Hello and welcome to the General RP Discussion and information Thread. The main purpose of this thread is that of general discussion regarding roleplays and the roleplaying section. Here you can share ideas for future roleplays and characters, or just talk about existing ones. Additionally, you may ask for advice on how to improve your roleplaying skills, offer advice and tips of your own, and recommend roleplays to others. Think of this thread as sort of universal OOC thread focused on not just one particular RP, but the entire roleplaying section.
Remember though, the forum rules still apply. No inappropriate discussions or images. Spamming or flaming will not be tolerated. You may recommend/promote Minecraft Forum roleplays, you cannot promote any content linking to outside of this site. Let's keep it clean, shall we?
What isRoleplaying?
Depends. Here in the Forum Roleplaying section roleplays are strictly text-based. Think of it as a story completely driven by the players' actions and told through the eyes of various characters they control. The GM (or Game Master) creates the world and its rules. Depending on the roleplay, the GM will establish a set of rules to follow, which may include a required level of experience in writing, however it is worth noting that the Minecraft Forum rules themselves do not require a certain level of literacy to participate in the Forum Roleplaying section. Some roleplays will be more casual and allow for more laid back, just-for-fun roleplaying, while others will be more advanced and demanding when it comes to skill, it is up to you to choose which to participate in, but either way you must abide by both the roleplay's rules and the forum rules.
You'll find two types of threads in this section; IC (In character) threads, and OOC (Out of character) threads. In IC threads, players will control their characters and play normally, while OOC threads are for discussion regarding that particular roleplay.
Are there servers here?
No. As stated above, roleplays in this section are strictly text-based. They are played in a thread here in the Forums, not on a Minecraft Server. For Minecraft server roleplays, check out the 'Servers' section of the forums.
Roleplay Terminology
Here is a list of definitions to terms you may see used in roleplays:
GM - GM stands for 'Game Master'. As stated above, the Game Master is exactly what it sounds like - the master of the game, or roleplay. He or she controls most of the world and its rules with the help of roleplay moderators.
Godmodding - Godmodding refers to characters who are seemingly invincible and all-powerful. A character that survives everything thrown at him and is never harmed in the slightest. In most roleplays, it is required that you play fair and realistically, so a character who is perfect is often looked down upon. All characters need flaws, otherwise you may unintentionally godmod.
Powerplaying - Powerplaying is the act of playing out the outcome of an action involving another player's character. For example, "John throws a rock at Tom and hits him in the foot, killing him". In many ways, it refers to the unauthorized control over another player's character. Most roleplays will have 'no powerplaying' as a rule in order to prevent players from using other characters without permission. In general, the outcome to an action initiated by your character is up to the opposing player, or in some cases the GM. You don't get to decide if the rock John throws at Tom hits him, all you can do is say that it was thrown in his direction.
Metagaming - Metagaming refers to characters who are seemingly omniscient, meaning that they are in possession of knowledge they shouldn't have. For example, if a player's character picks his nose when he's all alone, your character who is twenty miles away shouldn't bring it up later as if he had witnessed it. He shouldn't know John The Dwarf picked his nose in private, knowing so would be metagaming.
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If there is any piece of information you think is noteworthy, feel free to let me know and I'll consider adding it. If you have any questions or complaints, feel free to contact MuttonHawk or myself, we're the primary moderators here in the Forum Roleplay section.
Have a fun discussion, and remember to follow the rules!
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Addendums
Here's the place where we can put guides or links to guides on Roleplaying along with any other useful tips that users feel should be known.
On one liners, by Muttonhawk (for intermediate RPs and above)
You may notice on this board that many RPs that are of an intermediate level or above may have a rule against 'one-liners' or one line posts. It is a common question how to step up from one-liners if you want to join something that might have a bit more depth than you average casual level RP.
The reason that one-liners are undesirable to higher literary expectations is because what is written down is a single, robotic response. The way to prevent one-liners is to make your post descriptive in a manner that makes it more human and/or in character. Don't be daunted by these themes, it is actually a lot of fun, kind of like dress-ups or a theater play!
For example, body language is a common oversight that is apparent in most one liners and it is a huge one. Even describing the stance your character is in (whether it be straight up confident, cringing and trying not to attract attention, or bellowed up and aggressive) can make a post much more descriptive. Subtle things, like facial expressions, or nervous twitches can also turn one liners into better posts.
Another thing that you can add if you like are the emotional processes of your character alongside their actions or dialogue. Admittedly, this sometimes only takes up a single line, but hey, two lines are better than one. If you can emulate in your mind what your character is feeling, it can help you make a more informed approach.
Finally, I recommend trying to further describe actions. I.e. instead of "John swung his stick at Alan", an example robotic one-liner, you could have, "John brought the stick over his shoulder in both hands and brutally swung it down on Alan's head with a primal grunt". This is infinitely better as you can see and can prevent miscommunication. In conjunction with the other stuff I've mentioned, like facial expressions, body language, thoughts and emotions, you've solved your one-liner affliction (if you want to call it that).
Nice work on this section! hopefully this weeds out the severnubs, im sick to death of hearing "My IGN is: Severnub69, What is the IP of this server?" i swear, i was about to explode with rage, just the other day there was three consecutive occurences with the post "THIS IS NOT A SERVER" being planted in between each of them :\.
Also Gratz on the sectional moderator position, you guys deserved it.
Powergaming - When you force others to roleplay what you do. When you don't give the other person a chance to roleplay back. e.g. You throw a punch and the other person flies a kilometer.
And what Solawind said, people who turn up thinking it's a server is really annoying. But I don't blame them as some of them put tremendous effort into their applicatio, thinking it's a server. Quite sad really. Also, won't you also find some interest checks at times? Anyhow, good job with the thread and clearing things up.
Keeping with what seems to be the topic at hand: I've been asked if Precipice of War is a server all too many times. I think I had one guy sign up thinking it was a server. Another we had a long PM discussion on if it is, or ever will be.
No way I'm recreating the entire world. It'd be impossible to find anyone.
My biggest problem I find in Role Playing is coming up with an original story that people are interested in.
I don't think there's ever a formula for having a story that you can be sure will be great. Virtually any roleplay you'll make is going to be either hit or miss as far as being popular is concerned. But considering that the MCF is pretty diverse in RP tastes, you can be confident knowing you'll easily get at least a few people interested in your OP. Oh, Hugs, there's another abbreviation that could probably go with the others : OP: Original post/poster.
Anyway, people really ought to be a little more creative and come up with original stories. All of these academy/boarding school RPs and the the RPs based on videogames/books are, to be honest, an indicator of poor creativity. As this forum as a whole becomes more adventuresome, we'll see better RPs more often.
tl;dr - Polish your idea(s) up as best as you can and throw them out for the community to see and hopefully get on board with them. Don't be afraid that they're not good enough.
Godmodding - Godmodding is the unauthorized control over another player's character. Most roleplays will have 'no godmodding' as a rule in order to prevent players from using other players' characters without permission.
That is called powerplaying. Godmodding is having an invincible or overpowered character.
Thats powerplaying. Godmodding, as the name implies means your character is like God and can never be harmed and/or can do whatever the truck [s]he wants.
I had always thought it meant as in acting like God and controlling someone else character. Power Gaming, I always thought, was never being able to injure you. Meh, guess I was wrong.
No. Think about it this way: God mode is like godmodding. You can't be injured.
would you mention something about necromancy? its getting annoying too
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Arguments happen, they just do, you can't stop it, no matter how much power you have, even if it takes years to settle, when it does, everyone is stronger for it. Rivalries can be made into friendships if you let them.
Some ideas are meant to be made into reality, but most need to be burned at the stake.
Hating the things you love
Metagaming - Metagaming refers to characters who are seemingly omniscient, meaning that they are in possession of knowledge they shouldn't have.[/size][/size] For example, if a player's character picks his nose when he's all alone, your character who is twenty miles away shouldn't bring it up later as if he had witnessed it. He shouldn't know John The Dwarf picked his nose in private, knowing so would be metagaming.
Arguments happen, they just do, you can't stop it, no matter how much power you have, even if it takes years to settle, when it does, everyone is stronger for it. Rivalries can be made into friendships if you let them.
Some ideas are meant to be made into reality, but most need to be burned at the stake.
Hating the things you love
would you mention something about necromancy? its getting annoying too
I'm not sure what you mean by this, but it sounds like something that would be up to the GM. If the GM dislikes necromancy, he can make it against the rules of his RP. It doesn't need to be on the OP to this thread.
Godmodding - Godmodding refers to characters who are seemingly invincible and all-powerful. A character that survives everything thrown at him and is never harmed in the slightest. In most roleplays, it is required that you play fair and realistically, so a character who is perfect is often looked down upon. All characters need flaws, otherwise you may unintentionally godmod.
Powerplaying - Powerplaying is the act of playing out the outcome of an action involving another player's character. For example, "John throws a rock at Tom and hits him in the foot, killing him". In many ways, it refers to the unauthorized control over another player's character. Most roleplays will have 'no powerplaying' as a rule in order to prevent players from using other characters without permission. In general, the outcome to an action initiated by your character is up to the opposing player, or in some cases the GM. You don't get to decide if the rock John throws at Tom hits him, all you can do is say that it was thrown in his direction.
Metagaming - Metagaming refers to characters who are seemingly omniscient, meaning that they are in possession of knowledge they shouldn't have. For example, if a player's character picks his nose when he's all alone, your character who is twenty miles away shouldn't bring it up later as if he had witnessed it. He shouldn't know John The Dwarf picked his nose in private, knowing so would be metagaming.
For example, body language is a common oversight that is apparent in most one liners and it is a huge one. Even describing the stance your character is in (whether it be straight up confident, cringing and trying not to attract attention, or bellowed up and aggressive) can make a post much more descriptive. Subtle things, like facial expressions, or nervous twitches can also turn one liners into better posts.
Another thing that you can add if you like are the emotional processes of your character alongside their actions or dialogue. Admittedly, this sometimes only takes up a single line, but hey, two lines are better than one. If you can emulate in your mind what your character is feeling, it can help you make a more informed approach.
Finally, I recommend trying to further describe actions. I.e. instead of "John swung his stick at Alan", an example robotic one-liner, you could have, "John brought the stick over his shoulder in both hands and brutally swung it down on Alan's head with a primal grunt". This is infinitely better as you can see and can prevent miscommunication. In conjunction with the other stuff I've mentioned, like facial expressions, body language, thoughts and emotions, you've solved your one-liner affliction (if you want to call it that).
As with anything, keep practicing!
And remember this is not a Chat Thread so keep your day-to-day woes and discussions in the Chat Thread in GOT. Thank you.
Venit, quessit, induravit.
Also Gratz on the sectional moderator position, you guys deserved it.
And what Solawind said, people who turn up thinking it's a server is really annoying. But I don't blame them as some of them put tremendous effort into their applicatio, thinking it's a server. Quite sad really. Also, won't you also find some interest checks at times? Anyhow, good job with the thread and clearing things up.
KAWAII MONSTER
Keeping with what seems to be the topic at hand: I've been asked if Precipice of War is a server all too many times. I think I had one guy sign up thinking it was a server. Another we had a long PM discussion on if it is, or ever will be.
No way I'm recreating the entire world. It'd be impossible to find anyone.
My DeviantArt, so sexy
I don't think there's ever a formula for having a story that you can be sure will be great. Virtually any roleplay you'll make is going to be either hit or miss as far as being popular is concerned. But considering that the MCF is pretty diverse in RP tastes, you can be confident knowing you'll easily get at least a few people interested in your OP. Oh, Hugs, there's another abbreviation that could probably go with the others : OP: Original post/poster.
Anyway, people really ought to be a little more creative and come up with original stories. All of these academy/boarding school RPs and the the RPs based on videogames/books are, to be honest, an indicator of poor creativity. As this forum as a whole becomes more adventuresome, we'll see better RPs more often.
tl;dr - Polish your idea(s) up as best as you can and throw them out for the community to see and hopefully get on board with them. Don't be afraid that they're not good enough.
That is called powerplaying. Godmodding is having an invincible or overpowered character.
No. Think about it this way: God mode is like godmodding. You can't be injured.
Dylan's sword came at me and pierced my heart, luckily I have A HEART IMMUNE TO SWORDS!
Powergaming:
I throw the sword directly at Kris so he couldn't dodge it or anything so he is doomed and he dies. The end.
Can't tell you that, I'm already dead.
Arguments happen, they just do, you can't stop it, no matter how much power you have, even if it takes years to settle, when it does, everyone is stronger for it. Rivalries can be made into friendships if you let them.
Some ideas are meant to be made into reality, but most need to be burned at the stake.
Hating the things you love
Is that suppose to be there? =O
No problem.
Ah, okay
Arguments happen, they just do, you can't stop it, no matter how much power you have, even if it takes years to settle, when it does, everyone is stronger for it. Rivalries can be made into friendships if you let them.
Some ideas are meant to be made into reality, but most need to be burned at the stake.
Hating the things you love
I'm not sure what you mean by this, but it sounds like something that would be up to the GM. If the GM dislikes necromancy, he can make it against the rules of his RP. It doesn't need to be on the OP to this thread.