Ways to Kill a Roleplay

FutureKiyoshi · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **FutureKiyoshi** on Wed Nov 15, 2006 2:44 pm

I went with godmodding even though forced actions came in very close. Both of those get on my nerves.

Remæus · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Remæus** on Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:03 pm

I thought that I would post a summary of what I thought each would be. It might help voters make their decisions, as well as spawn some talk about what is permissible and what is not.

Metagame.
Taking something that you as a player have knowledge of and allowing your character to know, without rational IC reason.

Godmod.
Have an undefeatable weapon, an indomitable defense.

Argue.
Take it to PM. No need to argue at all, if RP is done correctly and respect is given to everyone.

Cybersex.
Unnecessary intimacy in public.

Use unbalanced characters.
Your character has amazing abilities, but no weaknesses?

Use uninteresting characters.
Having no personality or definitive qualities to the character.

Use txt-tlk.
omg u hav a prblm wit txttalk?!!

Use a style inconsistent with the current play.
If someone is RPing in real time chat style, you post para style, or even essay style. And vice versa.

Use Mary Sue characters.

Wikipedia wrote:Mary Sue (sometimes shortened simply to Sue) is a pejorative term for a fictional character who is portrayed in an overly idealized way and lacks noteworthy flaws, or has unreasonably romanticized flaws.

Use stock characters.
Roleplay as a character from a series, in an otherwise diverse world of original characters.

Use stock storylines.
Use a storyline from a series, in an otherwise diverse world.

Fail to play the character.
If your character is afraid of insects, fail to make them react appropriately to a cobweb that is found in a room she enters.

Fail to engage potential players.
Failure to roleplay in a way that provides an opportunity for other players to jump in.

Force actions upon other players.
Referred to as non-orthodox, roleplay in a manner where another player has no choice but to accept an action.

Ignore actions made by other players.
If someone is in the game, refuse to acknowledge someone's post without previous provocation.

Mix Out of Character (OOC) and In Character (IC).
When speaking IC, refer to things such as the forum, a chat, a room, an instant messenger, in the OOC sense. While OOC, refer to your character in the first person...

Talk OOC in the roleplay.
Hold an OOC conversation in the same place as the roleplay.

Dovey · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Dovey** on Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:21 am

Style has to be consistent for me.

I've always role-played in a forum environment. It's not in real time so one has no excuse to neglect spell check, creating new characters and storylines, and most important sticking with a unifying theme or--to be more specific--writing style, be it first person POV, beginning each post with an aphorism, or even doing something crazy like not using the letter "e." (Maybe I'm just talking about participatory writing in general.)

In a forum environment, I think it's more satisfying if one crafts the plot instead of the characters, because the forum media tends to emphasize narration. And it's more permanent. That is, not only does the player need to be able to jump into the plot, but so does the casual reader, whether it be while the role-play unfolds or reading it after its completion in one of those showcases Gwing and minusthepapercuts has. As a casual reader of RPGs, I agree that it is interesting characters and plots that keep my attention, but inconsistency in style has made me hit the exit button more than once.

Because of this, I don't mind other people playing my characters as long as the character is following some kind of logic according to his or her prescribed personality. Yes, I know that role-playing implies becoming a character, but there is a limit to hogging a post for out-of-place character development, like squeezing in a paragraph that lists in excruciating detail the character's tattoos. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, but part of character development is how one's character reacts to plot twists; bonus points if one can fit in stuff like physical description or whatever into the story. But, seriously, don't stretch it or else it'll become selfish narcissism. That takes the fun out of it. If you become too attached to your character, go write your own saga. Anyway, I personally think it's kind of fun going with the flow or subtly pushing your character back onto the track you want.

So, those are my thoughts. As a disclaimer, I'm not even sure if I can back it up since I haven't role-played in forEVAR; never completed one either, which kind of makes my tirade moot. I also sound more obsessed that I really am; it's just a past-time afterall. Either that or I sound like a hippie. Free love, drugs, and characters, y'all!

Sirge · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Sirge** on Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:23 pm

I hate godmoders.

Zonaracku- · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Zonaracku-** on Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:52 pm

Ehh..I dun' like 'em much either.. And sometimes things happen and I will God-Mod and not even relize I am.. But so will others.

HAL · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **HAL** on Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:53 pm

Interesting. Hmm. It could happen.

Aelita · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Aelita** on Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:51 pm

I have never actually God-modded before. I guess that's because I have never really been in any fighting rps anyway but I try to keep it clean. I don't like it when other people control your character. It kinda takes the control away from you.

mronimusha · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **mronimusha** on Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:32 pm

I can see why you'd dislike people controlling a character, but it's a necessary evil in a number of occasions. Take the "werewolves and magic and..." roleplay going - that deathsomething guy has a one line post that's nothing more than a single line of speech. Maybe it's him being a bad writer, which is ably supported by his work in said RP, but I would see nothing wrong with him controlling the character he's talking to by saying that they're just walking. I make this point because on another forum, that's now sadly dead, I had someone bitch at me twice for actions - the first time, he roleplayed hitting me with a fire spell and me being burnt alive, which would presumably be godmodding, then complained when I deflected his spell back at him because it was actually a curse, not a spell, and I was controlling his character. Now, THAT'S crap.

I would say that the best, most effective way to kill a roleplay is to suck at it. I go back to deathsomething again because he irked me in that other thread - not by barrelling in and hurling people into walls, but by having a character who's little more than "roar smash" and not doing anything to alleviate this. It can be little things as well - for instance, the latest post in the Luxembourg thread, someone referred to SWAT-Calibur's character by "Caliber", which a) isn't a correct spelling of any of the forms of the word, and b) isn't the character's name, which really got on my nerves because the Calibur name IS IN THE MEMBER'S BOARD NAME AS WELL.

Aelita · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Aelita** on Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:59 pm

Yea I could see that and that is where the whole sucking at it thing would come in because they aren't putting what they are doing. Which one of the key roles in roleplaying is description.

Yea, it becomes sad when it gets to the misspelling of a name that is right in front of you. I usually try to recheck the stuff I write but sometimes I am a bit dazed or something and still end up spelling things wrong.

HAL · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **HAL** on Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:00 am

I'm not sure if I would like to try to recheck the stuff he or she write but he or she is dazed or something and end up spelling things wrong. What's it like?

Ace Darkfire · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Ace Darkfire** on Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:56 am

mronimusha wrote:I can see why you'd dislike people controlling a character, but it's a necessary evil in a number of occasions. Take the "werewolves and magic and..." roleplay going - that deathsomething guy has a one line post that's nothing more than a single line of speech. Maybe it's him being a bad writer, which is ably supported by his work in said RP, but I would see nothing wrong with him controlling the character he's talking to by saying that they're just walking. I make this point because on another forum, that's now sadly dead, I had someone bitch at me twice for actions - the first time, he roleplayed hitting me with a fire spell and me being burnt alive, which would presumably be godmodding, then complained when I deflected his spell back at him because it was actually a curse, not a spell, and I was controlling his character. Now, THAT'S crap.

I would say that the best, most effective way to kill a roleplay is to suck at it. I go back to deathsomething again because he irked me in that other thread - not by barrelling in and hurling people into walls, but by having a character who's little more than "roar smash" and not doing anything to alleviate this. It can be little things as well - for instance, the latest post in the Luxembourg thread, someone referred to SWAT-Calibur's character by "Caliber", which a) isn't a correct spelling of any of the forms of the word, and b) isn't the character's name, which really got on my nerves because the Calibur name IS IN THE MEMBER'S BOARD NAME AS WELL.

I see where you are getting at, and there is certainly a limit where partial control of a character (IE: conversation while walking) becomes excessive (IE: taking full control of another players character and killing him/her and continuing on trying to prevent the other player from being able to do anything in retaliation). If there's a battle sequence going on, there should not be anything preventing, or attempting, the opposing player from doing anything. (IE: flash frying the opposing players character to a pile of ash that blows away with the wind, and then continuing on the patch to a village).

And spelling changes of player names is certainly annoying, sometimes, people don't pay attention, or they do, and just don't give a rats ass. Which is why in the online world "2" is representative of "to," "too," and "two." As well as "w8" for "wait." They don't give a damn.

Aelita · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Aelita** on Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:35 pm

I hate it when people I am playing with calls me by a totally different name without looking at my name. It get's on my nerves cause it's just right in front of them.

LordSaladin · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **LordSaladin** on Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:48 am

Ok, I'm going to go with failure to engage potential players, basically because I believe that this leads to all the other options available.

Potential players, will to some extent, be mainly people new to the Role Playing scene; those with more experience feeling quite happy to jump in to an 'in-progress' RP.

We need to engage the people who are, not only new to the RPing world, but also to this site. Even those who have RPed previously elsewhere, whether through a chat system like IRC, or where I personally started RPing -- TeenChat. I can say through my experience, that the quality of Role Play on TeenChat is poor at best.

Therefore, should we really judge those who are new? Or, should we approach them, and offer advice and help?

I was more than lucky that I enjoy writing as a hobby, otherwise, after a year or so break from RPing due to no internet access, I would have come here and find myself perhaps writing like Deathmaster.

What we need to ask though is whether or not these errors, and lack of apparent skill are through a blatant disregard for RPing ettiquette, or because the people have not been 'trained' and guided in how to RP correctly.

If the option was there, I would certainly have chosen "Ridiculing of new players". For a lot of new people, this ridicule may actually serve to destroy their confidence, and result in them no longer participating in RPing at all. How does that help the community to grow? It doesn't.

Unfortunately I do not keep as vigilant a watch on the forums as I should do, but in my wish to do so, I have read this thread and found that many have very good points.

I do however, find mronimusha's open and public attemp of derision of Deathmaster to be totally uncalled for. I have read a few of the guy's posts recently and agree that he has room for improvement. But look at his resolve - he plays in a lot of RPs and has started many himself.

I am just glad that he has the resolve to ignore the comments made in respect to himself and continue doing something he obviously enjoys.

mronimusha · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **mronimusha** on Sun Feb 11, 2007 10:41 am

Cry me a river. When I'm getting discouraged from playing games because I have to factor his bullshit - usually godmods, but also controlling characters and just plain ignoring other actions going on - into it, I reserve the right to say precisely what I want about him. Couple that with the attitude of a three-year-old being reprimanded - I have a message in my inbox that reads, verbatim, "Fine than because of assholes lie you you faggots have just lost an RP you dumb fuckshits!!!!!1" - and I can't help but think that, regardless of his potential, he shouldn't be throwing tantrums when things don't go his own way.

Skuld · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Skuld** on Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:04 am

mronimusha wrote:I can see why you'd dislike people controlling a character, but it's a necessary evil in a number of occasions. Take the "werewolves and magic and..." roleplay going - that deathsomething guy has a one line post that's nothing more than a single line of speech. Maybe it's him being a bad writer, which is ably supported by his work in said RP, but I would see nothing wrong with him controlling the character he's talking to by saying that they're just walking. I make this point because on another forum, that's now sadly dead, I had someone bitch at me twice for actions - the first time, he roleplayed hitting me with a fire spell and me being burnt alive, which would presumably be godmodding, then complained when I deflected his spell back at him because it was actually a curse, not a spell, and I was controlling his character. Now, THAT'S crap.

I would say that the best, most effective way to kill a roleplay is to suck at it. I go back to deathsomething again because he irked me in that other thread - not by barrelling in and hurling people into walls, but by having a character who's little more than "roar smash" and not doing anything to alleviate this. It can be little things as well - for instance, the latest post in the Luxembourg thread, someone referred to SWAT-Calibur's character by "Caliber", which a) isn't a correct spelling of any of the forms of the word, and b) isn't the character's name, which really got on my nerves because the Calibur name IS IN THE MEMBER'S BOARD NAME AS WELL.

This is another thing that bursts my bubble. (And it lends beautifully into my previous vote of failing to engage potential players.)

When players rip on each other. There's a certain level of understanding in which one person believes he or she is better, or more talented, but at the same time to come crashing down on new players for the sake of making a point is rude.

To me, mronimusha, you could have made a valid point without bringing in the name of a member, and even direct us to his thread. And as for "deathsomething," 1) I'm really glad you took the time to remember how to spell his name, 2) I sat down and chatted with him for a while. Yes, he doesn't spell well, yes he doesn't use proper punctuation and grammar, yes it was horrible to have to suffer through it, BUT the first thing he asked me was, "How am I doing in the Nocturne RP?"

He wants to get better.
He wants to learn what he's doing wrong.

And no, this is not going to change over night. He can't "hook up the Matrix" and learn the English language's grammar laws in their entirety over night. We will have to remind and teach him of all the things we've already told him, etc. But isn't that what we're here for? We need to teach our new generation to become a legacy we feel comfortable leaving behind, no? And that sounds like we some sort of elitists trying to take over the world or something equally insane, but think about it.

Have any of you made friends through RP, better friends than your real lives have to offer?
Have you ever dated one of the people you RPed with?
Or any number of a hundred others possibilities?

I mean, who are we to turn these people away because we're better than them? Who says we're better then them, regardless? Many times they have a passion that rivals that of our own. And to be honest, in the years since I started RPing, I've become more of a perfectionist, and I have this obsession with structure, and I want to plan everything I write out, etc. But I rarely actually get to the writing part, because I'm so stuck on the planning and organizing.

Deathmaster8001, who is actually now known as Kiesu Shinto, just writes to write. To have fun, and enjoy.

Are we so full of ourselves that we'll push them away without a second glance? Or say, "Like omg, we've told you like, three times not to do that, so yeah. You're banned."

We're a community.
A group of people with similar hopes.
We need to respect everyone. From our highly creator (/worships Eric), to our newest registered members. Admins, Mods, users, and everyone else in between, right?

*shrugs*

But that's just my two cents.

Skuld · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Skuld** on Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:11 pm

mronimusha,

Your post has been moved due to the fact that is was not on topic. I have PMed you the link to the new location.

Though I do wish to continue this conversation with you, I do not believe that this is the place to do so.

As for the rest of you, please, carry on.

mronimusha · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **mronimusha** on Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:04 am

I tell you something else that I've just realised can be a pretty effective killer - purple prose.

Purple prose is a piece of writing where everything is overly eloquent to the point where it's like the author has written it out normally, then taken a thesaurus and changed any word under three syllables to sound more impressive. I say this because I was reading one of the battles in the tournament - one of the two I'd already seen was VERY prone to this, but I didn't realise the other was just as bad.

Their fight was huge, but not in a good way; I mean, when I write, it's long because there's either a lot of stuff to be described or a lot of story behind it. In this case, it was long because of the vocabulary used. Things like "disadvantageous", which I'm not sure is even a real word, "perspicuous", "tenebrous". I almost stopped reading when one of them used the phrase "his olfactory organs pique at the scent of anticipation". Ignoring that pique isn't used in the right context there, why couldn't he simply have used the word "nose"?

Nils · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Nils** on Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:59 pm

Hear, hear, mronimusha. This site, Hogwarts Wrestling Federation, is a hilarious satire on it.

Thanatos · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Thanatos** on Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:10 pm

You don't have it on your list, but, attempting to make your character the centre of every bloody encounter- Even when their characters are a million bloody miles across the other side of the planet!! Its impossible for any roleplaying character to know exactly what is going on elsewhere and to stop eveny other character from being injured!!

But yeah, i agree with every point on your list. Too many of my best roleplays have been ruined by newbs who refuse to read the rules of a roleplay before joining.

Teh Andy · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Teh Andy** on Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:59 am

mronimusha wrote:I tell you something else that I've just realised can be a pretty effective killer - purple prose.

Purple prose is a piece of writing where everything is overly eloquent to the point where it's like the author has written it out normally, then taken a thesaurus and changed any word under three syllables to sound more impressive. I say this because I was reading one of the battles in the tournament - one of the two I'd already seen was VERY prone to this, but I didn't realise the other was just as bad.

Their fight was huge, but not in a good way; I mean, when I write, it's long because there's either a lot of stuff to be described or a lot of story behind it. In this case, it was long because of the vocabulary used. Things like "disadvantageous", which I'm not sure is even a real word, "perspicuous", "tenebrous". I almost stopped reading when one of them used the phrase "his olfactory organs pique at the scent of anticipation". Ignoring that pique isn't used in the right context there, why couldn't he simply have used the word "nose"?

I don't know about perpsicuous and tenebrous, but disadvantageous is definitely a word, and a reasonable one at that. The others, not so much, IMO.

But yea, this is just annoying- people try to seem like better writers by using huge words, but they only succeed in making their post uglier. It should not take Herculean effort and focus to read through a post. A post should be easy to comprehend and flow easily from one sentence to the next- it should be fun to read, not a struggle. I'm sure these same asswipes feel very superior to everyone else, but it's really just a pain in the ass, if you want to write like that, go spar Charles Dickens. If anyone ever gives a person like that an advantage in a spar, I will cut their scrotum off and pull it over their head.

Ways to Kill a Roleplay

a topic in Out of Character, a part of the RPG forum.

What is the most effective way to kill a roleplay?

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