Post Etiquette:
The biggest Etiquette mannerism a player can issue whilst RP-ing with others, is to RP an action with every act of speech you post.
Ex: Hello Lilith -Vlad smiles-
To avoid confusion, we use a standard set of symbols to indicate certain actions. These are to be used in this holt, be it RP and or story.
quotation marks ("...") are to be used to indicate speech; ex. "Hello," he said
double asterisks (**...**) indicate sends; ex. **Hello,** he sent
single asterisk (*...*) indicates thought; ex. *I wonder if should say hello,* he thought
Note: there are many means of speaking to another player: Verbally, mentally, using imagery, letters, soul speaking…. Etc etc. The above is merely expressing means in which to do this appropriately.
When making a comment that comes from you rather than your character, please label it as OOC (out of character).
Out of character talk in an RP chat is meant to occur, though it’s a necessary evil do meanly due to the fact. That if a player has to abruptly depart, OOC notification is respectful and appreciative to those you are RP-ing with.
EX. OOC: [Sorry guys, I have to go eat dinner.]
OOC posts should always be bracketed [ .. ] or with parenthesis ( .. )
What is God-modding?
So what is ‘godmodding’?… there is no one true answer. Godmodding can take on several forms in the wonderful world of RPing. But one thing you should know, is that no matter what form, godmodding violates Role-playing rules and is unjust to those that are trying to RP fairly. Not only that, but excessive godmodding in an RP can ruin said RP. After all, who wants to Role-Play with someone who say, keeps auto-hitting another person’s character, or dodges every attack that is thrown their way?
Auto-Hitting:
Arguably the most common form of God-modding. It should be clear what this one means, but for those that are uniformed, Auto-hitting is saying your attack hit, without giving your opponent any time to react.
Now, in order for me to demonstrate, imagine two people in a forum Role-Play; Player A, and Player B. Their respective characters are Mods.
Anyway, these two are busily role-playing, when their characters get into a fight. Here’s what transpires:
Player A
loganbest punched Lestat, hitting him in the jaw and sending him flying. loganbest then used his knife to stab Lestat in the shoulder. After which, loganbest kicked Lestat in the shins.
Player B
Lestat punched loganbest, sending him to the ground. He then brought out his shotgun and shot loganbest several times, killing him.
Hold it….what? Okay, there are several things wrong here-and they all have to do with auto-hitting. Player A had his character punch, stab, and kick Lestat, without giving Player B any chance to react! And what of Player B? He went so far as to have his character kill loganbest? What?! These two both need a lesson in how to RP fights-definite godmodding going on with these two.
Now, imagine that both players find themselves Role-playing together again. Just like before their characters get into a fight. Only this time, things are a little different;
Player A
loganbest aimed an uppercut at Lestat, hoping the attack would connect with his jaw and send him to the ground.
Player B
Lestat ducked to avoid the attack, then came at loganbest with a powerful right chop, aiming for his face.
Player A
The attack hit head on, sending loganbest flying a ways. His head slammed against a tree, knocking him out cold.
Ah, now that…that is how you RP fight scenes! As you can see, neither of them forced a hit and they each let the other player react to their attacks. This is a huge improvement in both Player’s styles.
Dodging Everything That Comes Your Way:
In one of the first RPs I’ve ever been in, I had the unfortunate luck of experiencing something like this. Sometime during the course of said RP, the characters of two other players got in a fight. What transpired, was dodging, after dodging, after everlasting dodging! Seriously, for the longest time, neither character got a hit in-the other would just keep on dodging. This lasted for several pages and got kind of annoying. I remember sitting there looking at my screen and thinking ‘Come on people, take some damage!’
The battle never finished. In fact the RP actually got locked eventually.
Player A
Lillith moved in with an uppercut, hoping to catch Vlad by surprise.
Player B
Vlad dodged the attack with ease, then shot at Lillith multiple times. With any luck Lillith’s body would be peppered with bullets.
Player A
Lillith quickly sidestepped out of the way, avoiding the attack.
…And so on.
This goes on for pages upon pages upon pages. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but the fight did last for quite a while.
Now, the way to avoid this should be rather obvious; take some hits. Yes, I know you may not want to lose or anything, but be reasonable; is it at all fair to avoid every single attack that comes your way? Not at all. So while you can have characters that are great at avoiding attacks, it’s still a good idea to take some hits.
Player B
In an attempt to stop Lillith once and for all, Vlad shot at her several times.
Player A
While Lillith managed to avoid some of the bullets, the rest of them shot through her body like the projectiles they were.
See this? While Player A dodged some of the bullets, the rest of them hit her. And that’s another thing one could do, with certain kinds of attacks. Elemental abilities and bullets (as shown in our example here) are good moves where you can dodge some of the attack, but get hit by the rest.
Control of another player:
This one is just like it says; a person, for whatever reason (usually to move the story along), takes control of someone else’s character and treats them as their own. What they do with them depends largely on the situation (and auto-hitting could be categorized as a form of controlling another person’s character), but one thing is clear; it’s annoying.
It’s simple folks, if a character in an RP isn’t yours, then you don’t control them. However, there are people that don’t seem to get that, and it’s very unfortunate. But that’s what this tutorial is for! Let’s go back and check on an RP with Player A and Player B.
Player A
Whitewolf rushed over to Vlad, aiming his knife at him. With any luck the blade would go through his shoulder blade.
Player B
Vlad ducked to avoid the attack. Whitewolf’s knife got stuck in the wall in front of him. He tried to pull it out, only to find out that it was stuck tight.
Okay, notice how Player B took control of Player A’s character? You cannot do that in an RP. I’m sure some of you can think of other explanations, but here’s one reason why you shouldn’t control a character that isn’t yours; because it isn’t yours. Would you like it if someone controlled your character without your expressed permission? I know I wouldn’t.
However, you might be saying ‘what if someone in an RP hasn’t posted in it for a long time? Can I take control of their character then?’ No, you may not. Again, that character isn’t yours and using it would be a bad idea. Not to mention it is a bit rude to that character’s creator.
So what do you if someone hasn’t posted in an RP for quite a while? Well, you could either wait for them to post again, or you could contact them somehow, or you can even void that character from said RP and move on. Either one of these methods are good to attempt, and they can help prevent unnecessary character controlling.
Many like to RP within environments, such as:
Forests
Towns
Pubs/Bars
Houses
Clearings
Lakes
Etc etc
Which ever environment you decide to use, should be used and interacted with.
Ex: Clearing - As Vlad strolled through the tall wheat fields of the clearing, his fingers lightly grazed over the tips that ever so gently tickled his skin. His bare feet imprinted within the soft soil of the earth, the mornings dew still holding a slight chill as the moisture embraced his toes. The amber waves of grain swaying in a romantically and tranquility like motion, as his eyes beheld the rising sun in the distance.
I used the environment to exemplify what my character was doing within the RP, the thing to remember is the more details and specifics you use. The more the empty canvas you help create, imagery is everything in Role-Play. Remember the 5 senses and use them to make your actions come alive, the less informative your posts are, the more they are open to misinterpretation.
You be asking yourself but RP battles are different? Yes and no, yes in the fact that the environment is going to be changing but no in the same aspect. For a player that uses the environment in his RP-ing can justify more imaginative actions
Ex: Whitewolf pivoted his left foot, causing into embed slightly within the soft soil of the earth. As the muscles of his calf tightened, adding him in projecting himself forth. His body’s definition rippling upwards as he lunged towards Hades, each step sinking into mother earths fertile epidermis. Whitewolf's hands clinching tightly upon the twin battle axes, that now swung at his sides as he rushed forth. His hair being pulled back by the momentum at which he was exerting, teeth bared and jaw clamped shut threatening. Eyes displaying an inferno of hell fire and murderous desire, flickered deep within the depths of his hues. The wheat that blanketed the field surrounding Hades and Whitewolf was waiving nonchalantly, though with each swing of Whitewolf’s blades wheat was severed from its roots and ascended only to graceful fall like a feather in Whitewolf's wake…
This example was not to Battle with myself but to explain the reasons of how the environment can be used when in an RP battle. Using your environment is as important, as swinging the weapons in your hands. RP is not a bunch of actions, its random players coming together to create a detailed story. Unlike a book or movie, RP forces different genre’s, race’s, and styles to adopt and adapt to one another.
Please remember that Grammar and spelling are important, its understandable that at times the correct way eludes you but please attempt to refrain from text-talk if possible. Excessive usage of text speech can and or may result in confusion and or discouragement from others within the chat and or forum to continue. Please remember what divides great RP-ers from Average RP-ers, is a simple lack of trying. If you try to detail and describe your characters actions, whilst involving mannerisms and the environment around you. In as much descriptive detail as possible, as well as, refraining from text style talk. Then experience that is shared with all within the chat and or forum, is suitable and enjoyable for all participating in said RP.
RP post length is another, determining factor when it comes to seasonal RP-ers remaining and join in with said RP. Though it is not a violation for players to post short posts, consisting of a full sentence or less. It is however, a key factor in detouring and or accepting others into an RP. Older and more seasoned RP-ers, attempt to refrain from short and no effort posts style RP’s, so again, the separating line between RP-ers is merely the effort and attempt put into our posts.
Continuous posting, is another detouring factor that can make or break a promising RP.
Chat Ex:
Vlad: Hello -Smiles-
Vlad: -See’s so and so and waves- Hey you
Vlad: -See’s Argent enter chat- Hey Whitewolf
Forum Ex:
Whitewolf: -Walks through the forest and finally catches up to Elena-
Lillith: -Was casually stumbling through the forest until she saw Elena and Whitewolf- Hey
Vlad: -See’s Lillith and smiles- Hello, what brings you out here?
The issue with the above are simple, by posting continuously you progress the RP far to fast. Thus not giving a player (In the case above, Vlad ample opportunity to post before Whitewolf moved on to Lillith. When players make post after post, those other players that can only post once before having to sign out. Are left with more than needed reading to catch up and may force a player to feel far to behind and thus leave said RP (I have actually done this, in a few RP‘s here on VG.).
Post Limit per RP-er:
Players in chat should not post more than two posts in between another player, the exception here being if the post in question is a lengthy post and thus travels over into a 3rd post. In prior events, players would post 5 in between every other players 1-2 posts. This again causes other players to become discouraged and can cause others wish to leave mid-RP.
EX:
Vlad:
Vlad:
Lillith:
Vlad:
Vlad: