ROLEPLAY DISCUSSION Groups vs 1x1s

[wren.]

On most roleplay sites I have been on, I noticed that 1x1s are way more popular than groups. Do you engage in group roleplays? Why or why not?

If you do, what tends to turn you away from a group roleplay? Conversely, what are some selling points you look out for?

 

[Fluffy]

I can't do group roleplays because of social anxiety. I get uncomfortable in group settings and overly concerned about how much the other writers are judging me.

I do love 1x1s because they can go at the pace of just me and 1 other writer. I feel more free with my ideas too. On those notes, I'm now so cripplingly shy that it's impossible to meet anyone to write with. xD
Even so, I have managed to keep around 2 writers who've been writing 1x1s with me for years. >:3 I appreciate them forever for it. <3 Sooner or later we might even finish one of the stories, haha.

 

[Lisianthus]

I used to do group roleplays, until I realised how much of a slow writer I am. I don't think I can keep up with the pace, and I feel as though I am holding the people I interact with back. I do 1x1s now because I can take my time replying, and I will let my partner know of my snail pace writing.

 

[wren.]

I can't do group roleplays because of social anxiety. I get uncomfortable in group settings and overly concerned about how much the other writers are judging me.

I do love 1x1s because they can go at the pace of just me and 1 other writer. I feel more free with my ideas too. On those notes, I'm now so cripplingly shy that it's impossible to meet anyone to write with. xD
Even so, I have managed to keep around 2 writers who've been writing 1x1s with me for years. >:3 I appreciate them forever for it. <3 Sooner or later we might even finish one of the stories, haha.

I can totally understand that, I feel similarly when I first join an unfamiliar roleplay group. As a GM for several group roleplays, it can be difficult to make everyone feel included and appreciated, but I try to find to help people get comfortable as best as I can.

Congrats on having such long-standing roleplays! I'm about to finish a roleplay for the first time ever, too. Usually stories die out before they reach an actual ending.

I used to do group roleplays, until I realised how much of a slow writer I am. I don't think I can keep up with the pace, and I feel as though I am holding the people I interact with back. I do 1x1s now because I can take my time replying, and I will let my partner know of my snail pace writing.

I feel that; I'm also a slow writer, both for group roleplays and 1x1s. I'm trying to be more on top of things now, but you know how life can be, lol. It helps that everyone in my group rps also posts slow af so we don't mind waiting for each other no matter how long it takes. If I was expected to post even once a week per character for all of mine, I would probably give up on group roleplays as well.

 

[LunaValentine]

I'm scared of people and my writing tends to be lame. I like what I write but I can only do long posts at my computer making it tough to do long prose so I hide from groups. One day I might get my Free company on 14 to rp again....but I'm a little jaded because things don't like working out when it comes to group stuff. No I'm totally not still salty about stuff.

 

[wren.]

I'm scared of people and my writing tends to be lame. I like what I write but I can only do long posts at my computer making it tough to do long prose so I hide from groups. One day I might get my Free company on 14 to rp again....but I'm a little jaded because things don't like working out when it comes to group stuff. No I'm totally not still salty about stuff.

I'm sure your writing's great! I'm sorry you've had bad experiences so far, hopefully things will go better if/when you decide to try again.

 

[firejay1]

I used to love group RPs. Things are really interesting when there are a lot of different characters written by ppl who have very different perspectives even when they do have similar characters. I loved the excitement of meeting new people who liked to write and just judgment free going ham, and that multiple ppl allowed for multiple plotlines to be happening at once, which gave the setting more exploration that I feel like is harder in 1x1s, and since there are more ppl and characters to interact with, it's usually not necessary to have long giant posts with just your char and an NPC. If anything, I used to be really nervous about 1x1s bc I felt like it was just me and that other person, nowhere to hide, and it made me feel very self conscious about my writing and even socially discussing plots. It's a lot harder to get into allingoodfun shipping wars when it's just two of you, for instance.

I still REALLY miss the energy and excitement in groups. I love my 1x1 partners dearly, but it's pretty much impossible, imo, to have the same sort of mutually motivating quick moving fun that you can pull off in a fast paced group of total strangers just gunning whatever they feel like with their writing. That said, there are three main reasons I don't do groups at all anymore, and I think they pretty much apply to anyone who is on the tired, jaded side in their RP career, and therefore these things are likely not going to change for me going forward, I think, sadly.

First off, I know not everybody has had this experience, but I've been in a lot of groups where a bunch of strangers talking long term ended up in DRAMA. Sometimes I was involved, sometimes I didn't even know it had happened, just knew something was off and got the situation explained to afterwards. But the excitement of meeting new writers with wonderful things to share pretty much pales in comparison for me now to the utter exhaustion of internet drama exploding through my phone.

Similarly, the second thing is that groups involve a lot more ppl, which means usually a less focused story, and more ppl to potentially respond to, and my brain just gets overwhelmed with that now. I don't know where to start with all these potentially meaningless or meaningful encounters, and how to actually try to keep track of other ppl's storylines and the fast paced nature of OoC convos in groups, and just... I feel like I can't keep up with the style of groups anymore. My brain just kind of forgot how that's supposed to work and be fun and never got it back. (Part of this may also be bc of my bad drama experiences with groups or very plot focused groups that led to some IC encounters that upset ppl or screwed up a GMs plan, so I just don't have the confidence to like randomly give my character a leg wound for funsies anymore, yknow?)

And the last of course is posting speed. I used to be a very fast RPer, but simply put, I'm just not anymore. Even with short posts, it often takes me a bit to know what direction I'm trying to go with this, and how to transition into this thing or even just how to muster up the motivation to figure out how to put my thoughts into words. I know a number of groups try to solve this by being casual or full of slow posters, but I tend to find that groups with a lot of slow people often involve like 10 paragraph long replies, some of which were private collabs, and that the story often moves at a glacial pace if at all. And as someone who has never had an RP make it that far past the opening shots (farthest in story progression I've got so far is with @Peregrine and even that has taken us years to get to), it really doesn't appeal to me anymore to join a really hype group with cool ideas that simply doesn't seem to have the pace necessary to get off the ground.

 

[Nemopedia]

I like both, though with a slight preference to 1x1's for the reasons stated above.

Groups are great, but I have noticed that I tend to avoid bigger groups unless I know a few members of it outside of the RP, and where I know the GM is 'chill'. I know from experience that I just get fed up really quickly with roleplays that are uptight with a posting schedule/rotation. Been there, didn't enjoy that at all. A few years back I loved group roleplays because it gave an opportunity to meet lots of new roleplayers at once, but nowadays I think I'm over that social part. I just wanna write the damn story and if I need to do some intense plotting before that I'm just out.

1x1's are tricky. The partner can be incompatible and that usually means the story dies if they are, since the story relies on only two people. Usually the 1x1'ers are also shy beans that don't do a lot of OOC talk and then it ends up being a static relationship of us posting in the RP without much talk between, thus missing out on the fun dynamics of group RP's (I guess I still crave that social part somehow!). It is easier to accommodate to everyone, however since there is only two.

Some of my favourite roleplays are private groups, though. Where we get all of the dynamic fun of groups but with a slightly personalised feel of a 1x1 to it.

 

[wren.]

I used to love group RPs. Things are really interesting when there are a lot of different characters written by ppl who have very different perspectives even when they do have similar characters. I loved the excitement of meeting new people who liked to write and just judgment free going ham, and that multiple ppl allowed for multiple plotlines to be happening at once, which gave the setting more exploration that I feel like is harder in 1x1s, and since there are more ppl and characters to interact with, it's usually not necessary to have long giant posts with just your char and an NPC. If anything, I used to be really nervous about 1x1s bc I felt like it was just me and that other person, nowhere to hide, and it made me feel very self conscious about my writing and even socially discussing plots. It's a lot harder to get into allingoodfun shipping wars when it's just two of you, for instance.

I still REALLY miss the energy and excitement in groups. I love my 1x1 partners dearly, but it's pretty much impossible, imo, to have the same sort of mutually motivating quick moving fun that you can pull off in a fast paced group of total strangers just gunning whatever they feel like with their writing. That said, there are three main reasons I don't do groups at all anymore, and I think they pretty much apply to anyone who is on the tired, jaded side in their RP career, and therefore these things are likely not going to change for me going forward, I think, sadly.

First off, I know not everybody has had this experience, but I've been in a lot of groups where a bunch of strangers talking long term ended up in DRAMA. Sometimes I was involved, sometimes I didn't even know it had happened, just knew something was off and got the situation explained to afterwards. But the excitement of meeting new writers with wonderful things to share pretty much pales in comparison for me now to the utter exhaustion of internet drama exploding through my phone.

Similarly, the second thing is that groups involve a lot more ppl, which means usually a less focused story, and more ppl to potentially respond to, and my brain just gets overwhelmed with that now. I don't know where to start with all these potentially meaningless or meaningful encounters, and how to actually try to keep track of other ppl's storylines and the fast paced nature of OoC convos in groups, and just... I feel like I can't keep up with the style of groups anymore. My brain just kind of forgot how that's supposed to work and be fun and never got it back. (Part of this may also be bc of my bad drama experiences with groups or very plot focused groups that led to some IC encounters that upset ppl or screwed up a GMs plan, so I just don't have the confidence to like randomly give my character a leg wound for funsies anymore, yknow?)

And the last of course is posting speed. I used to be a very fast RPer, but simply put, I'm just not anymore. Even with short posts, it often takes me a bit to know what direction I'm trying to go with this, and how to transition into this thing or even just how to muster up the motivation to figure out how to put my thoughts into words. I know a number of groups try to solve this by being casual or full of slow posters, but I tend to find that groups with a lot of slow people often involve like 10 paragraph long replies, some of which were private collabs, and that the story often moves at a glacial pace if at all. And as someone who has never had an RP make it that far past the opening shots (farthest in story progression I've got so far is with @Peregrine and even that has taken us years to get to), it really doesn't appeal to me anymore to join a really hype group with cool ideas that simply doesn't seem to have the pace necessary to get off the ground.

Ugh, yes, the drama can be ridiculous. I know a good number of people who avoid group roleplays due to bad falling-outs with their past group members. I primarily do group roleplays with some really great friends of mine, so I'm fortunate that I get to avoid that, but I do wish there were more new people to interact with too. I think a lot of the group roleplays here tend to be run and participated in by the same people. A slow pace is definitely a trade-off because, on one hand, there's no pressure, but on the other hand, it can be frustrating when you're really invested in the story and things are moving at a glacial speed. That's why my friends and I tend to do a lot of back-and-forth character interactions and plotting in OOC, which keeps us preoccupied and invested even while waiting for people to post.

I like both, though with a slight preference to 1x1's for the reasons stated above.

Groups are great, but I have noticed that I tend to avoid bigger groups unless I know a few members of it outside of the RP, and where I know the GM is 'chill'. I know from experience that I just get fed up really quickly with roleplays that are uptight with a posting schedule/rotation. Been there, didn't enjoy that at all. A few years back I loved group roleplays because it gave an opportunity to meet lots of new roleplayers at once, but nowadays I think I'm over that social part. I just wanna write the damn story and if I need to do some intense plotting before that I'm just out.

1x1's are tricky. The partner can be incompatible and that usually means the story dies if they are, since the story relies on only two people. Usually the 1x1'ers are also shy beans that don't do a lot of OOC talk and then it ends up being a static relationship of us posting in the RP without much talk between, thus missing out on the fun dynamics of group RP's (I guess I still crave that social part somehow!). It is easier to accommodate to everyone, however since there is only two.

Some of my favourite roleplays are private groups, though. Where we get all of the dynamic fun of groups but with a slightly personalised feel of a 1x1 to it.

Yes, I've been there on the 1x1 partners not engaging much in OOC chatter. That's one of my favorite things about group roleplays as well; the ability to make sooo many different connections with other characters to flesh out yours and their world more. I find it fun when someone else's decisions for their characters end up taking mine in a direction I didn't expect. Like, huh! I didn't expect my mean fuckboy to suddenly have an adopted son he would kill for. Of course, that could very easily be a negative thing if someone makes a decision that impacts your character in a way you don't want for their story, but I haven't had that experience yet, thankfully.

 

[Flame]

I like both, and lately have been doing more group stuff than 1x1, but it used to be that I'd do a group thing maybe like, once every year or two, and more often than not it was an idea I GM'd. I'm not all that afraid of writing in a group setting, but doing something like a 1x1 publicly still takes some nerve, that and submitting anything intentionally for the purposes of being judged... I guess my comfortability with such things is all over the place, really.

I try not to be, but I'm pretty picky about who I play with, so I guess maybe I take 1x1s more seriously? In a group, you really don't get that option, but I think that's a good thing anyway, you get out of your comfort zone and are forced to interact with different writing styles. To anyone who feels nervous about groups or simply does 1x1s all the times, I really recommend giving groups a shot. Firstly it can help you with that anxiety through exposure, and secondly, I feel it'll make you a better writer, at least I feel it does for me. Even if it's not your best writing, I still think the experience is worth it.

 

[wren.]

I like both, and lately have been doing more group stuff than 1x1, but it used to be that I'd do a group thing maybe like, once every year or two, and more often than not it was an idea I GM'd. I'm not all that afraid of writing in a group setting, but doing something like a 1x1 publicly still takes some nerve, that and submitting anything intentionally for the purposes of being judged... I guess my comfortability with such things is all over the place, really.

I try not to be, but I'm pretty picky about who I play with, so I guess maybe I take 1x1s more seriously? In a group, you really don't get that option, but I think that's a good thing anyway, you get out of your comfort zone and are forced to interact with different writing styles. To anyone who feels nervous about groups or simply does 1x1s all the times, I really recommend giving groups a shot. Firstly it can help you with that anxiety through exposure, and secondly, I feel it'll make you a better writer, at least I feel it does for me. Even if it's not your best writing, I still think the experience is worth it.

I feel that about the posting publicly; I've only recently started posting 1x1s on forums because I want to be a good little mod, lol. I always preferred PMs, even for stories that don't involve smut, just for the privacy of them. I think, as writers, the vast majority of us doubt our skills more than we should. A lot of people have far more admirers than they know. I definitely agree with the advice; don't knock it 'til you've tried it, as they say.

 

[Flame]

I like both, and lately have been doing more group stuff than 1x1, but it used to be that I'd do a group thing maybe like, once every year or two, and more often than not it was an idea I GM'd. I'm not all that afraid of writing in a group setting, but doing something like a 1x1 publicly still takes some nerve, that and submitting anything intentionally for the purposes of being judged... I guess my comfortability with such things is all over the place, really.

I try not to be, but I'm pretty picky about who I play with, so I guess maybe I take 1x1s more seriously? In a group, you really don't get that option, but I think that's a good thing anyway, you get out of your comfort zone and are forced to interact with different writing styles. To anyone who feels nervous about groups or simply does 1x1s all the times, I really recommend giving groups a shot. Firstly it can help you with that anxiety through exposure, and secondly, I feel it'll make you a better writer, at least I feel it does for me. Even if it's not your best writing, I still think the experience is worth it.

I feel that about the posting publicly; I've only recently started posting 1x1s on forums because I want to be a good little mod, lol. I always preferred PMs, even for stories that don't involve smut, just for the privacy of them. I think, as writers, the vast majority of us doubt our skills more than we should. A lot of people have far more admirers than they know. I definitely agree with the advice; don't knock it 'til you've tried it, as they say.

Same, if my post count included PM roleplaying I've done over the years here, it'd probably be at least quadrupled, maybe more. It's what I'm used to/comfortable with. I've written some things that'd make sailors blush, but more often nowadays I hardly write any smut, and I'm not so sure how I'd write that in a public setting. That remains to be seen, lol.

I've seen the staff recruiting ads so many times, and while I'm on here constantly (whether writing or lurking) I always think to myself "am I really active enough to meet the criteria?", so I feel that bit. It's hard to push yourself to interact with people sometimes.

 

[wren.]

I like both, and lately have been doing more group stuff than 1x1, but it used to be that I'd do a group thing maybe like, once every year or two, and more often than not it was an idea I GM'd. I'm not all that afraid of writing in a group setting, but doing something like a 1x1 publicly still takes some nerve, that and submitting anything intentionally for the purposes of being judged... I guess my comfortability with such things is all over the place, really.

I try not to be, but I'm pretty picky about who I play with, so I guess maybe I take 1x1s more seriously? In a group, you really don't get that option, but I think that's a good thing anyway, you get out of your comfort zone and are forced to interact with different writing styles. To anyone who feels nervous about groups or simply does 1x1s all the times, I really recommend giving groups a shot. Firstly it can help you with that anxiety through exposure, and secondly, I feel it'll make you a better writer, at least I feel it does for me. Even if it's not your best writing, I still think the experience is worth it.

I feel that about the posting publicly; I've only recently started posting 1x1s on forums because I want to be a good little mod, lol. I always preferred PMs, even for stories that don't involve smut, just for the privacy of them. I think, as writers, the vast majority of us doubt our skills more than we should. A lot of people have far more admirers than they know. I definitely agree with the advice; don't knock it 'til you've tried it, as they say.

Same, if my post count included PM roleplaying I've done over the years here, it'd probably be at least quadrupled, maybe more. It's what I'm used to/comfortable with. I've written some things that'd make sailors blush, but more often nowadays I hardly write any smut, and I'm not so sure how I'd write that in a public setting. That remains to be seen, lol.

I've seen the staff recruiting ads so many times, and while I'm on here constantly (whether writing or lurking) I always think to myself "am I really active enough to meet the criteria?", so I feel that bit. It's hard to push yourself to interact with people sometimes.

Yes, public smut is the one thing I still get shy about, lol. Haven't done much of it yet, but it'll be down the line for some of my forum 1x1s. If you're interested in being a mod, you don't have to be super duper active in terms of roleplaying. Especially since we have the community and site support departments that you can focus on instead. There are plenty of little things to do like thread archiving, event planning, making guides and roleplay lessons, making general chat posts, etc. that you can do in lieu of being super active in posting. If you're interested, there's no harm in shooting your shot! c:

 

[Flame]

Yes, public smut is the one thing I still get shy about, lol. Haven't done much of it yet, but it'll be down the line for some of my forum 1x1s. If you're interested in being a mod, you don't have to be super duper active in terms of roleplaying. Especially since we have the community and site support departments that you can focus on instead. There are plenty of little things to do like thread archiving, event planning, making guides and roleplay lessons, making general chat posts, etc. that you can do in lieu of being super active in posting. If you're interested, there's no harm in shooting your shot! c:

Mmm, maybe, but I don't think I'm good enough to do stuff like give lessons or make guides, lol. Maybe someday, if I work up the nerve. I feel I've been around here long enough and the site's been good to me, that I do kinda want to help, but I'm probably not staff material.

 

[wren.]

Yes, public smut is the one thing I still get shy about, lol. Haven't done much of it yet, but it'll be down the line for some of my forum 1x1s. If you're interested in being a mod, you don't have to be super duper active in terms of roleplaying. Especially since we have the community and site support departments that you can focus on instead. There are plenty of little things to do like thread archiving, event planning, making guides and roleplay lessons, making general chat posts, etc. that you can do in lieu of being super active in posting. If you're interested, there's no harm in shooting your shot! c:

Mmm, maybe, but I don't think I'm good enough to do stuff like give lessons or make guides, lol. Maybe someday, if I work up the nerve. I feel I've been around here long enough and the site's been good to me, that I do kinda want to help, but I'm probably not staff material.

Well, you wouldn't have to make guides or lessons if you don't want to. The roleplay department handles those for the most part. You could try community if you enjoy interacting in gen chat or site support if you don't mind sending reminder PMs to people. You can also feel around to see what suits you best. Don't feel pressured, of course! Members can be just as helpful as staff just by interacting with the community and contributing guides and events of their own. If you decide to try it, though, there are options for what you can do.

 

[FenFren]

I used to use a coding site for my groups way back in 2019 - 2020, until last year where they updated the places where we RPed and made it so the threads had a 25 comment limit so nobody, not even 1x1 could RP :v

In the group RP’s that I’m used to, there’s a group that plans everything, and then sends out the idea to a bunch of people. Then, when those people join, they set up a character sheet and sign-up. After that, they find a partner, or two, to RP with.

I use to be huge on group RP’s with my really good friends whom I’ve now separated from, but a while in doing them, I see that I struggled with organization. One person would reply, and then another, and then the first person would reply, and then a new person would reply, it was extremely cluttered.

I’m currently having flashback to when I’d host my own group RP’s, nobody joined them, ever :,)

When there is an order, it tends to be just a bit more organized, but, when one person goes online, the next person has to wait until the previous person replies in order to reply.

Also, the last person doesn’t exactly get to react to anything, seeing as all the action goes on in the first or so posts, giving the next few nothing to reply to, which leads them to make their own problems, in which the other never agreed to.

All of this is from my experience in group RP’s, it isn’t to group all group RP’s together into one stereotype-

I prefer 1x1’s because you have one person to follow along with, one organized pattern, one person that needs to pay attention to what you’re writing-

I just feel it’s more organized.

 

[Lisianthus]

I feel that; I'm also a slow writer, both for group roleplays and 1x1s. I'm trying to be more on top of things now, but you know how life can be, lol. It helps that everyone in my group rps also posts slow af so we don't mind waiting for each other no matter how long it takes. If I was expected to post even once a week per character for all of mine, I would probably give up on group roleplays as well.

You did give me the courage to try group roleplay once more. :] Thank you. Trying to be on top of things is the literal worst for me. I could never. No amount of sticky notes or reminders can help with that.

 

[wren.]

I used to use a coding site for my groups way back in 2019 - 2020, until last year where they updated the places where we RPed and made it so the threads had a 25 comment limit so nobody, not even 1x1 could RP :v

In the group RP’s that I’m used to, there’s a group that plans everything, and then sends out the idea to a bunch of people. Then, when those people join, they set up a character sheet and sign-up. After that, they find a partner, or two, to RP with.

I use to be huge on group RP’s with my really good friends whom I’ve now separated from, but a while in doing them, I see that I struggled with organization. One person would reply, and then another, and then the first person would reply, and then a new person would reply, it was extremely cluttered.

I’m currently having flashback to when I’d host my own group RP’s, nobody joined them, ever :,)

When there is an order, it tends to be just a bit more organized, but, when one person goes online, the next person has to wait until the previous person replies in order to reply.

Also, the last person doesn’t exactly get to react to anything, seeing as all the action goes on in the first or so posts, giving the next few nothing to reply to, which leads them to make their own problems, in which the other never agreed to.

All of this is from my experience in group RP’s, it isn’t to group all group RP’s together into one stereotype-

I prefer 1x1’s because you have one person to follow along with, one organized pattern, one person that needs to pay attention to what you’re writing-

I just feel it’s more organized.

Yes, I'm not a huge fan of super fast-paced group roleplays because of how disorganized it can get and how hard it can become for other people to jump in when a few people are replying back to back. There's been more than a few times when I've had to hold myself back from posting more because I want to give other people the opportunity to get their posts in first, personally.

 

[wren.]

I feel that; I'm also a slow writer, both for group roleplays and 1x1s. I'm trying to be more on top of things now, but you know how life can be, lol. It helps that everyone in my group rps also posts slow af so we don't mind waiting for each other no matter how long it takes. If I was expected to post even once a week per character for all of mine, I would probably give up on group roleplays as well.

You did give me the courage to try group roleplay once more. :] Thank you. Trying to be on top of things is the literal worst for me. I could never. No amount of sticky notes or reminders can help with that.

I'm glad to hear that you plan to try again! I hope it goes better for you this time. Also, organization is exactly what a GM is for, so hopefully they'll help to remind you whenever you forget. c:

 

[Reliance3545]

"Both are good" is my answer. I'll add the qualifier that I think that the ideal group size is around 3-5 players which is similar to what I find in tabletop roleplay groups as well. It seems to be the sweet spot of enough people in the kitchen to add twists and depth to moments while also being manageable for a GM or for a group to self-manage. I like 1x1s because there's never any confusion around who goes next and the collaboration tends to be really tightly coupled but I like 3+ more because if one person goes down for a round or for the count you still have other people to keep the story alive

Having reliable pacing expectations around when to post, accountability from the group to help remind one another, guilt-free being skipped / skipping of a player for one or two rounds since it can be days to weeks before it comes back to them again all help too

Word maximums can help too especially with larger groups. 300 words may not sound like a lot for people who like longer posts but when you spread that between 5 people that's 1500 words a turn before you can get back to it. At 400 and 500 that gulf just gets bigger; at 6 or 7 people all the more so