RPing for Newbies: A guide

[Leech]

Roleplaying is the act of playing a role. This could be playing as yourself; as a gallant knight; a half gecko, half squid; an automaton in charge of a vast republic; or a hermit suffering from dementia and growing illegal substances under a house. All of these and more I have seen in roleplays - and all on this server.

Creating Your App

• Create a character similar to yourself- It is much easier to RP as a person who has similar ideas to you. If you have a character that would act or talk like you may make RPing much easier.
  
• Look at other applications- Accepted applications can provide a framework from which you can base your app on.
  

Role-playing in-game

• Everything you say in local is in character- Even small requests should be done in-character, it'll help increase your RP ability and it just makes sense.
  
• Justify- This has been a big issue lately. Before you do something, particularly something against someone else, make sure that you have justification for it and that the justification is known to those affected.
  
• Stay consistent- It is generally accepted that all roleplaying characters must be persistent (or, at least, persistently non-persistent)
  

RP No-nos

• Metagaming- Metagaming is a broad term, and we'll break it down here. Metagaming includes:
  Using OOC information- Out-Of-Character information should not afffect your decisions in game. This includes trading items through OOC, sharing coords that aren't your own in OOC, and using said coords, and using Skype or Teamspeak to coordinate over long distances.
  Block-checks aren't in character- Even if a mod checks blocks for you, you don't know in character
  Nameplates- Nameplates are not visible in-character, don't use them - They exist, but the names on them mean nothing
  
• Improper grammar-This is one of the most important aspects of maintaining a roleplay environment. Nothing ruins the mood like someone typing in l33tspeak. This is not to say that every roleplayer must write as well as William Shakespeare or Mark Twain. Your writing ability and the ability of the character to speak are two very different things. The character should write and speak with the knowledge, personality, and style of his own.
  Although it is not enforced, it is generally taboo to use shorthand, l33tspeak, txtspeak, or any other shortened means of communication while in a roleplay. The usage of such language generally detracts from the overall enjoyment and disrupts immersion.
  

Have Fun!
Just act as you think your character would normally act. Go on epic quests, and even make up stories as you go along for both awesome results and a great practice in improvisation. Think Shadow of Israphel, but completely impromptu. Cool, right?

I would like to thank Cerce and Gecko for their help in this thread, without their mastery, I couldn't make this. WIP

[Android]

You know it'd be much easier and even better if you waited to post the thread until you actually had the text written out already.

[Leech]

Letting people add their suggestions while I write my post

[Cerce]

I'd be happy to help, if you want.

[geckosquid]

We should incorporate the guides created by Cerce and I back in 2.0.

[Cerce]

I removed them back during my ragequit - I'll put 'em back on if you'd like. Granted, my viewpoints on roleplay have changed over the course of... what, a year?

Wow... time goes by fast.

[Leech]

Sure, go for it. Expect an updated version soon, since I'm at school

[asdfasdflkjty911]

Make sure you include things that ARE NOT RP, like combat logging and random killing.

[Smythie]

Leech is just waiting for someone else to do the work =P xD

[Leech]

Not really, just sorta busy. I am hoping other people pitch ideas though xD