On CollaboratingWhirldPeez: Know what would be cool?Macinboy: No, what? WhirldPeez: If we did a story together. Macinboy: Us? WhirldPeez: Yeah, like have my char and your char get together... :) Macinboy: Yeah! That would be cool. :) And so it begins. A collaboration. On the surface of it, it seems so simple; you have your character and his/her circumstances, and there is somebody else, with their own character and circumstances. You're both playing the same game, with the same rulebook, speaking the same language... what could possibly go wrong? Oh boy. Well, obviously there are things that can and do go wrong, or we wouldn't have been prompted to write this little essay. Here's some tips and examples on how to avoid going wrong, horribly wrong. 1. Make sure your concepts are compatible. WhirldPeez: Okay, so I've got some NPCs that could throw a banquet... Macinboy: My character wouldn't take help from anything supernatural. WhirldPeez: Well, that's just silly. There's allies in the books, you know. Macinboy: Especially not food. Macinboy: And I know, but I don't want my char getting all chummy... While this isn't always an issue, it can be if the stories and issues are polar opposites. If one person is running a story that is a gritty drama of hopelessness and despair, and the other is writing something more akin to high fantasy, no matter how much they enjoy each other's stories, there's going to be some problems getting the two to work together. For instance, a hardcore Avenger isn't going to be exactly comfortable in a Redeemer's realm, with 'pet projects' popping up at any given moment. By the same token, a Redeemer isn't going to want to tag along and go gaga when the Avenger pulls out his nifty gun. If you don't want to deal with those issues, you probably don't really want to have this collaboration. 2. Is there a point to the action? WhirldPeez: So, what do we have them do? Macinboy: I'm not sure. Hm... WhirldPeez: Well, let's just have them make contact, set up a meet, and we'll figure it out from there. ;) Macinboy: Okay. :) Hunters do not go off and meet people who they do not know on a whim. People do not do that, either. And they certainly don't do it just so that they can interact or hang out. Remember, travel is a pain in the butt, and people generally only travel any sort of distance when there is an overriding reason for it. There's also the issue of meeting strangers you've met on the Internet. There are certainly enough warnings about that in real life; expecting hunters, of all people, to simply ignore those warnings and take a chance for no good reason is ridiculous. Add to that the fact that reading about these purposeless meetings is not exactly the most fun ever for your audience, and you have more than enough reasons to come up with an actual story. 3. Agree on a timeline. To: Whirldpeez@notarealaddy.com From: Macinboy@notthisoneeither.net Hey, haven't seen you on AIM in a while, haven't heard back about that post I sent you. Everything okay? Can I post? Mike When you agree to collaborate, you have a positive obligation to do your part when you promise to do so. We cannot stress this enough. We have watched far too many collaborations turn into interminably drawn out affairs that nobody can follow, all because one person drops the ball. Just because you don't have a specific direction for your character and have no problem with sitting in someone's story for months at a time does not mean that they don't have a problem with it. One of us has been stuck in another's story that was not going anywhere, the other was saddled with characters that took up residence in the story and would not leave. Neither is recommended. You have to do your part in a timely manner. When you don't, you have just dropped a dead weight into someone else's stories, and this is not fair to the person you're working with. A beginning and an end should be worked out beforehand. Now granted, there are those times when real life throws us a curveball, and everyone involved should not take it personally if such a thing happens. But if you know beforehand that you are going to have problems with being available and writing your part when it's your turn, DO NOT COLLABORATE. 4. Make sure there's a fair division of labor. WhirldPeez: That stuff you wrote about hallucinations after being exposed to that pesticide was really great! :) Macinboy: Thanks! :) I wanted to get the science part of it just right, you know? WhirldPeez: Yeah. So here's my next post, after being exposed to the whatchamacallit stuff... Whirldpeez: "DiE! All oF yOu, I wANt you tO die, juSt LIKE ME! Im DeaD. Im DeatH! the puRPle sNakEs teLL me yOu shoULD DIE!!!!!" Whirldpeez: Whaddya think? Macinboy: Um... There are actually two points to this one. One is partially covered in #3, and we should also mention that writing duties should be as equally divided as possible. The other point involves what sort of characters you are playing, and what sort of story you're writing. For instance, if you are playing a psychiatrist, and someone pitches you the idea of a collaboration along the lines of "You make all the medical reports, and use that cool jargon stuff, and I'll post crazy," this should not be considered a fair division of labor. One person is doing a lot of work for very little return in this particular setup. Likewise, if you want to post all the "Please, help me!" messages, and want someone to come save you, this is also not a fair division of labor. This means that the other person has to put out the effort of coming up with rescue strategies, plan out action, while you sit in whatever passes for the dark, dank dungeon and cry "woe is me!" all the time. Also falling under this heading are comas, catatonia and any variants on utter and complete helplessness. Both parties should be able to expect something out of the collaboration. If it looks like that won't be the case, you should not be surprised when people turn you down. 5. Do not take 'unapproved initiative.' Macinboy: How could you?!?! WhirldPeez: What? What? Macinboy: I didn't want that info to come out until later, in my own plot post. WhirldPeez: But this was sooo good. :( This is my best work. Macinboy: I don't care if it was War and freaking Peace, you should have asked me first! When it's your turn to write what comes next, the least you can do is to show it to the other side. Yeah, you woke up at 3AM all inspired, and wrote a beautiful 32K post about a wonderful conversation between your two characters. It's great, and you post it. Why is your partner screaming? It could be a lot of reasons: because it is totally against their vision of their character, because you revealed something they didn't want known just yet, because you said they had the wrong eye color and ate the wrong kind of potato chips. It doesn't matter why they've gotten mad, the point is, they have every right to be mad. When you take control of another's character, which you do every time you write a post in which they feature, you need to do so with the utmost respect. Move the cursor off that 'send' button, take a breath, and wait for approval from your partner. If they have input, you have to be willing to accept it. If you do that for them, they should be willing to do the same for you. 6. Be available. WhirldPeez: Hey, sorry I was late, but I got kind of occupied with friends at the bar. Macinboy: I've been here since 7:30, like you said you would be. WhirldPeez: Sorry. Boy, am I hammered. Macinboy: Wonderful. I could have gone out, too, y'know? WhirldPeez: Jeeze, lighten up. I'm here now. Collaborations can only thrive when there is communication. Whether through private emails, phone conversations or chatrooms, you have to talk with each other to keep your story going. If you have promised to send something by a certain date, or be available for chat at a certain time, make every effort to do just that, even if it only to apologize for not having completed what you said you would. If you know you're going to be too busy with work, school, or whatever, you should not collaborate, we've said that once already. If you think that your partner is going to take kindly to constantly being left waiting, you're very wrong. Keep in mind that on the other end of that line is a living, breathing person who made themselves available to you. If you won't be able to get to the computer to communicate, things won't work out very well. We don't care how much you WANT to do this story: if you can't do it now, wait. 7. Agree on what IC and OOC knowledge each character had before the story wraps up. (three months after collaborating) WhirldPeez: You dirty rotten bastard! Macinboy: Huh? :/ WhirldPeez: Where do you get off telling the list about my char's mad aunt in the attic? Macinboy: But we rp-ed that in chat! WhirldPeez: So? I didn't say you could use that. In fact, I said to delete that part, I wasn't going to do the mad aunt story. Macinboy: No, you said you weren't sure. Whirldpeez: Well now I'm stuck with it, asshole. There is a lot of information that is passed to the audience via plot posts. Much more information is passed, but left unused, for one reason or another, in chats and private correspondence. Before you end your collaboration, decide in advance what is and isn't fair game for the other person to use later on. It is decidedly rude to reveal information about a character that the player did not yet want made public. You might not like having it revealed that your character is a bedwetter any more than your partner would appreciate an IC description of her abortion ten years ago. Decide in advance on what is fair game, and what is a definite 'don't touch' topic. 8. Don't 'play' the other person's character(s). WhirldPeez: So, what's your character look like? Macinboy: He's dark and brooding, but your character will find him compellingly handsome, almost irresistable. WhirldPeez: Ew! I don't think so. Macinboy: What do you mean 'ew?' WhirldPeez: I mean ew, I hate that. My character hates that, too. Macinboy: No, your character will think he's hot. It's on my sheet... As astonishing as some of you might find this, this is actually a very common exchange. We don't know why, but on issues like this, many players seem to think they have a right to govern the entirely subjective reactions of someone else's character. Tastes, even of fictional characters, are highly subjective things, and no matter how many dots the character has in Appearance, Charisma, etc., there is no accounting for taste. You may think you're portraying a rich and virile tycoon who's open and generous, but to someone else, that may be the exact combination that adds up to pompous, loudmouthed jackass. You would not appreciate it if someone went against your express wishes involving your character. It is incredibly presumptuous to decide how the other player's character will react to any given situation. Do not do this to others. By the same token, you should never try to state how a character will react to yours, whether worshipping or reviling. 9. Do not post chat transcripts, even if you edit them. Yes, having your darlings "hang out" or chatting in character for fourteen straight hours can be a blast, we know, we've been there, but try to remember that this will not hold the same fascination for those who are outside the story. Think of your audience; even if it does advance the plot, and is very important, the least you can do is make it into a narrative. 10. Don't try to force collaboration on someone. Whirldpeez: So, I figure you can help me tell my tale, you can add to my drama and play second banana, and you make all the mistakes, and my character comes in to save the day. Macinboy: Uh... WhirldPeez: Well, *my* character can't make the kind of loser mistakes that have to happen. Macinboy: This isn't what I had in mind. Whirldpeez: Well, you already agreed.... Macinboy: Yeah, but... Whirldpeez: You're going to back out on me? What is this? WTF? You're going to ruin my story!!! Macinboy: Well, gee, I mean... all right. I guess. A collaboration should be something both people want, not something that one or more parties has been 'guilted' into. Nobody 'owes' a collaboration to anybody else, and we have trouble understanding the kind of mind which thinks that they are entitled to so much effort from another. That kind of demand pretty much guarantees that one person isn't going to be having any fun, and if both people aren't having fun, that defeats the purpose. And, yes, different people do have different definitions of fun. Believe it or not, there are some who find that being expected to play the patsy to a character who never makes mistakes less than appealing. And nobody likes being guilt-tripped or bullied into *any* set of circumstances. 11. Try to get to know the other person OOC before you collaborate. This is the big one, folks. While it may seem like your characters would get along just fine, it's possible that you might not like the person on the other end. This happens. It's amazing how much someone's personality comes through over these little blips and clips on our computers. And if that personality sets your teeth on edge, makes you nervous, or scares the living crap out of you, it's better to know that before you start posting together. We know you've been at TTs with a stranger in attendance, and we can bet that there have been occasions when you thought about faking your own death instead of enduring another session with that jerk. It's the same sort of feeling when you realize that the person you're collaborating with is not exactly your cup of tea. Once you do get to know them, ask other people they've collaborated with how they are to work with. With first-time collaborators and newbies, this isn't possible, we know. But if it is possible to talk to someone else who's "been there, done that," do so. That's about it. These are all things we learned the hard way, and we'd like it if you folks didn't have to learn the same way we did. Have fun! The players of, TheStudent32 daShrink47 |