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Toshi's guide to ORPs:

Keeping up:
EVERYONE IS POSTING A BILLION THINGS AT ONCE.
Read characters you're interested in/interacting with. Skim the rest. If you're really pressed, *only read dialogue*.
******But don't skip the dialogue-reading.******
Usually dialogue is only two or three lines, and most people make dialogue a different color/bolded to aid your skimming.


Getting noticed:
DON'T:
-sit in a corner inner monologuing about how you wish someone would notice you
(they're skimming, they won't)
-do something crazy to get the attention of EVERYONE
(people will react ONCE, and then they will go back to what they were doing)
-give up

DO:
-address a specific person BY NAME
-post actions/questions/dialogue people can react to.
Good: Sally turned around and STOMPED ON JACK'S FOOT.
Good: Sally asked Jack, "Is this your first train ride?"
-drag players that are having a hard time interacting into a conversation/situation
-keep trying!

If people don't respond to you, they probably didn't see you, or they're busy! Most people can only keep up with MAYBE 3 or 4 other people to interact with at once. So try to single out characters who aren't swamped. There are plenty of people around who would really like someone to interact with. Shrug it off, roll up your sleeves, and try addressing someone else. Look for people that also look lonely and BOTHER THEM. Eventually you'll get a conversation going.

- Kitty Genovese effect is in place. If you ask for HELP! you get ignored. If you ask one person, JACK, PLEASE HELP ME, they will rush to your aid (as long as they are not trying to do the same thing for 5 other people).

Most people post huge chunks of inner dialogue
OTHER CHARACTERS CAN'T REACT TO ANY OF THIS.
Introspection is fine, but try to make posts that also have an *interesting action* and *dialogue* in them.

These are not hard and fast rules, but RPing this way will *get you people to interact with*. Once you get more comfortable, you can help people who are having trouble (or who have shy/antisocial characters!) interact too.