I use current tense but use “would” in certain cases; for example “would take the item if not stopped.”
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Let people do what works for them, yes? It depends on the situation for me to be honest
I’d rather not. That’s how the “would” scourge spread.
I try to politely suggest not to do it (I’ve also been impolite with it, but not by design.) I just prefer not to have the word would plastered over my screen.
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I’m curious where it stems from. Where did they refine their beliefs that roleplay has to be in past tense?
“He reached for his bottle and would take a sip” reads like the first half of a sentence that ends with someone getting shot.
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When it comes to using past tense, I think it’s just a matter of what you’re used to as a storyteller, what comes naturally to you as a narrative writer. We respond to each other in sequences, one action following the other, and as soon as you hit that enter button, your character did what you wrote they would do. To me for example it doesn’t really matter whether someone writes ”James sits down” or ”James sat down”, I am a little surprised to see some people actually bothered by something like this while to me it’s usually an insignificant difference.
That said, I do agree on the matter regarding the abundant use of ’would’ referred to in the thread!
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Honestly? It doesn’t matter to me, considering how there’s been a gradual decline in quality of RP in general and what can only be described as the invasion of the normalfolk I don’t think I really mind that much. Even my own subpar english is typically on top when I make the mistake of trying to RP in Stormwind.
Basically, I don’t think it’s worth getting twisted up about when the server is in a state of decay with only a few community leaders actively trying to salvage it. It’s like arguing about the colour of the curtains while the enemy are scaling the castle wall.
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I typically use whatever I feel like in the situation. Often that was past tense in the RP we’ve had, since I somewhat prefer it. But I do quite dislike using a lot of “would”. It’s just so passive and not active at all! If you are to do past-tense, do it correctly!
“Ithrenis would brandish his blade and he would thrust it forth on a path directly towards Alshara’s nape”
vs
“Ithrenis brandished his dagger and thrust it forth, directly towards Alshara’s nape”.
That said, I’m wildly inconsistent between RP, sometimes I go purely with present tense and other times it’s the past that’s the new black. Typically don’t focus on the RP style of others though, this is more what I strive to avoid. If I can read intent in an emote and not have it be mindlessly boring, we’re good.
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Won’t chastise people for sticking with either (or even “would”, I mean, who cares), but I prefer present tense. Kinda makes things sound more in-the-moment, reading more like a stageplay than a story. Dunno, personal preference.
begins scaling the castle wall with double speed
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I used to, many, many years ago, be very passive aggressive about ‘would’. People saying, for example, /e would sit - I’d have my character just stare at them and eventually ask if they were going to actually sit down as they looked damn silly just standing there.
Now I am the damn silly character that just stands there, not because of ‘would’ but because I get distracted easily. But still, it’s a fun irony.
Can’t say I make a fuss over it anymore but it’s still stupid and I still want to slap them for doing it, even though I do understand why they do it. Over all I think rp is very much a present tense thing, you’re telling the story in the moment, in the present.
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As far as I know the excess woulding just comes from really lukewarm advice. It’s kinda been common over the years that I’ve seen a newbie ask about RP ettiquette and how to write player interactions and every single time some guy jumps up and down about godemoting as if it’s an extremely regular and omnipresent issue as opposed to the rarity it really is.
And then that selfsame guy will give the aforementioned bland advice to prevent it by adding “would” to every single action.
So basically if you see someone who does this loads you should PM them about it because they might simply be clinging on to a poor suggestion without knowing any better.
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I too like the present tense the most. When it comes to past tense I don’t really mind it too much and may even temporarily swap for it when interacting with someone who prefers that. The ‘would’ spam, however… that just confuses me every time I see it.
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How much would would a would writer write if a would writer would write about would?
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Nobody is forcing people to write anything - you can write your every emote backward and in Swedish and I can’t stop you, I’m not your dad
It’s just adding completely unnecessary words and confusing the tense of the situation. In regular writing we tend to use past tense because we’re recalling events that have happened. In roleplay we are describing events that are happening.
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Then why do you always tell me to call you daddy?
Because I make a lot of dad jokes despite having no children.
That’s right. I’m a faux pas.
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I don’t think that the quality of roleplay has really changed; the people who say this usually have a false perception based on a jaded attitude toward roleplay/the game in my experience, rather than basing this on anything tangible. Although that being said, it’s impossible to prove as roleplay is subjective – what’s good to you isn’t necessarily good to me, and vice versa.
The elitism associated with ‘the golden age of roleplay’ mindset isn’t much fun.
I raise a brow. 
You’re right that we shouldn’t get twisted up about it. Roleplay is a hobby, something for us to enjoy, we shouldn’t waste it by worrying about communicating in perfect English. Very few of us are professional writers or authors, and holding each other up to unnecessary standards isn’t always conducive to having a good time.
The only ‘state of decay’ that I can perceive is that the general population of roleplay servers have died out, but Argent Dawn is still going strong and there’s hundreds/thousands of players still having fun doing things in their own ways on the server.
But on topic, though I’ve touched on it already, I don’t generally use the past tense in roleplay. Because I’m unused to seeing it, it can be a little bit jarring when I first see a player using it, but after that it doesn’t bother me. We all have our preferences, and the important thing to me is that they’re bringing to the roleplay.
If it’s something cool and fun, I’m happy.
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I’ve been on this server for nearly fifteen years and I can tell you conclusively that the overall quality of RP has remained about the same for each of them.
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Yeah. Trends and guilds come and ago, but the quality never really changes; there will always be roleplay we like and roleplay we don’t like.
When people say that the server has changed, what they really mean is that they’ve changed.
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Something something normies reeeee.
Eh. Everyone does their own way. I respect if u choose to do past, I’ll stick to present.