RPing Hints and Tips

[Aylen Hawkins]

I’ve been noticing a few newer roleplayers that could be doing better, so to speak. Also, some older roleplayers are either slacking off or have never had the luck to be given tips while they were still new. So, in order to help these people, I have some up with a list of things to do and things not to do. I put this up here, so everyone can give their input and add/edit things. Basically we’re discussing hints and tips. Hopefully the heads will let me put up a revised edition of this thread and sticky it in the Entrance Hall. Also, I DO NOT want this to be a bashing thread, got it?
Okay, here we go:

Grammar Help

• Capitalization Capitalize beginnings of sentences and names. It really makes it much easier to read.
  
• Punctuation You'd be surprised at how much better your posts will look to others if you have nice punctuation. Recently, I've found people who are using commas as periods. End complete thoughts with periods.
  Don't say "Oh hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm really glad I'm making so many new friends, I'm in Gryffindor, what's your house?" Instead, separate it out so it's not a run-on sentence. "Oh, hello. It's nice to meet you. I'm really glad I'm making so many new friends. I'm in Gryffindor, what's your house?"
  
• Quotations Coming soon
  

What not to do

• Do not god-roleplay. God role-playing is writing out a character’s actions for him or her. Sometimes it’s obvious. If Jack posts: Jack slapped Jill. Jill screamed at him., that’s bad. Jack can’t write for Jill. Sometimes it’s not so obvious, like Jack grabbed Jill’s wrist, feeling her try to squirm away. Most people would try to get away if you grabbed them, but maybe Jill would slap him first? The point is that it’s unfair to the other person if you write out his/her actions for them.
  Also, you shouldn't say something like Jack slapped Jill unconcious. That's REALLY unfair to Jill and I shall come after you and beat you senseless with a carrot if you do it. So don't.
  
  
• Do not crash a thread Crashing usually means going to a party uninvited. For role-playing, it means taking over someone else’s thread. Say Jill and Jane were having a picnic at the lake after exams. Then Jack comes in suddenly, being chased by a monster. My response to that would be “?!” If you are going to post, post something relevant to the thread. If Jack came in and asked to join the picnic, that would be alright. If you want to be chased by a monster, start your own thread.
  
  
• Do not be all powerful. Sure, everyone likes to be a hero, but it’s really no fun if the bad guys are stomped in two seconds flat. For example, Jill is cornered by a wolf. She screams. Jack waltzes in, bops the wolf with a club and sails away with Jill. First of all, Jack gave no time for the wolf to react. It’s highly unlikely that Jack is fast or strong enough to club the wolf before he gets ripped to pieces. Next, did Jill even want to be saved? Perhaps she meant to befriend the wolf in that thread. Besides, it’s much more satisfying to draw the battle out, with Jack distracting the wolf so Jill can get away. Much more dramatic.
  
  
• No randomly deciding to bring back a dead character It just....shouldn't be done. People will randomly let their characters die, sometimes by suicide even, then randomly bring them back to life somehow a week or so later. It just......ghah.....no character should be able to do that, no matter what self-proclaimed powers they have. I mean....occasionally for an exceptional character to come back to continue their reign of glory, whether for good or ill is one thing......but......Some characters who die should stay dead and not be brought back once killed. ~contributed by Azrael
  Basically what this means is that don't kill off your character (or risk it)unless you have some important purpose in mind. People don't kill themselves for larks. If you really regret killing your character, but you meant for him/her to stay dead, remember you can come back as a ghost. If you mean to leave MH, have your character leave. That way you won't dead end yourself.
  
  
• Just do it It really bothers me when someone ends their post with ...and waits for a reply. Well...durr...of course you are. It breaks the flow of the posting. When you are having a conversation, it makes it seem that instead of the other person responding immediately like in real life conversation, that other person is having a major brain fart and there’s a time gap between your post and the next. There might be a time that this won’t irk me, but I doubt it. If you absolutely must do it, don’t do it every or nearly every post you make, please.
  

What you can do

• Give and Take This is a rule used a lot in improvisation, and it works here too. The monster was chasing Jill around. She was screaming. etc, etc. As Jack, don't post one line like, Jack watched the monster chase Jill. What you are doing is accepting, taking her idea. Very good, but give something back. Add something of your own to keep the thread moving along. Maybe, Jack then let out a scream of his own. "Jill, let's see if we can lose it in the lake! Its not that far off!" You get the idea. Also, the continuation of that, is always post more than you think you can post. If you're posting in three minutes and you have a paragraph, no that's not enough. Wait for maybe three more minutes and try to think up more. Describe things surrounding them, further describe what's going on. Just don't say three sentences, give one of reaction, and call it a post. ~contributed by Mikayla
  
  
• Minimum length Always make your posts a minimum of 4 paragraphs long, with 5-7 lines in each. People say 'quality over quantity,' but RP is all about practicing, and the more writing you do the better you'll get. ~contributed by Laura
  Umm...Aylen is a lazy bum, and four paragraphs seem a bit much. XD Aylen’s standards are two paragraphs with about four lines each.
  
  
• Variety
  Never start each paragraph with the same thing.
  ie. Chailyn said/looked around...
  Or: She ... etc. Try and vary it. Use the passive voice. It's not that hard, and makes for a much more elegant read! ~contributed by Chailyn
  
  
• No dead endsAlong with everything said, make an active effort to give your fellow players something to "work off." For example, what can they do if you spend the first four out of five paragraphs entirely based on internal thought. Inner emotion is only one half of the grande picture, interaction is just as vital! ~contributed by Laura
  Let me elaborate. If you want your character to interact with other characters, don’t just sit there! It doesn’t work. Either you go to them, or they come to you. Usually it’s the former. If your character’s shy, have him/her do something to get noticed. I once had Aylen bring down a bowl of punch on himself, which is pretty hard to ignore.
  

That’s all I can think of at the moment. Post your ideas and I’ll edit this post so it’s up here.

[Faerlain]

Haha I think I know who this is aimed towards.

[Aylen Hawkins]

Erm, actually, I didn't have anyone specific in mind. I was bored one day and decided to go through the thousands of past posts and noticed a lot of people complaining about this, but nothing actually done.

[Carmen]

Lol, I'll have to agree with Faye.
But, not to spoil your boredom, seems no one noticed that Jesika, most graciously, made a MH help book in the Muggle World that is stickied for all to see and read.

[Aylen Hawkins]

Someone always beats me to things! XD I do think that it would be better placed in the Entrance Hall where most new people go.

[amy]

Not really, everyone just ignores the one that Claire posted there when this board first got started. No matter where you put it, not everyone is going to read it. But it's the thought that counts, and no one is going to chastise you for trying to make MH a better place.

[Aylen Hawkins]

Maybe it should be relabeled, like GOT MILK?! Or something attention getting...*mutters incoherently*

[amy]

xD

Good idea. I'd look at it.

[Mikayla (back <3)]

Very, very good idea. Also, I have one to add

-GIVE AND TAKE This is a rule used a lot in improv, and it works here too. To use Aylen's Jack and Jill, if Jill posts, The monster was chasing Jill around. She was screaming. etc, etc, as Jack, don't post one line like, Jack watched the monster chase Jill. What you are doing is accepting, taking her idea, very good, but give something back. Add something of your own to keep the thread moving along. Maybe, Jack then let out a scream of his own. "Jill, let's see if we can lose it in the lake! Its not that far off! Hopefully, you get the idea. Also, the continuation of that, is always post more than you think you can post. If you're posting in three minutes and you have a paragraph, no that's not enough. Wait for maybe three more minutes and try to think up more. Describe things surrounding them, further describe what's going on. Just don't say three sentences, give one of reaction, and call it a post.

[Fenris Fenrir]

*wonders if the wolf that Jack bopped was me* Very amusing Master Hawkins and company; I would help but I get carried away with this sort of thing. I might scare people off.

[Lord Azrael]

-No randomly deciding to bring back a dead character. It just....shouldn't be done. People will randomly let their characters die, sometimes by suicide even, then randomly bring them back to life somehow a week or so later. It just......ghah.....no character should be able to do that, no matter what self-proclaimed powers they have ><. *insert further angry ranting here* I mean....occasionally for an exceptional character to come back to continue their reign of glory, whether for good or ill is one thing......but......*cough*RailynFox*cough* Some characters who die should stay dead and not be brought back once killed.

[Faerlain]

Oh. My. Gosh.

Thank you, Az! That is one of my biggest pet peeves about this site. Don't kill your character and then bring them back. MH has so many resurrections that my characters are just going to stop feeling remorse when people die.

Oh, and one more thing- killing off a character should be a final thing. I don't want to hear about how you suddenly changed your mind later on.

[amy]

Very true, Azreal. That does seem to be an annoyingly common storyline at MH. >.>

[Jade Cross]

Alas... time here is an intermittent circle, continuously repeating in a strangely timely fashion. I'm an oldie... one of the old, old oldies... and I just wanted to remark how oddly funny it is how often something like this springs up. Though I don't think I've ever seen it portrayed in this way... *thumbs up*

[amy]

Goodness Jade, you really are one of the oldies. I remember you were there when I started as September, and that was a very very long time ago...Two years, I think.

Oh God.

Two years. xD