"James stands up."/"James stood up."

"Michelle grabs the knife."/"Michelle grabbed the knife."

"Conan tosses the jewel over the edge."/"Conan tossed the jewel over the edge."


Do you prefer past tense or present tense?

I sometimes don't notice it, until I type up a post and suddenly realize I've typed in a different tense than the previous poster.  And it wigs me out.

Do any games include a rule: "Your posts must always be in X tense!"?

I feel the need to post for this one. I was once told it is proper to post in past tense because things you read happened in the past.

Mind you, the drowsier I get, the more trouble I have with tenses, so I understand this question completely.

I almost always game in past tense. Recently, I joined a game that gets me so pumped up that I flip flop. Everything just feels so sudden. After I come down from a few rapid fire posts, I'll edit everything to past tense. GM hasn't mentioned it.

I've never been in a game here where tense was mandated in the RTJ.

I prefer present tense for my posts. It seems more dynamic to me and it's the way I would speak in a tabletop RPG. I don't try to impose this preference on others, even when I am GM.

I have been in a couple of games where the GM required that everyone post in past tense. I did a lot of revising posts, but it didn't really bother me.

It can also depend on if the game itself is played in first or third person.

In games played in third person, I prefer past tense.
But in games that are in first person, I prefer present tense.

In either case though, I am fine with adapting to how the gamemaster prefers it.

I usually prefer past; but that's one of the things that 'requirements' for can be annoying; as not everyone finds it as easy to go from one to the other.

Keeping a consistent present or past tense for all posts helps the game and the reading of the posts flow for me.  There's a huge disconnect if posts (or an individual post, even!) switch between past and present tense in the same thread.

So long as a game is consistent within itself, I don't tend to care which tense it uses.  I've seen plenty of valid arguments for both past and present tense, so I'm not too picky on which one to use in a game so long as it is consistent.

I don't mind if some players use present and others use past tense in the same thread. As long as the game is fun.

I'm with Eggy on this one.  I almost always use past tense, although sometimes I'm so caught up in responding to a particular post that I'll shift if it's written in present tense.  And I pretty much always go back and shift tense when I do that.

But it doesn't cause me any hitch in my reading if one post is past tense and the next is present.  I do prefer it if individual players maintain a consistent tense in what they post (and it does bug me if they shift tense within a post), but overall, it's a pretty trivial matter to me.

Almost every game I've been in and am in either mandates present tense or uses present tense by default. I find it easier, even now, to write narrative in past tense (unless I were to decided to imitate Damon Runyon).

There is no correct answer. It is simply a matter of preference. If the GM asks for one or the other then respect their wishes, if not then either go with the majority or your own choice.

I prefer past tense. Writing in present tense causes me to lose nuances and use simpler language, and nuance is important (to me at least) when dealing with limited perspectives. I feel (perhaps incorrectly) that players say more and explain what they are doing better when using past tense.

But if someone uses present tense, it occasionally tricks me into using present tense when I reply. Then I end up with a post in both tenses and it has to be fixed.

I can't stand present tense personally.  I won't write it, and I don't like reading it.

I write in present tense because when I write, am seeing it all happening in my head, all in the here and now as I write, so past tense feels wrong.

In reply to DarkLightHitomi (msg # 14):

Well then, if I had known that I would be doing the same in your games lol.

IMHO - If it's a group game, past tense works well. If it's a solo game, present tense has a better feel to it.

I purposefully sought out a solo game where I could play a character in the present tense, and it was wholly consuming. It was though I was playing a video game. My character was very alert.

It also depends on what drives your fiction.

By that I mean event-based adventures - where characterisation, mystery and/or long descriptive passages about the environment take a back seat to action - would feel more at home in the present tense.

Whereas characterisation & mystery seem to fit more comfortably in past tense.

I find both have their attractions, and I can use either, but I prefer present tense. However, in my experience, I am in the minority in that and frequently end up using past tense.

That said I find that as long as one tense is used consistently, it is not a problem which I use, It is just a matter of what the players and GM are more comfortable with.

Amusingly I was once in a game that mandated future tense: it was rather surreal, but worked OK for the span of the game.
(A bunch of players dropped however and then the GM quit posting, so I am not sure if the posting in future tense thing had anything to do with the game's collapse...)

If an RTJ recommended Dr. Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveler's Book of  1001 Tense Formations, I'd join the game.

That was will be unnecessary, I thoughting.

I write, naturally, in second person pluperfect.  Why is this never on the list? sigh

I've definitely seen a tense be 'mandated', or strongly encouraged as part of the game itself.

I personally don't advocate anyone sticking to a set tense different than they feel they should use for a given post. Even changing tense within a post is fine, as long as it progresses in a logical sort of way (meaning, not changing within a sentence or paragraph :p).

Frequently, a post is a direct response to the present situation and also the immediate past. Your character was in a scene where something happened, but you weren't online while it was happening or (more likely) the post didn't hold itself up waiting for your input. NPCs will say several lines, scenes will proceed a certain amount, without you being "at the table" to interrupt the GM like you might be able to face to face. Especially in a slow posting rate game.

It seems most elegant to me, even if you prefer present-tense, to touch on the immediate past a bit at the start of your post.

[As he listened to the old man's story, John couldn't help but roll his eyes] makes sense in the context that the old man's story just happened.

You can then transition back into the present in following lines when you finally respond. "I've heard it all before," John spits. "What actually happened that night?!"

That reads a lot better to me than trying to revise past events by forcing your entire post to present tense.


I'm much more interested in writing that is interesting to read during the game than presenting a crystal clear narrative to an outside party. If it makes sense to have your post be past tense for a given scene, fine. If it makes sense later on for another to be written in present tense, fine. If you transition in one direction over the course of a somewhat lengthy post, that can work too.

In an action scene, using present tense can help heighten the tension. In more laid-back scenes, sticking with past-tense may be the way to go.

And if you're really tired and you mix up tenses within a paragraph (I imagine we all do it sometimes) that is acceptable every now and again as long as I understand what is happening.

I have a strong preference for past tense, personally. I ask that my players always post in third person, past tense.  The goal is for their posts to read like a typical novel. In service of this, I ask that they consider themselves (as players) omniscient outsider viewers who are reporting on their characters' actions, thoughts, and intentions.

Of course, sometimes my players are strongly inclined to post in present tense. I usually let it go, because I don't want to be a nag, but it is a little incongruous to have mixed styles as I'm reading through the game.

In PbP games I go with past tense since I always feel like it's someone telling me what happened when I read it. When I'm writing a story it all depends with an action packed story where there is lots of buckled swash I go present and if it's more of an intrigue I'll go with past.

I usually write present tense but only because almost all of the games I join contain players writing in present tense and I don't want to disturb the flow.  Pretty often I will slip up and write a post in past tense, which is annoying (I wish I'd remembered before I typed all that!) but for the most part it doesn't bother me.  Even if some players post past and some present, as long as they aren't flipping tense mid-post, I'm good.

In his games, he preferred third person past tense, as he figured it sat better in a story, just as first person present tense sat better in a chat thread.

However, I prefer to lead by example rather than to dictate, it doesn't bother me enough to nag, and I figure if people are sufficiently absorbed in the story to lose track of tense, I must be doing something right. :)

In someone else's game, I'll either follow the rules or, if there are none, I'll go with the majority to make the game consistent.

I prefer third person, past tense, the first because my characters are so not me, and the second because as one reads, the actions are past.  Anything else feels awkward to me.