Beginners Roleplay Guide
Feb 17, 2018 9:53:33 GMT -5
Post by nygma on Feb 17, 2018 9:53:33 GMT -5
So you want to join a roleplay, huh? Well in order to do that, knowledge on what exactly you're doing may be useful in case you've never roleplayed before. We'll start with the basics here.
What is Roleplaying?
Roleplaying is like making a story with other people, so like shared story telling. You will take a certain characters role and control their actions as you please while participating in dialogue with another player who is writing as a different character. It may be a fantasy roleplay that takes place in a utopia, or a different kind of world. Or it can take place in the regular, modern world with social media and current day things. You are in control of the plot and setting.
Now that you know what it is, what's next?
How do I join a Roleplay?
It's quite simple. While browsing the forum, you may see people posting their roleplays and advertising them as 'open' or 'accepting'. If a roleplay is 'open' or 'accepting' that means you are able to join it by submitting a character form via the thread, or PM. If the roleplay is not 'accepting' then please respect that and move on to finding another roleplay. You may also look in the '1 x 1 Roleplay Search' and see if anyone is looking for a roleplay that you are interested in and contact them via PM.
How do I come up with a character?
A very important part of a roleplay is character development, this is what makes or breaks a roleplay. Characters who are 'Mary Sues' (A character who is perfect in all forms, and does not get hurt or encounter problems) are often not very good characters and should be avoided unless it is the base of the roleplay. In order to create a character who is well-balanced, it is important to make sure your character has realistic flaws like a person actually does. You also do not want your character to be perfect or never encounter any hardships, as this may become boring and cause your roleplay partner to lose interest.
What is my character supposed to do?
That's the fun part, you and your partner will come up with a plot and you need to figure out what you are interested in when it comes to roleplaying. It is also important to know which level you are capable of roleplaying at. The different levels:
One Liners:
One liners are just as they seem- roleplays that consist of one line and are often times quite simple.
Semi-Lit:
This is above one liners, but are still rather simple and can consist of 2-4 lines.
Literate:
Literate roleplays consist of very proper grammar and punctuation, and are upward of 5-7 lines or more.
Advanced Lit:
Advanced lit is for players who have been roleplaying a long amount of time and are able to write upward of 12 or more lines, or more than one paragraph of writing.
Phrases you may see whilst roleplaying:
OOC: 'Out of character'. This is when a user breaks character to discuss the roleplay or something else, and they will likely be speaking using '(( ))' or '[ ]' to indicate that they are speaking out of character.
Mary Sues/Gary Sues: I briefly discussed this above. These are characters who are usually perfect in every way and can often avoid all forms of negative interaction, conflict and never get injured or hurt. These type of characters should generally be avoided while creating your character.
God-Moding: This is when your character is able to defy basic physics in a roleplay, avoiding all conflict, or inuries and your character is 'all-knowing' and powerful. These types of characters, if not following what your partner is looking for/the plot in your roleplay, should be avoided.
How to behave properly and have proper etiquette:
It is important to know that your partner may get busy at times and not respond constantly, thus meaning you should only PM them if it's been more than a week without notice from them. Repeatedly messaging them or spamming the thread is often considered rude and can potentially get your thread locked and an account warning issued. If your partner stops posting all together, understand that this may be because they are not in the mood for roleplaying, or have lost interest. Please do not continuously dig up old, abandoned threads. Simply search for a new one, and leave your old roleplay partner alone until they message you if they choose to do so.
If another person's character does not like your character, do not take it personally, or act rudely toward them in any way. It is not reality, it is simply a fiction world. If their character does not like yours, it doesn't mean that player doesn't like you, it simply means their character dislikes yours, or it is for plot development. Acting out toward a player for this may suspend you from roleplaying until further notice with an account warning.
You should refrain from an excessive amount of OOC talking, or spamming/bumping your thread. The owner of the thread may potentially ban you from roleplaying on their thread. It may also get you a warning. The point here is, keep OOC chats to a minimum, or make a roleplay discussion thread instead and talk there.
What is Roleplaying?
Roleplaying is like making a story with other people, so like shared story telling. You will take a certain characters role and control their actions as you please while participating in dialogue with another player who is writing as a different character. It may be a fantasy roleplay that takes place in a utopia, or a different kind of world. Or it can take place in the regular, modern world with social media and current day things. You are in control of the plot and setting.
Now that you know what it is, what's next?
How do I join a Roleplay?
It's quite simple. While browsing the forum, you may see people posting their roleplays and advertising them as 'open' or 'accepting'. If a roleplay is 'open' or 'accepting' that means you are able to join it by submitting a character form via the thread, or PM. If the roleplay is not 'accepting' then please respect that and move on to finding another roleplay. You may also look in the '1 x 1 Roleplay Search' and see if anyone is looking for a roleplay that you are interested in and contact them via PM.
How do I come up with a character?
A very important part of a roleplay is character development, this is what makes or breaks a roleplay. Characters who are 'Mary Sues' (A character who is perfect in all forms, and does not get hurt or encounter problems) are often not very good characters and should be avoided unless it is the base of the roleplay. In order to create a character who is well-balanced, it is important to make sure your character has realistic flaws like a person actually does. You also do not want your character to be perfect or never encounter any hardships, as this may become boring and cause your roleplay partner to lose interest.
What is my character supposed to do?
That's the fun part, you and your partner will come up with a plot and you need to figure out what you are interested in when it comes to roleplaying. It is also important to know which level you are capable of roleplaying at. The different levels:
One Liners:
One liners are just as they seem- roleplays that consist of one line and are often times quite simple.
Semi-Lit:
This is above one liners, but are still rather simple and can consist of 2-4 lines.
Literate:
Literate roleplays consist of very proper grammar and punctuation, and are upward of 5-7 lines or more.
Advanced Lit:
Advanced lit is for players who have been roleplaying a long amount of time and are able to write upward of 12 or more lines, or more than one paragraph of writing.
Phrases you may see whilst roleplaying:
OOC: 'Out of character'. This is when a user breaks character to discuss the roleplay or something else, and they will likely be speaking using '(( ))' or '[ ]' to indicate that they are speaking out of character.
Mary Sues/Gary Sues: I briefly discussed this above. These are characters who are usually perfect in every way and can often avoid all forms of negative interaction, conflict and never get injured or hurt. These type of characters should generally be avoided while creating your character.
God-Moding: This is when your character is able to defy basic physics in a roleplay, avoiding all conflict, or inuries and your character is 'all-knowing' and powerful. These types of characters, if not following what your partner is looking for/the plot in your roleplay, should be avoided.
How to behave properly and have proper etiquette:
It is important to know that your partner may get busy at times and not respond constantly, thus meaning you should only PM them if it's been more than a week without notice from them. Repeatedly messaging them or spamming the thread is often considered rude and can potentially get your thread locked and an account warning issued. If your partner stops posting all together, understand that this may be because they are not in the mood for roleplaying, or have lost interest. Please do not continuously dig up old, abandoned threads. Simply search for a new one, and leave your old roleplay partner alone until they message you if they choose to do so.
If another person's character does not like your character, do not take it personally, or act rudely toward them in any way. It is not reality, it is simply a fiction world. If their character does not like yours, it doesn't mean that player doesn't like you, it simply means their character dislikes yours, or it is for plot development. Acting out toward a player for this may suspend you from roleplaying until further notice with an account warning.
You should refrain from an excessive amount of OOC talking, or spamming/bumping your thread. The owner of the thread may potentially ban you from roleplaying on their thread. It may also get you a warning. The point here is, keep OOC chats to a minimum, or make a roleplay discussion thread instead and talk there.