What is a Role Play?
The act of role playing, for all intensive purposes, is acting out the actions of another. It is what the name implies- you are playing the role of another. If you have ever played through a video game in story mode, you have role played. If you have ever dressed up as a character from a series on Halloween or for a convention, you have role played in real life. (cosplay)
What we do here is forum role playing, which is commonly shortened to 'RP'. Someone creates a story, and the members of that thread create their own characters. Then everyone starts posting, telling what their character does and says. Key is the character interaction and progression of the story.
Terms
Bio- Short for biography. In general terms, this means the profile skeleton you have to fill out and return to the thread owner. If it is listed in the things you need to answer in your profile skeleton, it means your character's story.
Bumping- Its posting in a thread for the sole purpose of getting the thread back up to the top of the forum.
Character- The person being played. In a role play, each person should have one or more characters.
Cybering- When one or more characters are doing sexually explicit things. Gaia is a PG-13 site; this is not allowed on the the site or in the guild.
God modding- This is controlling any other character, the weather, the plot, or surroundings. Your characters aren't all powerful- don't make it so they can hit every shot they're aiming at, or can never be hit by someone. EVERY character has a weakness.
Newbies- People who are new to Gaia or to role playing. These people are willing to learn and become active, positive contributors to Gaia. These are often confused with Noobs.
Noobs- People who act foolishly, whether out of ignorance or arrogance. These are the people who commonly make a role play un-enjoyable. Signs of a noob include, but are not limited to- chat or leet speak; blatant disregard for rules, other players and mods; spamming
OOC- Means 'out of character'. When someone types 'OOC' before whatever it is they have typed, it means that what they are about to say is not what their character is saying or doing. This is usually to ask and answer plot questions or the need for clarification on what is happening in the thread. These are commonly surrounded by parentheses or brackets to differentiate it from their character's action text.
Profile- A filled out profile skeleton of a character. These commonly include the character's name, age, appearance, bio and race. Sometimes Weapon, height, weight, and affiliation are also asked for.
Skeleton- Another way to say Profile, or profile skeleton. These commonly include the character's name, age, appearance, bio and race. Sometimes Weapon, height, weight, affiliation, etc., are also asked for.
How to play in a Role Play
Kay! Your profile has been accepted and the role play has now begun. Now what?
All the posts you make from now on are about your character. This site requires that you be 13 or older... it also entails that you know how to read and have read things before. Most people have read stories and know what a paragraph is. GREAT! You know how to role play and you didn't even know it. You're going to type what your character does and says like a story. You don't have to be a perfect speller and you don't have to write a novel per post. However, I highly recommend you write in what is called past tense and in third person. Third person means that you are the narrator. Past tense means you write about something that has happened and you relating the story after the fact.
An example of Past tense third person-
Rebeka walked over to Damion. "Hello!"
An example of Present tense third person-
Rebeka walks over to Damion. “Hello!”
There is nothing wrong with writing in present tense; it just gets difficult as you write more complicated sentences. I prefer past tense because it flows better, like a story.
The act of role playing, for all intensive purposes, is acting out the actions of another. It is what the name implies- you are playing the role of another. If you have ever played through a video game in story mode, you have role played. If you have ever dressed up as a character from a series on Halloween or for a convention, you have role played in real life. (cosplay)
What we do here is forum role playing, which is commonly shortened to 'RP'. Someone creates a story, and the members of that thread create their own characters. Then everyone starts posting, telling what their character does and says. Key is the character interaction and progression of the story.
Terms
Bio- Short for biography. In general terms, this means the profile skeleton you have to fill out and return to the thread owner. If it is listed in the things you need to answer in your profile skeleton, it means your character's story.
Bumping- Its posting in a thread for the sole purpose of getting the thread back up to the top of the forum.
Character- The person being played. In a role play, each person should have one or more characters.
Cybering- When one or more characters are doing sexually explicit things. Gaia is a PG-13 site; this is not allowed on the the site or in the guild.
God modding- This is controlling any other character, the weather, the plot, or surroundings. Your characters aren't all powerful- don't make it so they can hit every shot they're aiming at, or can never be hit by someone. EVERY character has a weakness.
Newbies- People who are new to Gaia or to role playing. These people are willing to learn and become active, positive contributors to Gaia. These are often confused with Noobs.
Noobs- People who act foolishly, whether out of ignorance or arrogance. These are the people who commonly make a role play un-enjoyable. Signs of a noob include, but are not limited to- chat or leet speak; blatant disregard for rules, other players and mods; spamming
OOC- Means 'out of character'. When someone types 'OOC' before whatever it is they have typed, it means that what they are about to say is not what their character is saying or doing. This is usually to ask and answer plot questions or the need for clarification on what is happening in the thread. These are commonly surrounded by parentheses or brackets to differentiate it from their character's action text.
Profile- A filled out profile skeleton of a character. These commonly include the character's name, age, appearance, bio and race. Sometimes Weapon, height, weight, and affiliation are also asked for.
Skeleton- Another way to say Profile, or profile skeleton. These commonly include the character's name, age, appearance, bio and race. Sometimes Weapon, height, weight, affiliation, etc., are also asked for.
How to play in a Role Play
Kay! Your profile has been accepted and the role play has now begun. Now what?
All the posts you make from now on are about your character. This site requires that you be 13 or older... it also entails that you know how to read and have read things before. Most people have read stories and know what a paragraph is. GREAT! You know how to role play and you didn't even know it. You're going to type what your character does and says like a story. You don't have to be a perfect speller and you don't have to write a novel per post. However, I highly recommend you write in what is called past tense and in third person. Third person means that you are the narrator. Past tense means you write about something that has happened and you relating the story after the fact.
An example of Past tense third person-
Rebeka walked over to Damion. "Hello!"
An example of Present tense third person-
Rebeka walks over to Damion. “Hello!”
There is nothing wrong with writing in present tense; it just gets difficult as you write more complicated sentences. I prefer past tense because it flows better, like a story.
