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Character Threads Chronological Order

Started by Ethereal-Star, February 11, 2015, 06:53:53 PM

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Ethereal-Star

February 11, 2015, 06:53:53 PM
Okay, simply put, how do you all figure out chronology for your characters' timelines? Do you have a certain method or do you just wing it and see how it goes before putting it into any sort of order? It would help me out to know how others do this, and so I can get a better grasp on all my characters' personal timelines and everything. I had finished for the most part a private list I have on my computer trying to keep track of this very thing and could use some pointers about it all. Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated!

visualspice

#1
February 11, 2015, 07:03:27 PM
Most members keep their character's personal timelines in the respected character profile.
You can even add notes, etc and personalize this technique as you please and just update it as more threads come along :D
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Rhindeer

#2
February 11, 2015, 07:10:00 PM
What Spicy said! 8D

I usually keep track in my characters' profile!

Liquid time can definitely be a bit of a challenge when you have the same character in lots of threads! xD I try to be careful, but I'm sure I've messed up the chronology on some every now and then. >_> For the most part, if I have a thread going where BIG STUFF is going down that will affect my character in a huge way, I try not to create any threads set after the event, until I know how it plays out. But again! This is just what works for me! I suggest just playing around and finding out what works best for you. <3
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Ethereal-Star

#3
February 11, 2015, 07:53:21 PM
Thanks visualspice and Rhi-Rhi! I had struggled a bit trying to keep tabs on this, and to be honest at first I hadn't even given this much thought. But decided to change that.

I am still not completely sure about even the time increments in between. Longer increments for longer lived characters and shorter increments for shorter lived characters. And then I got to thinking about the characters' ages. Should I take that into account too? Ignore it? Update their age every now and then for realism? At this point, I was so confused I decided to just not worry about what their profile says about how old they are, as I was getting pretty frustrated.

And then me and another member got to talking about world timeline in terms of B.F and A.F, that is Before Fell and After Fell in order to give some sort of world chronology to help me out further. But that is up to you and Tally about this.

I do use the character profile's for keeping track of threads, just I have yet to put them in order there or make any sort of notations. Annnnnnddd....another question: how about when a thread does not get completed because of let's say, one or more of the players goes MIA? Then what? Guess as to what happens and take it from there or just scrap it and say it didn't happen or wasn't important enough in their timeline to be considered?

Sorry for so many questions but it was really bugging me there! Still kinda is, but now that I've gotten the questions laid out on the table, I feel somewhat better about it. And again, thanks for the previous responses.

Rhindeer

#4
February 11, 2015, 11:03:50 PM
QuoteAnnnnnnddd....anoth er question: how about when a thread does not get completed because of let's say, one or more of the players goes MIA? Then what? Guess as to what happens and take it from there or just scrap it and say it didn't happen or wasn't important enough in their timeline to be considered?
That's another thing that is up to you!

I can tell you what I do, of course, but you certainly don't have to do what I do! Again, find what works best for you and your characters. ;D

In my case, it all depends on the impact of the thread.

For example, there have been times when I've started an open thread, it got a few replies, and then the player poofed before it really got off the ground. In cases like that, I've actually been known to reuse my thread starter because I'm like "GOSH DARNIT I LIKED THIS OPENER, I'M NOT LETTING IT GO TO WASTE!" xD And in that case, I just kinda pretend the original thread didn't happen. >_> If nothing happened that impacted/affected my character in some way, then I'm okay with doing that!

If the thread got really deep in, though, and then the player poofed, I consider it "canon" to my character. And then I just kind of assume things about how things ended. xD If the characters were in a romantic relationship and the person poofed, I just sorta...>_> pretend the character's partner one day POOFED without explanation and then I might either plop my character in their next thread with them searching for their missing partner. But, of course, gradually they'll come to terms with it and move on. 8D

And if I don't want to deal with the "OMG WHERE DID THIS PERSON GO?!" element, then I'll just assume enough time passed between events that my character recovered from it and moved on.

If it's a group thread and a player goes MIA, I just skip 'em, honestly. xD I just kinda wiggle my fingers and assume the missing character just sorta...ran off...somewhere...to do things...>_> and just sorta skip awkwardly past it and keep the thread going, lmfao.

It's not perfect, of course! xD It takes a lot of suspending disbelief! But to me it's better than having a thread stall.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Ethereal-Star

#5
February 12, 2015, 11:28:53 AM
Thanks Rhi! That does help some more. I went over all my thread trackers for each character and more or less put things in the order I thought they should go. Whether or not I'll make changes in the future and/or come up with a better method for doing so, remains to be seen. For now, I think I'm satisfied with what I've got for the chronology of events. Still not entirely sure about character age but to me that's probably not really that important in the greater scheme of things? Anyways, I can continue to think about this stuff but I don't wish for it to bog me down either. After all it's all about the fun and joys of RP'ing, and not in what order everything has to be in all the time.

Rhindeer

#6
February 12, 2015, 11:47:04 AM
Yeah, character age is something that's also up to you! xD

I tend to age my characters based on their storylines. But the way I play on liquid time, I never really set threads into the future--and if I do, it's generally only by a few days or weeks because I hate doing massive time-skips, and only if their other threads are winding down and/or nothing EARTH/BONE-SHATTERING is going to happen! xD (Like, I'm okay starting a thread set a little after another thread if that other thread is more of a casual slice of life thing, where fun and awesome stuff is happening, but that fun stuff isn't going to end with my character with any trauma or injuries or things! xD ...That I know of. But generally, I'm not comfortable setting threads in the future and like finishing things before I advance their timeline.)

I'm happy to make threads that take place before their current point in their timeline, though, as long as that thread doesn't run the risk of creating a time paradox. So my character's profile will always reflect the age they are at their current point in their timeline. :3

But I also rarely put one character in multiple threads at once because for me it gets too complicated for all the reasons I just said! xD Some of my characters end up in lots of threads at once, so for them I do that method and just kinda hope for the best, lmfao! But for most characters I try to do one thread at a time. But some characters just work really well for being in multiple threads at once, too.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Ethereal-Star

#7
February 13, 2015, 12:16:26 AM
I had done a couple flashback threads for two of my characters as I felt their past was so interesting as to have that fleshed out in story-form more, rather than just simply explaining it in their history on the respected profile sheet. I enjoyed writing them, but in terms of chronological order it was downright easy peasy to figure out where those went in the threads order.

I like putting my characters in multiple threads but that's just me, as some prefer only doing one thread per character for various reasons, some of what you brought up Rhi. While it may give me the chance to play the character more and in different scenarios, it also makes it more complex in figuring out their timelines. But it's like whatever, as that's to be expected really. Not really complaining but for a little bit I was really metaphorically scratching my head trying to figure it out. I wonder if some players know before a thread starts where it goes order-wise and pre-plan it out so they do know. Other people reading this feel free to chime in with what you do regarding your own characters' timelines. It's interesting to learn and talk about this.

I still don't have time increments figured out though, but for now it's like I'm not gonna mess with it until I have a better idea on it. For now, any minor notes about threads go in brackets such as whether they are complete, incomplete, flashback threads, or anything else I feel that needs adding. And I'm fine with that route.

Rhindeer

#8
February 13, 2015, 12:39:20 AM
Yeah, definitely do the thing that works for you! There's no wrong or right here. What works for you, works for you, so do the thing and have the fun! 8D

I think some people do sometimes have an idea of where threads are going. Some players plan things out more, so for them it's probably less of a challenge to figure out chronology and such! I'm not a planner at all which is why that doesn't work so hot for me. xDDD
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Ethereal-Star

#9
February 13, 2015, 12:25:12 PM
Well, I'm definitely being more mindful about the chronology from now on. Just so things have their rightful 'place'.
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