RP Wisdom

I guess I can call myself and rp geezer. I've introduced many a fresh face into to realm of rping (one or two I sincerely apologize for) and I think it's safe to say I've been around the block. Therefore, instead of getting all preachy and telling you how to rp (if you can't, you can't and no amount of direction will help you and your writing/reasoning skills), I'll tell you how to SET UP an rp. I have made many... many have flopped. The majority have flopped. Mostly because I am too lazy for words, but forget that. I learn from my mistakes... so I'll share to spare you some bumps and bruises.

- - - -

1. Only newbies run open rps to the general public

The sad fact of the matter, folks, is that not everyone rocked their creative writing class with their raw untamed talent and insight into the human mind. If you let anyone enter your rp, you may get people who are, well, bad.

In the olden days... back in... oh I'd say 2003, I ran an open rp. One of my first rps ever. It was going smoothly. There was a good cast of rpers, it was rolling on at a good pace, but then two less than skilled friends stumbled in. They messed up the game up so badly, we had to back track and delete everything they had posted. After this unfortunate incident, morale was down, enthusiasm had a gun in its mouth. Things finally dwindled to a stop. The bad rpers murdered my role play.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Rp with people you trust or who your friends trust if you trust your friends. If you want to open an rp to new faces, hold AUDITIONS. Make a character application (like this -> M ap) with all the info you want to know and screen the strangers. It will save you a lot of pain.

2. One rejection letter is enough. Trust me.

The one and only issue with auditions is rejections. It's exciting to find new good rpers, add them to your relations and just have a good ol' time. But telling the not so hot ones that they didn't make the cut... EEEEE. It hurts inside. Even if their ap sucked you always feel like the villain when you say, "Not rpin'with me, kiddo." But really, what matters more? Temporarily hurting a stranger's feelings, who, if they aren't a petty person, will forgive you promptly, or crippling your rp before it starts? If you honestly want to have a good rp, sacrifices must be made. Be polite. Don't fight. Boot the n00b.


Not too far in the past, I opened an ambitious rp and started to collect the applications of many bright eyed hopefuls. I rejected some, I accepted some, but one kid kept trying. I told them what was wrong with their ap and they tired again. It changed, but still had all the same flaws. I said no and repeated myself. They tried again, with all the same flaws. I said no and repeated myself. They tried again, I told them to forget about it, they flipped out, I told them to calm the Hell down. They became offended, and now hate me.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

One rejection is hard enough, but multiple ones are just insulting. Please tell people they have one chance to get in. And if they are rejected, they should stop. If you let them try over and over again, all Hell will break loose. If they are hopeless, IT'S NOT WORTH IT. One fail is hard enough. They don't need a fail storm. ONE CHANCE ONLY.

3. Holy crap, rper A and rper B were up all Saturday night rping, and while I was sleeping they wrote 2 feet of dialogue!

This problem has made me leave rps before, so if you want to keep all your beloved survived auditions gold nuggets, you've got to eliminate anything that threatens to scare them away.

This problem became so serious for me in my early years, I abandoned wiki rping all together in favor of more controlled IM and chat room rps that required everyone to be there at the same time. There is nothing more frustrating then getting into an rp, designing an awesome character, and then logging on to elftown to find out the other characters have not only been talking, they have defeated a dragon, split the gold and are now sacrificing your character to a heathen god while your character stands there comatose.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU! I mean... YOUR RPERS!

My rule is, if everyone isn't there, rpers are limited to 3-4 posts a day. If everyone is there, rp as fast and crazy as you can, but when people aren't there, give them some respect and slow the Hell down. As the GM, you better have this as one of your rules. It saves everyone a lot of pain.

4. WHERE THE HELL DID TIM GO? OH MAN! HE'S JUST... HE'S JUST GONE!

I am a lazy ass with a short attention span who likes fighting fighting sex fighting humor argument wicked plan sex fighting near death humor gore fighting. If I don't get my fix man... I may just book it.

Once in a while, I'd be in an rp and a member would just... disappear. Everyone would get impatient, angry, then horribly depressed. It is a sad sad time.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Threaten your nuggets!! Tell them, if they disappear for a long time, without an explanation, their character is either dead or taken over by someone else. Tell them they must inform you in advance of any future absence, and if they want to leave the rp, that instead of just ditching, they should tell you and discuss and exit strategy for their character.

5. Psst. Why didn't you warn me Megan sucks?

What if you get a application that is good, but it turns out to be misleading? You accept the kid and later rping reveals... they kinda suck.

This only almost happened to me, because I got tired and closed the rp early. Meh. I suck as a GM.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Be polite. Don't fight. Boot the n00b. It's them or your rp. For the sake of the other players, and all the effort you put into this rp, get them gone. The longer you hesitate, the more your rp will fall apart.

6. What do you mean you don't want to be a parrot horse man?!

When I enter an rp, I don't want to be crowded by limitations. I don't want to be limited to a small group of ridiculous fantasy races the obviously high GM made up, who all have these requirements as to their behavior and culture. I want to make my own character, damnit!

When I see rps like this... I leave. And I know I'm not the only one.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Give your rpers freedom. The more restrictions you put on their characters, the less motivated they will be to join. Not everyone thinks crazy anthros/elves are cool. *Raises hand*

7. Cliche rp is cliche.

So, vampires and werewolves are fighting again, eh? Choose from the following races: dwarf, elf or halfling eh? Japanese, eh?

No personal experience here. I avoid cliches like the plague.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Be original! If you'd like, take a cliche and bend it in an original way. Put it in an unconventional setting, or just... don't do something that's popular right now... like... vampires and anime. Clone rps are n00b magnets, and experienced rpers either don't want to do it or have done it before.

8. Well, isn't that simple.

You draw a map, think of a history, a religion, 12 races, types of magic, and have a big plot with twists and turns. Problem is, in the time it takes you alone to write a page of a story takes 3 days for an rp. Rps are slow. Suspense doesn't work in an rp. It can often kill an rp. You have to be fast, and the more story you put into it, the harder that is to accomplish.

So I started an ambitious rp and had these great plans. The story was awesome. No one was gonna guess that the angelic mysterious savior was actually the alter ego of the demon king whose hoards are tearing apart the planet! Oh, what a shocker! It didn't get that far, folks. Didn't even get to the demon invasion. People got bored, it slowed down. We didn't get to the juicy part, damnit!

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Sometimes the best rps are the simplest rps. Rps with freedom, limited back stories, and constant movement are fun, laid back and addictive. Your rp should be set up so that at any given time something exciting can be happening. Breaks in action, though seemingly short, take days to rp, and can result in boring the rpers to death.

9. A n00b is a n00b. A lesson for gms and rpers.

The fact of the matter is... some people aren't as good at rping as other people. I know, for one, that there are people on this site that are better than me. And the sooner everyone admits this, the better. Rping, both as a GM and a rper, takes serious english skills, and I'm not talking about the ability to speak english, I mean the skill in the class. Your ability to read, analyze, synthesize and interpret literature, your ability to write and your general understanding of human nature in regards to psychology and what should be common sense human behavior.

In school, people are split into classes according to skill. Honors English, grade level, lower... Not all honors kids were good creative writers, and not all level one kids are clueless zeroes. But I think rps can be organized in a similar way. Honors rps, that are high leveled, subtly complicated rps that require major english skills. Then, uh, level one, let's say, that is for your average joe, and level 2 rps, that have mostly young inexperienced people or people who may not be the sharpest when it comes to writing.

But these lines aren't clear in rps. There are no defined level breaks, but there are definitely levels.

So if you are rejected from an rp, instead of thinking the GM is a dick, think instead that it's an honors english class with an emphasis on creative writing. If you don't think you could make it in that class at school, don't expect you'll make it into the rp here.

It's just the blunt truth. If rps were based on math, I'd suck hard core. Hell, if it was based on science I would be totally screwed.

If you're not advanced in english, you're typically not advanced at rping. Rping, is writing. Writing is english. Rping is a test of your english skills and general creativity.

If you don't succeed, it was too hard. That's the end all be all. No "How to rp" lectures will boost your english skills. You are who you are and only time and experience will make you improve. And even then, there are plenty 50 year olds that can't write for shit.


Just because you write, doesn't mean you can write. Just because you rp, doesn't mean you can rp.

DEAL WITH IT

Group with people of your skill level, and have fun, but don't flip a bitch when you try to enter another group, and are rejected.

I'm not calling you stupid. And I'm not calling me smart. Again, I'm not the best writer, I'm not the best rper. Everyone has their talents and everyone isn't on the same level. That is life.

And if you're young, give yourself time. I know when I was 15... eeeeEEEeee...

Not saying there aren't brilliant 15 year olds...

... I just haven't met one yet. DON'T CONFRONT ME!

- - - -

If I have offended for whatever reason I'm sorry. There. Now we can skip the fighting.

I hope these lessons will help people in the rp making/joining career. Have fun and play safe.

---

[M!]