What makes for good RP?

[Vito]

^ I like this cool guy's way of thinking.

[John Spiegel]

Q: What makes good RP?

A: Having JJ around * puts sunglasses on * 8-) Deal with it.

 

But really, what makes for a good RP session is realizing you're not the center of attention all the time. Sometimes someone barges into your scene or something else happens, to ignore that or quickly revert attention back to whatever you were doing/saying is selfish and bad form. Of course, if your character is one that doesn't like to be ignored, disregard this!

 

There's also a significant amount of give-and-take on many levels. If your character is supposedly a chatty type but you can't carry on a conversation, there's something wrong there. If the past few sessions with your friends have revolved around one of your stories (forced or otherwise), try to lighten it up with something from theirs or nothing at all!

 

One can have a general idea of what they want their story arcs to consist of, but I find it boring when someone has each step delicately planned. Good RP isn't so much a play as it is improv (without Drew Carry yelling directions at you). That being said, my characters -do- have a set idea I want them to follow but they've either fell behind my rough idea or are blazing in another direction due to IC things that spurred them.

[ArmachiA]

This may be long.

 

For me, all forms of RP are valued, welcomed, and necessary.

 

Large Group RP - You will often find Armi at the Grindstone or Loki show up at events that promise free booze. You may see Armi talk to large groups of people (5+) trying to learn how to act around them, or you may see Loki trying to get to know few cute men at the bar. Group RP really flexes my character dialogue muscles. Am I being interesting enough for people to take interest? Am I alienating people because I'm talking about a story line they don't know about? Is my character dialogue fluid and correct for the character? Large RP (While fast scrolling, though it doesn't bother me, I've learned how to mentally filter all the other stuff out) is a good way of meeting or just being around a lot of people.

 

Small group RP - A little more intimate setting, you can dive into more character development here (While Large group is more shallow in a way) and sit around having drinks, or hanging out at Costa del sol, or at Bronze Lake. Small group RP is a good way to get to now people, without being uncomfortable like one on one sessions can do. It's also much easier to build a storyline.

 

One on One RP - I usually reserve one on one RP for characters my characters know well from the above scenarios. This is just a comfort thing for me, I want to make sure I have something to talk to them about and that our characters even want to spend time alone. One on One is really great for getting into the nitty gritty of someone's background and I'm a firm believer that one on one sessions don't need to be just Romance RP. Friendships, close friendships, can't bloom without one on one time. One on One time is important for character development, sometimes even plot development.

 

Free-From RP - Always fun. I like to play fast and loose when there isn't a particular need to keep the story on track. Even in plot lines, my guild tries to keep most things unplanned, just so everyone can be surprised. I never know where my characters are headed anyway. Most of the time, when I'm playing them, they feel completely disconnected from me. They move on their own, they talk on their own, they make decisions all on their own that sometimes I don't even agree with (Yes, I argue with my characters a lot ) and I enjoy that form of play. I will never try to force anything to happen to my character (I.E "In 2 months she'll do this" or "She is going to fall in love with this person") I like things to grow organically.

 

Planned RP - If there is a plotline that is important and needs to be finished, planned RP is usually how it's done for me. I come from a table top background, and most of my 15 year experience comes from DMing. I plan out important plot points to a point. There will usually be various paths players can take, various outcomes that can happen, and things like that, but all those things are planned in an event that I have some control over while the "players" are left in the dark. For example: we are currently starting a Garlean plotline with some bad guy alts and we have had a few mapped out events to help the plotline along. Nothing was ever set in stone, but we tried to account for as many outcomes as possible.

 

Private RP - I'm in a few IC linkshells that would be considered private - though we treat them as long range communication devices. I think it's fine for bonding with the people your close to. In public I use private RP when I'm "in an instance" like my house or an inn, and sometimes I use it for one on one sessions when I don't want to be interrupted. Sometimes, when your stories get to serious, it's good to use because you could make others around you uncomfortable. Private RP is situational.

 

Conflict Rp/Grimdark RP - I really need to balance the light hearted RP with a dark storyline sometimes. My characters should be hurt, they should lose things, things can't always be happy. This is good character development but if it happens too much it can get rather stale.

 

Light Hearted RP - Tavern RP and eve romance RP falls into this. I'm fine with Tavern RP because it's true to life. We don't spend all our time forcing our selves to grow and change, sometimes we just go to amusement parks and it's the same for RP for me. Sometimes I just want to hang at a bar, or go to the park, or just relax with a book on the beach. A nice break from the bleak world the character inhabits is perfectly acceptable. As for Romance RP, I'm all for it - though I tend to take a long time during the courtship phase to make sure my character is even compatible. I think romance RP is really good for character development, but - to me - if it's all your after its rather shallow.

 

Tl:DR - there is a time and place for it all and I like it all.