QUOTE
...To assist somewhat with roleplay tactics and methods, and hopefully improve the degree of roleplay being carried on in this board, I have (at request of multiple forum members) decided to write up a blurb on how to roleplay effectively.
This might be a bit long, but I would suggest you read it, and attempt a few (hopefully all) of the tips/methods/suggestions I pose here.
Firstly: The nature of roleplay demands that there be a moderator to the game... generally someone who is determined the "Dungeon Master" or "Game Master" or "Roleplay Arbiter" or "Roleplay Police" etc. The reasoning is quite simple... if anyone can pose anything, things get chaotic and generally unable to be followed in a fun and logical manner. Roleplay threads turn into spam sessions of simple one line actions that lead no-where. So my first suggestion is that the person who posts the game/thread become the main roleplay arbiter and maintain some form of structure in the thread, and i'll offer methods of doing this in a fun and non-limiting manner, below.
Secondly: I see a LOT of power-posing going on on RP forums. To define: a pose is an action taken by a character. Generally, your entire post is considered a pose, or a turn. In your pose, you may ONLY affect yourself, you may NOT attempt to force actions, responses, movements, thoughts, etc on another character. Making a post and stating:
Daerk stands swiftly, and all eyes lock onto him in awe and fear...
is a power pose. I'm forcing a reaction upon everyone regardless of their personal decision and manner of responding. This ALWAYS leads to arguements and strife within roleplaying groups... and as such, is recommended by me to become "illegal" in this roleplay board, specifically to minimize arguements and flame wars.
Thirdly: Settings are almost non-existant in the present roleplay. Settings are posts made by the game/thread arbiter, that does nothing but describe the general surroundings, weather, time of day/night, etc... here's an example:
<Insert name of region here... example:>
Harlindon, south of the Ered Luin
<Insert date and year here... example:>
Orgaladh of astar Cerveth, 2847 of the Third Age of Middle-Earth, Steward's Reckoning
<Insert time of day here... example:>
Deep of Night (Midnight)
<Insert type of weather here... example:>
Cold and Foggy, Overcast
<Insert Setting here... example:>
Looking to the east you see rolling green hills as far as even the keen elven eye's can see, you can hear the crashing of the waves against the cliffs hundreds of feet below you from behind. The clouds pass over the night moon, stars twinkling distantly through the dim haze of fog rolling in from the unseen foothills of the mountains to the north. A nightengale warbles in the distance, and is answered with silence.
The wind blows softly, grassy knolls weaving their fronds too and fro in it's invisible clutch, and from the distance, the light patter of horse hooves are heard as...
<Insert Pose Order of Roleplayers... example:>
Roleplayers: Daerk, EntWentMoot, Morgoth, Elrol, Dark0ne, Earendil18
<Insert prompt for next pose... example:>
(Ok Ent, your pose)
A new setting would be made every time a new roleplayer wished to enter into the game. The arbiter would be the only person posting a Setting, and anyone interested in joining a game would first private message the arbiter of the game/thread to receive the details of gameplay... basically giving them the ability to generate a character in private with the arbiter, and allowing the arbiter time to introduce the new roleplayer to the game in a proper roleplay fashion.
Now each person in the order of Pose's get's one hour from the prompt to make a pose. If that person doesn't pose within that hour, the next person in the Pose list has one hour to pose. And so on. This allows a continued session of roleplay so that everyone isn't waiting for two days for someone to pose, and allows order to be maintained by the arbiter without a chaotic flood of pose's being made by all participating roleplayers at once.
This might be a bit long, but I would suggest you read it, and attempt a few (hopefully all) of the tips/methods/suggestions I pose here.
Firstly: The nature of roleplay demands that there be a moderator to the game... generally someone who is determined the "Dungeon Master" or "Game Master" or "Roleplay Arbiter" or "Roleplay Police" etc. The reasoning is quite simple... if anyone can pose anything, things get chaotic and generally unable to be followed in a fun and logical manner. Roleplay threads turn into spam sessions of simple one line actions that lead no-where. So my first suggestion is that the person who posts the game/thread become the main roleplay arbiter and maintain some form of structure in the thread, and i'll offer methods of doing this in a fun and non-limiting manner, below.
Secondly: I see a LOT of power-posing going on on RP forums. To define: a pose is an action taken by a character. Generally, your entire post is considered a pose, or a turn. In your pose, you may ONLY affect yourself, you may NOT attempt to force actions, responses, movements, thoughts, etc on another character. Making a post and stating:
Daerk stands swiftly, and all eyes lock onto him in awe and fear...
is a power pose. I'm forcing a reaction upon everyone regardless of their personal decision and manner of responding. This ALWAYS leads to arguements and strife within roleplaying groups... and as such, is recommended by me to become "illegal" in this roleplay board, specifically to minimize arguements and flame wars.
Thirdly: Settings are almost non-existant in the present roleplay. Settings are posts made by the game/thread arbiter, that does nothing but describe the general surroundings, weather, time of day/night, etc... here's an example:
<Insert name of region here... example:>
Harlindon, south of the Ered Luin
<Insert date and year here... example:>
Orgaladh of astar Cerveth, 2847 of the Third Age of Middle-Earth, Steward's Reckoning
<Insert time of day here... example:>
Deep of Night (Midnight)
<Insert type of weather here... example:>
Cold and Foggy, Overcast
<Insert Setting here... example:>
Looking to the east you see rolling green hills as far as even the keen elven eye's can see, you can hear the crashing of the waves against the cliffs hundreds of feet below you from behind. The clouds pass over the night moon, stars twinkling distantly through the dim haze of fog rolling in from the unseen foothills of the mountains to the north. A nightengale warbles in the distance, and is answered with silence.
The wind blows softly, grassy knolls weaving their fronds too and fro in it's invisible clutch, and from the distance, the light patter of horse hooves are heard as...
<Insert Pose Order of Roleplayers... example:>
Roleplayers: Daerk, EntWentMoot, Morgoth, Elrol, Dark0ne, Earendil18
<Insert prompt for next pose... example:>
(Ok Ent, your pose)
A new setting would be made every time a new roleplayer wished to enter into the game. The arbiter would be the only person posting a Setting, and anyone interested in joining a game would first private message the arbiter of the game/thread to receive the details of gameplay... basically giving them the ability to generate a character in private with the arbiter, and allowing the arbiter time to introduce the new roleplayer to the game in a proper roleplay fashion.
Now each person in the order of Pose's get's one hour from the prompt to make a pose. If that person doesn't pose within that hour, the next person in the Pose list has one hour to pose. And so on. This allows a continued session of roleplay so that everyone isn't waiting for two days for someone to pose, and allows order to be maintained by the arbiter without a chaotic flood of pose's being made by all participating roleplayers at once.