Roleplay Discussion Thread

[Zerin]

Originally Posted by machomuu

Igiari!I will now proceed to nitpick about your mistakes.

Am I the only one that feels like people are intent on correcting every little thing I write?

[ShinyDiamond]

I thought that's what you looked like Zerin.

No idea what's going on. Been in a job orientation, have a 10-minute break right now so yeah. So new topic.

Do you enjoy RPing here with people & friends?

Hope this is a good enough topic.

[-Grayscale-]

"Do you enjoy RPing here with people & friends?"

Nope. Hate it. Duh.

Lol naw kidding, but err, idk how much people can say other than yes.

[Supervegeta]

Originally Posted by Mr Cat Dog

Hey everyone! Megan's recent foray into Roleplaying has inspired me to check this forum out, so here I am. I've read the Helpful Guides mentioned in the Rules, so I have a basic understanding of what goes on here (I'm kinda ashamed to admit I had no idea what roleplaying actually meant in an internet context!) but have a few questions, if peeps will indulge me:

1. How long does an average RP actually last? All of the threads I've looked at so far are decidedly on-going and don't show any time of stopping.
2. In addition, what percentage, roughly, of RPs actually finish? I imagine if these go on for months on end, that people wouldn't be able to complete them due to real life complications and stuff.
3. Do GMs always have to roleplay themselves, or can they just stand on the sidelines and control the plot twists and turns without actually making a character themselves?
4. How upfront do GMs have to be plot twists e.g. can a GM tell a roleplayer at the beginning of the game in secret that their character is going to turn evil when he or she gets to Viridian City, or does that have to emerge later in the game?

Thanks to anyone who answers these. And, as a feeble attempt to stay on topic: yes, I like waffles. :D

Greetings. I rule this place.

1. Generally, it varies. According to the finished section, some last as little as a month, others a few months, and some much longer. The average for the ones that have finished have been about 2-3 months. Although recently, those that have remained active for longer periods of time and strive to finish have gone beyond that point.

2. Well, let's put it this way. In 2011, only 3 RPs managed to finish (one of them being mine), and that actually would be considered a 'good' year for finished Rps. 1 finished in 2010, and before that, not a single one finished in all of 2009.

3. You don't have to participate in the RP itself. You can choose to if you life, but generally, a GM can choose whether he participates or not.

4. I generally believe it would be much more rewarding to the RPers if certain secrets are withheld, especially unexpected ones relating to the plot. However, shared secrets can be also kept between multiple people via PM and revealed to the rest of the participating RPers at another point in time. However, I've known GMs to reveal secrets ahead of time to their RPers, especially twists and story involving the plot. It never actually turns out too great, as the RPers tend not to be as interesting/looking forward to that certain part as they already know what's going to happen. Still, it should be up to the GM to decide. I recommend against it.

[-Grayscale-]

Originally Posted by Mr Cat Dog

Hey everyone! Megan's recent foray into Roleplaying has inspired me to check this forum out, so here I am. I've read the Helpful Guides mentioned in the Rules, so I have a basic understanding of what goes on here (I'm kinda ashamed to admit I had no idea what roleplaying actually meant in an internet context!) but have a few questions, if peeps will indulge me:

1. How long does an average RP actually last? All of the threads I've looked at so far are decidedly on-going and don't show any time of stopping.
2. In addition, what percentage, roughly, of RPs actually finish? I imagine if these go on for months on end, that people wouldn't be able to complete them due to real life complications and stuff.
3. Do GMs always have to roleplay themselves, or can they just stand on the sidelines and control the plot twists and turns without actually making a character themselves?
4. How upfront do GMs have to be plot twists e.g. can a GM tell a roleplayer at the beginning of the game in secret that their character is going to turn evil when he or she gets to Viridian City, or does that have to emerge later in the game?

Thanks to anyone who answers these. And, as a feeble attempt to stay on topic: yes, I like waffles. :D

1: Months, if it can be kept and managed well. Most finished roleplays are at least 2 or 3 months old with hundreds, maybe a thousand or so of good posts inside depending on the members and how active it is. Many roleplays do end up dying out, but I've seen some of them last for half a year or longer (*cough*POKEMONTRAINERACADEMY*cough*)

2: Ehh, it's kinda rare, actually. But the few out of the majority end up getting a lot of praise for putting in so much hard work. In my experience of being here for about a year, I've been in at least 30 Roleplays and only gotten into one that finished. I'd say that if you have truly devoted Roleplayers and a good, fun plot, you've got yourself a winner. Its also very helpful to have a good GM managing the members and keeping track of the activity, since that's very important.

3: Personally, as a GM I like to get involved into the roleplays I make, but you can always sit on the sidelines and guide the people who join. Sometimes it's even easier that way.

4: This is a tough one, aha... it can work, but normally a GM does not dictate other characters like that whatsoever. A good GM works out compromises, and organizes events/plot twists while making sure everyone is comfortable with it. Time of the change doesn't matter really in my opinion. A lot of what Vegeta said above also works.

Welcome to the RP Corner, broski.

[Skymin]

Everyone posts too much while I'm at work. :(

And I'll be posting the submissions when I get home. At the moment, I'm waiting for my lift while listening to a toddler scream. Uggdidhdjdjsjsjjajahhs

Plus I have university to attend to and I gotta fix up the RPAs and work tomorrow uuuggggggg YOU GAIZ.

[Rokusasu]

Originally Posted by Zerin

Am I the only one that feels like people are intent on correcting every little thing I write?

No, I think that maybe you're being a little bit sensitive about things. I'll leave it at that because I don't want to seem like I'm targeting you too~



... DID SOMEONE SAY WAFFLES?! Oh dear god the mods are invading!

[Mr Cat Dog]

Thanks to everyone who answered my quick questions! Number 4 seemed to throw people a bit, so I think I need to clarify what exactly I meant with an example.

Say you have an RP with about 6 people, and it's a standard let's-go-on-a-Pokemon-adventure-together-and-beat-Team-Rocket-and-become-the-champion type roleplay. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the RPers, one of the crew is secretly an agent working for Team Rocket trying to infiltrate the gang or something. How would something like that end up being divulged? Would it have to come out during sign-ups, thereby removing any sense of mystery? Would a GM tell that person after all the SUs are completed that he or she is in fact evil? Would a GM just spring it on people at random that one of them is secretly evil? Or is this type of gameplay manoeuvring just not done at all?

I'm not actually planning to do any of this, but these thoughts just kept crossing my mind when I was reading Mika's very good guide... and I guess I just wanted some clarification. Thanks again to those who answer. :D

[Elite Killer]

Originally Posted by Mr Cat Dog

Thanks to everyone who answered my quick questions! Number 4 seemed to throw people a bit, so I think I need to clarify what exactly I meant with an example.

Say you have an RP with about 6 people, and it's a standard let's-go-on-a-Pokemon-adventure-together-and-beat-Team-Rocket-and-become-the-champion type roleplay. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the RPers, one of the crew is secretly an agent working for Team Rocket trying to infiltrate the gang or something. How would something like that end up being divulged? Would it have to come out during sign-ups, thereby removing any sense of mystery? Would a GM tell that person after all the SUs are completed that he or she is in fact evil? Would a GM just spring it on people at random that one of them is secretly evil? Or is this type of gameplay manoeuvring just not done at all?

I'm not actually planning to do any of this, but these thoughts just kept crossing my mind when I was reading Mika's very good guide... and I guess I just wanted some clarification. Thanks again to those who answer. :D

Well, for type of game maneouvering, the GM wouldn't be able to force the character someone else has made to be evil unless the RP'er agrees with it first. As someone else said, the GM forcing a RP'er to change sides is God-modding, which is a no in the general rules here and in most RP's.

Speaking of RP's, Elder Scrolls: Akatosh's Hourglass has just been accepted, so go join it. There are unlimited spots available, so you can be free to join at anytime.

[Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers]

@ Cat Mod - it would be godmodding if the GM forced the player to suddenly turn evil, yeah. What they could do is ask via PM if they agree with it, like Elite Killer said.

You're such a good newbieRPer to actually read the guides :D

[Rokusasu]

Or, alternatively, the GM could have their character as the evil person.

HNNNNNGH. Elder Scrolls RP. Checking that out right now~

[Supervegeta]

Originally Posted by Mr Cat Dog

Thanks to everyone who answered my quick questions! Number 4 seemed to throw people a bit, so I think I need to clarify what exactly I meant with an example.

Say you have an RP with about 6 people, and it's a standard let's-go-on-a-Pokemon-adventure-together-and-beat-Team-Rocket-and-become-the-champion type roleplay. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the RPers, one of the crew is secretly an agent working for Team Rocket trying to infiltrate the gang or something. How would something like that end up being divulged? Would it have to come out during sign-ups, thereby removing any sense of mystery? Would a GM tell that person after all the SUs are completed that he or she is in fact evil? Would a GM just spring it on people at random that one of them is secretly evil? Or is this type of gameplay manoeuvring just not done at all?

I'm not actually planning to do any of this, but these thoughts just kept crossing my mind when I was reading Mika's very good guide... and I guess I just wanted some clarification. Thanks again to those who answer. :D

In this case, it should probably be spoken between that particular person and the GM via PMs, I think. I see no reason to tell the others signing up about it and spoiling the surprise. I don't think, in this case at least, the GM should be allowed to spring that sort of thing onto the RPer without discussing it with them beforehand, unless the RP description suggested that something like that is a possibility. It is sort of godmodding.

[PinkSapphire]

time for a new Topic! :D (also sorry skyrim for that waffle thingy )

what are the good things of Pokecommunity? and what could be better?

EDIT: @Zerin- your link to Drake (Ryu) doesn't work :3

[machomuu]

An official comprehensive guide on RPing, though that's more of a nitpick, as Yellow's guide was a great aid when I first really got into RPing.

[PkMnTrainer Yellow]

@Machomuu: I'm currently writing more guides on RPing. they're just far too large and deep to put into a comprehensive single guide. xD It also takes quite a while to make them ^^; My new guide is focusing on GMing, and is only in the preliminary stages of development at the moment. But hey, if people wanted to help me write it that'd be cool and I could arrange it. There's a credits section of all my guides for a reason. |3

I'll probably leave the guide about how to make quality posts specifically to someone else. You see, what makes a post good aside from proper English and proper length is rather subjective, and shifts with a sort of social metagame that is hard enough to keep track of in and of itself without writing a guide on how to keep track of it. xD

It mostly just involves paying attention to the reactions of RPers to posts and taking risks at times to fish for better reactions.

[ShinyDiamond]

Not much happened while I was away in a field trip, so that's good for me.

I'm here to advertise my new RP that's out!

Kingdoms At War: The Dark Ages

:3 I wouldn't mind helping you with that guide Yellow. What do you need help with?

[Zerin]

Originally Posted by PinkSapphire

@Zerin- your link to Drake (Ryu) doesn't work :3

That's because he's my MINECRAFT character; the RP hasn't started yet, and it in fact needs some players!

NOTICE:
Minecraft needs help!
People who have reserved are taking back their reservations, due to busy lives. Now there's myself (and one possibly reserved player, but I'm having doubts) left, and we need a decent amount before we can begin!

You know, I had an idea that could very much help the RP Corner as well as the RP Lounge...

What if we took all of the inactive/died/locked/deleted RP threads and took the out of RP Corner/Lounge, into an archive?

I know it sounds crazy, but just hear me out with this one. Personally, I have seen the large clutter of RPs scattered over our 2 beloved boards, and while trying to search for new ones, I struggled. The mass amount of listings is beyond me, and I'm likely not the only one who thinks that. I think we should move the unused and otherwise not-needed Roleplay Threads into an archive, that is out of the way but still accessible. That way, the only RPs you would see on the Corner and Lounge are ones that are recently accepted and taking SU's, already active RPs that are still going, and obviously the stickied ones like this. It would be much easier to find your IC/OOC, as well as easy to find a new RP to join. Of course, the Archive would be open for anyone to look through, and still leave the possibility to be revived. I think it would greatly clean up these boards and make it well-known which are still going or just started going. Pleayers would likely join more RPs and with easier access with less searching, there would be much less clutter to dig through, and all-around this would improve the site, or at least I see it as something that would.

Anyone else think this could be a good idea?



_____




On an entirely different note, if you didn't know already, I'm planning to go through an RPing "Supernova", as I'd like to call it, and fairly soon. From then on, a lot of things will change.

[parallelzero]

Originally Posted by Zerin

What if we took all of the inactive/died/locked/deleted RP threads and took the out of RP Corner/Lounge, into an archive?

I know it sounds crazy, but just hear me out with this one. Personally, I have seen the large clutter of RPs scattered over our 2 beloved boards, and while trying to search for new ones, I struggled. The mass amount of listings is beyond me, and I'm likely not the only one who thinks that. I think we should move the unused and otherwise not-needed Roleplay Threads into an archive, that is out of the way but still accessible. That way, the only RPs you would see on the Corner and Lounge are ones that are recently accepted and taking SU's, already active RPs that are still going, and obviously the stickied ones like this. It would be much easier to find your IC/OOC, as well as easy to find a new RP to join. Of course, the Archive would be open for anyone to look through, and still leave the possibility to be revived. I think it would greatly clean up these boards and make it well-known which are still going or just started going. Pleayers would likely join more RPs and with easier access with less searching, there would be much less clutter to dig through, and all-around this would improve the site, or at least I see it as something that would.

Anyone else think this could be a good idea?

But the active RPs are on the first two pages, and then the inactive are every page after that... I really don't see what this would accomplish aside from making an unecessary, extra forum. It won't do anything extra to organize things, it'll just split the forum up for no reason and create uneeded work for the staff. I'm sure if the whole RP system was organized differently, it'd work, but with things the way they are, I don't think so.


---

What gender does everyone prefer to RP as when they make a character? Is it the same or different from your own? I've always found the answer to be different from person to person. Most of the people I RP with regularly prefer roleplaying the opposite gender, but I'm indifferent for the most part.


---

Also, is anyone familiar with Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Zero and would have an interest in an RP centered around a different Holy Grail War? I tried to start one in the fall and didn't get much interest, so I want to see if things changed. XD

[machomuu]

I definitely like the idea, I just wonder how much data would build up from it...probably not so much that it'd cause a problem, methinks.

[King!]

I can go with either gender, really. It depends on the idea I have for a character, or just what I'm in the mood to RP as. I've played both my gender and the opposite before. Although oftentimes I like to go back and forth between the two, so if my last character was a boy it's more likely the next will be a girl.

or you could take game of chance where my character is technically both a boy AND a girl

[Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers]

Originally Posted by Zerin

You know, I had an idea that could very much help the RP Corner as well as the RP Lounge...

What if we took all of the inactive/died/locked/deleted RP threads and took the out of RP Corner/Lounge, into an archive?

I know it sounds crazy, but just hear me out with this one. Personally, I have seen the large clutter of RPs scattered over our 2 beloved boards, and while trying to search for new ones, I struggled. The mass amount of listings is beyond me, and I'm likely not the only one who thinks that. I think we should move the unused and otherwise not-needed Roleplay Threads into an archive, that is out of the way but still accessible. That way, the only RPs you would see on the Corner and Lounge are ones that are recently accepted and taking SU's, already active RPs that are still going, and obviously the stickied ones like this. It would be much easier to find your IC/OOC, as well as easy to find a new RP to join. Of course, the Archive would be open for anyone to look through, and still leave the possibility to be revived. I think it would greatly clean up these boards and make it well-known which are still going or just started going. Pleayers would likely join more RPs and with easier access with less searching, there would be much less clutter to dig through, and all-around this would improve the site, or at least I see it as something that would.

Anyone else think this could be a good idea?

Originally Posted by parallelzero

But the active RPs are on the first two pages, and then the inactive are every page after that... I really don't see what this would accomplish aside from making an unecessary, extra forum. It won't do anything extra to organize things, it'll just split the forum up for no reason and create uneeded work for the staff. I'm sure if the whole RP system was organized differently, it'd work, but with things the way they are, I don't think so.

^ this.
When you're searching for new RPs to join, you're really only searching the first page of the RP Corner / RP Lounge, because the threads on the other pages have gone for long without posting and are likely to be dead. So the older pages effectively act as an archive already.

Originally Posted by parallelzero

What gender does everyone prefer to RP as when they make a character? Is it the same or different from your own? I've always found the answer to be different from person to person. Most of the people I RP with regularly prefer roleplaying the opposite gender, but I'm indifferent for the most part.


Also, is anyone familiar with Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Zero and would have an interest in an RP centered around a different Holy Grail War? I tried to start one in the fall and didn't get much interest, so I want to see if things changed. XD

I used to like to play boy best, I think, but nowadays I play girls more often. I suddenly found myself having only girl characters on all of the RPs I was in. Even in Game of Chance, my character appears to be a boy but is really a girl. I don't think I have a special preference for any gender though.

As for Fate/Stay Night, I've glimpsed the anime briefly but I don't really know what it's about, sorry. Might take a look after I've rewatched Fruits Basket <3

Originally Posted by King!

or you could take game of chance where my character is technically both a boy AND a girl

:,D

[PkMnTrainer Yellow]

What gender does everyone prefer to RP as when they make a character? Is it the same or different from your own?

WE NEED TO HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT THE PROPER USE OF THE WORD 'GENDER' RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM AN ANGSTY ENGLISH TEACHER.

In 100% of current cases, my personal characters are female. This is mostly because I just don't care about this sort of thing very much, and also because I'm prone to randomly turning males into females midpost through pronoun typos. I'm pretty sure that time I typo'd Doctor Wily as a she scarred me for life. Why... ლ(ಥ_ಥლ)

However, I do play male characters impersonally whenever appropriate or necessary. There are often male characters in my character's past that I've fleshed out in my head and when I'm playing NPCs I make a point to keep their sex ratio somewhat even. I also attempt to keep the gender ratio somewhat balanced when my character is not one person but a group of people, such as my OC for Zerin's zelda RP whom had a male fairy and my team of OCs for The Children are Hunted, two of the five of which were male.

[Sir Bastian]

Originally Posted by PkMnTrainer Yellow

What gender does everyone prefer to RP as when they make a character? Is it the same or different from your own?

WE NEED TO HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT THE PROPER USE OF THE WORD 'GENDER' RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM AN ANGSTY ENGLISH TEACHER.

In 100% of current cases, my personal characters are female. This is mostly because I just don't care about this sort of thing very much, and also because I'm prone to randomly turning males into females midpost through pronoun typos. I'm pretty sure that time I typo'd Doctor Wily as a she scarred me for life. Why... ლ(ಥ_ಥლ)

However, I do play male characters impersonally whenever appropriate or necessary. There are often male characters in my character's past that I've fleshed out in my head and when I'm playing NPCs I make a point to keep their sex ratio somewhat even. I also attempt to keep the gender ratio somewhat balanced when my character is not one person but a group of people, such as my OC for Zerin's zelda RP whom had a male fairy and my team of OCs for The Children are Hunted, two of the five of which were male.

For now, I've only RP'ed as male characters within the Pokécommunity, but I actually tend to RP as female characters in other media. Most people will say that it's because of the so-called "Sexy polygons" or whatever, but I prefer RP'ing as a girl or woman due to the challenge.

I love challenging myself in my RP and creativity, and RP'ing as a female is a great challenge, with the emotional twists and turns and trying to -think- like a woman. I don't exclusively RP as females, I do have a couple male characters, but for some reason, my male characters are always horribly bland and gets dull after a while, whereas the female characters stay interesting and fun to RP.

Just my two cents :3

[machomuu]

The gender I tend to play as is male, but if I make a second character they're usually female. However, that's simply a habit, I really have no problem making female characters, they're personalities usually flow with me as easily as they do for males.

[Meganium90]

So far I've been playing all female, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to play a male. But my biggest worry is I'll probably come out as feminine when I play a male character. xD So, I'll have to practice writing as a male sometime.