A Short Guide to RP Concrit
If you RP for any reasonable length of time, someone will give you crit. Not necessarily bad crit! Just crit in general. If you RP for long enough, you'll want to give someone crit yourself and you won't know where to begin. There's nothing worse than badly given or badly received (or both!) crit. It only makes it harder the next time someone tries to help. I don't claim to be perfect, but I can still be helpful. This is my concrit about your concrit:
How to give crit is something that enough people don't think about before they attempt it, we all need to pause and make sure we're not just making things worse. Good crit helps the player get a better hold on their characterization and improve their RP experience.
Crit is not objective. Don't bother trying to make it purely objective. Objective criticism doesn't exist. The critic observed things in a character's characterization --things they both liked and didn't like-- and is reporting them to the player. It's not about "you're doing this wrong;" it's about "when I read [this], I didn't feel like it fit with the character's canon for [this reason]. On the other hand, [this] was fantastic, and you should keep it up!"
A lot of people make the mistake of listing what they don't like about a characterization, but never mention anything they do like. It's hard for a player to use crit if it's entirely negative because they'll be hesitant as to what to keep doing. Positive criticism is a big part of crit. Don't forget!
Also, as a side note, ask questions if you want explanations about a character's behaviour or the player's choices about characterization. Questions are good! Making assumptions is not.
How to receive crit is something we could all work on. No one likes to hear they're doing it wrong. When you receive crit --even if it's purely negative crit or crit you disagree with-- it's there to make you think. Look at the crit, read it a few times, and go over each point in your head. Try and see if whatever is said may be applied, even partly, to your character.
But, sometimes, crit doesn't make sense and can't be applied to your character. It happens. It doesn't mean the person criticizing you is an idiot. When the crit is really far off, ask the other player questions. Are they confused about your canon? Are they confused about when you're taking your character from? Did they miss some point in your character's in-game development? Hey, it happens! But just because one piece of concrit was mistaken does not mean that all concrit is wrong.
Do not tl;dr. This requires emphasis. DO NOT TL;DR about why you're right, about why your character reacted that way, about the character's history, etc.
If the crit is only a bit off and you feel the need to justify your character's actions, then you probably need to make your characterization clearer when you RP, not in HMD. If other RPers think that your character's actions are off and you don't, you must first step back and try to see the other point of view. If you still think your character's actions were right, ask yourself why people think they're wrong.
Your critic might have perceived your character's actions in a different light from how you wanted them to be perceived, and that's a legitimate problem too, not a characterization problem, but probably an issue with the clarity of your writing. --Or you may be a little too insistent that people have to view these actions the same way you do.
Just remember that the only reason you should tl;dr is if you're answering a question asked in the crit you received. If there was no question, crit is just there for you to consider. Consider it. Thank the critic. Don't overreact. Crit is not absolute; it's subjective. Critics can be wrong: it's as simple as that. Just don't assume they are!
I hope this helps! Thanks for reading.
How to give crit is something that enough people don't think about before they attempt it, we all need to pause and make sure we're not just making things worse. Good crit helps the player get a better hold on their characterization and improve their RP experience.
Crit is not objective. Don't bother trying to make it purely objective. Objective criticism doesn't exist. The critic observed things in a character's characterization --things they both liked and didn't like-- and is reporting them to the player. It's not about "you're doing this wrong;" it's about "when I read [this], I didn't feel like it fit with the character's canon for [this reason]. On the other hand, [this] was fantastic, and you should keep it up!"
A lot of people make the mistake of listing what they don't like about a characterization, but never mention anything they do like. It's hard for a player to use crit if it's entirely negative because they'll be hesitant as to what to keep doing. Positive criticism is a big part of crit. Don't forget!
Also, as a side note, ask questions if you want explanations about a character's behaviour or the player's choices about characterization. Questions are good! Making assumptions is not.
How to receive crit is something we could all work on. No one likes to hear they're doing it wrong. When you receive crit --even if it's purely negative crit or crit you disagree with-- it's there to make you think. Look at the crit, read it a few times, and go over each point in your head. Try and see if whatever is said may be applied, even partly, to your character.
But, sometimes, crit doesn't make sense and can't be applied to your character. It happens. It doesn't mean the person criticizing you is an idiot. When the crit is really far off, ask the other player questions. Are they confused about your canon? Are they confused about when you're taking your character from? Did they miss some point in your character's in-game development? Hey, it happens! But just because one piece of concrit was mistaken does not mean that all concrit is wrong.
Do not tl;dr. This requires emphasis. DO NOT TL;DR about why you're right, about why your character reacted that way, about the character's history, etc.
If the crit is only a bit off and you feel the need to justify your character's actions, then you probably need to make your characterization clearer when you RP, not in HMD. If other RPers think that your character's actions are off and you don't, you must first step back and try to see the other point of view. If you still think your character's actions were right, ask yourself why people think they're wrong.
Your critic might have perceived your character's actions in a different light from how you wanted them to be perceived, and that's a legitimate problem too, not a characterization problem, but probably an issue with the clarity of your writing. --Or you may be a little too insistent that people have to view these actions the same way you do.
Just remember that the only reason you should tl;dr is if you're answering a question asked in the crit you received. If there was no question, crit is just there for you to consider. Consider it. Thank the critic. Don't overreact. Crit is not absolute; it's subjective. Critics can be wrong: it's as simple as that. Just don't assume they are!
I hope this helps! Thanks for reading.