OK, so I'm curious...say you post in a roleplay, go offline, and several people roleplay out a scene in the same thread without your character, although you were initially in the scene. How do you respond when you come back into the thread? Do you act like you were there the whole time, and recount all your reactions, even though everyone else can't respond to you since they've gone past that point? Do you pretend like you were just standing there listening or doing something that didn't have anything to do with the scene? Do you have another tactic?

I'm really just curious, and thought this would make an interesting discussion.

It really depends on the thread. That is one reason I used to have a little threading code on the top of the posts that listed an exact posting order. I find it really rude when people skip someone in the thread so they are left out. If it is just one or two extra posts its not a big deal but if they completely tangent away from you its an annoyance. For group posts it is nice if you can establish a posting order to prevent it. :p Though I am pretty sure I know what you are talking about in specific ...

it depends, but I went for a general summary of what I was doing at the time. I don't really like it when they leave you out..I would understand if you were absent for a week or..maybe three days max. I remember one time this guy didn't wait, he didn't even wait a bloody hour (I was online just doing something else at the moment), and he just posted away as if there was a race to get the posts done. If it happens like that, I just leave the thread - I wouldn't like to rp with people who can't even wait for an hour or even a day.

It actually doesn't bother me at all, because sometimes people are online and something gets going. A lot of times, that's what makes roleplaying fun. I just really don't like to 'go back in time', so to speak and respond to everyone like I was there but they didn't reply.

Granted, I think sometimes you do need to go ahead and start another thread if it's just two people who are online and responding to one another and there's supposed to be a group standing there.

heavenne, was that guy posting to himself?

Well first off, I think I'd be having words with the people in question. Not rude or anything, just more a general "Please don't post that far without me. My character was there and you guys just completely ignored me."

I don't know though. I generally haven't RPed with more than one person in a post minus plot posts, which were generally planned out for the most part anyway.

Tough one.

in his post he was asking me a question, and waiting for my reply.

BANG.

Like..an hour later (you know how posts are time stamped? that's how I figured it out) he even said in his post: "forget it I'm not going to wait" and went on. bleh...it ruined it for me and I left the rp. So..my character was just standing there...uh...staring at the paint dry I suppose, and then everyone involved just started posting a post a minute and I just got out of it. Wasn't worth my time to catch up.

One reason I like forum roleplays is not everyone has to be online at the same time to participate. People kinda need to realize that being in a forum RP is not roleplaying live-time. It's a good thing it's not, or you'd wouldn't get to roleplay as much. You can always come back later and respond.

You also don't have to keep everything linear. You can post two threads as if they are going on at the same time or just a bit later. If a group wants to tangent off, make a new thread. There's no reason why the threads can both go on at the same time, unless it's some major plot thread.

The people I role play with usually write long posts, so it might take me a day or even a week to get a reply back. Sure, it takes waaay longer than the sites that are not as literate, but it's rewarding to have something so eloquent to read and respond to.

<3

And I have had someone write my character out of a thread, which sent me into a rant that nearly got me banned. I got angry and left the whole site; you don't do that to anyone, regardless if they are there or not.

I think it's important to understand that if you do get left out in this scenario that nine times out of ten it's not personal. People generally do not get together and go "Ok, she sucks, let's write her out of the thread." Normally it's a lot less nefarious and things just get moving and you're left behind. If the thread is lots of subthreads winding together, I'll just reply to whom I'm speaking and carry on, sometimes I'll pretend my char was just silent, sometimes I'll leave the thread, it really depends on the situation, how invested I am in the thread, etc etc.

It is rather annoying when this happens I know, it has happened a lot to me. A Lot, A LOT! lol.
Usually I just say that I was lost in thought, or that I had wondered away to talk to 'another person' than I come back and wanted to rejoin the conversation.
What I really hate is when you start a post, and are away for a few hours, come back and two more people have come into your thread, talked amongst themselves, ignored you, and than leave the thread leaving you alone again.

I usually pretend I left the room or area. I've never had a thread where I couldn't just walk away so yeah.

I can't say it bothers me too much…I usually just summarize the scene squeezing in minor character reactions, then I role-play from there with a new action re-presenting my character into the scene. Either that or I summarize with an excuse of my character's disappearance and problem solved.

As for what Natural said, that would bug me so much... I'm glad it never happened to me.

I usually just talk about how my charrie was listening but not reacting with a sort of genral reaction. It may sound weird but generally I just summarize wut happened and give my reaction and then juimp right in there. :p

Oh I've run into this a lot. XD

Usually I copy ALL the posts into word, go in and highlight anything that involved my characters, character's friends or enemies and/or something they would have responded to. Then I just reply to those points. It cuts off the unnessecary fluff and you are still involved.

Well, I don't think I've run into anything I would call "thread tangents." I mean, if there are more than two characters in a thread, something could go on between two of them that could leave the other(s) out. Is this a tangent? Not unless it's completely random. Though I guess I'm thinking of the RPing threads in which there is only something very, very basic I want to accomplish, so I guess that means whatever happens, happens. (happy)

Though it's nice to keep everyone involved, sometimes there are opportunities you can't pass up...

But, back to the real question...I'm into summarizing what my character's being doing during that time, particularly what he/she has been thinking. I don't mind having my characters observe and not really be a part of the action if a "tangent" happens at all, and it is a good opportunity to get in their heads and see what they think about the other characters, because I don't have specific reactions, action, and dialogue to cover.

So I guess I like describing with the infamous "fluff."