RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

Aaron · **04-16-2015, 05:43 PM**

When the other characters not obsessed with meeting in the QS and would actively venture out to do a rp fate or something.Â

When the replies don't take a year to happen. Though that's a minor issue.

When the other character doesn't shut you off at every attempt to a conversation yet has "rper please walk up" in their search info. It's one thing to be a introvert, hell my mains a introvert but he can still hold a conversation and doesn't just give one word replies 24/7.

When the character is actually interested in mine and doesn't just try to get him in a fight to prove something (unless they've got a VERY good reason).

Probably more but I forgot atm

OH biggest one is excellent grammar. I was forced to use commas and such as a kid damn near in every sentence. Someone who doesn't have their dialogue at least look neat IC (the accent of characters are ok) I can't deal with it.

OOC? Be as ghetto and txt az u want wit me bro.

Erik Mynhier · **04-16-2015, 05:53 PM**

Something in very short supply these days... acceptance of differences and mutual respect.

Arelian · **04-16-2015, 06:04 PM**

I'm a little shocked at the distaste for para-RP in this thread! Though I can understand the complaint about post speeds, I'm generally more than happy to wait 5-10 minutes for a good, rich post. Especially since I get more shit done that way. Granted, most of my scenes tend to be on the longer side. I genuinely can't imagine doing a 3+ hour scene where the posts were coming in rapid order.

A few big points for me, though:

Grammar/Spelling. I make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes! But glaring issues like leaving out punctuation on the regular and/or misspelling words to the point of me not understanding them is a big, big gripe of mine.

Post length. I'll admit it. I'm a wordy bastard. I'm likely not going to be engaged in the roleplay (if it's a longer scene) if the posts are less than a paragraph. Granted, that's moreso for private scenes. In a public venue it tends to shift towards shorter, more succinct posts. Mostly for the surrounding folks' chatbox sake.

I can't stand it when it becomes clear that the player has an agenda for their character and will stop at nothing to achieve that agenda. Nothing makes me nope out faster than feeling pressured into having my character behave in a certain way OR ELSE.

The writer's voice is also incredibly important to me. If you can't pound out 2-3 paragraphs while keeping a consistent and engaging voice? Don't! I won't hold it against you if your posts are shorter but entertaining and rich in content. I'm guilty of it as well, but I'll zone out of a scene really quickly if the posts I've receiving are basically just a checklist of what that character is doing in reaction to mine. Give me some meat! A book is rarely just, "And so and so does this and this and then does this!" Spice it up a little bit, and I don't mean by using flowery words.

Posts that take too long. I like having some downtime between posts if the scene's a more private one. I really do! But taking 15-30 minutes for a post is a bit absurd. Tone it down a little bit if you're going to run long. Please.

And last, but certainly not least, when people get OOC upset due to how my character is acting. Everyone will agree with this, and while I genuinely understand being a little butthurt when a scene didn't play out the way you wanted it to. Conduct yourself like an adult.

What doÂ I like? Honestly, that's an easier thing for me to list out.

Unique characters. This runs the gamut, but in general the best way to put it is that there's some obvious thought put into the character's actions. Not everyone does this, and that's cool! But it's not for me.

Hooks. I love it when people approach me with a hook in mind. It doesn't always pan out the way anyone wanted it to, but that typically leaves more room for interaction later. So long as everything didn't immediately go up in flames. Any RP I've had that lasts any significant amount of time has happened because either myself or the person that approached me had something in mindÂ for how the interaction could begin and/or continue.

Voice. Voice, voice, voice. This is literally the opposite of my above point. I love nothing more than when I get to read something interesting that carries the author's voice with it. It's a nebulous quality that's hard to pin down, absolutely, but it's honestly the most imperative one for me. Y'either got it or y'don't.

Meaty posts and knowing when to use them. You aren't going to be dropping a shitload of prose at me in the bar if we're gonna get along. You just aren't. However, if we're in a private scene I definitely want something I can latch onto. Be it either prosey-ass-prose that gives me ideas for future character interactions or--well, anything that allows me to bite down and chew at it for a while. I've met a lot of people that equate this to extended posts, but it's not that at all. Just know what you've got and work it.

I could go on and on about this subject, honestly. Mostly because, to me, good writing and good RP are synonymous with each other. At the end of the day, both are going to posses a certainÂ je ne sais quoi that makes the content interesting to read.

Ette · **04-16-2015, 06:05 PM**

Oh boy I get to make another list.Â

Someone who knows the time and place for multi-para. I love multi-para. I donâ€™t mind waiting on multi-para. I donâ€™t want to play with someone dropping four emotes worth of para in the bar, however.
Someone who isnâ€™t afraid to make fun of their character, portray their characters in an unattractive light, or have their characters be wrong. I just can't deal with a character who is correct and sexyfine all the time anymore.
Someone who is willing to speak and be friendly with me OOC.I want to feel like I can actually talk to the player. Being BEST FRIENDS isnâ€™t a requirement (though itâ€™s totally a perk) but if I feel like I canâ€™t approach someone about what times theyâ€™re on or a problem I have then. . . Well, thatâ€™s a problem!
On that note: Someone who will also reach out to me for RP.Chasing people all the time isnâ€™t any fun.
Hooks and hooks and hooks and hooks. I absolutely love people who will lay out things that my character can react to.
Good characterization. I donâ€™t necessarily need characters to feel like people so much as I need them to be three dimensional and interesting. I want my time spent interacting with a character to feel rewarding as I begin to uncover what makes them tick and why they act as they do.
RP that serves to further an overarching plot. The plot doesnâ€™t have to be big, mind you. However I do want to feel that our characters are impacting and influencing one another. Small filler RP is cute but I donâ€™t want all my RP to be fluff.
BE BIG OLâ€™ PARA TRASH JUST LIKE ME. Yup. Itâ€™s me. Iâ€™m that person. Will you let me throw three emotes with of text at you and still speak to me afterwards? GREAT. EXCELLENT. Itâ€™s not a requirement but good golly will I like you for it.Â

ChewableMorphine · **04-16-2015, 06:13 PM**

It's barely been two days since the last thread that started a flamewar. Hopefully this won't devolve into one.

Anyways.

Have fun with it
Don't take yourself so seriously
It's cool to have typos but really crappy sentence structure is just a pet peeve.

Faye · **04-16-2015, 06:20 PM**

The most important thing to me is someone whose RP is fun and not half-assed. I'm not really sure how to explain what I mean by this... erm. I have a fondness for newer role-players. They typically try very hard to impress, put in a lot of thought and effort, always try to keep something interesting happening, they're passionate and optimistic and not burnt out. I like that in people. I'd choose someone who can keep a good story going yet who may be a little green and make the occasional faux pas over someone who never metas and has perfect grammar but it boring and bland. So, that's always the real selling point for me, but other things I typically value:

- Three dimensional and interesting characters. For me, RP is largely character driven. The characters make the story. I don't like characters who are inconsistent, flat, or the dreaded, self-proclaimed "my character acts just like I do irl!" types.
- Staying true to the character and no random/unnecessary/frequent retcons.
- Good spelling, grammar, and diction. I don't want to get distracted giggling at funny typos or get a headache squinting at my screen as I try to decipher the meaning of a sentence.
- General writing ability. I like to read pretty words in pretty sentences in pretty paragraphs. I like to see descriptions that make me think, "Wow, I never thought of putting it that way before."
- No purple prose. No, that's not what I mean by pretty words. Using big/obscure words or abusing metaphors and poetic language is not a substitute for actual writing ability. There's nothing I hate more than people who try really hard to come across as deeply intellectual, deep, and philosophical by using a lot of superficial language and pretentious sounding words haphazardly strung together in a way that's not even effective stylistically or grammatically correct. "Physiognomy" may mean "face" but that doesn't mean you should substitute it for the word "face" in every sentence. /rant
- Post length. I want substance. I don't enjoy one-liners. But please don't prattle on about useless things. "I can write a lot" =/= "I can write well." They're not the same thing. The worth of someone's post is not determined by its length. It's also important to know WHEN to use lengthy posts and when not to use them. Skype RP may be good for a five paragraph long post--the middle of the Quicksand on a busy night is probably not.
- Description. See the above--moderation is important. I like a vivid picture of what's going on. How many grains of wood are in the table or what someone's character ate for breakfast yesterday do not need to be part of this "picture."
- Immersion and lore accuracy. I'm not a stickler, but I do like for the setting and the laws of the world to feel consistent.
- No IC/OOC bleed. Ruins the fun in RP almost instantly.
- Fairness and etiquette, avoiding taboos. No metagaming, godmodding, autohitting, powerplaying, Mary Sues, etc.
- Post speed. You don't have to cut substance for speed, I just don't want to wait 15 minutes for every post. I've role-played with people who'd write 5+ paragraphs for every post and the writing and substance were actually decent, but not worth a 30 minute wait between posts.
- Someone who's not just after ERP/sex/romance and nothing more. 99.9% of my role-plays won't end that way, so it's a waste of time for us both when someone realizes my character won't date/sleep with theirs and they ditch me and never speak to me again.
- OOC likability and communication skills. Like Val said, trust is important. No, they don't have to be my bff or someone who I would want to be mine, but role-play--especially in depth or long term--involves at least some degree of communication, so it helps if the other person is someone I enjoy communicating with and can with ease.
- Not taking things too seriously. Have fun. Put some comedy into your role-play. Be able to laugh at your characters, or laugh along when others laugh at them. Don't play "omg super cool badass" that everyone else must recognize as super cool, IC and OOC, at all times.
- Thick skin No, I'm not some edgelord, but in an increasingly tumblr-esque society where people are more and more easily offended, some of the content I like to explore and include in RP may be "triggers." That's not to say I will ever include something in RP that I know the other person is OOCly uncomfortable with, I just have a lot more fun not having to censor myself or my characters.
- Believability and logic. Sure, it's a fantasy setting, but I like for it to feel like a real world. I don't enjoy people who role-play like they're in an anime. In an anime world, your character gets a free pass to act like a dick/lone wolf/tsundere/whatever because you're the "chosen one," or one of them, and the people working toward the same goals are forced to be around you and learn to see past your rough exterior. That's not it works in real life or how it should work in RP. If your character acts like a dick, most other characters are going to think he acts like a dick, and want nothing to do with him.

Verad · **04-16-2015, 06:47 PM**

Things I look for:

Be stylistically interesting. This goes beyond word choice; RPers, like a lot of writers in general, have taken the old chestnuts of writing advice from the late-19th/early-20th century to heart. This means a lot of RPers who are writing in a sort of quasi-Modernist fashion, which is fine if one is intentionally going for that. But I like to see people playing with narration, sentence structures, and rhythm in a way that reflects on their character beyond authentic depictions thereof.
Fill out the little corners of the world. I'm very happy with RP concepts that examine the implications of lore in ways beyond the obvious; such characters help round out the setting.
Dice. I've situated myself pretty nicely in this regard so I don't really require it from people anymore, not that I ever requiredÂ it in the past.Â But I like the controlled unpredictability afforded by a good dice system.
An existentialist approach to characters and decision-making. You control your character; saying "But my character wouldn't doÂ that!" as if they have agency over you rather than vice-versa feels like roleplaying in bad faith. It's fine if you don't wantÂ a character to do thing X because you've laid out clear boundaries for what your character will and won't do, but acknowledge that you've laid them out.

***Alothia*** · **04-16-2015, 06:50 PM**

AdminHat

Pruning for tone. Come on, this thread is about positivity. Don't be a jerk.

/Admin

Flickering Ember · **04-16-2015, 06:54 PM**

â€“ Actions have meaning
I enjoy seeing how characters grow over time and how they react to certain circumstances that appear in RP. This is what separates role-play from literature for me. You are not reading a story but actively participating and shaping it. If a role player already has all their character's development preplanned out then it takes away the feeling of participation. Is that role player role-playing or are they telling a story that they have already written? I like knowing my character's actions have meaning.

â€“ Sharing the spotlight
Role-play is the story of many, not the story of one. Great role players show interest in other characters and get involved in their plots. They also respond to and acknowledge other characters in every day, social RP. In general, sharing the spotlight means just including others whenever possible.

â€“ Basic spelling and grammar
It doesn't have to be exceptional, just enough so that my immersion isn't broken. What's really more important to me is:

â€“ Passion
I don't care about common or annoying spelling and grammar errors. The writing quality doesn't need to be English college graduate level. I don't mind if you are overly verbose. What I do love seeing is passion. I can tell the difference between someone who really loves their character and puts forth an effort to get to know that character versus a character that isn't fleshed out very well. This doesn't necessarily mean that the role player has a tumblr or a wiki or a long in depth character profile. A role player with passion enjoys talking about their character, knows (or if it is a new character, is eager to learn) their character, and is just genuinely happy about role-playing their character.

â€“ Initiative
There are a whole bunch of us who are shy. It can be scary or difficult to motivate some of us into making the first step. However, being scared about what the other person might think means we aren't role-playing. Beyond shyness, a lack of initiative can also be laziness. Often times, stepping up into new role-play can take a lot of effort. Sometimes that level of effort might not feel like it is worth it, especially for those who are just looking to unwind after work. Having a good initiative keeps the role-play flowing.

â€“ Lack of 'Winning' mentality
This is something that is extremely common for me to see. Role players can be hesitant to have their characters fail, especially if it would make their characters seem incompetent or less badass. It can often come in the form of godmoding or power gaming but can also pop up in more subtle and less harmful ways. 'Winning' mentalities can get in the way of forging interesting and organic role-play.

There are more, definitely. This is all I can think up for now.

Kyrio Lamansque · **04-16-2015, 07:11 PM**

(04-16-2015, 10:55 AM)Alothia Wrote:
Someone who makes my time RPing with them enjoyable. It could depend on what mood I'm in. Sometimes it's someone who doesn't mind doing something goofy. Sometimes it's someone that makes me have a lot of feels.

Someone who is quick, but if they're not quick, someone who makes rich posts. I'm willing to compromise time if I feel like you're enriching the experience.

Someone I can talk to OOCly about what is going on ICly and not feel like I'm being a pain. I'm a communicator. I like to talk out what is going on.

I'm sure I have more, but it's lunch time. I'll type more later.

I won't lie. This sums it up. With the people I like, I'm in whispers talking stuff out. I'm obnoxious like that.Â

And like Warren, i'm bad with the alt-tab. Whenever I play any MMO, I always play it in Windowed for my alt-tabbing pleasure. So keeping me engaged might be troublesome for those who slowly pick through their posts.Â

And the feeling that I'm adding to something is always nice. No issue at all with random encounters, but things that never get past the skin may give short-term pleasure but lacks long-term satisfaction.

Aeylis Bloodbinder · **04-18-2015, 12:25 AM**

I'm pretty laid back when it comes to RP. Â As of late, -any- RP is nice since I've been lacking in it.

I would honestly have to say though, what I really enjoy is:

1. Finishing a plot and not leaving my character hanging in the abyss. Â If you made up a plot and asked me to be in it, great! I'd love to participate! Â But don't go off and leave it when I have invested a lot of time and effort into it. Â I'm normally not the type to just bow out of RP, but you leave my character just dangling in the wind for two weeks, it's irritating to try to work around things since I'm not the biggest fan of time-hopping or side RPing if i'm involved with something big that generally affects my character in some sort of way. Â Closure is always nice, you know.

Paradox · **04-18-2015, 03:07 AM**

New to the forum, so bear with me. This is my two cents, both what I think makes good RP from my opinion and standpoint, and also a few little gripes.

Imagination: For me, what primarily makes a good RP is imagination. The willingness to grow and exercise the imagination is important to me, over most dictates of what's lore friendly or anything else. I like to see difference, and effort, even if that effort makes other people chafe sometimes. I've never been the type to really care if someone is particularly super realistic to a fault in terms of what their character is. I'll RP with anyone as long as it's fun and imaginative (but not TOO silly or literally impossible). I mean, if they're a high class voidsent in a [race here] shell, Or just some messenger kid trying to stiff me an extra gil for giving me a letter from the local magistrate, as long as I can see they enjoy their character, then I can enjoy it with them.

Grammar/Spelling/Content: I like some nice meaty (giggity) verbosity as well, but at this point in my RP life, it's not a thing I'm going to stress over. It's nice to see detailed, well thought out posts with lots of imagination, but not everyone is an English major (for those whom English is a language they speak) or has been writing for a long period of time. I'm not critical of typos, as I know some people also speak English as a second or even third language, and context or spelling is sometimes lost in translation. Admittedly I'm a bit snobbish in that one or two line posts do make me go 'meh', but sometimes the person's enthusiasm makes up for things in that regard.

I'm not going to accost someone for not having beautifully scripted and detailed posts. Admittedly in more private RP when there's not a lot of people to be subjected to a wall of text, more is better to me. I also detest post filler. Superfluous details actually make something less worth reading, not more. Opinion, of course.

Reactions fitting Actions in regard to conflict/consequences: One thing I also think makes RP good is people who accept consequences of actions IC. You see this a lot; time and time again there are characters that love to talk a lot of smack, or swagger about, then one is informed when reacting at times appropriately as a character would, that the person doesn't RP fight, with dice or otherwise. I get that this is a personal player choice. However, if you have a character who is going to say something that might merit another realigning their jaw for them, it seems highly out of place to be told 'well I don't RP fight so you can't do anything about it'. This creates an extreme situation vacuum. Accepting consequences is a huge part of RP and applies to more than just conflict.

Sharing the story/Being part of the whole: Another thing that makes good RP is willingness to share. Share your story, and let others share theirs. If you want to be the big hero, that's fine. But big heroes need a supporting cast. If you want to be incredibly powerful, then good for you, but just remember that a great power needs lesser powers to make their lives interesting. If you just want to be a humble shopkeeper, awesome too. Everyone needs to buy their goods from somewhere. I mean, where would those awesome magic items come from, if not the magic item shop? I don't really care if your character's more mundane, or fantastical, or off the wall crazy, or anything, as long as you're willing to make sure the enjoyment, and the story, is shared across other people.

Whether you hug the lore like a religious text or bend it like a slinky, as long as you can interact nicely with the rest of the class and help shape a story with those you get involved in your own, then you're alright by my book. Sure, everyone will have their problems with certain people (IC and OOC), but keeping the story flowing despite it is a great thing.

Communication: Oh [deity here], Communication. Honestly, nine out of ten conflicts of interest come from a lack of communication by the players involved. I find in conflict heavy RP especially, this is the case. Overall, it's good to just talk about things. Who knows? Maybe you'll make a friend while you're at it.

RP is a thing we all make together, so doing what the best of art does: adapting and flowing as styles change and differ, makes it the best in my opinion. Just my two cents. Sorry if it was a bit..lengthy. I talk too much when I'm tired.

industrythirteen · **04-18-2015, 04:21 AM**

Entertaining others. If I haven't entertained someone else, I don't feel like I've done it right.

ArmachiA · **04-18-2015, 04:52 AM**

K.I.S.S - Keep it Simple Stupid. Post lengths that are unneededly lengthy, characters that are unneededly bloated, complicated plot lines so confusing it hard to follow them. A lot of people think Unique or good means overly complicated. If it takes a sentence to say something, say it in a sentence. If it take a paragraph, say it in a paragraph. If your character has so much stuff thrown into them because you the player thought all that was cool, it's going to be hard to follow. Same with plots. K.I.S.S - best thing I ever learned in English Class.
Show me, don't tell me. One thing that bothers me about RPers sometimes is they'll come in and tell us how are characters are supposed to respond to theirs based on something in their profile. That we're supposed to think they are extremely charming, or extremely intimidating, or an extremely good fighter. Then of course, they get frustrated that people don't respond in such a way. I would much rather you show me through your acting and roleplaying ten telling me right out the gate then get mad when it fails.
Don't take OOC talk personally. This is a huge one for me, since my guild likes to comb through characters decisions with a fine toothed comb and talk about whether or not what they made a good one. One thing I really like about the people I rp with is that they will talk about the negative aspects of a character along with the positive, never throwing out "Yay your character is so good!" for no reason. I think this helps us keep the OOC/IC barrier intact, we're able to criticize character decisions without criticizing the player for playing them. Some people take this as a personal attack however, unable to see that other characters would see theirs in a negative light.
Don't be afraid to let your character lose or get hurt. As a GM this is vital. So many people will get really pissed off really easily if it looks like their character is going to lose or something happens to them they didn't anticipate. It doesn't even matter if you warn them something is coming first, when it happens some people will still get upset. I like working with fluid people.
Don't take lore talk personally.
Be interesting.

Plus, everything A'rklonn Sargonnai said.

Nicholas Graveshire · **04-18-2015, 05:37 AM**

Interesting characters: This probably should go unsaid since it has been mentioned before in the thread, but I'm going to tag on my own flavour. I like characters with interesting stories that don't include copious amounts of tragic plot points as a backstory.Â I love doing horrible things to my characters during current RP plots, and I'm sure other people do as well, but I've seen "My super wealthy parents died and before that I had a lot of daddy issues and my life is horrible, inner turmoil *grunts*". If your character is trying to overcome those things, I'm more inclined to listen to their story, but if that is their sole personality trait, I tend to glaze over it and move on to something else.Â

Length: Someone who knows when multi-para is fine, and when someone knows to keep things concise and simple. I love posts with multiple paragraphs in one-on-one settings and when the extra length adds necessary or interesting details to our interaction.

'Clicking': What I mean by clicking is when they two characters bounce really well off of each other in encounters. My character happens to be very rude and sarcastic. If my partner can banter with him, Nick not only enjoys it, but I love it. It makes the roleplay entertaining when two characters mesh well together.

Reasonably spaced out encounters: Despite the above post, I don't want to roleplay with you every day for a week straight. I know that sounds really rude, but I get burned out pretty easily by constantly roleplaying with just one person. Two days in a row? Sure. If our characters are close or bumped into one another randomly, I'm okay with that! But, my characters all have lives of their own and jobs that they need to do. It also gives us a chance to RP with other people.Â

Open to in-character disagreements:Friendships and relationships aren't perfect and no one agrees all the time. I like it when other characters aren't quite sold on what my character believes. It makes the dynamic interesting and gives them something to discuss, talk about, and overcome.

OOC friendliness: I love talking about RP. I love theorycrafting how our characters might get along. I love it even more when the other person behind the monitor likes discussing it back. You don't have to be my best buddy in the whole wide world, but I like being able to get along with someone on an OOC level, especially if we're going to be RPing frequently. If my character is in a relationship with yours? I will probably add you on skype and message you to do other stuff other than RP (Want to farm x,y,z. Want to level another class together?) If my character is in a relationship with yours, more often than not, we've talked quite a bit and become friends on an OOC level as well.

« Next Oldest \| Next Newest »
Pages (3): « Previous 1 2 3 Next »

Great RP; What Makes It?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes