Roleplay Etiquette!

[Capella]

»Roleplay Etiquette;;

a.k.a. What we encourage and discourage.

This handy dandy notebook guide will show you the type of posts that we want to see at AN and that we like to see. It will also show you the type of posts that aren't acceptable, and that will get you warned or banned. It will go over the taboos of message board roleplaying, general etiquette, and all that stuff you'll need to know.


PART ONE
^{Good posts vs. Bad posts}

Here is a sample post of what we encourage!.

by AnnMarie
The night sky was above me as always, though tonight, the moon was hidden. Thick clouds obscured the view of the nightsky lights, and the town was only murky and full of darkness.

However, I have no problem with the darkness. I am a creature of it, in fact. Like so many others who I have crossed paths with here in this dismal town. On this night, I was walking up and down the streets and the alleyways, in search of anyone. A human for their blood, perhaps, or even another for the chat. I'm not well for the lone life.

Suddenly, as I passed Crowri Street, I could've sworn I heard something.....

YES! This is good! It's a decent length and it fulfills two necessary thing. What are these necessary things that I speak of? Well, a good post HAS to have two of TWO things:

a) Some sort of action (or non-action, whatever) that moves the story along, and

b) An easy way for another character to respond and also move the story along. See how this conquers both?

Suddenly, as I passed Crowri Street, I could've sworn I heard something.....

The other things that can be fulfilled that are also equally as great are....

c) Background information about your character in little bits. If it's physical description, this will help whoever is responding!
("However, I have no problem with the darkness. I am a creature of, in fact. Like so many others who I have crossed paths with here in this dismal town. ")

d) The surroundings of the area (be creative!) This is also very helpful to have for whoever responds.
("The night sky was above me as always, though tonight, the moon was hidden. Thick clouds obscured the view of the nightsky lights, and the town was only murky and full of darkness.")

and,

e) Creative little made-up things
ex: "Crowri Street". This doesn't even really exist as far as the town's description in the board blah-blah goes, but it's completely okay to make things up. That's the greatness of role-playing. The players make the town, the towns, the valleys, the castles, the settings entirely.


NOW... time to see the type of post that is NOT allowed....

by Esther, in response to AnnMarie
Hey whats up?

Why is this not okay? It's hard for the characters to respond to, the post altogether is out-of-character, it offers no detail, no action, and no way to take the storyline ANYWHERE. This is why posts like those will get you warned and banned.

Moving on............




PART TWO
^{Taboos and Etiquette}

Two of the most fearsome things in all of roleplaying are Godmodding and Power Playing. Let's go over these.

First and foremost, God-Modding.

Many people who do this aren't aware of it. God-modding is making yourself invincible. Though it may state on your character bio that you have weaknesses (it BETTER say that!) and states what they are (which it had better do, too!), when you're god-modding, your character never seems to take damage to those weaknesses.

Take a hit! Get roughed up! You can't stay unscathed forever. In fights, you are not almighty God who can avoid every hit. No. I don't think so. If you are caught doing this, it'll be a warning first, and then a ban. No one likes to play with these kinds of characters.

Power-Playing

This is something else that people sometimes do without realizing it. While most commonly seen in unison with God-Modding, sometimes it is an honest accident. Power-Playing is when you take control of someone else's character in your post. Here's an example.

by Anni
Ah, there was Esther by the old well! Perfect! Anni had been meaning to talk to her recently, so what perfect timing!
"Hey Es! I've got to show you something! Here, come with me!" Anni said, running up to the vampire and grabbing her hand. Anni dragged Esther two blocks before they came to the building she was looking for. A run-down old gallery. "Pretty cool, huh?"

This is a less severe example of Power-Playing, but more often what you'll run into. Anni did not give Esther the chance to respond to her trying to show her something. What if Esther was planning to decline? What if Esther heard something about Anni in a different thread that had pissed her off and no longer trusting Anni? The more severe and well-known form of Power-Playing usually happens in fighting, where an "all powerful" character will go to strike the other character, and write in that character taking the hit. Always give your roleplaying partners the chance to respond. Do not write in their response for them (unless you have talked it over already, for example: characterA gets knocked unconscious so characterB carries them around, or whatever).



Moving on to etiquette...

"Etiquette" (pronounced eh-tih-ket) is basically "manners". We like to have manners when posting. One of those is to "make it easy on the eyes".

It's okay for you to use a cool-colored font when making your post, but please, make sure it's easy on the eyes. If you're going to use yellow, please space out your paragraphs for us. If you're going to use something that's HARD to see, like perhaps dark gray on a dark gray-ish background.... well, don't. Make sure we can see it.

Spacing out is also important. Don't cram your whole entire post into one big paragraph like so:

by someone
It was dark out tonight. Laura was starting to get used to it by now, however. She had come from a town where the day was longer than the night, and it was hard to adapt. But this town just made everything easy. Without the worry of the sun, what worries could there be? Laura sat atop a tall building in the Exodus Town Square, keeping watch for any victims. She was particularly bloodthirsty tonight. She knew there were at least a few humans still left in this pathetic place. However, more than anything, she wanted to meet this "Mistress Capella" that people had told her was the ruler of the place. She found it ridiculous that someone could do nothing with the potential that they held. The town could be somewhere perfect! A perfect haven for creatures of the darkness! Instead it was a pathetic slummy wasteland. Then, at that moment in her thoughts, Laura saw something startling.......

*rubs eyes* You know what's even worse?

by someone
it was dark out tonite laura was starting to get used 2 it by now however she had come frm a town were the day was longer than the nite and it was hard 2 adapt but this town just made everything ez without the worry of the sun what worries could there be laura sat on top a tall building in the exous town square keeping watch 4 any victims she was rlly bloodthirsty tonite and she new there were at least a few humans still left in ths pathatic plc however more than anythin she wanted 2 meet this misteress capllea that ppl had told her was the ruler of the place she found it ridiculous that sum1 could do nothing with the potential that they held. the town could b somewere perfect a perfect haven for creatures of the darkness instead it was a pathetic slummy wasteland then at that moment in her thoughts laura saw something startling.......

Please, don't do this. Don't use chatspeak, please capitalize and make use of the apostrophe, comma, period, and other methods of punctuation and grammar. We are perfectly accepting of mistakes, because we all make them, but make an effort.

Before you post, PLEASE look over what you've written. This is not a race to see who can get the highest post count, who can post the most, or who can post the fastest. If it's a competition at all, it's to see who has the best SKILL. Skill takes time, precision, and effort. So please, doublecheck what you've written. If you know spelling is your weakness, use the spell check.


PART THREE _{don't worry it's the last one}
^{POV, or Points of View.}

There are TWO points of view when it comes to roleplaying. Just two, no more. You may use a combination of these two if you wish, however.

1st Person POV:

This is where you use "I" when you speak. Like... "I was walking". "I thought". "When she said that, I started to freak out", etc.

3rd person POV:

This is where you actually use the name of your character, like you're outside filming the movie. "Laura". Like... "Laura was walking". "Laura thought". "When she said that, you could tell Laura was freaking out", etc.


With a combonation of the two, it may look like this.......

by Laura
The sharp wind bit Laura's pale skin, and there was an ominous howl in the air. Laura knew that something was going on. Something was afoot. Suddenly, there was a crackling of branches, and a thick fog swept past her.

What's going on!? What am I gonna do?! I hope no one is out looking for me... I didn't do anything to that guy!

"Who's there!?" Laura asked.

Seee??? Choose whichever form you are most comfortable using.




I hope that was helpful. Happy roleplaying, everyone!