Post by Ryan H. on Sept 19, 2011 19:53:35 GMT -5
So what exactly is a 'roleplay'?
[/u][/center]I understand that most of you are new to the whole 'roleplay' thing, and that a lot of you don't even actually know what it means. Contrary to popular belief, roleplay does not mean dressing up and having freaky sex in costumes. No; that's just one possible definition for the word. Roleplay, in the form we're talking about, is essentially multiplayer story-telling. One person types and sends their piece of the story, called a post, then the other person replies with a post of their own, etc. Sometimes there are only two people involved, and sometimes there can several. Why is this called roleplay and not story-telling? Simple! Because you only control ONE of the characters. Occasionally there will be exceptions and one person will control two or more at a time, though this is fairly uncommon. You play one character, telling that character's side of the story, and another person tells about their character and their part of the story. For example...
Aleina's eyelids drooped low, a small sigh of boredom escaping from her lips. The spaces between classes, usually a time of peace and relaxation, was now nothing but troublesome for her. The girl knew full well that if she allowed herself to think about anything, her thoughts would instantly be turned to him. And since he was the last thing she wanted to think about, Aleina sat in solemn silence, bored out of her mind in the high school courtyard, legs kicking the air from her perch on the back of the wall fringing a thin layer of decorative bushes and trees.
[/i]While not all posts have to be quite that long... that's the general jist of how things go. A post like this, where no characters other than one are involved, is typically the starting post for roleplays. Since you don't know where the other character(s) is or what they're doing, you can't include them in your post unless something about them has already been predetermined, such as if they had been following you; if that's the case, it's safe to assume they're still following you, as long as you don't go into specific detail about their actions.
Faith Pandora, self-proclaimed king of the school strolled through the center of the courtyard with an air of dignity and grace befitting one with as self-centered a mindset as his. Clearly not one suited for large social parties, Faith walked alone amidst the throng of students enjoying their lunch break with friends. Solitariety wasn't enough to keep a cocky, arrogant smrik on his lips, the amused glint in his emerald eyes making it clear he was perfectly content with this lonely path he walked. Though somehow it still seemed natural when one solitary person addressed another, a fact Faith reinforced when, upon seeing the blond-haired girl sitting alone atop one of the courtyard's walls, he decided to call out to the girl in a casual tone. "Yo, Lei-Lei. Get your ass off the wall and come here."
This is a standard example of a second post, the reply to a starting post. Sometimes the second post can be harder(and longer) than the first, in how you not only have to state what and why your character is doing when the roleplay begins, but also some manner of interaction with the other character. Another important thing to remember; note how Faith's post didn't include anything about Aleina, other than what she'd already said in her post. His post didn't end with the assumption that she was actually going to get off the wall - and why should it? Faith's player can't make a decision for Aleina's player in choosing what the other character will do, or what will happen to them. For all he knows, Aleina could randomly burst into flames just as easily as she could jump down from the wall and greet him. But, since I don't want Aleina to burst into flames, let's not do that....
Aleina was so lost in her daydream about how bored she was that she'd forgotten to keep an eye on her surroundings. Unfortunately for her, that meant that Faith's arrival nearby went unnoticed until he called out to her. The poor girl let out a slight yelp, eyes widening as she nearly fell off the wall she was perched on, only kept upright by the way her hands were gripped tightly onto the rough edges of the wall. That position didn't last long though, Aleina leaping off her perch as soon as she'd been able to shoot Faith a nasty glare. "Nice to see you again," she spat, eyes narrowing as she extended her hand for a shake.
Luckily, Aleina didn't end up bursting into flames. In fact, she took the action most people would have predicted by jumping off the wall to meet him. But... just because we predict it will happen doesn't necessarily mean it will. As I stated before, she could just as easily have done something completely different. If you state that a character that ISN'T your own has done something, that's called God-modding; The most unforgivable sin a roleplayer can commit. Anything from making another character accept an offer to shake hands to forcing another character to be hit by your punch can be counted as god-modding. If you look, neither Faith nor Aleina has done that yet, though they've both had opportunities. Faith could have god-modded by saying that Aleina jumped off the wall in his post, and Aleina could have done the same by saying that Faith accepted her offer to shake hands. Follow their example! Remember; Every time you God-mode, Jesus kills a cat-girl. Seriously. Think about the cat-girls.
Rules of Roleplaying
1. Don't God-mode. I already covered what this means... so if you didn't read it, GO BACK AND START OVER! I typed this for a reason, and that reason wasn't for you to ignore it.
2. No auto-hitting. This rule falls into the same catagory as god-modding, but has become so massively abused that it became its own rule. Auto-hitting is when you state in one of your posts that you swung a punch and it hit, without waiting for the consent of the other player to do something to their character. A fight SHOULD look like this:
Faith throws a punch at Furigaro
Furigaro dodges
It should NOT look like this:
Faith punches Furigaro in the face, giving him a massive nosebleed.
Furigaro... has no reason to post, because Faith decided to be a dick and decide what happens to his character for him.
3. Remember the difference between IC and OOC. Don't know the terms? IC stands for In-Character, and OOC stands for Out-Of-Character. This rule simply means that just because you know it doesn't mean your character knows it. Think of when you're reading a book; the bad guy thinks something that you, as the reader, can know. But just because you read the thought doesn't mean that the hero heard it. The same applies to roleplaying; Just because you know a character's name doesn't mean your character does. Just because you know that there's a giant pit of death and lava at the end of the hallway doesn't mean your character does.
4. Don't be a twink. A twink is a general term used in roleplays to describe an idiot. Twinks are commonly people who make their characters absolutely perfect; A twink will see through every plan, understand everything, dodge every attack, and commonly have the ability to hear the thoughts of other people, even though their characters shouldn't be able to do any of this. For example, a character playing a vampire that looks exactly like a normal human with the sole exception of their fangs shouldn't be able to be figured out easily. Normal people won't be able to tell; I mean, who goes around assuming people are vampires? But a Twink will instantly find some reason to suspect it. If they can't find some unrealistically far-fetched reason to figure it out, a Twink will find SOME reason to pry the other character's mouth open and see the fangs. The bottom line is to be realistic, people. Your character would never walk around assuming people are vampires because they run away at the sight of blood, or something equally as vague.
5. Never post one-liners. A one-liner doesn't necessarily mean a post that takes up one line, but rather is one that includes only one action. Common examples are...
Reycom smiles.
Aleina shrugs.
Faith throws a punch.
Xsaberbadass83765 smacks you with a fan.
None of these are acceptable posts... it's offensive to the other person that's actually trying to tell a story. If one-liners is the kind of roleplay you want, go look up a Persona Play forum and go there. You can smile and punch people all you want there.
So what have I learned?
Well, hopefully enough to survive... the last thing I can tell you is that roleplaying, like any other skill, isn't something you can be instantly good at. It's a skill you have to learn and develop, just like any other. No writer can instantly produce full-length novels, and no artist can immediatelly draw the Mona Lisa.
And don't take roleplaying too seriously... it's like a game. As soon as you forget that, the roleplay will fall apart. Never get too serious. Just have fun.
