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Below is a list of terms which could be useful for role players to know. It was taken from another list I have elsewhere, and altered to better fit here. It is not necessarily complete, and some of the descriptions may vary from one person to another; the descriptions I have given are those that I have come to recognize in my experience only.




1337 - Translates to "leet." Leetspeak is a cyber-language in which letters are substituted for various numbers and symbols, and occasional incorrect capitalization. Because it is difficult to read for most people, it is considered rude and annoying, and is generally associated with n00bs.
Auto-block - A form of godmodding where the character concerned is somehow able to block every hit, usually without explanation, however improbable/impossible such an act may be. (Example: *blocks your firewall*)
Auto-dodge - Like autoblocking, a form of godmodding where the character concerned is somehow able to dodge every blow, usually without explanation, however improbable/impossible such an act may be. (Example: *dodges the flood*)
Auto-hit - A form of godmodding where the character being victimized is given no chance to avoid an attack. (Example: *runs up and punches you*)
Auto-kill - Like autohitting, a form of godmodding where the character being victimized has no chance to avoid an attack, which results in their death. (Example: *runs up and chops your head off*) Though autohitting is often forgivable, autokilling is considered a serious offense.
BBL - "Be Back Later"
Chatspeak - A way of speaking commonly used in chatrooms and other realtime communications, it uses various acronyms and shorted words such as "brb," "u," and "l8r." Use of chatspeak in roleplay is generally looked down on because and considered annoying because it can be difficult to read. Also called texttalk.
DM - "Dungeon Master" The person who decides what player's characters will experience. This term applies primarily to Dungeons & Dragons.
Gary-Lou - A "perfect" male character, like a Mary Sue. Some forms are counted as godmodding, others are only particularly un-original and generally annoying.
GM - "Game Master" The person who decides what player's characters will experience.
Godmod - In roleplay, having an invincible character, autohitting, autoblocking, autokilling, autododging, or controlling another person's character in any way. Godmodding is only acceptable if you and everyone involved have a previous agreement about it.
Haxor - Haxor (also known as Leetspeak) is a cyber-language in which letters are substituted for various numbers and symbols, and occasional incorrect capitalization. Because it can be difficult to read, it is considered rude and annoying, and is generally associated with n00bs and hackers.
IC "In Character" This means that a person is role playing.
Illit - A shortened form of "illiterate."
Illiterate - Normally, this means that a person cannot read and write/type. On GaiaOnline, it generally refers to people who do not type clearly, and who make particularly short and uninformative posts in role play. This term of usually associated with n00bs.
Leet - Leetspeak is a cyber-language in which letters are substituted for various numbers and symbols, and occasional incorrect capitalization. Because it can be difficult to read, it is considered rude and annoying, and is generally associated with "n00bs."
Lit - A shortened form of "literate."
Literate - Normally, this means that a person can read and write/type. On GaiaOnline, especially in role play, it often refers to a person who is particularly skilled and who tends to make long posts.
Marty-Stu - A "perfect" male character, like a Mary Sue. Some forms are counted as godmodding, others are only particularly un-original and generally annoying.
Mary-Sue - A "perfect" character, usually female. Some forms are counted as godmodding, others are only particularly un-original and generally annoying.
MMORPG - Often shortened to MMO; stands for "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game." MMOs are games played online along with numerous other people and can be either text- or graphics-based (though the text-based ones are usually called MUDs or MOOs). Examples of MMOs include World of Warcraft, Runescape, and GaiaOnline's own zOMG!
NPC - "Non-Player Character" These are characters that are not controlled by a player, but by a system or a DM/GM.
OOC - "Out Of Character" This means that a person is not role playing, but is speaking as themselves - a person in front of a computer screen. In a RP thread, double parenthesis (( )) or brackets [[ ]] are often used to talk out of character. OOC conversations in RP areas are generally frowned upon.
PC - 1. "Personal Computer" Refers to the computer a person uses. 2. "Player Character" A role play term referring to a person's own character.
PM "Private Message" This refers to the special mail systems used by most forum-based sites, including GaiaOnline.
Power-play - A form of godmodding where a person's character is excessively powerful and invincible. To avoid this, be sure to check the limits in an RP before joining.
Puppeting - A form of godmodding in which a person somehow takes control of another's character, as by typing their reaction for them, autohitting, etc.
Role play - Acting out another real or imaginary person in another real or imaginary place
RP - "Role Play" or "Role Playing" (also RPing)
RPC - "Role Playing Character" Usually applies to a person's own character.
RPG - "Role Playing Game"
Semi-lit - A shortened form of "semi-literate."
Semi-literate - Usually used in role play, it refers to people who can generally type quite clearly, but who usually make posts that average 1-5 lines. Use of an action denotation such as asterisks (*) in role play rather than typing in story fashion is also often considered semi-literate.
SPAM - Useless posts/messages that serve no other purpose than to annoy and/or take up space.
Storyline - On GaiaOnline, the site-wide story that is constantly evolving. It is mainly enacted by NPCs, and is highlighted by the manga, news, and special events. On a smaller scale, various members have their own storylines for role play.
Texttalk - A way of speaking commonly used in chatrooms and other realtime communications, it uses various acronyms and shorted words such as "brb," "u," and "l8r." Use of texttalk in role play is generally looked down on because and considered annoying because it can be difficult to read. Also called chatspeak.
Thread - A single stream on conversation in a forum. Unlike chatrooms, threads are not quite real time; anything already posted when the thread is accessed can be seen, unless manually deleted. Also called a topic.
Topic - A single stream on conversation in a forum. Unlike chatrooms, topic are not quite real time; anything already posted when the topic is accessed can be seen, unless manually deleted. Also called a thread.
Tower - A post or message with a series of quotes within quotes that stretch it post vertically.
Txttlk - Translates to "texttalk." A way of speaking commonly used in chatrooms and other realtime communications, it uses various acronyms and shorted words such as "brb," "u," and "l8r." Use of texttalk in role play is generally looked down on because and considered annoying because it can be difficult to read. Also called chatspeak.
Typo - A small mistake in typing that results from unintentionally hitting a wrong key, switching keys, forgetting a key, or adding a key. (Note: Pay attention, typos can be very bad! For example, forget one letter and "public relations expert" becomes "pubic relations expert.")

3nodding

What kind?

First challenge is for basic character creation. Choose one of the following for a basis:

1.) Create a character as alike to yourself as you can, with one difference: you aren't human. Your character can be any other sort of fantasy or science fiction race, including intelligent non-humanoids (such as dragons). Elaborate on how being of that race effected your character (for example, a dragon might not be worried about killing and eating people). Please note that things such as vampires and werewolves (creatures that were human but have become something else) do not count as races in this exercise.

2.) Create a humanoid character that you would consider to be your opposite. For example, if you have a sweet tooth, your character could hate sugar; if you are an affectionate person, your character could be cold and cruel. Try to be detailed.

Use the following form (a fairly basic setup) to write up your character and post it in this thread. You may make as many as you like, and you may add extra things into the character form if you wish. I'll give you feedback on your character then. Something else to keep in mind - these characters will be used in the next challenge.

Please describe the character's appearance - don't just use pictures!