I'm still of the mind that folks shouldn't have to worry overmuch about the tense as long as the base concept gets across. RP is, in my mind, supposed to be fun and interactive and enjoyable for all those involved. If you get too wound up on the minor details like proper tense usage and punctuation and all that, then I feel that detracts from the enjoyment.
If someone wants to imply an unknown by using a future tense, is that really such a bad thing? Is anyone's RP really stymied by someone saying that they would pull out a book rather than just pulling the book out? Events may be "happening" so that present tense is the "correct" tense to be in, but is that really a big deal?
There is obviously a difference between
1.) Doug ate the bagel
2.) Doug is eating the bagel; and
3.) Doug would eat the bagel
But, as has been shown, each one can be interrupted in some fashion. Even if it requires, in a sense, a mild bit of "retconning" for the sake of RP. Doug may have ate the bagel, but if someone states that "a couple bites in" or "just as his teeth break its crisp surface" they are still acknowledging that Doug was in the act of eating the bagel and is attempting to have something happen during it. A sort of forcing into a present tense (or even future, if it kept him from eating the bagel at all) that effectively changes the flow of events, if you will, for the sake of RP.
And if Doug's player doesn't mind that someone has interrupted his eating of his bagel, regardless of the tense it was presented in, is there any harm?
If someone wants to imply an unknown by using a future tense, is that really such a bad thing? Is anyone's RP really stymied by someone saying that they would pull out a book rather than just pulling the book out? Events may be "happening" so that present tense is the "correct" tense to be in, but is that really a big deal?
There is obviously a difference between
1.) Doug ate the bagel
2.) Doug is eating the bagel; and
3.) Doug would eat the bagel
But, as has been shown, each one can be interrupted in some fashion. Even if it requires, in a sense, a mild bit of "retconning" for the sake of RP. Doug may have ate the bagel, but if someone states that "a couple bites in" or "just as his teeth break its crisp surface" they are still acknowledging that Doug was in the act of eating the bagel and is attempting to have something happen during it. A sort of forcing into a present tense (or even future, if it kept him from eating the bagel at all) that effectively changes the flow of events, if you will, for the sake of RP.
And if Doug's player doesn't mind that someone has interrupted his eating of his bagel, regardless of the tense it was presented in, is there any harm?
~