Looking to get into RPs...

[SullyMcGully]

So, I've been on the forums for about a year now and have been slightly interested in the RP culture here. Recently, I had a friend suggest to me that I should look into joining an online RP because I want to become a professional storyteller, and he said that RPs are a great way to get experience with that. So do you guys have any advice about this? Is Serenes a good place to start for a first-timer, or is there somewhere else you'd recommend? What are the biggest things I need to know before getting into something like this? My schedule is kinda tricky, should I even be thinking about role-playing or should I get storytelling experience through some other avenue? 

Thanks for the advice!

[Moblin Major General]

RP's here, whether you host or join, are very skewed towards veterans. They require good worldbuilding, storytelling, adaptability, etc. A post that is under at least 2 sentences in length is rare and usually only for when nothing interesting is going on, and on the other side of the scale, some of the older RPGs have people writing novellas every other post. Maybe some of the others will tell you more, but that's what I could come up with.

[Nanami Touko]

If you want to RP on SF in some of the more dedicated RPs then it would be best to be able to have the ability to post at least once a day. It's difficult when we all have our lives to contend with and different timezones, but holding people up can be the worst. As well, it'd be good to read up on things before signing up to anything, and be able to write at least a paragraph in response to things that are happening in RP. Also read every post! Having to ask what's going on because you were too lazy to read everything leaves a bad impression.

[Etrurian emperor]

If your schedule is tricky then perhaps you would be more suited for private roleplaying with just a singular partner. It allows you to post on your own terms without holding things up. It sounds less stressful to manage to me.

[Dragoncat]

Create a lot of OCs for whichever fandom you're interested in and try to use them instead of making a new character for each RP. You'll be more likely to write more for a character you've had for awhile vs a character you just made. Also, FE OCs can be converted to Zelda OCs and vice versa. For example, it only took minor tweaking to make my wyvern rider twins Cerai and Leo into Skyloft knights. Their wyverns became loftwings with the same names, genders, and colors, but Cerai and Leo became Cass and Talor to fit the bird themed names. They lost their cat laguz adopted brother, but they functioned well enough without him. You can also convert fandom OCs into the original world the GM makes. It will take more work, especially if you're jumping from like medieval to modern, but it can be done.

I always recommend Springhole. It's an absolute goldmine. Its RP guide section is here.

[Enaluxeme]

1 hour ago, Dragoncat said:

Create a lot of OCs for whichever fandom you're interested in and try to use them instead of making a new character for each RP. You'll be more likely to write more for a character you've had for awhile vs a character you just made. Also, FE OCs can be converted to Zelda OCs and vice versa. For example, it only took minor tweaking to make my wyvern rider twins Cerai and Leo into Skyloft knights. Their wyverns became loftwings with the same names, genders, and colors, but Cerai and Leo became Cass and Talor to fit the bird themed names. They lost their cat laguz adopted brother, but they functioned well enough without him. You can also convert fandom OCs into the original world the GM makes. It will take more work, especially if you're jumping from like medieval to modern, but it can be done.

I always recommend Springhole. It's an absolute goldmine. Its RP guide section is here.

Please don't do that. You should craft your characters based on the world they are in.

I recommend specifically search for RP that aren't super simple and friendly. Others have pointed out that in some RPs you are expected to write quite a lot in every post, but that's actually a good thing, especially if you want to become a writer of some kind.

I'm afraid that joining a RP where you can just type "Mark heard the guy and responded -That's it! You made me angry- and tried to punch him in the face." won't make you any more prepared to join an higher level RP and may in fact lead to the creation of bad habits.

Generally, people will understand if you say you are new to roleplaying. The most important thing is not to disappear midway. You should commit to read everything and post at least once every 2 days. Use good grammar and try to write more than a couple sentences every post. It will become easier with time, and you'll probably be able to tell the difference from your posts at the start of the game and the later ones.

I recommend searching for RPs that just started, as understanding what's going on with RPs that are around for a while can be quite the ordeal.

[Dragoncat]

1 hour ago, Enaluxeme said:

Please don't do that. You should craft your characters based on the world they are in.

 

Yeah, I guess unless you're more experienced, it might be better to just make characters from scratch every time. But reusing characters works for me. 

Take it with a grain of salt, I guess?

[Nanami Touko]

I don't really think it has to do with experience, either. You can always retool old characters, but if you are an experienced writer, it's always best to create something new that you know you're going to enjoy writing, based on the setting. Fitting the RP as best as you can will make not only your experience better, but the experience of everyone else.

[SullyMcGully]

Wait, the standard for a good replier is one day? I thought it was like 30 minutes at the most. OK, I should be able to do this! Thanks for the help guys!

[Nanami Touko]

Since RPs here on SF and most other forums are post by post, as long as you can reply to a topic around once a day, most people shouldn't take issue with you. If they do, you should find a better group, lol.

[Xinnidy]

Yeah RPs tend to not be real time here, mostly to fit better with people's schedules and timezones, but in general leaving people hanging for a week with no previous notice is very rude!

[Enaluxeme]

I mean, there are play by chat RPs too but mostly on dedicated forums.

[A Random Player]

If you intend to become a professional storyteller, I don't think that writing a few paragraphs once in a while would be too difficult. Although, if I had to give advice, don't just join an rp for the sake of joining one. Try to join one where you have at least some interest in the universe. And one post per day is quite more than enough. In my personal opinion, a few posts with quality is much better than just churning out as many posts as possible in the shortest amount of time. Well, it depends on the type of rp you joined, for example the one I'm in right now (6th Holy Grail War) we barely have one post every few days, but most of us is still having a good time. Of course, that's with the knowledge that none of us has abandoned the rp.

[Shin]

Shameless plug about RPing on SF.

SF's RP scene is populated with a relatively small but experienced group. There's currently four old big games running (Angelcynn, Super Robot Wars, Golden Age and Return of the Emblem) and a handful of smaller younger ones too. They're all different in the own ways, but it's worth having a look through them because they all generally represent how things are done on SF. Generally, people post maybe a paragraph or two a couple of times a week, more if it's the holidays or people are more free. All of the big RP's share a couple of players, people like Mel are actually present in all four big ones, but they've all accepted newer players as long as they've met sign-up requirements.

I'd strongly recommend against simply rehashing OC's. Even if you think they're super amazing characters that everyone should get to know, the chances are that you're the only one who actually likes them and it kinda shows that you're self-indulgent in your roleplaying, as well as giving off the vibe that you're really inexperienced. It's also a very good exercise to develop a new character that fits the setting, since you'll have to think of a bunch if you start writing your own pieces!

Spend some time reading the existing RP's, and see which one you like the looks of. Most of the GM's here are rather experienced, but they're not going to shun you unless you've produced a teenage edgelord's fantasy and dressed it up as a sign up. Have fun!

[SullyMcGully]

Thanks, Shin! That link was actually really helpful!

I think I'm going to wait for a new RP to start though. Either that or find enough time to read all fifteen chapters of Return of the Emblem.

[Shin]

It's probably worth giving Rote's extra information a read too, Phee (Rote's GM) has been a busy beaver! It might be a little while before a new RP pops up, due to the low number of players on the boards, it's often hard for games to recruit/get off the ground until there's a space.

[-Cynthia-]

2 hours ago, SullyMcGully said:

Thanks, Shin! That link was actually really helpful!

I think I'm going to wait for a new RP to start though. Either that or find enough time to read all fifteen chapters of Return of the Emblem.

 

If you're thinking about RotE we can update the summary. I think reading all fifteen chapters would be equivalent to several novels at this point.

[Erren]

I've been wanting to do the same for quite some time now due to being very busy. But, of course, sign ups tend to confuse me and stress me at the same time when it comes to making a character, background and all. There are some good RPs on this site, but I find it hard to get into some.