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, after giving it one good kick, it seemed to be lined up correctly for his brand new apartment. Elated that his final piece of furniture had been moved into place, he sank down onto the sofa with relief, his thoughts wandering to Ashley. Should he call her? What was she up to? Her company would certainly be welcome about now.'
Anna responds with this:
'Anna kicked the door down, her eyes wild for the kill. Perspiration trickled down between her eyes from the effort of running, her shoulders moving as she heaved from both exhaustion, and anticipation. As she began to get her bearings, she noticed Jake sitting on the couch, and smiled a wicked smile to herself. Chalk up another one for me. She tittered, her lips stretching into a grin. With that she reached into her coat, pulled out the gun, and fired three rounds into Jake's head.'
Lo and Behold, Jake hath stumbled across the Powerplayer. A powerplayer is someone who roleplays with the upperhand, all the time. Usually whatever they type up or say is some egotistical set-up where they win either at another person's expense, or where the situation is completely in their favour, with little justification. This is BAD role-playing, plain and simple. The primary objective of role-playing is to have fun, and in this instance, Anna has killed Jake's character. What exactly is Jake supposed to do now? This is completely unfair. Other than glorifying Anna, what does this post serve? It ends the story, as opposed to developing it. When a person writes their own story, this is acceptable, but a role-play is not just a story, and when more than one person has input on it, it is not right or fair to take that person out, without their permission. Powerplaying is extremely rude, not to mention the fact that once established, it is hard to erase as a reputation. No one wants to spend their time writing up a post only to die in the opening paragraphs, or be second fiddle to someone's delusions of grandeur. Keep someone else's fun in mind as well as your own when determining how you will act. It will mean the difference between instant gratification, and a meaningful interaction that could last for a while.
There is a similar archetype that echoes the Powerplayer but takes things in a slightly different direction. Anna's post could also easily have reflected this:
'Anna kicked the door down, her eyes wild for the kill. Perspiration trickled down between her eyes from the effort of running, her shoulders moving as she heaved from both exhaustion, and anticipation. As she began to get her bearings, she noticed Jake sitting on the couch, and smiled a wicked smile to herself. Chalk up another one for me. She tittered, her lips stretching into a grin. With that she reached into Jake's mind and pushed at it violently. Jake winced against the feel of her persona permeating his thoughts, and as he began to shake, she smiled, watching him slam his head face first into the pie sitting on the coffee table.'
And thus, the Godmoder strikes in the Powerplayer's stead. The Godmoder and the Powerplayer are similar, but the Godmoder tends to take their abuse of another character an extra step further. They take control of the character some way, in order to better fulfill their goals. In role-play, his character is his, or her character is hers. He does not play her character for her, nor does she role-play his character for him. It is offensive to take control of someone else's character without their permission. It is not a story, in the conventional sense. It is a shared tale between two people, with input from multiple sources. If she plays his character for him, what is the point of trying to role-play? Why did she not just write a story? Then everything she wanted to happen would of course, happen. But of course, that is not role-play. Again, it is good to avoid this because you following the golden rule of keeping someone else's fun in mind, as well as your own.
The third archetype has its origins in fan fiction, but can be applied to RP as well. It is the most classic and common issue that role-players have, and also by far the most scorned position one can take. The Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu is the mother of all bad role-play scenarios, and most role-players, elitist or not, have either a bad story or a quip about them.
The Mary-Sue is always perfect. They are devoid of flaws and get the guy, are immensely popular with insert-popular-eye-colour-here eyed insert-popular-hair-colour-here haired beauties. They irk role-players because they are not believable characters but corporate Hollywood cookie-cutouts where they always live happily-ever-after. These characters are not bad role-playing in the sense that they abuse someone else. Alternatively, they are bad because they are one-dimensional and lackluster in the creativity department, and overall just irritating to run a story with. The story ceases to be unique when the same thing happens all the time, in various predictable ways. A role-playing character should generally have a few good points and a few bad points on hand, which establishes the character as realistic. People are more likely willing to role-play with someone if their character is akin to a patchwork quilt, with lots of quirks or flaws because the story will be more relevant to anyone who is following along. A realistic character is a good starter point for role-playing well.
The last archetype is again more of an outside the RP irritation, though its roots straddle the line. In Character are actions made, implied or otherwise, as the character, while Out Of Character are actions that are done as the players themselves, separate from the role-play. The last archetype is the Meta-gamer. The Meta-gamer is present in some role-playing more than others, tabletops notably, but can be found across the board if looked for closely enough. Meta-gaming is the act of taking something Out of Character, and exploiting that information In Character. In Live Action Role-playing, this is generally something said offhandedly Out of Character (OOC), that someone else abuses In Character (IC), such as the location of something important, something construed as what a character said, or just general information that the character should not know In Character. It is one of the few ways someone can 'cheat' in RP. Cheating is a universal no-no, and role-play is no different. In addition once done, it is highly unlikely anyone will trust that person enough to say anything OOC around him or her, and makes for quite the tenuous situation. Playing fair is highly recommended because otherwise, one may just find that finding a partner for their role-play is next to impossible. Trust is irreplaceable in this world, and the benefits of violating that trust in the short run certainly do not outweigh the ones in the long run.
Keeping clear of the four archetypes will boost role-play at the root, which is where one has to start in order for the follow-through to be of value. There are however, some general things a person can keep in mind:
I. Be Clear and Concise
No one reads minds. A role-player should say exactly what they mean to say, no more, and no less. Clarity is key in being understood properly, and if the message is unclear, responses may or may not make sense. The story will flow, but only if everyone remains completely coherent.
II. Respect your fellow Role-players
Just because the archetypes are sometimes violent does not mean it's un-allowed In Character. But outside the role-play one should be polite and kind to the people one is role-playing with. They aren't automatons, dancing for the amusement of others. They are people too, and deserve to be treated as such. This rule should be common sense, but it often is not. It benefits all parties involved, so why not be nice?
III. Spell-check, Spell-check, Spell-check!
Nothing grates on a writer's nerves more than bad spelling. Most Internet browsers have this feature built in, so turn it on! Bad spelling is completely undesirable and is a huge hang-up when trying to attract other role-players. Most people will pass over a thread that has too many grammatical and spelling errors, so checking the spelling of the title AND role-play post will raise the odds that someone will respond.
IV. Have Fun!
Fun is the number one priority in this activity and it cannot be stressed enough! Why, what is really the point of engaging in it if it is not fun? None of course! So strive for fun and relax; there are a bunch of do-nots, but that does not mean that the story will be a yawning session.
With all these tips in mind and a little work, a role-player can go from bad to great in almost no time!