RP Wisdom

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2009-03-06 00:39:19

Last author: M!
Owner: M!

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RP Wisdom

I guess I can call myself and rp geezer. I've introduced many a fresh face into to realm of rping (one or two I sincerely apologize for) and I think it's safe to say I've been around the block. Therefore, instead of getting all preachy and telling you how to rp (if you can't, you can't and no amount of direction will help you and your writing/reasoning skills), I'll tell you how to SET UP an rp. I have made many... many have flopped. The majority have flopped. Mostly because I am too lazy for words, but forget that. I learn from my mistakes... so I'll share to spare you some bumps and bruises.

- - - -

1. Only newbies run open rps to the general public

The sad fact of the matter, folks, is that not everyone rocked their creative writing class with their raw untamed talent and insight into the human mind. If you let anyone enter your rp, you may get people who are, well, bad.

In the olden days... back in... oh I'd say 2003, I ran an open rp. One of my first rps ever. It was going smoothly. There was a good cast of rpers, it was rolling on at a good pace, but then two less than skilled friends stumbled in. They messed up the game up so badly, we had to back track and delete everything they had posted. After this unfortunate incident, morale was down, enthusiasm had a gun in its mouth. Things finally dwindled to a stop. The bad rpers murdered my role play.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Rp with people you trust or who your friends trust if you trust your friends. If you want to open an rp to new faces, hold AUDITIONS. Make a character application (like this -> M ap) with all the info you want to know and screen the strangers. It will save you a lot of pain.

2. One rejection letter is enough. Trust me.

The one and only issue with auditions is rejections. It's exciting to find new good rpers, add them to your relations and just have a good ol' time. But telling the not so hot ones that they didn't make the cut... EEEEE. It hurts inside. Even if their ap sucked you always feel like the villain when you say, "Not rpin'with me, kiddo." But really, what matters more? Temporarily hurting a stranger's feelings, who, if they aren't a petty person, will forgive you promptly, or crippling your rp before it starts? If you honestly want to have a good rp, sacrifices must be made. Be polite. Don't fight. Boot the n00b.

Not too far in the past, I opened an ambitious rp and started to collect the applications of many bright eyed hopefuls. I rejected some, I accepted some, but one kid kept trying. I told them what was wrong with their ap and they tired again. It changed, but still had all the same flaws. I said no and repeated myself. They tried again, with all the same flaws. I said no and repeated myself. They tried again, I told them to forget about it, they flipped out, I told them to calm the Hell down. They became offended, and now hate me.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

One rejection is hard enough, but multiple ones are just insulting. Please tell people they have one chance to get in. And if they are rejected, they should stop. If you let them try over and over again, all Hell will break loose. If they are hopeless, IT'S NOT WORTH IT. One fail is hard enough. They don't need a fail storm. ONE CHANCE ONLY.

3. Holy crap, rper A and rper B were up all Saturday night rping, and while I was sleeping they wrote 2 feet of dialogue!

This problem has made me leave rps before, so if you want to keep all your beloved survived auditions gold nuggets, you've got to eliminate anything that threatens to scare them away.

This problem became so serious for me in my early years, I abandoned wiki rping all together in favor of more controlled IM and chat room rps that required everyone to be there at the same time. There is nothing more frustrating then getting into an rp, designing an awesome character, and then logging on to elftown to find out the other characters have not only been talking, they have defeated a dragon, split the gold and are now sacrificing your character to a heathen god while your character stands there comatose.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU! I mean... YOUR RPERS!

My rule is, if everyone isn't there, rpers are limited to 3-4 posts a day. If everyone is there, rp as fast and crazy as you can, but when people aren't there, give them some respect and slow the Hell down. As the GM, you better have this as one of your rules. It saves everyone a lot of pain.

4. WHERE THE HELL DID TIM GO? OH MAN! HE'S JUST... HE'S JUST GONE!

I am a lazy ass with a short attention span who likes fighting fighting sex fighting humor argument wicked plan sex fighting near death humor gore fighting. If I don't get my fix man... I may just book it.

Once in a while, I'd be in an rp and a member would just... disappear. Everyone would get impatient, angry, then horribly depressed. It is a sad sad time.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Threaten your nuggets!! Tell them, if they disappear for a long time, without an explanation, their character is either dead or taken over by someone else. Tell them they must inform you in advance of any future absence, and if they want to leave the rp, that instead of just ditching, they should tell you and discuss and exit strategy for their character.

5. Psst. Why didn't you warn me Megan sucks?

What if you get a application that is good, but it turns out to be misleading? You accept the kid and later rping reveals... they kinda suck.

This only almost happened to me, because I got tired and closed the rp early. Meh. I suck as a GM.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Be polite. Don't fight. Boot the n00b. It's them or your rp. For the sake of the other players, and all the effort you put into this rp, get them gone. The longer you hesitate, the more your rp will fall apart.

6. What do you mean you don't want to be a parrot horse man?!

When I enter an rp, I don't want to be crowded by limitations. I don't want to be limited to a small group of ridiculous fantasy races the obviously high GM made up, who all have these requirements as to their behavior and culture. I want to make my own character, damnit!

When I see rps like this... I leave. And I know I'm not the only one.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Give your rpers freedom. The more restrictions you put on their characters, the less motivated they will be to join. Not everyone thinks crazy anthros/elves are cool. *Raises hand*

7. Cliche rp is cliche.

So, vampires and werewolves are fighting again, eh? Choose from the following races: dwarf, elf or halfling eh? Japanese, eh?

No personal experience here. I avoid cliches like the plague.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Be original! If you'd like, take a cliche and bend it in an original way. Put it in an unconventional setting, or just... don't do something that's popular right now... like... vampires and anime. Clone rps are n00b magnets, and experienced rpers either don't want to do it or have done it before.

8. Well, isn't that simple.

You draw a map, think of a history, a religion, 12 races, types of magic, and have a big plot with twists and turns. Problem is, in the time it takes you alone to write a page of a story takes 3 days for an rp. Rps are slow. Suspense doesn't work in an rp. It can often kill an rp. You have to be fast, and the more story you put into it, the harder that is to accomplish.

So I started an ambitious rp and had these great plans. The story was awesome. No one was gonna guess that the angelic mysterious savior was actually the alter ego of the demon king whose hoards are tearing apart the planet! Oh, what a shocker! It didn't get that far, folks. Didn't even get to the demon invasion. People got bored, it slowed down. We didn't get to the juicy part, damnit!

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Sometimes the best rps are the simplest rps. Rps with freedom, limited back stories, and constant movement are fun, laid back and addictive. Your rp should be set up so that at any given time something exciting can be happening. Breaks in action, though seemingly short, take days to rp, and can result in boring the rpers to death.

9. A n00b is a n00b. A lesson for gms and rpers.

The fact of the matter is... some people aren't as good at rping as other people. I know, for one, that there are people on this site that are better than me. And the sooner everyone admits this, the better. Rping, both as a GM and a rper, takes serious english skills, and I'm not talking about the ability to speak english, I mean the skill in the class. Your ability to read, analyze, synthesize and interpret literature, your ability to write and your general understanding of human nature in regards to psychology and what should be common sense human behavior.

In school, people are split into classes according to skill. Honors English, grade level, lower... Not all honors kids were good creative writers, and not all level one kids are clueless zeroes. But I think rps can be organized in a similar way. Honors rps, that are high leveled, subtly complicated rps that require major english skills. Then, uh, level one, let's say, that is for your average joe, and level 2 rps, that have mostly young inexperienced people or people who may not be the sharpest when it comes to writing.

But these lines aren't clear in rps. There are no defined level breaks, but there are definitely levels.

So if you are rejected from an rp, instead of thinking the GM is a dick, think instead that it's an honors english class with an emphasis on creative writing. If you don't think you could make it in that class at school, don't expect you'll make it into the rp here.

It's just the blunt truth. If rps were based on math, I'd suck hard core. Hell, if it was based on science I would be totally screwed.

If you're not advanced in english, you're typically not advanced at rping. Rping, is writing. Writing is english. Rping is a test of your english skills and general creativity.

If you don't succeed, it was too hard. That's the end all be all. No "How to rp" lectures will boost your english skills. You are who you are and only time and experience will make you improve. And even then, there are plenty 50 year olds that can't write for shit.

Just because you write, doesn't mean you can write. Just because you rp, doesn't mean you can rp.

DEAL WITH IT

Group with people of your skill level, and have fun, but don't flip a bitch when you try to enter another group, and are rejected.

I'm not calling you stupid. And I'm not calling me smart. Again, I'm not the best writer, I'm not the best rper. Everyone has their talents and everyone isn't on the same level. That is life.

And if you're young, give yourself time. I know when I was 15... eeeeEEEeee...

Not saying there aren't brilliant 15 year olds...

... I just haven't met one yet. DON'T CONFRONT ME!

- - - -

If I have offended for whatever reason I'm sorry. There. Now we can skip the fighting.

I hope these lessons will help people in the rp making/joining career. Have fun and play safe.

[M!]

2008-03-27 [Ixel]: I really enjoyed reading this. It is succint, tongue-in-cheek and TRUE. Thanks for sharing!

2008-03-27 [M!]: yyyyyou're welcome.

2008-03-27 [Kay-chan]: You're adorable. XD

Can I have some of your free time? PLZ?

2008-03-27 [Mai Lynn]: This is totally full of win. Number three happened to me in this awful, n00bish, competely FANGIRLOMG! forum where these vampires were chattin' away and my vampire (*shudder*) hadn't even gotten to say anything during the ENTIRE convo. DX It wasn't LAWL. And on the other end, I THINK YOU ROCK HARDCORE. Cliches amongst well-trusted friends can be fun!

2008-03-28 [Fizban]: 8 is happening (has been happening) for months!! Agggh!! *sigh* I put hours and hours of backstory, and genealogy into the rp, the plot was going to be awesome, there were about 6 different groups, within which each had their own individual set of characteristics, and variations, and political social intrigue with one another in this aristocracy...I worked sooo hard!! I made logical connections spanning to different countries/continents of people, weaving magic with politics...

I have so many unexpected villians that even the co-writer of the wiki doesn't know what I have in store...

I started it at the funeral of the last ruler, to kick start political intrigue and create a power vacuum with which the players to work with...

We never made it out of the wake from the damned funeral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so angry! *sigh*

Good advice though...I am not doing that again. Still have hopes that wiki will jump back to life.

2008-03-29 [Steel Mal'ak]: Haha, I think I like you. I think how 2 rp is envious of this lovely page.

2008-03-29 [M!]: There were enough wikis for rpers. I thought I'd lend the GMs a hand.

2008-03-29 [Steel Mal'ak]: And indeed, I needed this hand very much.

2008-03-30 [Fizban]: Thats true...This is the first GM help wiki I have ever seen. :)

2008-03-30 [Slinky]: i know just the person that needs to read this, so thank you!!!

2008-03-30 [M!]: woo!

2008-03-30 [Kay-chan]: Hahaha. :D

2008-03-31 [Ryo-Oni]: Definitely a new favorite wiki of mine. You rock so callously yet informingly hard, M!

In the best way possible. XD

2008-07-12 [Dezmond]: It actually makes sense the way you put it. I mean I've put hours and hours in to plotting the story line and everything and then BOOM!!! x.x everything goes to hell. >> But, I suppose everyone can't read your mind to do exactly what you want them too, and it does get boring. It's made me leave alot of rp's too

Another thing is that noobs always destroy my rps, the thing is though, most of my friends are Noobs to rping and I really don't want to hurt there feelings but...GAH!!! They're killing me. >> I understand that I was a Noob to it at one oint too, and hell I'm still not the best, but damn, I have scolarships for my writing and whatnot, i just suck ass at Grammar because i'm too lazy to go back and fix it when i notice it...

2008-07-12 [Fizban]: then, thats that. Have auditions, and let your friends know in a constructive way. I have ended up not totally negatively driving a friend away from my rp's because I kept questioning her posts, and asking for corrections and such.

It's a stinker.

And lemme know when you have an rp up, i'll audition ;)

2008-12-05 [M!]: Hahaha, I'm allowed to spam my own wikis! Yey for me!

- ROOMS -

2009-03-24 [Lothuriel]: you are freakin' awesome.

2009-03-27 [Dezmond]: aww son of a crap >> i can't tell my friends they can't join my rp >> i got the absolute worst bio i've ever seen today, and i can't tell him he can't join >> luckily there are two mod's for this one so i can pawn it off on her, but what should i do when i can't do that?

2009-03-27 [M!]: That is a dilemma. The only thing I can think of is making up clever bullshit, but that's always specific to the situation.

2009-03-27 [Nocturnaliss]: What you could try to do is gently and diplomatically explain to your friend what bothers you with the bio, and see if he can't come up with better << you do risk him being upset about it, but... you also have to think about the other members of the rp. They wouldn't be happy to see someone sucky join it just because they're your friend.

2009-03-27 [Fizban]: ooh, good luck with that Byakuya,...if it makes you feel better, I will peer pressure you, because I am assuming I know this wiki, am in it, and thus I am one of those ambient other members of the RP that would be offended by a bad one. Or maybe this will simply make you feel worse, I dunno.

2009-03-27 [Dezmond]: but he's soo nice >> a little too chipper, but either way, the boy is an absolute pushover and i just hate to do that, but you'd just have to see the profile...

2009-03-28 [Duredhel]: Uhhhm... fun read XD gotta disagree with some of it based on personal experience, figure the rules to run a good RP change from person to person :3 but its still a fun read and insight into another GMs mind.

2009-03-28 [M!]: I'm curious about which ones

2009-03-30 [Duredhel]: Mostly about the shunning of noobs (took in some noobs and molded them, they'd been rejected from tons of other RPs before, but after a while they ended up not only being good, but incredibly dedicated, takes patience, but it pays off), no open RPs (in my RPs I requested people to turn in char sheets before they could join in, but they were by no means auditions), limits on the number of posts (though this might not apply to the RPs I ran because they were rule based RPs, so characters could chat all they wanted, but any real action required confirmaton from me or one of the assitant GMs I had trained when the RPs got too big) and about cliche RPs (regardless of how cliche an idea is, the RP can be damn good, in the end one learns that in storytelling, be it in an RP or not, the idea means nothing, the excecution is all). Dunno, many combinations of rules can be succesful :3, the fact that some stuff worked for me and not for you, or viceversa, doesn't mean either is right or wrong. In my case RoL got a bit too big (7 parties with 6 characters each at one point >< and some 20 more players in Realms of Lemire arena) and was eating too much of my life, so I had to step back. The players themselves and the assistant GMs i had trained organized a council and kept the RP running for another year or so, but it died in the end. We're preping it for publication now, tho :3

2009-03-30 [Fizban]: Nice,...very interesting. I have to say, I started out learning to RP in open rp's that were very disorganized and with fairly low talent, on either my part, and everyone elses. Through those well I would call them bad Rp's, I grew and learned sort of what not to do. Then started rp'ing bigger and better.

But then again, I also was growing up at the time, and I do have some writing talent. Not everyone can be a good writer, but everyone can increase there writing abilities, thinking outside the box, and improve grammar and spelling.

So I would have to say that he rule no open rp's or noobs, is good for a general stand point, but Duredhel is right in saying it's not necessarily always necessary depending on the GM.

We were all noobs once, ya gotta start somewhere

2009-04-01 [M!]: I find, in the type of rps I do, post limits are necessary. I even recently had an issue in an rp where about 8 posts were made in 3 hours while I was busy. My character had been interacted with, then left sitting comatose as everyone moved on. Responding would have been an extremely unrealistic delayed reaction. It wasn't fair in my eyes. Some groups of rpers have a good sense of when to stop posting and wait for someone, but it's not always the case.

I'm curious how your system works... Could you tell me in more detail?

As for noobs, I agree about how they need to rp to improve. Looking around at rps, however, I notice newbies will accept newbies, neutrals will except from both sides, and elitist picky folk will pick advanced people and that's just the way it plays out. Therefore, it all depends on the gm's skill level and/or tolerance, and from that, the standards sort of radiate. As people advance with their own little group, they can start venturing into other groups with different standards. Unfortunately for many people, sometimes they seek out a group that's too advanced, which is well, life. Like, you wouldn't let a bad guitar player in a profession band. It'd be nice for them in that it'd be a learning experience, but that's not the point of a profession band, it's supposed to play good music.

I have rped with some pretty bad kids before, and I didn't find it enjoyable in the least. You clump with skill levels you find tolerable, which is why I think an audition system is a good rule of thumb. But if you're not afraid of bad writers, it's not necessary. I just wouldn't accept strangers without screening them. I'm too picky.

2009-04-01 [Duredhel]: Uhm.. what would you like to know about my system? :3
the RPs I ran were realms of lemire, realms of lemire arena and lemirian pirates. Also ran some single player parties based off the first RP.

What I generally did was structure parties or playing groups based on the skills of individual players, if I had a noob in RP, I'd put him with some good RPers, if I had someone who wasn't used to rule based, I'd bunch him up with people who were, a one line player would be put together with long posters, and so on. I found putting lacking players in a good environment helped them become better rather fast. (I only had one exception which was called the Master Party, which was meant only for experienced players). Some people, yeah, they were hopeless, but they were few and far apart, and even then I wouldn't have felt right to just keep them from playing. Dunno, I guess I'd rather teach than shun, and that seemed to rub off on my players, eventually teaching noobs wasn't even hard anymore cuz there were some 20 or 30 players at a time teaching and helping anyone who came into the RP and was having trouble.

2009-04-01 [Fizban]: Wow...that's impressive. Yah know if more of those could be set up, there would be a lot more rp's around that didn't die 2 seconds after starting, as well as just in general.

2009-04-01 [Duredhel]: Eh ^___^ thanks. Well RoL lasted around 4 years, but the problem is an RP like that requires a lot of dedication. I managed to run it well for about 3 years, but then the RP started to get too big and life happened as well >__<

2009-08-12 [Nehirwen]: Featured Wiki! <img:44166_1164145171.gif>

2009-08-12 [The Creative-Bound Angel]: Honestly, I have to say that I actually like this. It's filled with great ideas for roleplays. I love creating roleplays and I must admit, you are right about the "just letting anyone in" issue. Sounds like I've got some major editing to do.

2009-08-15 [Kuramasgirl]: This was fantastic. I think I just realized that I've been limiting myself when it comes to creating (and even joining) new rps because of how many failed ones there've been in my time here...I even feel a bit inspired to try again. Great tips here, and I think I've finally learned my lesson when it comes to the "open" rps (talk about getting it through a thick skull). Thank you!

2009-08-15 [Captain Rachel Black]: Another word of advice, make your past pages of rping "password protected" so some *&^%$#@! Can't come along because you denied his character app and mess them up >_<

2009-08-15 [The Creative-Bound Angel]: yeah, I do that. I really would hate it if someone erased everything

2009-08-15 [Captain Rachel Black]: It wasn't so much as he erased anything he just put "The wind arrow rp sucks!!!" in big ass letters and made it password protected -_-

2009-08-15 [The Creative-Bound Angel]: that sucks!! someone did that to me, but it wasn't for a roleplay.

2009-08-15 [Kay-chan]: You can get a mod to fix that, I think. :D

2009-08-15 [Captain Rachel Black]: question mark

2009-08-15 [Aeolynn]: Not only that, you can go back into the wiki history and edit that version, then copy+paste. No harm done.

2009-08-15 [Kay-chan]: Unless it's password protected, Aeo-luv. Then you can't edit.

2009-08-15 [Aeolynn]: the only one that can pass protect it is the owner...

2009-08-15 [Nehirwen]: Otherwise you can always report the wiki destroyer to the guards, we can fix it for you. :)

2009-08-15 [jannin]: I agree with everything afore-mentioned. Good article :D

2009-08-16 [Captain Rachel Black]: It was reported but he got off on a technicality It was a looong time ago I'm over it XD

2009-08-16 [xido]: This is good common-sense RP Wisdom. Great work! ;)
-will

2009-08-22 [Akane Ice]: Can I advertise this. I have people ask me to help them with their RPgs all the flippen time and it gets SUPER annoying. O.o

2009-08-22 [M!]: Definitely.

2009-08-22 [Akane Ice]: Thank you!

2009-08-23 [Just Dan]: if im looking for a serious rp to try to get better where would someone recomend going

2009-08-23 [M!]: Text Adventures

2009-08-30 [Zab]: awwww... Now I definetly won't dare to join any rp.. I'll just stick to those who know me already. But we'll rule the world! Mohahahaha!

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