Hello there. My name is Talitha. Welcome to school. Here is where you can learn how to role play like a professional. There are a few basic rules of role playing that many people do not understand. We will start with the basics and move on from there. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

1) Remember to post at least five sentences. That will usually earn you a decent amount of gold and most of the time will leave your partner enough room to reply.

Hola I'm Arechi, and I shall be helping out here and there on this fabulous lesson to learn how to rp so that your partner doesn't kill you. ^.^

2). Alright so you post your five sentences, but wait your partner still can't quite figure out what to post next. What's the issue? Well try rereading over your post to make sure that it contains enough descriptive details that your partner can get a sense of what to post. Not only will this help you ensure that you can possibly follow the first rule that Tally posted, but can also help in your gold gathering. ^.^

Not exactly sure if your post has enough description? Try rereading it anyways and think of how you would try to respond to it. If you are able to come up with something in your mind, but then find that you won't know what to post, then chances are you might need to spice your post up a bit. Plus it'll help keep your partner and you from getting bored really quickly with reading.

Still uncertain? Well here's an example of the good, the bad and the just plain ugly. XD

The Ugly

He woke up. He was a vampire. He didn't like people. He didn't want to be here. He slept in a box. He was chained up.

The Bad

The vampire guy had been sleeping for awhile and just woke up. He didn't really want to be where he was at all. Every time he was woken up he was put in front of people he didn't like. He also ended up chained with metal chains. This of course made him not to want to leave his sleeping box that he slept in.

The Good

He could hear the creaking of the coffin door even before he felt the rough tug of the chains around his wrists and neck. Green eyes slowly opened even as his body rose much quicker from the urgent tugs. It took only a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light of the candles attempting to mix with the darkness. A yawn escaped revealing the male’s sharp but prominent fangs. He paused for a moment to stretch his tired limbs and earned another yank of the chains. “You’d best quit yanking that chain or you may find it in a place you’d rather not Sir” the raven haired vampire warned. The one who’d been yanking the chain knew full well that the awakening vampire would clearly carry out his threat and immediately ceased his yanking. After all this vampire was the famed Eclipse, perhaps one of the bloodiest vampires that there had been during the war between the humans and vampires.

After a proper stretching and a few more yawns Eclipse gracefully climbed out of his makeshift coffin, his pouch of dirt swinging from around his waist slightly at his movements. His green eyes calmly and coolly glanced around the room, noticing only a few other makeshift coffins that were still closed. ‘Either sleeping, empty or dead I suppose’ he thought coldly to himself and fixed his gaze upon the one who held the other end of his chain. He could feel the human shrink at his cold but calm gaze and could see the unconscious tightening of his hand around the chain. In the dim candle light a glint of metal soon caught the attention of the green eyes. Around the man’s neck was a crucifix, and though it was not the image that disturbed the vampire, but rather the material that it was made from. It was clear even in this dim light that the crucifix was made of iron rather than the commonly seen steel or gold ones. Naturally this was perhaps one of the only things keeping the vampire from attempting to tear the human merchant apart and drain him of blood entirely.

Naturally this caused the trembling of the human, that he could feel from the equally trembling chain that the merchant held tightly in his hands, a bit of a puzzlement to him. “Calm yourself human. You as well as I know you are safe from my fangs. I am neither foolish nor rash enough to risk my life in attacking you” he replied coolly still as his piercing gaze averted from the human. He could feel the trembling lessen though not completely disappear. Regardless his words still seemed to ‘comfort’ the human and renew a small amount of his resolve as the vampire soon felt the now light tug of the chain that held him captive. Calmly the vampire followed and was relieved that it only took a few moments for him to exit the shelter and enter the calm but brisk night air. He only needed to walk a little further still to get to the designated area that the merchant had for him and stopped when he felt he was in the correct place. This of course was proven when he heard the clink of metal against metal and knew that the end of his chain had been fastened to an iron hoop that was secured in one of the walls of the building he had emerged from. This was now his second, no perhaps third, night being in this spot now, as many had a tendency to only get a look at him rather than purchase. He figured the humans merely feared for their lives, as the fact that he had already had numerous masters in the past that had died rather young circulated among the population quickly, therefore they had good reason to fear the vampire. He knew that it would only be a few moments before the gawking and unwanted attention from the humans began.

(Yes I quoted from one of my intros from an rp I currently have up...Please don't steal this word for word. :cry:)

Now of course your posts don't always have to be this incredibly long, especially since this post was an intro post, but I hope you get an idea that detail is important from it. :sweat:

Proper grammar/ punctuation.

Remember spelling does not have to be perfect. It would be nice if you managed to spell properly though. There are many websites you can use to help with this such as dictionary.com. They will help you get your spelling done just right. Using an offsite website is not a problem if you need help. Remember at least try to make your words look readable.

Punctuation is important when making a post. You need to quote anything that your character may say. Some people also make it bold or italiced in order to help people know when their character is talking. Another thing to remember is that you should put a space after each sentence. It makes it easier to read.

Examples

EX1: (bad post)
Jerry walked up to Jane.he smiled at her. Hi I am jerry. Nice to meet you.

EX2: (good post)
Jerry walked up to Jane. He smiled at her. "Hi I am Jerry. Nice to meet you."

Do you see the differences? It does not take much extra work to make your posts readable. Its like Rechi says "Sometimes people post things that make my eyes bleed."

*writes this all down* So helpful :drool:

Do you have any questions so far Kiara?

yes! the grammer i dont see the difference ??

Look at the capitalization and the punctuation in the two posts. Do you see now?

Well it's true, sometimes they do. >.>...That's a completely different matter though. :sweat:

4) One thing I personally can never stress enough to people is be sure you add some twists to the roleplay and not solely rely on just your roleplay partner to come up with them. I cannot say how annoying it is to have to constantly come up with ideas on how to make the roleplay more exciting, and being the only one who is putting any effort into this. Now with many things there is a way that may lead to confusion/be illogical and a way that can add a twist while still making sense.

Example A

If you're plot is something along the lines of a romance between a human girl and a vampire, don't suddenly change it to where the human girl was suddenly born a half vampire who goes around drinking the blood of others, when in the post before she was a shy and timid young lady who had just met a mysterious man and was born completely human.

This is not a twist, this is completely turning all of the work that had been placed into the plot upside down. Not only does that confuse the person(s) you're roleplaying with, especially if you did it without mentioning a word to them, but it destroys the whole plot structure of the roleplay and could potentially ruin the roleplay altogether.

Now if you want to throw a twist in the plot there are ways to go about it.

Example B

We'll take the same original plot from the previous example, a human girl falling in love with a vampire, and add a slight twist to it. Let us say that during the encounter with the 'mysterious man' something happens, such as an attempt mugging gone horribly wrong, in which the human girl is placed on death's door step. And let's say for the sake of making sense that this 'mysterious man' has been watching this girl for quite a few years and has developed the affections needed for the plot for her. Now the girl that he secretly loves is dying and so to prevent that he turns her into a vampire, a fact that she can initially loath him for.

Now here you see how we've changed the girl from being human to turned into a vampire as well as threw in a small little conflict that the two will have to overcome by having her initially loath him for the decision.

tau-oh i see now :yes:

are-thats helpful 0-0

Lol thank you, I did try on that one. Example A is actually one that I took from personal experience with an rp I was doing with someone else. I hadn't quite expected it nor was I really fond of the idea. I'm sure it's rather clear it didn't last very long after that. XD

And now for sleep! @[email protected]

Are-good night and thank you :hug:

trys to think of more questions....hmmm

Your welcome Kiara. Anything else you have to ask us?

5) Remember that with Introductions you should make sure that you include lots of details. It is important to make your introduction one of your biggest posts. You should include the following:

1) Description of where your character currently is.
2) Description of what your character is currently doing along with what sort of a position they are in.
3) Description of your characters looks or racial features.
4) Description of what has happened to your character.

Here is a few examples.

1) (bad) Liana looked around her and sighed. She was so bored being an elf. She wanted something to do. She needed someone to keep her company. She wanted to be included in something. Perhaps she should go for a walk.

2) (good) Liana stretched her arms above her head. Her tangly hair was sticking straight up because she had just woken up. She was in her bedroom sitting in bed. Around her was a normal amount of stuff you would find in a basic bedroom. She had a bed with silk and golden colored sheets and blankets. Her walls were painted gold also. She had one window across from her with a nightstand sitting in front of it. Her curtains were also gold. She had two bookshelves full of books that elves would read. She smiled and stood up going to her mirrior. Her pointed ears were very prominant and you could see them no matter what her hair looked like. She wanted to go do something. Perhaps if she went on a walk she would meet someone fun to spend time with. She stood up and put on a yellow dress with flowers on it. She wore no shoes since she perfered to run around barefooted. SHe grabbed her bow and arrow set she left by the door in case she needed it. She took off out the door at a walking pace and headed into town.

See what a difference a descriptive post can make. Which one would you rather reply to?

the good one!
tai you and sre are rping queens :cry:

i dont feel worthy :cry:

Hmm.. I need to work on the 5 sentences. Well most of the time I can. Unless the other person only does two or three. I normally try to post as much as them or more unless I'm braindead. Also for the ideas part, for the twists and stuff, what do you do if you have an idea and your not really sure the other person is going to even partly like the idea. I don't mean make them not want to role play, but make it be a topic that they don't really feel comfortable with?

Thats a good question broadway. It will help if I get into my next subject.

Communication

Are you worried that a partner will not like a twist in a plot but it sounds like something that would interest you?
How would you fix such a problem?

(Did you know typing like this is an example of OOC chat. If you type like this then you can simply ask your partner what it is that is bothering you.)

I will show you an example from a role play I am currently in with Esmme. Here is our conversation. First of all here is how it began:

The vampire smiled, fingering Nichole's delicate fingers for a moment before catching someone's eye. They were swiftly tended to, and Ian listened as his friend placed an order. When the waiter had left, he let his red eyes move to hers again. "You should go home. You shouldn't be leaving your normal life for all this. Surely you work or something, don't you?" Ian smiled a bit, knowing that he wouldn't be leaving her even if she had to go. He wouldn't leave - even if she wanted him to. Not now.
-

"I'm fine here," Kei said, and smiled hesitantly before continuing. "I don't think it would be smart to put me in a building full of people I could eat on a whim." He laughed nervously, and then rolled onto his side so he was facing the werewolf. "I can wait for a bed until I'm better at not eating things."

((We need some conflict. Any ideas?))

See how easy it is. We spent at most five posts discussing an idea for conflicts. Just talk about it with your partner. It does not have to be in a role play. It can be on their profile or in pm or in the instant messenger. The thing is you need to talk about it.

----------

I hope this helps you out broadway.

Just for future reference (this) is refered to as OOC chat or out of character.

True.. That does work. Thanks for pointing it out.

This has all been really very helpful :D I mean, i find myself to be efficient as a roleplayer and partner, but it never hurts to check up and see if you're still up-to-date with what people currently want in their partners. And thanks so much for the plot-twist part! Its so hard to make a roleplay with good plot twists :(
I don't know if you're already planning on mentioning this, but maybe you could put in something about formatting? I don't mind a lovely format, and I don't even mind when people have oddly colored text, but it is hard to concentrate on what someones saying when their lime-green text is screaming at my eyes.
It took me almost two years to figure that one out on my own :P for some odd reason, i found blaring yellow to be quite lovely >.>

I have Another question..

What do you do if the person is following your original plot idea word for word and not allowing for any twists to happen? Meaning when you do something (in this case making an enchanted chain shock a witch to keep her from breaking it) and that person literally stops posting and says it can't possibly do that because all we said was it would burn other demons. And when you try to explain your thinking every single time they say it's not possible.

I'm not going off topic or anything, but really right now they're sitting on the ground talking and I'm getting somewhat sick of it, so i decided it was a good time for something to happen. But even with ooc they don't agree...

So I'm stuck because each time is making me somewhat annoyed. I feel like they won't even try to use my idea because they don't get it after only one post.

I am happy we are helping you out smexy. And broadway if it was me I would tell them look either do something or im dropping out of this rp. That is pretty much all I can tell you there. Also heres something for you guys: If you would like to practise role playing with me. I am more than happy to help out. Just check out my request thread in my signature.

(this lesson is dedicated to smexy)

FORMATING

Many people I find use these colors: yellow white Annoying bright blue <<highlight if you can not read it btw.

What do you do if your partner does this?
Well I would ooc it to them to change the color or if you do not want to do that just highlight the portion.

What colors are worth using?
I perfer This one or This one or This one.

Text size????????

Well you do not want it so small you cannot see it or so large it takes up half your post.

I find four is a good compromise.

Lol sorry for that short leave there. XD I'm glad that this is helping people, although I don't think I'd call myself a rp queen. I've still got quite a bit to learn myself. :sweat: It seems I might have to come up with a two-for. XD

As to your question broadway I'd have to agree with Tally on that. Basically the best thing to do is to contact your partner and tell them that there needs to be some sort of excitement or twist thrown in to keep it interesting. Ask them what their ideas might be for a twist or something to make the roleplay more exciting. If they suggest something you don't like then negotiation is the best option. Maybe take a little bit of an idea they might have and a little bit of yours, to come up with an equally pleasing and satisfying twist. ^.^

Common Curtsy in OOC

Now I know that some people might be thinking: 'Well this is just common sense. Any moron would know you're suppose to be polite.' There are some people out there though that get so caught up in their roleplaying that they completely forget about this, or maybe they don't realize they're being discourteous. I can fully understand how annoying and upset this can make people, as I'm sure at some point it has happened to everyone at some point in their life. Maybe it's not in roleplaying that it's happened, but at some point I'm sure that someone has been rather rude or vulgar to everyone. At times some people have become so upset by something that was said or posted, that it completely spoils their day and causes a fight.

There is a way to combat this. Like many things as well there is a right way and a not so right way to go about this. If someone says something to you, that you took offense to let the person know politely. Again maybe the person didn't realize that they were being mean, or rude or discourteous to you. Politely point it out to them and I can promise that most of the time it will turn out for the better and avoid a full fledged fight. Here's an example:

Example A

The not-so-correct way
Player 1: (0mg urz p0st wa$ $o l0lz.)

Player 2: (Ok if you're going to talk to me don't use f***** l33t speak you noob! It's so d*** annoying!)

Ok so here we have player 1 speaking in a way that player 2 clearly didn't like. Yes player 2 communicated this to they're partner, but in a way that was hurtful and quite honestly discourteous. Player 1 might have been a really good roleplayer, but their OOC didn't quite match. By cursing and insulting Player 1, Player 2 may have just lost either a possible friend or a rather good roleplay partner. What would be the correct way to go about it you might ask? Well let's take a look at Example B. ^.^

Example B

Player 1: (0mg urz p0st wa$ $o l0lz.)

Player 2: (Pardon me Player 1, but would you mind possibly not speaking in l33t please? For me it's really hard to understand and I'd really appreciate it. :D)

Ok let's look at the differences. Pretend that you are Player 1 which response would you be more likely to comply with and not feel insulted from? If you answered Example A...well...no comment... I'm sure most of you though probably picked Example B right? Here Player 2 was still rather clear that they didn't like the way Player 1 was talking, but they did it in a way that was much more polite. Now when you respond to something that offends you, you don't have to go word for word off of Example B. Even a simple: 'Hey could you please not use l33t speak, I can't understand it very well.' works just as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I did promise a two-for didn't I? ^.^

Reading Posts

I know that there are people who actually dread doing this. Maybe their partner made a novel like post and they really really don't want to read it, and thus they merely skimmed it. Now this is what I call the 'lazy way'. When people skim texts of any sort they have a tendency to miss some crucial fact in the text. It may be something small, it may be something large, the point is it was missed. Read the posts, no matter how long or short they are. This is even more important when it comes to the very first post of the thread.

If you've seen my roleplays floating around out there, I'll admit my first posts are monsters. Even my posts can sometimes be a bit...novel like, seven page intro might be a little too much (I honestly didn't think it would go that long...:sweat:), and so my partner(s) might try to skim it. And I won't lie, you can usually tell when something has been skimmed, and honestly to the person who had taken the time to write it, it hurts to know that someone didn't read your work. People usually put time and effort into their posts, and the results can be incredible, though also incredibly long.

Now there are times where people post something that is really long, and it drags about a particular detail. These posts, although well written, can be incredibly painful to read. Regardless though you want to read it and make sure that you understood everything written and what has happened/being talked about.

Of course it's not only the IC (In character) chat that should be read, but the OOC things too. Maybe they're having a conversation with a different partner, but maybe sometime during that conversation they say something that is relevant to all the player(s). Here's an example of what can happen if you don't read everything:

Example A

Player 382: (Lol that's great Player 283! I totally loved playing that game. When so and so reached the such and such place I was like: 'Omg really?!' Oh that reminds me though I won't be on for five days due to a trip I'm taking, just so everyone knows and before I forget.)

Player 283: (I know right? And alright have a good trip Player 382!)

~Two days of roleplaying later~

Player 342: (Where is Player 382? If they don't post soon I'm going to boot them from the roleplay!)

((Is it the greatest example? No, but would you really want to read one of my monster posts? Yes I spared everyone's eyes... XD))

Now here we have three players. Two were clearly chatting with each other, and it was clear that the third wasn't really paying attention. Granted of course it was something small, but the consequences were evident. Imagine how Player 382 is going to feel knowing that because Player 342 didn't read that they were going away, and just about booted them for it? It may alert them that Player 342 isn't reading all that's being posted, and may even make them feel like the same could be occurring with their IC posts, which of course is just a rotten feeling.

So two points of this particular post: 1. Be nice to your partners and 2. Read everything posted, no matter if it pertains to you or not. ^.^

And with that Arechi introduces me to a new idea for a role play advice post.

Super epicly long annoying to read posts

Now a lot of people have problems keeping up with really super long posters. It does get annoying even to me. This does not mean to limit yourself. Do not worry about trying to keep it lower. I love long posts. They are fun to read. The thing I hate is when people post things that are not relavant to the role play or worse .....post things that tell you every little detail about everything they can think of. You know you only earn a certain amount of gold per post and there is a limit. So even if your first post is a book and you keep it up you are limited to how much you can get.

So the advice........Try to tone it down a little.

I'll admit I'm rather guilty of breaking that rule quite a few times. :sweat: I'm sorry I know my posts, especially some of my first and intros, are super long. I just get a little over excited. :cry:

Anyways onto the next rule topic. ^.^

Powerplaying

Now some of you may not know exactly what powerplaying is, and that's alright, as that is the purpose of this particular post. Powerplaying in a roleplay sense is assuming the control of another person's character. This is something you do not want to do, with the exception being when you are given permission by the person playing the character to temporarily control them.

This of course you can't make assumptions, but with this you have to leave it open so that the person's character that you're making an assumption about can either confirm or deny it. Here's some examples:

Example A

The if-you-do-this-people-will-probably-shoot-you for:

Player 1's Post: Jamey (Player 1's character) grabbed ahold of Theodore's (suppose to be Player 2's character) hand and began to drag him down the dimly lit hallway. "Hey wait let me go!" Theodore demanded as he squirmed in her grasp. Jamey however did not let up and instead continued to drag him. "No I won't let go of you, now shut up!" Jamey yelled, smacking Theodore against the cheek roughly and sending him flying into a wall. Blood oozed down Theodore's head from the impact causing him to cry loudly.

Player 2's Post: (Hey Theodore is my character! You don't have my permission to take control of him! :()

Now here we have two characters that are suppose to be played by two different people, however Player 1 decided to take completely control of Theodore, making him say and do things that Player 2 did not. It is also clear from Player 2's post that they did not give Player 1 permission to play their character. This is an example of powerplaying, and something that should not be done. Now if in the post above this Player 2 had given Player 1 permission to control Theodore, say because they were in a group rp and Player 2 needed to go to bed or something, then something like that would have been a bit more alright and Player 2 probably wouldn't have objected.

Example B

The more acceptable post

Jamey reached out to grab a hold of Theodore's arm. "Come with me if you want to live Theodore and not get smacked around" Jamey said as he raised his other hand threateningly. He had a feeling that Theodore probably wouldn't go willingly, so he felt the threat was needed just in case.

Now do you see the difference here? Here it wasn't posted that Jamey did grab Theodore's arm, but instead reached out to make an attempt as well as the assumption that Theodore would probably resist. Now it wasn't saying that Theodore would, rather it was an assumption. This leaves it open for the one playing Theodore to either resist like it was assumed and do something like deflect the arm reaching out to him, or allow the hand to grab his arm and go along willingly. There's also other possibilities opened here too, but the point is the one playing Theodore now has the option to explore those possibilities.

Awww, this is so cute. :3

Cute? :sweat: Well as long as it's also helpful. XD

haha ty wavikz >.>

Mature role plays

Acceptable posts and unacceptable posts are something that makes you wonder now dosen't it? How far is to far? How do you know when to go offsite and when it is ok to stay? How about the option of timeskips? How does that work?

Well heres an example of a post that is done properly.

Wendy smiled at Peter. They were laying in bed watching tv and she felt like it was time to move forward with their relationship. "Peter?" Peter stared at his gorgeous Wendy. "Yes dearest?" Wendy moved forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. Peters eyes went wide and he responded in a natural way. (this is a timeskip part. If your post to to short then do this) When they were finished Wendy and Peter cuddled together. "I love you Peter." Peter grinned. "Love you to dearest."

Now what other options do you have? Try this one. Its a simple sentence that will get you through it without you getting banned or in trouble. They made love. It was wonderful. See really easy.

This is a sure fire way not to get banned.