Hi there,
I am a player of a PbP campaign (although not hosted on this website). After a while, it felt weird to me saying stuff like "Serena (my character) does this or that". So I informed the GM and the other two players that I wanted to experiment writing in the first person. They all loved it and that's what we (except the GM) have been doing for months.
Aside from this one PbP campaign, I mostly roleplay in person, which is why I think it felt odd to talk about my character in the third person. I "am" the character, and role-play as the character. Writing in the third person was "blocking" me from effectively feeling like I was in character.
Has anyone else ever had this issue/feeling?
How do you prefer to post: in the third or first person? (or something else)
I get where you're coming from. Around a table in front of other people, I almost always say "I do this." In an online setting, however, it feels more like interactive writing than roleplaying (although I recognize it's not significantly different), and I default to 3rd person in the Gameplay threads and this weird combination of 1st and 3rd in the Discussion thread. "I'm having Marten take this feat," or "I imagine that Agun wouldn't like it if that happened," for examples.
It's interesting to hear from your perspective/experience.
In our case we have the discussion of our stuff (non-roleplay) through Telegram (messaging app) so in that case, I always talk about my character in the third person. So then I would indeed say something like "Serena is taking this spell for her new level"
The actual PbP though is kept exclusively in the first person (even when making notes to the GM normally).
What's interesting to me is that there's a clear difference between having your character speak in first person ("I will not yield!") vs. the sort of mechanics first person I think you're talking about (I cast fireball!)
They're both first person, but I think that the former is more truly first person than the latter.
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To me, PbP is like writing a story cooperatively. Unlike an in-person game, you're leaving a written record that reads like a story, so it makes sense to use third-person since there are usually four to six main characters performing actions and saying things. Most books written in first-person have a single narrator so there's very little confusion about who "I" is.
From the point of view of the putative reader, it's easier to follow the story if it's like this
Drizzt draws his twin scimitars and charges the giant.
Wulfgar shouts his battlecry and throws his hammer at the dragon.
Cattie-Brie draws her bow and nocks an arrow, waiting for a clean shot.
Regis yawns and says, "Let me know when you're done killing those things, and I'll unlock the treasure chest."
instead of like this
I draw my twin scimitars and charge the giant!
I shout my battlecry and throw my hammer at the dragon.
I draw my bow and nock an arrow, waiting for a clean shot.
I yawn and say, "Let me know when you're done killing those things, and I'll unlock the treasure chest."
To me, PbP is like writing a story cooperatively. Unlike an in-person game, you're leaving a written record that reads like a story, so it makes sense to use third-person since there are usually four to six main characters performing actions and saying things. Most books written in first-person have a single narrator so there's very little confusion about who "I" is.
I guess that makes sense. We have pictures of our characters next to every post we make, so seeing who "I is" has never been an issue.
As an example, here is a post in my PbP (playing Hell's Rebels)
"I can have a look and see what they are" I say about the potions, clearly distracted, while I give the tengus a hard look. The Harrow cards they are playing are clearly form my family's shop, but how did they get them? I still think there is something amiss in this situation.I fidget aound the room, trying to recall if I know the name Nu mentioned. When I see the bag on the floor, I point towards it and ask "And this? Whose is it and what is it doing here?
(I had to translate it, as I play in Spanish, but I hope it showcases our narrative style.)
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First of all, the only correct way to do it is the way that works for you and your group. So you are doing it correctly!
Personally, in play-by-post format, I prefer writing third-person prose to describe my character's actions. Since we can't see each other, I find it important to have that distinction between the player and the character (when I post OOC I say "I" and IC it is "Sally does this..."). This helps prevent drama when other players have trouble differentiating between IC and OOC (which can happen; the need for this may vary by group).
I also like that third-person PBP then feels like a story the group is writing together--if you took everyone's posts and pasted them (sans OOC commentary and die rolls) you'd have a rough story someone else could enjoy just reading. (Mind, you'd need editing to make it feel like a well written story, just to clean up text and repetition.)
I think I am also of a generation where I played a lot of text-heavy computer RPGs, where a lot of the story was written in third-person prose, so PBP text just looks like CRPG prose to me, to an extent.
When I play at a table I tend to alternate between third and first person. When I get really excited I tend to be more likely to say "I cast fireball!" But otherwise I may use third person---I once had a GM who was very adamant about assuming anything we said was in character unless we very clearly stated we were speaking out of character. I think my tendency to speak in third person then was in response to that, to be sure the GM was sure I was speaking about my character's action and not saying something OOC that could get my character in trouble.
I’m not a fan of first person narrative for the reasons mentioned by Jesse Heinig above, and especially galling when mixed with everybody else using third person. And I guess i’m not a fan of first person at all - probably for reasons pretty much echoing Joana’s post upthread.