Vi_Vi_
Terminally Nerdy
I'm very new, actually, extremely new at role play so I'm looking for advice about what I should do, how should I begin, how can I become a part of this amazing community.
Advice/Help Newbie
- Thread starter Vi_Vi_
- Start date
Lioness075
Everyone's fighting some battle of their own.
First and foremost, heading over to the recruiting threads will help you get an idea of what roleplays are inviting new players to them. Oftentimes, roleplays won't start up until the GM (creator of the RP) has enough people to get it started. I'd say most RPs are looking for anywhere between 5-10 RPers depending on what the GM wants or is comfortable with handling. Most recruiting threads will very clearly explain the premise of the RP and what kind of characters the GM expects to be made.
One of the most challenging aspects most RPers face is creating their character. I've always kinda blown through that part of RPing, but it's not as easy for everyone else. You can look at other character sheets (CS) if the RP already has some and get inspiration from those. But many RPers can take offense if you straight up copy something from their CS. Idk about everyone else, but I have a small pool of character names that I pull from for every RP I join. I have basic ideas of characters I love to use, but modify them per the RP world I'm joining.
Really, the best way to get started is to just join one RP of interest and then see how it goes. My first few RPs I joined on here didn't last long and I got disheartened by them, but I eventually found two RPing groups that I'm now close with and I don't really RP much outside of them.
One of the most challenging aspects most RPers face is creating their character. I've always kinda blown through that part of RPing, but it's not as easy for everyone else. You can look at other character sheets (CS) if the RP already has some and get inspiration from those. But many RPers can take offense if you straight up copy something from their CS. Idk about everyone else, but I have a small pool of character names that I pull from for every RP I join. I have basic ideas of characters I love to use, but modify them per the RP world I'm joining.
Really, the best way to get started is to just join one RP of interest and then see how it goes. My first few RPs I joined on here didn't last long and I got disheartened by them, but I eventually found two RPing groups that I'm now close with and I don't really RP much outside of them.
Vi_Vi_
Terminally Nerdy
That was really helpful. Thanks!
Idea
The Pun Tyrant
Firstly, welcome! RPN is indeed quite an amazing place if I do say so myself, with a great community which I have no doubt you'll be able to become a welcome member of in no time (if you aren't already by the time I actually finish writing this post). So, here are some of my tips:
1.Research
RPN has plenty of guides (such as this one ), and discussion threads themselves contain a lot of good advice and insight that may just be quite worth looking over, not only to learn about RPing and writing some more, but also to get a better sense of the community. Beyond just RPN, looking into writing and it's various aspects can also help one improve and get a better handle on how to approach things.
2.Discover Your Style
When starting out, one thing that you're going to want to do is experiment and see what sort of RP works for you and your tastes. Different RP styles call for different partners, RPs, and conditions, and speaking from personal experience gaining an understanding of what I like in a roleplay has dramatically improved my enjoyment of the hobby and my compatibility with the partners I get, allowed me to look for roleplays that better match how I really am as writer and my needs as a roleplayer. The better you know your own preferences, the better you'll be able to look for RPs that work better for, and the more you experiment in your early period, the better a sense you may get for which RPs match those preferences.
3.Don't be Afraid of Failure (Or At least Learn to Cope with it)
Failure is inevitable. Ghosting will happen, interest will be lost, disputes, life... When it comes to a hobby like this, you've gotta take the good with the bad, and unfortunately most roleplays don't particularly last as much as they'd like to. They don't manage to get players with every interest check. They don't manage to pull off the great ideas they had, or run across an unpleasant person.
I'll say it again: Failure is inevitable. It's of course, good to try to avoid it by improving, but I would say it's more important, especially if you are starting out, to learn to cope with failure, accept it will often happen, and develop a method that works for you to cope with that notion. Personally, I strive to put all I can into what I make, to always make it stand out on its own with its own value. I want to make characters, posts, stories that I can look back to with pride, so that I never feel they were a waste of time, even if the RP ultimately doesn't go anywhere.
That'll be all for now. Hope this helps, best of luck and happy RPing!
1.Research
RPN has plenty of guides (such as this one ), and discussion threads themselves contain a lot of good advice and insight that may just be quite worth looking over, not only to learn about RPing and writing some more, but also to get a better sense of the community. Beyond just RPN, looking into writing and it's various aspects can also help one improve and get a better handle on how to approach things.
2.Discover Your Style
When starting out, one thing that you're going to want to do is experiment and see what sort of RP works for you and your tastes. Different RP styles call for different partners, RPs, and conditions, and speaking from personal experience gaining an understanding of what I like in a roleplay has dramatically improved my enjoyment of the hobby and my compatibility with the partners I get, allowed me to look for roleplays that better match how I really am as writer and my needs as a roleplayer. The better you know your own preferences, the better you'll be able to look for RPs that work better for, and the more you experiment in your early period, the better a sense you may get for which RPs match those preferences.
3.Don't be Afraid of Failure (Or At least Learn to Cope with it)
Failure is inevitable. Ghosting will happen, interest will be lost, disputes, life... When it comes to a hobby like this, you've gotta take the good with the bad, and unfortunately most roleplays don't particularly last as much as they'd like to. They don't manage to get players with every interest check. They don't manage to pull off the great ideas they had, or run across an unpleasant person.
I'll say it again: Failure is inevitable. It's of course, good to try to avoid it by improving, but I would say it's more important, especially if you are starting out, to learn to cope with failure, accept it will often happen, and develop a method that works for you to cope with that notion. Personally, I strive to put all I can into what I make, to always make it stand out on its own with its own value. I want to make characters, posts, stories that I can look back to with pride, so that I never feel they were a waste of time, even if the RP ultimately doesn't go anywhere.
That'll be all for now. Hope this helps, best of luck and happy RPing!
