Post by Lady Valkyrie on Jul 11, 2009 19:16:49 GMT -5
Introduction
If you have played the more conventional paper and pencil RPG's, you will find little difference in its online cousin. Though there are no dice, there is still a Game Moderator (GM) who controls the flow of the game. An experienced gamer will find it easy to flow right into the game, but should still read on.
If you have never played any type of Role-Playing Game (RPG), you will find this an easy game to learn. Playing an online RPG is similar to writing a story. In this case though, there are several authors contributing to the crafting of the story.
Formatting
* Double-space your individual thoughts, and all dialogue between characters.
* Use bold for emphasis and italics for your character's thoughts.
* Place spoken text in quotation marks "..."
* Enclose any out of context ( OOC ) within a two bracket signs. OOC comments should be kept to a minimum in roleplays.
Composing Your Message
The body of your message should contain the actions, thoughts, speech, etc. of your character. Nobody is expecting Pulitzer Prize winning writing here. Our primary goal is to have fun. There is one hint, in particular, which could help you out when writing your messages. When you write out your message, try to use the five senses of taste, smell, sight, hearing and feeling when you give your description. This helps to make the scene vivid. Also, the readers don't know what your character is experiencing unless you tell them. As an example, lets look at the following sentence and see how it can be improved.
Notice the only sense used is sight. Only what Mike sees is described. Now lets look at the same text, phrased differently.
It is not always possible to use all the five senses, but if you use them as much as possible, I think you will see your writing improve.
Open Roleplaying
When writing your messages, it is important to leave some things open-ended. As an example, here is a message that is NOT left open ended:
Notice the finality. Here is the same message left open ended:
Notice it doesn't say if the bullet from Jake's gun hit or not. No roleplayer has the right to kill off another players character. There should always be an agreement with the two players of the characters before any killing happens. That would be called auto-hitting and in many roleplaying communities, it's frowned upon.
Hopefully these guidelines will help to jump start your roleplaying abilities. We are all looking very forward to seeing everyone in action here.
If you have played the more conventional paper and pencil RPG's, you will find little difference in its online cousin. Though there are no dice, there is still a Game Moderator (GM) who controls the flow of the game. An experienced gamer will find it easy to flow right into the game, but should still read on.
If you have never played any type of Role-Playing Game (RPG), you will find this an easy game to learn. Playing an online RPG is similar to writing a story. In this case though, there are several authors contributing to the crafting of the story.
Formatting
* Double-space your individual thoughts, and all dialogue between characters.
* Use bold for emphasis and italics for your character's thoughts.
* Place spoken text in quotation marks "..."
* Enclose any out of context ( OOC ) within a two bracket signs. OOC comments should be kept to a minimum in roleplays.
Composing Your Message
The body of your message should contain the actions, thoughts, speech, etc. of your character. Nobody is expecting Pulitzer Prize winning writing here. Our primary goal is to have fun. There is one hint, in particular, which could help you out when writing your messages. When you write out your message, try to use the five senses of taste, smell, sight, hearing and feeling when you give your description. This helps to make the scene vivid. Also, the readers don't know what your character is experiencing unless you tell them. As an example, lets look at the following sentence and see how it can be improved.
Mike opened the door and walked down the stairs into the cellar.
Notice the only sense used is sight. Only what Mike sees is described. Now lets look at the same text, phrased differently.
As Mike opened the door, the mustiness of the cellar filled his nose. The stairs creaked loudly, protesting against the weight of his body. With each downward step, the temperature dropped and by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, goose bumps covered his skin. He felt an eeriness settle over him, and in the darkness of the cellar he became acutely aware of every sound.
It is not always possible to use all the five senses, but if you use them as much as possible, I think you will see your writing improve.
Open Roleplaying
When writing your messages, it is important to leave some things open-ended. As an example, here is a message that is NOT left open ended:
Jake leveled his gun at the criminal and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.
Notice the finality. Here is the same message left open ended:
Jake pointed his gun at the criminal and pulled the trigger...
Notice it doesn't say if the bullet from Jake's gun hit or not. No roleplayer has the right to kill off another players character. There should always be an agreement with the two players of the characters before any killing happens. That would be called auto-hitting and in many roleplaying communities, it's frowned upon.
Hopefully these guidelines will help to jump start your roleplaying abilities. We are all looking very forward to seeing everyone in action here.