Your Preferred Type of Roleplay?

[Ethereal-Star]

So, this is a thread where people can list and discuss their fave type of roleplay or ones that they have tried and liked. Or ones they don't like! I'll start by listing pretty much all the types and styles of RPGs that I know of and will give my opinions on them, but will also try to keep said opinions short. From here, people can add their own 2 cents about what they do or do not like, what they've tried or haven't tried, etc.

So without further adieu:

Tabletop: Tried it for awhile, but decided recently I don't like it anymore. For one thing it is too heavily dependent on dice rolls and statistics and not enough on character development and character interaction. Not to mention I am no good at it, and I also don't feel I get enough freedom and control over my character/characters and the things they would do, not to mention their destiny overall and where they will ultimately go. Kudos to you if you like tabletop/pen and paper campaigns, but I've moved on...

Play By Post: Obviously I am a total nut for this type of roleplay because I'm here, aren't I? LOL. This style of roleplay in my most HUMBLEST opinion, offers me so many choices, so much freedom and exploration and most of all....it is by far one of the most funnest types of RPGs for me. I can literally take my characters to all kinds of creative horizons and have absolute control over what happens to them plus being able to stay in character all the time is a must for me as I do take my role-playing quite seriously. And this style gives me all this and more. Imagination to the fullest here. Complete and total awesome.

Play By Email: I also love this style too for pretty much the exact same reasons as above. Awesome to the maximum here. I use yahoo groups for this method/type.

Journal Roleplay: Never tried it, but it sounds pretty neat.

Card-Based: Never tried this before either, and am not so sure I'd like it. But perhaps I just have to find the right game. If I even bother to look at all...

Chat-Based: Not my cup of coffee and for two reasons. Too fast-paced and I like to be descriptive as much as I can in my replies. This doesn't offer that. Simple as that.

Computer RPG's: I like 'em, even though the emphasis is placed more on a scripted story rather than the characters I play in them. But the stories themselves and the worlds they take place in are pretty immersive and interesting so there is that. But I get far more character control with text-based RPG's. Like here at SotE and its sister site RotE. ;) CRPG's are pretty cool though for their action and combat scenes and its interesting to pick from a selection of different classes and races. Or simply skill sets that you can mix and match to create your own 'custom classes'. Overall, they have lots of good points to them.

LARP: Not my cup of coffee either. I am more of a writer than an actor, plus for the same reasons as tabletop I don't do too well in real-time RPG environments. So I won't even bother.

Character Blogs: Don't have a blog, not gonna get a blog...

Play By Wiki: Recently heard of this one so don't know much about it. Other than what the name itself implies.

Play By Google Docs: Another recent find and also don't know much about it. Not really interested either, except maybe for reference purposes.

Other: Anything else such as one x one text-based or real-time roleplay, where the latter is more about discussing things in an in-character fashion just to see where something could go and what could possibly happen. Not done this before either. And anything else under the sun, although I think I covered all the bases here.

[Whim]

Play-by-Post, IM, and Google Docs
Personally I don't think there's very much difference between these three formats. Ultimately its prose and you're trading posts with one or more players. I think its the "best" way to roleplay if you want a character-driven story.

I will say that using a forum can help build a sense of community and permanency. It makes it easier for new folks to jump in, see what's been done, and plan from there.


Table-top
Personally, I don't think table-top is ideal for roleplay. Its hard to really get immersed in character development unless you're any good at acting, and even then it feels a bit silly. The focus is always more on combat and problem-solving. Now don't get me wrong. I've got some really fond memories of table-top, but its mostly because i was 12-13 when I played. So I'm probably remember the lazy friday afternoon's slumped upside down on my best friend's armchair.


cRPG
I've had great experiences with roleplay in cRPGs. MMOs, or heavily modable games like Neverwinter Nights. The world is there so you don't need to describe it, you can run into other characters unexpectedly. You play through an avatar who may need to travel, eat, drink, tend to wounds, and deal with all manner of unexpected occurrences.

The best aspect of a cRPG format is that numbers solve problems. If there's conflict the stronger character wins; there's no need to get annoyed at someone parrying all your attacks, or having superpowers. You just need to hope the stronger character is the one whose done cool things like make questionable deals with devils, or loads of money pushing drugs.


Nested Forums
When I was younger I used to play on a play-by-post site called Worlde Arcane. It was essentially a forum. But what made it unique was that each location was essentially a thread, and the threads were nested in accordance to geography, often accompanied by sketches or photos of the landscape.

It was fun in that you could potentially bump into other parties and have your stories intersect organically.