Roleplay Etiquette

[Sylph]

Yayy! An RP guide! ;3 +1 Karma for you! x3

[FoxfangPitbull]

And chat-speak. I HATE chat-speak. In fact, i loathe it with a passion.

[RavenShai]

I agree with Foxfang, I also hate chat-speak with a passion > < I hate it especially when they rp with it. When I see someone speaking in chat-speak, I sometimes have to re-read the sentence(s) because I have on clue what they just said.

Speaking of which, I also dislike how some don't take the time to type out their replies, like they're typing it out in a hurry and their replies make no sense, so this makes the other rpers confused and they have no clue what's going on. Is there a rule for that?

Oh, and I also dislike when no one waits for your char to reply >. >

Anyway, love this post, glad its been made x3

[Wudiin]

Oh chat speak in roleplays irks me to death. Espically when they think that their the best out there... I'm no master speller myself but common XD.

[ColonelHamilton]

More bad roleplay behavior.  Added the grammar and spelling one thanks to suggestions. : )

7) Poor Grammar and Spelling.  People prefer many different styles of roleplay; some like posts to be hundreds of words long, others prefer the quick back and forth of one-liners, which are appropriate for in-game roleplay in Feral Heart.  Also, everyone makes mistakes once in a while.  However, there is no excuse for consistently misspelling words, using chat speak, using inappropriate punctuation, not using punctuation, and neglected basic grammar.  These things are not hard to do and show that you care about the roleplay you are involved in.

8) Roleplay neglect and abandonment.  We've all done this once in a while, but that doesn't mean it's all right.  This involves committing to some kind of long term roleplay and either disappearing or not participating enough by the game's standards.  If you do not have the time for a roleplay, wait until you have time before you join it.

9) Forgetting that RL>RP (real life is more important than roleplay).  This involves excessively attacking those who do not participate in a roleplay due to real life issues.  This may include expecting someone to be online for hours at a time every day, or getting angry when a roleplay partner takes a break for a week or so due to tests, family issues, or computer failure. A roleplay may be a commitment, but it is also just a game.  Partners have lives and cannot be expected to cater to your every roleplay whim.

[Avani]

Thx for posting this! ^.^
It will be helpfull for others ?

[FoxfangPitbull]

For sure, Avani :3
But that's why I'm so picky about roleplays....even the slightest grammar error irks me.
I'm so picky about myself as well.

[UncleSmithers]

Thank you for making this :'D Mary-sues and grammar issues bug me to no end... reminds me of my friend when she had RPs up on a different site; she was strict on these rules, but she had a point |D

Hope people learn from this~

[Nyanna]

_{Couldn't of said it better myself! I don't role-play on the game because I'm too picky, my fault really but once you get used to people who really know how to role play its so difficult to go back to the "Chat" style that I started out with. Anyway great guide and thanks for taking the time to put it up here, should be a sticky in my mind. ^.^}

[ColonelHamilton]

Glad you guys approve!  Here are a bunch more:

10) Romance Obsession.  This is ignoring all other aspects of a roleplay in order to fulfill romantic fantasies.  While focusing on mostly romance in a romance-focus roleplay makes sense, doing so in a more general roleplay can be detrimental.  For one, a romance can usually only occur between two people.  This means that a player with Romance Obsession will focus all of their character's attention on the object of their romantic attraction, and ignore every other character, to the roleplay's detriment.  It is also unreaslistic, as most people are concerned about things besides romance, especially during zombie apocalypses and supernatural wars, which are common in roleplays. Why is this character doing nothing but pining after a boy when her life is in danger?

11) Instant Romance.  A combination of Romance Obsession and Illogical Events and Behavior.  This is when a player is so eager for romance, they have their own character fall in love with another character for no other reason than that the player finds the object of their character's affection to be attractive.  While this can make sense if the character falling in instant love is portrayed as shallow, often the player wants this to be true love.  Instant Romance ruins a chance for interesting and realistic development between characters.

12) Illogical Events and Behavior.  This covers just about anything in a roleplay that makes no or little sense. Instant Romance, as described above is an example of this.  Characters should be consistent, and NPCs should act in a logical manner.

13) NPC Puffery. Using Non-Player Characters in order to make one's own character look good.  For instance, a player might have their character make a painting, and write that everyone in the class gasped at how beautiful it was and that the art teacher declared the piece to be a work of genius.  Someone playing a wolf may say that a rival pack attacked and all were beaten by their own character.  This is a form of Mary Sueism, where the world around the character is manipulated in order to make the Sue look cool by comparison.

14) Leaving People Behind. This is especially relevant in forum roleplays, where response time is expected to be slower.  While it is unreasonable to wait forever for someone to post, it is also unreasonable to post so quickly and often that they are left behind.  When the fast posters' characters are alone together and their actions do not effect anyone else, not waiting for others makes sense.  However, it is different when everyone else in the roleplay comes back after a few hours to see seven pages of  just Fast Poster 1 and Fast Poster 2, who have jumped time forward to the next day.