Summary of Below: Fractal looks like a douchebag.

1. A lack of separation between in-character and out-of-character.

You come on here and probably scoff at this. "I am a great roleplayer!" you announce, and reassure yourself by noting, "It's just Fractal, anyway. That guy is an idiot." Yet many roleplayers miss the point of roleplaying altogether, especially on forums. Perhaps I've piqued your interest, or perhaps I've affirmed your belief I'm an idiot, but hear me out on this one, as there are several pitfalls people seem to hurl into.

For one, many take roleplaying much too seriously. This may seem like a /b/ inspired piece of insipid advice that you could do without, but the fact of the matter is that roleplaying is about having fun out-of-character more than anything else. You want to have fun, and you should want everyone else to have fun. Yet often times people break down into out-of-character verbal brawls because some minor facet of their character was betrayed in an absolutely irrelevant fashion. This not only makes everyone miserable, but it totally disrupts roleplaying.

Secondly, people too closely associate themselves with their characters or use their characters as a method by which to express their innermost desires or vent their frustrations. Though this may seem to fly in the face of the above "have fun out-of-character," the reality is that that is the shit you should handle in real life. When you bring these personalized factors to the roleplaying table, you get drama, because you will always produce a Mary/Gary Stu character who you'll never let win.

2. Actual good writing.

No, not that brilliant 2,000 word post you introduced your character with in which you described fucking everything. More like the one you made with a reasonable amount of content in which action and character exposition occurred without being hamhanded or retarded.

This might seem like a weird thing to hear me bitch about considering I hang around the IRC all day acting like a totally illiterate moron (I am one, to be honest), but most experienced forum roleplayers can't write, which boggles my mind. Yes, you can make ridiculously long posts describing the environment, etc., but the fact is that rolepalying is made exciting by the exact same thing as literary writing. And what is that? Action. So stop wasting time describing so much, because your posts become stagnant, worthless purple prose.

Of course, some of you do a good job with making the action thing happen. Except then every action scene is like reading someone read a Goddamn anime and then wrote out the events on paper. The action is limp and repetitious because it's the same physical transaction over and over and over again. Someone uses the kamehameha and then Vegeta uses big bang and stuff blows up. On forums, there's a definite lack of emotional or verbal conflict between characters, and even when there is, it's extremely hamhanded and manifests way too quickly to actually feel like anything considerable.

And, finally, even if people don't entirely agree with the content of my #1 point, you still have to admit people stick unrealistic powers or characteristics on their characters to be "unique," when in reality when everyone is "unique," nothing is unique. Most of the best and most pronounced roleplaying characters I've ever seen were entirely human, had no special powers, and did not have a massive tragedy when they were young. They instead had some actual, unique, interesting, yet subtle background.

3. Not being on a forum.

Scoff if you must, but I notice time and time again that forum roleplays are plagued with a high level of inconsistency, stupidity, and death. These symptoms do not necessarily dominate forum roleplaying, but it is rare to see a forum roleplay of any "considerable" (read: not involving half-demons or high schools) make it long enough for reasonable and considerable character development to occur. Y'all gotta stop having your roleplays die, really.

I think consistency is a huge problem with RPing today, especially on the forums. You begin an RP with plenty of interested players, but then something is lost in the translation and everything slowly spirals down until the RP becomes stagnant. A good RP for me is one in which the players are excited about reading/writing the new post. They get excited at what is happening in the story. "Omg, did you see John's post? I can't believe his character JUMPED into that army of like..a thousand soldiers!" Stuff like that.

What makes a good roleplay to me is the passion of the players. The consistency of the plot. The moment. The freedom. The power. The emotion of the climax. The last act.

It's like a play. And we are Method Actors!

This.

If You're An Elitist, I Want You To Take That Elitist Attitude Of Yours And Shove It Up Your Fucking Ass

Personally, I think a lot of people are pretty tight-assed when it comes to roleplaying, and will often times attempt to outright ignore any attempt at interacting with them, for the simple fact that they do not like the character. This pisses me off, and aggravates me beyond rational thought, because it's part of how elitism gets brewed up. Not that I've seen any elitism on here yet, but it can easily start and I've seen it happen before in the past, even among the people who preach about how elitism is a bad thing.

Pay Attention To Other RolePlayers

Another branch-off to this, is that I've noticed more often than not that characters tend to get ignored, not out of elitism, but just in general. I understand that a person isn't going to catch every minute detail of every character's action, and that's fine and dandy, but sometimes the effort just seems to be altogether absent, as though the RolePlayer couldn't care less, and that can drive people away. I'm told by many RolePlayers that they just skim posts, and respond almost immediately. Don't do that. Don't ever fucking do that. That's exactly how key-pieces get missed, and I can almost guarantee you that it's going to get at least one person pissed off.

If You’re Going To Do Something Crazy In A Post Maybe It’s A Good Idea To Ask First?

I’m not going to lie about this, I love making crazy posts, I thrive on making crazy posts that I think people will love, because I’m all about impact and shock-value, which to me, is the spice of life when it comes to getting RolePlayers interested in what’s going on. But, please take the time to ask at least one or two people if they’re fine with you going bonkers in a thread. The consequences of your actions could dramatically affect a multitude of other players, and potentially piss them off, and make them not want to RolePlay with you anymore. In other words: you should always have as much fun as possible, but not at another player’s expense.

MICROSOFT WORD EXISTS FOR A REASON! FUCKING USE IT!

If you’re RolePlaying on a forum, which you probably are, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be reading this thread then, it’s a good idea to use spell-check, correct any grammatical errors you may or may not make. I know plenty of grammar-nazis who would love to put every illiterate bastard they see in a concentration camp, whey they can beat them to death. Microsoft word is your friend, and a loyal one at that, who’ll stop any of those Great Danes from sniffing out your poor usage of commas, and inability to use a fucking semi-colon. If you’re a gammar-nazi, how’s about instead of suffocating them with poison gas, you offer them some advice on how to better improve their writing. I know you may think you shouldn’t have to, and that’s it up to them to figure it out themselves, but that’s part of your jobs as vets, and that goes without saying.

If You Don’t Understand A Post, Ask What Went On Instead Of Throwing A Shitfit

This is probably, if not definitely the leading cause of arguments that happen Out Of Character: misreading a post or simply not being able to properly comprehend what went down. You have fists, but you also have a mouth. Instead of punching someone in the eye, how about you try asking what happened? Maybe you missed something? Maybe there was a word in their post, and you didn’t know what it meant. Ever think of that? HMM?! You could also ask them to explain what they did in a way that you may be able to comprehend.

God Didn’t Give You A Brain So You Could Stick Your Thumb Up Your Ass And Go “Dehh, I don’t know George, Dehhh!” That’s What Cockroaches Are For

This goes without saying, but I think I may need to say it anyway: try to use common sense, because it’ll really help you out in the long run. It also helps to think about what you’re writing, either while you’re writing it or beforehand (different strokes for different folks, I guess). This is how you make your post read like something coherent, not like something that has it’s brain is located in its ass (hence the cockroach).

HAVE FUN, ‘LESS I BREAK MAH FOOT OFF IN YO’ ASS!

Personally, I think what makes a great RP is when people stop putting so much thought into it.

RP IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. SO HAVE FUN.


People really have lost the fun of it, even I at times. They take it too damn serious, and it loses it's fun.
Everything else such as staying in character, etc, has been said above.

Stop trollin'. I almost got srs.>.>;

Yes. (

Hahaha. >_> I just saw this. LOL


and I agree to disagree.

Hahaha.

Stfu.

LOL. Good morning, Selothi! xD

And well said >>

Good characters, a decent, original story, kind people, and a couple explosions for good measure.