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Someone is spamming/trolling/etc in my thread!
by Serael


When there is a person in your thread who shows no want to roleplay, but instead is posting spam or harassing the other members of the roleplay, you may ask "What can I do about it?". Here are some simple steps to deal with this problem.

When you first realize that they're in your thread only to spam/troll, add them to your ignorelist. If you, as the thread's creator, do this, they will no longer be able to post in any threads you yourself have made. While you are doing this, it's important for you and the other members of your roleplay to remember: Ignore the spammer/troller. All they want is a responce from you. Not only that, but when you quote/respond to one, that's more for the mods to have to remove when we get your report.

So, he's gone, but his spam is still here! sad

Now, you would press the User Image button! This enables you to alert a moderator to the spam, so that they can come and remove it for you. However, keep these things in mind:

  • If they've only posted once, you can use the report button normally.

  • If they've posted three/four times on one page, you should report one of their posts, and make a note in the comments box that they've also made two or three other spam posts on the same page. This helps the mods to get your report faster, as there is only one report for a couple of spam posts.

  • If they've posted on multiple pages, you should report one of their posts and make a note that their are some on other pages. ( Ex. SoandSo posted spam in my thread. His posts are located on pages 4-6.) That way, we know where to delete, but we don't have to answer five spam reports from one thread.

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Joining an RP
by Eileen


A)When looking for an RP thread to join, I take in several factors:

The Obvious:
-Is the theme something I've wanted to play?
-Does the thread look active?
-Does the scenario in the thread sound interesting?
-Are all the things mentioned in the first post agreeable to me?
-Are any of the players munchkins?

The Not-So-Obvious
-Are there already too many players?
-Is this part of a guild that I'll have to join?
-Is the thread actively recruiting?
-Do I have the time for another RP thread?

If the answer to all these is agreeable to me, I'll usually have a look. Take in all these factors before you jump in, and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble. In particular, the first post in the thread is vital. There you should find everything you need to know, including recruitment status, rules you need to obey, and the opinions of the thread starter. I also recommend reading through the first 3 pages of the thread, and the last 3 (at least) to give yourself a feel for what they had intended it to be, and what it had evolved into.

B)Within the RP, when you introduce yourself, do something non-obstructive to their current thread, but something that will hopefully interest them into interacting with you (Maybe your character accidentally bumped into a precariously balanced statue, caught the heavy thing, and is now striving with all her might to keep it from hitting the ground.).

C)If you did all this, and posted, and posted, and you were utterly ignored, you have one final thing you can do: PM the player who seems most in charge (and active), and very nicely and politely ask what you can do to get into the thread. Share your concerns about being ignored, and then wait for a reply. If he/she responds, you'll likely have your answer one way or another. If he/she doesn't respond, and is still posting, you may want to consider leaving.

After all, if they display such rudeness, is it really worth RPing there?

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Character Development Prompts:
by Penden


When you have a basic profile ready for your character, you can develop them further by responding to a prompt that puts your character in a tight spot. You can write these prompts yourself or use my examples.


#1.Situational Exercises
One way to elicit a response from your character it to stick them in an uncomfortable situation, or else a situation that would make most people uncomfortable, then figure out how your character would respond. The most common ways to respond to any difficult situation are:
A.Solve the problem
B.Resign self to the problem
C.Hide from the problem

Some basic situations you may want to try are:
A.Being physically trapped
B.Being emotionally trapped
C.Being injured or threatened
D.Having loved ones inujured or threatened

Here is an example prompt for C:
Your character is just outside his or her home when two muscular looking men come up and ask to come in for a drink. Since it's not very hot outside and both men look pretty grissled and mean, they've probably got more on their minds. One of them is stroking the hilt a nasty looking sword at his side, and clearly they expect your character to either fight them or come inside quietly 'to talk.' Once you're inside, though, they'll be no chance of random strangers spotting the trouble.

What you do is read the bit I wrote and respond with how your character would respond (not in this thread, though-- in notepad or something). Don't just tell the reader, but actually write it out like you're writing part of a story.

#2 Reaction to Stereo-type Characters
One way to force a response of your character is to have them face a stereo-type character. Stereo-type characters are simple and unbendable in their oppinions, often producing a humorous response from more complex character. Some stereo-types you might recognize are:
A. Hero/Knight in shining armor
B. Defenseless maiden in distress
C. Super-bad guy
D. Super bad guy's frightened minion

Here is an example of a prompt for B:
Your character has been ordered as an escort for a lady of high standing as she wanders on horseback through the woods. You're the only escort because the woods you two are traveling in are supposed to be really safe, but the maiden suddenly slips out of your sight. For a good few minutes there's just no sign of her.

And for C:
You've been captured by *gasp* the super-bad guy! He's been after you for months, and, after tricking one of your friends into betraying you, now has you in one of his smaller lairs. You're just waking up with the affects of the drug he gave you still lingering, and you can hear him pontificating near by to one of his minions.

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Mary Sues
by Roka_Shotar



What is it? Short Definition
The Mary Sue is a term in writing for a certain type of character. This character is an extension of the author's ego. That means it is a copy of everything (or at least a lot) of what the creator wanted. In Role Play terms, it is a powerful, 'perfect' character. There are few true Mary Sues, but there are way too many normal Mary Sues.

What is it? Detailed Definition
The Mary Sue is an ideal character. Strong, attractive, popular, and cool, the Mary Sue (Gary Stu for male characters) is a huge pitfall. Everyone wants to play one, but no one ever should. These characters are, bluntly, stupid.

The characters often have a great number of skills. They don't have to be masters, but they have a lot, and they are great at most of them. In simple terms, the character is a Jack of All trades, but is as good as someone who specializes in that sole trade.

The Mary Sue is also highly beautiful (in more than one aspect). They appear to be heavenly, and are often exquisite in many different types of clothing. Their soul tends to be 'beautiful' (to the creator, which means it may not be innocent). That can make for a wicked personality.

The Mary Sue is a huge part of any story or Role Play. They suck up the other character's roles, hogging the plot to them. The Role Play dies because of it, and the Mary Sue brought everyone down with her.

If a Mary Sue is detected, please tell the Role Player politely. If they ignore or even flame you (which is against the TOS), then you can gesture a Spork, the mighty weapon against Mary Sues, at them wildly, but realize that they may be to fearful that they made a bane of characters.

At this point, send them the Mary-Sue Litmus Test for them to test the Mary Sue. A good character (in Role Play sense) should follow this table:
Role Play Type - Score
Non-Literate - 50
Semi-Literate - 40
Literate - 30
Advanced - 20

The scores are the maximum allowed. However, some of the questions in the test are asking about a story plot. For that, simply tell them what has happened (and if the answer does not score you a point, then what you plan to happen).

If you do get a Mary Sue, then you must figure out what to do. Sometimes, the best way to eliminate a Mary Sue from a Character is to look at the things that gave you points. Choose a few, and then adapt your character so that those things do not apply anymore. Then the score would go down.

Where can I get more information?
Here is a great site for an explanation: Explanation, tests, and other Mary Sue Lore

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Common Roleplay Etiquette
by Seth Darkheart


Depending on the type of roleplay that you are taking part in (futuristic, present, medieval etc) there will be different rules. Most roleplay threads will outline any rules that they in particular wish you to abide by, but the majority of roleplaying rules are common sense.

1. DONT CHEAT.
This is arguably the most important rule. There are many different ways to cheat whilst roleplaying (sometimes referred to as 'munching' or 'Godmoding'), too many for me to go into here, but I recommend that you read the Anti-Munch Project. If you're new to roleplay then it outlines several things that you should avoid. Think of the AMP as a list of roleplaying guidelines. In certain situations it's ok to break them, but I wouldn't recommend it until you've been roleplaying for a while and know how to recognise these situations.

As well as being a term interchangable with munching, Godmoding also refers to a particular type of munching. Godmoders are arguably the worst form of munchers, because their characters have powers akin to Gods. They can dodge bullets, fly, run incredibly fast, do martial arts... Basically, a Godmoder can do anything. It should be easy to see why this can get annoying.

2. BE REALISTIC.
In some roleplays you might be able to get away with bending the laws of physics, but in 'realistic' roleplays in particular you will have to bear what can and can't be done in mind.

3. STICK TO YOUR STORY.
It can get increasingly annoying if somebody that you are roleplaying with keeps changing their character, saying that they grew up with their parents on a farm one day, then claiming that they watched their parents die at the age of 1. Once you've got a story going in a roleplay, stick to it.

4. ONLY CONTROL YOURSELF.
There's nothing wrong with interacting with another user's character when roleplay (in fact, it's encouraged ) but don't control them. For example, it's fine to say that you offer another character a beer or that you throw a knife at them, but it is not ok to assume that the character takes the beer or that the knife hits him. I'll go into battles themselves in more detail later on, but the basic idea is that you let people control their own characters. After all, you wouldn't like it if somebody was controlling your character, would you?

5. OFFLINE? LEAVE THEM ALONE!
If somebody says that they are going offline but you wish to continue roleplaying, then the best way to do it is to pretend that the character started to ignore you or went off to do something else. Just because somebody has gone offline without making excuses IC does not mean that you can attack them, kill them, draw funny faces on them with pen, or anything like that.

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Battle Advice
by Seth Darkheart


For some reason or another, roleplay battles are one thing that people often find to be quite hard. They take a little bit of getting used to, but once you've roleplayed a fight a couple of times and you've gotten used to the way that they work, you'll learn that roleplay battles are often the most fun part of roleplay that there is! As with roleplay itself, the best way to learn is to experience it first hand. However, I'll try my best to explain how it works.

As with roleplay of any kind, users take it in turns to described their action and speech. The only difference with battles, really, is that users are describing their attacks. The more that you can elaborate upon your attacks, the easier it is for people to roleplay with you; if you say that you shoot them, it's hard for them to respond. If you said that you shot them but indicated what gun you used, where you were aiming the gun and gave a brief idea of what might happen if the bullet hit them (in case the user is not familiar with guns), then obviously it becomes easier for the user to reply properly.

Never assume that your attacks hit the target. If everybody assumed that all of their attacks went through, then roleplay would be incredibly boring and a lot of characters would die. A good roleplayer will always leave some way for their opponent to counter the attack, or at least give them a chance to do so; unstoppable attacks are seen as 'godmoding' and people will not want to roleplay with you if you never let them do anything.

Take a few punches. This is exactly the same as assuming that all of your attacks hit the target, really; if you avoid all of a user's attacks then they're not going to want to roleplay with you. Just because you think that your character should be able to do a backflip or dodge bullets, or that you think that they would be good ways to get out of attacks, bear your character in mind, again trying to remember to be realistic. Just because dodging bullets would get you out of a sticky situation doesn't mean that you should do it. Rather than trying to avoid everything, accept the fact that once or twice your character might get their a** kicked.

Accept defeat. If your character gets shot in the head at point blank range, or gets a knife through their heart, accept that your character is dead. Depending on the type of roleplay it may be possible for your character to be revived later on, but you shouldn't count on it. Coming back from the dead can be done well in certain situations, say in a roleplay centering around the use of magic, but just because you know that your character would be revived eventually is no need to do it too quickly. What I mean by this is that if your character dies, don't bring them back to life instantly if at all. If your character dies, then you've officially lost the fight, too.
Gaia Forums » GAIA Community » Barton Town (Role Play) » Barton OOC

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