Ways to Kill a Roleplay

HAL · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **HAL** on Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:01 am

Violet prose is a piece of writing where everything is. I heard they have a good fight was huge but not in a good way; he or she mean when he or she write it's long because there's either stuff to be described or story it. Anything else?

Teh Andy · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Teh Andy** on Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:01 am

And if they don't have a scrotum- I'm against violence against women

IrisFai · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **IrisFai** on Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:54 pm

One I've noticed that has always been a problem and the biggest killer for the rps I am in: Failure to actually come back to the rp. Too often do I see people post once, maybe twice, and have good posts and then they up and disappear. It really hinders the rp, especially when they get in a few posts that start affecting the plotline and everyone's going with it, it's all good, we're on a roll, and we hit a rock. Nay, a brick wall. *sigh*

HAL · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **HAL** on Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:54 pm

One what?

Blade Miahn Shinne · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Blade Miahn Shinne** on Thu May 10, 2007 10:50 pm

"One" as in an effective way to kill a rp HAl...but anyway, I found that not playing the character kills rp's just as quickly as the rest of the choices. If somebody starts to play in one character and then starts to drift and all of the sudden that character becomes someone totally different it can ruin the story.

Remæus · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Remæus** on Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:01 pm

I've re-activated this poll, and I have added the ability for users to change their votes at any point in time. Additionally, you may now select more than one option, up to the amount specified.

This list goes to help thousands of new roleplayers learn the best practices, so be sure to vote and give your feedback!

Aurvant · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Aurvant** on Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:55 am

I'll have to say that "Ignoring a persons post" doesn't necessarily =kill= the entire roleplay, but it causes huge inconsistencies between players. That in return can cause arguing then cause actions to be forced on people. See....it's like a "Gateway screw-up" or something like that.

isafos · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **isafos** on Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:54 am

i've been unfortunate enough to experience ALL of these, so its HARD to pick JUST ONE. Godmodding I GUESS, but I also hate people power-playing my characters.

Evana · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Evana** on Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:23 am

Edge wrote:So many choices! I can definatly vouch for some of worst ways to kill off an RP. But you forgot long absent memebers, THAT kills more RPGs then AIDS, Cancer, and alien-zombie infestations put together.

And now for the weather.

Oh, and well written cyber sex should be written as a plus.

Human, how does your wife live with you? >>; I'll have to ask her about that, someday. She should be nominated for an award.

As for the choices listed above...I second Edge's note that long-absent members tends to be one of the main killers of RPGs, but if we're talking personal pet peeves...I'm going for "Forcing actions on another player". Nothing will get me to bite someone's head off faster than someone else shoving actions onto my characters as if they know how I roleplay and what the inner workings of the character are.

MetusOccultus · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **MetusOccultus** on Sun Nov 11, 2007 6:00 pm

A lot of them up there are good but I hate it when people cannot play their own character. Seriously... make a character and stick to it. If you dont you wont like the character itself, other plays will be confused, confusion = fear, fear - run away and hide, run away and hide = a sad sad Wolfy

Eh....something like that
-Wolf

Mikhos · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Mikhos** on Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:43 am

I hate Mary Sues.
I hate shitty characters in general, nevermind.
xD

Tarmo of the Dusk · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Tarmo of the Dusk** on Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:12 pm

My votes for God modding and Forcing actions.

If you want something to happen, like a huge fight, influence it to happen...

Don't force it to happen.

And the godmodding just get's annoying...

Melika · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Melika** on Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:39 am

Four things that will definitely end a RolePlay?

Argue.
Fail to play the character.
Fail to engage potential players.
Ignore actions made by other players.

If you argue, you're not roleplaying. Nothing moves forward and no one wants to jump in and post- since you might attack them next.

If you fail to play your character, then what are you doing? Not roleplaying properly, that's for sure. What kind of example are you setting for others? Perhaps they will believe this RPG and characters are unimportant as well.

If you cannot engage the other players, your RPG has no direction or purpose. They cannot interact with your character and you will not have a cohesive storyline. At the very best, the RPG is boring to read.

Ignoring the actions of the other characters again leads to a fragmented story that will be boring to read. The other players now have no way to interact with your character- again.

All the other things, those can happen and the RPG might live. It may not be fun, but it could live.

I agree with Edge; vanishing players will kill a RPG swiftly. :lol:

But perhaps their internet died... as long as they get online and let everyone know, it isn't so bad, right? They can be written out of the RPG if you want to continue. ^_^;

I don't really mind my character being moved, as long as it is consistant with what my character would do. People with whom you may RP with often will understand how your character would respond. For instance, my sister and I can move one another's characters in any RP, because we pay attention to their character, know one each other's writing styles and it stays in line with their normal actions. But, of course, you should always ask first. Even my sister and I will ask one another still, if this or such-and-such is alright to keep it all consistant. ^_^
Influence is better, simply set up a situation where a certain action by the other player is expected. It's not that difficult. And sometimes the other player will surprise you with something unexpected- which makes for great writing opportunities!

Swift.Arrow · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Swift.Arrow** on Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:06 pm

There are people that play other roleplay games and are active members but they just have a roleplay they started and they are totally ignoring this one RP. So they play regularly on other RPs but not this certian one. If one of you people that are not sure you are RPing in ALL of the RPs, you need to go and check all of your replys and figure out which one you have ignored. Most people accidentally do this and they are having a hard time keeping up with all of their RPs. If you have an rp in fantasy and anotherone in realisic and anotherone in futeristic and there scattered, you need to add them in your FAVORITES so you don't forget them.
So FAILING TO PLAY THE CHARACTER gets my vote.

vasa o souls · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **vasa o souls** on Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:46 am

i have to argee with swift but i feel that metagaming is the worst how ever i cant fiqure out why cybering is up there if done right and tastfully it can add a bit of feeling to any RP

Remæus · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Remæus** on Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:02 pm

There is a defining factor when questioning any action in an RP, and that includes portraying intimate encounters in the roleplay. You have to ask of the action, "Does this advance the storyline?"

Yes, sexual encounters are part of defining a character. However, when roleplaying - the furthest necessity of these encounters is to include them as an allusion, not to play them out in detail. If you find it necessary to play these actions out, to perhaps give depth to a character, then just as most acts of sex are held in private, you should do the same between your characters, then come back to the roleplay and carry on.

Ultimately, if it isn't advancing the storyline, then it is only lowering the quality of the game.

iwuvcheeze · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **iwuvcheeze** on Tue May 27, 2008 2:07 pm

I agree, simply allude to sex, you do not need to make text porn, you can make it sexy with out making it gross.

Kestrel · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Kestrel** on Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:32 am

Most of the mentioned cases kill an RP really. Just wanted to highlight some;

Cybering, very simple; unless people plan it to be in the RP it has 0 reason to be in there. I realise I've written some sexual scenes in stories, and yes it can contribute to the story, character, relationship and there's a lot of other things you can do with it. But explicitly describing the act step by step simply isn't required. Nobody cares where character A puts his tongue! What people might care about is the atmosphere or emotional reactions of the characters. You can describe those without explicitly describing the act.

Uninteresting characters. If reading about someone's character becomes a chore, his/her posts are a chore to read and you're still expected to have your character communicate with his/hers, you can count on it, there will be a drop in interest in those posts. It'll become a butterfly effect. Nobody wants to read said boring character, but since he/she is a part of the story they have to, people postpone their posts, try to somehow avoid/exclude said character, etc. It's not fun for either party and when a roleplay stops being fun...

Inconsistent styles, sudden first-person to third-person switches can be very annoying. People remember what character you're talking after about a paragraph, if you suddenly change your writing style, people will lose track of who is who. Not even starting on inconsistent styles in a single post...

Ignore actions made by other players. Self-explanatory.

Also; Woo necro-post! Not like this topic hasn't seen that before though...

Winter Tail · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Winter Tail** on Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:21 am

To give a rundown of most of the list and my own ramblings from the peanut gallery, metagaming and godmodding bug the piss out of me more than just about anything. Now, I don't mind light metagaming to get the story going, but you don't automatically know where I live, what my deathly allergy is, or just so happen to have said deathly allergen in your pocket. If you can justify your knowledge, then I'll allow it, but if you can't, the action is omitted and if you were going to something, you'll be fumbling in an empty pocket.

Arguing is what ruins a lot of games. I ran a D&D game for a while, and even though I put my players in some BS situations, none of them were BS enough to completely kill them or even seriously cripple them in a permanent fashion. I eventually made it a rule that basically said "Look, I hate coming off as an ass, but don't throw a huge fit over a situation that you can't get out of. The solution isn't always right in front of you.", well, they didn't stop, gave up DMing after that.

Cybering, got no problem with that, just take it to whisper or PM and I'm perfectly fine with it, no matter how obscene your relationship is. Hell, I partake in it myself at times but I never actively look for it, that's just low.

Cookie-cutter characters are one of my pet peeves. I mean, if you're a half-demon for example... I dunno about your setting, but if a baby with horns was born in any of my middle-age setting RPs, it would be killed, burned, and drenched in holy water. Emos also get me, as do wannabe badasses. Unless you can live up to the standards set by people like Bruce Wayne or Kratos, don't play a badass.

I see a lot of half-demons in my other RP community, it's gotten to the point where unless you put a lot of effort into it (what kind of demon, how it affects them, what powers it grants), I'd deny it right off the bat. Especially if you have "demon form" somewhere on that overused trope. Hell, I have a long list of RPCs and only one of them is half-demon, and she's a half-incubus.

Ignoring players is a huge one, even though some people deserve more respect than others, nobody ever starts off as someone to ignore. If you want to be completely ignored, earn it. I've seen a lot of good RPers slip through the cracks, but it's because most of them don't initiate anything themselves. Understandable though. Some people are shy about it, been there myself.

I don't mind canons, or stock characters as you call them, but I just wanna say this: "Research their personality, and for God's sakes don't make them gay unless its explicitly said that they're gay."

The one thing that makes me quit a roleplay for good however, is administrators and moderators that godmod/mary sue/metagame/be asses themselves. Nothing will ruin a game faster than a storyteller who considers his character God. Yes, I am a firm supporter of rule zero, but I'm also a supporter of playing fair and setting an example.

Holy Hell that was a long first post.

Jaybt9 · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Jaybt9** on Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:20 am

Swift.Arrow wrote:There are people that play other roleplay games and are active members but they just have a roleplay they started and they are totally ignoring this one RP. So they play regularly on other RPs but not this certian one. If one of you people that are not sure you are RPing in ALL of the RPs, you need to go and check all of your replys and figure out which one you have ignored. Most people accidentally do this and they are having a hard time keeping up with all of their RPs. If you have an rp in fantasy and anotherone in realisic and anotherone in futeristic and there scattered, you need to add them in your FAVORITES so you don't forget them.
So FAILING TO PLAY THE CHARACTER gets my vote.

In bold, I definitely agree with. That's why I subscribe everything.

Ways to Kill a Roleplay

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

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