Post by Pip Mystral on Jun 25, 2015 13:11:24 GMT -5
Forum rolepay is a little different than many other forms of roleplay, requiring certain etiquette and rules that aren't necessarily intuitive, especially since they're different for each site. This is the sort of expectations I personally have for my players - rather than hard-and-fast forum rules, these are more guidelines of behavior.
The Basics
First, we'll start with the basics. These are general rules and guidelines that apply to most situations.
1. Always Be Polite: Try to be nice to everyone. If your character is a jerk, that's fine, but you should be able to make the distinction between yourself being a jerk and your character doing it.
2. Think about what you say: What you think is funny, or a joke, may not be someone else's idea of fun.
3. Follow the rules: This shouldn't have to be said, but always follow the forum rules; they can be found in the same board as this thread.
Next are things that are more specific, to forum roleplay in general and to my forums in particular.
Starting Threads: Anyone can start a thread; all it takes is an idea for something to happen or for two characters to meet. Threads are the meat of the board where the action happens, so it doesn't make sense to restrict their creation. If you're having a hard time joining or making a thread, you can always go to the Plot Ideas board and hit people up to roleplay with. Don't be afraid to expand your horizons. Open threads are also good ways of meeting new people and getting involved.
Open/Closed Threads: As I said, threads are where roleplaying happens; so, obviously, people should create and then join them. But sometimes, you may not want any random person joining up. You may have something planned with another character, and another character only. If that's the case, let everyone know by placing the names of your characters in the title of the thread - for example, Thief And The Blacksmith is closed to just Pip and Cenric. Conversely, if you want everyone to join your thread, you can put "Open" in the title to let people know they're free to join. Threads with just titles are generally created with a plot/storyline in mind, so people joining the thread might want to carefully think about what's going on before jumping in. If you're not sure about joining a thread, it's always a good idea to ask one of the people who is actively participating in the thread if it's alright to do so.
Joining Threads: Generally speaking, it's always a good idea to at least skim the posts in a thread before jumping in, especially if it's been going on for a long time. The same goes for if you've been away for a while and a lot of people have posted in your absence. If it doesn't make sense for your character to jump into a thread, it's generally best not to do it.
Timeline: One of the more difficult things to adjust to about forum roleplay is that there is rarely ever a clear timeline. You can be in as many threads as you want, real-time, and still never have a paradox of time exist in-game. However, it's generally advised that you (at least in your mind) keep track of the threads you're in and roughly what times they happen at. That way, you can keep track of what your character knows, about who, and what they've done or not, and to whom. Also, if two threads obviously take place at the same time, you shouldn't be in both.
When Things Go Wrong: If you see someone breaking the rules, what do you do? The answer is to tell them to knock it off. Be polite, but firm - "Please stop controlling my character's reactions" or "Hey, you've been fighting me for a while, and dodging everything - can you take a hit?" Don't be all, "You're godmodding, stupid jerk godmodder who godmods!" - all it does is get people angry. If you're calm and collected about it, it's immediately clear who's in the wrong, especially if the other person gets defensive. If things continue, and you see repeated abuse of the rules, please PM either myself or Cenric, or click that little link at the bottom of the offending post that says "Report to Mod". Don't be afraid to come to us for help. The same goes for people who are being excessively rude, or are being bullies. Aftergate is a safe environment.
On a related note - if you have a problem with something Cenric or I have said or done, please don't be afraid to let me know. I will always hear you out, even if I don't agree with you. However, I do expect that you'll conduct yourself like a reasonable human being; excessive whining or bitching, especially about admin decisions, are less, rather than more, likely to change our minds.
Plot Arcs
There will be times when the forum will start overarching plots, which will lead all of the members in the forum (who decide to participate) through a clear story progression, altered of course by the choices of the players, centered around events that affect Temra as a whole.
During these arcs, special circumstances require adaptation of and addition to the general 'rules of behavior' regarding posting. This is to allow the people running the arc to provide the best story possible.
Plot Threads: The first difference between an arc and normal play are "plot threads". These are threads marked with "(Plot Thread x.x), where 'x' stands for a number. Unlike regular threads, plot threads have a specific sequence of events and timing (thus the numbers), and these are the threads where the bulk of the plot's action happens. When the storyline of a particular plot thread is wrapped up to the administrator's satisfaction, the plot thread closes like a normal thread and new threads are created.
Plot Timeline: As mentioned earlier, plot threads have a specific timeline. To aid in this, we put numbers after the titles of each plot thread. For example, "Finding the Key (1.1)" would be a thread about finding a key, and part of the first series of plot threads. Threads with the same first number take place at the same time. Just like normal threads, obviously, you can't be in two places at once without a very very good reason.
Creating Arcs: Like with threads, anyone can create an arc - but 'running' an arc takes a lot of work. The story itself must be planned out, important players must be contacted, and the arc must be run past the admin first. You don't have to tell me everything, I just need to know the most important things - things like villain information (just bare-bones stuff), what you're going to do to the world (no, you may not actually blow up the planet, even if you are going to put it back together again), who the major players will be, etc. If I say no, the answer is no. If I say yes, then be prepared to do the work.
Joining Arcs: All it takes to join an arc is to join one of the plot threads going on; your entrance should, however, be logical, just like your entrance into any thread. If you're not sure what a good place for your character to come in would be, just send a private message to the person running the arc; they'll likely have some ideas.
The Basics
First, we'll start with the basics. These are general rules and guidelines that apply to most situations.
1. Always Be Polite: Try to be nice to everyone. If your character is a jerk, that's fine, but you should be able to make the distinction between yourself being a jerk and your character doing it.
2. Think about what you say: What you think is funny, or a joke, may not be someone else's idea of fun.
3. Follow the rules: This shouldn't have to be said, but always follow the forum rules; they can be found in the same board as this thread.
Next are things that are more specific, to forum roleplay in general and to my forums in particular.
Starting Threads: Anyone can start a thread; all it takes is an idea for something to happen or for two characters to meet. Threads are the meat of the board where the action happens, so it doesn't make sense to restrict their creation. If you're having a hard time joining or making a thread, you can always go to the Plot Ideas board and hit people up to roleplay with. Don't be afraid to expand your horizons. Open threads are also good ways of meeting new people and getting involved.
Open/Closed Threads: As I said, threads are where roleplaying happens; so, obviously, people should create and then join them. But sometimes, you may not want any random person joining up. You may have something planned with another character, and another character only. If that's the case, let everyone know by placing the names of your characters in the title of the thread - for example, Thief And The Blacksmith is closed to just Pip and Cenric. Conversely, if you want everyone to join your thread, you can put "Open" in the title to let people know they're free to join. Threads with just titles are generally created with a plot/storyline in mind, so people joining the thread might want to carefully think about what's going on before jumping in. If you're not sure about joining a thread, it's always a good idea to ask one of the people who is actively participating in the thread if it's alright to do so.
Joining Threads: Generally speaking, it's always a good idea to at least skim the posts in a thread before jumping in, especially if it's been going on for a long time. The same goes for if you've been away for a while and a lot of people have posted in your absence. If it doesn't make sense for your character to jump into a thread, it's generally best not to do it.
Timeline: One of the more difficult things to adjust to about forum roleplay is that there is rarely ever a clear timeline. You can be in as many threads as you want, real-time, and still never have a paradox of time exist in-game. However, it's generally advised that you (at least in your mind) keep track of the threads you're in and roughly what times they happen at. That way, you can keep track of what your character knows, about who, and what they've done or not, and to whom. Also, if two threads obviously take place at the same time, you shouldn't be in both.
When Things Go Wrong: If you see someone breaking the rules, what do you do? The answer is to tell them to knock it off. Be polite, but firm - "Please stop controlling my character's reactions" or "Hey, you've been fighting me for a while, and dodging everything - can you take a hit?" Don't be all, "You're godmodding, stupid jerk godmodder who godmods!" - all it does is get people angry. If you're calm and collected about it, it's immediately clear who's in the wrong, especially if the other person gets defensive. If things continue, and you see repeated abuse of the rules, please PM either myself or Cenric, or click that little link at the bottom of the offending post that says "Report to Mod". Don't be afraid to come to us for help. The same goes for people who are being excessively rude, or are being bullies. Aftergate is a safe environment.
On a related note - if you have a problem with something Cenric or I have said or done, please don't be afraid to let me know. I will always hear you out, even if I don't agree with you. However, I do expect that you'll conduct yourself like a reasonable human being; excessive whining or bitching, especially about admin decisions, are less, rather than more, likely to change our minds.
Plot Arcs
There will be times when the forum will start overarching plots, which will lead all of the members in the forum (who decide to participate) through a clear story progression, altered of course by the choices of the players, centered around events that affect Temra as a whole.
During these arcs, special circumstances require adaptation of and addition to the general 'rules of behavior' regarding posting. This is to allow the people running the arc to provide the best story possible.
Plot Threads: The first difference between an arc and normal play are "plot threads". These are threads marked with "(Plot Thread x.x), where 'x' stands for a number. Unlike regular threads, plot threads have a specific sequence of events and timing (thus the numbers), and these are the threads where the bulk of the plot's action happens. When the storyline of a particular plot thread is wrapped up to the administrator's satisfaction, the plot thread closes like a normal thread and new threads are created.
Plot Timeline: As mentioned earlier, plot threads have a specific timeline. To aid in this, we put numbers after the titles of each plot thread. For example, "Finding the Key (1.1)" would be a thread about finding a key, and part of the first series of plot threads. Threads with the same first number take place at the same time. Just like normal threads, obviously, you can't be in two places at once without a very very good reason.
Creating Arcs: Like with threads, anyone can create an arc - but 'running' an arc takes a lot of work. The story itself must be planned out, important players must be contacted, and the arc must be run past the admin first. You don't have to tell me everything, I just need to know the most important things - things like villain information (just bare-bones stuff), what you're going to do to the world (no, you may not actually blow up the planet, even if you are going to put it back together again), who the major players will be, etc. If I say no, the answer is no. If I say yes, then be prepared to do the work.
Joining Arcs: All it takes to join an arc is to join one of the plot threads going on; your entrance should, however, be logical, just like your entrance into any thread. If you're not sure what a good place for your character to come in would be, just send a private message to the person running the arc; they'll likely have some ideas.