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How to get people interested!
So, you've got an idea to make an awesome roleplay, do you? You've got the plot worked out, your character is all ready and waiting for action. You've alredy got your thread posted and everything typed out! By why isn't anyone interested?
Lets have a look at this RP thread of yours, then!
....Hmm...everything seems to be in order here..
.....But, there is simply nothing eye catching about, is there? People just click on your thread and see a bunch of old, boring and standard text. They just hit the back button because there is just nothing interesting to make them want to stay.
You need a thread make-over!
You can make this thread sparkle by changing font size! Using pictures! Adding fancy headers and the like~ They all make a thread more ineresting and eye catching!
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Fonts!
Fonts are an important part of anything you're reading! Anything too big, like size 18 font or bigger, can seem too imposing and can become a real eyesore to read! But any size smaller then a size 9 can strain your eyes. But what about something in the middle? While size 12 font is all good and easy, it's a bit boring and plain! Try to use a size 10 or 11, these are just the write size!
..Get it? Write? 8D
Now, lets talk about Bold, Underline, Strike and Italics.
Used at the right time in any post can impower anything you are saying. Bold, Underline and Italics can really drive through a point; this is well used in the rules section of your thread. It'll help the reader know what rules you are super-serious about.
See how I used the Italics there? It really worked, didn't it!
The next, and in my opinion, one of the ost important things is text colour. There is nothing worse then having to feel like you want to tear out your eyeballs because of the strain it takes to read light yellow text! Infact, stay away from all yellow! The only yellows you can use is very, very dark yellow.
Very dark.
Other colours to avoid are bright and/or pale pinks and blues.
Red is a good colour to be used with Italics, Bold and Underline, as it's often used to draw attention to things in Real-Life. It's a natural response to look at it! x]
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Pictures!
Pictures should be used all the time! A picture of a mansion can help bring inspiration to the readers and the RPers, they'll feel more comfortable roleplaying in an enviroment they can see. Photobucket is excellent for secruring images.
But, becareful! Too many pictures can swamp your words and no one will pay any attention to them, let alone see them! Trry not to use bright flashing, animated pictures ether, they can be a real eyesore! Sparkly ones are okay if you're going for that theme.
Oh, that's right! Theme! This would be a good place to talk about that subject. Every RP has a theme, a fantasy theme, a highschool theme or a space theme. There are hundred more out there! But you need to keep in tune with your theme! Having a space theme but having pictures of highschool students in class isn't keeping with the theme, you'll just confuse people that way!
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Headers!
These are important! You should always have these! They let people know where they are reading.
It's always good to split the thread into sections; the sections I always use are these ones:
RP Title- This is always the first post; you use it to give the reader a little information about the rp.
Plot- This is where you tell the reader what is happening in the story. This isn't needed as a lot of RP's run without a plot.
Rules- You gotta have this and you have to keep it simple! Number off the rules and keep them to a sentence. Cover the bare minimum and don't get carried away. This is also the place where you can tell the reader where to send their profile too! You need to tell them this or they wont know! Dx
You also need to tell people what kind of RP this is! If it's a Semi-Lit, Lit, Advanced Lit etcetc. You also need to tell them if you have a set word or paragraphs count.
Skeleton- This is where you put the profile codes.
Links- This is where you link to the Profile thread and/or the OOC chat thread. If you don't have these, you really should get them. It helps keep the main thread clean and everything organised.
Now, I haven't seen many people do this, besides myself, but I put up a seperate section in the main thread with with 100x100 pixels of the characters accepted into the RP. I put their names, what position they hold and the user playing them. It's just for a quick reference.
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OOC Threads and Profile Threads!
These are very, very good things to have! As mentioned above they keep everything clean. The OOC thread lets players talk to each other without having to post on the main thread; it encourages talking which in turns inspires ideas for the RP! Don't be afraid to let your role-players brainstorm, let them suggest mini-plots to you and it will help the main thread in the long-run.
But you need to get players before that happens! xD
When potentialplayers see that you have an OOC thread and a Profile thread they'll see you are a well organized RP Master. They'll feel a lot more comfortable joining in with your RP if they know they are going to be taken care of by someone that obviously knows what they're doing.
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When all else Fails!
A. Spam your friends with invites to join your RP!
B. Make a recruiting Thread.
C. Ask people to send out the word that you've got an RP up.
D. Ask me to have a quick look at it, I'll give you some feedback that will hopefully get your RP up and running.
Who knows, I might even join!
Happy Role-playing everyone and I hope this little guide helps you all! ;]
