What do you like/dislike in an RP? - Running List -

GgAcE

GgAcE

Retired Staff
You hear it a lot, your favorite RP just randomly died & you don't know why. I want to create a running list of things that YOU the members like to see in a role play. I also want to create a running list of things you don't like to see in a role play.


To make it as easy as possible for me, please bullet point your pros & cons:


EXAMPLE


Pros:

  • An RP that is already developed & has an idea for an ending


Cons:

  • Authors that are simply way to strict!


My ultimate goal for this thread is to help authors easily see what most people enjoy in role plays & what people really dislike in role plays. This should help authors in creating & maintaining more active role plays.


The more people post for the same thing, the higher up on the list it will be.


NOTE: Some people may say one thing is a con & someone else may say it's a pro. It will be added to BOTH lists & highlighted however, remember this list will be based on a multiple vote system. The more people vote it as a pro, the higher up the list it goes. After about a month or so, I will cut the list to about 10 or so options each. This should give us a better idea.
 
Pros:

  • Well developed rps/plots - Those that give you lore which both expands and limits your choices, keeping things interesting for both you and the Author.
  • Long run rps - My personal favorite, an rp that isn't too slow and repetitive but goes on for quite awhile.


Cons:

  • {1}Activity - Either there is none or there is the CONSTANT 1x1 within a group rp.
  • Strict/mind control - This one is a bit on the off side, as the author does know where the rp is heading but being strict to the point were character-plot for others can't develop... Jeez, I hate that.
  • Clarity - I feel it is important that an Author makes it clear for the roleplayers what is and what isn't allowed, the limit to the creation of ones character [ex. race in Fantasy, powers etc.]. Also for more demanding Authors, to point out how much is required of one to post, etc.


{1} - Activity in itself is great for any rp, small or big.


See this as a WIP list, since there is probably more than a few things that I have missed.
 
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There's a good chance I'll be coming back to this thread a few times to add to both sides of the list but here we go.


Pros


A well thought out and flexible plot


Interesting NPCs that are capable of deep interactions


Enough room in the RP for interaction between player characters


A well defined world without too much detail


Active or even fast paced RP that doesn't always require the author's input


Intelligent use of one line or short posts


Cons


Textwall intros with information that could have been held back then given in character


Strict authors


Authors who aren't strict enough with character applications and/or player misconduct


Friendly NPCs that are unnecessarily hostile


Plot armour


Poorly paced RP that allows players that post more frequently to get too far ahead


Strict posting requirements
 
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Pros


Good story


Good explanation of the plot or at least in showing it


GMs that keeps track o the RP


Cons


One-lines, bores the heck out of me.


Fast-paced RP. Like, 5-10 posts an hour.


Strict Authors


Author that doesn't keep a logical mind when reading through CS if it contradicts the Plot or not or does it even make sense at all


Lots of people sign up, less people post. 10:5 ratio
 

Pros:


Good story


Great interaction between writers


Detailed posts


Activity


Character development





Cons:


Writing a good introduction only to get a one line response. One liners in general.


Controlling Authors


God-modding


Naturally whiny characters


Story getting revealed in the first few posts


Plot that doesn't make any sense


Being rushed to post ever twenty minutes with unnecessary pm messages

​
 
Pros:

  • Good story
  • Great character interaction
  • Posts with some detail and effort into them
  • A nice conversation OoC
  • Explanation on the premise of the role-play


Cons(whooo boy)

  • One-liners
  • People who can't handle critsim
  • Godmodding
  • People not reading the rules
  • GM not giving enough info about the role-play
  • Wall of text(space bar and enter keys are your friend)
  • Not giving two-cents about spelling
  • Rushing others to post constantly
  • OoC post put right into the middle of the role-play and not in the OoC section
  • Strict GM's


Hmmm maybe I nitpick too much.
 
Pros:

  • Well-developed characters who act realistically.
  • Quick response times.
  • Posts that aren't incredibly long, but aren't too short.
  • Good, fun story and setting.


Cons:

  • Poor spelling and grammar.
  • Responses that take weeks when the RPer is always online.
 
Pros:


Respect.


Cons:


Spotlight seeking players. It can even be the GM!


It's the one great sin I've discovered in RP. Oh sure we know the regular tropes, one liners, atrocious cat grammar. But the spotlight seeker? They bull-rush the plot into somehow being about them. Their powers and goals come first. The struggles and focus of the RP must always, in some form, revolve around them. It's the antithesis of RP!
 
Pros:


~People who are dedicated and don't quit after 2 days. (Group roleplays mainly but also 1x1s)


~Fun ideas, keeping it interesting


~Feeling "comfortable" or "friendly" with the other rper. I find this especially with 1x1s that the better friends you are with the other rper the better the rp goes because you feel comfortable talking with them and bringing up issues about the plot/characters. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to be BFFs but just be...approachable and actually seem like you care.


Cons


~When people leave all of a sudden without a word. I can understand that there are real life things that come up. Personally, I always do my best to give a notice whenever possible but sometimes it just doesn't happen so I can understand that real life stuff is more important. Generally I give a week, maybe 2-3 days if I really, really like the rp or am bored, before I'll poke someone...Just to add on to this if you don't reply for a month or longer, without saying you're leaving, and then just reply out of the blue with no explanation that's also something that is really irritating. Anyways I know I've done it before as well, and feel bad about it but yeah just something that really irks me


~Being expected to write over 5 paragraphs every post, for just 1 character. I know a lot of people don't like short replies and all that but really I can't stand having to write (or read for that matter) 5+ long paragraphs. One liners aren't great but honestly there are times where I prefer them over posts with too many paragraphs.


~When people rush you to reply but then take forever to reply themselves.


~^Kind of an add on to that but having to poke people a lot.


I have a couple others I'm sure but that's just off the top of my head.
 
I like people that live and breath there character.


I dislike people that tell me or tell me to read the terms and conditions.


I think there is something wrong and people are not happy then it is good to follow the rules but if every one is happy and having fun. no one should stop them.
 
You may see this as uptight but I'm of the school of thought that for a roleplay clear rules help everyone participating have fun. Fact is there are a lot of styles for roleplaying and some of them don't fit well together. Having everyone agree on conduct before a roleplay starts seems to be the best way to avoid people getting butt hurt over things being unfair once things start.


I'm fine with the idea that some people may not like a set of rules and may shun a roleplay as a result but honestly not taking the time to read the rules seems disrespectful to both the person creating the roleplay and the players as well. Some rules don't necessarily have to be enforced as strictly as others but consistently flouting the rules or not even bothering to read them seem like good grounds to boot someone from the roleplay if you ask me.
 
I didn't forget about this list - Few active things came up this week for me. I would like to get some more items if possible as well.


If anyone is interested in working this thread & it's running list with me, I think I can afford to hand over a 30 day VIP account for the support =)
 
Pros of this Wonderful place

  • The amount of creativity and knowledge found on here.
  • The advice and the wonderful people who are always willing to help.
  • The recognition we get for the things we do
  • People are always so friendly!
  • AcE is awesome. :D
  • The promptness of response from mods and admins when assistance is needed
  • This place is just awesome


Cons

  • None
  • None
  • None
  • None
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE
 
GgAcE said:
I didn't forget about this list - Few active things came up this week for me. I would like to get some more items if possible as well.
If anyone is interested in working this thread & it's running list with me, I think I can afford to hand over a 30 day VIP account for the support =)
Click to expand...
I'd be delighted to help you with the list, but I'll have to decline the generous offer. That is if you'd need my, probably unprofessional, help. ^^
 
Pros:


~Authors that stay on top of postings.


~Putting a password in the rules. (To make sure people actually read them)


~Lots of room for flexibility, but still a general plotline to go by.


~Developing friendships with the people you're roleplaying with!


Cons: (Oh my god, I have so many little pet peeves.)


~My number one pet peeve--PEOPLE WHO LET ROLEPLAYS DIE. RP authors--including myself--work really hard to plan our roleplays, and half of them never get off the ground because there is that one person who signed up for a role and never posted a started--no matter how many times you asked them nicely. Oh, and it's always the same person who you see bobbing around the site joining every single new RP that gets created, whilst ignoring yours.


Okay, I'll finish this later, because I just got mad typing that. xD
 
Pros of RPNation

  • Authors that manage to be punctual or attempt to be punctual without altering their schedule
  • Developing friendships (I have made quite a web of friends.)
  • Developing a story of my own
  • Much room for flexibility
  • The Administrators are pretty awesome (GGAce that means you too!)
  • This place is amazing.


Cons of RPNation

  • When Good RPs die
  • People who let these RPs die
 
Pros~


A Role play with more than one plan O.o .This is because i've seen a lot of Slice of Life role plays with only what..a party?Then it's all over.


Role plays that are not all mapped out from beginning to end.Although this is not always bad,it does get on my nerves sometimes when it is mapped out.


That good feeling that someone is actually interested in the 1x1 that I participate in.


The taggers.When they need me,they tag me.


The biggest would probably be role plays with a strong base.Also it wouldn't hurt to write more than a paragraph :)


Cons~


One Liners


One Liners


One Liners


One Liners. Seriously I couldn't hate them more xD


Strict sign-ups? O.o


As Nizr said,when Good role plays die.That feeling that you have the greatest plan in the world for that role play but,no one replies enough to get it started.


People who are impatient in role plays but,don't reply themselves....like ok what the heck?


Although one liners is the top.There's one more.


~The Second Top Con.~





 When All the Slice Of Life role plays are exactly the same.This is why most people don't join them because they constantly see the same idea but,put into different words.This goes for three people I've seen.
 
I thought I was the only one who noticed that about Slice of Life rps. Sucks when you have 5 of the same ones pop up.
 
Pros:

  • Original settings that are done well and have a lot of detail in the OP. I understand why some people don't put that much into their worlds but seeing a large original world is always nice and enjoyable to RP in.
  • Excellent plots
  • A lot of PC interaction and NPC Interaction
  • A fair amount of freedom
  • DMs that punish Godmodders or refuse the godmodded action.


  • Fairly active RPs.


Cons:

  • GODMODDING! I hate this and it is very annoying.
  • The DM letting the RP die or abandoning it without any warning or scrapping it without telling everyone after people have submitted characters for it.
  • DMs that favour a player heavily.
  • Players that are inactive. Fair enough if life is busy but i dislike waiting for someone without a decent reason.
  • OPs that tell you nothing about the RP. It gives me nothing to work with.
  • Mary Sues
  • People not waiting for others.
  • DMs that decide to randomly disallow your action despite another player doing that. Thankfully, this has never happened to me.
  • OOC not in their section. It tends to disrupt the RP a bit.
 
PROS

  • Writing Sample Required - Unless the role play is intentionally trying to match-up less skilled writers with those of a higher skill level in order to promote growth in their writing ability (which I wholly support), I find it agitating when there is only one or two good writers in a role play trying to support an entire story (better that the skilled out-number the unskilled, IMO). So I like it when a GM requires a writing sample along with your character submission.
  • Flexible Plot - I have never been the sole GM of a role play before but when I am, I hope I am able to adhere to this rule. GMing a role play is not like writing a story. You have to remember that your fellow "players" are writers just like you and they are hoping (even expecting) to contribute to the plot in some way. Sure it is a good idea that there is a story in place but there should also be room for character growth and possible changes based on character choices. Nobody should feel like their character has to take Path A over Path B in order for the plot to continue. Remember, though that if you ever have a GM whom you feel is too strict that your are a part of a story that they likely worked very hard on before opening it up for other players and that it can be hard for them to let go of certain ideas. So I love to see a GM who is capable of flexing their own idea cups in order to hold the creative juices of their players.
  • Cooperation - I've been a part of some role plays where if two characters were having a back and forth discussion, the two players would get together and actually write a single post between the two of them in order to make reading it simpler for everybody else and because it just looked better in the overall scheme of things. This is the sort of cooperation I would like to see in more role plays because I've always viewed online role playing as something more akin to a collaborative writing project than a game or a competition.
  • Posting Requirements - I like it when I see a GM who expects a certain number of posts within a specific time-frame. The least I'm usually willing to accept is one post a week. See Dead Posters below.
  • Multiple Roles, Fewer Players - It is my strongly-held belief that the fewer players in a role play, the easier it is to keep alive and keep moving. I am not at all adverse to playing 2 or 3 or even 4 (usually my limit) characters in a single role play and I'd much rather work with a small group of writers (2 to 4 including myself) playing multiple characters and all working on the plot together than a huge cast of writers where the OOC to IC ratio is so overbalanced that I lose interest in the story. Granted, there are some obvious advantages to having a large group and I'm not against to ever joining one but I feel like the more players in a role play, it needs to become more and more free-form and character driven with individual plots and mini-arcs as opposed to focus on an overall story.


CONS

  • Dead Posters - I get it. Real life gets in the way. It does that sometimes but when it comes to GMing my own role play, I'd actually be happy with one post a week. Life can get to be crazy hectic at times but I do not think that one post a week is asking a lot from anyone. I mean, if you dedicate any amount of time to online role playing then you've already proven that you have at least some time on your hands and if you cannot bring yourself to write a single paragraph a week (and read a couple more) then maybe you shouldn't join one of my role plays. Even still, should something come up and you are unable to post, then shoot the GM a quick message and let them know. You might not have time to write that post but you can manage at least a line saying, "Hey, life came up. I won't be able to get to my post until next week." See? Easy. Now don't get me wrong, I'd prefer a post every couple of days but I think once a week is perfectly reasonable and depending on the number of players, could move a plot along at a decent speed.
  • No Direction - Having a free-form role play is one thing but giving players the illusion of a story only for there to be no real direction to the plot creates nothing but utter chaos and, eventually a dissension in activity. You can still have a flexible plot even while you have a clear idea of where you want the story to go in your head. You can even have an ending already set in place that your players know about (which might be best for some role plays) so long as you give your players the freedom of how they reach that ending. Sometimes, too just because you have an ending in mind does not mean that you have to adhere to that particular scene. Many writers have had a particular ending to their story in mind but by the time they got that far, the ending had already gone through small revisions or even drastic changes that altered it completely and everything that came before. There is nothing in the best novels out there that cannot also be accomplished through role play with the cooperation of all players involved and the GM. Because we're awesome like that, right guys?
  • Poor Spelling and Grammar - Nobody is perfect. At least, nobody who admits it. But when I see poor spelling or even silly typos in a role play's introduction, it dissuades me from wanting to join. I understand if you don't care about your grammar when you're in the chat room or you're sending a text but online role playing is a writing art form and it should be treated with the same respect to spelling and grammar that an author has when writing his/her book. Granted, a lot of authors have the advantage of an editor but there is no excuse for not running your post through Word or a similar program to see if you might be able to catch a few silly typos (such as 'hte' instead of 'the'). I also hate to see people use typing on a tablet or their phone as an excuse. If you're writing a post for a role play, don't do it in a way that is going to compromise the quality of your writing. Now I don't consider myself a grammar Nazi by any means. My grammar most certainly is not perfect. If you have not noticed, I am something of a comma wh*re but not so much so that it makes my posts unreadable. However, I am proud to say that my spelling is pretty damn good, even without a spell check. When presenting your role play to a community full of writers, I feel like extra special care needs to be taken to insure that your grammar is up to par because this is the stuff that players already invested in the story are going to reference back to at times. Myself, I always type my posts in Word so that they go through the spelling and grammar check but because that does not catch certain mistakes, I also re-read it once or twice just to make sure. Sometimes, especially for dialogue-heavy posts I even read them out loud but this is something that I've always practiced, even before I role played.
  • Pictures Required - I'm not against using pictures for characters but sometimes I feel strange about it because I'd rather someone use my written description of my character to imagine them rather than artwork done by someone I don't know and which represents another character that is not mine. Now I understand requiring a certain type of picture but I feel like 'no picture' should always remain an option. So if you say, "Pictures required; real-life only" then I'm probably going to pass your role play up. But if you say something like, "Real-life pictures only or none at all" then I'm totally game. I am not above using pictures, though and if I find one that I really like, I will gladly use it. I've even made a few characters based solely off of pictures I have found. This is especially true in more relaxed role plays or (though I rarely join them) in unoriginal settings.
  • Preset Characters - For the same reason I avoid unoriginal settings, I do not like playing a character that someone else has created. I don't mind being expected to make a character who is meant to fill a vague role but so long as I still have my creative freedom. I don't even mind being given more strict guidelines so long as I have some say. Even then, I'll play a preset character if they are needed for the plot but so long as the plot does not revolve around them and so long as I can still introduce my own, fully original character to the role play.


So there you have it. If you read all of that then I thank you. If not, then I guess I don't blame you. I'm a long-winded person as it is but when it comes to the subject of writing, I'm practically endless. Don't worry, however because when it comes to actually writing, I may be thorough but I also adhere to the philosophy of quality over quantity.
 
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I hate characters with insane powers, no explanation of how they got them.<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2014_02/maynardmeme.jpg.d7e55f65849b7be62ef4853ed8769b92.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="13705" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2014_02/maynardmeme.jpg.d7e55f65849b7be62ef4853ed8769b92.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

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