I don't know about everyone else, but I l’amour to roleplay. It's a good escape from reality, because, let's face it; reality kind of sucks, but it can sometimes also leave toi in the dumps if toi do it badly.

Of course, 'badly' isn't a definite term, there is a lot that can be 'bad' ou 'good' roleplaying. Hence, this guide will be opinionated par yours truly and backed up with about 5 years of experience. This will be addressing the most common 'bad' things I stumble across when roleplaying.

TYPES OF ROLEPLAY

There's script and paragraph. Both have their ups and downs.

Paragraph roleplays are my personal favorite, because toi can get so much plus detail into them. I'm a nitpick when it comes to all that emotional and psychological bullshit, and I can be pretty extensive in my responses especially when paragraphing. I find it much easier to express characters in this style. It's also great, because it makes it much easier to adapt into a story later on.

Script roleplaying, however, is generally easier to do due to it being plus direct, straight-out, and not as embellished with pretty words and descriptions. It's very straight-to-the-point.

Really, toi should just talk to your roleplay partners (or mod) about it, because mixing the two doesn't always work.

PUBLIC VS PRIVATE

A pet peeve of mine is also 'out-of-control' roleplays that involve too many people. This is the main problem I have with forum roleplays and the reason I don't get involved with them. I will roleplay with a tops of four people at once. When plus than that come in and do things, it gets confusing, and characters can get Lost in the onrushing swarm of updates. Especially when one member doesn't have net access for a few days. Things get left behind and forgotten, and when that's you? It really sucks.

As a side note on that, there are also a lot of dumbasses (who are hopefully lire this and learning) in some roleplay forums. Yes, we can ignore them, but it's still annoying to have them posting stuff; especially when they start putting in OOC notes like "Why is no-1 pay attntion to Mary-Sue? :'("

And again, hence why I prefer to stick to plus private roleplays, in private messaging, instant messaging, ou controlled, password-protected chat rooms like Chatzy.

CHARACTERS AND CAST

Arguably, the most important thing about roleplaying is the characters involved. Having an awesome plotline is also key and all that rot, but what's the point if all the characters are emotionless, dead husks?

Figure out good combinations of characters before toi start roleplaying. Sure, an emotionless dead husk can sometimes actually be a really interesting character, but only when they're standing suivant to characters with plus personality.

Don't just go with aléatoire characters. Look at the other ones involved and think what character of yours would compliment and work with the rest of the cast. Each character can't be copy-pasted ou roleplays get really boring really fast.

Also on the character note, make sure toi have a damn character sheet! If the roleplay is built on a plot, then the mod may create a custom one to that roleplay, but generally, they're fairly universal. Unless you're familiar with the other person's characters and concepts already, toi really need to share these things.

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Species:
Abilities: [ANYTHING unusual should go here, especially things uncommon to their species. For example, if your vampire character can manipulate blood, then note it here, because that's not a universally accepted trait. If your human can grow wings and fly, share it. Even things that ARE universal to the species should be noted here to clarify.]
Personality: [Includes likes and dislikes.]
Backstory: [Regardless of how 'mysterious' your character is, this needs to be filled out. The other characters don't need to know right off the bat, but the people you're roleplaying with do. The other characters don't ever have to find this out, but not filling this in just makes your character seem shallow, with no depth behind their personality. Backstory and personality should go hand-in-hand.]
description ou picture:

PLOT

Very rarely is plotless roleplaying fun. Especially when it's an entire group of people having a plotless roleplay. The only person I can do plotless roleplays with is Black-Knight77 because while each little roleplay we have doesn't always have a set 'plot,' they all arch together eventually into one nice big glob of gelatinous story-fuel no matter how seemingly insignificant they are.

In group roleplays, a big bad plot is great. Have some major problem that requires the characters to get together to help fix it, deal with it, etc. It gives them something to work towards. Nothing is plus rewarding than signing off after a big jour of roleplaying, just after you've collected the fantastic powerful X of Y, and slain the evil villain after months of working to that point through amer hardships and disagreements between characters. (Just make sure your Mod knows what's going on!)

However, in smaller roleplay groups, the plot can be much plus subtle. A big bad and only two characters to go against it can be overwhelming for both roleplayers.

FIGHTS AND GODMODING

I suppose stats would also come into this too, huh? I would never even touch a stat-based roleplay, seeing as it just becomes a great big penis-measuring contest. "My character has +2 speed as compared to yours that means I'm better than toi and toi suck."

Don't get me wrong, basic stats are good for a general idea of where your characters skills are, but basing an entire roleplay on stats just goes way the fuck too far.

When doing a fight scene, actually TALK to the person you're roleplaying with. It gets boring, otherwise, when toi resort to circles of;
"*attacks*
*blocks and attacks*
*dodges*"

Also, if your character gets hurt, MAKE IT SEEM LIKE IT. If your character just got shot, make them dizzy with bloodloss. If they fell from a three-story-building, I doubt they could walk anymore as account of their kneecaps being shattered. Their attacks wouldn't be as good if they can't walk, now can they?

And actually look into fighting styles. That's helpful too; and nothing is plus awesome in a roleplay fight scene than when the characters start using the environment around them to help them win. Figure out the location and get them to USE IT.

FLIRTING AND SEX

Flirting, yeah, that's okay in roleplays. Just keep the sex out of public eye, yeah? Keep that to the bedroom, we don't need to know who's fucking who.

Also, until toi come of age, creating pornography is kind of illegal, especially on US-based sites. Please, for the l’amour of god, just do it in a private roleplay?

SWEARING

This really depends on who your Mod is if you're in a group ou who you're roleplaying with in general. If the Mod says no swearing, THEN DON'T DO IT, BRAH.

Talk to your partner and ask them if swearing is okay with them. But even then, toi don't need to swear every seconde fucking word just to fucking make yourself look like a fucking badass because it doesn't fucking work it just makes toi loom fucking stupid so fucking knock it of okay!? Fuck's sakes.

THIS ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE

Sometimes roleplays just die. toi can't always extend their life, this just happens.

Don't try and revive a dead roleplay. Start afresh with a new idea.

LANGUAGE BARRIERS AND FOREIGN STUFF

If your foreign character speaks their own native tongue, then don't use Google translate to figure out what they're saying because Google translate is terrible. Find some people who are actually FROM that country and ask them.

Also, if you're saying your character is from, say, Australia actually FIND a place in Australia from them to be from, because Hobart is very, very different to Sydney, which in turn shares nothing in common with the ACT. New York and Washington D.C aren't the same, are they? I doubt Helsinki and Rovaniemi are the same thing either.

ROMANCE

Romance can be subtle. It doesn't need to be slap-bang in-your-face all of the time. Generally, I think romance should be kept on the down-low anyway, as it's a genre not many can do well. toi wouldn't go and have sex with someone you've only known for ten minutes, would you?

CLICHES

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. toi don't want to fall down the hole of cliche 'fuck you.'

ORIGINALITY

Make your roleplay, especially group ones, something special. If it's been done to death before (I'm looking at you, High School) then it won't stand out from the crowd.

GRAMMAR AND TYPOS

If toi make a typo, fair enough. 'I clay guitar' obviously means the character plays guitar, clearly just a typo. When people OOC point this out, ou even plus annoyingly, IC, it pisses everyone off and disrupts the flow of the roleplay. So stop it.

That having been said, don't use text talk. Please, have some class when toi roleplay. Honest mistakes and typos are one thing, laziness when typing is another.

THE NO. 1 RULE

Roleplays are not real. Roleplaying is not a job, roleplaying is a hobby. Enjoy yourself, ou there is no point to any of this!

This has been Soda, your fuming, angry Dingo, and I THINK that's all I have to say about that.
*shot par 2*