The following is more of an article for the Barton OOC sticky...
Do's and Do Not's of Being Taken Seriously as an RPer
I have been made painfully aware of many 'taboos' being done frequently, even though the person committing such acts swears they are innocent to the fact that they shouldn't behave that way. To help prevent this once and for all, I submit to all Gaians the following list to help them be considered a Literate and Serious RPer, even if they're in college taking their fifth Creative Writing course. Yes, I am aware that some of the following is acceptable within reason, but if you happen to break 3 or more of these guidelines in a single post, think hard about how much attention you've been getting with your RP requests... and by what kind of RPers.
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DO Read all of the relevant posts on the first page of a thread BEFORE you apply for a character or even ask about one.
DO Keep the settings in mind when you play your character. Don't put yourself in a castle when the main setting is a forest, or stand around in a clearing when everyone is supposed to be in town.
DO Offer to help advertise the RPs you sign up for or help bump the OOC thread for them! You will endear yourself and prove to the owner that you are committed to making this roleplay work!
DO Apply for a character the way you are asked to. Posting when asked to PM, or PMing when asked to post, just makes the owner upset and they'll probably deny you immediately, no matter how well written the application was.
DO Subscribe to the thread the RP takes place on and check it hourly/daily! This goes without saying usually, but it's irresponsible to expect the RP owner to tell you when you need to post. Most roleplays will simply kick you out if you never post on your own.
DO NOT Ask more than once on the thread for a character, if the rules even say to ask on the thread at all. If your response is initially ignored, PM the RP owner to remind them. Repeatedly asking in public can be considered whining, a n00b trait. It's also spam and can get you in trouble.
DO NOT Call yourself an expert in anything you are not! Your bluff will be called eventually by someone who really knows these things. This includes calling yourself an elite fangirl (a taboo to begin with), an "English Major", an expert in the Japanese language, or anything else pertaining to the RP.
DO NOT Post, even jokingly, chatspeak or 733+ posts when out of character,
unless the owner of the RP and other players are already doing it. You won't be taken seriously while roleplaying if you don't act serious when not roleplaying.
DO NOT Snub someone who is new to the RP. That's not seriousness, that's elitist and cruel, and if you keep it up you'll never get more than three or four people RPing with you. Word gets out among the community about elitist jerks and even advanced RPers tend to avoid them.
DO NOT Complain to the owner if your character is not getting any attention. Check "DO # 2" and keep in mind: no one is required to go out of their way to meet up with a single character when it's easier to introduce your character where the others are meeting.
DO NOT Post in color code or write in tiny text,
especially bright colors. You'll stand out in a negative way and 9 times out of 10 people will not bother to read your post, because it forces extra effort just to read whatever your character is doing. Let your words force your post to stand out, not your post style.
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