Post by Sol on Dec 29, 2010 3:37:44 GMT -5
(Guide (c) Cutekitty from Wajas.com)
What is roleplaying?
Roleplaying is somewhat like playing pretend with a lot of people, but through writing about characters instead of playing with toys. For instance, instead of holding a doll and making it dance to indicate dancing, a roleplayer writes about the person and describes the action and the character through words. Also, elements of stories and writing are often applied, such as plots, suspense, romance, action- so it’s often a little more thought-out.
The following is an example of what a scene from a roleplay might look like:
(cutekitty2000's post:) The forest at night seemed quiet and peaceful, but at this time many nocturnal creatures crept about the trees and undergrowth. One of these creatures happened to be a silver she-wolf. Pointed ears rested on her head, swiveling warily towards every sound. Her black nose picked up the scent of a territory marker, and the lone wolf's yellow eyes held a brief flash of nervousness as she crossed the border.
Her muscles remained tense, her head and tail low, while she attempted to make as little sound as possible with each step. Judging from her size - which was average for a wolf - and her scent, this lithe creature was an adult female.
This female, by the name of Silverwind, had deserted the hierarchy of her pack in favor of the life of a loner. At the moment, she was trying to sneak across another pack's territory in order to put as much distance between herself and her old pack as possible.
She tensed as one of her large paws snapped a small twig; the quiet snap that resulted seemed as loud as a gunshot to her nervous ears. Silverwind curled her lip slightly, annoyed with herself. What if some other wolf had heard that?
(Other roleplayer's post:) Silverwind's fears had been valid. A massive, shaggy-furred, dark gray head turned towards the sound, deep amber eyes narrowing. That head belonged to the powerfully built body of a beta male, a loyal member of his alpha's pack.
The male, by the name of Eclipse, had been hunting for a midnight snack... until he heard the twig snap. He peered through the undergrowth, nose sniffing the air and detecting the scent of an unfamiliar wolf.
Eclipse crept towards the scent and, when he was only about five leaps away, surged forward towards the female. "Intruder!" he snarled. "What are you doing on my alpha's land?" He held his shaggy gray tail up high, the position of dominance.
(cutekitty2000's post:) Silverwind stiffened, thick silver hairs standing up along her spine and ears instinctively flattening. She had not wanted to run into a hostile wolf if she could avoid it, due to the possibility of getting badly injured in a fight.
However, she forced herself to remain upright and raise her tail in defiance. "My name is Silverwind, and I'm just passing through," she replied tensely, her fierce yellow gaze looking straight into the aggressive male's amber one.
Terminology
AutoHits- AutoHits occur from assuming that when your character attacks, another character belonging to a different roleplayer will be hit and/or injured. This is a form of powerplaying. Example: She punched his face and then shoved him into the pool before storming off.
Chatspeak- Basically shortening words, like “ur” instead of “your”, or abbreviations such as “lol”.
Generic Character/Canon Character- This is a character created by someone else, NOT by the roleplayer- such as Ash from the Pokemon anime show.
GodModding- Making your character invincible, unable to be hit, etc., particularly when it is unrealistic for them to avoid an attack. Let your character make mistakes and get hit once in a while to avoid this.
IC(in-character)- Currently writing about the character, participating in the actual roleplaying. It can also mean that the character's personality is portrayed correctly (as in portraying a stubborn, wild character as stubborn and wild, not timid and mild)
Illiterate- The opposite of “literate,” (as defined below), illiterate roleplays don’t demand much writing quality and allow incomplete sentences and grammar mistakes.
Literate- The technical definition may be along the lines of being able to read and write, but many roleplayers use this term to refer to those who show quality in their roleplaying posts. Quality traits include correct grammar and more than just a couple of sentences per post. The definition can vary slightly from person to person, but it almost always refers to AT LEAST the qualities I listed. Chat-speak, single-sentence posts, rule-breaking posts, numerous misspellings, etc. are usually frowned upon in roleplays labeled as “literate”.
Mary/Gary Sue- These are characters that literally have no flaws and are “best” or “perfect”. They never make mistakes and are often combined with godmodding.
OC- This is short for “original character,” a character not taken from another story or person but rather thought up by the roleplayer. These characters tend to be more common on the roleplaying boards here.
OOC- This is short for “out of character,” and it means that the person is not directly participating in the actual roleplay at the moment but is making a sort of behind-the-curtains comment or question directed towards the other roleplayers of the thread. People sometimes use double-parentheses instead of this abbreviation when making such comments. It can also refer to the opposite of the other definition of IC; if someone, for instance, says a character is stubborn and wild but makes them act timid and mild in a scene, that would be OOC for that character.
OP- This is short for “original post,” the post created by the creator of a thread.
PowerPlaying- Controlling a character that doesn’t belong to you in ANY way, including auto-hits, is classified as powerplaying.
Purple Prose- This is basically description that seems overly flowery and is largely over-use of comparisons, although it's still not necessarily that difficult to read and understand (according to Dr.Paine).
RPG- This is short for "role-playing game."
Script-Style- You’re probably not going to see much of this around, as it is not common on forums as far as I know, but in a script-style roleplay people do not type complete sentences. An example of a script-style post would be: Maple- *follows the mouse, tail-tip twitching, and then pounces*
WolfSpeak- This is in a way like purple prose, although (according to Dr.Paine) there is a difference. It’s replacing words with completely different words that don't even mean the same thing, basically- for instance, constantly saying “columns” or “appendages” instead of “legs” and “daggers” instead of “teeth”. Wolf-speak is usually harder to understand than just saying “legs” and “teeth,” so it’s something you might want to avoid.
Dr.Paine's Explanation of Wolfspeak: "I'd like to say that in my years of role playing, wolf speak is seen as slightly different to purple prose. PP is just the overuse of adjectives and comparisons, while wolf speak is just replacing the words without giving more than the tiniest hint of what they're supposed to be. An example-
"Her eyes were like the grandest of sapphires, glowing brilliantly in the sun." - Purple prose.
"Her sapphires glowed in the brilliant sun." - Wolf speak. As you can see, the former is annoying but slightly understandable, while the latter is just confusing." (Thank you for your explanation, Dr. Paine!)
Dos and Don’ts
Don’t charge into roleplaying on the forums without reading the the Rules page and the stickied threads, and don’t disregard the rules they state, especially the ones regarding appropriate content.
Do read the Terms of Service, Rules page, and forum stickies carefully and abide by the rules; ask a mod if you are uncertain about a rule.
Don’t disregard or neglect to read the rules set by the creator of the roleplay.
Do read the rules carefully, and join the roleplay only if you plan to obey them.
Don’t argue with the creator of the roleplay if they decide to kick you out or tell you not to do something against their rules.
Do accept the judgement of the creator without complaint- unless they’re telling you that you CANNOT leave the roleplay even if you want to.
Don’t harass someone who leaves a roleplay or badger them to try to get them to either stay or rejoin.
Do accept that if someone really wants to leave, they have the right to do so, and try to part on good terms.
Don’t act snappish, rude, or lose your temper on the forums.
Do keep civil fingers, give advice politely, and accept (or reject, if you must xD) advice calmly and politely.
Don’t, oh PLEASE don’t, powerplay, godmod, or create a mary-sue/gary-sue. Many players don’t appreciate these three things, including me.
Do create an intriguing character capable of making mistakes and getting hurt, and also avoid autohits, a common mistake made by many roleplayers.
Don't join a roleplay and then never post again or leave without telling the creator of the roleplay.
Do join a public roleplay only if you have time to post, and also tell the creator of the roleplay if you decide to leave.
Do have fun!
Basic Literacy Skills
Here I shall share a short tutorial on how to improve your writing if you wish to participate in literate roleplays. I hope it’s helpful!
First of all, give your character some interesting personality quirks and a flaw here and there. It adds spice to him/her. Also try to really portray their personality in your writing, and try to avoid making them do stuff that goes against their personality/character.
Secondly, work on your grammar. Type complete sentences and try to avoid punctuation and spelling errors. Common mistakes include comma splices, mixing up “your” and “you’re,” typos, and sentence fragments (with the exception of dialogue, in which a character might naturally speak in fragments). Microsoft Word has a handy spell-check if your spelling is really… not top-notch, and Mozilla Firefox Web browser has built-in spell-check. (I would know; I use Mozilla Firefox myself. ^.^)
Thirdly, work on description. Use more vivid words. Instead of putting, “The ocean was blue,” put something like, “The sapphire-blue ocean water lapped gently at the sandy shore.” Much nicer with better imagery, isn’t it? Try to avoid wolfspeak, though- remember, ideal description is vivid but still CLEAR.
Here's an example of wolfspeak that will show you why it is hard to decipher (you remember the definition from the terminology section, right?): Nares flared as the beast raised her dial to the lune, taking in the accent of the darkness. Columns straightened as she rose, lowering her dial as she detected the tantalizing accent of lapin. She bared her daggers in anticipation of engorging the creature, water collecting in her jowls at the cranial action.
If I wrote in plain English, it would look like this: Nostrils flared as the she-wolf lifted her nose towards the moon, taking in the smells of the night. She lowered her nose and stood up as she detected the tantalizing scent of rabbit. She bared her teeth in anticipation of eating it, saliva already gathering in her mouth at the thought.
See how hard wolfspeak is to understand? That's why it's best to stick to plain English for the sake of clarity. You want your fellow roleplayers to actually know what you're talking about in your posts, right?
Description of motion, smell, touch, sound, and sight add to the atmosphere and not only give you more to post about but, if described concisely and vividly, make your posts more entertaining.
Also work on wording for action. Try not to get too wordy; pack a lot of power into concise, clear, descriptive words. One technique to eliminate wordiness is to try to eliminate some “to be” verbs and replace them with action verbs. For instance, instead of putting, “The chocolate-brown horse was chewing the sweet grass, and the mouthfuls were being ground up by her large white teeth,” put, “The chocolate-brown horse chewed the sweet mouthfuls of grass, grinding them with her large white teeth.” See the difference?
I hope this guide is useful to you readers, and remember, if you want me to add something I missed, feel free to post!
What is roleplaying?
Roleplaying is somewhat like playing pretend with a lot of people, but through writing about characters instead of playing with toys. For instance, instead of holding a doll and making it dance to indicate dancing, a roleplayer writes about the person and describes the action and the character through words. Also, elements of stories and writing are often applied, such as plots, suspense, romance, action- so it’s often a little more thought-out.
The following is an example of what a scene from a roleplay might look like:
(cutekitty2000's post:) The forest at night seemed quiet and peaceful, but at this time many nocturnal creatures crept about the trees and undergrowth. One of these creatures happened to be a silver she-wolf. Pointed ears rested on her head, swiveling warily towards every sound. Her black nose picked up the scent of a territory marker, and the lone wolf's yellow eyes held a brief flash of nervousness as she crossed the border.
Her muscles remained tense, her head and tail low, while she attempted to make as little sound as possible with each step. Judging from her size - which was average for a wolf - and her scent, this lithe creature was an adult female.
This female, by the name of Silverwind, had deserted the hierarchy of her pack in favor of the life of a loner. At the moment, she was trying to sneak across another pack's territory in order to put as much distance between herself and her old pack as possible.
She tensed as one of her large paws snapped a small twig; the quiet snap that resulted seemed as loud as a gunshot to her nervous ears. Silverwind curled her lip slightly, annoyed with herself. What if some other wolf had heard that?
(Other roleplayer's post:) Silverwind's fears had been valid. A massive, shaggy-furred, dark gray head turned towards the sound, deep amber eyes narrowing. That head belonged to the powerfully built body of a beta male, a loyal member of his alpha's pack.
The male, by the name of Eclipse, had been hunting for a midnight snack... until he heard the twig snap. He peered through the undergrowth, nose sniffing the air and detecting the scent of an unfamiliar wolf.
Eclipse crept towards the scent and, when he was only about five leaps away, surged forward towards the female. "Intruder!" he snarled. "What are you doing on my alpha's land?" He held his shaggy gray tail up high, the position of dominance.
(cutekitty2000's post:) Silverwind stiffened, thick silver hairs standing up along her spine and ears instinctively flattening. She had not wanted to run into a hostile wolf if she could avoid it, due to the possibility of getting badly injured in a fight.
However, she forced herself to remain upright and raise her tail in defiance. "My name is Silverwind, and I'm just passing through," she replied tensely, her fierce yellow gaze looking straight into the aggressive male's amber one.
Terminology
AutoHits- AutoHits occur from assuming that when your character attacks, another character belonging to a different roleplayer will be hit and/or injured. This is a form of powerplaying. Example: She punched his face and then shoved him into the pool before storming off.
Chatspeak- Basically shortening words, like “ur” instead of “your”, or abbreviations such as “lol”.
Generic Character/Canon Character- This is a character created by someone else, NOT by the roleplayer- such as Ash from the Pokemon anime show.
GodModding- Making your character invincible, unable to be hit, etc., particularly when it is unrealistic for them to avoid an attack. Let your character make mistakes and get hit once in a while to avoid this.
IC(in-character)- Currently writing about the character, participating in the actual roleplaying. It can also mean that the character's personality is portrayed correctly (as in portraying a stubborn, wild character as stubborn and wild, not timid and mild)
Illiterate- The opposite of “literate,” (as defined below), illiterate roleplays don’t demand much writing quality and allow incomplete sentences and grammar mistakes.
Literate- The technical definition may be along the lines of being able to read and write, but many roleplayers use this term to refer to those who show quality in their roleplaying posts. Quality traits include correct grammar and more than just a couple of sentences per post. The definition can vary slightly from person to person, but it almost always refers to AT LEAST the qualities I listed. Chat-speak, single-sentence posts, rule-breaking posts, numerous misspellings, etc. are usually frowned upon in roleplays labeled as “literate”.
Mary/Gary Sue- These are characters that literally have no flaws and are “best” or “perfect”. They never make mistakes and are often combined with godmodding.
OC- This is short for “original character,” a character not taken from another story or person but rather thought up by the roleplayer. These characters tend to be more common on the roleplaying boards here.
OOC- This is short for “out of character,” and it means that the person is not directly participating in the actual roleplay at the moment but is making a sort of behind-the-curtains comment or question directed towards the other roleplayers of the thread. People sometimes use double-parentheses instead of this abbreviation when making such comments. It can also refer to the opposite of the other definition of IC; if someone, for instance, says a character is stubborn and wild but makes them act timid and mild in a scene, that would be OOC for that character.
OP- This is short for “original post,” the post created by the creator of a thread.
PowerPlaying- Controlling a character that doesn’t belong to you in ANY way, including auto-hits, is classified as powerplaying.
Purple Prose- This is basically description that seems overly flowery and is largely over-use of comparisons, although it's still not necessarily that difficult to read and understand (according to Dr.Paine).
RPG- This is short for "role-playing game."
Script-Style- You’re probably not going to see much of this around, as it is not common on forums as far as I know, but in a script-style roleplay people do not type complete sentences. An example of a script-style post would be: Maple- *follows the mouse, tail-tip twitching, and then pounces*
WolfSpeak- This is in a way like purple prose, although (according to Dr.Paine) there is a difference. It’s replacing words with completely different words that don't even mean the same thing, basically- for instance, constantly saying “columns” or “appendages” instead of “legs” and “daggers” instead of “teeth”. Wolf-speak is usually harder to understand than just saying “legs” and “teeth,” so it’s something you might want to avoid.
Dr.Paine's Explanation of Wolfspeak: "I'd like to say that in my years of role playing, wolf speak is seen as slightly different to purple prose. PP is just the overuse of adjectives and comparisons, while wolf speak is just replacing the words without giving more than the tiniest hint of what they're supposed to be. An example-
"Her eyes were like the grandest of sapphires, glowing brilliantly in the sun." - Purple prose.
"Her sapphires glowed in the brilliant sun." - Wolf speak. As you can see, the former is annoying but slightly understandable, while the latter is just confusing." (Thank you for your explanation, Dr. Paine!)
Dos and Don’ts
Don’t charge into roleplaying on the forums without reading the the Rules page and the stickied threads, and don’t disregard the rules they state, especially the ones regarding appropriate content.
Do read the Terms of Service, Rules page, and forum stickies carefully and abide by the rules; ask a mod if you are uncertain about a rule.
Don’t disregard or neglect to read the rules set by the creator of the roleplay.
Do read the rules carefully, and join the roleplay only if you plan to obey them.
Don’t argue with the creator of the roleplay if they decide to kick you out or tell you not to do something against their rules.
Do accept the judgement of the creator without complaint- unless they’re telling you that you CANNOT leave the roleplay even if you want to.
Don’t harass someone who leaves a roleplay or badger them to try to get them to either stay or rejoin.
Do accept that if someone really wants to leave, they have the right to do so, and try to part on good terms.
Don’t act snappish, rude, or lose your temper on the forums.
Do keep civil fingers, give advice politely, and accept (or reject, if you must xD) advice calmly and politely.
Don’t, oh PLEASE don’t, powerplay, godmod, or create a mary-sue/gary-sue. Many players don’t appreciate these three things, including me.
Do create an intriguing character capable of making mistakes and getting hurt, and also avoid autohits, a common mistake made by many roleplayers.
Don't join a roleplay and then never post again or leave without telling the creator of the roleplay.
Do join a public roleplay only if you have time to post, and also tell the creator of the roleplay if you decide to leave.
Do have fun!
Basic Literacy Skills
Here I shall share a short tutorial on how to improve your writing if you wish to participate in literate roleplays. I hope it’s helpful!
First of all, give your character some interesting personality quirks and a flaw here and there. It adds spice to him/her. Also try to really portray their personality in your writing, and try to avoid making them do stuff that goes against their personality/character.
Secondly, work on your grammar. Type complete sentences and try to avoid punctuation and spelling errors. Common mistakes include comma splices, mixing up “your” and “you’re,” typos, and sentence fragments (with the exception of dialogue, in which a character might naturally speak in fragments). Microsoft Word has a handy spell-check if your spelling is really… not top-notch, and Mozilla Firefox Web browser has built-in spell-check. (I would know; I use Mozilla Firefox myself. ^.^)
Thirdly, work on description. Use more vivid words. Instead of putting, “The ocean was blue,” put something like, “The sapphire-blue ocean water lapped gently at the sandy shore.” Much nicer with better imagery, isn’t it? Try to avoid wolfspeak, though- remember, ideal description is vivid but still CLEAR.
Here's an example of wolfspeak that will show you why it is hard to decipher (you remember the definition from the terminology section, right?): Nares flared as the beast raised her dial to the lune, taking in the accent of the darkness. Columns straightened as she rose, lowering her dial as she detected the tantalizing accent of lapin. She bared her daggers in anticipation of engorging the creature, water collecting in her jowls at the cranial action.
If I wrote in plain English, it would look like this: Nostrils flared as the she-wolf lifted her nose towards the moon, taking in the smells of the night. She lowered her nose and stood up as she detected the tantalizing scent of rabbit. She bared her teeth in anticipation of eating it, saliva already gathering in her mouth at the thought.
See how hard wolfspeak is to understand? That's why it's best to stick to plain English for the sake of clarity. You want your fellow roleplayers to actually know what you're talking about in your posts, right?
Description of motion, smell, touch, sound, and sight add to the atmosphere and not only give you more to post about but, if described concisely and vividly, make your posts more entertaining.
Also work on wording for action. Try not to get too wordy; pack a lot of power into concise, clear, descriptive words. One technique to eliminate wordiness is to try to eliminate some “to be” verbs and replace them with action verbs. For instance, instead of putting, “The chocolate-brown horse was chewing the sweet grass, and the mouthfuls were being ground up by her large white teeth,” put, “The chocolate-brown horse chewed the sweet mouthfuls of grass, grinding them with her large white teeth.” See the difference?
I hope this guide is useful to you readers, and remember, if you want me to add something I missed, feel free to post!