Post by Rose's Thorn on Aug 18, 2008 22:40:32 GMT -5
When you're role playing, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind to keep the role play fun and fair:
~ The character you have developed ought to have a definable personality. Your character should be consistent - don't fluctuate between ideas. Don't make them spunky one post and shy the next, unless you have a reason for it. Your character should have a distinct personality - don't change just because you're in the mood for it. Also, what your character does in the role play should not reflect your own mood - if the character is in a happy situation but you are in an angry mood, your character should remain happy. Keep your character definable - make them just as logical or predictable as any real person you know would be.
~ Keep your posts literate - spell check is a marvelous invention. Most email services, Firefox, and Microsoft Word all supply very useful spell check programs - it only takes a moment to run your post through one of these programs and to see where your typos are. More accurately, it's very useful to reread your post and spot silly little mistakes that can both confuse and annoy people. If you think your post may have a mistake in it, don't be afraid to contact one of the people you're role playing with and ask them to check it for you - they're going to have to read it anyway. And silly typos that are so easy to fix only get on people's nerves - nobody likes illiteracy.
~ Your character should fit like a puzzle piece into whatever role play you have put them in. It may be fun for your character to pull his or herself out of the typical situation to bring a lot of attention to them, but pulling all of the attention onto yourself makes no one around you happy. Don't try to make huge waves in the role play by forcing the other characters to focus entirely on your character - it annoys everyone.
~ Try not to make a generic character. The dark and terrible pasts are fun to make, but they're very overdone. Emo characters are overdone, too - they also drag attention to them. It's all right to have one or two characters like this (obviously, it's impossible to ask that there be no one like this), but they're very overdone. Too many depressing-past characters eventually lose their intrigue. Same with any overdone trait - if you spot any overdone trait in other characters, be different and break the mold: don't use that characteristic. It creates a unique character, and will make them stand out without dragging attention to them.
~ God modding and power playing - does this need any explanation? Urbandictionary.com has a very good description of god modding:
""God Modding" is in essence when someone’s character has the ability to do practically anything without limits or boundaries. An example is when they simply cannot be harmed by any and all means other role players try.
-It can be killing or injuring a character without the player's express permission.
-It can be when they simply can’t be hit and dodge all attacks or anything for this matter aimed at them."
In other words, god modding taking absolute control of a situation when in reality, nobody would have such extreme control.
Power playing is similar - power playing is taking control of another's character, which is basically unacceptable and unforgivable, unless you have been given permission to do so. Role playing is playing your character, and playing someone else's character entirely defeats the purpose on the part of the role player who's character you are controlling.
~ Mary Sues are very simply perfect characters. This is in lieu of what was said before regarding unique characters. Nobody likes a character that's so perfect that everyone is supposed to love them - people have faults, and so do characters.
In short, make a reasonable, realistic character with reasonable, realistic flaws. No perfection, no outrageously exaggerated flaws, no attention hogging - when everyone gets a fair share of the role playing, it makes everyone happy and makes for a good, fun role play.
~ The character you have developed ought to have a definable personality. Your character should be consistent - don't fluctuate between ideas. Don't make them spunky one post and shy the next, unless you have a reason for it. Your character should have a distinct personality - don't change just because you're in the mood for it. Also, what your character does in the role play should not reflect your own mood - if the character is in a happy situation but you are in an angry mood, your character should remain happy. Keep your character definable - make them just as logical or predictable as any real person you know would be.
~ Keep your posts literate - spell check is a marvelous invention. Most email services, Firefox, and Microsoft Word all supply very useful spell check programs - it only takes a moment to run your post through one of these programs and to see where your typos are. More accurately, it's very useful to reread your post and spot silly little mistakes that can both confuse and annoy people. If you think your post may have a mistake in it, don't be afraid to contact one of the people you're role playing with and ask them to check it for you - they're going to have to read it anyway. And silly typos that are so easy to fix only get on people's nerves - nobody likes illiteracy.
~ Your character should fit like a puzzle piece into whatever role play you have put them in. It may be fun for your character to pull his or herself out of the typical situation to bring a lot of attention to them, but pulling all of the attention onto yourself makes no one around you happy. Don't try to make huge waves in the role play by forcing the other characters to focus entirely on your character - it annoys everyone.
~ Try not to make a generic character. The dark and terrible pasts are fun to make, but they're very overdone. Emo characters are overdone, too - they also drag attention to them. It's all right to have one or two characters like this (obviously, it's impossible to ask that there be no one like this), but they're very overdone. Too many depressing-past characters eventually lose their intrigue. Same with any overdone trait - if you spot any overdone trait in other characters, be different and break the mold: don't use that characteristic. It creates a unique character, and will make them stand out without dragging attention to them.
~ God modding and power playing - does this need any explanation? Urbandictionary.com has a very good description of god modding:
""God Modding" is in essence when someone’s character has the ability to do practically anything without limits or boundaries. An example is when they simply cannot be harmed by any and all means other role players try.
-It can be killing or injuring a character without the player's express permission.
-It can be when they simply can’t be hit and dodge all attacks or anything for this matter aimed at them."
In other words, god modding taking absolute control of a situation when in reality, nobody would have such extreme control.
Power playing is similar - power playing is taking control of another's character, which is basically unacceptable and unforgivable, unless you have been given permission to do so. Role playing is playing your character, and playing someone else's character entirely defeats the purpose on the part of the role player who's character you are controlling.
~ Mary Sues are very simply perfect characters. This is in lieu of what was said before regarding unique characters. Nobody likes a character that's so perfect that everyone is supposed to love them - people have faults, and so do characters.
In short, make a reasonable, realistic character with reasonable, realistic flaws. No perfection, no outrageously exaggerated flaws, no attention hogging - when everyone gets a fair share of the role playing, it makes everyone happy and makes for a good, fun role play.