Thread: Thoughts
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Old 08-09-2017, 09:46 PM   #1
Electric
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Thoughts

Unfortunately this is not a new RP. I'm not around the drome nearly enough anymore to do one. But, for Years I spent a lot of time here in the RP section and really enjoyed it.

As someone who had never joined a forum, never done an RP, and just got into TMNT when I joined, I still remember passively messaging Lethal asking if it was okay if I played Donnie in her Lethal Lullaby Production, and asking if she thought I could handle it. And it took off from there, I was on here everyday, planning out my posts and got excited when others posted. For over 2 years I was involved in so many RPs that I can't even count and typing like Donnie or Leo became second nature. It was very fun for me, and I'm kind of sad this section has all but died off.

I realize a lot of the old veteran RPers from when I was here have moved on to other forums, or just stuck to individual RPs, but for anyone who wants to come back, and hopefully some brand new members that want to try it out, I thought I'd just give some advice on what worked and what didn't from my experience here, and hopefully some new ones can take off. These are just my honest thoughts, and people can absolutely disagree with them, but I'll throw em out there.
Also, if you're a new RPer please do not feel like these are all rules that absolutely have to be followed! Everyone's different with RPs. Don't stress! No one will get upset with you if you do something they don't like or that doesn't work. They may say something but we were all new at one point. I encourage you to try it out.


•keep the plot/setup simple- rps were best when you had a general idea and then just went with it. It'd evolve and develop on its own. Often times, when there was a plot that was too specific or too organized, where these certain events have to happen, or OP has to give constant plot description of what happens next or how the timeline is going, or even when it's just too descriptive with setting/events/purpose, it was hard! You've got several people all taking their characters different directions and having to adapt to others characters, that it's more difficult and less fun to have to try and constantly reset to get back to a specific of the plot. Set a couple ground rules, give a short description of what the plot is, and then Go!

•Writing style is important but only to an extent. And posts should also be able to give enough information. Chances are it should not be one sentence. Give a little more. Thoughts, description, dialogue. If you're post only says "character shakes his head no" or "character dodges" it's very difficult for others to respond to this. Why do they say no? What are they thinking? What do they do after they dodge? Do they say something? Do they attack back?
But outside that, everyone has their own style. I'll be the first to admit I was guilty of wanting everyone to follow in a specific format. But people prefer different ways. And as long as everyone can convey decent information in their posts, don't get too hung up on it.

•Others characters are others characters- first, im aware some people RP in a way that characters can be controlled by anyone, I've never done that though, so this relates to the format we generally followed.
Don't control others characters. It's a little blurry but it's also not too difficult. A general rule I followed is you can aim an action at another but not decide the result. Like, your character throws a punch at another's character, *not* your character punches the other character in the face knocking them down. Let the other person decide if the punch lands or if it misses. It's fair that way. Now, on less important stuff, a little of that is necessary. Like saying your character grabs another characters hand and leads them to the kitchen, i see as fine, because going back and forth saying you reached for their hand and then they took your hand and then you started guiding them toward the kitchen and then they let you lead them, is just unnecessary. Just use common sense. And if you wanna speed it up, add multiple actions! Your character throws a punch at another's then sweeps your foot at their legs.

•don't Overpower your character- relevant to the last one and ESPECIALLY important for OCs. It is no fun having a character that just does everything right and can avoid anything bad and you can never touch. It's a give and take with everyone. Have one of their punches land, have your character mess up. Honesty it makes the game more interesting when stuff happens. I'm pretty sure I had Donnie get knocked unconscious several times and Leo was almost always nursing a cut or broken bone.
With OCs, be reasonable. It's easy to get carried away, I know. But if your OC is a psychic vampire that is a black belt and is also a master archer and swordsman that can time travel as well, or can cast a spells that make him invincible and heal himself and blow things up and teleport and control the elements and can make him invisible and etc etc, it's annoying as hell to be another character that has to interact with them (I literally just combined any OC I remember into a couple dramatic examples, not going after any older RPsrs here lol). Be reasonable! Give others a chance that don't want to OP their character

•similar to the last one, don't make your character the sun - not everything is going to revolve around your character, OC or not. If there are OCs, have the canon character include them, if you're an OC, don't hijack the everything from canon. Characters are going to be important at different times. Sometimes your characters are gonna be more supporting cast than main cast. You can still contribute with out being the center of attention.

•just stick with it- so many times rps would start and drop off by page 3. Don't give up just because someone does something or it gets a little bit quiet. It only takes one post to get things interesting and better again. Just go for it. Don't be afraid to make moves. And I'd also advise doing one or a couple big rps over adding new rps all the time, as those can distract in my opinion. Best rPs were when several people were all in one


And that's all I can think of! I'm hoping I'm not offending any previous RP player, as I very much enjoyed my time doing this. These are just things I noticed that create problems in the past, and I'm certainly guilty of some of them too.

I'd just love to log back in at one point and check the RP section to see a 50+page ongoing RP like there used to be
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Last edited by Electric; 09-14-2021 at 12:05 AM.
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