Roleplay Etiquette

 

 

Respect
 
 - Please try to acknowledge other players as best you can. You wouldn't like to be ignored either. If someone has taken the time to write up a post to join in on an RP, at least respond in some way, whether it be a short emote such as a nod, a smile or a wave if there is nothing for your character to vocally respond to.

 - Pay attention to what other players are doing or saying that may affect your character. People read your posts. Do others the courtesy of reading theirs too.

 - Patience is a virtue in RP. Please bear in mind that we all have our own RP styles. Some may post one liners, and some may post a paragraph. We can all adapt and compromise a little to make all feel welcome in RP.

 - Don't mix IC and OOC. Let's say, for example, a character isn't exactly nice, but insulting, rude or threatening. The player can be the sweetest person you'll find!


Communication

 - When you first enter a room, find out where everyone is, and always ask before jumping in on active role play. It's irritating to be in the middle of a story line and have someone barge in and upset the tone. Players would much rather you ask if you can join in as opposed to just doing so without asking.

 - Some role play here takes place in private settings such as a home, and your character may or may not know where that is, nor would they very likely just walk into the home and begin interaction. We have IM for a reason, folks!

 - Pay attention to other people's limits and if you are at all unsure about posting something then you can IM the player to ask for their permission.


Post Order

 - Please try to stick to the post order while in an RP scene and only one post at a time. This means waiting for your turn to post. This can be more difficult in larger RPs, such as events, which then originate in more than one post order, depending in which group you are in (it is natural for large crowds to make groups of conversation, in RP and in RL!).

 - Each player should be given the opportunity to react to the scene. Remember to react to other people's posts in your own post too.

 - Emotes (i.e. actions and descriptions) also help to create the story, but don't over do it.


Entrance/ Exit Posts

 - Please do not jump in on an ongoing RP with a post when you do not know what is happening yet. We know, you are probably excited, but make sure you see at LEAST one post before you choose to post!
 
 - When exiting a roleplay scene, it can be very confusing if you just disappear. Please post your exit. It can be as short as you like as we understand that real life can be unavoidable, but please don't just log and leave people baffled.


God-modding / Meta-gaming / Power-gaming

God-modding: This is something that most people detest, where a player seems to control everything around them and basically act like a 'god. Like being in a fight and the character always manages to dodge hits.

Power-gaming: This is similar to god-modding so they're generally thrown in together in one rule. Powerplaying is controlling somebody else's character or other characters, like saying 'Player one walked into a room and instantly everybody's eyes were on him and they all thought he was amazing.' Basically, you cannot react for another player or decide their actions.

Meta-gaming: This is highly frowned upon in roleplay and is basically players using information during roleplay that their character could not know. For example, using someone's profile to find out their race. If someone is secretly a mandrake dressed up as a white fluffy bunny, then they have the right to keep that secret to themselves. So unless they directly tell another player about it in roleplay, this is not known. Another example, would be hearing something OOCly about a story or character, and using the information ICly. What your character has not seen, heard or learned in roleplay, he or she does NOT know.


Consent

Consent is very important in roleplay. People have limits and have the right to say no to roleplay they might find uncomfortable. If you plan on ICly attacking a player, please let them know in advance and give one warning post. For example: 'Player one draws their bow and aims an arrow at player two, ready to shoot.' This gives player two the opportunity to avoid this scene if they wish to flee.

Consent is also required when healing a character. Please IM them beforehand to ask if they would like to be healed and if so, what their injuries are. Players may WANT to roleplay their wounds. It can be fun to be wounded too, so 'Player one places their glowing hands over the huge gaping hole straight through player two's chest and player one's wounds are all better' isn't always the best way to go. Please take a few posts to tend to wounds. This should be detailed, and players should be able to react as they please.


Shifting/ Using Magic

These things should be a little more detailed in post and should be a few lines of writing. Shifting is grotesque, and difficult! 'Player one shifts into their wolf form and sits down by the fire' isn't very grotesque or difficult is it? Use your imagination.

Magic is also complex. We need to know what spells are being cast, how they are cast, what they would do to the player and so on. It would be useful to IM the player and let them know of the effects if this is not described in the post.




OOC/ AFK

If you are OOC or AFK please use the OOC hub or at least use a tag so that people know that you are not IC. If you are in the middle of an RP, please let people know if you have to go afk and if it is expected to be long, you may want to tell other players to skip your posts until your return. Your character may also 'fall asleep' or 'daydream' etc in these situations (to make it a little more realistic for the scene).