Opinion What Makes Great Roleplay

[Thysnia]

Before I begin, I would like to explain that I am by no means an English professor nor an accomplished novelist. This post is strictly for discussion and aid purposes, and it begins with my observations as a roleplay enthusiast and lifelong writer. In turn, I would appreciate that everyone who joins in this thread be professional and respectful in your replies, and not be offended if you do something I have mentioned below. I am not calling out any particular people, so don't worry!

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Great roleplays are thoese that keep its members wanting to not only write a reply, but are eager to read every post from start to finish. You contribute to this cycle just as much as they do, which is the double-edged sword of this hobby. Awesome storylines help roleplays in a way, but if the quality is lost in the execution, such stories will not hold together for long.


The trend I have seen from youth writers is that their well-planned plots tend to begin very slow. More often than not, the first several posts consist of nothing more than a dissection of a character's thoughts and personality and have next to nothing actually happening. While some detail to help other writers understand the type of characters they are dealing with, you're not really getting any closer to the meat by having Henry sit at the edge of his bead moping over how drab the school day was... for the entire four-paragraphs.


Also, it's kind of a waste of your valuable time! This isn't the time to be timid, have your character leave his room and discover something, learn something, or meet someone. Fleshing actions out with thoughts is a valuable tool, but it shouldn't overwhelm your post. I usually find posts with endless emotion boring, and so much more could be done during that time.


As the cliche goes, actions speak louder than words. One can learn so much more about a character through his activities than if the player just rambles about the personality that is likely not developed yet.


At this point, your thought might be: "Gee, I don't know what to do. Nothing is happening yet. I'm not creative." Well, work on that! First, if you own the roleplay, give your members something to feed off of, even if they ultimately don't choose the same path. Give them their, hot, succulent steak and not the entire freaking cow they must somehow pick apart. This will provide the platform to built further plottage upon later.


Think about your plot. What could you possibly do to get your plan engaged? I will solicit my own roleplay as an example, because I have an ego. In Exoprism, student president Inca Sagarma uses her skills to defend the vital wall that separates her school from furious civilians outside. In the process, she takes a blow from a blacksmith's hammer, busting her shoulder up severely. The story begins with a battle scene to set the mood for the roleplay in the very first post, without having to over-explain the setting that should have been laid out in the introduction! Even as Inca is badly injured, she continues to sword fight advancing outsiders. This drives home the idea that she is bold and dedicated in nature without directly telling you so. You see?


A good roleplay host should create a scenario for you to negotiate with your character right from the get go, as they are ultimately in charge of all major events for their thread. If this hasn't occurred for any number of reasons, politely ask your host to create your own situation (within reason!) to make things more interesting.


Now, obviously there are going to be down times. This is inevitable, and perfectly fine! However, make good use of said downtimes, as they are just as much a part of the story as the planned details are.


One might ask this question: "My plot is rather vague; I don't have many plans". I see this very frequently as well. In fact, I recently saw a comment by another member on this very subject, so I will expatiate.


Too many roleplays begin when they aren't entirely developed, and this isn't consciously the creator's fault, it's just culture. Writers love to write out fantastic settings for their pieces but often fail to plan out an actual point to their roleplay. Sometimes, this is okay, such as a roleplay based on family and community where there may be no actual plot. More frequently, however, characters are tossed in to a grand picture with no sky, and yet again, we're back to the "what happens now?" disconnect from writers and their presence. The entire point of roleplaying is to be a part of a great adventure even as it does sound awfully corny. When it's difficult to find the road, you don't get very far, now do you?


As a third and final point, allow space for uncertainty. This one isn't as widely neglected as the previous two points, but it is equally as important. Even as I encourage the presence of a well documented plot, don't plan out every event in your story from the very beginning. This is taking my advice to the extreme, where situations also become boring because they're expected. Instead, provide a general idea as to what the characters are facing, and let them face it, plus that ice monster you didn't think would be there, and the mage that you originally thought was your ally and you later decided was your greatest nemesis. Make changes, be flexible, and allow the rhythm of the story to lead you to new ideas. This will allow for an element of "surprise", and get everyone excited for what no one saw coming. Allow everyone this liberty to gently guide the story, and even the game master will be in for a whirl!


In sum, there are three important parts, in their most effective order, to creating a roleplay people will be excited to come back to.


1. Plan a story, not just a world. Distant lands don't create action, people do.


2. Get your characters involved, even if Suzy is so shy!


3. Plan smaller events around your central idea as you go, and allow everyone to contribute to their composure.


I hope this little testimony will help fellow roleplayers with their storylines in the future.


If you have anything you would like to add or even combat, I encourage you to post it!

 

[Egolegume]

Are we speaking in broad terms as in writing in any form or specifically roleplay replies?

 

[Thysnia]

Are we speaking in broad terms as in writing in any form or specifically roleplay replies?

Mostly roleplay, but some of this could apply to other fictional writing.

 

[Auren]

I'd like to say that running to run a game where players are happy and receive a good story/experience comes from having been in those vague plot RPs.


I mean, I remember a time when all I wanted was to play with a theme, but never wanted to dive too deeply into story. I guess it comes down to what a player is looking for.


Granted, I was also roleplaying on a site where a lot of players only had vague outlines for story, and it was extremely difficult to find reliable players.

 

[Thysnia]

I'd like to say that running to run a game where players are happy and receive a good story/experience comes from having been in those vague plot RPs.
I mean, I remember a time when all I wanted was to play with a theme, but never wanted to dive too deeply into story. I guess it comes down to what a player is looking for.


Granted, I was also roleplaying on a site where a lot of players only had vague outlines for story, and it was extremely difficult to find reliable players.

That's where I'm coming from too. Lacking plot and having only a theme does work for some, especially the seasoned roleplayers. But more frequently I find that these fall apart more often than not, and it's not due to lack of player activity either. I've unfortunately been the owner of several roleplays that have been this way, and now I find having a story helps keep content flowing rather than letting them go wherever.


Part of this stems from my viewing a roleplay as a collaborative novel. Given I work hard not to be a dictator in my methods, I feel responsible for setting a roleplay's pace before inviviting anyone else in even, and so far, it's improved the outcome and life span of my stories.

 

[Auren]

Just laying out that the vague themes are apart of growing as a roleplayer. I started there, and I know a few others that started there.


I'm a creative writer myself, and I see running a roleplay the same way I see with plotting my own stories. I give lore, a political system, and setting, and then I let the players wander in the environment. I use NPCs to push players into decisions that will lead them to the end that I have in mind. They don't always do what I predict, but being flexible is apart of the job. *salutes*


I'm not sure I see roleplaying as a novel, so much as watching people react to given situations. Kinda like a novel, but more alive, I guess? Maybe I'm just insane. xD


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Anyways, I always believe in the theory that you can't learn to write until you write. So, a person doesn't fully understand how to create characters until they begin writing their character. You have to allow yourself to make a mistake in writing before learning to correct that mistake. For instance, I'm a fan of writing more rather than less. If someone writes more detail, they have more to choose from when trying to concisely convey an image. So, while writing extensively about something looks boring and pointless, but when used, a writer can go back and cut out what they can deem as fluff. BUT they will probably never (or take much longer to) learn what is fluff from not fluff if they never first write the fluff. I know it seems circular, but I find that you learn better from your mistakes in writing rather than stumping your writing for fear of making mistakes. You learn more in a sense.


So, I wouldn't tell a writer that what they just wrote was nonsense or useless. They had a really great experience writing, and now its a perfect learning experience. Maybe they are fully getting settled into character, or they are new writers. It's a chance, if they are willing, to show them how to write a character concisely or to even show how to demonstrate a character's personality or thoughts through their actions. For instance: A man that bites his nails may be a nervous sort. A woman that only decorates her room in baby pink colored things might be bubbly. Something like that. But, learning what to add and what to not add comes with practice.


As far as creating story for the characters, I think that falls under just writing and having guidance. I have been writing stories for a long time, so I place a lot of my story-telling elements into my roleplays. I also have had the help of professors and reading a lot. In my roleplays, I know my players and their character's fairly well, so I create situations that (I hope) in which their character is challenged and they, as players, are excited to continue. But again, I think a lot of learning how to put that into a roleplay comes with doing and seeing. Being in roleplays that create a story will offer a place where players can learn to do that with their own stories, but things like pacing events (so it's not all actionactionaction or too slow) comes with practice.


Roleplaying for a lot of people is a form of escapism, and their main goal in roleplaying is to put their character/themselves into an exciting setting, and play out whatever happens. They want to have fun, and to just play in a playground of words. Some want a milk chocolate that will melt in their mouth, and others want a juice steak with lots of spices. Plus, you have a huge group of people that roleplay, from ages 13 and up. That's a huge range of experiences with roleplaying and writing. Everyone is learning at their own pace, and having fun while doing it.


You bring up some valid points, but I thought I'd offer my pennythought. I hope I didn't ramble too much... O__O

 

[Thysnia]

My primary purpose for posting this was to offer a different perspective in roleplay approach, but I am well aware that people must be given the opportunity to learn.


That's what I wanted to target too. Too often roleplayers continue to wonder why it's so hard to get an initial interaction when nothing has happened, but it goes on and on throughout several posting turns and finally something comes up. However, players sometimes have already dropped off the wagon at this point.


This is just to expand on how someone can get a decent roleplays response going without it dragging, not that it's the only way to do so. I'm only speaking from my experience.

 

[Grey]

You work like me, Auren, where the games are concerned.


When I'm writing fiction, I lock myself in a dark room with music and coffee, and write. I have absolute control, a direction, and no desire to quibble with anyone else.


Then I come here to play roleplaying games, where I give the players a world, nations, and supporting systems. I let them pursue the goals their characters want, the scenes and stories they want, while having NPCs or natural disasters weave those intentions into a broader plot that I've hammered together from the individual narratives of the characters.


But that's a difference in approach. I realize most people playing RPs on the site view in the same way as legitimate fiction (I mean no offence, here, I just personally don't count RPs in the same league as actual literature), but in that case a trend I've seen is that many RPers don't seem to read enough.


It's like they have no idea how a narrative is structured and they misuse what vocabulary they have.


I think it'd help a lot of roleplays if they open on an active scene. Not walking to school, not waking up - you're in the shopping mall when someone pulls a gun, you're at the park when an earthquake hits, you're in the middle of a battlefield when aliens descend from on high...

 

[Egolegume]

This is what I originally wrote when the thread was titled/talking about "roleplay writing".

Spoiler

I believe a good reply balances usable and superficial information. I see roleplaying as a game, one that involves writing, but more importantly the exchange of information in the form narrative to progress a story. Usable information is the core of any reply and there can not be a reply without it. Usable information is what drives a story, progress a scene and is what other Rpers reply to. Superficial information is the flourish and frills added to a post to give it colour, but ultimately with or without this information there can still be a solid reply.

The best way to balance these two parts is to enforce hard limits, now not a popular opinion it has its merits. Hard limits force Rpers to be concise while still being creative. It asks the Rper to consider what is and is not important or relevant. They only have so much real estate and it is precious, an Rper is less likely to waste that space on the irrelevant details often used to pad a reply.





Hard limits create a comfortable buffer giving Rpers a safety zone that also protects the roleplay. The range allows Rpers to write less without writing too little and write more without writing too much. It keep replies comfortably interesting without over or under working Rpers (both while writing and reading).





The big question is does this prevent Rpers from being passive? The sad reality is no. What hard limits do is hopefully force Rpers to be less passive, as the environment they are writing in tends to be more active.





The number one way of avoiding passiveness is to directly address it as a GM. State, without beating around the bush, that active replies are wanted and that passive replies should be avoided. Every post should progress the scene either in significant or minor ways, so long as it provides something new to the exchange. Encourage Rpers to engage, encourage collaboration and idea sharing.





With the topic changed to What Makes Great Roleplay the answer is very simple: the players.


A roleplay can be as grand in plot, beautiful in appearance, mouth wateringly well setup, or simple and charming. None of it matters if the people in the game lack chemistry. I've made tons of games (roleplays) over the years, some complex and elaborate setups, others simple, easygoing games and both have failed miserably and succeeded for the exact same reasons. If players mesh and communicate with me and each other a game succeeds, if they don't it flops 100% of the time.


If there is nothing to keep a player invested in a roleplay beyond posting, the roleplay will eventually gets boring to most players. Look at the most successful RPs out there, then look at their OOC threads and you'll see a direct correlation between players communicating OOC and the longevity of the game. If they don't talk in threads they often communicate by other means, skype, Gdocs or PMs but there is always some form of continuous OOC communication beyond talking about the RP.


My most successful roleplays all had strong OOC conversation that was about and not about the RP itself. When I made friends with the players in my RPs, and they made friends with each other, the game flourished beautiful. When that doesn't happen most of my games go for a little while, maybe a week or two, before dying or never take off the begin with.


Also Proactive players make a roleplay great. Passive players who never contribute OOC or help in any way, or refuse to communicate ruin games. Proactivity = life, questions, suggestions, conversation, ideas they all help bolster a game (so long as the player isn't being overbearing, I find personally if someone gets up in my business and jabs at me that doesn't fare well).