RP Advice (Think you can't RP, read this!)
Dec 20, 2015 3:05:31 GMT -5
Post by Minato Kuroshiki on Dec 20, 2015 3:05:31 GMT -5
Public service announcement time. I've noticed the lack of good content on this site in regards to new users. It's partially because they join on a whim them leave when they notice the lack of graphics and blinking lights, but that can't be avoided. What we can avoid is the sheer number of users who can't RP. Let's face it, there's a little over 7.5 thousand users logged in the user database here, and even though we only get a fraction of those as returning users, we also get anywhere from twenty to seventy new users a month. Of course I'm estimating, but you get the idea. Anyway, I wanted to write this because I grew up as a roleplayer on this site. I've been playing for a little over five years now and I'm starting to wonder if someone was breezing through my work and asking themself if I even thought my own work was good. Okay that was harsh, but still, if you're new to roleplay and you wanna get good then I'm literally gushing with knowledge. Okay not literally, but you get the idea. Metaphorically is the word, I'm metaphorically gushing with knowledge.
Tip No.1: Enjoy writing. You are here for one or both reasons. You like bakugan and you like writing. You need to be here for both reasons. Maybe a friend invited you here or maybe you stumbled across this site looking for a bakugan mmo, but if you wanna be any good at roleplaying, then you kind of have to like writing. It's a literal prerequisite. If you like roleplaying then chances are you like writing, because you like making up stories and watching them come to life as those stories mingle with other stories until they become one lovely meeting of writer and writer, and sometimes writer and writer against writer and writer! You need to love writing, that way playing here doesn't feel like a chore.
Tip No.1.1: Your characters are people with hopes and dreams and fears and wants. Treat them as such and not as some thing you wrote in forty-seven seconds. Your characters are alive, they have minds of their own. You must never impose your thoughts on them, or else that takes out the whole role aspect in roleplaying. Coming from experience, I had loads of fun when I did this to my very first original character, Lye Fermin, but I got the most out of it when he became his own person and playing as him became twenty times more fun. You wanna find yourself thinking, "I wonder how (OC) will react to this situation." This is why your OC likes some things and hates others. Exploit it, within the rules of the forum that is.
Tip No.1.2: Let's put the O in OC, because who has fun playing as another character. Of course my best OC started out as a lore friendly fan character, he became original as I developed him beyond recognition of his own fraternity. So do what I did and make a half baked fan character, by every mean you're allowed to do it. There's no rule that says you can't, but you should develop them well. Imagine playing Dark Souls at base level throughout the entire game with entry level armor and weapons. Oh, you haven't played Dark Souls? Good. Don't.
Tip No.1.3: I should just call this something like 1.2.1, because I'm literally gonna say everything I said about originality and character development also apply to your bakugan. I mean what if you grew as a person and you're stuck with the same friends who will never be on your level and because of that you can't hold any form of conversation with them. Sucks doesn't it... DOESN'T IT!
Tip No.2: Don't be a Kryptonian. Meta gaming is the term for it and no one likes. I mean, the most you get is the appearance of an internet troll or a weebie jeebie that can't hold his jimmies. Jimmies is slang for sprinkled by the way. It's a word I picked up from Codename Kids Next Door. Hashtag nostalgia trip. Anyway, before this snatches its leash and bolts out of the park, I'll tell you what meta gaming is. It's when everything you do is instantaneous and absolutely nothing can happen in response and you somehow prevent anything bad from happening to you. I know you wanna look like the mighty mouse himself, but if nothing happens (and by nothing, I mean nothing bad) then the RP becomes kind of stagnant. It just isn't fun anymore. You'll understand what I mean someday.
Tip No.2.1: Aside from meta gaming, other RP etiquette no-nos include god modding, quick dodging, and mind reading. The names are self explanatory, but I'll explain them so there are no misconceptions, because this isn't a Yu-Gi-Oh rulebook. God modding is when you build yourself up to be this stupidly strong thing. I mean if you can get it on writing that your OC actually acquired the clinically insane skills beforehand then you may get away with it, but it's horribly easy to god mod, so stay frosty kiddos. Next up is quick dodging, which is automatically dodging everything that is thrown at your OC. There's a variant of this for attacks as well, so be wary. Finally, we have the self explanatory mind reading. You may be able to read the thoughts of other players OCs through the fourth wall, but human OCs can't read other OCs minds. First off, it's invasive. How would you feel if you had a disappointing Sith Lord apprentice of the First Order rummaging through your thoughts. Secondly, and most importantly, it shatters any preconception of storytelling which is a more abundant adhesive in roleplaying than actual adhesives in Fallout 4. I went there.
Tip No.3: Quality over quantity. If you can type multiple paragraphs like the boss monster you are then why are you reading this. For those of you that can't, short posts are okay. They can be dandy too, just don't try and crap out multiple paragraphs if you know you can't. Even if you think you can't. If you try to stretch out your post, you're gonna get redundant. Redundancy is bad, don't repeat yourself. It only makes you look like someone who's failing at tryharding.
Tip No.3.1: Accuracy over vocabulary. Maybe you're as verbose as I am, if not more. If that is the case, I ask again why you're even here. For those of you that are not well endowed with the words of heightened girth, don't tear through the nearest thesaurus trying to match someone. Use words you know and learn better ones as you play with others.
Tip No.3.2: Quantity plus quality, solve for x. As you get better at posting and roleplaying, you'll begin to find yourself with more and more to say and contribute. Go for it, kid. Just do it.
Tip No.4: Know your OCs abilities. You don't wanna be able to predict every one of your OCs actions, but you do wanna know what they can actually do. A wise man once said, "Worry not about what you will do, but focus on what you can. All is revealed not when you expect it, but when you expect something else." I'm kidding, a wise man didn't say that, I made it up just now. Sounds like something Mark Frost would say though, right?
Tip No.4.1: Let time pass. Sometimes you'll fall into a scene where time refuses to move and to that I say give it a stiff shove and a shaken can of Pepsi. You never wanna get stuck in the same scene for a long time because that then becomes a main setting. You have to show that your OCs are dynamic.
Tip No.4.2: Know the genre. There's no spectacular monologue I can provide for this because that's literally the only thing to be said. Know the world you're in. The closer to the original lore the better.
Tip No.1: Enjoy writing. You are here for one or both reasons. You like bakugan and you like writing. You need to be here for both reasons. Maybe a friend invited you here or maybe you stumbled across this site looking for a bakugan mmo, but if you wanna be any good at roleplaying, then you kind of have to like writing. It's a literal prerequisite. If you like roleplaying then chances are you like writing, because you like making up stories and watching them come to life as those stories mingle with other stories until they become one lovely meeting of writer and writer, and sometimes writer and writer against writer and writer! You need to love writing, that way playing here doesn't feel like a chore.
Tip No.1.1: Your characters are people with hopes and dreams and fears and wants. Treat them as such and not as some thing you wrote in forty-seven seconds. Your characters are alive, they have minds of their own. You must never impose your thoughts on them, or else that takes out the whole role aspect in roleplaying. Coming from experience, I had loads of fun when I did this to my very first original character, Lye Fermin, but I got the most out of it when he became his own person and playing as him became twenty times more fun. You wanna find yourself thinking, "I wonder how (OC) will react to this situation." This is why your OC likes some things and hates others. Exploit it, within the rules of the forum that is.
Tip No.1.2: Let's put the O in OC, because who has fun playing as another character. Of course my best OC started out as a lore friendly fan character, he became original as I developed him beyond recognition of his own fraternity. So do what I did and make a half baked fan character, by every mean you're allowed to do it. There's no rule that says you can't, but you should develop them well. Imagine playing Dark Souls at base level throughout the entire game with entry level armor and weapons. Oh, you haven't played Dark Souls? Good. Don't.
Tip No.1.3: I should just call this something like 1.2.1, because I'm literally gonna say everything I said about originality and character development also apply to your bakugan. I mean what if you grew as a person and you're stuck with the same friends who will never be on your level and because of that you can't hold any form of conversation with them. Sucks doesn't it... DOESN'T IT!
Tip No.2: Don't be a Kryptonian. Meta gaming is the term for it and no one likes. I mean, the most you get is the appearance of an internet troll or a weebie jeebie that can't hold his jimmies. Jimmies is slang for sprinkled by the way. It's a word I picked up from Codename Kids Next Door. Hashtag nostalgia trip. Anyway, before this snatches its leash and bolts out of the park, I'll tell you what meta gaming is. It's when everything you do is instantaneous and absolutely nothing can happen in response and you somehow prevent anything bad from happening to you. I know you wanna look like the mighty mouse himself, but if nothing happens (and by nothing, I mean nothing bad) then the RP becomes kind of stagnant. It just isn't fun anymore. You'll understand what I mean someday.
Tip No.2.1: Aside from meta gaming, other RP etiquette no-nos include god modding, quick dodging, and mind reading. The names are self explanatory, but I'll explain them so there are no misconceptions, because this isn't a Yu-Gi-Oh rulebook. God modding is when you build yourself up to be this stupidly strong thing. I mean if you can get it on writing that your OC actually acquired the clinically insane skills beforehand then you may get away with it, but it's horribly easy to god mod, so stay frosty kiddos. Next up is quick dodging, which is automatically dodging everything that is thrown at your OC. There's a variant of this for attacks as well, so be wary. Finally, we have the self explanatory mind reading. You may be able to read the thoughts of other players OCs through the fourth wall, but human OCs can't read other OCs minds. First off, it's invasive. How would you feel if you had a disappointing Sith Lord apprentice of the First Order rummaging through your thoughts. Secondly, and most importantly, it shatters any preconception of storytelling which is a more abundant adhesive in roleplaying than actual adhesives in Fallout 4. I went there.
Tip No.3: Quality over quantity. If you can type multiple paragraphs like the boss monster you are then why are you reading this. For those of you that can't, short posts are okay. They can be dandy too, just don't try and crap out multiple paragraphs if you know you can't. Even if you think you can't. If you try to stretch out your post, you're gonna get redundant. Redundancy is bad, don't repeat yourself. It only makes you look like someone who's failing at tryharding.
Tip No.3.1: Accuracy over vocabulary. Maybe you're as verbose as I am, if not more. If that is the case, I ask again why you're even here. For those of you that are not well endowed with the words of heightened girth, don't tear through the nearest thesaurus trying to match someone. Use words you know and learn better ones as you play with others.
Tip No.3.2: Quantity plus quality, solve for x. As you get better at posting and roleplaying, you'll begin to find yourself with more and more to say and contribute. Go for it, kid. Just do it.
Tip No.4: Know your OCs abilities. You don't wanna be able to predict every one of your OCs actions, but you do wanna know what they can actually do. A wise man once said, "Worry not about what you will do, but focus on what you can. All is revealed not when you expect it, but when you expect something else." I'm kidding, a wise man didn't say that, I made it up just now. Sounds like something Mark Frost would say though, right?
Tip No.4.1: Let time pass. Sometimes you'll fall into a scene where time refuses to move and to that I say give it a stiff shove and a shaken can of Pepsi. You never wanna get stuck in the same scene for a long time because that then becomes a main setting. You have to show that your OCs are dynamic.
Tip No.4.2: Know the genre. There's no spectacular monologue I can provide for this because that's literally the only thing to be said. Know the world you're in. The closer to the original lore the better.
Battalix Dragonoid :: 2000G
