I'm not always grateful an rp ends, after all, sometimes they're, like, the best idea ever! And it just goes inactive for reasons you pine after, or maybe I'm just pining after the dead rp... But sometimes I find myself quite relieved when something ends. Of course, if I'm having fun, I'd be sad, no matter what I think of the character or other rpers, fun is fun and if they can keep the story going, then s'all good and grand. :) That all talk and nothing else though, that would definitely be one of those not-so-great moments.... Yep.
Indeed. Imagine what your favorite book would be like if it only contained the dialog. Oh... the horror... *
squick*
And yes, fun is the object of RP, even "serious" RP, even if you have people involved of very low skill. So long as there is enough to move things along, all is good. All is right.
I love that ability to gain a new perspective when writing as a non-human. And to come up with cultural norms that wouldn't be my cultural norms, just to explore how different sentiences might decide to interact and how far the differences could go before some would say nope! I'm quite interested in anthropology, sadly didn't get into those classes at uni, but my sister did and she loaned me a few of her textbooks, but I'd be afraid to actively play with those cultures without a great deal of study and the disclaimer that this is rp and I may have my facts wrong, just because I'd be worried about misrepresentation. I mean, I do play different mindsets and cultures with a human character, and it can be incredibly fascinating and fun, but I find there's a freedom to having the portrayal be a clearly made up creature, and an attempt at a made up culture, even if there are resonances, it at least isn't an imitation gone horribly wrong. I hope I'm making sense....
A disclaimer can be a way to make your reader understand that "all errors are mine," because, yes, this is fiction, and "error" - in that context - is quite often deliberate. At least that's the way I look at it. Heh. I usually try to find aspects of human culture that I can "borrow" either whole, or twist in some way... usually twist. Like my namesake, Roose. For his culture, I plucked the concept of the DreamCatcher whole from Native American culture. I also took some bits from Asia... specifically, Japan, bits related to their code of honor... however, I came up with the idea for what I call a "CityHome" as a major aspect of his species' cultural base. The idea that a "city" is a Home for an extended family, everyone living there related in some fashion. Also, the concept of CityHome as a self-sufficient nation. Everyone in that CityHome working for the benefit of everyone else, through familial and personal inter-relationships. CityHomes also developed inter-relationships, supported each other, exchanged blood... no, not through conflict, but through the exchange of mates. Heh... can't allow in-breeding, and all that, right? Very important. I also threw in quite a few other aspects, with respect to clothing, rituals, communal feasts and the raising/teaching of children. And so on.
Yes, lots to think about when you play with aliens. When you want your aliens to have "human" complexity, not to mention the whole believability aspect. Environment, biology, anatomy, culture... I enjoy playing with all that. Details, details!
And yes, you're making sense.
