I haven't played a ton in-person, and I've only been doing PBP for two years, but I still think there's some common stuff that should really be toned down in general in tabletop. I feel like there is a great deal of 'up your own buttness', wait there's a better term for that, self involvement that really dominates in PBP. You see characters with familiars or eidolons having whole conversations with themselves, being oh-so-witty and clever, but not talking to the rest of the party. You see protagonist syndrome to the fullest, sometimes just ignoring the rest of the party, sometimes treating them all like sidekicks or village idiots. There's also a fair share of people who enjoy optimizing and make single line posts, then roll a bunch of dice to smoosh the meeps and feel Good.
I've experienced two or three games with really good roleplay, and most of that was the right group with the right GM. I'm trying to think of the traits that brought those games to life. I do remember one time when someone actually asked about my character's backstory in-character, and it's crazy how rare that is. I actually was suddenly embarrassed to respond. (good thing I don't play in-person much...
I laughed out loud at this post. You nailed it. As a player, I try to find a way to check out of the game if I'm in with a player who has full-blown 'Protagonist Syndrome.' When I am GM, I spend a lot of time trying to find diplomatic ways of writing posts to curb this behavior and boost the confidence of the group that it won't be allowed to continue unchecked.
Example: "@Trexthemarsupial: I dig where you're going with this, but it might come across as 'hogging the spotlight.' While I do indeed find your character's background intriguing, I think we should all aim for about 50 words per post, and give everyone a few days to chime in before doing up a second post. We may get into territory where 50 words won't be enough, but we ain't there at the moment. -The Esteemed GM"
PbP "Going through the motions" ?
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I laughed out loud at this post. You nailed it. As a player, I try to find a way to check out of the game if I'm in with a player who has full-blown 'Protagonist Syndrome.' When I am GM, I spend a lot of time trying to find diplomatic ways of writing posts to curb this behavior and boost the confidence of the group that it won't be allowed to continue unchecked.
Example: "@Trexthemarsupial: I dig where you're going with this, but it might come across as 'hogging the spotlight.' While I do indeed find your character's background intriguing, I think we should all aim for about 50 words per post, and give everyone a few days to chime in before doing up a second post. We may get into territory where 50 words won't be enough, but we ain't there at the moment. -The Esteemed GM"