All new roleplayers please read

[Aerif]

I know your all itching to get into character but there are rules which most of you have been ignoring. The state of the Roleplaying boards is a bit messed up at the moment, so please take care to read theses rules:

Originally Posted by Yuna

It's been a long time, and I've been the moderator of this forum for 2 years now. You all may not know it because I'm very quiet and very unconfrontation with people whom I want to trust, respect, and look up to me. I want every single role player on this forum to fo just that. I am the mother of this forum, and it will be ran out I want it to be. But as its mother, I want help in making it a wonderful place for people to be creative, silly, or evil, whichever their prefer.

Here are some very help suggestions that may help your RP experience. The actual base forums rules are in the middle of this post, however I strongly encourage you to read the whole post. I might help you in furture RP endevors.

For starters, let me tell you what role play is. Role playing is the act of assuming the identity of another character, be it on you have created, or one from some story you like. There are benefits to playing a character you have created, that is there are no boundaries. There are, however, boundaries to characters whom have already been made. Should you choose to role play Squall, you must stay within the character portrayed by him in FFVIII. If you stray outside that relm, your RP thread Liable to be close, and you may be warned.

Getting more indepth with created characters:

When creating a character for a Story Line (This is a very important word, remember it. It is sometimes abbreviated to SL) your options are limitless, as well is the depth of your creativity. Explore it, and see if you like it, this is the best way to become a better RPer. When creating a character for someone else's Story Line, you have to create the character within THEIR set rules and such. The best way to do this is to have a one on one conversation with the creator of the SL and put forth your ideas to them. You can also get THE MOST satisfation out of your RP this way.

What is NOT accpetable in an original RP SL is someone doing what we call GOD MODDING. This is basically being indestructable, doing whatever it is you wish with the Role Play. While you may use your character to guide the SL in different directions, you may NOT become an all powerful being and use the RP to make you feel better about yourself. Should anyone in my forum hijack someone else's SL in this matter, you'll be warned and thusly BANNED from the RP forum. I will not tolerate someone ruining someone else's Role Play. This is the one thing which I WILL NOT show any leniency with what-so-ever.

Now we come to getting your RP started:

If your RP is going to be open to all members of the forum, the first thing you SHOULD do is make a thread about it in the Role-Play OOC sub-forum. In this thread you will need to, as detailed as possibly, lay out the logistics of your SL, then invite other members to post information and such about their characters. If you are someone joining someone else's SL, when posting information about your character, try to make it as detailed as possible, listing as much as you can about your character. This way, the creator of the SL can judge whether or not aspects of your character are appropriate for their RP. I encourage all members to use the RP OOC forum to debate and discuss their RPs in LENGTH AND DETAIL before posting the actual Role Play thread. This will not only ensure good quality and moral of your RP, it will also help you get to know the people whom you will be RPing with, which is always helpful.

If your RP is going to be Invite only, then make sure you state so in the title of both your OOC thread and actual RP thread.



Use the Role-Play OOC forum! It is your BEST FRIEND! Though it is not official yet, I may REQUIRE all RPs to have a thread in the OOC forum. This is not official. We'll see how RPing starts to go.

This leads us to!~
Starting up your RP:
Before you start your RP in the main forum, keep in mind all the basic rules of this forum. They are as listed:

ACTUAL RP FORUM BASE RULES

- No signatures. Refer to this thread if you have questions.

- Do not spam the threads with anything not relevent to the RP in question. Random trolls and other such are not allowed.

- God-Modding/Hijacking threads. This is NOT ALLOWED OR TOLERATED WHAT-SO-EVER. Should ANY of this occur, you will be banned from posting in this forum. God-Modding includes playing a virtual God in the RP, controling someone else's character without permission, and [hijacking] postng a RP thread you were not a part of in the OOC thread.

- Stay in Character. All OOC posts should remain in the OOC forum. with any OOC posts. Aspects of the post may be OOC, but not the entire post. If you need to tell your fellow RPers something, GO BACK TO YOUR THREAD IN THE RP-OOC FORUM. Any purely OOC post I come across will be deleted and you will be warned.

- No Harassing of other members. Should you not agree with what they're RPing about, keep your mouth shut and move on, or at least take it to PMs. This forum is for RP alone, nothing more.

- Different RP styles. If you're planning to make a role-play that is not that of the usuals we see around here, please inform me of your plans. And to have it be acceptable, please make it a role-play serious enough to warrent quality posts. Remember, in role-playing, quality is also very important. Please keep in mind. However, New RP styles are VERY welcome! Please, tap into your creative side!

- Do not double post. Should you have something you want to add to a recent post, please simply edit that post instead of posting again. This is a site wide rule, and this forum is no exception.

- No Solo RPing. Save that for your own site, or you journal, or something. This is a community forum, we play with other kids.

- No bumping old RP threads with useless posts. Should your RP start to die and you don't want it to, contact members of it and discuss it with them. OR, post in your OOC topic and talk about ways to keep it going.

- Be sure to have fun! SHould an RP you created or are participating in looses it's fun, then stop posting in it! Let it die and move on. That, or inform me or OceanEyes and we will close it ^_^

That sums up the basic rules of the forum, be sure to follow them or else your RP is liable to be shut down.

Once your RP is start...
Monitor is constantly! Make sure you know what's going on. This way, you can catch trolls or other bugs that may infest it. Should something start festering in your RP, nip it in the bud by either telling the creator of the RP or informing a Mod (Me or Ocean Eyes). This way, you can let your RP live out how you had intended with out interuptions!

Dead RP...
If your RP dies, then let it. It's happened to me many times. This doesn't mean quit RPing. Sometimes the most wonderful stories die, but if you have fun RPing, please keep doing so or else this forum will die too! =D

That about sums up this post! If you have any questions or comments, please post them here and we'll discuss them all togethers; mods and members alike.

Next on the agenda, for those who are still reading (and obviously ignored Yuna's topics) is SPAMMING

Originally Posted by Yuna

What is a Spamming post in RP?
There are many different definitions of what constitutes SPAM in the RP forum. Well, this is mine, and this is the definition we will be using.

There is no such thing as a one line IC RP post. Period.

If everything you have to say in the RP can be said in a line, or two or three, then do NOT post it. Plain and simple. Any such RP threads that start become this will be closed.

Role Playing is about searching the depths of your creativity and desires. It's also about writing. It is NOT redundant to talk about EVERY LITTLE DETAIL. The greatest writers in the world do JUST THAT. Describing mood, scenery, passing thoughts that are not relevent to the over all subject of the post are ESSENTIAL! I will give you an example of this.

Setting: Yuna after the end of Final Fantasy X
____

Yuna sat in the wet sand, where the waves met the shore. The water had soaked her bottom, but she didn't care. Hugging her knees, her mind was else where... perhaps in a different time completely. Earlier that day, durring her speech, it had taken all her strength not to cry. Was she stronger for it? Maybe, but probably not. Her heart ached too much for her to believe that she had grown stronger. She felt alone, like a star that had burnt out and was giving off the last of its shine. She wanted to fall forever, like he did the last time she saw him. No cares, no titles, no memories... just fall...

A large wave startled her, leaving salt water dripping from her face. The water was warm, but in the evening breeze, the wetness grew colder. She heard the sounds of children playing in the distance. The sound of a bell some where off in the distance. The eternal calm... her eyes filled with tears. Does this mean I'm no longer needed?. She had been a summoner. When she learned she could truely defeat Sin forever, her future seemed bright, she was surrounded by all of her friend... All of them.... A single tear fell down her cheek, but it could have easily been mistaken for the spray of waves.
______

That entire post could have, with in the RP time, taken no more then a minute. It's all about details, useless things that normally you wouldn't think to include. This makes a post go from alright, to fantastic!

This, on the other hand, would be RP Forum Spam:
________

Yuna sat on the beach alone, with the waves splashing into her ever few seconds. Her thoughts drifted from thought to thought, but in the end, always returned to her lonliness.
_________

That WILL NOT DO. Sorry, but beef it up, or don't post it.

Well that's a shortish summary and great help to those who are new to RPing. If you have any questions just contact an experianced RPer (an active one). Some examples (if you are experianced just PM me so I can edit):


Active-ish RPers
·Aerif
·Andromerda
·Atma-Noah
·Inferno Mage
·Lestat
·LocoColt 04
·OceanEyes28
·Red XIV (no longer active)
·Samurai Kenji I
·Strong Bad
·Valentine89

[LocoColt04]

While I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm, I must remind you that you are not a moderator here. Andromeda, despite his already overseeing Supermoderator status, has been assigned as a moderator directly to this forum as well.

Now, I will not close or delete this thread, because as mentioned, I do appreciate your enthusiasm -- I'll leave it to Andromeda to decide what to do with it. Sticking it, of course, will have no effect since no one ever reads stickied threads anyway...

>_<


Though, leaving it open for discussion may not be a bad idea either.

[Aerif]

I know... It just seems that newer members tend to listen to members who don't have Moderator underneath their name, it seems that they are intimidated by you all . Plus a big orange IMPORTANT sign doesn't help matters at all. If a new member sees somebody taking part actively in a certain type of activity (such as RPing) they are more likely to listen to those who are very active... And in saying that I realise I've been taking too many after-school psychology classes...

[Andromeda]

Well I will let the thread stay open, and while I do not really know if copying the entire rules were necessary its done. As for who the members are listening to, seeing as most of the members that are active here cannot RP very well at all. They are hardly the role models of RPing they should be looking at. I may not post as much as I did, but every post I make in the RP is quality. It is quality over quantity, so activity means nothing if you cannot write.

Anyway, I am current the new overseer for the place, so expect a firmer hand to be looking over everything. As I do plan to weed out the bad RPs and uphold Yuna's rules.

[Lost Sol]

I'm new, but the only difference is, I actually read the rules before I do anything that would ban or get me into trouble. I like discussing about this. I agree though, I may not have seen the way people rp here, but I have seen the way others rp somewhere else. It's pretty sad, and I even complained once, but reasonably. If it's all right with you guys, can I point out some stuff that I've seen to often in rps? Or am I not allowed to?

[LocoColt04]

Well, if you want to critique various posts within roleplays, that sort of thing should REALLY be kept private. First, ask the writer in question if he or she would be interested in hearing your opinions, and then share them via PM. Public criticism is frowned upon unless it's some kind of workshop like we used to have back in the days of clans.


I... have an idea though, and I'm taking it to the Club Registration thread (in the Clubs forum). If it's approved, I'd be more than happy to have you be a part of it.

[Lost Sol]

Ok, so that would be a "no."

I'd be glad to take part in it, just give me a link if it's ok. Sorry, but I'm still not used to the way this forum is.

[Aerif]

Alright... Ao I may not have used the best example with the 'quantity' of work... Beautiful work is much better than 'Average' work (sorta like mine...) . However when new RPers join these forums they quickly look for examples, and the work they produce (if they're new to it) is often similar to the work standards of the RPs they looked at for examples (so if they look at poor work the work they normally produce is poor.) So 'Quality' is important but their needs to be a fair-amount of 'quantity' for it to mesure out. This means that the 'quality' of 'role-models' work is going to decrease unless better RPers become more active...

(Can anybody else see me as a psychiatrist in the future )

[Lost Sol]

Aerif, you're right. If a new rper sees someone rp proficiently rp, then they too will try to mimic them in a quality like way (if that made sense). I understood what you meant though. That's a good point, I never really thought about that. If I see someone rp really good, then I'll try to rp just as good, or better right? But that's only for the people that actually try to rp. Sometimes, role models don't work.

As for the psychiatrist part, I suppose.