Do you like/participate in IFs?

GiS,
I do indeed enjoy and participate in IFs. I have ever since my days before I came to SM.Net and posted on Yahoo's boards (in fact, the specific board I posted on is still up from way back in '98), where IF isn't a defined thing, and we just called them "our little stories" on the board.

Now, as for why, I guess it can be derived from the fact that I can't really write lyrics, can't draw, and don't like the way my voice sounds when recorded, so instead of any and all of those, I write short parts of stories on the IF board to keep my imagination from stagnating. Not to mention, I enjoy comparing my writing style with the others on the board.

However, to step off topic for a sec, I have to say, that since a lot of the old regulars have left the board, finding high quality IF topics is getting harder. Especially with the really stupid n00bs posting topics in line with their displayed lack of intelligence, and complete disregard for the huge, neon green rules link at the top of the page. It's sad, and, although I know it's been said over and over before, IF needs more good writers, that read, and (more importantly) follow the rules.

Also, I like to comment on something that is the rules, and although it's lessening, is still happening: complaining about/bumping unpopular topics. Anthadd says in the rules that if a topic doesn't catch on to try again with something else, but I have seen some pretty uninspired topics. Unfortuneately, with the most recent forum restart, one of the most inspired, and well written topics (SM.Net meets EB was the topic, I think) disappeared, but, most of the posters on it disappeared, and noone restarted it from where it left off. I would've, for the record, but I hadn't saved the pages, and therefore it has been lost. Just like the old charm of IF, which I hope will be boosted by better writing soon.

--Drakenul





Congrats on writing a Letter of the Week!
It’s about time somebody is a big IF fan! And it shows, ‘cuz your letter was l33t!

IF, or your little stories, may have been the section that despite its lack of huge changed evolved most dramatically. I remember when IFs were almost a private sanctum for those with incredible writing talent. Now the sanctum’s been broken and invaded. It really seems to lower the overall intelligence level of the board. I guess the board was open fair game after Mr. Forum God wiped everything. The lamers ward away good new writers, and the lack of good new writers keep away the old ones. Surely everybody isn’t out of ideas? Get in there and fight the good fight! IF may be in its darkest hour, but it can’t get that much worse.

--GuyInSummers

Seeing as I'm one of the mods, I think it's relatively obvious I enjoy and participate in them.

I like IFs because I enjoy writing, but if you could see my desktop (real and computer) you'd see that I rarely get anything done. So IFs are great because if I get a bad case of writer's block, someone else can come in and pick up the slack.

IFs have also helped me make considerable improvements in my writing style over the three
years I've been doing them. I was looking back at some posts from the first IF I ever added to a while back, and I came to the conclusion that before I came to EB/SM.Net I COULDN'T WRITE. I was repetitive and I rarely did anything other than add to my own character. Since then, and particularly since I started writing in Tryst, Imbue, and all the other finished IFs I've participated in, I've made huge strides in writing. It's a great way for people who can't write or write badly to learn.

Pardon me for mangling your topic for a moment, but I'd like to take this time to PLEAD AND BEG for more good writers (writers period!)

The IF Board has rarely had a lot of traffic going through it, save for a period of time when we overtook GD for a few weeks, but lately it's been almost entirely devoid of true IFs. A major reason for that is because IF relies a lot on new people coming in and adding their stylings to the story, and there aren't many new IFers besides the influx of RPG fans.

So I'd like to ask you, the mailbag reader to do the following (you can print this out if you have alzheimers or something):

1. Finish reading mailbag.
2. Go to forums.
3. Force yourself to the IF board.
4. READ RULES.
5. Post or add to an IF.

Now was that so hard?
(rhetorical question!)

--Liar X. Agerate





And it’s the man of the hour, ladies and gents. Er, one of the men of the hours. But it’s not like I expected Neopaula to submit to Mailbag -_-. Anthadd could’ve at least tried, seeing as he’s the one who insisted I chose this topic.

It must be interesting looking back at old writing pieces and seeing how your styles have changed, and if they were influenced by those around you. X also took this time to scream at you. It seems that if IF had more quality writers, there wouldn’t be so many lamers being publically tortured, the rules could be less neon-green-glowly-huge, and people would be less scared of IFing. I bet many great writers aren’t writing ‘cuz they think they’ll screw things up just ‘cuz all the lamers there do. And as you’re about to see, MANY people are afraid of writing for that reason. So go save the IF board and donate your supamad skillz!

~GiS

Interactive Fictions.. these are found in the forum, and I've never really taken much notice of them. To be honest, I'm quite literally scared of them.

Of course, there are strict rules in IF, many of them are to stop people from dramatically changing the story-line, but I feel that if I tried to participate, I would really screw up a good story. Usually I would read the last IF post, and then think: "Hey, what would sound good here?"

That doesn't always help, because in the later posts, you find that the character you have introduced has died already. Then you panic and edit your post to say: "Ness was only sleeping! he got out of his coffin using, er.. magic.. and then a big bomb fell from the sky and everyone died...or were they sleeping?"

About 10 minutes later, a mod gets you by the ear and says:"Get out, now. You are now declared BANNED!" And then a lynch mob will start,
"Hey! There's that guy who spoilt that story that made me weep on the inside!"
or:"My IF topic had 999 posts, but it was locked thanks to you!"
An outcast, I may go Hotmail chat:
"Hawian..Shirts.. HEY! You upset my sister! Ruin her topic will you? And on her birthday!"
I sit in my room, shaking, wishing I could turn back the clock, wishing I had never entered IF...

BUT... IF's are a great way off showing your literature, and watch it's many plot lines twist and turn and get manipulated as the story drags on. I will never enter IF, because I panic, and always make vital errors in my work. So the moral is:

"If you can't write a story, then stay away, or it may become gory.."-H.Shirts

--Hawian Shirts





It’s kinda’ ironic, really. They load the IF forum with rules and regulations to make the boards a better place, but they scare everyone away. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. The rules aren’t really anything more than common sense, however. Despite that, the #1 reason that people avoid the IF forum is ‘cuz they’re afraid of screwing up a story. My advice? Just go for it. IFs are there to have fun!

~GiS

Interactive Fiction...wow, there's a lot I'd like to say with regards to that topic. I know it's one of the more popular sections of Starmen.net (what with "Zenith", and "Horizon", and all); I usually skim the IF section of the forum at least once every couple of days, just to see what's there. However, I don't participate in IF at all.

The main reason for my keeping my distances from IF is quite simple, really: I like being in control of what I write. Yes, it sounds like something only a control freak would say, but it's a justified viewpoint--insofar as the explanation goes. You see, when I write a story I already have everything planned out--the plot, the story, the ending, even some of the dialogue--and this renders me unable to write anything as open-ended as an IF. If I were to start an IF story, I would inevitably begin drawing out the plot and possible/probable extensions thereof the instant I would post it. This would then upset me greatly because that plot would inevitably change and veer from the path I chose for it.

Another drawback I can see to IF is the reasonably high risk of having someone ruin a decent story for the heck of it. After all, how would you feel if you managed to bring together a long-running, decent tale, only to have some poor soul tarnish it with poorly-designed toilet humor and a heavily overused Caps Lock key?

Of course, this doesn't mean that I think IF is bad; on the contrary, I think it's a great way to flex the creative muscles and challenge the imagination. People have the possibility to bring together the talents of many a gifted writer, and possibly create a work of literature that's far greater than the sum of its parts. The potential is enormous, and the best part is that writers can put down anything they wish--from humor to drama to action--without having to worry about a story 'not catching on'. I just feel that it's not for me, and with that in mind I prefer to abstain from participating in them.

--Giampi





Well, here’s a new spin on this week’s popular trend. Instead of being afraid that you’ll screw up someone’s story, you’re afraid someone will screw up yours. The thing is, I was expecting most of the responses to be similar to yours, but I realized the other may be more likely. I can see your situation, and you present the definite pros of individual fiction. I am a fan of all. That or maybe my mom’s Christmas music is making me childishly giddy and optimistic. Either way, I like a little of each. Sometimes, writing a full novel is a touch too laborious a process for me, and it’s neat to see how other people fill your blank spots.

Or I would think that if I ever started an IF. -_-

~GiS

Ah, yes, the fabled Interactive Fictions...

Personally, I enjoy them. Yet there are definitely one thing that bothers me about them: Lamers. If it ends "Ness ran towards the cupboard cautiously at these words." And a lamer comes with "TEH BIG MOSTER COMES OUT AND BLOWS TEH WORLD IN TO TEH UDERWORLD!!" On that rare occasion, I just want to kill them. Nothing ruins a good story better than a lamer. Nonetheless, IFs are usually fun. It's nothing predecided, it's all fun. It's almost suspenceful waiting for someone to add onto an IF. At least for me. Of course, I could go off into a tangent about how good IFs are, but you don't have 4 and a half days to waste, do ya?

--Ness’s Cousin





Actually, I was hoping someone was going to write a nice 4-day-long letter for me to read, so I could waste all my time and everything like that.

It’s disgusting that lamers actually enjoy lamer-fying IFs. There’s no good reason to justify running into a great IF and saying “And then they all DIE! Whahahah!” It’s really hard to recover a story after a post like that. You can say “Uh, that didn’t happen”, but things just don’t flow too well.

~GiS

Do I enjoy IF? Yes. Do I participate? Yes. Or at least, I would.

IF is an awesome concept. There is truly a lot of good that has the potential to come out of that forum. But I dare you to go in and actually take a look at that board.

You see endless piles of stuff like "RPG IF JOIN PLZ" and "NESS GETS EATEN BY FOUR TACOS FROM KOREA." You then say, "Oh... uh well it can't all be like this." You proceed to click on a few of the topics hoping to find something worth your reading time. Unfortunately for you, nearly every topic is nothing but poorly thought-out, poorly-written paragraphs (if you can even call them paragraphs), some of which have poorly thought-out, poorly-written replies to them.

Once in a while, you may find one or two worthy pieces of writing mixed in with all the useless crap. These pieces, unfortunately, rarely ever get replies of the same caliber if any at all, and they fall off the boards like... stuff that falls off of other stuff really quickly.

I shouldn't complain, though. Simon will eat me.

--Gauntlet





Well, I’ll admit I haven’t really looked through all of the IF topics…just a few here and there. I never really noticed the multitude of crap. It can’t all be that bad, though. There are still a lot of people that love their IFs. I think it really is a great concept, just one that somehow could’ve played out a little better. Kinda’ like Grim & Evil. The idea for Grim was great, but somehow they managed to make the show suck.

~GiS

I've done a little bit of IF on a different message boad before, and I must say it was all together disappointing. If I ever put in a part that I liked, the next post would totally ruin it.

But in all fairness, I've never IFed at the forums here, so I can't fairly trash talk the activity. From my observations, the stories here are pretty intriguing, and I'm often tempted to jump in myself. However, I've sworn to never participate in another IF, in fear of making someone raise their fist, shake it angrily, and go "Curse you Jakob! You ruined my story!" =)

--Jakob Dorof





Yay for Jakob! After all the trouble of sneaking online, he STILL has time to Mailbag. …if you see this, Mrs. Dorof, you’re dreaming. Go back to bed.

Heh, once again somebody is too intimidated to venture into the realm of IF. Perhaps the mods need to do something about that. And remember, no message board is anything similar to what we have at Starmen.net. Take Gamefaqs, for instance.

(Rant truncated from reply) ~GiS

I used to go to the IF board a lot, but my posts became less and less frequent recently. I don't visit the IF board anymore (actually, maybe once or twice a month just to see what's going on and read some stuff), though I enjoy reading a successful IF that got converted to a Fanfic and sent to SimonBob.

I don't participate in them anymore because I realized that I don't really have talent for writing. Also, I found it difficult to jump into the middle of a story. Maybe I should try again, but without using ACs. That could be interesting.

However, I noticed something about the IF board last time I visited it. It seemed to have become a place where DrAndounts , Anthadd, and a few others start threads that are really successful, while CYOIFs and road trips appear every once in a while to get squashed by the mods. Most of the other stories aren't really popular and just drop to the bottom of the topic list within a few days.

Those are basically my reasons for not going to the IF board anymore.

--SaturnBOING





Browsing through the IFs with no intention of reading can be a great stress reliever or insanity provoker, whatever you need. However, I’ll have you know I once found a CYOIF that was very interesting. Of course, the Forum Gods didn’t like that, so they decided it was time for an upgrade, and that all topics must decimated. Remember, whatever you do, don’t make a good CYOIF or an intelligent post in GD. The Gods don’t like that. Oh yeah, and don’t pray outside.

~GiS

I must say I do occasionally enjoy reading them. It's very therapeutic when my weirdness/nonsensibility quotient is getting low and I need to boost it a little bit. Interactive Fiction is a lot like Congress... everyone involved is doing something completely different from everyone else, people tend to split into groups that try their best to horde power over everyone else, it's horribly disorganized and impossible to follow, and a lot of people there are not the most clear talkers or thinkers. It's highly entertaining at times.

--The Artist Formerly Known As CPTCrunch





There’s also a cabinet of maniacal leaders, disagreements over useless issues, hours wasted on the most idiotic topics, and millions of incoherent documents.

Come to think of it, the same applies to school. X_X

~GiS

Interactive Fictions look like lots of fun to write. It's not just your ideas, but other people contribute too, making for a very unpredictable and (usually) interesting story. It's almost like role-playing, in a sense.

Not that I would know, though. I do enjoy them in the aspect of reading and looking them over, which both keeps me busy and entertains me, which I like. But I don't participate in them. One reason I don't is that I never think of it just then, on the forums. I never seem to remember that it's there. Also, it seems like a commitment that you have to follow.. you have to continue your part of the story, or the others will get mad at you. Like I said, I don't know firsthand, but that just seems like it would be the case. Lastly, I would be afraid people would think my ideas are stupid.. Don't laugh!

But, despite those excuses, the real reason is that I'm just lazy sometimes and I don't have a lot of inspiration to write lately. But I hope to maybe get involved in an interactive fiction in the future!

--Pancake





Another big IF fan who never picks up the pen. IF needs writers like you! Yes, you! You, the IF fan who never IFs! (GiS pokes Anthadd, who in turn glares at half of the Mailbaggers)

(GiS marches off with a large HYPOCRITE sign nailed to his back)

~GiS

Interactive Fiction is good times. Very little else in the world is. Getting a chance to write something, but not ALL of something, and take credit for it? It's writing in the way that golf is a sport.

I mean that in the kindest way possible. It's hard to write novels, as I personally know. I just make other people write them FOR me, and call it IF. Or I beat them the SPoD. Take your pick.

You will be assimilated. *vwom*

--KoW





FOOL! You do not understand the SPoD. This is to be expected, young enthusiast. I shall now explain to you SPoD and its way. Follow with open mind.

As you must remember, there is no SPoD. Once you understand that there is no SPoD and only then, you will be able to comprehend the SPoD and manipulate its neurological existence. It is in this way that the SPoD may exist in a theoretically extant and yet intangible state. The manipulation of the SPoD is limited to interaction with those sharing a possession thus controlling its movement. The direct contact of a SPoD of a being not accepting the present existence of the SPoD would develop an unusual and bizarre paradox as stated in SPoD and the Art of SPoD Chapter 13, Pages 8-16, Paragraph 2, Lines 5 – 71. The SPoD only exists if one allows it to and accepts its existence (thus explaining why those unknowing of the SPoD are deemed unworthy of its power). One must be the SPoD for it to be created. One must allow it to exist for it to exist, though it does not exist. In this case, does its owner exist? Its owner exists, thus the SPoD must exist. The SPoD is in this way linked to the beginning of Zen following the phrase “Be the SPoD” taught to young SPoD enthusiasts attempting to wield its power. In this way there is a SPoD, but if there is a SPoD, one has to need to be the SPoD, so logically, there is no SPoD. Without this basic constant the Theory of SPoD falls apart. Understand? Perhaps you are puzzled by the physical location of the SPoD during its existence. Knowing there is no SPoD, it must be not be anywhere, correct? However, this would mean there is no existence. Thus the SPoD is nowhere. Before you may SPoD you must understand the advanced concept of nowhere as a place and not as lack of location. After all, how can any given object be without location? The paradox comes when one attempts to SPoD another. The victim does not envision the SPoD and thus feels no effect, but the SPoD-user (or SPoDer) can quite clearly see the victim being hit with the SPoD This alternate reality in a single dimension causes a violent and sudden split of reality into two alternate dimensions. One would think that dimensions are large and would take years to move independent of each other. However, because dimensions only move in a static direction, the split is violent and instantaneous. However, occasionally objects are lost in the split. Certain physical locations on this planet, such as the Bermuda Triangle, are at an exact far corner of a dimension. These locations very often lose objects in splits. It is for this reason that the use of a SPoD is possible and permitted only to your self.

Conclusion? Drink decaf.

~GiS

Oh, boy....um...

okay, this is going to sound extremly pathetic, but the sad and stupid truth is:
I don't know what Interactive Fictions are!

I feel pretty stupid right about know, especially if by some miracle GiS posted my letter and thousands of people are reading this.

But, you know, maybe if a lot of people dont know about them they need more mention. I mean, I didn't even know about EB theories until that update a few days ago. And heck, Eb theories are awesome!

So, I guess my point is that Ifs maybe cool and maybe not...but in anycase more people need to know about them.

Well, I guess this is the letter's end. I hope that this letter makes at least a bit of diffrence and now I bid you good night...or afternoon...or morning.

-Dr. Jelly Donuts





Like I was really supposed to resist using your letter. You may all now have 5 minutes to laugh at Dr. Jelly Donuts.

Okay, that’s enough.

Heh, don’t worry. Actually there was a surprising number of people that said they’d never heard of IFs or couldn’t find them. (They’re in one of the forums, by the way. http://forum.starmen.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=7 ) Find all about em’ there. Now. GO!

~GiS

Interactive Fictions are the neatest thing. Oh, do I participate in them? No way, ^_^ I feel dumb because I have this phobia of ruining the story.

--KindarSpirit





After you said they were the neatest thing, I was sure you were a big IF writer. Next few lines called for a traditional anime sweatdrop.

Does EVERYBODY here have ruinthefictionophobia?

~GiS

I knew this topic wouldn't do too well, mostly 'cuz some people just can't be bothered to think about IFs. Surprisingly enough, you guys DID break the 20 mark. Not bad for such a selective topic. This week is rather general, however, so I expect you should be able to snap 30 again. This week the opinion was slipt roughly like this: 20% loved IF, 70% were afraid they'd ruin a topic, and 10% didn't know what IFs were. Interesting spread. I've also noticed two things. One, Sephy was a huge Mailbagger until I took the spot, and he hasn't touched Mailbag since. PappyCat's also vanished for the past two weeks, but I imagine it was just a quick break.

I imagine that wraps things up. Don't stop being awesome, and I'll catch you all next week!