1. Spell check—no one wants to read your typos, it puts them off. Typos are fine, of course, but make an effort to spell check your posts.
2. This is related but, no chatspeak in IC. Everyone hates it. You can’t read it. Please don’t do if the creator of the board doesn’t want you too.
3. Post length—quality over quantity obviously, but you should describe your character at length so people get a feeling of who your character is. Not only current appearance but things like personality, history, flaws, the stuff that makes a human interesting.
4. Use proper grammar in IC—that means capitalization, quotation marks, etc.
5. Make your best effort to write intriguing and interesting posts—everyone gets better at writing and roleplaying and until then ask questions so you can learn.
6. Please be original, not only does it get boring to see the same characters over and over again, but there are so many of the same genre RP circling around. If you see an RP of a genre you like, don't start a thread with the same thing, join the original one. Also, try to be ecclectic with what you RP, make up some new ideas about what to roleplay. TRY NOT TO BE REDUNDANT IN THE THREADS THAT ALREADY HAVE BEEN POSTED.
OTHER POINTERS
1. Don't use '*', you should use formal writing to a certain extent while roleplaying.
2. Structure the sentences so they all flow together
3. Do not use words repeatedly. For example: He got up and got dressed. He walked into the washroom. He picked up a brush and he brushed his teeth. He walked into his room once again. He pushed open his door. He left his house. See? it gets annoying. 4. Make sure you have more than just a sentence. A truely gifted roleplayer can stretch one sentance into atleast three paragraphs.
5. Pay attention and read about what is going on around you. Try and effectively jump into situations where you would otherwise be left out of the general flow. Not that that is a bad thing alot of people enjoy just roleplaying on their own. Doing thier own nuts.
ABOUT INTRODUCTIONS AND FIRST POSTS
All thread authors are considered to be the initial Games Masters (GMs) of their scenarios. They should make an effort to include, at a minimum, a story, and rules in the first post or first few posts of the thread. They usually set the scene, guide players during its course and make decisions as to the outcome of the game. These authors may relinquish their right to the thread and game therein if they appoint another person to act as the GM of their RP/thread, or if the initial GM is away for an extended period at which time a new GM is appointed by group consensus and sanctioned by the Forum Moderator(s)
Post length is an important part of roleplaying. A short post can make for a difficult reply, as can a twenty paragraph reply. The key thing, really, is to write comfortably. Writing posts eighteen paragraphs of rambling sure is fun when you've got a lot to say, but it can be tiring for the other person to read and it can be hell on your imagination after a while. After all, there's only so much you can say before you get burned out and need to take a hiatus to recuperate your poor muse. If you feel like rambling, by all means, go for it. Just remember, there's going to be someone on the other side reading that post. Is it an interesting post, or are you just blathering on and repeating details? Part of being a good writer is being varied and interesting no matter what you're talking about. Monotomy is killer on a reader.
If you really feel you need to say more, here are some tips [to lengthen your post]:
-Describe the scenery. Description of the surroundings can provide a hefty paragraph and is good filler material if you're strapped for something to say.
-Describe how your character is feeling and why. Are they morose for a particular reason? Are they happy for some reason? Elaborate on this and you may find you have to cut yourself short.
-More detail. Detail is key. If your character said something, describe their tone of voice, facial expression, or body language.
INFORMATION ON RATINGS
To be polite, if you plan on going over PG-13 you should add something along the lines of 'rated R' or 'mature content' in your post. However, sex scene is NOT allowed. You never know who might just stumbled upon or reading your roleplay. What would your parents (or other's parents) say if they found out? If you are planning a sex scene for plot's sake, just a light hint would do (e.g. ...and they made love to each other.).
*coughs* Thats going to be helpful to those who have questions. But, heres some more... no sorry I didn't take out the useless or the stuffs you already have lol.
Glossary Terms:
RP: Roleplay
GM/DM: Games Master or Dungeon Master. This is a much more difficult role to fill online, but it usually referrs to the thread creator who manages the plot, NPC's and gently prods the PC'S in the right direction.
PC: Player Character. This describes one of the characters played by a member on the site.
NPC: Non Player Character. These are usually key figures in the RP that the GM needs full control over to aid the progress of the RP or to make an important story point. Online, NPC's are also often played by the PC's to aid with character development. This tends to be the case in an RP with no specific plot line, or one where the GM only needs loose control.
IC: In Character. This should be self-explannatory. When you post as your character you are posting IC
OOC: Out of Character. Some OOC speech always takes place in an RP. It is likely to appeae if people have queries, problems or need to declare absences. It is usually signified by double parenthesis or 'OOC:'. For example ((OOC:I'll be away for the week))
Puppet Masters: Those who take control of another PC.
God-Modders: God Modding tends to encompass several terms. Auto-Hitters, Puppet Masters and Power-gamers all fall under this bracket, to be frank, everytime I read a definition it seems to be different so I hope that this suffices.
Mary Sue's & Gary Stu's: These refer to the same, tired old characters that we're all sick of seeing. They refer to characters who are a walking cliche. Please God, when someone asks you to give your character some thought, heed them!
PG-13: Many RP's have a PG rating. This is usually an indication of whether explicit violence, language and 'petting' is allowed.
Cybering: Duh. Most RP's don't allow cyber or any kind of explicit sexual content in an RP. Although this is usually down to the thread creator and some tolerate nudity and above the shirt action. Heavy petting and full blown sex scenes aren't for everyone's pallet. If you're unsure you should just ask.
NOTES ON LITERACY
Some people don't seem to know whether they are literate or not. So here are some vague definitions for those of you who are confused
Literate: Those who claim to be literate should maintain a high level of spelling, punctuation and grammar. They are also expected to have a firm grip on past, present and future tense and be able to construct some interesting sentences. In the RP world literacy also reffers to your story telling skills. We expect them to be at a reasonable level if you're going to join a Literate's only RP, this means that not only should your posts be rife with description, but that your charcters should be well developed. As a final note while length is not literacy a minimum post length will usually be set by the thread creator. If you cannot meet it I suggest you don't join.
Semi-Literate: Semi-Literates tend to make a lot of spelling mistakes and their posts tend to be shorter. Because literacy is also used to refer to skill semi-literates seem to have more fragmented character bio's, but all in all they make a strong effort and want to improve on their skills.
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