Tim:
Another thing I have noticed is that such players have often created a not-so-talkative skulking assassin sort of character. Does in your experience the 'talkativeness' of a player influence the chance of them leaving?
There's "talking" and then there's "posting".
I'm fine with people playing "silent protagonists", even in a tabletop setting, but they must still
communicate what their character is doing in scenes. I've had to drill this into a few Player's thick skulls sometimes.
I expect this is a much bigger problem in PbP. However...
In a game I've been in here for two years we've a Player who is attentive and follows the thread, but he only posts when his character needs to do something or he feels he needs to say something (he went two months once without posting as this character). He's playing the "strong (stupid) silent" type. It's been working fine in that group... and I know it's not just the Player as in another thread (the GM is running multiple groups on different adventures in his game) he's playing a talkative character.
Barry:
I think what people miss in movies, books, comics etc about silent characters. They are often the sole focus of the medium which isn't great for a group game. Likewise, in 'good' media brooding characters develop and form relationships, show vulnerabilities and develop. I think some rp'ers miss this. I'd go as far tonsay I wouldn't have a 'silent' character in the game unless I'd already rp'ed with them and know them.
Again, there is a difference between "talking" and "posting". The Strong Silent Protagonists are still doing things in every scene, even if it's just lurking in the back ground or perching on a building top all moody-broody.
pdboddy:
Ike, I do have a similar thing in my RTJ threads, but I don't do it to get a writing sample. I do it to get an idea of how much interest the person has in playing.
This "writing sample" thing has always annoyed me here on Rpol...
When I RTJ I rarely have a character built, sometimes I have an idea in mind, but that idea can change radically bewtixt "request" and "finish character". Thus I have no idea what their voice is like at this stage.
Sure, you want to see how I post... but that's also going to change depending on the character. Is it a Stronk Silent type? Then I'll be posting more actions than speaking, even if it's just "Leans back and coolly watches the group try to negotiate" type posts. If it's a chatty non-combatant, then yeah, they'll be 'talking' up a storm until combat starts, then my post rate will plummet.
I don't know, maybe I'm looking at this thing all backwards, but I never know how to respond to this, other than to go grab a post I've made in another game and duplicate it.