Post by Spec-Opp Spartan on Aug 29, 2010 2:59:08 GMT -5
Something I dug up from an Ancient Website that has been Lost to the Sands of Time...
All of this was written by Coconut not me:
Having also Role Played on the The Star Wars RP site for some years, I believe I'm the most experienced Role Player here, and so have decided to compose this guide to good role playing, as opposed to crappy, boring and poor role playing that's not interesting and just not fun for anyone. I'll be guiding you through how to role play in a mature, interesting and advanced way in this next post, and I hope you find it both helpful, informative, and an asset to your Role Playing which will help you improve.
Starting a thread:
So, how to start an interesting thread? Well, you really have to start with an interesting subject matter. No one wants to join a thread about going to buy a dog from a SPARTAN, and everyone will just think you're some kind of thingy if you make boring threads that don't get anywhere. So what should you do? Well, to start an interesting thread it must have some relevance on the Role Play, for example an attack on a ship that will have repercussions across the galaxy. For example, SPARTAN-993 dies in the Role Play Death of a Hero, leaving big repercussions for the UNSC to sort out, and so that has an effect on the RP and is interesting and fun at the same time, so starting a good thread is imperative.
Making a good post:
So, the main bit of Role Playing resides in posting, and posting is the most well used part of Role Playing. So, how do you Role Play well? Well, to start with, joining a thread is a key part. Your character must have a good reason for joining the thread, and a crappy one such as 'he just happened to be sitting there' just sucks. Therefore, a good reason is needed. Why're they there? How did they get there? What were they doing there before? What are they planning to do now? You need a good reason, so as to start off your role play post well.
So, for the main body, so after you've joined the thread? Although it may seem hard at first, try and work on little steps, and describe everything around in great detail, using literary devices such as metaphors, similies and personification, for example, to make your post interesting and a good post. Try and describe how the character feels, how they'd feel if something else happened, what effect the things and people around them have on them, what they make of their area and the smells, what they make of the smells around them; it's all bundled in.
Finally, there's length. Although it's quality, and not quantity, that matters, length is also important. If you have a massive and interesting Role Play post, that'd help everyone, including yourself as people would want to Role Play with you more, and you build up a reputation. Set yourself a target before hand, such as saying: "I'm going to write four paragraphs with eight lines in each" and work towards that; often you'll find that you exceed what you aimed for, so it's longer and better.
Character interaction:
Another important part of Role Playing, and one that occurs in every thread, is character interaction, the way the characters of you and others interact. This is a part that can be very simple, with a lot of practice, but can easily go wrong. For example, it can be hard for a first timer, or even someone not majorly experienced, to make character interaction seem real, and character interaction can end up very wooden and surreal if not done properly.
A good way to start, is with emotions. If someone says: "Matt-081, the SPARTAN, is such a thingyhead!" And Matt overhears, he's not going to just say: "Shut up." That would be unreal. Emotions and such are needed, so Matt would ask why, as most people would, but would include things inspired by emotions. Maybe a quivering lip, or stuttering speech, or even more angry and fast speaking. A lot of interaction is in how the character acts, and not just what they say, and this should be noted.
Then, describe character relations. If this person who said "Shut up." Was a randomer, most likely your character wouldn't care all too much, and if it was an enemy then your character would probably say something offensive in return, or just punch them. If it was someone they cared for, or liked, they would most likely be upset, and ask why, and so character relations play a large part in how characters interact with each other. A formal greeting may be given to a superior or to a randomer, but a friend would be greeted more informally and such.
Writing tips:
1: Vary your vocabulary: This is very important. A varied vocabulary, with many different words mixed in, will not only help to describe things better, but will also help to make your post more interesting. For example: "Bill said something. Bob said something back. They turned and said more things. They were good at saying, they said." As opposed to: "Bill enquired something to Bob, who replied back and the two turned and conversed some more. They seemed to be good at speech." The second one is much better, and more interesting. A varied vocabulary also helps to describe things better.
2: Expand: Expansion on words, actions and sayings is another important part of Role Playing. This also makes things more interesting and fun, and provides a better Role Play experience. For example: "The brown dog walked down the road." A boring post. "The chocolate brown labrador slowly sauntered down the hot tarmac of the road, pausing every now and then to sample the various smells of the environment around." Much better, eh? Expansion, and not doing the bare minimum, helps a lot.
3: Literary devices: Another way to improve your writing, make it more interesting, better and longer, is by using literary devices. Using devices like similes, metaphors, personification, clauses and the like will help make your post more interesting, informative, and descriptive. For example: "The brown dog was tall and watched the whirlwind." This could be improved by saying: The dog was brown, like chocolate, and gargantuan in height, as it watched the whirlwind sprinting around the deserted square." See what I mean?
4: Effort: Finally, there's effort. Effort is absolutely vital, as it is the difference between a terrible post, and a good post. Effort means not doing the bare minimum, but working and writing three paragraphs, instead of two, describing something in massive detail or in tiny, proof reading your work or not doing it all. Effort is the most vital thing in all posts, and should be treated as such.
So, hopefully these will have helped you in your Role Playing. Please tell me what you thought of this below, whether it helped you or not, what bits were good, what bits weren't, and any improvements that could be made. Thank you for reading.
All of this was written by Coconut not me:
Having also Role Played on the The Star Wars RP site for some years, I believe I'm the most experienced Role Player here, and so have decided to compose this guide to good role playing, as opposed to crappy, boring and poor role playing that's not interesting and just not fun for anyone. I'll be guiding you through how to role play in a mature, interesting and advanced way in this next post, and I hope you find it both helpful, informative, and an asset to your Role Playing which will help you improve.
Starting a thread:
So, how to start an interesting thread? Well, you really have to start with an interesting subject matter. No one wants to join a thread about going to buy a dog from a SPARTAN, and everyone will just think you're some kind of thingy if you make boring threads that don't get anywhere. So what should you do? Well, to start an interesting thread it must have some relevance on the Role Play, for example an attack on a ship that will have repercussions across the galaxy. For example, SPARTAN-993 dies in the Role Play Death of a Hero, leaving big repercussions for the UNSC to sort out, and so that has an effect on the RP and is interesting and fun at the same time, so starting a good thread is imperative.
Making a good post:
So, the main bit of Role Playing resides in posting, and posting is the most well used part of Role Playing. So, how do you Role Play well? Well, to start with, joining a thread is a key part. Your character must have a good reason for joining the thread, and a crappy one such as 'he just happened to be sitting there' just sucks. Therefore, a good reason is needed. Why're they there? How did they get there? What were they doing there before? What are they planning to do now? You need a good reason, so as to start off your role play post well.
So, for the main body, so after you've joined the thread? Although it may seem hard at first, try and work on little steps, and describe everything around in great detail, using literary devices such as metaphors, similies and personification, for example, to make your post interesting and a good post. Try and describe how the character feels, how they'd feel if something else happened, what effect the things and people around them have on them, what they make of their area and the smells, what they make of the smells around them; it's all bundled in.
Finally, there's length. Although it's quality, and not quantity, that matters, length is also important. If you have a massive and interesting Role Play post, that'd help everyone, including yourself as people would want to Role Play with you more, and you build up a reputation. Set yourself a target before hand, such as saying: "I'm going to write four paragraphs with eight lines in each" and work towards that; often you'll find that you exceed what you aimed for, so it's longer and better.
Character interaction:
Another important part of Role Playing, and one that occurs in every thread, is character interaction, the way the characters of you and others interact. This is a part that can be very simple, with a lot of practice, but can easily go wrong. For example, it can be hard for a first timer, or even someone not majorly experienced, to make character interaction seem real, and character interaction can end up very wooden and surreal if not done properly.
A good way to start, is with emotions. If someone says: "Matt-081, the SPARTAN, is such a thingyhead!" And Matt overhears, he's not going to just say: "Shut up." That would be unreal. Emotions and such are needed, so Matt would ask why, as most people would, but would include things inspired by emotions. Maybe a quivering lip, or stuttering speech, or even more angry and fast speaking. A lot of interaction is in how the character acts, and not just what they say, and this should be noted.
Then, describe character relations. If this person who said "Shut up." Was a randomer, most likely your character wouldn't care all too much, and if it was an enemy then your character would probably say something offensive in return, or just punch them. If it was someone they cared for, or liked, they would most likely be upset, and ask why, and so character relations play a large part in how characters interact with each other. A formal greeting may be given to a superior or to a randomer, but a friend would be greeted more informally and such.
Writing tips:
1: Vary your vocabulary: This is very important. A varied vocabulary, with many different words mixed in, will not only help to describe things better, but will also help to make your post more interesting. For example: "Bill said something. Bob said something back. They turned and said more things. They were good at saying, they said." As opposed to: "Bill enquired something to Bob, who replied back and the two turned and conversed some more. They seemed to be good at speech." The second one is much better, and more interesting. A varied vocabulary also helps to describe things better.
2: Expand: Expansion on words, actions and sayings is another important part of Role Playing. This also makes things more interesting and fun, and provides a better Role Play experience. For example: "The brown dog walked down the road." A boring post. "The chocolate brown labrador slowly sauntered down the hot tarmac of the road, pausing every now and then to sample the various smells of the environment around." Much better, eh? Expansion, and not doing the bare minimum, helps a lot.
3: Literary devices: Another way to improve your writing, make it more interesting, better and longer, is by using literary devices. Using devices like similes, metaphors, personification, clauses and the like will help make your post more interesting, informative, and descriptive. For example: "The brown dog was tall and watched the whirlwind." This could be improved by saying: The dog was brown, like chocolate, and gargantuan in height, as it watched the whirlwind sprinting around the deserted square." See what I mean?
4: Effort: Finally, there's effort. Effort is absolutely vital, as it is the difference between a terrible post, and a good post. Effort means not doing the bare minimum, but working and writing three paragraphs, instead of two, describing something in massive detail or in tiny, proof reading your work or not doing it all. Effort is the most vital thing in all posts, and should be treated as such.
So, hopefully these will have helped you in your Role Playing. Please tell me what you thought of this below, whether it helped you or not, what bits were good, what bits weren't, and any improvements that could be made. Thank you for reading.