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Roleplaying: The Basics.

Offline Red

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Roleplaying: The Basics.
« on: June 29, 2008, 06:57:53 PM »
Hello, I am Red. I'm completely devoted to the roleplaying section of this forum and will look after it's affairs. To start things off, I would like to post the basics of roleplaying.

The Basics:

Roleplaying here is fairly simple. The following is a guide to successful roleplaying here at the 4M's Elite Roleplay section. Someone makes a thread. The first few posts contain the introduction (to explain the important details as well as grab the audience's attention), the rules, the setting, the beginning of a story, perhaps the thread-maker's character, and or the character skeleton sheet for those who would like to join to fill out.
To join, you post your character in the correct place they assign and ask nicely.  But remember not to spam them or flame the thread and such if they don't accept. There are always other roleplays or you could also make your own!
If you are accepted into the roleplay, then your character can enter the story. He/she(or it) is controlled by you and you only(unless you give permission); you can't control someone else's character either which is displayed later on in this guide(unless they give permission). Gradually the thread maker and the other roleplayers progress through the story to the end. You must make sure your posts are descriptive, use proper grammar and that your character does things that apply to what he's like.
For example, if your character is always happy then he/she wouldn't say "Shut up, I hate you and go away or I'll kill you." Similarly, if your character's personality is evil and shady, he wouldn't jump into a room baring gifts for everyone and shout "I'm just in a nice mood today. How about a group hug?" This also includes things like the character's speach or dialect. A person's character should stay inside their set dialect and not flop all over the place with different speech. If you start off your character with an accent of some sort, stick through with it until the end.

10 Important things to remember:



Next are the ten most basic respects or courtesies of roleplaying. These are not absolute rules but they are much like the unwritten code most who use the forum regularly expect and will help you become a better roleplayer if you follow them.

#1 Moderation:
Having an uber-powerful character that can, with one withering look, decimate everything, does not get you any friends. It is unfair and annoying to those who wish to play properly; it also ruins the game for everyone else. Having a well-balanced character is what people want.

#2 Grammar:
Typing without basic punctuation, grammar or spelling can be very difficult to decipher exactly what is being said. If you're not sure of the spelling, type it out in a word-processing program with a spellchecker so you don't have to worry or get out the dictionary.

#3 Leet must die:
Avoid the use of leet or other internet speak which includes the use of y, u, k, etc(spell things out- y=why, =you, k=okay, ect). Use full sentences and proper sentence structure. Colloquial accents are fine so long as you stick to them and they are easy to understand. "Arr that it be" in one post then "yea course it is" would be a little out of character, so if you wish to use silly accents then for continuity you need to stick with them really. Also avoid the use of asterisk to signify actions. Use full sentences to display your actions instead.

#4 Plan your entrance:
Time your entrance as best you can. It's no good for those already playing and perhaps being engaged in a fearful battle for their lives when along you come and start chatting to them. It is best to enter while they're walking along a road or the like.

#5 Let yourself be remembered:
Remember to include your name often instead of he or I as it can be difficult for latecomers to know who you are without referring constantly back to the character bios.

#6 Be unique:
You don't always have to be the typical elf, dwarf, or human. Branch out, be wacky (stay within reason) and create your own races (but be sure to say what they are and give a in depth description). As long as the cap fits wear it.

#7 SPAM:
Don't spam, that includes making lots of single line posts rather than editing your original post.

#8 Godmodding:
Godmodding is where you control other characters without their permission. This is frowned upon for obvious reasons as it is annoying and unsporting. Never do this unless you are given permission to do so by the roleplay character's controller's permission.

#9 Autohitting:
Continuously attacking another character without giving them a chance to defend themselves. This again is unsporting and more than a little annoying. Avoid like the plague.

#10 Be interesting in your bio(character skeleton):
Just like in real-life with a resume; short, vague and not very detailed is not the way to go. A two-line bio makes for a very boring read. Be creative and interesting, delve deep into your imagination and create something worthwhile to read (though don't be too long). Try to use sentences to answer all of the character skeleton categories to give a more interesting theme to the biography (try not to use commas to separate all the things he or she likes or hates...ect).


Bio Format
Below is a suggested format for characters.

*Note: you do not have to use this format. This is a recommended format for a descriptive character.
Save your Bio somewhere on your computer and you SHOULD PM them to the RP's creator so he can have a post devoted to bios alone and can be posted there for easy viewing.

Name: (Character Name)
Age: (Character Age)
Race: (Example: elf,merfolk,neko,human, dwarf...ect..)
Gender: (M Or F)
Weapon: (Example: Sword,whip, dagger...ect..)
Armor: (Example: clothing, chain mail. sheilds....ect..)
Appearance: (Example: Hair color, height, thin or fat, eye color...ect..CAN INSERT PICTURE INSTEAD IF YOU WISH TO DO SO.)
Personality: (nice, fun, asshole, jerk, outgoing, funny... ect...)
Powers/Abilities: (Example: controls fire, controls ice, read minds, tell future....ect..)
Alignment: (Example: Good/Evil/Neutral, God)
History: (Your charater's story or any other information.)

Remember this is only suggested; it is not something you have to use. You can make your own however you want to. But I recommend the Bio I give below when making an RP(copy and paste the code and fill in the categories outside of the bold BBcode so it's easy to read the categories next to the inserted information).


Code: [Select]
[b]-=BIO=-[/b]


[b]Roleplay: [/b]
[b]Name: [/b]
[b]Age: [/b]
[b]Gender: [/b]
[b]Birth Date: [/b]
[b]Se'xu'al Preference: [/b]
[b]Race: [/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]-Eye Color: [/b]
[b]-Hair Color: [/b]
[b]-Hair Style: [/b]
[b]-Height: [/b]
[b]-Weight: [/b]
[b]-Other Features:[/b]
[b]-Clothes: [/b]
[b]-Shoes: [/b]
[b]-Gloves: [/b]
[b]-Other: [/b]

[b]Social Standing: [/b]

[b]Occupation: [/b]

[b]Hobbies: [/b]

[b]Likes: [/b]

[b]Dislikes: [/b]

[b]Strengths: [/b]

[b]Weaknesses: [/b]

[b]Personality: [/b]

[b]History/Background: [/b]

[b]*Misc: [/b]

[b]Weapon of Choice: [/b]



OOC:
Use this term sparingly. It means for you talk out of character, which is normally frowned upon in an RP. If an RPer overuses this term they might find themselves being asked to leave the thread or RP. Too much OOC is considered Spam! So, if you are going to talk outside of the actually roleplay (OOC= Out Of Character) then please speak in  "((your msg))."

Saving space:
If you seem to post a 1 liner (1 lined post) and then you come up with something to add, use the edit button. Don't continuously post more 1 liners. Combine them! Also if you post OOC before you have a bio in edit the OOC to replace it with your bio! It saves space etc.

SPAM:
Stupid pointless annoying message. If you post too many OOC's after each other it is considered SPAM. Posting a pointless message before you even post a bio such as:

I like tacos.
or
A giant pie ate the world.

That is rather irksome... So don't do it! =_=

Controlling your character:

After creating a bio AND being accepted into a roleplay, you are expected to create an introductory post. This may seem obvious to most of you, but let me inform you, getting posts like "Ok, great. Um.. How do I start?" is extremely irritating. =_=

First of all, make sure you use proper English. I cannot stress that enough. USING ASTERISKS AS ACTIONS = BAD. Terrible posts are no longer seldom-seen and many of them look like such:

" *walks into city and sees person* hello who are you "

Perhaps it would be easier to grasp if I created the same scenario but with proper role-play grammar.

"Timothy strides into the hustle and bustle of the town, grasping his sword lightly. Looking brightly around, he eyes a stunningly beautiful young lady looking distressed. He proudly walks over to her and exclaims, "Why hello there, my lady. The name is Sir Timothy, Knight of Camelot. How may I be of assistance to you?"

As you can see, the second post would be greatly more appreciated than the first.


OTHER INFO

-In your BIO where it says appearance, You may choose to insert a picture instead of typing it.
If you don't have a picture you can also ask me for one if you don't wanna type it in or just want a picture too.

-Occasionally you will see text within people's posts that are blue or navy colored. This is usually a previous post made and added in to help indicate the exact time a response was made or a kind of recap in a roleplay after much time has gone by and no one remembers what the person is replying to. So this helps pinpoint and or refresh everyone's memory of what's happening in the correct order.

-If your Bio or posts are invalid then I will tell you to change or edit it. If you do not, I will change or delete your post myself.

-You can feel free to make your own roleplay thread/story just make sure it meets my rules and allows the same fairness to everyone.

-And remember to get all your friends to join the fun on this forums, so tell them about it. ^.^

THAT'S ALL!! HAPPY ROLEPLAYING!!!!!

Offline Red

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Re: Roleplaying: The Basics.
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2008, 07:13:26 PM »
Third Person

After reading through some of the current RPs below, I have decided to add this to my topic. I think it would be most effective if you use THIRD PERSON to roleplay in. This is usually expected on roleplaying forums and using things like the following are not acceptable:

*John walks into the room with a frown on his face*

This hinders the ability to write well and create a world of imagination. The following is an acceptable example of THIRD PERSON roleplaying:

John entered the quiet class room with a dreary look on his face.

"Hello, everyone." John said in a lazy almost whisper of a hello that which reflected his apparent sadness.


THIRD PERSON indicates things that already happened and is used with words as they are in past tense such as "happened" "went" "had" "opened" "sliced" ect...



Offline Red

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Re: Roleplaying: The Basics.
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2008, 09:51:43 PM »
SPECIAL THANKS:

StoicNinja: Thanks for inventing the best character skeleton I've ever seen.

Offline Adelaide

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Re: Roleplaying: The Basics.
« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2010, 12:51:38 AM »
NOTES FROM ADDY:

I won't be deleting this because Red was a great moderator and did a great job explaining things but I would like to add a few things to this, that I think are important to state.

TEAM WORK IS IMPORTANT.

Remember the RPing is a fun experience to be shared between many members, and not just yourself and that you will have to make it fun for everyone. This may involve biting your tongue and making minor sacrifices. Here's a few rules I'd like to lay down regarding your relation to others:

1) Be welcoming. No matter how much experience a new member may have with RPing, remember to welcome them and actively try to involve them in the fun. Let their entrance be recognized, and feel free to KINDLY give them some tips on how to improve.

2) Creative criticism is welcome. Flaming is not. Feel free to criticize actively, and effectively, but only if its to help or improve. Use effective communication skills; do not speak down to another member or result to insults of their work or person. This will not be tolerated.

3) Miscommunication happens. Try to completely understand what another person is saying to you before getting offended. Make sure to be able to differentiate helping from flaming. If miscommunication does occur, remember to be forgiving. :)

4) Include everyone. Everyone is to be included if they want to be. Do not allow personal conflict to influence roleplays. If you are mad at a person, I DO NOT want to see this reflected in an RP.

5) Commit to it. Don't drop out of RPs because of conflicts. The group relies on you. :Dc

Also remember who the Dungeon Master/Game Master is! They are in charge of their own RPs; before making a decision that could change the overall plot/storyline/flow of the RP, talk to the maker first! Most will be open to suggestions!~ Do not question their rules unless they legitimately seem unfair (you might want to consult me in this instance). Have fun guys!
I am the creator of awesome points and therefore I have a never ending supply.
10 Luffle Points~!


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