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 Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:27 pm
 WELCOME! Hello everyone! I'm Flawless Fire, your captain. I personally welcome you to this guild. Words cannot begin to describe how exciting this is and I hope you all have a fantastic time here! But of course, every guild comes with rules. Nothing too crazy here, but I do expect them to be followed. If they are broken, you will be given three chances (i.e. three strikes, you're out). After that, you'll be leaving the guild and put on the black list.
Now, on with the rules!
1. Whatever guidelines that I have been set up by Gaia must!!!! be followed! There is no breaking of this rule! I will not be having my guild be shut down due to someones incompetence.
2. Please be respectful of your fellow roleplayers. We're all here to have fun, not be harassed by other members.
3. Whatever rules are made by the roleplay creator, they are expected to be followed. If I get a complaint on you multiple times about not following the rules given by a creator, the smack down will be given! scream
4. If there are any problems, whether they be apart of these rules or not, please contact a moderator, or me. I will be debriefing the mods soon, seeing as it has been taking a while to get this guild going. Hopefully they remember they're moderators! sweatdrop
5. I would prefer to not be contacted, unless it's involving the rules or a roleplay that you need another person for. I love roleplaying and I am willing to be in any roleplay that catches my interest. However, do not, I repeat DO NOT message me asking if you can be a moderator. That is NOT okay. It will only aggravate me. I will be choosing to add more moderators as I go, depending on everyone's participation.
6. Please keep threads in the correct sub-forums! I understand it may be difficult to specify what genre your roleplay falls under and that's okay, but please try and figure that out on your own. If it's a combination of like four genres, then put it in the one that has the most influence over the roleplay. Some of them will be grouped together to have a wide variety of each sub-forum.
7. Please don't post a roleplay in multiple sub-forums. Just... don't. If you need to advertise it or something, there will be an ad sub-forum. But I would greatly appreciate it if you did not post your roleplay in multiple forums.
8. DO NOT GODMOD!!!!!! You don't like it when it happens to you, so don't do it to anyone else! it makes you look like an A-Hole. evil
9. Try your best. A roleplay is writing. You will naturally improve over time if you try your best and keep learning. Try to avoid ‘txt talk’ and boring posts.
10. Stick to your character's personality! While it’s easy to change your personality at the drop of the hat or pull out a new super power to fit the situation, I’ll be honest: it’s annoying to other players. It’s no fun when there’s no conflict or when a problem is too easy to solve, especially if only one person is the one to solve it.
11. Last, but most certainly not least, HAVE FUN! Roleplays are meant to be fun, so enjoy yourself! 3nodding
Some rules were modeled after a few of Hikari Bunni Tenshi's rules for RPFLA. Unfortunately, I'm not perfect and I did need a little help!
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:29 pm
Roleplaying Tips
Provided by Arcos Magna & Hikari Bunni Tenshi
Definition of a "One-liner"
A "One-liner" is a person who posts only one line of action and/or dialogue and expects an appropriate reaction to their post. One-liners are notorious role players, racking up large post quantities but failing in what matters the most in role playing: quality. You see, in order to really develop a character, it is not the quantity of your posts that matter, but the quality of what you have written.
A proper post should have the following components (parts): The beginning of the post should be a physical and/or mental reaction to what was said/done in the previous post. That should be followed by a bit of dialogue and more physical description. The dialogue can either end the post, but I find that if you include a post-movement, such as making the character move, sit, stand, dance, jump, etc., it rounds things out nicely. Now then, lets break down each part to give you a better idea of how to do it.
React:
Generally speaking, only one person begins a thread and everyone else is reacting to how the thread began and/or what was posted directly above their reply. So, if you are starting a thread, a reaction is not necessary to the dialogue, but you can put their reaction to walking into what ever area they are and what they are doing there. When I say your character should react physically to what was said/done in the previous post it is only mirroring real life. If someone says something to you, you have a reaction. Even a non-reaction is technically a reaction, because your character is attempting to look as if they are not reacting. If that is confusing, let me give an example.
RP example:
John listened as Maria explained the reasons as to why they could no longer be together. Inside he was seething with anger at her lame attempts to explain the situation, but outwardly he barely gave a hint of what he was feeling. If she looked closely, she may have seen the little tick of a muscle in his jaw as he stood before her, but she was off in her own world.
In this example you see how no or very little physical reaction can be played out. After all, think of it in real life. Put yourself in John's shoes, how would you feel in his place? What would your reaction be to what Maria was saying? Put yourself in your character's head and get your character's responses. Remember to keep yourself out of it. This is a totally fictional character you have created and the less you react as if it is a personal attack and react as if it were an attack on John, the better your post will be.
Thoughts:
Remember to put your character's thoughts into the post, whether you do so in third person, such as saying "John wondered why Maria would seek to hurt him so" or in the first person (usually put into italics to differentiate between description) "Why does she want to hurt me like this? I thought things were going great." Often the difference is simply how deep you want others to read into your character. But know this: Posting your character's thoughts is as important as posting their actions. While the other characters may not be able to react as if they know what you are thinking (unless they are mind-readers, in which case, only give out what you want known), it develops your character to put their thoughts out there. It makes them "human(oid)" and gives depth to your posts. If you have ever read a fictional story, a good one anyway, you will find the pages littered with thoughts, a necessary addition to create the best story possible. Without the thoughts, you have no clue what drives this character, what makes them who they are.
Movements:
Physical movement should also be included at this point, whether they take a drink of something, walk across a room, or sit in a chair. Be sure to include a description of what ever the character is physically interacting with.
RP Example:
John crossed the wooden floor, his sneakers squeaking on the worn boards. He found an old chair and plopped down carelessly, sending a poof of dust flying from the old cushions. His finger played in a hole on the arm as he listened to Maria, tearing the fabric of the chair even further and releasing some of the stuffing that had yellowed with age.
There is a lot of description in just those few lines, enough to give your reader a clear mental image of the layout and the actions that John is taking. You don't have to say "the chair was old and smelled bad" rather simply by using alternate words, you can say the same thing this way: "the chair looked ancient and had an odor that usually accompanied a landfill." A great way to find alternate words is the use of a thesaurus. Plenty are available online or in most kinds of typing programs like Microsoft Word. Also, when you are trying to compare something, think of an example, such as replacing "smelly" with "odor of a landfill." Even if you have never been to a landfill, you can imagine the noxious fumes one would find there
Dialogue:
A character's dialogue are the words that character speaks out loud that can be heard by other people in the room. Here's a hint: never have you character say something, even under their breath, unless you want it heard by someone else. Just like in real life, you never know who is really listening, so watch what you say. There could be a character that enters the thread claiming they were "invisible" to you at that moment (ex: hiding behind something such as a door or chair) and over heard what you whispered to yourself.
When writing dialogue, be sure to use proper grammar and punctuation. Spelling is also important. Nothing shows that you put no time into your response more than a post filled with misspelled words and bad punctuation. Spell check is available on most boards and I highly suggest using it before any posts. Dialogue should also avoid using "he said," "she replied," and "he asked" (and any other version of these) repeatedly. One time is okay, twice is pushing it, and beyond that is ridiculous. Dialogue should be written as if it were really spoken. A tip is once you have written the dialogue, read it out loud to see if it sounds okay. Some things look fine written but don't work once you try saying it.
Accents:
This should not be attempted by a novice role player as it takes practice and experience to write an accent properly. The best suggestion I can give here is to go find examples of the accent you wish to use that have already been written. Good resources are cheesy romance novels. Romance novel authors often use accents in their work and most times just by looking at it you can get an idea of how it should be written. When attempting to write in an accent, be sure to write it so people still understand what it is supposed to be. A good way to do this is to write how it sounds.
Example of light Scottish accent:
"I didna think tha' is what she meant ta say, but ifin that be th' way it is, then there's no' I canna do aboot it."
Example of French accent:
"I weesh you 'ad told me zis beefore, beecause now I 'ave no way of getting ze informatión to 'er."
Another thing you can do is simply tell people you are speaking in an accent by saying something like: "His deep voice spoke with a hint of a Romanian accent." By doing this, you don't have to write in an accent while still speaking in one.
Do's and Dont's:
Do:
Include lots of description and comparisons in your posts.
Use dialogue that other people can understand.
Include movement such as walking, drinking, smelling, etc.
Use your character's five senses.
Describe the surrounding environment.
Research before you post. If you are responding to a particular topic, learn about it before you just make something up.
Follow the guidelines of the universe in which you are posting.
Remember to use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It is appreciated.
Think of creative titles for your threads...they are more likely to attract others to come post.
Be realistic.
Use links to pictures rather than including the images in your post. People appreciate not having to wait for them to load.
Chose an avatar for your character quickly. Avatars really do have a lot to do with how much "action" your character can get from other players. If no one knows what you look like, they really don't think about you.
Don't:
Take an insult to your character personally. It is just a character, insulting another character...that is all.
Use less than 6-8 sentences per post. While they don't have to be novels, less than that and you border the "one-liner" category once more.
Break the rules of the universe in which you are role playing.
Think your character is invincible. If they are, then they aren't a very good character. No one wants to role play with a god, especially if they always have to be right.
Post song lyrics unless your character (as in ~you~) wrote them. It chews up space and drives others nuts. And in most cases, they don't even read them, just skip over them to the other parts.
Use large pictures for your signature. Some people still have dial-up and it takes time to load those large pictures.
Get mad if you don’t get a boyfriend/girlfriend right away. The boards aren't meant as a dating service. RP romance is more than acceptable, but it takes more than 5 minutes of talking for people to fall in love.
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