In my previous guild we used to colour our posts in forum RP, mostly for readability, and I have noticed a few others doing it here too. I was pondering what your views on the matter is? Does it increase or decrease readability? Does it annoy or please you?
Personally I am a little indifferent and can do both, my main issue is that I am too lazy to actually colour them. It is a hassle.
In case you do not know what I mean, here is an example of an uncoloured post contra two (different) coloured:
Quote"Five dollars, please." The baker said in a merry tone as he handed over the vast amount bread to his customer, a thirty year old woman with a mix of common Caucasian and Asian features. She fiddled the coins in her wallet a moment before giving over five gleaming metal discs.
"There you go." She said in a quiet voice and took the bread with her out of the bakery.
Quote"Five dollars, please." The baker said in a merry tone as he handed over the vast amount bread to his customer, a thirty year old woman with a mix of common Caucasian and Asian features. She fiddled the coins in her wallet a moment before giving over five gleaming metal discs.
"There you go." She responded in a quiet voice and took the bread with her out of the bakery.
or:
Quote"Five dollars, please." The baker said in a merry tone as he handed over the vast amount bread to his customer, a thirty year old woman with a mix of common Caucasian and Asian features. She fiddled the coins in her wallet a moment before giving over five gleaming metal discs.
"There you go." She said in a quiet voice and took the bread with her out of the bakery.
So yeah, tell me what you think. :)
I like the coloring, although I notice that some people use very dark colors. The default background of the board is a coffee color, and dark blue on brown can be very difficult to read.
Also, sometimes other colors can be too harsh.
Val's orange color seems to be ideal. Or course not everyone can use the same color.
Here's a Protip for more colors. If you're using the non-WYSIWYG editor, the color tag will take hex colors. So color=#c0c0ff gives you this pleasant color, which isn't available in the dropdown.
Not keen on it myself to the point that I am unlikely to read it.
This isn't a convention I typically follow. I don't mind it used strategically/sparingly, but I have to confess that I find overuse of it distracting to the point that I can't/won't read it or will just skim it. By overuse, I mean that my tolerance sits at two, maybe three, different colors periodically interchanged. Anymore than that, and it starts becoming harsh on my eyes--especially with a high frequency of interchanging. Some variability in my tolerance also exists dependent on color selection.
Quote from: Jasyn on October 18, 2011, 03:55:00 PM
By overuse, I mean that my tolerance sits at two, maybe three, different colors periodically interchanged. Anymore than that, and it starts becoming harsh on my eyes--especially with a high frequency of interchanging. Some variability in my tolerance also exists dependent on color selection.
Nonsense.
:D
Keep it coming folks. :)
I colour speech. I use italics and colour for thoughts. I do not colour regular description/narrative text. I find it helps especially if someone is not the best writer and does not always clearly define who the speaker is. I got in the habit of doing this. But it doesn't matter much since all of this forum RP stuff will disappear in 2 months when the real game comes out.
Quote from: Sotof on October 18, 2011, 04:04:22 PM
Nonsense.
:D
Keep it coming folks. :)
My eyes! They bleed! :mf_swordfight:
I actually find it harder to read non-colored dialogue, especially when it starts to get more than a few paragraphs. Reading text on a computer screen in general is cumbersome to me. I would never be able to read a book or short story on a computer alone, for instance. The less harsh the color the better though. Things like pastels and greytones can work well.
Quote from: Jasyn on October 18, 2011, 04:53:42 PM
Quote from: Sotof on October 18, 2011, 04:04:22 PM
Nonsense.
:D
Keep it coming folks. :)
My eyes! They bleed! :mf_swordfight:
:angel:
Quote from: Val Gith on October 18, 2011, 04:45:16 PMBut it doesn't matter much since all of this forum RP stuff will disappear in 2 months when the real game comes out.
I certainly hope it does not go away entirely. You can roleplay some things better on a forum than in a game and vice versa. ???
Quote from: Ryscandor on October 18, 2011, 05:00:35 PM
I actually find it harder to read non-colored dialogue, especially when it starts to get more than a few paragraphs. Reading text on a computer screen in general is cumbersome to me. I would never be able to read a book or short story on a computer alone, for instance. The less harsh the color the better though. Things like pastels and greytones can work well.
I can agree to that to some degree. I generally find it easier to read with some dialogue colour to indicate who says what.
I don't use colored text in "Meanwhile, Back at the Spaceport," but I use it for dialogue when I post in Val's thread. I must say, I like using the default text for the narrative and a different color for each speaker's dialogue. It is easier to tell which character is talking.
Quote from: Ryscandor on October 18, 2011, 03:06:51 PM
I like the coloring, although I notice that some people use very dark colors. The default background of the board is a coffee color, and dark blue on brown can be very difficult to read.
Whoops, I didn't realize. I posted all my RP's in the library in brown because the forum is black for me. I guess I'll switch it to something else.
Edit: Changed it to something brighter, Is this colour any better?
My preference is no color (or even colour) unless you want to give the impression of someone tripping on acid. "Speaking is in quotes," he said to no one in particular. ...and thoughts are in italics. "Stop reading my mind!"
Sigil
I'm considering starting to RP completely in emoticons.
:viking2: :vamp :police:
:smitten: :vamp :smitten:
:mf_swordfight:
O0 :buck2:
:-*
Quote from: Sigil on October 18, 2011, 06:17:12 PM
"Speaking is in quotes," he said to no one in particular. ...and thoughts are in italics. "Stop reading my mind!"
Sigil has captured what I am used to, and tend to use/prefer.
However, I am not opposed to the use of color.
I'm a fuddy duddy. When I learned how to read, it was in one font, black on white, uphill both ways in the snow on hardcopy (for our younger viewers, that's like the Internet on paper). :P
Quote from: Mixxi on October 18, 2011, 06:32:48 PM
I'm considering starting to RP completely in emoticons.
500 bonus points to Mixxi for effectively employing the elements of plot in emoticon usage! O0
Quote from: Ryscandor on October 18, 2011, 05:00:35 PM
I actually find it harder to read non-colored dialogue, especially when it starts to get more than a few paragraphs. Reading text on a computer screen in general is cumbersome to me. I would never be able to read a book or short story on a computer alone, for instance. The less harsh the color the better though. Things like pastels and greytones can work well.
I pretty much immediately skip anything that isn't the default color scheme. My eyes just can't take it. :-\ Occasional coloring of individual words for emphasis is one thing, but there aren't really that many color combinations that work for easy reading by failing eyes.
Quote from: Askari on October 18, 2011, 06:45:23 PM
Quote from: Sigil on October 18, 2011, 06:17:12 PM
"Speaking is in quotes," he said to no one in particular. ...and thoughts are in italics. "Stop reading my mind!"
Sigil has captured what I am used to, and tend to use/prefer.
However, I am not opposed to the use of color.
*dies*
Wow, so a majority of people just skip over all of my dialogue lol. Perhaps I should stick to narrative prose.
I read it! But I do need to take breaks. Especially when it's blue text that seems to be on a completely different vertical plane than the rest of the text. I tend to spend more time thinking about how I could make a 3-D image using the apparent depth of the different text colors than I do concentrating on what the text is actually saying.
But then I frequently --
SQUIRREL!
After reading the post through a few times, Alcuin pondered the topic. "I wonder if a more subtle change of colors and italics would work."
He decided to try it and started picking away at the keyboard, changing from beige to white with italics as he went.
When he was done, he previewed his work.
"Yes. I think that will do."
EDIT: Then he edited it to the forum default with beige italics, which he liked even better.
After posting, Alcuin realized the default color was more gray. He decided to try again.
"That ought to do it," he said, pressing the preview key.
"Yes. I like that better."
Quote from: Mixxi on October 18, 2011, 06:32:48 PM
I'm considering starting to RP completely in emoticons.
:viking2: :vamp :police:
:smitten: :vamp :smitten:
:mf_swordfight:
O0 :buck2:
Shakespeare would be approve of this story.
:-*
Maybe there should be a consensus on this before I edit my posts again ???
I edit for no man!
Only typos ...
I vote for individual expression. I'd say use color however it works for you, but also be aware that it may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Quote from: Val Gith on October 18, 2011, 08:08:16 PM
Wow, so a majority of people just skip over all of my dialogue lol. Perhaps I should stick to narrative prose.
(http://www.myrpg.org/public/JediMime.jpg)
Quote from: Mixxi on October 18, 2011, 08:40:34 PM
I vote for individual expression. I'd say use color however it works for you, but also be aware that it may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Absolutely. I sometimes find myself striving to balance the art for the audience, but while it doesn't hurt to "know your audience," it's impossible to satisfy everyone, and (especially when we're talking about creative outlet here) if the integrity of the art is at stake, then it's the art that should prevail.
Quote from: Mixxi on October 18, 2011, 08:40:34 PM
I vote for individual expression. I'd say use color however it works for you, but also be aware that it may not be everyone's cup of tea.
I can support this. :ime
Just to be clear, I don't intend for anyone to make their decisions solely based on me. I just was pointing out that I can't read long stretches of text in odd color combinations, so don't be offended if I am ignoring those posts.
By the same token, I am firmly in the camp of "color is unnecessary and usually distracting". Alcuin's white text for quotes was perfectly readable, just not needed.
Just my two cents, take them for precisely what they are worth.
Quote from: Alirrin on October 19, 2011, 07:31:40 AM
Just to be clear, I don't intend for anyone to make their decisions solely based on me. I just was pointing out that I can't read long stretches of text in odd color combinations, so don't be offended if I am ignoring those posts.
By the same token, I am firmly in the camp of "color is unnecessary and usually distracting". Alcuin's white text for quotes was perfectly readable, just not needed.
Just my two cents, take them for precisely what they are worth.
Naturally. The intent of the thread was for people to post their opinions on the matter, and they are all valid as far as I see it. I was merely interested in how the guild viewed this. No need for a discussion to figure out the 'optimal post design'. :)
Quote from: Mixxi on October 18, 2011, 06:32:48 PM
I'm considering starting to RP completely in emoticons.
:viking2: :vamp :police:
:smitten: :vamp :smitten:
:mf_swordfight:
O0 :buck2:
:-*
I vote for this!
This is purely my opinion.
I'm somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to reading text.
"Speech should be contained within quotes."
Thoughts should be italicized.
Narrative should be in plain text.
I find colorized writings to actually detract from the story. However, as the authors, you have every right to stylize your words however you like. However, I think that proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar can work wonders in expressing thoughts and ideas with clarity -- more so than than the color of the text.
Again, this is just my opinion.
Well the whole point of RPing to me is that people don't have trouble reading what I wrote. It's really no trouble to edit out color tags for large blocks of text especially. Like I said on my screen the forum appears black so I just assumed that the brigther the better for people to read, but really if it comes down to people being able to read what I write or artistic freedom, I'll always prefer people can read what I wrote.
Also to note, it's a good thing there's still 2 months until release because there's a fair bit of RP's to read on this forum.
Quote from: Thibideau on October 19, 2011, 10:36:52 AM
but really if it comes down to people being able to read what I write or artistic freedom, I'll always prefer people can read what I wrote.
*listens to the soft whooshing sound of James Joyce spinning in his grave* :)
YOU FORGOT ALL CAPS TO SIGNIFY DRAIN BAMAGE.
Ah, yes "drain bamage". A race of caps spamming people allegedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed that claim. :ime
What are the thoughts on the color scheme I used in Vifi Sunfell - Pernam Minor (http://sagafamily.org/index.php?topic=5081.msg47001#msg47001)?
I find your color choices easy to read. However, I still find coloring dialog to be unnecessary and inherently distracting.
As always, my not-so-humble opinion, I paid the 2 cents at the office.
:D