfortunate enough to not have a stable situation like that.
It does seem to point to activity. It can be argued against it, sure, but when it comes down to it if you spend enough time wandering around meeting people in game or vice versa and spend oodles upon oodles of time doing that, you might make a new friend out of it, or at the very least you'll be acknowledged. That is really leaning toward just this one type of people, and this one type of player, and if you're not this one type of player then you're just out of luck. While that in itself isn't too much of a problem, what is is that, in my opinion, the attitude behind it is just 'Oh well, that's too bad for you.'
Which is fine, but when it feels like no cares at all, that can really weigh down on you over months and months. In my opinion, the whole point most of us have these characters here is to throw them out into the community to ...well...for lack of a better phrase, show them off. You want people to see them, you want to test them out on other characters, you want to see where their life story goes based on the interactions they get. Even making a bio for them, the whole point of that when it boils down to wanting people to know who they are, even if you're just tossing a word salad of thoughts down on a page.
I agree too, that I wouldn't give back what I already spent. TEF has helped me with art, helped me flesh out my characters to a psychological complexity I would have never gotten just by tossing them at my own characters, even helped me branch away from my usual character mold. It helped me with CSS too. I knew nothing of the stuff when I first joined and now while my self taught skills aren't that amazing, they're still light years away from when I first started and I didn't even understand the most basic of tagging commands.
and if I remember right there's been a lot of thoughts on that too. Too many shy people in one place, or we all agree that everyone needs to branch out, but we all expect the other person to be the one that does it.
Mmmyep.
Quote:
It does seem to point to activity. It can be argued against it, sure, but when it comes down to it if you spend enough time wandering around meeting people in game or vice versa and spend oodles upon oodles of time doing that, you might make a new friend out of it, or at the very least you'll be acknowledged.
Eh. That's most things. Squeaky wheel and oil. I think the same could be achieved on at least some level by just throwing blogs out into the community, regardless of in-game time. That whole 'everyone waiting for everyone else to reach out' thing. You can be the best clarinet player, but if you don't show the teacher you want to play the solo someone else is going to get it. Doesn't mean you suck, though.
That said, it's been kinda quiet the last couple months - particularly this week - but I think a lot of that is just the typical holiday business/school starting cycle. I watched a post sit on the front of Recents for like three days while receiving only 3 comments lol.
Staying active on here isn't always the easiest thing, that's for sure. It's not even that I'm not interested in TEF, because it's always fun to login and see what'll happen to my characters. Generally, external factors (such as school for me) contribute to the extent of which I'm just too lazy to get on. It also depends on the type of character you're playing, I suppose. If it's a newer character that doesn't have very many relations, it might be a bit easier to just login and run around. Older characters, however, might have more relations, and thus be engaged in more roleplays, etc. And if you've been busy at school/work all day, the notion of roleplaying might be exhausting. It's a bit saddening because while you might want to get online and do all of that, you just don't have the heart to.
I also agree about the whole "branching out" dilemma. I generally try to have my characters go around and meet new characters (which in reality, of course, is something I'd never do, heh), but if your character has a stable support system of relations, then it's tempting to stay with them. I'll admit that I tend to do that at times.
I know I'm not the best artist, and I most definitely can't work with extremely complex CSS's. I can write, but my writing tends to stay on one blog. It used to bother me in the past, but I'm okay with it now. I think the urge to be well-known on a particular site rather that being termed an "outlier" as you mentioned is only natural. But I don't really possess that urge anymore. I'm happy with my place on this site-and I'm not exceedingly active, so I suppose I wouldn't have a right to complain anyway. I have what I have, and I know what my talents are, if you get what I'm saying. I hope I'm not coming off as preachy or anything ;;
Nursing a headache so I may or may not make sense and or miss the point entirely.
@Aivilo
I agree, if you want to be acknowledged you kind of have to throw yourself out there and prod people until they look at you and give you the time of day. I'm the first person to say I actively fail at that. I kind of wish it wasn't like that, as a shy person I just feel like all I'm accomplishing is annoying them. Same with the blog idea. I have thought of that, but since writing's more my thing I'm more hesitant to follow through with the idea. There is also the unspoken ideal of not flooding the tracker with a whole bunch of your blogs, even once every couple of weeks makes me cringe and feel like I'd just be a bother.
But, yeah I agree. Don't put yourself out there, then you don't get attention. Stay quiet, then you're just passed over. Still, it'd be nice if that wasn't always the case.
♥
@Poppy
Yes, I agree with your points as well. Depending on the character it is easy to let them just sit around. I'm guilty of that with some of mine. Akhen, for example, is just as introverted as I am and he is perfectly content to be plopped down somewhere and not move an inch for however long I have him in game. If there's family in, or a familiar, then he is just as happy to be plopped down with them and not move at all. I know many players would agree with that. Why make a character be taken outside of their familiarity for the sake of meeting someone new? It's stressful for them, and in some cases, not how they are as a character. But at the same time when the vast majority of the characters in the game at the time are like that, that causes problems. No one moves, no one makes their character move, and everyone stays in their designated groups. Other than not being so rigorous on their character's personality mold I don't really know how to fix that.
I agree that school/work/life get in the way. Since classes started I've been just as dead as many people are. It feels like a chore, or an extra job to try to get in game(add in that the server's been especially finicky lately), because unless I spend it for a set amount of time I feel like it won't accomplish anything. However, I disagree where the whole idea of having a newer character is easier. While, it is easier to throw them in because there's no set rules on who your character will approach or not(such as 'oh they're mortified of dog like characters and won't approach them; Oh, they're scared to death of real faced deer; Oh they don't like groups';), but to me it's harder when they're so new as it's super easy to just lose motivation for them, or think that they're just this horrible concept and need to be scrapped for some reason or another. It's why I run through so many characters. All of them are just concepts until I test drive them out, and then for some reason or another I get scared/worried/self conscious of them and scrap them within a few months. Save for Akhen and Zash. They're my main two that I can't part with- namely because they're so much more than just characters to me.
No, you don't come off preachy. I know what you're saying and I agree. All I'm saying is that it'd be great to just get a pat on the back once in a blue moon. Just something that says 'hey, all your effort's not going unnoticed' you know? Yes, comments aren't everything in the world and yes, it's good to make things for yourself and not to please others, but it's only natural to want to get a little bit of encouragement once in a great while. Or even constructive criticism.
Just wanted to say, even though I haven't been around here long enough to have a great grasp on everyone and their niche in this community, I have seen a lot of your posts and I always thought of you as one of the "good" players.. If that makes sense lol. You always seem to have good advice and insight on everything that goes on around here. I've never said anything to you directly because I figured people that have been around a while like you are constantly praised for your time and effort. It sort of makes more sense that that wouldn't be the case though.. So.. yeah lol you're definitely not unnoticed. Sorry if that came out weird.
I don't really think it comes off really all that weird. I think that's really sweet of you to say. I never considered myself as one of those people...but thank you. ♥
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Tef has felt like this to me
It is difficult to branch
It does seem to point to activity. It can be argued against it, sure, but when it comes down to it if you spend enough time wandering around meeting people in game or vice versa and spend oodles upon oodles of time doing that, you might make a new friend out of it, or at the very least you'll be acknowledged. That is really leaning toward just this one type of people, and this one type of player, and if you're not this one type of player then you're just out of luck. While that in itself isn't too much of a problem, what is is that, in my opinion, the attitude behind it is just 'Oh well, that's too bad for you.'
Which is fine, but when it feels like no cares at all, that can really weigh down on you over months and months. In my opinion, the whole point most of us have these characters here is to throw them out into the community to ...well...for lack of a better phrase, show them off. You want people to see them, you want to test them out on other characters, you want to see where their life story goes based on the interactions they get. Even making a bio for them, the whole point of that when it boils down to wanting people to know who they are, even if you're just tossing a word salad of thoughts down on a page.
I agree too, that I wouldn't give back what I already spent. TEF has helped me with art, helped me flesh out my characters to a psychological complexity I would have never gotten just by tossing them at my own characters, even helped me branch away from my usual character mold. It helped me with CSS too. I knew nothing of the stuff when I first joined and now while my self taught skills aren't that amazing, they're still light years away from when I first started and I didn't even understand the most basic of tagging commands.
I've noting to add. You said
Quote:and if I remember right
Mmmyep.
Eh. That's most things. Squeaky wheel and oil. I think the same could be achieved on at least some level by just throwing blogs out into the community, regardless of in-game time. That whole 'everyone waiting for everyone else to reach out' thing. You can be the best clarinet player, but if you don't show the teacher you want to play the solo someone else is going to get it. Doesn't mean you suck, though.
That said, it's been kinda quiet the last couple months - particularly this week - but I think a lot of that is just the typical holiday business/school starting cycle. I watched a post sit on the front of Recents for like three days while receiving only 3 comments lol.
Anyways. You aren't entirely unnoticed ♥
Staying active on here isn't
I also agree about the whole "branching out" dilemma. I generally try to have my characters go around and meet new characters (which in reality, of course, is something I'd never do, heh), but if your character has a stable support system of relations, then it's tempting to stay with them. I'll admit that I tend to do that at times.
I know I'm not the best artist, and I most definitely can't work with extremely complex CSS's. I can write, but my writing tends to stay on one blog. It used to bother me in the past, but I'm okay with it now. I think the urge to be well-known on a particular site rather that being termed an "outlier" as you mentioned is only natural. But I don't really possess that urge anymore. I'm happy with my place on this site-and I'm not exceedingly active, so I suppose I wouldn't have a right to complain anyway. I have what I have, and I know what my talents are, if you get what I'm saying. I hope I'm not coming off as preachy or anything ;;
Profile picture by ahimsa ♥
Pixel Wis by squeegie~
Nursing a headache so I may
@Aivilo
I agree, if you want to be acknowledged you kind of have to throw yourself out there and prod people until they look at you and give you the time of day. I'm the first person to say I actively fail at that. I kind of wish it wasn't like that, as a shy person I just feel like all I'm accomplishing is annoying them. Same with the blog idea. I have thought of that, but since writing's more my thing I'm more hesitant to follow through with the idea. There is also the unspoken ideal of not flooding the tracker with a whole bunch of your blogs, even once every couple of weeks makes me cringe and feel like I'd just be a bother.
But, yeah I agree. Don't put yourself out there, then you don't get attention. Stay quiet, then you're just passed over. Still, it'd be nice if that wasn't always the case.
♥
@Poppy
Yes, I agree with your points as well. Depending on the character it is easy to let them just sit around. I'm guilty of that with some of mine. Akhen, for example, is just as introverted as I am and he is perfectly content to be plopped down somewhere and not move an inch for however long I have him in game. If there's family in, or a familiar, then he is just as happy to be plopped down with them and not move at all. I know many players would agree with that. Why make a character be taken outside of their familiarity for the sake of meeting someone new? It's stressful for them, and in some cases, not how they are as a character. But at the same time when the vast majority of the characters in the game at the time are like that, that causes problems. No one moves, no one makes their character move, and everyone stays in their designated groups. Other than not being so rigorous on their character's personality mold I don't really know how to fix that.
I agree that school/work/life get in the way. Since classes started I've been just as dead as many people are. It feels like a chore, or an extra job to try to get in game(add in that the server's been especially finicky lately), because unless I spend it for a set amount of time I feel like it won't accomplish anything. However, I disagree where the whole idea of having a newer character is easier. While, it is easier to throw them in because there's no set rules on who your character will approach or not(such as 'oh they're mortified of dog like characters and won't approach them; Oh, they're scared to death of real faced deer; Oh they don't like groups';), but to me it's harder when they're so new as it's super easy to just lose motivation for them, or think that they're just this horrible concept and need to be scrapped for some reason or another. It's why I run through so many characters. All of them are just concepts until I test drive them out, and then for some reason or another I get scared/worried/self conscious of them and scrap them within a few months. Save for Akhen and Zash. They're my main two that I can't part with- namely because they're so much more than just characters to me.
No, you don't come off preachy. I know what you're saying and I agree. All I'm saying is that it'd be great to just get a pat on the back once in a blue moon. Just something that says 'hey, all your effort's not going unnoticed' you know? Yes, comments aren't everything in the world and yes, it's good to make things for yourself and not to please others, but it's only natural to want to get a little bit of encouragement once in a great while. Or even constructive criticism.
Just wanted to say, even
I don't really think it comes
I've been feeling really sick