Thesoldier
Banned
- Location
- Florida, USA
Role play 101
A friendly guide to Role-playing with Tips and Tricks
By Thesoldier
Preface
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. The purpose of this guide is to better help you understand the concept of "Role play" and its intent is to make you better informed of role play expectations. Reading this guide you will learn the basis of role play, some tips and tricks, and also suggestions for you to better your role play experience here in our community. Our community basis is role play, and we are not like other communities. We strive for excellent and high quality role play here, and it is our hope by reading this guide you will have a better understanding.
Chapter 1: What is roleplay
The dictionary.com definition of role play is:
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Role play essentially is acting with imagination or pretending. We in the community are assuming roles which we would not be able to do in real life (policing, medical, criminal acts, etc...) In order to understand role play, one must have a strong use of imagination.
With a strong use of your imagination, your possibilities for role play are endless. In my time with the community I've role-played from serious situations such as police officer, criminal, bandit, to wacky far reach situations by using such imagination.
Chapter 2: How do I learn role play
Role play is dynamic, and we role play from our life experiences. Depending on the role you have chosen you should always think of ways to improve your way. Using knowledge of certain things can help.
We get ideas of our roles by the following:
-Movies
-Books, Novels, Art
-Real Life Events
-Real friends and family behaviors
For example: John loves Batman, and The Joker is his favorite character. John is on Altis Life and role plays as a rebel. John likes to cause chaos by pitting other players against each other, causing chaos on the island, and acting like a maniac. John also emulates his favorite character by telling jokes. John likes to act like "The Joker" from his favorite graphic novel "The Killing Joke." He also makes references to the animated series joker in his Role Play.
For a beginner, I suggest emulate the qualities of your favorite movie character/comic book character, etc...
This does not give you excuse to be a "serial killing murdering madman" but gives you a platform to evolve from.
Every situation calls for a different type of role play, and with time and experience you will learn how to roleplay better.
Another part about role play is learning to communicate. You can't role play if you're shy, and that's why we have other players here. Experiment with your role play with other players, and learn what works and what does not work.
Chapter 3: Dynamic Role Play
When I said role play is dynamic, what that means is that role play changes, and evolves. From one situation to the next, you need to formulate a plan in your head of how you want to go. Like Dungeons and Dragons, when the Dungeon Master throws a wrench in the gears, you need to figure out how to get them started again.
I always say with any role play situation, have a flow chart in your head ready to go. If X happens, prepare to do Y. If Y happens, prepare to do Z, etc...
In our community the role play can change from friendly to dangerous fast. As you play here longer you begin to learn more and more how to act to these situations. If things do not go your way, remember that you always cannot win. Sometimes you will find yourself in a no-win situation, and you may need to accept that.
Chapter 4: A Backstory
A suggestion is have a backstory on the character you are role-playing as. You do not have to write it down on the forums, but create a way how you would describe your character and his/her personality
For example: Thesoldier is a war veteran who suffered memory loss due to combat injuries. He found himself on Altis and has no memory of his name, nor how he got to Altis. All he has is remnants of a military uniform, and the locals have dubbed him the unknown soldier. He is on Altis now, and spends his time trying to find out more about his past while trying to make a living as a laborer.
When it comes to a back story, be realistic. You are not some super human badass who has no flaws. We are all human and we have our strengths and weaknesses. Maybe your character gets angry at certain things. You can role play as a crap shot, but an ace pilot.
Chapter 5: What role play is not
Low quality role play is not recommended and definitely not welcome here. So role playing as a crazy person, serial killer, psychopath will not not get you very far. However if you have good quality with a back story, you may be able to pull off these unsavory types of role playing.
Poor examples of role play are:
Kidnapping and executing people because you're a psycho
Threatening suicide with a poor back story
Acting Intoxicated with poor quality
Good example of role play:
Convincing another player of your trust, and then betraying him/her at the end of a long session.
Pitting a group of players together against each other after infiltrating them and gaining their trust.
Role playing as a member of a group, and convincing another player you have a form of authority to get control over them.
Convincing other players of an interesting back story, and getting them to follow you in an adventure.
Part of this section is Powergaming.
You can read a little wikipedia article about powergaming here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powergaming
In a nut shell, powergaming is forgoring role play to win, don't do it. You won't be liked.
Chapter 6: Community Reputation
to be continued...discussion will be welcome, and ideas to input are welcome while it is being created. Please PM me ideas or suggestions.
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