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No matter the medium, with role-play, or RP for short, there has always been a question of just how to do it well. Unpolished, any role-play can be awkward and even a little embarrassing. How does one address an act where one indulges in his or her inner child and pretends to be someone (or something) else? As complicated as it may first come across, it is not impossible to role-play well and have a good time. In fact, most of the time it is simply a matter of keeping it simple and taking the time to make oneself clear.

There are many types of role-play. Forum-based role-play; such as Acorn Rack or a private forum module, Instant Messaging RP; like on AOL Instant Messenger, or Windows Messenger, mmorpg roleplay; such as on an RP server, in World of Warcraft, and even tabletop role-play, the most famous being Gary Gygax's Dungeon's and Dragons. All of these are legitimate heirs to the title of role-playing medium. And in all of them, a person can role-play well. (Or perhaps not so well.)

So! How does one go about role-playing in a sense that can be construed as good? Are there rules?

No. But there are guidelines. There are no true rules across all types of RP, what rules there are depends largely on what kind of role-play it is and what format. But that is not our focus right now. There are some social faux pas to stay away from, and some general quality tips to keep in mind. In the long run, all of these will apply to just about any role-play you take part in, so it may be a good idea to commit some of these to memory, if one is seriously interested in pulling together a superb and fun story.

There are some people-types that one should keep an eye peeled for. Sometimes a role-player may bump into this particular player type, as it is more common than one might think.

Jake posts the beginning of a role-play thread on a public board, and sits back, waiting for a response. The role-play is set in a horror-type setting with roots in the real world. Most of the characters are regular people, although there are several different creature types, including vampires. Jake sets up his post as follows:

'Jake looked down the black leather couch again, and sighed. He had moved it now six times, and it still didn't seem to sit straight. Pushing his dark hair out of his face yet again, he reached out and grabbed the couch, shoving it again. This time he moved it left, trying to understand just why he couldn't line it up straight. It wasn't as though he hadn't tried. Finally,

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