Experiences Things You Didn't Know About RP?

[iseelight]

Sorry if there's already a thread like this, but I'm curious. I've been roleplaying as a hobby for over 15 years, but somehow I've always ended up in insular, casual groups or partnerships, where there's not really any mods or rules or specific structure. Since joining this site (and in glimpses elsewhere before) I've noticed that there's almost a "culture" surrounding online RP. A lot of shorthand, jargon, and "universal" rules and concepts have appeared which I'm totally unfamiliar with. Have you ever experienced this in new RP spaces? Share specific examples?

For me, one of the strangest things I've noticed is how big of an issue muse gender is. Some people say they only play one gender, some people say they're frustrated by people who only play one gender. I can't say it's ever been something I've noticed in other RP spaces I've been in. I have male, female, and nb muses, and have never noticed much of a difference in characterization or difficulty level. At least not due to the gender of the character. And it's never bothered me when someone else seems to only play males or females. Is this a shipping-related issue? Or something else? I've also heard of people who are even picky about the gender of the mun/player writing the character they're interacting with, which is equally if not more bizarre lol.

What are some things you didn't know about RP at some point?

 

[rae2nerdy]

Differences in vocabulary was the biggest shock to me. Like for instance in the roleplay sites I was on previously

the called character sheets character profiles

they called ghosting ditching

they used the literate posting levels instead of detailed/casual/simple.

and the genres were totally different.

Luckily when I first joined this site they had a glossary where everything was defined so it wasn’t hard to figure things out. Especially since the concepts where all similar they were just called different things.

GMs where were the biggest differences came in as some people (usually more from a table top background) seemed to view the GM as someone who doesn’t directly participate in the roleplay they just set things up. Whereas I had been taught that the GM was basically just a manager who made sure things were kept smooth OOC but still has an active role in the roleplay itself.

 

[Onmyoji]

I think the gender preferences are more like individual feature rather than general rp culture. Just that in big rp communities like this one it's very noticeable because a lot of people have a preference. It's easier to identify with a character of a specific gender, among other reasons. It's neither bad nor good, just how it is.

For me the process of venturing into the unknown was the transfer from native language to English-speaking communities. I had to learn a lot of new terms. There are many things in common but different slang words. I also found some attitudes towards roleplaying rather different. But now it's actually the opposite, I have no idea what my native language communities are doing and the terms they're using because for the past... many... years I've been roleplaying in English only.

I also still have no idea how roleplaying on tumblr works. There seems to be a universe of its own lol I wanted to give it a try once but gave up lol I prefer good old forums anyway.
And also the roleplaying that involves drawing (like on DeviantArt) completely unfamiliar to me. I didn't know it was a thing until some time ago.

 

[Crayons]

This is a really useful thread.

Way back when, I found it a bit of a culture shock when people started to insist that roleplay groups have a GM. I still prefer not having a GM, but I'm less "wtf" about it.

One of the things about RP culture (although less so nowadays thank the gods) is weird bits of vocabulary and turns of phrase that get picked up and used in RP that are never or rarely used in any other setting where language is used. For example, people referring to eyes as "orbs" and lips as "tiers". Thankfully "tiers" appears to have died out and I have no idea how that even came into use, but orbs is still way more prevalent than it should be.

 

[iseelight]

One of the things about RP culture (although less so nowadays thank the gods) is weird bits of vocabulary and turns of phrase that get picked up and used in RP that are never or rarely used in any other setting where language is used. For example, people referring to eyes as "orbs" and lips as "tiers". Thankfully "tiers" appears to have died out and I have no idea how that even came into use, but orbs is still way more prevalent than it should be.

Ah yeah I call that "fanfic writing" lol. I think a lot of people who RP have basically learned their writing "style" from reading fanfic. Fanfic is, of course, a really valuable and enjoyable part of fandom, but it can get very stagnant and repetitive when no other influences touch it for long periods of time. When people first started calling eyes "orbs" in fic, I'm sure it evoked a really beautiful image for a lot of people, so it was circulated and overused to the point of losing its original charm and becoming pretty absurd, as many fanfic writing cliches do lol.

 

[Crayons]

Ah yeah I call that "fanfic writing" lol. I think a lot of people who RP have basically learned their writing "style" from reading fanfic. Fanfic is, of course, a really valuable and enjoyable part of fandom, but it can get very stagnant and repetitive when no other influences touch it for long periods of time. When people first started calling eyes "orbs" in fic, I'm sure it evoked a really beautiful image for a lot of people, so it was circulated and overused to the point of losing its original charm and becoming pretty absurd, as many fanfic writing cliches do lol.

I feel ya, but I'm pretty sure these things started in RP and migrated to fanfic, rather than the other way around. I guess there's no way of knowing except trawling the internet, and even then, a lot of RPing was on chat sites back then so there's no record of them. XD

 

[iseelight]

I feel ya, but I'm pretty sure these things started in RP and migrated to fanfic, rather than the other way around. I guess there's no way of knowing except trawling the internet, and even then, a lot of RPing was on chat sites back then so there's no record of them. XD

Definitely could've been the case!

 

[nios]

Differences in vocabulary was the biggest shock to me. Like for instance in the roleplay sites I was on previously

the called character sheets character profiles

they called ghosting ditching

they used the literate posting levels instead of detailed/casual/simple.

and the genres were totally different.

Luckily when I first joined this site they had a glossary where everything was defined so it wasn’t hard to figure things out. Especially since the concepts where all similar they were just called different things.

GMs where were the biggest differences came in as some people (usually more from a table top background) seemed to view the GM as someone who doesn’t directly participate in the roleplay they just set things up. Whereas I had been taught that the GM was basically just a manager who made sure things were kept smooth OOC but still has an active role in the roleplay itself.

I had a similar experience as ^^.

Character profiles/forms became character sheets.
Literate posting levels^^
There are more genres to choose from.
Character development is valued more.

BBCodes were completely new to me and so was having a well-developed personality and background.
The rules against nudity, smut, etc... was weird at first because the last place I roleplayed didn't have any rules. The place was like the Wild West or something, but I'm honestly glad RPN has set boundaries. Most people, at least from what I've noticed, have followed through. I guess that is just because almost everyone here is older and mature?
One thing that stood out to me was how welcoming everyone is. Like, holy cow! Thank you for making me feel a part of the community even though I've only joined two minutes ago? Opinions are actually valued??? Woah!

 

[StrixDesmodus]

I recall on one rp site, the character sheets were known as "skeletons" or "skellies." I guess it's because it's the "bones" of what your character is like.
That very website was incredibly toxic, and the "literacy" wars and seniority scuffles were probably what caused it to become stagnant, but even though I never used the skeletal terms for character application forms, I always thought it was an interesting piece of slang.

 

[Damafaud]

I came from a more casual roleplaying site so everything here is new. You know that RP? You think it's cool? Just make up a character and jump in!

Then I meet character sheet for the first time here and got my mind blown.

 

[Grey]

I've also been roleplaying for about fifteen years (god I feel old on this site), and for me some of the oddest things about coming from a mainly tabletop background include the 'literacy' requirements and the severity with which roleplaying is treated by a lot of people.

I write fiction semi-professionally (may 2020 be the year I quit my day job), so for me roleplaying is mostly something I do for fun; I don't want to expend the same energy RPing that I do on my normal writing and I absolutely don't expect anyone to meet my quality standards if they're not being paid for it. But back when RPN absorbed the site I originally joined, I started seeing demands for writing samples, relatively strict wordcounts, and people approaching the hobby as collaborative fiction with more seriousness than some editors I've known.
This, to me, was especially baffling given the lack of original context - fanfic is no joke, but there's always been a dearth of deviation from existing canons.

For a while, there was also some low-key hostility to my way of doing things which I really didn't expect, but despite my early arrogance that seems to have died down, and I've certainly learned a lot by trying to pass on the benefit of my experience.

 

[iseelight]

I've also been roleplaying for about fifteen years (god I feel old on this site), and for me some of the oddest things about coming from a mainly tabletop background include the 'literacy' requirements and the severity with which roleplaying is treated by a lot of people.

I write fiction semi-professionally (may 2020 be the year I quit my day job), so for me roleplaying is mostly something I do for fun; I don't want to expend the same energy RPing that I do on my normal writing and I absolutely don't expect anyone to meet my quality standards if they're not being paid for it. But back when RPN absorbed the site I originally joined, I started seeing demands for writing samples, relatively strict wordcounts, and people approaching the hobby as collaborative fiction with more seriousness than some editors I've known.
This, to me, was especially baffling given the lack of original context - fanfic is no joke, but there's always been a dearth of deviation from existing canons.

For a while, there was also some low-key hostility to my way of doing things which I really didn't expect, but despite my early arrogance that seems to have died down, and I've certainly learned a lot by trying to pass on the benefit of my experience.

That was definitely another thing. I've always called "literate" RP, "para" RP (short for paragraph) because in the group I'm from, we use all kinds of styles depending on what the scene calls for. When I saw people on here calling it "literate," my friend and I actually had a good laugh about it, because the word seems so elitist to my eye lol. Literate?? The word count stuff we also had a laugh about, because even in "para," sometimes you don't need 5 sentences to say what you want to say.

Matthew scuffed the ground with the toe of his shoe. "I don't know," he mumbled.

Sometimes that's all you need lol. I can imagine the reasons that rule came into being; nobody likes writing with someone who won't do their part to move the scene along. But I guess it's different when you know and trust who you're writing with. I also feel you on RP being a hobby that shouldn't drain me the way my real work (illustration and comics) does. Seems a lot of people are SO serious about it. Am I getting paid for this?

 

[Grey]

There was a brief meme on the forum about my constant braying for concise, effective prose over inflated posts. Better words, not more of 'em.

 

[baggysack]

Damn if I can't relate. I cared a lot about "good posts" when I was a little younger with the justification being they could make for decent pieces for a creative writing portfolio. Can't exactly tell you how that worked out... Having, like, responsibilities now has definitely helped me value roleplaying as fun and more of a process now.

Nothing still gets me more than word counts for character sheets. "Three paragraphs mInIMuM for appearance." Good lord. I guess that was a wake-up-call when I first got into it, haha.

 

[BeautifulLoser]

The website I roleplayed on for like 10 years was very weird and different for sure lol. We had one RP forum for everything which included 1x1 Searches (They were called Private Roleplays), groups, etc. But it got to the point that it was all Private Roleplays, and they were all done in the forums. So eventually it turned into a competition on who could get the longest PRP thread going. That lead to tons of one liners and 0 dialogue lol. Once that got shut down I came here.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the large number of people online, the different forums for RPing, including tags and genres, etc. Then on my old website character sheets were called character skeletons (which is a very weird thing to look back on for me lol)

 

[PaulHaynek]

I didn't know 'RP' stood for RolePlaying.

 

[Uriels-Fire]

That defining length by paragraph count is kind of a willy-nilly way of doing things, and that other terms you could use to define length (Advanced, semi-advanced, lit, semi-literate, multiparagraph)? Also completely nebulous ideas that no one can agree on what they mean and will vary from platform to platform, if not even just person to person. If you want or expect a certain length of reply, you have to go and give a range for the word count if you're ever going to communicate your expectations clearly and without confusion.

I first got smacked in the face with this on omegle, back when I thought that literate just meant you write dialogue in quotes and actions aren't put in asterisks, which was all I'd encountered up until that point, but the person actually meant upwards of 4 paragraphs. Which again, what even is a paragraph? Just one sentence can technically make a paragraph. So could 20. And then, how long is a sentence? How long is a 'line'? All different pieces that can be super varied in length. There is no standard. The end,

 

[Crayons]

That defining length by paragraph count is kind of a willy-nilly way of doing things, and that other terms you could use to define length (Advanced, semi-advanced, lit, semi-literate, multiparagraph)? Also completely nebulous ideas that no one can agree on what they mean and will vary from platform to platform, if not even just person to person. If you want or expect a certain length of reply, you have to go and give a range for the word count if you're ever going to communicate your expectations clearly and without confusion.

I first got smacked in the face with this on omegle, back when I thought that literate just meant you write dialogue in quotes and actions aren't put in asterisks, which was all I'd encountered up until that point, but the person actually meant upwards of 4 paragraphs. Which again, what even is a paragraph? Just one sentence can technically make a paragraph. So could 20. And then, how long is a sentence? How long is a 'line'? All different pieces that can be super varied in length. There is no standard. The end,

The worst thing is when lit, semi-lit, advanced is used to either denote writing skill level OR length, and you have no idea which it is, or what the terms actually mean. Why do they exist?!

Even if my posts were super short, there's no way I could describe myself as "semi-literate"; the idea makes me feel nauseous. XD

I really dislike those terms. At least para, multipara, one-line, or script style actually mean something quantifiable, even though word count is more accurate. (I'd go for word count as an idea of my own post length.)

 

[Ayama]

The worst thing is when lit, semi-lit, advanced is used to either denote writing skill level OR length, and you have no idea which it is, or what the terms actually mean. Why do they exist?!

Even if my posts were super short, there's no way I could describe myself as "semi-literate"; the idea makes me feel nauseous. XD

I really dislike those terms. At least para, multipara, one-line, or script style actually mean something quantifiable, even though word count is more accurate. (I'd go for word count as an idea of my own post length.)

I feel like, whatever your expectations are, they should always be outlined in ways that aren't open to (mis)interpretation.
Statements like "no one-liners", for example, are perfectly clear, whereas statements like "semi-literate" are less so.
Really, I think the best (though this works better in 1x1 searches, I think) is to provide a sample of your own writing and say "something like this" xD ​

 

[Cosmo]

I think, over my years of RPing, the two biggest things I've learned are:

Collabing and Planning a Fight.

For the longest time, you writing a post then I writing a post and eventually the post because a bit odd with certain parts happening moments before something that had already happened in a previous post... Just becomes a bit jumbled. But when you collab a post together, it makes the flow so much better and, once it is done, you just paste it into the RP. Now I don't always do this as it takes time, but it is great for bigger, slower RPs.

Planning a fight, Jesus H. Christ, this one. Okay, so I hate most RP fights. 'My character uses.. DIAGONAL SLASH!' 'Their Character used... DODGE and returns a high slash feint with a low jab!' It... just takes forever and is clunky. But when you plan a fight even just being like, 'Hey mate, lets have this fight end with X happening, or, would you mind if my character disarmed yours but then yours gives mine a right hook that rocks their world?' even just deciding who should win makes the fights so much better. You aren't trying to one-up one another, not wasting post with silly 'Did that hit... no... okay, do I even want this to hit me.. ehhhhhh' Its just.. not a fan. When you plan out the fight, beforehand, even some details, it just becomes so much more enjoyable to both write and read.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

On the subject of planning fights in a roleplay, it actually never really occurred to me until literally just now that Cosmo said something about it that a fight was something one could plan. For me, fights in rps were always spontaneous, and something that I generally hated because I didn't like any of the systems for keeping it "fair" and yet have often had to deal with auto-hits and OP characters. My main mechanism for not coming across as those types was making my characters "auto-miss," which I suppose wouldn't be too far off for some of my characters such as Francis, who's got poor muscle tone and issues with motor co-ordination.... Except in my entire history of roleplaying he's actually never gotten into a physical fight.

 

[Belle_Sorciere]

When I first started role playing in ‘06, I was very confused by the jargon and text-speech abbreviations. (I didn’t understand ‘U/C’ meant ‘under construction’, for example. )
Then I got confused by the ranking system on the site I originally started on. Semi-lit, literate, literate-advanced, elite - headache fuel.
And then making ‘pretty posts’ came into fashion...where I learned basic BB coding just to stay ‘in the game’. They were still pretty ugly and more than one partner made post layouts for my characters. (Not because I asked either - they were just bothered by how unsightly my formats were. XD )

 

[rae2nerdy]

Lol speaking of abbreviations it took me an embarrassing long time to figure out what IPC meant. I kept trying to figure what computers had to do with anything.

It means ignore post count for those not in the know. And even after someone told me outright the information I still kept thinking it was PC as in computer.

 

[Crayons]

When I first started role playing in ‘06, I was very confused by the jargon and text-speech abbreviations. (I didn’t understand ‘U/C’ meant ‘under construction’, for example. )
Then I got confused by the ranking system on the site I originally started on. Semi-lit, literate, literate-advanced, elite - headache fuel.
And then making ‘pretty posts’ came into fashion...where I learned basic BB coding just to stay ‘in the game’. They were still pretty ugly and more than one partner made post layouts for my characters. (Not because I asked either - they were just bothered by how unsightly my formats were. XD )

Elite!! Ha ha ha! That's some arrogant ranking system! XDDDD

 

[rae2nerdy]

Elite!! Ha ha ha! That's some arrogant ranking system! XDDDD

I think I know the site they are talking about and that particular feature wasn’t particularly problematic (the people were a bit toxic though).

So basically the system was broken up into paragraph ranges.

Simple/Casual was the lowest tier and was basically one-liners.

Semi-Lit was the next tier up and was one paragraph.

Lit was next with one to three paragraphs.

Advanced Lit was the second to last tier with four to five paragraphs.

Elite I believe was a minimum of five paragraphs as well as dedication to character work, world building, and post layouts (their version of BBC code).

I mean granted I never bothered with anything higher than Lit but it wasn’t because the people running the role plays were elitist or arrogant. I just can’t write that much every post.

If anything I kind of appreciated that the post length definitions where relatively consistent across the site. It’s one of the more awkward parts of RPN where people will use the same term to mean radically different things. Like some people think novella is like advanced lit where it’s multiple paragraphs per post. And some just mean one paragraph.