I've been browsing some old RPF threads lately and thought this would be an interesting exercise...

The Idea:

1) Get the oldest RP post you wrote - you can find it by going to your Post History, sorting it by forum, and going to the last page. If it's not on the JC, feel free to grab the post from elsewhere on the internet if you like. If it's on the JC but has been pruned, the auto-pruner has been off for long enough that it probably doesn't make a difference.

2) Get a recent RP post. I'd say it doesn't have to be your most recent, but fairly recent - say within your last five or ten RP posts. I don't want to pressure everyone into finding their Best Post Evar; this isn't a competition. It's just for fun.

3) Post 'em for comparison. Include commentary if you like.


To start us off, here's mine!
[quote=Me, Jan 03] I thread my way through the city streets, heading for the city centre. I make sure that Kija is at my side, since getting separated would be a problem - and in the crowded streets, it's entirely possible.

First things first. Making sure that we aren't being followed, I stroll into a small inn at the street corner and set about obtaining rooms for the both of us. After all, we'll be here fora week, and I don't want to have to sleep on a street corner.
[/quote]
That's the entire content of the post. No IC, no Tag, nothing. It's also written in first person present tense, which was - oddly enough - the perspective from which the entire RP was written in. The game itself lasted perhaps a few months until the GM sort of disappeared, which I'm sure is a phenomenon we're all familiar with, and my character never got fleshed out very much more than this. (Trivia Note: The character I'm playing here was named Raine, and could be considered a sort-of precursor to my Imperial Inquisitor in 11 BBY, Raine Vartan, but the two characters bear no resemblance to each other.)

That said, that post was in a RP where all players played using socks, so it won't show up in my post history. For that, there is ...

[quote=Me, Feb 03]Krasus weighs the lightsaber in his hand, then ignites it. Grasping the hilt with both hands, he blocks the blows. Feeling slightly more confident, he takes a step to the side and raises the saber to block any further blows.[/quote]
Yeah, still not great, and still no IC/Location/Tag lines. Two posts later, I worked up the nerve to ask what Tags were, in fact. :p That one was in Balance of Power, the precursor to the lovely IBOP, and what I consider to be my 'real' First RPG. Krasus went on to have a wildly successful Sith career, but the character was perhaps a bit hampered by how I had no idea what I was doing at the start.

Now for a recent post! Here's one from AFAS...

[quote=Me, Nov 09][b]IC: Leia Organa[/b]
[i]Plaza, The Underworld of Arbra [/i]

Leia gaped soundlessly at the man. Had he just called her [i]Mother[/i]?!

He seemed to believe it. The expression on his face - that face with its hauntingly familiar features, which she knew and yet nonetheless had never seen before - belied an almost childlike curiosity and excitement, at odds with the fiery yellow of his eyes and the aura of darkness that had surrounded him. But there was still that inescapable fact that, everything else aside, he was also undoubtedly older than Leia by several years.

So who ... or [i]what[/i] ... was he?

Automatically, she revolved slowly on the spot. This person ... this spectre of the future, vision, nightmare, delusional maniac, figment of her imagination, whatever he was ... was circling her, and she was not about to let him out of her field of vision. She had not missed the lightsaber at his belt. He was dangerous.

He also seemed to be waiting for her answer.

After what seemed like an eternity, Leia found her voice. "I don't know who you think you are," she said ... with as much cold disdain as she could muster to cover her disquiet, for the Skywalker line had already bred two Sith Lords ... and if sometime, years from now, she would give birth to another ... "but you are tragical>

 

alrighty... i've got two old posts. one of them vastly more pathetic than the other.

that is my first in game post ever, and at least i had the basics. this was in a game called vile prison, and i was playing a character named after my sign in. we were plotting to break out. overall, quite possibly my worst post pretty much ever.

two days later, and reasonably obvious who i am in this one. probably one of the odder games i've seen, as there was anakin and vader in the same game. i suppose that's a decent post, but really rather meh at the same time.

 

This is a great idea for a thread!


[blockquote]

[/blockquote]


Like Xany, I had no tag, no IC/OOC, nothing. That is the post in its entirety. A little later I started IBOP 'training', and I improved somewhat:



[blockquote]

[/blockquote]


Well, I had a tag at least. No comment on the cringe-inducing content of the post. I got better. In my defense I was 13.

As for now, I mostly GM these days. I dunno, here's a random excerpt from one of my last updates:


[blockquote]

[/blockquote]

So my presentation is the most obvious difference. I can use the fancy markups now, and I'm so used to constructing an RP post by now that it comes to me automatically.

But I don't know if the quality of my writing is significantly better. Sure, I've improved my vocabulary, as you would expect. I have a clearer understanding of what works and what doesn't within a piece of prose. But I don't think I've come as far as I would have liked.

I'm certainly a much better player than I was then...but a much better writer? Perhaps not. Interesting.

 

you raise an interesting point winged... personally, i think you did improve as a writer. it's kinda hard not to if you do something for such a significant amount of time. vocabulary and word choice IS a big part of writing and improvement in it. so yea, i'd say you have.

same for most people who do it for any significant length of time.

 

My first RP post was simple and to the point. I had already asked about what the tags were for and used them, but I didn't make use of markup codes that would differentiate dialogue.

IC: Crash Stokes
Crash walked into the room, his helmet by his side and flight suit still on. He gave a glance at those assembled in the room before saying "Sorry I'm late, Grandmaster. I was giving my ship a quick diagnostics check and flew her around a little bit."
The others in the room gave him an odd look that said "You're late", but Crash thought that he was all right- he had shown up. Plus, he had been flying in his fighter when he was called in. Grandmaster stared at Crash before saying "Jedi Stokes,you are to travel to Bespin with your comrades. They will fill you in on the fine details."
Crash sighed wearily. He had just gotten here, and now he was being sent on another mission. It was just last week that he had returned from the Outer Rim after two weeks of little rest while fighting against the Sith army on Celsius 4.

TAG: Everyone Else in Room




Now, one of my recent posts, from the EUC-RPF Masters Tournament Finals round.

 

That´s a nice idea. But here you got you´re case of a guy not getting better in RPing but worse . . . my first post, I believe . . .

I had the fancy markup codes from day one. As you see. Used them less consequently. My character would stay with me for quite a while. Eydan´s latent aggression and arrogance is already visible. His rushing into situations also . . . it is a nice post, by my standrads.

On a

 

Ah, it's like drudging up horrifying memories.

I actually committed a huge faux pax and, before the game proper had started (Mind you, this is me coming off of DnD sessions where the DM starts describing and then the action begins - the concept of the preview introduction was entirely foreign to me) included an IC post following my CS. This was back in 2005, so I was young, and more importantly, a total newbie with regards to the online roleplaying scene. What followed wasn't pretty.

Where to even get started? No IC marker, no tags (Granted I was unfamiliar with either concept), and no separation between paragraphs - while proper for a typed essay, anything but in this format, and the text all seems to run together. To say nothing of my character, who's not necessarily a Gary Stu but is, in fact, pretty clearly an idealized power fantasy - tough, smart, sarcastic, rugged good looks... all he needs now light whips, glowing red eyes, and to be the greatest starfighter pilot who ever lived. And possibly some relation to Darth Vader.

And now, through the power of exposition, I shall transport you to the year 2009! After the game I was in folded, I left the JC, presumably for good, and kept at tabletop gaming. Then I spent about a year on a certain site-that-shall-not-be-named, which I had to quit cold turkey as it was causing me an insane amount of sleep deprivation (In retrospect that seems positively quaint).

So we get to 2008, and here I am, about to go to college, RPG deprived, and itching to get my roleplaying on. And lo, the account named darthramza was born. And Ramza looked down upon this, and it was good. Yadda yadda blasphemy yadda yadda.

Anyway, here's a more recent bit, from a certain well-known game:

 

Great stuff guys - it's fascinating to see how much we've all improved since our newbie days. Keep 'em coming!


Wing - Hahaha I was 15 when I began. Not too shabby, hey.

Fins - I lol'ed

Ramza - Horrifying memories pssh. In a way it's nostalgic - albeit in a painful, cringeworthy sort of way.

 

I'm so going to regret this...

I might point out for the lulz that the Ta'izz referred to in this post is none other than our own beloved Ktala, who was the first to extend a welcoming hand to me in these forums.

 

Worst thinig is, it even sounds better in english . . . and yeah, that was your first epci attempt to play . . . I remember. I wanted to kick you out again, immediately. Glad I didn´t.

Great idea, I am afraid there is no way I can find my first post anywhere these days . . .

 

The day was Tuesday, October 12th, 2004!

A now long-gone user by the name of Knighthawk had informed one Imperial_Hammer of the existence of a role playing forum here on the Jedi Council! Oh my gosh! And so then the wheels began to turn. After posting a sheet in Galactic Empire IBOP that was swiftly ignored, the boy began play in his first of many side-games.

[b][u]Nights in Coruscant, 10/12/04[/u][/b]

OOC: Here goes guys.... Buckle up!

Name: Inspector Chiron Weyburn
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearence: Clean cut, Mustachioed, New Republic Uniform, short brown hair
Weapon(s): Modified BlasTec E-11 Trooper Rifle
Ship(s): Modified TIE Defender

Bio: Inspector Weyburn grew up on Kuat during the Grand Days of the Empire. He trained on Carida and graduated with top marks from the trooper academy. His intelligence got him accepted into the Imperial Officers Corps. He enjoyed it then, but then, it all changed. The fall of the Empire was a heavy blow to Chiron. After the fall he recovered however, and he decided to join the New Republic. His love for the Law is absolute, and with his old Imperial zeal, he works in for the Coruscant security force; the only job that is engaging enough for him.

-------------------------------------

Inspector Weyburn strode into the Dark Sun Cantina. His troops had shut it down, and it was an active crime scene.

"Investigator, report...." the Inspector said

"Sir, these wounds were inflicted via lightsaber" the forensic scientists reported.

This was not good. Nahar was gone....a dangerous Sith / Jedi lose on the streets. He would have to fire his idiot liutenent who sent so few troopers to aprehend this dangerous individual.

And to top it off, his officers in pursuit had lost Nahar. The fool took a suicide dive into traffic and disappeared. No doubt he hijaked a speeder. Yet another crime to add to his long list.

They would probably go to the slums. Thieves and Villians feel best at home in those god-foresaken slums. They could not be reached by force there. The gangs would ignite if New Republic forces entered the slums. He would have to go alone.

Weyburn smiled, this one would be very interesting indeed. He made heard stories about the Jedi and their magical force. He would have to be careful.

Something was interesting in this case however. Witnesses reported a female Twilek aiding the criminal. I wonder if she knows? She would certainly need questioning for aiding and abetting.

Weyburn turned to the local battalion chief,

"Chief, clean up this mess and report to the commander my leave. I will solve this case personally. Don't worry Chief, the commander will know what I speak of."

Weyburn than turned and walked swiftly out of the Cantina onto the platform. He breathed the warm Coruscanti air...let it flow through him. Yes, tonight will be good.

Weyburn strode and entered his TIE Defender. He felt the all too familiar engines respond to his touch on the yoke.

He kicked in the repulsor drives and began his descent into the lower city

TAG: Whoever...

[hr]
[hr]
[b][u]GM Post, Oz, 11/14/09[/u][/b]

[color=green][b][u]Main/Day Arc[/u][/b][/color]

[b]IC: Lt. Jenna Samesun[/b]
[i]Location: Courtyard, The Eastern Fort[/i]

The lieutenant professionally shook Mikes hand, listening to his questions and remarks

"Hahaha" the woman laughed in a bright, tinkling way. "Well Mister, Beckum is it? You and your comrades are very important people. We don't often get visitors from outside of Oz. I'd say you're deserving of a file."

She gave the man a charming sort of smile, then looked over to the cart.

"Thats sweet of you to want to help, but we've got everything under control here. The best thing you can do for us is to get eat up and get ready to travel. The deeper we can get you guys into Quadling, the safer we will be."

Another woman carrying a crate walked by.

"A lot of it is just a carrot shipment to Bunnybury anyway. They're mad about their carrots down there, and with the roads into Vinkus under heavy patrol, they're definitely looking forward to this shipment."

>

 

My first TFN roleplays were not in the RPF, but something called FanForce. I had joined what appeared to be an ISD fan club thread, and at the time, I liked my star destroyers.

It manifested itself as a fleet-based game, but there were no rules, template, or requirement for a character sheet. Just state character name and rank, and you were in.

Since I came complete with a host of my own characters from my own fan fiction, I recall asking if I was permitted to join with my Victory Star Destroyer, Wraithis.


[b]Date Posted:[/b] 8/22/02 11:12am [b]Subject:[/b] [i]The Imperial Star Destroyer ...fan clud....[/i]

[b][i]Wraithis[/i] bridge.[/b]

Captain Sohmer: "Lieutenant, report."

Lieut.: "Sir. We are maintaining flank speed with the fleet, though there does seem to be an inordinate amount of jostling up ahead."

Sohmer: "Maybe regular fleets are not as disciplined as we were led to believe. Anything else?"

Lieut.: "Comscan reports that we are coming up on the planet Kolaris."

Sohmer: "Oh really? Right then, we are breaking formation with the fleet, heading towards the planet and skimming through the atmosphere before rejoining the other ships."

Lieut.: "Yes Sir. Might I ask why?"

The young captain favoured his subordinate with a smile. "Because we can, Lieutentant. Because we can."

[hr]

A day later, when it occurred to me to scroll back to see what had transpired recently, I spotted that the ISD [i]Corruption[/i] had, well, someone must have left the gas on...

[b]Date Posted:[/b] 8/23/02 12:28pm [b]Subject:[/b] [i]The Imperial Star Destroyer ...fan clud....[/i]

[b][i]Wraithis[/i] bridge.[/b] post-skim

*Notices a bright flash outside the bridge windows*

Sohmer: "Shields! What the frag was that?"

Lieut.: "The [i]Corruption[/i], sir. She just blew up, no distress call or anything. And don't call me 'Shields'."

Sohmer: "Scan for survivors. Though on second thoughts, anyone we do find probably won't be of much use to the Empire."

The aide frowned as he contemplated the fading cloud of gas and debris.
"Suppose not, sir. Not unless we establish a base on Hoth and need something to grit the path with."
(Trots off to the sensor suite humming the 'Shake and Vac' theme tune.)

* * * *

After the above game finished, there was a long time gap before I returned (few months to a couple years maybe) but I'd recorded the url, and when I returned, I was being re-directed to another part of the JC.


[b]Date Posted:[/b] 11/06/2009 5:54am [b]Subject:[/b] [i]Star Wars- The Final Resurrection[/i]

[quote=Sith-I-5][b]OOC:[/b] A [i]Blackadder Goes Forth[/i] memorable quote gets paraphrased. And, [b]AMN[/b]', Blue Leader is played by myself.

[b]IC: Captain Che?att (npc)[/b], monitoring section
[color=red]Location: Telos Base[/color]


Standing to the side of the equipment-laden room, the amphibian Rybet commander kept quiet while [b]Matrix[/b] blasted poor [b]Flint Tilm[/b]; mainly because he did not wish to draw the famously volatile man?s ire.

He listened to all that was said, from the lad?s bored query to the intruder vessel, to [b]Senator Mothma[/b]?s polite invite.

Finally, because he had not heard what he would have expected to hear, he reluctantly involved himself.

?[color=blue]Well, if nobody is going to [i]ask[/i]...[/color]? He began, stepping up beside the cowed Tilm, and taking a comms headset and sliding it down over the dark earholes in the sides of his green, permanently moistened, head.

The Rybet had brought his CR-90 corvette, the [b][i]Doom 2[/i][/b] into Alliance service three years back, earning him the immediate rank of Captain, with the two blue pips on a square metal plate to denote the rank; plus [i]carte blanche[/i] from Command to do whatever kind of mission that he wanted, ?as long as it benefits the Alliance, and preferably, hurts the Empire.?

There were species generally regarded by others as untrustworthy, such as Hutts, and Rybets.
Che?att had been significantly more concerned about his own trustworthiness, than the Alliance had, but in respecting his concerns, had >

 

This is my first ever IC post on the RPF. Brace yourselves for the awesome.

5/26/05 7:08pm

Hurm. Not sure what I was thinking. Character was really lame too. Anyways:

2/1/09 2:22am

That's so weird, I totally haven't improved...

 

My first post was actually a close one When I first arrived to the forums, two games had immediately caught my attention and I sent a profile for each one. These two were Sinrebirth's 200 BBY Mandalorian Conflict and Squishy_Vic's Path to Knighthood. I created two character sheets and sent one to each GM. While Squishy_Vic was apparently faster of approving the character sheet for his game, and thus I had posted it before the one for Sinre's Mandalorian Conflict, it was actually Mandalorian Conflict where I made my first actual post.

And not only was this my first game that I posted in, it's also the first game where I first introduced....

So my first post...not too bad at all really. And back then I had no idea that this violet-eyed character of mine shall have his own descendants that continues on to this day. Now let us compare it to a post I made for the more recent incarnation of Sel Nephrite in AFAS!

 

Well, not surprisingly this is my first post from a game that I joined on the first day of my getting an account and first time ever trying an RPG computer or otherwise. I had been fascinated and when at the local library I had started 'spying on' the boards for about a year and a half. Once getting a home computer I joined and thus five days later this was produced as my fifth post I think...

Well, I was playing a 19 year old Nautolan Jedi Padawan with a purple lightsaber...yes well I think we all a pair of Jedi Master's this one was based off of. It was in the game, "The Banished Jedi" where we all started out trying to flee the Jedi temple during Order 66. It didn't last more than five pages and didn't even require a pm to the GM to start playing which was good since I didn't know how yet. The GM dissappeared shortly after it started unfortunately.

To be painfully honest, I didn't know to break up my paragraphs with an extra enter yet or to bold, well to be truthful I didn't know what those buttons at the top did yet

This next one was just the follow

 

Okay, now I need to say it . . . my first RP post somewhere exist and it predates the whole TFN/Jedi Council Forums by at least half a decade Yeah, I am a girl. Just an old girl

I won´t embarass myself by posting it here. It´s long and german anyway . . .

 

Pre-site not off-site, doubt many did that. And we members of that tradition like to remind oursleves of our traditions, too. Especially with so many people talking about leaving . . . it is not a bad thing to remind them, it could be the end of 1 1/2 decade of playing . . .

So to all of you who think of leaving, think twice

And I actually found my very first post and it is freakin´ three pages long. And in bad German. I have sworn to translate it anyway, to proof how much improved I have. The thing might even get better by putting it into Englsih. It is . . . so pathetic

 

Lets see, i'm gonna have to go back into my old user name here... My GAWD this has me faceplaming...

*winces* man i gave myself a headache reading that, I can't believe I was that green at any point in time... Anyway, now for a more recent one.

 

And both with Victory SDs!

Wow it is wierd when you kind of play with someone, but for whatever reason, you don't really become aware of them till many years later!

 

World works in mysterious ways like that it seems.

 

Oh wow, I might really consider being to old for this board . . . 11 Year ago I was . . . let´s just say I did not go to school anymore. And I was not arriving at university . . . I had been there for . . . dammit I am old.

LordT, you should drop this, before I begin thinking what age you were, by then Old Man!

And I think I met a few people here when I got here who I actually knew from other boards. I love the small village that is Internet . . .