Curious about why so many games use colored text. Don't quotation marks usually demote someone is speaking? Personally not a fan, I have them turned off. Glad that is a site option, they irritate.
Curious, do these people hate books because when a person talks, the color doesn't change? Very strange.
Or do they like this because that is the only party of the posts they want to read, and it helps them ignore the rest?

I like colored text not because it makes it easy to know that someone is speaking, but because it makes it easy to know -who- is speaking, when scanning quickly down a page.  Tech gives us iptions that ink and paper don't; why not use them?

In reply to Dream Sequence (msg # 2):

Does that mean you only read the parts where people are speaking? If there is a post with no color, do you not read it?

Not everyone who posts in games is a professional writer. Sometimes color tags make it easier to distinguish who is speaking because it is not always clear without it. It's great that you can write posts where multiple people speaking is written in a way that makes it easy to understand who is talking, but not everyone is proficient in that.

Also, some people prefer to color the speech as an expression of character (they choose specific colors to represent that) and some people simply find it easier to read that way.

It is simply a preference and if one doesn't like it, they do not need to use it and as you already pointed out, you have the option to disable color tags for the entire site, if that bothers you.

In addition to what Dream Sequence said, I also find it just easier to read.

Many fiction books are formatted in a specific way which aids readability, formatting spoken and narrative text so that they're easier to distinguish.  I wouldn't expect anyone, nor would I want to try myself, to make each post in a game laid out in a similar manner.

The use of colored text achieves a similar purpose when I'm reading the way most people tend to do their posts.

I've been in games which have specified people are not to use it, and it doesn't make things impossible by any stretch, but whether by actual benefit, or simply due to familiarity, I do find the colored text style of posts a bit easier to read initially as well as skim through when rereading to find some bit of information or another.

This is specifically why colored text for speech is required in all the games I'm in. Often in a scene, there are multiple conversations taking place, and it's a lot easier to keep up with the person who's talking to -YOU- and not get lost in conversations you're not in if you know to scan for the posts that contain green. Or red. Or yellow, or whatever. Especially when people have portraits disabled.

Of course, to accommodate people that have colors turned off, people are also required to put their speech in quotation marks...but I find that's the one that people miss/forget/don't care about more. Which I chalk up to posting from phones.

Curious question for you, Piestar, since you have the colors turned off...does that also disable special fonts? I worry enough that players with colors disabled will miss important things by not easily being able to tell who's speaking (particularly if a group of NPCs is just providing overheard dialogue with no white text describing the speaker), but it would be even worse if players couldn't tell the difference between text types.

In reply to shinanai (msg # 4):

Why would I ever post as more than one person? I totally frown on meta-gaming, and would never think I could speak for another character.

I know not everyone is a professional writer, but I wouldn't play in a game with a GM who wasn't competent at it. Misspellings and bad grammar in a game ad are both a big automatic no from me.
This message was last edited by the user at 11:40, Fri 02 June 2023.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 6):

No, I still see bold, and italic, things like that. And of course quotation marks.

I can see why people who have those issues would like the colors though, that explains a lot.

RPing two people in the same post does not automatically equal metagaming. There are plenty of games where someone roleplays their character and NPCs that they are in control of within the background of that character. Best example: a noble lord and his valet

There is also the thing of GMs posting as multiple NPCs in the same post, and again, not everyone is proficient in novel level writing. Correct punctuation and grammar does not equal good or easy-to-understand writing.

Just because you don't like the coloration, it doesn't mean that people are using it for bad reasons. It is a matter of preference, and for some people it is simply a matter of easier to read. The same reason why some people prefer to read books in ebook format, because they can adjust the contrast and color or increase the font to make it easier for them to read.

Also, not all people run the same color theme on RPOL either. Some have a dark theme, some have a light theme, the color tags change based on that as well.

for GMs and  players who might have  more then one characters in a game. the  color  for speech helps out   so you know when another person is talking.

 for me? i have have several  NPCs  talking, and the color helps  players  keep track, since there isn't a 'camera', and once the  color is established for the post, there is no reason to put..'PC said this, PC  added that, ect

 for players Having their speech  in color  separates it  from thought bubbles and description. Its is import  in both cases, because  some players will hid behind though bubbles. which is something  others  can see or hear. If it comes to a stress point  its easy enough to say "..they didn't know, because you didn't say it out loud"

 I have people , who will post from thier phones while at work or something and use  quotes..that fine when you have to. But  when you are on site and can use the  colors, there isn't  a reason ...NOT..to use the tool provide.

I’m in this situation.  I use a relatively darker theme (mostly a personal preference, but also because I find it to be easier on the eyes).

I’ve noticed, however, that some of the commonly used colors just don’t mix well at all with the darker background.  Brown, dark blue, etc.

Prior to reading this thread, I didn’t know turning off colored text was an option … but I’m willing to give it a shot.

Where can the selection be made?  I see that portraits can be tuned off, but I’m not seeing where colored text can be disabled.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Sure thing, are you using the old RPOL theme or the new one?

In reply to donsr (msg # 10):

Funny to me that you mention not using the tools provided. I love how many tools RPoL has, and I really get frustrated when GM's don't use things like the language option, or the threads option to keep things neat and clear. Some don't even make the effort to sort their characters and information, mixing and mashing NPCs with the player characters.

And I don't really care if people use color, I just don't understand it. Hence my inquiry.

Curious, when you post a new Private Message, why isn't a post to the GM the first option? Annoying having to sort thru fifty some odd names to find them.

::chuckles::  i am  bad  at using   the  great set of   tools  of this site. some...quite frankly..are beyond me...I am so jealous of those  who can put up pics and maps... I'll make  simple 'sketch maps' and   mess around with them, until the finally Take. My games would  be  massively better  , if i could do that.

 they are like  any other tools, in any other   section of life. some folks can master  everything, some can't  master  any, and some  ,can master, some.

  The color thing is   one of the ,most simple...its universal as well. I am on  one site( that i don't like) in a game that i have been with  for years, it was on another site that crashed..i did try to get them to come here..i still don't know why the chose the other one... folks there  have  big portraits they  put into thier posts( for those with more the one PCV in the game), others, like me..just have the little portrait icon. like here.

But there? they use  Color  , not just for speech, but all the GMs  of that game will use a color  for  other things.

In reply to shinanai (msg # 13):

I use the responsive site.

Main page > Right Side Menu > Preferences > Right Side, RPOL Preferences > Color Scheme > Create One

It should take over the settings of your current color theme as is... just tick "Disable colouring in messages" on the very bottom of the list and click "Create" and done! :)

The part of me that hates when players send new PMs for every little thing says that it's not really necessary, since every player in a game has an Access thread to the GM from when they applied to join in the first place, so no one should ever need to send a new PM just to the GM? <.<

yeah?  I try to  get my players  to sue the  same thread they  RTJed in, then   we'll make new ones  after .

  I  call  PMs  alot. . may space game still as   scores of threads, that i keep, but   those 'extra' PMs  i drop right away.

 Now? as far  as  geting PMs, I have  no problem with that, players  askign questions is  good, it  shows  interest...but..i would perfer  them all in the smae   PM thread, for that Player.

In reply to donsr (msg # 19):

I will ask my GM's if they would prefer that.

Please close this thread, I have gotten my answer. Thank you.