Your RP Commandments

[Delilah Scythewood]

Last night, my fiance and I were chatting while I was doing dungeons. On the subject of roleplay and chatting about general peeves, he asked me "What are your RP 'triggers'?" It's not the first time this has come up. I think everyone has little peeves or annoyances when it comes to writing, roleplay, or storytelling that can be IC or even OOC related. So I start rambling about big and little things, having no idea he was writing this down.

 

Finally, he goes "I think I have you figured out now." This coaxes a ??? from me...and then he sent me this.

---

 

I. Thou shall not wait to be asked for RP. If you want RP to happen, ask.

II. Thou shall not use the phrase "If you want to do anything, let me know."

III. Thou shall not make RP plans and then stand me up.

IV. Thou shall not become emotionally attached to thy characters. Respect the IC/OOC line.

V. Thou will let character development happen naturally. Do not plan it out ahead of time.

VI. Thou shall not ask Lili to make decisions about her characters.

VII. Thou will use multiple characters in your storytelling. The same two characters quickly becomes stale.

VIII. Thou shall not expect our RP to be the center of my universe. I'm a busy gal.

IX. Thou shall not use multiple exclaimation points in your posts.

X. Thou shall not be a shit-eating, dickwaffle douchebag.

---

 

Needless to say, the 'commandments' took me off guard and I laughed so hard my sides hurt. Showed it to some friends and posted it on my enjin and others liked it as well. Partially for the humor and partially for the truth of it.

 

So, Balmung, what are your RP commandments? Can be serious or humorous, have small peeves or big peeves, can be well known irritations for RPers in general or things that specifically apply to you! However many you add, just list them with roman numerals!

[Gegenji]

I would've figured "Thou shalt communicate with thine RP partner" would be Commandment One.

[Delilah Scythewood]

I would've figured "Thou shalt communicate with thine RP partner" would be Commandment One.

Hahaha it should be come to think of it! Need to smack my fiance for not originally thinking of it! Add it to your list, Chacha @_@ I demandz it *grabbyhands*

[Aya]

Thou can be a jerk - fiction is no fun without them - but keep it in-character

 

Thou shall be excellent to each other

[Gegenji]

I would've figured "Thou shalt communicate with thine RP partner" would be Commandment One.

Hahaha it should be come to think of it! Need to smack my fiance for not originally thinking of it! Add it to your list, Chacha @_@ I demandz it *grabbyhands*

Haha, fine fine. Let's see if I can manage a the classic Ten. In appropriately over-the-top Ye Olde Fashionne...

 

I. Thou shalt communicate with thine RP partner and keep holy this connection throughout thine endeavors.

II. If thou hast a question or concern about thine or another's RP - past, present, or future - asketh it and leave not thy tongue stilled.

III. Thou shalt not decry the RP preferences of others. If they offend thy senses, then devest thyself of their presence rather than seek to demean them.

IV. Begrudge not another their mistakes, lest thee suffer such in kind.

V. It doth be okay to lose.

VI. Demand not the time and attentions of another, for they shouldst be given freely.

VII. Whilest one shouldst strive to follow the lore, cleave not overmuch to it such that one becomes close-minded.

VIII. Confuse not the actions and feelings of character and player, unless evidence of such connection made clear.

IX. Neither idolize nor vilify thy other RPers based on assumptions and hearsay. They doth be as thee.

X. Keep holy the joint storytelling - this doth be a tale of all, not just of thee. If thou wish to expound solely on thyself and thy merits, compose thee a novel.

[Eses Fafa]

I: I am the Lord thy God (of my own character's fate)

II: Thou shalt not suddenly make plans right before RP

III: Thou shalt not take the IC tag in vain

IV: Remember people need OOC breaks, so keep your cool and find someone else to chill with

V: Honour their creator and their character

VI: Thou shalt not kill (other players without permission)

VII: Thou shalt not RP Cloud or Sephiroth (just don't)

VIII: Thou shalt not steal well-thought concepts of other players

IX: Thou shalt not use knowledge exclusive to the creator (don't meta)

X: Thou shalt not covet guild power for personal gain

[Max]

I. Thou shalt not roleplay in the Quicksand.

 

II. Thou shalt avoid really boring 'let's sit here and talk about nothing for two hours' interactions.

 

III. Thou shalt not have cyber sex.

 

IV. Thou shalt not grace the company of Sue's and Stu's.

 

V. Thou shalt never conflate IC for OOC, and vice versa.

 

VI. Thou shalt stay in compliance with lore.

 

VII. Thou shalt not be boring and unwilling to take control, contribute, or guide scenes along.

 

VIII. Thou shalt always be appropriately dressed for the locale.

 

IX. Thou shalt avoid courtesan-like characters whose sole purpose is to seduce thou.

 

X. Thou shalt keep dialogue and prose clear, coherent, and comprehensible for all. No exaggerated cockney accents that make it difficult for thou to understand;

 

"Wotcha. 'a 're ya doin'? 'ave ya been ter the quick sand recently? bloody 'ells I got a splinter from fightin' a 'arge tree and it 'urts loike a bizzich! 'eaven and 'ell. i'm out ter gridania ter clock me sister and 'em! bye!"

[Etoile]

III. Thou shalt not decry the RP preferences of others. If they offend thy senses, then devest thyself of their presence rather than seek to demean them.

 

Quoted for emphasis.

 

Thou shalt not take on airs of self aggrandizement to pass judgement on others & alternative RP styles.

[Gegenji]

That said, I'm sure I've broken some of other people's (and likely my own) commandments. I've broken Lili's Commandment II several times, for example. And my own Rule V I'm pretty sure I'm still working on - I can get a bit grumpy when I lose a bunch of RNG rolls, for example, and have to explain why one of my characters has lost again due to my own terrible luck. :blush:

[Silmanos]

I know for a fact I break Lil's second commandment almost on a daily basis. Though when helping to run a fc, and helping put together several plots at one time its esier to just say "Poke me if you want to rp because I always have a mile long list of stuff to do."

 

I. Thou shalt always communicate with thine rp partners

II. Thou shalt not get jealous if thy rp partner rps with another.

III. Thou shalt not vanish without a word to thy partner.

IV. Thou shalt not break lore. Thou may bendeth the grey, but thou must be creative and reasonable.

V. Thou shalt not useth mew or nya in thy posts. I careth not if thou be a miqo'te, thou shalt not do so.

VI. Thou must stray from those that be the mary. No thou may not be the dragoon, white mage, and black mage all at once.

VII. Thy au ra shalt not be a dragon or voidsent. I careth not what they look like, the almighty devs sayeth they are not.

VIII. Thou must respect mine rp as I respecteth yours. I careth not if thou rps a voidsent, push it on mine own rp and my kight shall slayeth thee.

IX. Thou shalt allow characters to be human and grow. If thou disappears mine own character shall move on, thou shalt not hold him captive to thy whim.

X. Thou shalt stop me from ever using Elizabethan agan for I am terrible at it.

[Ari Kagon]

I. Thou shall not approacheth me with a non-RP name. Tis amusing that thy name may be Nacho Cheese..but I cannot taketh thee seriously in RP.

 

 

II. Thou shall make at least an attempt to be grammatically correct when speaking.  I cannot taketh thee seriously if thou cannot differentiate to and too. *

 

 

III. Thou shall not trap my character in RP limbo. If there is no communication and thee disappears, I shall move on with no regard to our story.

 

 

IV. Thou shall not monologue internal thoughts. Giveth me a physical gesture or facial expression to draw my own conclusions as to what you are thinking. 

 

 

V. Thou shall respect my roleplay limits as I have given respect unto thee.

 

VI.  Thou shall not confine my characters to tavern RP. There is a whole world out there for thee to enjoy. 

 

 

VII. Thou shall not take a year to reply. If thee requires time to think, fill thy empty space with an indication of active thought.**

 

 

VIII.  Thou shall differentiate IC from OOC. You may fall in love/hate with my character, but not with the creator behind it. 

 

 

IX.  Thou shall not spoil motives/force reactions. Intrigue can go a long way, allow me to make discoveries on my own. Don't get upset if I don't react a certain way to things. 

 

 

X. Thou shall ENJOY thyself. 

 

 

 

 

* I understand not everyone is on the same level with grammar. Transgressions shall be forgiven..but do expect that I will be rolling my eyes. :3

 

 

** I understand not everyone is quick with dialogue (I am bad with it sometimes).

[Delilah Scythewood]

My 2nd Commandment only recently became a thing because sooooo many people do it. It got to a point where I'd feel pretty frustrated because it'd be less of a collaboration and more feeling like I always had to make the choices. #anxietyproblems

 

When it's done sparingly, it's fine. But when you almost never outright ask someone to do something and always leave it so open ended? That's what gets me frustrated

[Edvyn]

thou shalt not judge me

thou shalt not criticize me

thou shalt regard my opinions as holy

thou shalt treat me as the genius I believe I am

thou shalt mimic my verbosity

thou shalt not insult my character, to do so is to insult me

thou shalt respond to me always

thou shalt never avoid me

thou shalt rp with nobody else without me present

thou shalt follow my blog

[111]

 

Thou shall be excellent to each other

 

[Warren Castille]

I've got three.

 

1) Share the world (and the spotlight).

2) Build a narrative, don't control one

3) Never forget how awful our early OCs were. Not everyone's got as much experience or "time in" writing as anyone else, and mostly everyone hits the same potholes on the way down the road.

[Iteza]

1.) Read. Understand. Read the posts of others and understand them. Don't just skim and reply shallowly.

2.) Dont tell me your characters life story randomly ICly, pls just info dump oocly if you're trying to get it out there. I can't stand out of place and forced narrative. Make what you say have good timing, otherwise speak to me about it oocly. I promise, I'll love to hear about it.

3.) Don't hook yourself into things for arbitrary reasons. Have a real reason that fits for your character and adds depth. Have a reason for the things you do.

4.) I don't erp, so don't ask.

5.) Have an OOC sense of humor.

6.) Crave story and development. I prefer to rp with people who play changing and growing characters. I write best with others who want to weave an actual story. Have passion for the story you are weaving, and share it. Talk about ideas, I love to hear story weaving ideas.

[Delilah Scythewood]

-rubs her hands at all the commandments- @_@

[Sig]

*burns all RP holy texts*

 

Relax.  Enjoy yourself.  Keep an open mind.  Show others patience, kindness, and tolerance.  This is an online video game. Do not judge other people. Judgmental individuals and elitists deserve no mercy.

[Verad]

Study the commandments of others, and take notes.

[Aaron]

1 - When I'm clearly saying goodbye, don't lock me into the RP with constant talking. Because for some reason I do not know, I will wound up staying until you stop just because I don't want to be rude.

 

2 - I don't care if you OOC chat via "))" with me or other people while we're RPing. But don't get mad if I do it too.

 

3 - Thou shall not take 30 minutes to write a reply that could be said in a time frame of less than a second.

 

4 - English doesn't have to be your first language, you don't even need to be that good at it. But at least try to have nice writing via punctuation, spelling and auxiliary verb agreement. At least try. "Typin lik thise" is really irritating to look at. *Flashbacks of his Aunt teaching him grammar*

 

5 - I don't care if your character is a dick IC, mine is too to an extent. But there's a difference between being a dick for role play purposes and using your character as a catalyst to make snide "thought" descriptions about someone else and they can't call you out on it because it wasn't verbal. 

 

6 - Thou shall keep the conversation interesting, or at least try. 

 

7 - Thou shall wear a shirt or sufficient clothing (applies to males because obviously the females wear something regardless) when thou talks to me, or my character will ask "Why don't you ever wear a shirt?" Or "If you don't put on pants I'm walking the other way." Constantly at every interaction. He doesn't want to look at your chest. Thou shall also wear pants or shorts. I don't think anyone would want to talk to a half naked stranger and expect a sensible conversation.

 

8 - When thy Aaron is AFK at the leve counter thou shalt not drag him IC unless you ask first. I will ignore you.

 

9 - I like to give out Fenrir Pup minions as a breeder IC and a few people have found this out. Do not try to rp with me just to get a pup. I'll sell that bitch and keep the gil.

 

10 - There shall be no OOC drama, have fun. It's why we're here.

[Delilah Scythewood]

5 - I don't care if your character is a dick IC, mine is too to an extent. But there's a difference between being a dick for role play purposes and using your character as a catalyst to make snide "thought" descriptions about someone else and they can't call you out on it because it wasn't verbal.

 

 

Stealing this from Aaron. I don't see it happen as often in FF14 as I have in other games like WoW, but hnnnngh. This is a thiiiiiing. Shall be stealing this as a commandment of mine though a smaller one.

[Kilieit]

Ohmygod I have only had 1 experience with that in FFXIV so far but it was hilarious and over the most arbitrary thing - I had described my character's face "going red" because he was embarrassed; Snide Thought Emote Guy emoted several times insisting that my character's skin was "already red" and therefore that my emote was incorrect. (My dude's skin is brown, btw, unless you have a really weird monitor colour balance.) He repeatedly attempted to imply this through his Snide Thought Emotes and I repeatedly ignored him. He eventually sulked off, presumably to greener redder pastures.

 

My friend whispered me to ask how the RP was going, and I mentioned this incident to them. It turned out that Snide Thought Emote Guy had actually been kicked relatively recently from an RP FC they knew... for generally being a pillock. At least he made it easy to identify him as such, I guess!

[Knislinge]

Only one, really:

 

Have fun RPing. Seriously. I've sat through so much RP that just wasn't my speed for the sake of being polite, or showing solidarity, or supporting an aquaintance, only to never have anyone return the favor and cater to my taste a bit. It really soured me on a lot of things.

[Delilah Scythewood]

XI. Thou shall not use thy characters are a catalyst to broadcast your OOC snide thoughts and/or commentary.

 

XII. Do not rely on me for the entirety of thy RP experience.

 

-adds some to her initial ones-

[Caspar]

I only have a few. These are the simplified forms.

1. Never hold another player to something you don't observe yourself.

2. Don't advance your own RP at the expense of others.

3. Make an effort.

 

A lot of these seem very situational or specific. They're outward facing too. I really think the key to RP is reciprocity. I don't really believe in rules that can't be applied evenly or at least fairly.