Guide: Improve your Role Playing

by Guest Wed Dec 07, 2016 8:54 am

With the new Role Play "The Creations of All Things" out, many of our new members have decided to jump in and join it!

And so far it has been a massive success, but due to some comments in the chatbox, and some posts on the Forum. I've decided it would be a fantastic idea to create a guide on how to improve your role playing experience
(This is will be done in parts so if it's not finished that's why)

Step.1: Making your OC (Original Character)
When making your OC you need to take certain things into account.
The most important is what does your RM (Roleplay manager) want from you. For example if you're at Duel Academy, you may want to be a teenager to fit into that scheme.
Another key thing is backstory. If your character is 18 then he/she has lived 17 other years to get him to that point. Really go indepth and detailed about why your character is like he/she is.
This leads on to the next point. Make it interesting, your character could have done anything he could have climbed mount everest, fought off an Aborigines tribe, or just sat at home doing nothing, either way make it interesting, go into detail about the events and describe not only what happened, but how it made your OC feel.
The next thing is simply realism, there is a line between interesting and ".... just no", sure it is ok to push the boat out a bit but if you do you need to explain how and why. It's really important for your character to be believable as if they're not, then it makes everyone else lose their immersion in what's going on, plus it also helps communication.

Sure this is all well and good to know, but you don't have a clue who you want to be do you? If you've not got a character then how will you have a backstory? Good questions. Well let's fill out an example sign up sheet together.

Before we continue, to create a good OC you need 1 idea in your head, 1 detail about what you want your OC to be. maybe the deck they play? maybe their nationality? maybe part of their back story? When you have that continue

Character Name : The one thing that will symbolise your character the most is the name. This tells you more about the character than the back story does, and it's important to get it right. Which is why you should probably leave it till last. If your OC is japanese, it's best not to call him Arthur White. As the name Arthur White (to me at least) makes me think of an old white Englishman. There are also techniques you can use when creating your characters name, like a double-entendre. think of the classic bond girls: Pussy Galore, Honey Ryder, Kissy Suzuki. They all have two meanings and give a little extra impression on the reader.

Character Deck : For me the character deck is the most interesting and interactive part of a Yu-Gi-Oh! RP. They key thing to think of when choosing your deck, is does enough support? the reason I ask this is, maybe you want your OC to get better at dueling as they progress, so it could be cool to start off with a weaker deck and gradually get stronger. Plus by starting off quite weak it opens up the amount of fun decks that can be used. Wouldn't it be awesome to see someone rocking pure Machinas! Ultimately the deck needs to be fun to play because that's all an RP is for right? Just pick one the decks you wish was good in the meta and go wild!

Duel Spirit(Optional) : This is where people can slip up, it links to the realism aspect I made earlier. If everyone has a duel spirit, does it even mean anything anymore? maybe you've read up and 3 people already have one. maybe don't base your character off a duel spirit, and really focus on the character himself. However if you are going to use a Duel Spirit. make it mean something, don't just have it for the sake of it. Really use it to add extra dimensions to your plot and your writing.

Description (Appearance) : Not such an important feature, but it's nice to allow other people to visualise your character, again try to keep it moderately realistic (while still interesting) A great tip here is just to get a picture online and show us what they look like!

Age : I covered this slightly before, when it comes to age, there's only 1 thing you need to consider. Can i make the age I pick fit into the story? It's a good idea to speak to the RM if you want to go down an alternate path

Personification (Attitude) : The biggest thing to remember is that your character is going to develop in the RP. The biggest mistake I see people make in a personification is them saying that something has happened in the past and they are now looking to do something about that during the RP. That completely defeats the purpose of taking part in the RP. the personification should be there to explain a little bit about your character. maybe why they got into dueling? How they ended up at Duel Academy? and ultimately how they act now. A role play is all about throwing your character into a situation, dealing with things they wouldn't normally deal with, and making them adapt and change to the situations forming bonds along the way, progressing in the story to see how it ends.

Your mission is to add to the story not become the story.

Step 2: RP Etiquette (IKR only just at Step 2!)
For those who don't know, Etiquette means the appropriate way to act to treat others with respect.
Now that's out the way let's have a look at this.
The first thing is knowing when and when not control other characters, both AI and other people's OC. If you write "Jonny then opened the door to see Samantha getting out of the shower without a towel on" when the person controlling Samantha never specified that they were getting out of the shower with a towel on in the previous post, then that is bad manners. In the same way that if you say that someone is at a location when they have not said that they've actually arrived yet, then that is also considered poor etiquette. When controlling the AI you have to assume that there position is exactly where it's meant to be, unless the RM has specified otherwise. And you cannot let them make decisions or imply emotions. example: Good: "The Scientist was there to greet them" Bad: "The Scientist greeted them with open arms". although you're assuming that he's there to greet you it may not be the case. but because this is a thought process rather than a fact it is ok. That is the key difference.
The next thing is quite simple, just simply read every post. I know it's effort, but an RP is all about the story of multiple characters, really delve deep into what each character is doing. who knows maybe an interesting idea will spark that involves another character.
Another thing is called "Tagging" while forumotion does pop up that someone has posted on a watched topic, it is nice to tag someone in the chatbox so they are aware that you are waiting for them in the RP. and that they've been called into action.
The next bit I didn't really know where to write so I'm sticking it here. I'm gonna call it Teleportation. and you shouldn't do it! If your character is moving location, split the move into two posts. This allows other people and the RM to interact with you. So one post is "...Alex sets off for the church." then after a few more posts from other people. "After Alex arrived at the church..." This means that in roleplays where you may get punished for walking alone you can be, which definitely keeps it interesting! This part also links in to description but you'll learn more about that in the next section

Step 3: How to write.

Yes this seems a stupid title... and it is, but i totally couldn't think of a better one. By this I mean, quite simply when you are posting. how should it be done.
One thing I have to say first, is Proof read before you post! For the love of god if you're spelling professor, ppforssor you kinda need to commit suicide. See the little red squiggly line under the word? yeah that means you can't spell!