Post by Bodaway on Jul 21, 2006 17:56:52 GMT -5
~The Basics:~
-How do I start?
Very simply start wherever. I find that typing the beginning post to a thread is the easiest as the only limitations you have are where you're posting it. Like, if you post in a forest, there should probably be some trees somewhere in your post, but other than that, it's totally up to you. Don't be afraid to make things up. So what if you don't know what exactly the forest looks like? Guesstimate. Just mention some trees and maybe some water and you'll be fine. The best place to start is with a general setting. Describe where your character is in detail, where things are located in relation to her, what those things look like and so on. It's never a good idea to start with "*insert name here* walked into the *insert place here*". No. That's almost noobish in a way and it lessens the things you are able to describe. You no longer can describe where she was to start with because she already left and you're now stuck with the place she is currently in unless you're very skilled and very clear when describing stuff. Start by telling us where the moon or sun is, then the ground and what is on it and the buildings and so on. imagine it like a camera pan in a movie, where it starts on the moon and pans downward until it lands upon your character and zooms in on her face.
-What if I'm replying to someone?
It works much the same way except that some details are given to you and the others you must guess. That's one reason short and nondescript posts are annoying. To someone like me, if I'm trying to have my character walk into the same room as yours and you think the carpet should be red but you don't put that in your post, I'll just guess and the carpet will be white or something. It's not the end of the world unless it's huge details that are missed, like what species your character is or even gender in some cases. So, if you're replying, follow the same above guidelines but make sure you don't change around the picture given to you by the first person to post and be sure to included their character in the action. A really big hint though: don't have your character randomly go up to another and say "Hi." unless that is how they behave and even then try to vary it a little. Have him say "Nice day isn't it?" or "Something on your mind?". Be creative please...
-What should I include?
This is actually something I've noticed many people have a problem with. When you reply to someone, try not to only say what your character is doing. Physical action is only a small part of roleplaying. Most of it is the reasons behind that action. Everything is done for a reason and have your character think about that reason and the action it caused. Instead of simply saying "She sniffed at the rock." say "She sniffed at the rock with curiosity. It was an odd colored rock and she tried to find a reason why it would be such an odd shade. Most rocks were brown but this one was more like pink. She'd never seen a pink rock before..." and so on. This goes into explain why she's sniffing the rock and what she thinks about it, giving the post and character far more depth. From there, you could give historical examples of things she used to do revolving around rocks. "She remembered what her brother told her about rocks, about how they came in many different colors and how they could be indentified by shade alone..." and so on. Have your character not only interact with the enviornment but interact with herself...
-What should my character say?
This one I can't really answer. It depends are your character. If he's a real jerk to everyone, then he should say something witty and rude like "I can take care of myself but, judging by the way you dressed, you can't." Don't have a happy, bubbly character say something like that unless she is truly beyond pissed off, which shouldn't happen every two seconds. Stick to your character's personality and go with it. Also think about how the other character will take what yours says. Obviously, the character that was said to would probably be pretty angry depending on the kind of person she is and that can and will work to your plot advantage...
-I think this other character likes mine...
Somehow, I doubt it. I wouldn't go along with a post that is all about finding a mate. Now, I'm not saying you can't but please take note: roleplaying is not about getting a mate and having pups, it's about finding a mate and creating pups. If two wolves walk up to one another and they become mates in the first two sentences, well what else are you going to talk about? You'll have a mate and six litters of pups and a post count of 24. Trust me, rping like that gets boring quickly. So, if you fall into a situation where your character is talking to another that seems to like him, don't just suddenly have your character start liking the other in return. Make it interesting. Have them hate each other or have your character have an NPC boyfriend already or something. "hi i love you.' "hi I love you too, let's be mates!" "Sure".... that's not really role-playing. if you really want your character to fall in love that badly, join a Mate board or something...
-But I do really want my character to have a mate...
That's fine. Deep down, we all do, unless our character has some sort of estranged plot in store. But in all honesty, you don't have to b so desperate about it. This is a big board and there are plenty of males and females to go around. Just relax and play it out. This is a game after all. you could make it interesting. Instead of having your character think "Wow. he's hot and sexy." have her think "Wow, he's a pretty strong guy. he'd make powerful pups." or "Wow, his pelt is my favorite shade of green. I wonder if our pups would be the same color?"... mix it up. Try to stay away from the norm, the norm being boring...
-I don't know what to have my character say/do!
Ah! Here is rping's number one problem! The only reasons that could possibly explain why you don't know what you want your character to do is either you have writer's block or you simply have a bad character. Most people think that creating a character is drawing/finding an image and writing a paragraph so other people know what your character is like. That's not what the bio is for. It's more for you than anyone else. It's reference, so that when you're confused or lost as to what your character would think or say, you can easily flip back and re-read what you've written to refresh your memory and rekindle the inspiration that made that character so special. If you loose muse with your character, and the only thing you have to re-read is "Shy and scared of everything", you're not going to get re-motivated with that character and you still won't know what to say about her in your post. My suggestion is to take your time with making your character and make them interesting. Stay away from stereotypes. I don't know how many girls on this site are "shy and scared". Mix it up. Have her be "shy and scared of everything except males, whom she hates with a passion and will not hesitate to attack." The more interesting a character, the more interesting it'll be for you to play them and the less likely you are to loose interest in them...
-Nobody's replying to my post!
This ties into the one I just mentioned. Your character is probably boring or too desperate for a mate or something. A lot of experienced rpers don't want to roleplay with someone who is only looking for a mate. So if your post has a lot of things like "She sniffed the air, hoping to catch the scent of a male." or "She was lonely and needed someone to care for her" and what have you, active and experienced rpers don't want to deal with that. Nor do they want to deal with a boring, sad sob-sob, my-life-sucks emo kind of character. That is the biggest mistake and something you should definitely stay away from. Emo characters, particularly females, are boring and annoying and created way too often. Most of us are simply tired of dealing with them. So, try creating a character that's happy, god forbid, or angry at the world instead of "shy and scared and sad"... People want to rp with interesting characters. What else can I say?
[WIP]
-How do I start?
Very simply start wherever. I find that typing the beginning post to a thread is the easiest as the only limitations you have are where you're posting it. Like, if you post in a forest, there should probably be some trees somewhere in your post, but other than that, it's totally up to you. Don't be afraid to make things up. So what if you don't know what exactly the forest looks like? Guesstimate. Just mention some trees and maybe some water and you'll be fine. The best place to start is with a general setting. Describe where your character is in detail, where things are located in relation to her, what those things look like and so on. It's never a good idea to start with "*insert name here* walked into the *insert place here*". No. That's almost noobish in a way and it lessens the things you are able to describe. You no longer can describe where she was to start with because she already left and you're now stuck with the place she is currently in unless you're very skilled and very clear when describing stuff. Start by telling us where the moon or sun is, then the ground and what is on it and the buildings and so on. imagine it like a camera pan in a movie, where it starts on the moon and pans downward until it lands upon your character and zooms in on her face.
-What if I'm replying to someone?
It works much the same way except that some details are given to you and the others you must guess. That's one reason short and nondescript posts are annoying. To someone like me, if I'm trying to have my character walk into the same room as yours and you think the carpet should be red but you don't put that in your post, I'll just guess and the carpet will be white or something. It's not the end of the world unless it's huge details that are missed, like what species your character is or even gender in some cases. So, if you're replying, follow the same above guidelines but make sure you don't change around the picture given to you by the first person to post and be sure to included their character in the action. A really big hint though: don't have your character randomly go up to another and say "Hi." unless that is how they behave and even then try to vary it a little. Have him say "Nice day isn't it?" or "Something on your mind?". Be creative please...
-What should I include?
This is actually something I've noticed many people have a problem with. When you reply to someone, try not to only say what your character is doing. Physical action is only a small part of roleplaying. Most of it is the reasons behind that action. Everything is done for a reason and have your character think about that reason and the action it caused. Instead of simply saying "She sniffed at the rock." say "She sniffed at the rock with curiosity. It was an odd colored rock and she tried to find a reason why it would be such an odd shade. Most rocks were brown but this one was more like pink. She'd never seen a pink rock before..." and so on. This goes into explain why she's sniffing the rock and what she thinks about it, giving the post and character far more depth. From there, you could give historical examples of things she used to do revolving around rocks. "She remembered what her brother told her about rocks, about how they came in many different colors and how they could be indentified by shade alone..." and so on. Have your character not only interact with the enviornment but interact with herself...
-What should my character say?
This one I can't really answer. It depends are your character. If he's a real jerk to everyone, then he should say something witty and rude like "I can take care of myself but, judging by the way you dressed, you can't." Don't have a happy, bubbly character say something like that unless she is truly beyond pissed off, which shouldn't happen every two seconds. Stick to your character's personality and go with it. Also think about how the other character will take what yours says. Obviously, the character that was said to would probably be pretty angry depending on the kind of person she is and that can and will work to your plot advantage...
-I think this other character likes mine...
Somehow, I doubt it. I wouldn't go along with a post that is all about finding a mate. Now, I'm not saying you can't but please take note: roleplaying is not about getting a mate and having pups, it's about finding a mate and creating pups. If two wolves walk up to one another and they become mates in the first two sentences, well what else are you going to talk about? You'll have a mate and six litters of pups and a post count of 24. Trust me, rping like that gets boring quickly. So, if you fall into a situation where your character is talking to another that seems to like him, don't just suddenly have your character start liking the other in return. Make it interesting. Have them hate each other or have your character have an NPC boyfriend already or something. "hi i love you.' "hi I love you too, let's be mates!" "Sure".... that's not really role-playing. if you really want your character to fall in love that badly, join a Mate board or something...
-But I do really want my character to have a mate...
That's fine. Deep down, we all do, unless our character has some sort of estranged plot in store. But in all honesty, you don't have to b so desperate about it. This is a big board and there are plenty of males and females to go around. Just relax and play it out. This is a game after all. you could make it interesting. Instead of having your character think "Wow. he's hot and sexy." have her think "Wow, he's a pretty strong guy. he'd make powerful pups." or "Wow, his pelt is my favorite shade of green. I wonder if our pups would be the same color?"... mix it up. Try to stay away from the norm, the norm being boring...
-I don't know what to have my character say/do!
Ah! Here is rping's number one problem! The only reasons that could possibly explain why you don't know what you want your character to do is either you have writer's block or you simply have a bad character. Most people think that creating a character is drawing/finding an image and writing a paragraph so other people know what your character is like. That's not what the bio is for. It's more for you than anyone else. It's reference, so that when you're confused or lost as to what your character would think or say, you can easily flip back and re-read what you've written to refresh your memory and rekindle the inspiration that made that character so special. If you loose muse with your character, and the only thing you have to re-read is "Shy and scared of everything", you're not going to get re-motivated with that character and you still won't know what to say about her in your post. My suggestion is to take your time with making your character and make them interesting. Stay away from stereotypes. I don't know how many girls on this site are "shy and scared". Mix it up. Have her be "shy and scared of everything except males, whom she hates with a passion and will not hesitate to attack." The more interesting a character, the more interesting it'll be for you to play them and the less likely you are to loose interest in them...
-Nobody's replying to my post!
This ties into the one I just mentioned. Your character is probably boring or too desperate for a mate or something. A lot of experienced rpers don't want to roleplay with someone who is only looking for a mate. So if your post has a lot of things like "She sniffed the air, hoping to catch the scent of a male." or "She was lonely and needed someone to care for her" and what have you, active and experienced rpers don't want to deal with that. Nor do they want to deal with a boring, sad sob-sob, my-life-sucks emo kind of character. That is the biggest mistake and something you should definitely stay away from. Emo characters, particularly females, are boring and annoying and created way too often. Most of us are simply tired of dealing with them. So, try creating a character that's happy, god forbid, or angry at the world instead of "shy and scared and sad"... People want to rp with interesting characters. What else can I say?
[WIP]