How long do you feel a post should be?

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

I'm sure that most people have a set length that they attempt to acheive when writing their posts. The question is, how long is that set length?

Using Microsoft Word XP, 1 inch margins, and size 12 Times New Roman font, which of the options do you feel it should be? For an example of each, check each of the following posts (approx):

0.5 Pages (http://www.althanas.com/world/showpost.php?p=6619&postcount=3)
1.0 Page (http://www.althanas.com/world/showpost.php?p=8869&postcount=5)
1.5 Pages (http://www.althanas.com/world/showpost.php?p=6360&postcount=1)
2.0 Pages (http://www.althanas.com/world/showpost.php?p=1578&postcount=6)

[Reiko]

I say varies. Sometimes you need to say a lot and sometimes not much at all, just as long as you try. I do however find myself more comfortable with a post that's about a page long, sorta like how we like round numbers, there's just a feeling of comfort in it. But the best post says what it needs to convey and nothing more or less whether a page or 3

[grim137]

I think it varies. I generally try and keep my post at 1 page length minimum but there are occasions where there is just not enough good content to write and a post that contains a page worth of shit isn't any better than a post thats two short and dosn't contain any good information or details.

[Seether]

Sometimes 1, others 2, I've had one be 4 once. But that was a long, long time ago.

[Empyrean]

I don't have a set length, but it always ends up being 1 page.

[Emblem]

I think a page is usually good from what I've read of other people's writing. I think the content for each post should only take a page, anything longer than that is overloading detail. Of course, there are some exceptions such as introductory or concluding posts that provide a lot of background or really finalize and wrap something up. Another exception is if there is alot of dialogue in a post which makes me think it should be longer depending on how the dialogue is done.Some people's writing that is over 2 pages tempts me to just scim it instead of really reading it, like search and destroy for worksheet homework.

[Letho]

Once upon a time I wrote a seven page post (written with Verdana 10 font), but it was because my partner went MIA and I had to do a lot of stuff in a single post. :P

Seriously though, I think most people will agree that it varies. I'm one of the people that writes rather long posts, but oftentimes there is a lot to be done in those posts. I think I average at some page-page and a half (font 10), but there are many factors that reflect on the length. PC interaction posts tend to be shorter then intro and posts dealing with the setting. Dealing with NPCs can be dealt with in two or three sentences, or it can be an entire page, depending on the situation.

[Serilliant]

I always ensure that I write a minimum of a page just to give my partners enough to work with and to ensure that I further the story enough to have made the post worthwhile. Once I hit a page, I let myself begin to wind down and conclude the post until I end at about a page and a half. Hence, my vote for 1.5.

[Ranger]

I tend to do that same as Serilliant... give at least a page for description, personal advancement, story advancement, and enough for my fellow person to go off of. If it's a solo, I normally have 2+ page posts...

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

I know that for me, since I choose to type my posts in the text box given, rather than word processor, I find myself looking at the scroll bar on the side of the text box. If it does not reach a certain length, I do not feel that I have put enough effort into the post, and that I am lacking something. Typically, I'll just completely stop posting and will take it up another time. I feel that if I say what needs to be said in under a certain amount, then I should add another level of detail to flesh it out.

[Sword-for-Hire]

Varies big time. Sometimes I get 1.5 pages down and others I barely manage a .5 page.

Like grim said, quality over quantity.

[Bohemia]

So long as you get the point across, the length shouldn't matter anyways. I think that's why a lot of people feel bad about their posts, looking from their four to five paragraphs to (no offense) Letho's titans.

[Culix]

I mostly use Zieg's approach. And, generally, this means that my posts wind up being about a page in length, which is why I voted for that. I think it's generally more aesthetically pleasing than, say, half a page; I mean, a page is about as long as the info bar on the left, so it keeps "white space" to a minimum. However, I agree that it varies. I think the best answer to the question in the thread's title is vague, but simple, "Long enough." I think anything less than half a page doesn't give nearly enough info, but, if it really provides all that's needed and anything more would just add meaningless fluff, kudos for showing discretion in that scenario.

[streak101]

I think it really depends on the person, and their mood during writing. If he feels tired, and has a sense as to post something he would post short. If he is happy, and wants to do something good, he'll post a good long crazy essay

[Yari Rafanas]

As long or as short as a post needs to be.

[Makira]

Post length really does vary on many things, for me anyway. The stuff you get to work with from a previous post, the type of post it is (i.e. intro, closing, battle, dialogue...), and how much you really need in order for the post to mesh together, make sense, and not bore the reader to death (i.e. J.R.R. Tolkein's explanations of city layouts)...

[Dissinger]

I cook mine for about a page. I always cringe if my posts aren't as long as my postbit. I feel a page gives me enough Depth to get my point across. Any more than that and I tend to feel I'm either pontificating, putting too much in, or need to take a nap because its 5 fucking am

[Raelyse]

I voted 1 page, but I think that word count is more important than the actual post length. If you look carefully, 1.5 and 2 pages are only about 100+ words in difference yet the 2 page one looks so much longer.

I usually try to keep my posts to 500-700 words, with <1200 for longer ones like introductions, conclusions or important interactions.

[Cyrus the virus]

Depends on what I need the post to include. Generally, though, I find 1.0 pages is just right, not too long and not too short. I approach a post like that, anxious to read it because I know it's going to be to the point and not drawn out. Shorter posts, I find, are pretty attractive.

Wierd.

[Kaiser]

For me it depends on the last post and what exactly happens in it.

if its short and somewhat boring i just don't get the motivation to reply

but if its well done and not drowning me in text i end up doing the best i can do, other than that i tend to go for half a page or more.

[Thoracis]

I said 1.5, simply because that's generally what I go for.

Of course, the real answer is "varies". It all depends on whether you're posting in a battle or quest as well as the neccesary content of the post, i.e. what you have to react to, how much backstory you need to tell, any actions your character needs to make, etc.

If you've written everything you need for a post and it's half a page, then fine. If you're going on 3 pages and you still haven't clearly conveyed what you need with that particular post, then that is fine to. It does more harm then good to leave out/add in anything to your posts just to make them a certain length.

[INDK]

I'd say I'm in the 1 to 1.5 range. If I'm over, I wonder if I've been too loquacious or if I've loaded my posts with unnecessary details no one wants to read. If I'm under, I better have a good reason.

However, thats just how I roll. I think to a large extent it depends on individual style, though if I were writing more than two pages every time I posted, I would wonder if I really needed to say everything that I was saying.

[Storm Veritas]

If you can't say it in a page, you're probably trying to say too much.

I think for the most part I keep it under a page and a half. I think it's a bit arrogant to say that the reader should be interested in four pages of diatribe between breaks.

[Ashiakin]

I aim for 3/4 of a page to one page, but I always end up doing about 1.5. I just come up with a lot more stuff to say when I'm actually writing my post out. So one to 1.5 is ideal, I believe. Unless you just have to include a lot of events.

[Zerith]

I'm going to have to say it varies. Like what do I want to happen in the post and just how much detail do I want in it. Generally I go with the 500-700 word idea, it works for me. But depending on the content of the post, it can get to be about 2.5 pages.

[Letho]

If you can't say it in a page, you're probably trying to say too much.

I think for the most part I keep it under a page and a half. I think it's a bit arrogant to say that the reader should be interested in four pages of diatribe between breaks.Wow, you must've gone insane while questing with me in "To expedite, explore and extract..." then. :P

[INDK]

Wow, you must've gone insane while questing with me in "To expedite, explore and extract..." then. :P

I would say you're an exception, because generally you're writing both for Letho and Myrhia. As such, it only stands to reason that your posts would need to be longer.

[Storm Veritas]

Wow, you must've gone insane while questing with me in "To expedite, explore and extract..." then. :P

In that quest, several of the posts detailed long streams of actions. If you're actually going to get a lot of stuff done in a single post, then I don't mind writing or reading a bit more.

I once judged a kid writing four paragraphs to describe grass. Not weed, GRASS. He thought it was a beautiful, descriptive narrative. No. Awful. I wanted to stab him in the jaw.

[EarlStevens]

I shoot for 1.5-2 pages.

[Falcon Darkflight]

Simply: Its more about quality than quantity. I always aim to get a page and a halfish in if there's a need, but only enough to ensure i've covered what I need to instead of going into full throttle waffle mode. I hate posts that go on and on and on needlessly in a vain attempt to gain marks, when it is clear that you could probably be marked down for doing so.

I think a decent post should cover:

Description of surroundings
Description of character's actions or entrance
Any IC 'thoughts', if needed, for insight
Any IC dialogue if needed
An 'outro' for continuation, or a suitable conclusion.

That's the framework I usually operate to, plus any extra that might need a look-in.

[Wolftrappe]

Brevity is the soul of wit.

[Ithermoss]

Et tu, Polonius.

[Uukan Kimari]

Max told me my old posts used to churn out 7 to 10 pages on word per post in a ten post battle. So he seemed upset about reading like 70 pages on word. I now min it, since I am not the creative asshole I used to be.

[Abbie]

I think a lot of it is based on style. I use an action style, or so I'm told, that doesn't require as much descriptive. My intentional skew on the view of the character didn't get me anywhere, but that's not the point. ;) I tend to write shorter posts than just about all of the people I RP with, but I get everything done in that space, from description to action and even internal struggle. If you can do that, which I'm sure I'm not the only one, then long posts aren't quite as necessary, and a half page or one page post (depending on what it's for, since interactive posts tend to be shorter) can be more than enough.

[aesculus]

It all really depends on how much people want to post, if its role play are they new or old, how detail orientated they are, whether or not they have slight writers block etc. so I say varies.

[Rayne of Fire]

I feel that the length of posts does and should vary. Intros can take a lot more detail to really flesh out, whilst more active and interactive posts can do what needs to be done in just a half page to a page. Typically I try to nail a page, just so that I've given others enough to go on without giving them so much that they half to go back and check my posts to respond to certain actions.

Of course in quests with large amounts of people, posts could end up being very large as you may end up responding to the actions of 5 people.

[Krugor]

Some interesting points are brought up here. Things like the total length of the quest (if you planned that ahead), the amount of dialogue and of course the amount of people in it, they all have influence on the posts. I never really measure my posts with page length, anyway. I just keep track of the amount of words, it means a lot more to me, personally. Mostly I aim for 700~900 words, which is about the same as 1 to 1.5 pages, I guess.

I voted 1.5 page though, I seriously don't know why I did that... <.<

[Chidori Draconid]

Varies. Intro's and conclusions tend to be much larger than posts in the middle of the thread. That's because the scene and situation have already been established hopefuly.

[Bregan [Famine]]

It's a little nonsensical to suggest that a single standard length should apply as 'acceptable' for each and every post. Rather, it should take you (while still keeping with your particular style of writing) exactly as long as is needed to do what it is you set out to do.

This is why, in some ways, a single paragraph can be just as acceptable as three pages. You wouldn't waste three just to eat a cheeseburger, now would you? And you wouldn't scribble a rebuttal and attack out inside a paragraph or two.

It all just depends on the context.

[The Puppet]

I don't know. It just depends on what you are saying. If you feel a need to drive on in the post than do so, and if you feel it is good with the few words you gave it then whatever.

[Chiroptera]

I prefer shorter posts myself, just because I get intimidated by long paragraphs. I try to rein in my enthusiasm so that I don't dominate the thread, especially if I didn't start it.

Do most people skip lines between their paragraphs? I have trouble reading the posts when the lines are all scrunched together. Bad eyes . . .:(

[Cyrus the virus]

Yeah, most people skip a line for new paragraphs for that reason. It's just easier on the eyes :)

[hamnat]

i say any where from a third of a page to one page, but for the thread starter, one page to one and a half and on upwards to two pages, but no more than that. Ever.

and as to your question, Eltarri, I skip lines, but quite a few people don't. Like you said, it's easier on the eyes. Most of my paragraphs are 3-5 post lines long. But if I have a long post,there are any where from 5-12 paragraphs

[Chidori Draconid]

I don't know what's appropriate because I think I need to work on shortening my intros and lengthening my responses. I'm comfortable typing in Times New Roman 10' font with 0.5 inch margins. That's the way most novel writers do it. Well I changed it to Times New Roman 12' font with 1 inch margins and it made a HUGE difference. My latest intro for Ettermire Nights is like 8 pages, and Passion's Product was damn near 18 pages, and I'm about to space the dialogue. Who knows how long it's going to be after that! My responses, however are on the short side. 0.5 to 1.5 pages. I need to find a balance.

[Letho]

Chidori, you can always break the intro in three or four separate posts. Introduction isn't just an initial post, it can be the first couple of posts.

[Damion Shargath]

I aim for one page, then usually get half a page...don't stop staring at the word doc. until I think of something. Once that something has popped into my mind I usually end up with more than a page.

[Ther]

I think it depends on a myriad of factors. For a battle, though, I've seen very few situations here where 2 paragraphs couldn't do the job, which is about half a page. Anything longer in a battle really hurts the pacing of the thread, I think.

[Chidori Draconid]

I try to stop at the point where others could start to interact. That seems to help shorten things up a bit.

[Ther]

I try to stop at the point where others could start to interact. That seems to help shorten things up a bit.

Yeah, I think that's a must in forum-based RPing - whether it's dialogue, or an attack (strings of attacks almost always fail at this...they don't make sense that often).

[Funji]

I feel it varies, but I like to post as thick and juicy as possible. I say it varies because, if someone before you posts like...a paragraph, then you are stuck building on a lego brick, so to speak.

[Vampiric Angel]

Honestly, when I write posts, I don't think of how long or how short I want it to be. I think of what all I'm going to put in it, and obviously, the more I put in the longer the post.

So length doesn't matter as long as you're satisfied with what you put up.

[DarkStrike]

Generally when I write a response to something, I shoot for 1.5 written pages.

But then again, with gua rpers some of them you just can't even make half a page... and I personally hate the fillers.

[Vampiric Angel]

Hey man, don't hate the GUA RPers, they're really good. And being from GUA, I take offense to that. I'm sure that a GUA RPer could pwn you given the chance.