First introduction to roleplaying

[Lisianthus]

Someone may have asked this before, but this honestly makes me wonder, so I thought I will ask again. What was your first introduction to (written) roleplay? What was your reaction to it? What was the first roleplay you participated in? How did that go?

My first introduction to written roleplay was on an app called Palringo. Honestly, I was an obnoxious writer who thought roleplay was dumb, embarrassing and silly. LIke, who would? Little did I know. I resisted doing any type of roleplay, although I hung around their community. Little by little though, they enticed me. The stories two people can make together, the world they build, it was all interesting. And they did win me over, obviously, within a few months. My first roleplay post was a solo, as I was still getting used to the idea of roleplaying. It was emo and edgy, and I wish, I still wish, that I stop writing like that.

 

[wren.]

I got into roleplay when I was 11 on a site called Mweor because my friend sold art in the forums there and I ended up stumbling upon the roleplay forums. I don't believe that friend ever roleplayed herself. As someone who has loved to write my entire life, I was immediately excited at the idea of getting to write collaboratively, so I was invested right away. I can't really remember my first roleplay, but it was probably a Percy Jackson-based roleplay or some plotless vampire romp, either of which no doubt died out shortly after starting, lol.

 

[Lisianthus]

I got into roleplay when I was 11 on a site called Mweor because my friend sold art in the forums there and I ended up stumbling upon the roleplay forums. I don't believe that friend ever roleplayed herself. As someone who has loved to write my entire life, I was immediately excited at the idea of getting to write collaboratively, so I was invested right away. I can't really remember my first roleplay, but it was probably a Percy Jackson-based roleplay or some plotless vampire romp, either of which no doubt died out shortly after starting, lol.

One of the longest running roleplay I was in was a percy jackson roleplay. It was a few years after I started roleplaying, and had gotten the courage to roleplay publicly. But I miss that roleplay so much. And I crave it. I heard that the roleplay has moved platforms but is still very active, which is good to note. They have been around for a decade, and I find that interesting.

 

[wren.]

They have been around for a decade, and I find that interesting.

That's extremely impressive, good for them!

 

[marcy]

I was born in the sewers, stewing in all the filth and grime and muck of the earth.

No joke, I was an edgy teen, 15 going on 16 at the time (now 25) who browsed 4chan and reddit often with my friends whenever we had unsupervised access to the web. Fascinated by the sick mayhem in the world, shit-posting, legendary threads, prank call threads, all that jazz. Admitting I was a /b/tard feels like I'm confessing to a crime, but I also enjoyed perusing the paranormal forums and debating with the gaming nerds. (I've been a diehard gamer my entire life.)

Every now and then someone would run a game thread of RISK (strategy board game) on /b/. I've never played the actual game, so I don't know how accurate the rules were to the real thing, but I'm certain it was more or less the same because it was great fun. I had a blast because those particular games of RISK were slightly modified for The Elder Scrolls lore and included all of Tamriel and it's variety of races. I always chose Redguards of Hammerfell, because that was the first race I chose the first time I played Skyrim. Still remember his name, too. Perseus.

Yeah, BIG time Skyrim fan here. I also loved Oblivion and even played a little bit of Morrowind when I was a kid on my brothers Xbox. I enjoyed reading too, occasionally, but was mostly a gamer. So I was pretty much an Elder Scrolls geek my entire life leading up to those days of playing RISK on 4chan. Then the unexpected happened, around the second or third running of RISK: Tamriel Edition, people started roleplaying in-between posts while we played! I was absolutely shook and it was nothing I had ever experienced. They'd make a move, and at the bottom of the post, there was sometimes a little bit of dialogue and sequence. Something like, Doran Aer ripped the wind, tearing his Altmer army through the blistering storm of a battle blizzard, bellowing, "Auri-El beckons the new world! If Mundus shall guide us, we shall not falter!" And it freaking blew my mind. Let me tell you, my introduction to roleplay was an obsession. As soon as I had a taste, I wanted, needed more.

After the game, I literally immediately googled "roleplay website" xD and roleplayerguild.com was one that caught my eye. The UI was simple, dark, easy to use and navigate. There were beginner, intermediate and advanced sections. The terms beginner and advanced only enticed my appetite for it all, for some reason after that all I wanted to do was live through stories and share them with others.

 

[Lisianthus]

They have been around for a decade, and I find that interesting.

That's extremely impressive, good for them!

Truly. When a roleplay can last that long, I wonder what their secret is. The dedication of growing along with the roleplay, IC and OOC is an interesting to note.

 

[Lisianthus]

I was born in the sewers, stewing in all the filth and grime and muck of the earth.

No joke, I was an edgy teen, 15 going on 16 at the time (now 25) who browsed 4chan and reddit often with my friends whenever we had unsupervised access to the web. Fascinated by the sick mayhem in the world, shit-posting, legendary threads, prank call threads, all that jazz. Admitting I was a /b/tard feels like I'm confessing to a crime, but I also enjoyed perusing the paranormal forums and debating with the gaming nerds. (I've been a diehard gamer my entire life.)

Every now and then someone would run a game thread of RISK (strategy board game) on /b/. I've never played the actual game, so I don't know how accurate the rules were to the real thing, but I'm certain it was more or less the same because it was great fun. I had a blast because those particular games of RISK were slightly modified for The Elder Scrolls lore and included all of Tamriel and it's variety of races. I always chose Redguards of Hammerfell, because that was the first race I chose the first time I played Skyrim. Still remember his name, too. Perseus.

Yeah, BIG time Skyrim fan here. I also loved Oblivion and even played a little bit of Morrowind when I was a kid on my brothers Xbox. I enjoyed reading too, occasionally, but was mostly a gamer. So I was pretty much an Elder Scrolls geek my entire life leading up to those days of playing RISK on 4chan. Then the unexpected happened, around the second or third running of RISK: Tamriel Edition, people started roleplaying in-between posts while we played! I was absolutely shook and it was nothing I had ever experienced. They'd make a move, and at the bottom of the post, there was sometimes a little bit of dialogue and sequence. Something like, Doran Aer ripped the wind, tearing his Altmer army through the blistering storm of a battle blizzard, bellowing, "Auri-El beckons the new world! If Mundus shall guide us, we shall not falter!" And it freaking blew my mind. Let me tell you, my introduction to roleplay was an obsession. As soon as I had a taste, I wanted, needed more.

After the game, I literally immediately googled "roleplay website" xD and roleplayerguild.com was one that caught my eye. The UI was simple, dark, easy to use and navigate. There were beginner, intermediate and advanced sections. The terms beginner and advanced only enticed my appetite for it all, for some reason after that all I wanted to do was live through stories and share them with others.

This is amazing to note. We started around the same time, and we are of the same age, with a vastly different reaction to roleplaying. I had a good laugh reading this. I feel you though. As soon as I started roleplaying, I got addicted. But I am not that good of an addict, unfortunately. I tend to disappear a lot.

 

[Fairess]

My first-ever roleplay experience on a forum was ZeldaUniverse.net. Yup. Back when Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was new and edgy enough to give the sophomore me nightmares. I initially participated in topics regarding Nintendo games and the creative community there, and to this day, some of my old poetry is still sitting there, dusty and forgotten. But! This community had a surprisingly lively sub-forum where people roleplayed characters and plots that had absolutely nothing to do with the Legend of Zelda franchise. And it was there that I made all sorts of friends who introduced me to the pleasure of interactive writing.

I think that once you get hooked on that thrill of not knowing exactly how someone else is gonna react, it's impossible to go back. It also introduced me to so many different kinds of interesting people! Thanks to the medium of forum roleplay across a good number of sites, I've learned so much from people who live all around the world. One of them was blind IRL, and used speech to text to dictate their posts. Absolutely blew my mind with their creativity and determination.

They say it's about the journey, not the destination, but I'm really glad to be here!

 

[marcy]

This is amazing to note. We started around the same time, and we are of the same age, with a vastly different reaction to roleplaying. I had a good laugh reading this. I feel you though. As soon as I started roleplaying, I got addicted. But I am not that good of an addict, unfortunately. I tend to disappear a lot.

Twins! <3

Nah, don't even feel bad at all. I've disappeared so much it's not even funny and I feel pretty lame about it, but try not to let it bother me. But I never stopped writing, in fact Creative Writing became my major in college directly because of roleplaying. Unfortunately I had to drop out, but that's not stopping me from chasing my dream of sharing stories with others.

 

[Lisianthus]

My first-ever roleplay experience on a forum was ZeldaUniverse.net. Yup. Back when Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was new and edgy enough to give the sophomore me nightmares. I initially participated in topics regarding Nintendo games and the creative community there, and to this day, some of my old poetry is still sitting there, dusty and forgotten. But! This community had a surprisingly lively sub-forum where people roleplayed characters and plots that had absolutely nothing to do with the Legend of Zelda franchise. And it was there that I made all sorts of friends who introduced me to the pleasure of interactive writing.

I think that once you get hooked on that thrill of not knowing exactly how someone else is gonna react, it's impossible to go back. It also introduced me to so many different kinds of interesting people! Thanks to the medium of forum roleplay across a good number of sites, I've learned so much from people who live all around the world. One of them was blind IRL, and used speech to text to dictate their posts. Absolutely blew my mind with their creativity and determination.

They say it's about the journey, not the destination, but I'm really glad to be here!

Not knowing how someone is going to react is the biggest thing about roleplaying. I can only guess how it is going to play out, and you can try your best to stir it to that direction, you can never. They do not go your way, and you'll have to adept. I'd say that you'd have to be a damn good writer to be able to invoke the exact reactions you want. That is my goal as a roleplayer.

I feel you. Iwaku is my first forum. I have tried other forums, but nothing was like Iwaku. At least, in my opinion. The community is diverse, the UI is rad, and communicating with another is easy. There are also so many other events you can participate in outside of roleplay. Although the time difference means that I usually do not have the opportunity to participate in any of the roleplay events @Diana hosts. But that's ok.

 

[Lisianthus]

This is amazing to note. We started around the same time, and we are of the same age, with a vastly different reaction to roleplaying. I had a good laugh reading this. I feel you though. As soon as I started roleplaying, I got addicted. But I am not that good of an addict, unfortunately. I tend to disappear a lot.

Twins! <3

Nah, don't even feel bad at all. I've disappeared so much it's not even funny and I feel pretty lame about it, but try not to let it bother me. But I never stopped writing, in fact Creative Writing became my major in college directly because of roleplaying. Unfortunately I had to drop out, but that's not stopping me from chasing my dream of sharing stories with others.

Right? T.T I have been here since 2014, but the amount of roleplay I have participated in is miniscule, and I tend to disappear for long periods of time.

My momma always said, "A college degree does not determine your intelligence." Ya don't need that degree to prove that you are a good writer either way. So go queen. I am glad you are still pursuing your passion. I wish I have the same drive.

 

[Nemopedia]

English was cancelled for nearly a year for my class and everyone was waaaaay behind on the curriculum when school decided that it was a super good idea to give us one giant exam to make up for all of the missed grades and tests. A little stressed I thus went to check out this one weird forum on this one weeb site I frequented where people wrote stories together in English. Thinking I found a great opportunity young teen me thus joined and started playing with an extremely limited English ability.

Fast forward and here I'm, still practicing English.

 

[Lisianthus]

English was cancelled for nearly a year for my class and everyone was waaaaay behind on the curriculum when school decided that it was a super good idea to give us one giant exam to make up for all of the missed grades and tests. A little stressed I thus went to check out this one weird forum on this one weeb site I frequented where people wrote stories together in English. Thinking I found a great opportunity young teen me thus joined and started playing with an extremely limited English ability.

Fast forward and here I'm, still practicing English.

Well, I am glad that incident in school led you here. You are a good writer, and I enjoy reading your writing.

 

[iridescent]

It was ages ago when I got started roleplaying. I was on a chat server called IMVU and back then, the roleplaying scene had meaning but in my eyes, it doesn't today. I was horrible when I first started and probably still am but a group of descriptive writers took me underneath their wings and I am forever grateful for them. Anyway, I met another user on there who mentioned forum roleplaying that was quite advanced but nevertheless, I perused the site and haven't looked back since. I enjoy forum writing because it's not as rapid as a chat server is.

I have visited a few other forums, PG-13 or adult, since then and still am a part of many other sites but if I am being honest, Iwaku has one of the best communities that I have ever seen and been a part of. I love it here

 

[Manna Beast]

I am doing to date myself here, but my first experience with roleplaying was back when MSN had chat rooms. I didn't really know I had a knack for writing even then, but it was different. Fun and new (I also didn't have a home computer until I was a teenager or internet till that point. Which was the whole dial up too cause lived on a farm)!

Being connected finally after so many years of not like my in town friends, I was immediately browsing. Merely looking through all the types of chats when one was called Hanyou Inuyasha Chat Rp(keep in mind, I didn't know what Inuyasha was, I wouldnt see it until two years later and fall in love with that!)

But that was my start and well, I dont chat rp anymore but it gave my my roots!

 

[Lisianthus]

I am doing to date myself here, but my first experience with roleplaying was back when MSN had chat rooms. I didn't really know I had a knack for writing even then, but it was different. Fun and new (I also didn't have a home computer until I was a teenager or internet till that point. Which was the whole dial up too cause lived on a farm)!

Being connected finally after so many years of not like my in town friends, I was immediately browsing. Merely looking through all the types of chats when one was called Hanyou Inuyasha Chat Rp(keep in mind, I didn't know what Inuyasha was, I wouldnt see it until two years later and fall in love with that!)

But that was my start and well, I dont chat rp anymore but it gave my my roots!

I heard of MSN roleplay rooms before. According to people I have met who started roleplaying there, they claimed it was the best. Never had that experience though. I got internet quite late.

 

[Astoria]

I got exposed to RP in middle school on a major Runescape fan forum that is now sadly mostly dead. I've always been interested in writing, so I was eventually drawn to the dedicated RP section they had there, which was surprisingly thriving. Eventually, they made the strangest decision to fold the entire RP section into General Chat, with... predictable results. Perhaps for the better in the end, because I have no desire to see my cringy ultra-weeb middle school RPing brought back to the surface!

 

[Jumping Fish]

I got into roleplay when I was around...nine? So six years ago give or take. I was a bored kid who spent most of my time just reading, and I picked up roleplay while playing one of those virtual pet sim games. The community was pretty active back then, and there were lots of roleplay groups.

Chuunibyou kid I was, the thought of playing a magical wolf or just a fantastical character that I could make ridiculously OP was extremely appealing, so I got really into it (until I unfortunately had to stop because of school and stuff).

Six years later, now that the holidays are in full swing and I have a ridiculous amount of free time, I thought I'd pick up the old hobby that had been lying in the back of my mind for a long while, and it's been really exciting getting back into roleplay!

 

[Applo]

I got into it just after I finished university. I had just spent an entire summer writing monumental amounts of BS and felt weird not writing things. Then I was listening to a program on the radio and they were talking about people who role-played on forums and it struck something in me. Decided to google places to role play. Found Iwaku near the top of the results. Signed up and here we are, seven whole years later.

 

[Diana]

So I was doing a lot of "playing pretend" my entire life even as a we child, not ever realizing it was roleplaying!

My first roleplaying experience with others was in the Sailor Moon Universe chat rooms, where at the time I didn't realize that it was roleplaying, but I was playing a character with other people who were being characters and we were having a blast. That was for years in the late 90s and the start of the 00s.

One day someone on the forum side of the site invited everyone to do a Sailor Zodiac roleplay on a threaded forum system! And that was my first introduction into writing based roleplaying and learning what It was! I played Sailor Virgo and it was THE GREATEST THING TO HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO ME. As it combined writing stories (something I loved to do) with the super COOL unknown factor of playing with other people. I was hooked.

I immediately started my own roleplay forums. That was Moonwings in 2001. Years down the line after Moonwings closed I was kidnapped as an Iwaku admin in 2008 or 2009 I think?

And here we are in 2022. 8D I'm still roleplaying and it's still the bestest most awesome thing in the world. I want to do this forever.