So you think you can rp?

Post » Sat May 28, 2011 2:39 pm

So you think you can RP- The brutally honest take on how to rp by Illusionary Nothing


Right guys, I don't profess to know everything about RPing, but I know enough to bring you this little tidbit of ABSOLUTELY VITAL INFORMATION! It's all the common sense stuff which nobody seems to listen to. So listen up this time, please.

Here is how it goes. RPing is writing. It is, it can't be denied. If you don't like writing, or can't be bothered to put into it, then for God's sake don't ruin it for everyone else. Only post when you are sure it is good. If people don't enjoy your posts, then you are not a Good RPer.

That being said, let's get into the nitty-gritty (wonderful word?) of all this jazz.

First off: Making your Character (feel free to build one alongside this?)

Right, building your character sheet is vitally important. Everything must be filled in fully. I would advise not making your character sheet too complicated, but there are several different headings you should take into account.

The most important of these are:

Name: This is where you put your character's name (self-explanatory, I know.)

race: This is where you put your char's race. (again, duh?)

Age: This is where you put your character age. IMPORTANT NOTE: If your char has a ridiculously high age (e.g. due to mutation?) I would advise adding what age they appear to be, otherwise people will think your char is the King of Wrinkle-town. Also, ages any larger than 400 (already massively high!) are just being silly.


If for any of these categories you would have put 'Unknown' it is not too late to change your ways! Understand that that is the height of stupidity. Your character sheet is not for other people's characters. It is for other people, and for you, so that they know who they are dealing with. Putting ridiculously vague stuff on there is redundant.

Whether or not your char, or anyone else, doesn't know your char's age, the players all should. If there is a particular reason you are withholding such information, then only put what they appear to be, and perhaps reveal their actual age at a later date.

Your character should know his name, or at least have a given one, and if he can't work out his race or birthsign, I'll be amazed, on account of all the bonuses and the distinctive appearances. As for their gender? I don't even want to get into that.

Continuing on, the other essential categories are:

Class: These can be custom, but if you call it Ninja, then you don't deserve to RP. End of story. A nice add on for Class is Class Description, which allows a nice bit of background for your class and fleshes out your sheet.

If your character does not fit a particular class, I would suggest either putting a multiple class that covers it, (scholar/thief) making up your own, or else substituting class entirely with class description, to give an idea of what they are capable of. (You know, writing what they are good at and their style of fighting.working computers, scientific research...) Also, past professions might be a good choice- Ex-Soldier, that sort of thing. Or even their occupation or hobby- Artist or Maid


Skills: Keep it reasonable. There are skills from fallout however try and keep these between 7-10 . There was a reason they only allowed you so many skill slots. And that reason is BALANCE. Too many skills make you too powerful. Remember, DO NOT POST NUMBERS, when was the last time you told someone "my mechanic skill is 55" no instead you would say, "I am a mechanic" or "I can fix a car"

Also, I wouldn't take skills from all different specialisations (Combat, Stealth, science ?), because it seems unlikely that someone would be able to study all three easily. Also, there are skills, normal, everyday sort of skills, other than those you find in the games. Perhaps substitute one or two from the game with these, or add one or two onto the end. But it has to fit the class, eg a vault cook would not know rocket science, but he could find his way around a kitchen..

General Appearance: As in, what your char looks like. Put it all in (not clothing, but physical appearance) Other categories such as Height, Build, Eyes, Skin and Hair Colour help flesh out the appearance and make your char sheet easier to navigate, but they should not stand alone. General Appearance is the biggie.

Clothing/Armour: Don't be unrealistic with this (not every bob, jill, and joe has power armour), and once again, feel free to go into detail. Detail is good. Everybody likes detail. Detail detail detail?

Weapons: Right, don't go too powerful with these, or someone will skin you alive. One of a kind super weapons are usually off limits, as are super weapons in general. A customized shotgun is techniclly one of a kind however thiswould not be too uber so it is allowed.

Biography/History: Your character's history. No Vault dwellers (as in the FO1 main character), and chosen ones here if it can be helped, mm'kay? These aren't necessary, but they are nice. Don't right essays for them, just give the basic overview.

IMPORTANT: Keep your char sheet updated as time moves on! And also, don't deviate from it. Whatever you write, that's how your character is. If you RP it differently, then you essentially lied to a whole thread of people, and also proved yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt a bad RPer.


Now we move on to DORKS AND THEIR CHARS

Rule Number 1: Don't give your character a dorky name or nickname. By dorky, I actually mean cool. Listen to me when I say this: YOU LOOK LIKE A FOOL IF YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME IS BLOODSTORM, RAGE, NIGHTSTALKER, GHOST, THE PLANNER or any other stupid names. Nobody is going to name your character such stupid things. Why would they? It sounds completely dorky. Names should be real. Look in your favourite books, look at characters of your race in the game, or even find a random generator if needs be, but come up with something reasonable.


So Rule Number 1 actually equals: Cool names make for dorky RPers.

Rule Number 2: Uber is not necessarily bad. However, there is virtually NOBODY who can actually pull it off. It is very difficult to pull off a powerful character, since they cannot grow and develop, and your natural instinct is to show off and act all amazing. Frankly, there are only two or three RPers I can think of who can actually handle it.

So Rule Number 2 actually equals: only noobs uber, and it will get you kicked.

Rule Number 3: The more boring/normal your character seems, the cooler they are. Cooks, Vault dwellers, generic brotherhood members, villigars? these are the guys everyone wants to hear about turning into heroes. Heroes don't turn into anything. They're already heroes. For them, killing mutants and saving the world is no big deal. It's the normal people, the ones who have to learn, that make it interesting.

So Rule Number 3 actually equals: Exciting Heroes are boring to read about.


Rule Number 4: Not every char is super-beautiful/stunningly gorgeous/muscular/handsome/ whatever else you might try. That's just a stupid, desperate attempt to attract characters of the opposite six. I'll go into more detail about that later.

But Rule Number 4: It is okay to play normal people. Mm'kay?

Rule Number 5: No Ninjas. Very few people can RP ninjas properly, and ninja's are more or less impossible to play in a balanced manner (e.g. without breaking rule number 2). However, an experienced and skilled RPer, with in-depth knowledge of ninjas could manage to RP a ninja properly, but ninjas have a terrible name from the many many bad characters that have been made over time (and nary a good one... ) Unless you have a really good name on these boards, I wouldn't advise trying one.

I would also advise against assassin characters, or at least characters which spend all of their time going on killing rampages. Nobody kills that much, and frankly it's pretty boring, when other things could be going on, that you just run around stabbing everything in sight.

Characters with anti-social tendencies also tend to get in the way of interaction between players, and thus you joining in with the RP. I know, the aloof and cold warrior is fun, but if he doesn't say anything he gets really boring really fast. Only the most skilled of RPers should try and take on such challenges.


Listen up to this, it'll make your chars more interesting- INDIVIDUALITY

Unique characters are good. I don't mean with special powers or races, although those can help. I mean in terms of personality and habit, or even a little played class that everyone knows about. Make your char special! Perhaps they hyper-ventilate when faced with enemies, or like singing bawdy songs whenever they enter an inn. Maybe they are deathly afraid of women, or have a lisp. Perhaps they dye their hair a different colour every day- I don't know, be creative! Anything that makes your character stand out, while at the same time being like a real person. (serial killing set-aside, once again.)


UBERING AND CHARACTER CONTROLLING: Brothers from the land of stupid.

You'll find these rules in pretty much every RP you ever join. They are there for a reason. Basically, this means you don't start out with (or suddenly find) powerful weapons or armour, or other such items, and you can't take on an entire army of enemies single-handed.

It also means you can't summon an entire army out of thin air. It's just a bad idea, and it ruins gameplay for everyone else. Remember what I said about boring characters being better? Stick with it.

Then there is character controlling. This means you cannot force another character to do something, RP that character, or cause any physical damage to them that their player does not first approve. Ways to make sure you don't do anything like that are to PM a character's player before engaging in a fight, or making a post in such a way as you make the attack but leave the result open. Short Example:


"Hrothgar bellowed in pain as his arm was slashed open. Transferring his blade painfully from his right hand to his left, he attacked again, careful not to slip in his own blood. He swung his blade up and around his opponent's defences, but the attack, while strong, was clumsy? if his enemy noticed it, then it would be easily deflected."


This post makes it possible for the other player to decide the outcome of the attack, because you have not written the result- whether or not the attack worked. In this post, I have decided that I don't really want Hrothgar to have a large chance at succeeding, since he was injured by the other player's post, thus I mention that he is clumsy since he's using the blade in his other hand. If I had wanted him to succeed, I would have made sure that the post said he expected it to succeed, or that it was well-aimed or some such. But the idea is, that the other player still has the right to decide whether or not his character is injured.


NOTE: battles to the death in RPs between players are generally a bad idea. Before you engage in a player-fight, you should always decide who is going to die, or when they are going to stop.


Right, and now we enter the realms of ROMANCE vs BANGING (I know that sounds crude, but this is literally how I see it in RPs at the moment.)

The rules on this are quite simple. There are some elements for good romantic rping, and there are some elements for bad ones.

I'll give you the bad news first.

CHARACTERS DO NOT FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! Can I just say that this is possibly the most boring take on romance I have ever seen.

The romances that are worth reading about (and are realistic!) are the ones that take time and work. That means they might fight. That means they might not even like each other at first. But most definitely, it's better for them to be close friends before they move into something else.

People who immediately fall in love, and start proclaiming their undying love for each other, and take every opportunity for their chars to sleep with each other are just gross. Okay? An RP romance should be beautiful (or at least funny?) to read about. It is not a chance for you to sleep around through your character. Nobody wants to know about the six. It's the lead up to the relationship, the things that bring these people together, that's important.

Also, consider relationships which don't work out, or at least don't work at first. In real life, not every man you meet is going to be your soulmate (and vice versa?), so why should it be any different in RPs? And also, just because someone else's char is deeply infatuated with yours is by no means a reason for your char to drop all and sudden love them too. If they didn't before, chances are they won't until the other does something particularly extraordinary.

And try to remember that beautiful people are not always what attract a mate? it would be nice if, for once, a romance started because two people were compatible, rather than because they wanted to bang each other. Seriously, average and ugly people find love too, not just the beauties.

Here is a section on cross-gender RPing (something I don't do much of) taken directly from HK-47, RPing God. So listen up.

Cross-gender roleplaying Specifically; d00ds who RP chicks

Okay guys, you all know what I'm talking about. You're creating a female character in your head, so why wouldn't you want her to be graciously endowed with DD cups and a perfect sassy attitude? Truth is, guys who create characters like that disgust me. If you are going to roleplay a female character, have some respect for women. Don't throw your character at men or sleep around just because the prospect of a woman who would do that appeals to your nether regions. Keep your brain in your head.

Now I am a dood, and I am a teenager (19), so I feel the same hormones all you do, and I will admit to occasionally making a female character do something I wish a woman would do rather than something a woman would do. I won't profess to understand them, and I don't expect you to, but the key word here is not realism, it's Respect and Realism ().

So basically put, guys, don't roleplay a female character who struts her stuff around, has the chest of Dolly Parton and the face of whatever you think is hot with buns of steel the size of watermelons and wear virtually nothing at all. It's disrespectful and wrong, and nobody likes an RP character like that.


HOW TO POST

First off, detail is everything. People will tell you that in RPing quality is better than quantity. That is true, but not in such a clear-cut way. The only real way to ensure a quality post is to add lots of detail, and that means a long post.

My advice to you is to describe everything! Let your mind run wild! Post everything your character sees, smells, tastes, feels, touches and says. Add in small, over-looked movements and twitches, describe things that particularly strike your character, and add in what they are thinking, or perhaps how their past relates to now. Describe their state of mind, that sort of thing. There is nothing too small to include in your post.

It is vital that you understand that POSTS ARE MORE THAN DIALOGUE. Dialogue on it's own is boring. To have a good post, you must add their thoughts and feelings, how they react to what other people are saying and how their mind processes any information they have been given.

Then you must remember something called CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. This is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT things about RPing. This means that your character grows, changes, and learns new things with time. Events will change your character: it is inevitable. But it's important that you understand that characters do not develop overnight.

Learning a new skill will take a good amount of time: changes in personality will take even longer. Even if your character makes a conscious decision to change, remember it doesn't happen that easily. It is a fundamentally difficult thing to do to change who you are, no matter what events might have done to you. Change happens, but slowly, painfully slowly. You have to make sure that people can easily follow the progress of your character, perhaps even guess where it is going to go, or try to.

Leaving clues in your writing for future plans, vague hints at what is to come in your character's emotional life, or hints as to their past, can be fun to read and speculate about.

Also: when you are writing, it is VITAL that you don't post the points of damage your weapon/spells are doing. Rather, describe how powerful it is by how tired it makes the mage, but how strongly the warrior attacks, etc.

Example of how NOT to do it:

"Hrothgar shot a bullet at his enemy, causing 2 points of ballistics damage, and then followed up with a swing from a crowbar, causing 2 points of blunt damage..."

This is better:

"Hrothgar raised his pistol and fired of a single shot. Picking up a crowbar, he attacked fiercely. Though the tool was blunt and uneffective, enough consecutive attacks might cause real damage..."

Another important part of posting is spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and spacing. If you have difficulty with spelling and grammar, for whatever reason, then consider checking it first in Word or some such before posting.

Dialogue is always preceded by and finished with quotation marks. A short example:

"Hello. Read the Black Horse Courier lately? I hear the emperor was assassinated,"? said Average Jo as he smoked his pipe.

Commas (,) separate sentences up, and full-stops (.) - periods to some- end them. These are the most basic of punctuation, but I hope you get them at least. There are also question marks (?), exclamation marks (!) and many more.

Vary your vocabulary. In layman's terms, use lots of different words. The synonym function in Word could easily help you out. But even as I say that, don't go too out of your way. There are some perfectly common words that will often suite your needs just fine.

And now, spacing. As I have done here, so you should do. Whenever someone else is speaking in dialogue, or the topic of your writing changes: e.g. Before you were talking about what your character could see, and then you started talking about what he could smell- START A NEW PARAGRAPH. Hit enter. In fact, for RPing, it will probably do you better to hit enter twice, and leave one line of space between each paragraph, thus making the divisions even more obvious. It's really hard to read long blocks of text. Separating them eliminates this problem.

Key: In most RPs, you'll find the following things.

Thoughts are in Italics?

"Speech tend to be in quotation marks,"

And telepathy/mental communication is in Bold.

It can vary per RP, but this is the generally accepted rule, I think.


And finally, I leave you with this: everything I've just said isn't necessarily right. Beautiful characters do add something to RPs, heroes are needed every now and then, assassins can be cool and sometimes characters never learn and never change.

Just make sure that, whatever your character is like, you write about everything it does, and have a jolly good time doing it. These rules, all this advice: what it all comes down to is that I am trying to teach you how best to enjoy yourself in RPs, and for others to enjoy you being there too.

I'm going to add in some quotes of various posts I think were excellent examples of good posts in RPs.

And then I'll go and soak my aching fingers, and wonder why I cared enough to write all of this lark. Love y'all.

Trevoire listened very quietly and intently as she spoke of his past, and present. She knew what he was, what his gift was, and he knew what gave you that gift as well. His hand slowly dropped towards his sword hilt yet he prevented himself from drawing it.

You like her powers, don't you? You can have them all in just one stroke of your sword. Think of the power you'll have, think of your destiny.

He smiled the moment she finished her rather interesting speech about him. "We all hear the voice. Most of us, at least. I know that you too have the Darkness in your mind, for I know that not even the strongest illusionist can do what you just did."

Trevoire then turned his back to her and placed his glass on his desk, walking over to a painting and gripping the hilt of his sword even tighter. He could guess that she knows what he's up to and what he's about to do. Though it now only depends on the timing and how fast he can do it before his Knights come storming into the room. He had to plan his actions carefully, though since he has been doing this his whole life, it wasn't that hard.

The Darkness then quickly told him the plan.

He would walk back over to her, offering to refill her glass. The moment she would offer the glass to him he would simply draw his sword and disarm her. Killing her would be the least of his worries. He would then wipe the hilt of his weapon with a cloth and place in her corpse's hand. Then he would smack his face till it bled and be leaning his back against his desk calling for help. His Knights will come in and will find out that their Commander was only defending himself and simply be rid of her corpse. He would have a new Director and will be more powerful then before.

Trevoire's gaze held hers as he turned around, quickly removing the thought from his mind so that she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He then walked back towards his desk and leaned his hand against it.

"May I refill your glass, Andromeda?"


Will felt something wrap itself around his hand, and squeeze. It was delicate, almost fragile, at least in his battle-scarred hand; he'd have recognized Kira's touch anywhere. With a determined look on his face, Will gently squeezed back, as he looked out over the two armies, preparing to engage each other. The ferocity of the Legion, coutered by the sheer dauntlessness of the allies of the Birthright Guild. Like two great waves, they would soon crash into each other, each hoping to overtake the other, and prevail.

The warrior within him longed to stand at the front of that wave...to carve a bloody swath through Marcus' and Myrva's forces. But that was not to be his role in this battle...his place was beside Kira, to fight alongside her. He looked to his right, at the young woman who was to be his wife...at the woman who would give birth to his child. In all the world, he could think of nobody who he would rather have beside him at such a time. His main concern was that she might come to harm in the coming battle, but he would do whatever it took to keep that from happening.

His glance drifted to Stephanie and Micheal, and he cursed inside his own head. He respected the two of them, and appreciated all that they had done for Kira in her time of need. But a battlefield was no place for them...especially the young Stephanie. Will had fought all his life...he knew what to expect in the near future. Was it fair for Stephanie to witness the horrors of a battle such as this? And how would Micheal fair?

Will put these thoughts aside, however. The time for doubts had long since passed. Now, on the eve of the Birthright Guild's greatest battle, the players had been set, and there was no going back. He gave one last glance to Kira, before reaching for his blade...his family's blade. He hoped their strength would see him through the coming conflict. He unsheathed his blade, and let the tip of the claymore rest idle in the dirt at his feet, as he awaited the inevitable.

Vivian shut the door behind him, and Iris turned to face him instantly, not waiting a minute to begin the conversation. "Alright, spill it. You're different now. You move differently, you behave differently. You're shady, Vivian. You're not legal. What have you been doing?" Iris sat down in the chair, putting her feet up on the table, and raised her eyebrows at her brother. "Well?"

Vivian stood by the door for a moment, considering his words. If he told the truth, Iris would hate him forever. But if he told half-truths... "I.." Vivian began, stopped, and took a deep breath. He had lied before, to so many people of so many social positions, but for some reason, he found lying to Iris difficult. "I went searching for the women who killed Father."

Iris' face transformed into a gleeful, almost giddy expression. "I did the same thing! Though..." She stopped, and shrugged her shoulders sadly. "They were dead by the time I had found them." She sounded heartbroken about this fact. Even though they had murdered her father, Iris was not one to easily wish death upon others, not when she was in control of herself. She had hoped to convict those women, land them in jail, but never kill them.

The look on her face, seeing her so downhearted about a deed that he himself had committed, confused Vivian. He felt the urge to just tell her, just get it over with, but also thought of her reaction, and decided that she wasn't quite up for more saddening news.


Vincent stepped out of the wooden house that he had called a home for the last 3 years. He looked out over Bravil and shuddered, the city was disgusting, filth and plague covered the city. An ill looking man stumbled past Vincent and he quickly cast his healing spirit. "Clense him." He muttered, the moaning spirit did so, the rattling of chains as he moved his body to cast the spell at the man rang out. Sending a shiver through Vincent.

The man stood up straight, he looked at his hands in awe, he looked behind him at Vincent and bowed, quickly running off to whatever destination it was that he was going to.

Vincent sighed and carried on walking, he was to meet a man named Kiera Knightfall.


Bravil. The unusual name worked its way around the woman's mind as she approached the city gates. Bravil. So different the city was to what she was used to seeing; used to living in. The city of Bravil was surrounded by stone walls, and judging by the houses that sat outside the walls, the woman quickly realized that the inside must be no better off. Muddy streets, a loud hubub of activity and foul language, and overall bad taste was what she expected to find based on the exterior of the city. A city like this wouldn't stand scrutiny in the Summerset Isles, but the woman guessed with good reason that the Altmer - so much more sophisticated and intelligent than these human swine - would not allow such a city to even exist in the Isles. More likely it would be blown to bits by a wizard or two, or it would be flooded or burned or perhaps the citizens would be striken with eternal invisibility, giving the city the reputation of a ghost town.

It was then with trepidation that Ari Larande crossed the bridge towards the city gate. As much as she might find the city distasteful, she would nevertheless have to enter it. I may not be High Elf, but I'm still Altmer. The young Imperial thought to herself as she approached. Ari had been born an orphan and raised among the Isles. Although she was very short compared to the High Elves, and her skin was a strange shade of pink rather than magnificently golden, and though her ears were unatractively round, Ari had the gift for magick, and she was raised an Altmer. Not an Imperial. She reached into her robe and clasped the rather opulent gem-incrusted amulet. It was marked with an emblem she knew was the emblem of the Red Diamond; a dragon enclosed in a diamond. But what significance it held eluded her.

Why would the Imperial crest be on the amulet that I've had since I was a baby? It was here at Bravil she hoped to find her answers. As distasteful as the city may seem, she knew that it was only among people who shared her blood, if not her culture, that she would find her answer. If it lays out there to be found. Ari had her doubts about whether or not this amulet wasn't some worthless piece of junk, even though she'd had it appraised by the best jeweler in all of Firsthold. The gems were real and flawless, and it was solid gold, but it wasn't monetary value that Ari was worried about. It was the only possible clue to her past, and what if it was just some trinket? A gift given to an orphan out of kindness?

It couldn't be so. It shouldn't be so. It wouldn't be so. Ari made up her mind, and she was going to make sure that she found her answers - and if that meant getting involved in this revolution, then so be it. First the Imperial City, now Bravil. I'll search every city if I must.




Right, well, that's all I've got for now, kids. But for the rest of this thread, if people could give feedback and/or add other posts I might have missed or not known about that are good examples of RPing, feel free to put them up.

? And the irony of me doing all this is that it'll be buried by tomorrow, and the people it's aimed at won't bother to search. Can't say I didn't try.


EDIT: Thanks go to The-Nord, Lyncanthropic_Nerevar, FC4 and Elgen for their input as to how to better this.

Thanks also go to HK for his clarifying points, and for his section on Cross-gender RPing, and also to Otfee, who convinced me to clarify on the ninja-point. Another thank you to all whose posts I quoted.

Origanol: Illusionary Nothing
Translation to Fallout: Nillocjames, with permission from Illusionary
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Crystal Birch
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 6:10 pm

:goodjob:

I don't really mind if people are having some spelling problems when RP'ing, as long as it is legible.

It does get a bit tiring though, when people don't use phrases and quotations, and instead just write everything as one sentence. It makes it hard to distinguish when someones character is saying something, thinking something or just explaining about events going on.

The most important part to me, as is also emphasized a lot in the guide, is details. Can never get enough details about anything! Every little detail adds to the illusion and makes it all the more interesting to read and be part of.
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adam holden
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:45 am

Why's the fan fiction forum rated Teen when the game the fiction is about is rated Mature? Just curious.
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.X chantelle .x Smith
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:33 am

Why's the fan fiction forum rated Teen when the game the fiction is about is rated Mature? Just curious.

Because this is a teen forum as a whole. Hence the age restriction.
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Kevin S
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 8:43 am

My main issue with this guide is the implied sense of authority to call someone a bad RPer just because they do things differently. I too am 19 and played WoW on a RP server. We used forums plenty and loved it but I would tend to make things as livley as possible via improve. I can think f multiple twists and creative things off of the top of my head nad rarely ever write things down. RP is meant to be a hobby or a creative outlet and in my opinion this guide makes it out to be a long term career that need years of training. I must politely disagree with the message implied but not neccessarily the points made. Now I ask...

Does this statement prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am a bad RPer?
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Bereket Fekadu
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 7:24 pm

My main issue with this guide is the implied sense of authority to call someone a bad RPer just because they do things differently. I too am 19 and played WoW on a RP server. We used forums plenty and loved it but I would tend to make things as livley as possible via improve. I can think f multiple twists and creative things off of the top of my head nad rarely ever write things down. RP is meant to be a hobby or a creative outlet and in my opinion this guide makes it out to be a long term career that need years of training. I must politely disagree with the message implied but not neccessarily the points made. Now I ask...

Does this statement prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am a bad RPer?


Well now what you have to understand is that this guide was made by the people that have been rping here for years and years. Writing is essentially their career and they strive for realism and the best possible style. In fact, this was made by Illusionary Nothing, (Not Nilloc. He just sort of made a few changes to suit Fallout.) and she and the people she rps with, have very high standards for writing. Not so much for other people, because everyone at some point has to learn, but for themselves, and that's evident from reading their posts. The Fallout Forum isn't quite there yet, but it might some day.

And to be honest, if you do do some of things mentioned in this guide, you will be considered a bad rper. Like making your class ninja and such, or having your character completely unkillable. Variation is fine, but not to the point where it just becomes stupid. Another thing is that these aren't free form. These have their own established universes with established lore and rules of play. You simply can't just up and say you're playing an elf in Fallout, you know? Or a super mutant in Elder Scrolls.
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Tinkerbells
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 6:59 am

Oh Please understand, to do things such as make a "Ninja" would be rediculous as far as RP is concerned, but the point i was reffering to was the writing it all down and the spelling. You should do your best but in my case I type pretty fast and make a few errors that I miss in the first proof reading. As far as writing it I fall back on the improvization claim of mine. After re-reading it I applaud the overall effort and appreciate the time spent to help new RPers. I just wish it didn't look like such a daunting monster of a project to RP. I apoligize if my original post seemed to instigate. The second time you read things they can take a whole new appearance sometimes. Regardless, RP is fun and I enjoy seeing the newer "artists" learn the talent.
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Trish
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 9:24 am

I think I'd just like to add: That some RP'ers actually make gramatical errors etc. on purpose, because their character is stupid or whatever. I've noticed that anyone who has that sort of character, they mostly do their story like that, with errors etc. This I believe is on purpose and everyone annoys them for it, which I think is stupid, why do that? I agree with most other rules in this Forum, but some ARE just a bit stupid. I'm a touch typist and I don't have Microsoft Word so I can't SEE my spelling mistakes like most of you other people can.

Because of this I might occasionally make a mistake and I won't realize it, this get's annoying cause this is the one thing that everyone picks up, spelling mistakes. Some people miss the bigger mistakes, like for instance, paragraphing, you should only have about 4-5 lines in a paragrpah, no more because then it begins to hurt your eyes etc. As well as that it's just good manners, I hope someone bothers to read this. That's my two cents.
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Steven Nicholson
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 1:59 pm

I agree completely on the bit about spacing. That's extremely annoying, and it really is quite basic, so there's no excuse.

Now, if someone has grammar mistakes on purpose, that's one thing, but if they're unintentional, it's quite another. I don't care if someone has Word, because frankly it screws up enough already. You should always double or triple check your work before posting. A single spelling or grammar error in an important place can ruin a post.
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Amy Siebenhaar
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 6:56 pm

I agree completely with explaining everything in your character sheet. It's for the other Rp'ers to help them see who the character is. I also think it's important the character sticks to the sheet, if s/he's got an grouchy personality then they should be grouchy in the posts. The characters should also reveal bits about their past to other characters instead of just assuming everyone knows everything about your character because you wrote it in the sheet. I think explaining your characters history in the Rp is a great way to develop the character itself.
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helen buchan
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 12:59 pm

Just want to add my two cents to this a great instructional thread. The thing I find to be the most annoying thing in an RP is when I have created a clear and planned story arch and some RPer comes in and makes a post that throws that all out of the window. I accept that everyone needs to have creative input into the story, otherwise its a FF but please don't take it upon yourselves to change the theme or main direction of the story without asking or at least informing the OP.

A classic example of this was my first RP Uprising (shamless plug ;) ) I had had a clear plan about a gouhl resitance and then Francois made a post which basicly turned it into a superhero showdown, this eventualy ended up as a benificial story twist but alot of the writers here dont have the ability of those in that RP to adapt and make it work ( no offence to anyone and im not being up myself as I am mainly refering to Francois, MadMax and DeadleySin. IMO the three best RPers I have seen on here.) So please, think before you submit.
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Anna Krzyzanowska
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 8:28 am

Just want to add my two cents to this a great instructional thread. The thing I find to be the most annoying thing in an RP is when I have created a clear and planned story arch and some RPer comes in and makes a post that throws that all out of the window. I accept that everyone needs to have creative input into the story, otherwise its a FF but please don't take it upon yourselves to change the theme or main direction of the story without asking or at least informing the OP.

A classic example of this was my first RP Uprising (shamless plug ;) ) I had had a clear plan about a gouhl resitance and then Francois made a post which basicly turned it into a superhero showdown, this eventualy ended up as a benificial story twist but alot of the writers here dont have the ability of those in that RP to adapt and make it work ( no offence to anyone and im not being up myself as I am mainly refering to Francois, MadMax and DeadleySin. IMO the three best RPers I have seen on here.) So please, think before you submit.

If people do that then warn them. If they don't edit their post and ignore you then give them the boot ;) Simple
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Nina Mccormick
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 5:52 pm

thats the best course of action to take provideing your the first to react to thier post, sometimes three or four pages can go by before you can do anything. Prevention > Punishment.
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gemma
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 9:18 pm

Well, those sort of people either improve, or get shunned when they refuse to correct their mistakes. (Which are hopefully pointed out to them.)

As to the issue with not being able to respond to mistakes in time, that's just a problem with this board. Things are very fast paced here because the RPers can be impatient and think they must respond to every post. A bad combination.
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Miss Hayley
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 2:54 pm

Unfortunately I think this is under-read

Likewise. It's good to be determined but so many people just rush crappy posts with no detail what so ever; even if they have good potential. One of the reasons I don't RP much these days.
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matt
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 9:03 pm

Okay, this'll be my last post in this section, and probably the Forums, I'll just give my little knowledge onto all of you:

While I've been on this Forum, I've found out what people's skills and weaknesses are, how fast a typer they are, how good they are with their spelling and punctuation/grammar. And so I say to everyone new who comes to this Forum right now; you have to learn as much as you can about your fellow writers before doing much else. When I got into my first RP, it was a small-bit one and I learnt a lot about the people around me, this has helped me immensely to find out who's a good writer etc.

As well as this, make sure you understand what type of class an RP is, I think their are about 5 classes of RP:

1) Simple.

2) Normal.

3) Moderate.

4) Difficult.

5) Professional Writers.

If you can help it, try and throw yourself in at the shallow end, no matter how good of a writer you are, always check on your spelling and grammar when you can. The smallest thing can stuff up a post. As well as this, make sure that you are nice to your fellow writers, talk to them if you get the chance through PM's, or perhaps even MSN. I've made multiple friends on this Forum that I wish I could've gotten to know better, but at these odds, that's a no.

Just remember, we are/were all here for a reason, to have fun and be a good person, be nice and you should be treated nicely in return. Never forget that the best thing you can have is kindness, it'll get you far in RP's, not everything has to be a one-way street, affecting the RP is what you want to do, but not too much. Affect it to have your own impact, but don't make it your own story, this can ruin a great plan by anyone's plans.

Oh and I have to apologise for every RP I stuffed up, I apologise for that.

With that, I say farewell friends, happy RP'ing and writing.

-Yours,
Andy
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I love YOu
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 4:55 pm

Okay, this'll be my last post in this section, and probably the Forums, I'll just give my little knowledge onto all of you:

While I've been on this Forum, I've found out what people's skills and weaknesses are, how fast a typer they are, how good they are with their spelling and punctuation/grammar. And so I say to everyone new who comes to this Forum right now; you have to learn as much as you can about your fellow writers before doing much else. When I got into my first RP, it was a small-bit one and I learnt a lot about the people around me, this has helped me immensely to find out who's a good writer etc.

As well as this, make sure you understand what type of class an RP is, I think their are about 5 classes of RP:

1) Simple.

2) Normal.

3) Moderate.

4) Difficult.

5) Professional Writers.

If you can help it, try and throw yourself in at the shallow end, no matter how good of a writer you are, always check on your spelling and grammar when you can. The smallest thing can stuff up a post. As well as this, make sure that you are nice to your fellow writers, talk to them if you get the chance through PM's, or perhaps even MSN. I've made multiple friends on this Forum that I wish I could've gotten to know better, but at these odds, that's a no.

Just remember, we are/were all here for a reason, to have fun and be a good person, be nice and you should be treated nicely in return. Never forget that the best thing you can have is kindness, it'll get you far in RP's, not everything has to be a one-way street, affecting the RP is what you want to do, but not too much. Affect it to have your own impact, but don't make it your own story, this can ruin a great plan by anyone's plans.

Oh and I have to apologise for every RP I stuffed up, I apologise for that.

With that, I say farewell friends, happy RP'ing and writing.

-Yours,
Andy

See you later. Shame you have to go. :wave:

But to add to that; just type all your posts on Microsoft Word! It corrects spelling and grammar (but not all typos) for you, an essential tool to say the least.

Also, if you want to get better, I'd recommend trying to RP on the TES Fan-Fic section. Sure it's slower but generally (without sound offensive) the quality of writing and RPing is more professional, and would likely help you improve more.

But that's just my opinion. :shrug:
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mollypop
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 12:27 pm

(snip)
Also, if you want to get better, I'd recommend trying to RP on the TES Fan-Fic section. Sure it's slower but generally (without sound offensive) the quality of writing and RPing is more professional, and would likely help you improve more.

But that's just my opinion. :shrug:

I know what you mean, I was involved in two, brief, Rp's and the level of quality and excellent writing in that section was amazing. Unfortunately this section appears to be, well, dissolving and I find myself having less and less fun. That's just my opinion, others may think differently. Unfortunately fallout is all I know and I know hardly anything about TES law. :shrug:
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Katie Louise Ingram
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 5:27 pm

I know what you mean, I was involved in two, brief, Rp's and the level of quality and excellent writing in that section was amazing. Unfortunately this section appears to be, well, dissolving and I find myself having less and less fun. That's just my opinion, others may think differently. Unfortunately fallout is all I know and I know hardly anything about TES law. :shrug:

Yup, agreed. It's not an offense to the Fallout RPers here, but it seems that in this section all the RPs go straight into the action without any story, thought or character development.

I guess I like the more professional style.
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Amanda Furtado
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 12:14 pm

In regards to the bit about TES, that's definitely true, at least regarding RPs. TES RPers tend to have more long term thoughts when creating their characters and stories. They have more depth, as they know how important character development is, a detail missing from most Fallout RPs.

When it comes right down to it, RPing is writing. If you can't be bothered to put forth an effort, you shouldn't be here. It's not just for your enjoyment, but also for other's.
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Lucky Girl
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:37 am

When it comes right down to it, RPing is writing. If you can't be bothered to put forth an effort, you shouldn't be here. It's not just for your enjoyment, but also for other's.


Well, mostly yours, but if people don't like don't listen.
if they don't like but have reasons, you should listen.
But if people do this ONLY for others enjoyment.
I love writing and I won't ever quit, even if The Man tries to keep me down.
Unless they are a Mod, and I have to listen.
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Zualett
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 7:58 pm

I think what would rejuvenate these forums, is if somehow we got all the old late and great RPers like Nilloc, Dr. Strangelove, Murdock, and many others who were around a while ago, but left after some new people (who will go nameless) began to muck up the forums with drivel. The forums were just flooded with bad Rps and Fan Fictions, and I think it drove off many of the old RPers because it was embarrassing.
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Katie Louise Ingram
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 4:57 pm

It would take a relatively shallow resolve just to leave because of the image others are making. One thing I noticed was the lack of constructive criticism and guidance for "bad RPs" and "bad Fanfics". We shouldn't feel the need to abandon it or blame anyone, rather try to fix the problem. I know if I think a story goes bad or sour I stop it immediately and let it die.
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Kristina Campbell
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 5:28 am

I think what would rejuvenate these forums, is if somehow we got all the old late and great RPers like Nilloc, Dr. Strangelove, Murdock, and many others who were around a while ago, but left after some new people (who will go nameless) began to muck up the forums with drivel. The forums were just flooded with bad Rps and Fan Fictions, and I think it drove off many of the old RPers because it was embarrassing.


I quite agree, but it's rather doubtful that Nilloc will come back here, and most of the others like Strangelove are retired from the forums, while I myself only comment on the occasional fanfic. (And usually only by request, I might add.)


It would take a relatively shallow resolve just to leave because of the image others are making. One thing I noticed was the lack of constructive criticism and guidance for "bad RPs" and "bad Fanfics". We shouldn't feel the need to abandon it or blame anyone, rather try to fix the problem. I know if I think a story goes bad or sour I stop it immediately and let it die.


Well, it's like this. When you have a lot of people that put time and effort into making an RP, and then someone with very little skill comes along and essentially ruins it, what would you do? The obvious answer is help him improve, or kick him from the RP. This would be acceptable, or rather it would have been, had it not happened everywhere, and the old RPers became outnumbered by the "bad." So, eventually people became fed up with it and left. Not that the Fallout forum is alone in this. This happened in the TES section too around the same time, but TES bounced back with avengence and is back to it's old standard (But not really.), whereas the Fallout section here is the same as it was in the beginning. Has some progress been made? Yes. But for every inch that it moves forward, it moves back two, in my eyes.

Perhaps saying it was the same as in the beginning is a bit harsh, as it was really bad back then. Like the RPers staging revolts against the OPs, chanting down with The Man. I'm serious, ask Nilloc. So it's definitely improved since then. But it's still not quite up to snuff, and that bothers a lot of people that RPed here during the now passed Golden Age. Same in both sections, Fallout and TES.
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Jonny
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 10:52 am

I never truly considered bad RPers being a good RPer's story, I was only considering people creating bad RPs or bad Fanfics. I can understand that, but I still can't completely blame bad RPers. You can't expect them to just go away if you never show them their wrong-doing.

Also, revolts against an OP's RP? Seriously? If you wouldn't mind, PM me with a few titles. I get jollies from that sort of stuff.
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k a t e
 
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