|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
 Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:42 am
 Welcome to Roleplay 102
I'm sure you've all taken and passed Roleplay 101 as the pre-resiquite to this class.
In this class, we'll be covering a few more in-depth ideas then the basics covered in 101. We'll be covering Roleplay Creation, Interaction, Grammar, and One-Liners.
So if you'll just pass your payments forward, we'll begin.
Another reminder about that pesky black hole. It tends to move between owners.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:44 am
Which of course they deduced to be right, as he tripped over the black hole, stumbled into the class room, became road rash as he faceplnated to a halt, and his subsequent book swent flying out the open window. This was the far less colorful teacher? That particular question went into overdrive, when their new Professor stood and was shown to have lucid purple hair and the most colorfully put together outfit of amethyst, emerald, and pearly white!
This new professor reached on hand up to knock a horn back into place on his head before grinning an exceptional toothy, though pointy, grin to his new class, "Ah well..we didn't need those books anyways!"
"All we need is the object up here!" he joyfully pointed to his head. It wasn't until the crickets filled the sudden silence, that his smile wavered as he realized no one got his teacher-y joke, "Our brains."
Of course it wasn't until that moment that he realized most of his class were cowered under their desks either. Kneeling back down to the floor, he grinned at all the faces he saw, "Met my wife in 101 have you?"
At the hesitant and rather choked laughs he got, his robust laughter lifted spirits, and he stood back up, "I'm Professor Ival! That's ee-val not eye-val."
"As you've probably already been to the campus pub, I'm sure you've all become far more acquianted with the lessons taught to you by Prof. Aijuntani. But I get to elaborate on the complexities that will make you even better."
He sighed almost happily, unfortunately for his students and pointed to the black hole at the door, "I don't have my wife's flair for dramatics with bags and blood and whatnot, but fear not for the same rules apply! Pass or Die!"
 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yet another epically awesome entrance, now would you say!?
Let's cover some basics before we delve right in. Get those brains working again after all that ale in the Dragon.
*These are roleplay STORIES. They are NOT roleplay games. There are no points. There are NO WINNERS. The other posters are NOT YOUR OPPONENTS.
*Be original!
*Think before you post!
*Be respectful of EVERYONE
*Have fun!
You ready to learn more now?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:45 am
"Vocabulary deifnitely has its pros; you can roleplay with great capacity and understanding if you understand the lingo. But now," he continued his lecture as he paced the aisles between desks, "you're interacting with people. So they have to understand you as well!"
"Thankfully, one of our guest teachers has helped put together a little list of Grammar for you all to study and test on," his toothy grin added that creepy gleam to his eyes as he pulled out a piece of rolled parchment and watched it open in a roll...and rolled...and rolled...and hit a wall still semi-rolled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Here, we're going to cover the most common mistakes as succinctly as possible.
1. Their, There, and They're.
their: denotes possession. :: That is their house.
there: is a location. :: Her car is over there.
they're: is a contraction. It means 'they are'. :: They're twins.
2. Your, you're.
your: denotes possession. :: Is this your book?
you're: like, 'they're, it is a contraction. It means 'you are'. :: You're going to the movies?
3. Apostrophe 'S's
Apostrophes are tricky little buggers. Sometimes, an apostrophe denotes possession. At other times, an apostrophe is a contraction for word + is.
An example is: Here's an example. The 's' in here's really just means that it is actually: Here is an example.
An example of ownership is: That book is Susie's. OR; Susie's book is that one.
4. Its and It's
its[: without an apostrophe, its denotes possession. :: Its eyes are black.
it's: with an apostrophe, it's is actually just a contraction. It means 'it is['. :: It's a pity that we lost the game. (Which REALLY MEANS: It is a pity that we lost the game.)
5. Using 'An' .
You use 'an' before a vowel, or a consonant acting as a vowel (i.e: 'h' and 'y'.)
Examples: That is an awesome car.
Secondary Example: There are sixty minutes in an hour.
6. Run-On Sentences and Comma Splices
Now, I find these are always super-tricky ones. So, I found a website that, while it's rather long-winded, explains it much better than what I would say.
click here Quote: A Run-On sentence is the horrible, horrible, horrible mashing of several independent clauses (the meat of a sentence) and dependent clauses (the potatoes) together into one abnormal mess of a sentence through overuse of conjunctions and commas. A Comma Splice is a form of Run-On sentence with several independent clauses that could stand by themselves as simple sentences fused together into one sentence by use of commas. That is a nono. If a clause can stand on it's own, don't stuff it with another independent clause. Add a dependent clause to your independent clause, which is used to modify the independent clause.
two: it's a number. I will be mirthlessly vicious in my mocking of you should you ever misuse this word.
to: is a preposition. :: She went to the store.
too: this word denotes an addition to something, is almost interchangeable with ALSO . :: I like peanut butter, too.
too is also used to indicate a degree :: He used it too much. [Thank you, Raven]
8. Commonly Misspelled Words
A skien of silk, or a skein of silk? Which one is correct?
Just remember: 'I' before 'e' except in front of a 'c'.
Now which one is correct?
NOTABLE EXCEPTION; their
SPELL CHECKERS. Are your friends. I use them all the time. I have a shitastic memory, and I'm probably a million times worse than any two of you put together at spelling. But you know - GoogleChrome and Mozilla Firefox both have spell-checkers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:46 am
"Roleplay Creation, this is not for the faint-hearted or those who lack that special gene in their chemical make-up called "extraordinary effort". Now, being careful not to disturb the nests of asps you all have under your chair, we're baby sitting for the Potions Department; there should be a large, absurdly heavy tome for you read-through for this lesson," he instructed before pulling out his own copy, which once heavily dropped on his desk completely collapsed his desk in a cloud of dust, "Hmm...well...let's see here. Pg.349 should be the start of our lesson."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We are going to start off this section with something that has given many of you nightmares, Homework, which is something you had better do before you even think of opening an RP thread. A good idea is a good idea but it won't make your RP a success, because a good idea is only an idea and an RP thread is supposed to be a story.
I have seen people post things like "I think we ought to have a battle with Sauron or some Orcs or something. I am an archer and I will lead the Elves." This was the entire content of the opening post. Would you join this thread? How can you, there is nothing to join. Would you read this story?
Thinking should be done in the mind and preferably quietly alone but not out loud on the board. My point is there is a lot of thinking that ought to go into the thread before the first post is made.
RPing is a collaborative effort with all members cooperating in the effort but an RP thread is not a true democracy. A good RP thread is like a good ride at an amusement park, for everyone to have a great ride, somebody has got to man the controls. I have seen threads that were discussed to death in the OOC where every detail suggested was voted on and polled so that we never did get to actually write anything in the RP. I have seen those that were so "equal" that no one would take responsibility for making any story decisions at all.
These things happen to a thread when no one is holding the reigns, however lightly. A thread survives on the imagination and contribution of all of its participants, but in the end, someone must guide the direction of an RP and that someone is most usually the person who made the first post., the one who started the thread. Most new threads die out within a page or two because the person who started the thread did not do their homework, they did not think before they posted
So what do you think about before you start an RP?
Ah wait I heard that there in the back. How can you enjoy an adventure if you have it all planned out beforehand? I want the ideas to come fresh from all those posting in the thread I want the story to evolve as we post.
I got one word for all those concerns: NONSENSE.
The story will evolve or it will die out that is a rule of life. The story will often present its own new developments as it makes allowances for the imagination and creativity of the people posting to the thread, and believe me they will have some ideas and creativity or they wouldn't want to RP in the first place.
These idea of "freshness" and "letting the story evolve" are like detours in a road trip, they are interesting and often take you to places you did not expect to go and you just might wind up in a place you did not expect at all BUT you were on the road to start with and you had a destination in mind before you made the detours. That is the planning needed for the thread to exist long enough to evolve into anything.
Again, what do you think about before starting an RP?
Lets use the idea in our bad example based on the world of Lord of the Rings.
"I think we ought to have a battle with Sauron or some Orcs or something. I am an archer and I will lead the Elves."
I shall leave the last part, the references to character for another segment; we will deal with the initial part of this minimal idea. There are questions you need to ask yourself and the first that comes to mind here is Who? Sauron or the Orcs? Make up your mind and pick one, it doesn't really matter and in this case you can have the Orc working for Sauron and thereby have both. OK that's the villain now for the other Who, who is fighting him. Is this gonna be a tale of The Last Alliance? Is it an Orc problem on the borders of Lothlorien? Is Minas Tirth under siege? I don't care what you pick but you must pick something and do it before you post anything.
My point here is an RP cannot deal in generalities. It can't just be some elf swinging a sword, it must be Lord Ashlor defending the valley of Imladris against the Black Hordes of Saruon. It can't just be some nameless faceless person being held prisoner and needing rescue. It is Linar daughter of King Thingol who was kidnapped by Sauron's evil minions. That nameless city under attack should be the walls of Rivertown being staunchly defended by Lord Bjorn and the Rivermen. Sounds better all ready. That's in the detail.
Your next big question is Where. Again it can not be some old woods but Fangorn or Mirkwood somewhere specific. This is the reason that most experienced RP posters have at least one decent, detailed map of Middle Earth that is kept handy when making out posts. Having a specific location helps to ground your story in a sort of reality. If the story takes place somewhere outside of Middle Earth than you will have a harder time doing this and a harder time getting all the posters in sync with each other.
If you say that you are in , say Mirkwood then everyone knows where the action is taking place. Now you should not now have people posting how they are in a boat in the bay of Belfalas and can see everyone on the land. They would have to have better eyes than Superman to accomplish that one and anyone who was reading before they post would not include such a thing in their post. Knowing the location helps with continuity from one poster to another.
Having a specific location can allow you to really be creative with descriptions. You might not have ever set foot in Mirkwood but you might have been to a park or forest somewhere sometime and can use that to help you describe your surroundings in the RP. Have you ever been someplace that reminded you of the Plains of Rohan, Seen some old castle in a picture or movie or (lucky) for real that might help you envision the fortress that holds the kidnapped Arwen have you ridden the BuckleBerry Ferry, by some other name. When the story is given a "real" location you and your fellow posters can then use real locations to help them enhance their posts.
I know, Tolkien is so cliche when it comes to examples. But it got the point across so stop complaining.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:55 am
At the confused looks, he shrugged and pointed to the door, "No really. The Grimm Reaper. Somebody's timecard is up. Quickly, Quickly, I have a class to teach."
The sounds of a crying and screaming student echoed down the empty hallway before the door was subsequently shut, "Now this will tie into your next lesson on Interaction, so pay attention."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
With a little thought any one liner can be transformed into a viable post that will enhance the story and experience for the posters.
As soon as you have two or more people in the RP you should have an OOC. short comments can be posted in the story but this should be kept to a minimum. You would not see such comments in a novel and that is the goal of a Story RP to have a mini(or not so mini in some cases) novel when you are done.
If you have nothing to say, you are not working at it, although that blank time does come to us all. Again here is a use for the OOC if you post that you are blocked then the others might be able to help with ideas for your character that might spark other ideas and therfore break the block.
If that does not work let the others know that you are blocked and will be quiet for a while. Knowing you are dry at the moment some other poster might be able to carry your character along with theirs for a little while, but only for a little while as it is not fair to over burdon another poster with your character. If it is a serious block or you have no time for the Rp, send your character off on a side trip or something to explain the absence. Yourfellow posters again might be able to help.
How do you avoid the one line post? First get your one line ready as you are doing now but don't post it just yet.
Be your character. Where are you? What do you see, hear, smell, feel? Are there others around you? Describe them or what they are doing? What time of day is it? What season is it? Is it raining or what?
Weave pieces of those elaborate backgrounds into your one line to enhance the character without those awful "stats"
OK there's your line, use this as practice and enhance it.
The Duchess opened the door to the bar and went inside.
Does the door creak? Does it open smooth and soundless? What do you smell when it does open. Perfume, stale beer, what?
What kind of bar? elegant tavern? working man's pub? criminal den?
Instead of all those "flashing azure eyes" maybe the Duchess sees someone that reminds them of someone else. Why does it remind them and what is the importance of the person you are reminded of? Are they dead? Why are they not with you? Where are they?
A little thought will give you endless things to include in your one line post. Like anything in life you only get out what you put in.
Lifeless posts equal a soon dead thread.
A few prime offenders will snippily responding that they posted 3 lines or 5 lines and not one line. Semantics people. You know who you are.
One line empty post -----> the Duchess opend the door and went inside the tavern.
3 lines; same empty post. -----> Mercurial's almond shaped green eyes flashed as she opened the door and went inside. There were many people inside so she went to sit at a table in the corner. She caught the bartender's eye and asked for a glass of wine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:56 am
Professor Ival seemed to become more agitated with his lecture, more passionate about them as the class progressed. Of course it was far more empty after their last lesson, and the black hole much less empty. But fear could be a powerful motivator.
"also remember, as you interact with your roleplay partners, you are telling a story to those who read your roleplays even if its just yourselves," he scoffed, "I mean seriously, would YOU want to interact or read anything from the people down there?"
Jerking his thumb to the black hole, many people shook their heads violently causing at least two cases of whiplash.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Interaction and one-liners. Make a one-liner there's no interaction. Make an empty post there's no interaction. No interaction there NO ROLEPLAY!
Let me show you a series of examples here.
"Jack was nervous as he entered the boardroom."
Or
"Jack entered the boardroom. He felt the knot in his stomach tighten as thirty five sets of eyes stared at him. A downpour of sweat soaked his armpits, and shirt. Trickles of sweat even rolled down his back. He was glad to have on his heavy dark jacket. The chairman cleared his throat disapprovingly. Jack's mouth went so dry it felt like he hadn't swallowed in years. When he glanced at the chairman, his stomach rumbled. Jack prayed he wouldn't need to make a mad dash to the bathroom.
Your first example is empty, you're making everyone else do all the work to see, smell, touch, your environment.
The Second example actually puts you smack dab in the character's shoes, though considering he's gonna throw up you might not want to be there. Anyways, look at this! You've also given someone the chance to interact by asking if he's all right, taking over his presentation, etc.
There are two techniques I use to insure that I interact. First, I imagine that I am explaining something to someone from Mars, who has not experienced anything on Earth. The next thing I do is ask myself what senses are involved. If the roleplayer/reader were in the scene, what would he or she see, hear, smell, taste and feel?
Would they smell bad breath or an orange tree in bloom?
Would they feel the baking heat of the Sahara summer, or an ice cube being drawn down their neck?
Would they taste their own blood during a fight, or a slice of chocolate cheesecake from a five star restaurant?
Would they hear the deafening roar of a jet engine just yards away, or the soft whisper of their lover's voice in bed next to them?
Would they see the ghastly carnage of war, or the face of their newborn child?
I think you get the picture. Don't assume that the roleplayer/reader will, or can, fill in the gaps. It's your job to describe the scene in enough detail so that your comrades see and feel in their mind what you saw and felt in yours, as you wrote the scene. But be careful not to go overboard on detail. This is where the skill of a RPer really shows.
So study the world around you, the magnificent and mundane, and convey this in your writing.
Which of the following sentences shows more tension to you?
"The bomb will go off in a month, we have plenty of time to disarm it. Hey, do you want to play a round of golf?"
Or
"My god, look at the timer. Ten seconds and the bomb goes off. We'll never get away. We're going to die."
Which of the following sentences shows more conflict to you?
"Full house? Wow, you win Jim. Want to play another hand?
Or
"Jim, you cheatin' snake, these cards are marked," Sam growled as he pulled out a gun from his waistband. "Give me back my twenty grand or I'll blow your damn head off."
See the difference. Its simple Cause and Effect. Or For every action there must be an equal or greater reaction.
But you get the point...right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:01 pm
Did he just sniffle?
"I know Character Creation was taught in 101," were those tears?
"But there's a couple of in-depth ideas to help you work with those characters." He couldn't be crying could he?
Suddenly he stood, throwing his chair back into the wall from the power of hismovement and symbolicially pointed into the air, "I then will let you fly free! Fly fre einto the world of roleplay! And make me proud!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Just a couple of ideas to work with.
Eventually you'll come across an RP that you just love and want to participate in every part of it. It'll happen, trust me.
But at least here on Gaia, a lot fo time people for some unknown reason will create 8-9 mules to play different characters. Can't you beieve that? Remembering 8-9 different usernames and passwords, and keeping what acct goes to what character straight? Its chaos!
But it doesn't have to be.
A simple way to overcome this is by creating 100x100 pixel pictures that relate to a specific character to post along with their comments, or posting in a different color for each character. One acct suddenly equals 9 characters for one single RP!
Next, if you character comes from a certain area that has a distinct accent. Why not include that in your writing?
Isntead of it being something like:
"You are wanting more borsch?" said the immigrant Russian waitress.
You could write
"You iz vanting more of ze borsch?" asked the waitress.
All the sudden its more interesting. All you have to do is make sure its still readable. This is not a technique for the weak hearted of Roleplay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:45 am
"Well, we should be thankful my wife weeds out the n00bs for our blackhole and I get the ones who just can't hack it," Professor Ival sighed handing out certificates of completion that had no bloody handprints on them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay so he's not great at farwell speeches...or welcome speeches....
But look you passed! You are now educated! You can become the elite!
And check out all those forums, all those different stories you can take part of!
Fly be free!
No really!
The black hole just got loose!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hillbilly Hikari Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
