Roleplay FAQs v.2 (READ BEFORE POSTING!)

[Irako of the Desert]

So elyzia finally gave me permission to become boss lady of this subforum since the lovely ikurabear hasn't been active for a while. So listen up, everyone and pay close attention

⇒I'm in charge of this subforum. What I say, goes.⇐
⇒Read ALL of the posts. If you do, I'll be very, very happy.⇐
⇒Have fun once you've read everything!⇐

Most of what you'll see is just quoting ikurabear's original FAQs. After all, why should I change something great?

 

[Irako of the Desert]

i k u r a b e a r

Basics:

Anyone can start his or her own role play.

What is a role play you may ask? Well here is a quote by me added in here by Angel:
“A role play is a story written by a bunch of different people writing as certain characters. In a role play you can be whoever or whatever you want, the sky is the limit. You just can't completely take over someone's character and make decisions for them.” - lem0n

Golden Rule:
You must follow the threads specific rules. Each role play thread is unique and has a similar set of rules.

Important:
Follow Gaia ToS
( Don’t know ToS? Click here to read. )

The Ten Rules of Role Playing:
1. The creator is the major moderator of the role play thread.
2. Do not God-Mod/Power-play.
3. BE LITERATE! At least one paragraph per post, correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and write in the 9-10 size font. Any colors are fine. Use [] or (()) for out of character comments. Write in third person.
4. Follow role play ratings. [ex: PG-15]
5. Don't kill any character, unless you have the role play creator and the other characters permission.
6. Don't steal the thread creator's works. That's just mean.
7. Be nice to each other, okay?
8. Respect the rules.
9.Do not join, post once, and leave. Post at least three times a week. If you are not on for at least two weeks without an excuse your character will be erased. If you need to leave tell the thread creator.
10. Have fun!
- _aka Limey_

edit // The Ten Commandments of Role Playing were created for enjoyment. My friend who created them is actually Christian and she only regarded them as a cute way to put her own spin on her role playing. I only borrowed them with her permission because I liked the way she worded her rules. This had sadly offended people of the Christian religion and has been changed to not involve religion at all. ;D

 

[Irako of the Desert]

i k u r a b e a r

--The Ranks--
[from highest to lowest]
Advanced Literate
Literate
Semi-Literate
Illiterate

--Examples--

The next example of Advanced-Literate is my version of the original example.

Advanced-Literate:
Angelique tensed up as she felt Kyru's hands slip around her waist. Immediately, she chided herself for being silly and forced herself to relax. Just because she wasn't used to a lot of physical contact didn't mean she needed to make Kyru uncomfortable with her nerves.

She flipped the kickstand up with her foot and slowly moved the bike out of the parking lot. As soon as she got into the street, she sped up considerably and began weaving in and out of traffic. Angelique took the turns in the road smoothly, enjoying the sensation of speed. It was calming to her, though she noticed Kyru was clinging to her a little tightly. It seemed he was the nervous one now.

Angelique was enjoying the ride so much that she nearly missed the turn for the little road they were supposed to take. She spotted it in time, though, and sharply swerved the bike, thanking whatever angels there were that there were no other vehicles on the road this late at night. Kyru gave a little strangled yelp as the bike shuddered under the stress, making Angelique grin. Poor guy. This was tame riding for her. The bike's single headlamp lit up the road they were on, showing how broken up the pavement was. She slowed down, partly because she didn't want to risk a spill and partly because she didn't want to miss the driveway she needed to turn into.

Finally, they reached their destination, going up a long driveway to a rather big house. It might be more appropriately termed a mansion, Angelique mused. They rolled up to a garage door that was already opening to admit them. Angelique brought the motorcycle to its proper place and turned it off, flipping the kickstand back down. Glancing back, she saw Kyru hurriedly dismounting the bike, looking pale in the fluorescent light that had flicked on overhead. With a grin, she dismounted and fished a key out of her pocket, heading for a door on the wall opposite the garage door. Kyru followed her as she unlocked the door and opened it, then stepped inside at her inviting wave. He went down a short hallway into a huge entrance room with two grand staircases curving upward to the second floor majestically. The furnishings and decorations that were visible were lavish things in red and blue, with trimmings in gold. He gaped openly, then looked at her in bewilderment.

Angelique shrugged, still grinning. In a teasing voice, she asked,"Like it so far?"

i k u r a b e a r

Literate:
Hotaru stepped back a bit as Pyro's fire soared to extremely high temperatures and she shielded her eyes from the light. As the fire disappeared she looked to Pyro glad to find that he was almost completely unharmed. She turned her gaze then to Peyton reaching her arms out to her water lacing down them. She pushed out from her hands wondering if she could possibly distract Peyton from Pyro to give him a chance to land an attack, but the water it something about a foot or so in front of her. "What the..." She whispered to herself. She pushed it as hard as she could, the force of the water against the mental shield was like a thundering waterfall, but it wouldn't budge. "Mia." Hotaru cursed under her breath. She let the water flow back to her watching Mia out of the corner of her eye to see when the shield might falter and she could destroy it.

Semi-Literate:
"Well some times you have to go one instinct, Like right now, I can pretty much say that every one left is at least better than normal in at least one instament, what ever that may be." James said shrugging. "Kiva was hoping that we could find at least three people to play with us, but her being who she is and being how she is its nearly impossible to make her want you to join the band....hell if you told her you didn't want to join the band she would beg you." James muttered.

Extremely Illiterate:
hotaru tried to send water from her hands toward peyton, but the water was stoped by a sheild. "what the hell" mad she tried but the wall wouldnt move scream

Most people fall into the Not Literate section...
But I have seen a few Extremely Illiterate posts...
It gets annoying to spend time role playing with people who don't capitalize, always spell words wrong, end their sentences with a period, or use commas and apostrophes incorrectly.

I'd like to add a rank here.

Spam
Haha, you should add a dragon in there and make it eat everyone!

I've only seen this sort of thing happen once here in BURN. I see it very rarely in other places. Let me tell you, it pisses me off in a monumental way. If I see, I delete it and put you on notice. I see it again, I let the VCs and Captain know. If it happens a third time, I tell them that I want you banned ban you myself.

Please, please, pleeeaaaase don't spam a roleplay. It's very rude and disrespectful to other roleplayers.

 

[Irako of the Desert]

i k u r a b e a r

Literacy: What it Means

Yes, by dictionary definition, “literate” means to have the ability to read and write. However, on Gaia, “literate”, or “lit”, carries a different meaning. There are three types of literate: semi-lit, lit, and advanced-lit. Here are their definitions:

Semi-lit: Having the ability to write at least two sentences per post. The sentences usually have some grammatical errors, a few spelling errors, and no chat-speak. Punctuation and capitalization are usually correct. Sentence structures barely vary and hold virtually no description.

Literate: Having the ability to write at least three-five sentences per post. The sentences have barely any grammatical/spelling/punctuation/capitalization errors and no chat-speak. Sentence structures usually vary and have more description.

Advanced-Lit: Having the ability to produce at least two paragraphs per post. The sentences hold about less than two errors in spelling, grammar, etc, and no chat-speak. Sentences carry a wide vocabulary and structures vary. Advanced posts use lots of description and literary devices, such as similes and metaphors.

Now that you know what you’re trying to achieve, let’s get to work!

 

[Irako of the Desert]

i k u r a b e a r

The Do’s and Do-Not’s of Literate Roleplaying

Do not: Use chat-speak.
Example: Lyke, OMG lawrz!111!

Do not: Use asteriks for actions.
Example: *walks to the park* What a lovely day!
Do: Write out your actions and use quotation marks for speaking.
Example: Kyoko walked to the park. "What a lovely day!" she exclaimed.

Do not: Use smilies in roleplaying posts.
Example: "I am so happy!" biggrin

Do: Stick to third person unless told otherwise.
Example: She picked flowers.

Do: Write in either present or past tense and keep the tense throughout your roleplay posts.
Example: The girl wrapped the present. Then, she delivered it to her friend.
Note: Past tense is usually preferred, but some creators like present tense. In this roleplay, we mainly use past tense.

Do: Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Example: Kyoko walked to the window, her eyes sparkling with delight. The sun slowly rose and sent fresh morning light into her bedroom.

Do not: Use incorrect capitalization and spacing.
Example: kYoko watched the fireworks.They were really pretty. she loved the colors.

Do: Write at least three sentences.
Example: Kyoko ran through the forest, trying to avoid random branches and leaves. She glanced over her shoulder and saw her attackers following her. A burst of energy pulsed through her lower body, causing Kyoko to run faster than normal.

Do not: Use the same sentence structure over and over again.
Example: Kyoko walked up to the flowers. She bent down. She sniffed the flowers. She picked the flowers.
Do: Use varying sentence structures.
Example: After many hours of searching, Kyoko finally discovered the secret garden of flowers. Smiling, she approached a bed of daisies and knelt beside it. She reached to pluck a few flowers.

Do not: God-mod, power play, or make Mary-sues/Gary-stus (perfect characters).
Example: Kyoko walked about the forest, flashing her irresistible eyes at Pyro. Pyro blushed and looked at the ground. After flipping her hair, she noticed that a ninja was attacking. Taking out her daggers, she stabbed the ninja in the heart, killing him instantly, and continued walking.

Do not: Write in digits under one-hundred.
Example: Kyoko found 3 apples on the ground.
Do: Write out numbers that are under one-hundred.
Example: Kyoko found three apples on the ground.

 

[Irako of the Desert]

i k u r a b e a r

Godmodding - What Is/What Isn't

Godmodding this is one of the easiest, and most frowned upon actions to be taken during fighting 'sequences' in RPs. The easiest way I can describe Godmodding is that it is when an RPer acts in a way that prevents the opponent from hitting then or letting them get a hit in, and when they use abilities that exceed even those of the fantasy world.

Here are some examples of Godmodding:
- Attacks that kill instantly.
- Attacks that are unavoidable/unstoppable.
- Never being hit by an opponent.
- Using skills that can bring the dead back to life, without consequences.
- Bringing yourself back from the dead, without consequences.
- Moving characters without their permission.

Those are most of the major signs of Godmodding.

Here is a written example of the Never Being Hit By An Opponent:
-(I'll be using my friend's character Gane, as an example)-
Gane phased away from the opponents attack, and appeared behind him.
So-in-so spun around, and launched a point black energy blast, that exploded in from his hand expanding to cover a thirty foot radius from his hand.
Gane avoided the attack, and got behind the opponent.
So-in-so gathered power into him and then launched a 360 degree energy wave.
Gane avoided the attack and stood in front of him .

]This is a very basic example of never being hit. As you saw even a 360 degree attack was avoided without any evidence of how.

Not sure when you're godmodding? Check out the Anti-Munch Project. It identifies several different types of roleplayers according to their styles of roleplaying and points out how to avoid godmodding.

 

[Irako of the Desert]

i k u r a b e a r

What is...?

One x One Role Playing

A 1x1 RP is a role play where there are only two people who role play a specific storyline, a lot of masterxslave role plays are done like this.
Usually requires a profile.

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Group Role Play

A role play that has more than two people participating where everyone is contributing to the story line in some way.
Usually requires a profile.

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Improv Role Play

A role play where there is no specific plot or character skeleton. People reveal their characters through role playing and they create the story line as they go along.
Doesn't require a profile.

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Role Playing Profile

Something that a user fills out that discribes his or her characters to other role players.

If you want to check out the original Roleplay Subforum FAQs by i k u r a b e a r, just click here