We've all been there. We're fighting some multi-headed Gleeok when our partner writes some twenty paragraph post that obliterates the monster and takes us into the next couple rooms, solving the dungeon, taking the prize, and getting the girl before ending their post, leaving us to say, "wait, what about my character?" I know, I know; I do this a lot. A lot a lot a lot a lot. But, still, that's part of why I'm posting this. Part of the appeal of writing, for me, is the feel of improvement. Where do you personally draw the line between "you went too far forward and blocked me off" and "that's a good bit of progress?"
It depends on how well you know your partner, I suppose. As long as there's mutual consent, and both parties know exactly where the poster is going to take things, then there's not really a problem. That said, generally a good rule of thumb is to probably, at-most, end the encounter (if it's a battle, and not a boss). Going further than that could cause significant issues, because if you aren't communicating OOC with your partner, you may or may not know whether or not they have plans for the next area. I think the best way of avoiding this is talking to your partner(s), and establishing a line, because there really isn't one until it's decided upon.
Well, you also have to consider a certain level of spontaneity. Sometimes roleplay can be a ton of fun when you don't decided on a line beforehand. If everyone in the RP knows what's about to happen, then it's more like playing to a script, where you already know the story but want to give it a little bit of "actor's flare" or something. That's kind of a topic for another time, but I'd say at least consider this: leave the RP where you think your partner can make something good out of it. For example, if you know your buddy's good with daggers or something, expose the side shot and let them get a stab in there. Maybe they hate dogs, and all of a sudden that horrible pack from OoT-nighttime comes swarming out of an alley. If possible, picking a place that ends with a cue for your partner to jump in can be awesome, and you can totally do it without scripting the whole thing once you get a feel for their character. I feel like in almost any circumstance I'd enjoy running around that circle for a while before someone drops a monster post and fastforwards the story a lot. Sometimes it needs to be done, but hey, RPing isn't about completing something as much as it is about exploring the world and the characters. Whether that means brawling with some Lizalfos governing the treasure chest you want or playing a game of cards in a pub is completely up to you. Either way, if you're RPing in a way that consciously includes the other person, it can be pretty sweet.
This is why I at least TRY to read up on the characters that I RP with or ask their creators about them. If I know what they can and can't do, I can leave cues for the other RPer(s) so they can do stuff as well. That said, when for example I'm writing decently-sized posts stopping at the entrance to a dungeon, leaving a perfect opportunity for my partner to head into the dungeon and move on the thread's plot a little, and they don't do it (this has happened several times), I get frustrated and I get the feeling that 'I have to do everything myself.' If you give me the feeling that I have to do everything, I will do everything. I try to communicate with my partners as much as possible, but I don't want to have to reurgitate their posts for them.
For me, bunny hopping is a necessary evil. Ideally you shouldn't do it and everyone should have complete 100% control over what their character does, but sometimes you have to do it for the sake of the flow of the RP. Like when everything about the RP is saying "The plot is headed toward the next room", I don't think its unreasonable to assume everyone is going to wind up in the next room in a timely manner if there's nothing else going on. Which is important if you wanted your character to say something to someone else and you're the first person to post about walking into the room. Beyond that though, I have to agree with Willow on what he said about communication. It pays to stay in touch with your fellow RPers and give them a heads up on what you intend to do. It always feels less rude to get a PM saying "Hey, I'm going to push forward a bit. I'll edit it out if you don't like it." then it is to read a new post out of the blue about how your character just got bunny hopped all over the place with no heads up. The former says about you that you are at least trying to be considerate of other people's feelings, the latter often makes you seem arrogant that you would just happen to know how someone else's character would react to a situation change. As for what's considered pushing forward too much, I personally like to keep my posts about one general action. Like "In this post, my character will follow the others." or "In this post, my character will fight off a wolfos." If it slows things down a little bit, so be it. It gives everyone a fair chance to contribute to the RP and ultimately, I believe it's the RP runner's job to move stuff along when things slow down.
