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I admit it, when it comes to role-play, I have an ego. I'm not saying I've descended from up on high to show you pathetic mortals how it's done, but I am saying that I'm confident in my role-play abilities and, well, I've got mad skills, yo.
You know the thing that makes me a good role-player? I've made mistakes. Biiiiiiig mistakes. Real whoppers of mistakes. There are some logs here on my hard drive that make me cringe and whimper to read them...if I ever read them. About the only thing I've never done is have violet eyes or green hair. Oh, wait, Nekane did dye her hair green once or twice, but that's a bit different than naturally green hair, right? Ahem.And we'll forget about her glowing eyes when she was summoning because that was the materia's doing. Stop looking at me like that!
I've also suffered through some pretty horrendous role-play inflicted upon me by others and I've learned from all of it. So, I may not be the best thing since sliced bread (And what makes sliced bread all that awesome anyway?), but I do know quite a bit about What Not to Do when it comes to role-play and I thought it might be fun to try and write a little advice column-ish posts about role-play. I figure I can cover everything from character tropes (i.e. The Tortured Soul, The Secret Princess/Noble/Descendant of Some Ancient Race, The Well-Intentioned Idiot*) to the fine line between In Character (IC) and Out of Character (OOC) knowledge. Most of my role-play advice will be aimed at those, like me, who role-play online whether it be via forums, MMOs, or IRC, but some of the advice will be universal. If nothing else, I'll be writing something that might maybe be interesting and fun which means I'll be less bored. If you're reallyunlucky, I'll even share some of my more hilarious and/or embarrassing role-play moments.
To get started, I'll tell you the one rule that I have found to be absolutely essential to any role-play I've ever participated in:
Have fun. That's it.
I know it seems so simple and you're going, "Well, duh, Jade," but you'd be amazed at how easy it is for people to forget this rule. I've done it, my boyfriend has done it, our friends have done it, etc. Every once in a while I'll preparing for a night of role-play and I'll find myself suddenly wistful for a dentist chair and a dental drill, without any novacaine. This is usually a sign that somewhere in the campaign/plot arc, something went awry and it needs to be addressed. It usually happens when there's so much focus on the story as opposed to the people who are making the story happen, and you forget that in admist all the serious business, you're supposed to laugh too.
This is also known as the point when, if I'm the GM, I make giant monkies that fling feces at characters to inflict status conditions. Or maybe I animate a gazebo that's weak to fire. Then again, there's the time when a moogle loved a viera and...you don't really want to ask too many questions, okay? (Yes, all of these are examples of things I have done in various campaigns I felt were being a little too serious and needed a little break. Ask my players.)
In games where I'm just a player or the focus is strictly role-play, I'm all about communicating to the person in charge or to the other players and I talk about what's working versus what's not working for me. Odds usually are that I'm not alone in my feelings, and sometimes others have picked up on it as well. And at least once it's meant doing some drastic alterations to the campaign (as in, splitting the party into two separate groups), another time it meant me abandoning a character idea because it just wasn't working at all. Yes, it's a pain in the butt, but if the end result is me having fun again, then it's worth it.
And that is the one major theme of what this series of posts will be about: Making your role-play fun. Oh, and making you a kick-ass role-player.
* = Oh, and no, I will not be linking to TV Tropes. Why? Because I intend to actually get something done and I can't write if I'm lost in the blackhole that is TVTropes. If you want to go look for your own Tropes, fine, but you won't get me lost in that website.
You know the thing that makes me a good role-player? I've made mistakes. Biiiiiiig mistakes. Real whoppers of mistakes. There are some logs here on my hard drive that make me cringe and whimper to read them...if I ever read them. About the only thing I've never done is have violet eyes or green hair. Oh, wait, Nekane did dye her hair green once or twice, but that's a bit different than naturally green hair, right? Ahem.
I've also suffered through some pretty horrendous role-play inflicted upon me by others and I've learned from all of it. So, I may not be the best thing since sliced bread (And what makes sliced bread all that awesome anyway?), but I do know quite a bit about What Not to Do when it comes to role-play and I thought it might be fun to try and write a little advice column-ish posts about role-play. I figure I can cover everything from character tropes (i.e. The Tortured Soul, The Secret Princess/Noble/Descendant of Some Ancient Race, The Well-Intentioned Idiot*) to the fine line between In Character (IC) and Out of Character (OOC) knowledge. Most of my role-play advice will be aimed at those, like me, who role-play online whether it be via forums, MMOs, or IRC, but some of the advice will be universal. If nothing else, I'll be writing something that might maybe be interesting and fun which means I'll be less bored. If you're really
To get started, I'll tell you the one rule that I have found to be absolutely essential to any role-play I've ever participated in:
Have fun. That's it.
I know it seems so simple and you're going, "Well, duh, Jade," but you'd be amazed at how easy it is for people to forget this rule. I've done it, my boyfriend has done it, our friends have done it, etc. Every once in a while I'll preparing for a night of role-play and I'll find myself suddenly wistful for a dentist chair and a dental drill, without any novacaine. This is usually a sign that somewhere in the campaign/plot arc, something went awry and it needs to be addressed. It usually happens when there's so much focus on the story as opposed to the people who are making the story happen, and you forget that in admist all the serious business, you're supposed to laugh too.
This is also known as the point when, if I'm the GM, I make giant monkies that fling feces at characters to inflict status conditions. Or maybe I animate a gazebo that's weak to fire. Then again, there's the time when a moogle loved a viera and...you don't really want to ask too many questions, okay? (Yes, all of these are examples of things I have done in various campaigns I felt were being a little too serious and needed a little break. Ask my players.)
In games where I'm just a player or the focus is strictly role-play, I'm all about communicating to the person in charge or to the other players and I talk about what's working versus what's not working for me. Odds usually are that I'm not alone in my feelings, and sometimes others have picked up on it as well. And at least once it's meant doing some drastic alterations to the campaign (as in, splitting the party into two separate groups), another time it meant me abandoning a character idea because it just wasn't working at all. Yes, it's a pain in the butt, but if the end result is me having fun again, then it's worth it.
And that is the one major theme of what this series of posts will be about: Making your role-play fun. Oh, and making you a kick-ass role-player.
* = Oh, and no, I will not be linking to TV Tropes. Why? Because I intend to actually get something done and I can't write if I'm lost in the blackhole that is TVTropes. If you want to go look for your own Tropes, fine, but you won't get me lost in that website.
