What do you want from your players as a GM?

K

Kestrel

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So I'm in the process of writing a small article detailing this subject, but I figured, Iwaku, what is your take on this subject? What should totally be included in it? What should not? How was your day? And so forth.

Let me know!
 
Communication. When people just drop out of roleplays without warning, it's very irritating. Or deciding their not going to post at all, so you hold up the process for them, until you learn they don't want to post.

Calling other people on BS when I'm not around and resolving the problem before I as the GM have to do something. Never experianced this as a GM, but I've experianced it as a player, and that's a back in Nam war story.

Being consistant with quality of posts.

I don't GM often, and I've never run an even moderately successful RP with a group, but those are just my two cents.
 
Basically for the GM to be willing to listen to their players, and not get too obsessed with the mechanics (assuming any are used).

Roleplays at the end of the day are a group effort, and a group effort done for fun.
If a GM loses track of the former the group wouldn't get along and fall apart, if they lose track of the latter no one will enjoy it and leave out of boredom or frustration.
 
Communication.
Hah, this one was already on top of the list. What's the problem with players resolving a problem before you get to see it, though? I mean unless a fight breaks loose in the mean time, that's actually a really good thing if you ask me ;p

Basically for the GM to be willing to listen to their players, and not get too obsessed with the mechanics (assuming any are used).
Other way around ;p

I may do a 'what players want from a GM' later, but not right.
 
Ugh. Yes. Communication is huge. @_@ Soooo often, players are afraid of telling me that they're dropping out, and I understand why they're intimidated, but it's just, so, annoying. >.< It makes it so much harder to manage a roleplay when you don't know who's in and who's out...

But it isn't just limited to dropping out, either. Any situation is worth mentioning to me. I try to be understanding with my players. Even something as small as "I'm really out of it tonight and just can't post, I'll try tomorrow" is fine, and helpful, even. I'm not going to call you lazy because of that -- it's totally understandable. Hell, even if you use that excuse repeatedly, I'm not going to call you out on it and accuse you of anything. Yes, I will probably suspect that there's a bigger reason for you not posting -- but I'm not going to chew you out for lying. I'll just ask if something's up, ask if they still want to be in the RP (in case they want to drop out but they've been too shy to say anything), and then, if they still want to be in the RP but there's something preventing them from posting regularly, I'll ask if there's anything I can do to help. A lot of times, players dig themselves into a hole where I can only assume that they want to drop out but are being shy about it -- when, really, they still want to be in the RP, but they just have writer's block that they can't get over. It's ok to say something if you're having writer's block. If anything, I'll try to help you get over it. I find that a good plotting session between player and GM does a lot to spark inspiration and clear up writer's block, so you can get back to a fun RP. And if you want to RP and have the inspiration to RP, but there's real-life stuff keeping you away, then that's fine, too! I won't penalize you for it. It's still very likely that I'll temporarily take your character(s) out of the RP so that you won't hold anyone else up in your absence, but I won't kick you out of the RP forever just because you need to take a bit of time off. It's fine. I try to be very understanding of my players, and if you need to take a break and deal with life stuff then that's fine -- I'll hold your characters till you get back.

...Unless you don't tell me that you need to take a break to deal with real life and just silently vanish. Because then, for practicality's sake, I have to assume that you intend to drop-out permanently, and, well, yeah. Can't guarantee what shape your characters will be in if you ever try to return.

Also, plotting. I touched on this before, but, yeah, I love discussing plans with players and seeing them get hyped up about what they plan to do with their characters. And if you don't have ideas and you feel stuck, then tell me, because I'd be glad to try to help get you started, and/or help you decide whether or not you want to stay if you're feeling on-the-fence about it. So, basically, don't be afraid to come to me about plot ideas that you want to make work. I encourage it. This serves several other purposes in addition to maintaining interest, actually:
  1. It makes sure I know what's going on as a GM, and make sure that your idea is something that I can approve, and perhaps I can even add suggestions to make it work even better or tie it in with some other plot thread.
  2. It shows me that you understand the roleplay. If you have a plot idea that's built around a misunderstanding of some fundamental aspect of the RP, and you don't mention it to me when it's in the early planning stages, then I can't catch that mistake until after you've already put so much planning into it and started to set it up in the IC, which is messy to deal with. Plus, as a GM, it's nice just to see verification that you understand everything you need to know. If players are silent, I kind of just have to hope that they know what they're doing. And, often times, they don't. And this brings me to my next point:
There is nothing wrong with asking questions. In fact, I would encourage it. I would sooo encourage it. Please, please, ask all the questions you could possibly have. I don't even care if it's a question that you could find the answer to in the OP. Yes, it would be preferable that you do read the OP first if you're confused, but, if you read the OP and you still don't understand something, then ask. This isn't an English test -- I'm not here to test your reading comprehension, especially since the OP of my roleplay is not a test that is specifically designed to test that sort of thing and, therefore, it's entirely possible that I did a poor job of explaining something! But I would never know if no one asked any questions!! @_@ Not only do I want you to ask questions if you're confused just because I don't want you to be confused, but, it also helps me figure out what is and isn't clear to my players. There have been plenty of examples of players asking the same sort of question multiple times, thus prompting me to add something to the OP to help clarify things, especially when I can very clearly see where confusion would've arisen from the limited information I had already provided. I'm not perfect, and I'm not going to bark at you for not understanding something in the OP, or for asking a question that someone else already asked (I certainly don't expect you to read the whole OOC to check for that sort of thing). I'm more than willing to meet you halfway, and if that means explaining something further, then that's fine, I'm happy to do so.

Also, asking questions can help spark inspiration for myself and other players, as well. There have been plenty of times in which someone asked a question that I had never considered, thus giving me something to think about so that I can further develop the RP in figuring out an answer. In fact, during the interest check stage of an RP is when I most strongly encourage questions, because they're great at helping me flesh out an idea that's only partially-planned. Sometimes, players bring up really good questions that open up all sorts of doors and really get the creative possibilities flowing. Obviously, this sort of scenario is a bit less common in an already-running RP than one that only has an intchk, but, it does still happen sometimes, even if it's with more minute aspects to the world and story. And, I honestly love it when players ask a question that I can't immediately answer, because it gets me thinking of so many possibilities... Not only that, but publicly asking a question in the OOC often turns it into more of a discussion than a quick question/answer (especially questions that I have to think about), therefore helping other players drum up some ideas, too. It's just a great way to keep creativity flowing all around -- which really helps build motivation and dedication to an RP.

So, yeah, pretty much all of these things fall under the wider umbrella category of "communicate", but, I just wanted to emphasize that such a statement is most certainly not merely limited to saying that you want to drop out. Being open with the GM is great in general, for so many reasons.

A few other things that I like to see from players:

Socialize with the other players. Become part of the group. This is, weirdly, one of the biggest and most accurate predictors of whether a player is going to last in one of my RP's as opposed to quickly dropping out. I know that not all GM's are like this, but, I often turn my OOC's into somewhat of a lounge. Obviously, it's great to see discussion about the actual RP, as that is it's primary purpose, but I take no issue with off-topic discussion about damn near anything, because I like to see players socializing with each other. I do strongly believe that active OOC chattyness really does contribute to having a motivated player base and a long-lived RP. And, recently, I'm starting to notice that being comfortable in the OOC is perhaps even more important than I thought it was.

When I see players who never talk in the OOC, I get worried. And I don't mean engaging in OOC chat all the time -- it's fine if you really don't want to contribute to such a thing -- but, often times, I get players who pretty much never talk in the OOC, only communicating with me via profile messages and PM's, and not even holding a conversation with other players when the conversation is RP-related. And, weirdly enough, despite trying my absolute hardest to ease these players into the RP and making it as easy as I possibly can for them to get into it, these players, in my experience, have at least a 90% chance of dropping out before making a significant contribution to the RP. It feels like this happens almost every time. And it's the reason why I so strongly encourage players to talk in the OOC and get acquainted with other players. There's nothing wrong with profile posts and PM's, but, when people exclusively use these methods to contact me with questions, not even discussing RP-related matters in the OOC or responding to OOC posts that I tagged them in, then I'm worried. Because these are the players who almost always seem to never get any further than making a couple IC posts (usually IC posts that I have to ask them to edit because they didn't understand something), and, often times, not even as far as that. Players that immediately make themselves comfortable in the OOC, on the other hand? They almost always get the hang of things quickly and then become dedicated players that I'm not the least bit worried about. I don't know why this is such a strong predictor of drop-outs, but, it is. Oh, and the players that drop-out after giving these kinds of warning signs? They're also much more likely to not say anything and be a silent drop-out, probably because they're not as comfortable talking to me, which is... great.

Similar to this is the issue of, what I call, "all business" RPers. Look, I understand taking your RPing seriously -- I take my own roleplays pretty seriously, too, and I put a lot of thought and effort into them -- but, at the end of the day, the point of all these roleplays is that they're supposed to be fun. So, it bothers me a bit to see RPers approach my RP from such a business-like perspective, telling me it's wrong that people are allowed to chat about in the OOC and acting as if the only thing I'm supposed to do is answer questions, approve their CS, and make sure everyone follows the rules. You're allowed to relax a little, and we're all allowed to have a little fun. I assure you, I do take my RP seriously, but I also want people to have a good time with it. And that philosophy is the same reason why I emphasize how understanding I am about reasons for not posting or being confused about things, because I don't want you to feel intimidated by me -- and I don't want you to feel like this is a job or a part of school. You're not being graded on anything. And if it does ever feel like I'm punishing you (which it takes a lot to make me do -- and is usually fueled by lack of communication, which does not help your cause at all), it's probably just for the sake of everyone else in the RP. The only reason I have to wrangle in problematic players is so that the rest of the players can enjoy the game. Because, you know, at the end of the day, that's the point to all this -- fun. Oh, and, these "all business" RPers? They also tend to go hand-in-hand with the never-use-the-OOC types, and are also very likely to drop out very quickly, and usually without telling me.

Lastly, it is ok to criticize me. As you probably noticed by most of what I wrote here, I highly value open communication between player and GM. Not only do I want players to be open with me, but I also think it's important to be open with your players, if the situation demands it. I never want to feel like my rules are arbitrary or don't make any sense -- it's the reason why I'll often have a massive paragraph under a single bullet point for my rules list, because I don't want to just post a rule, I want to make sure you understand why that rule exists, especially if it's a less-common rule that I'd expect more criticism for if I didn't explain it. Usually, I try to include at least a brief explanation of my reasoning behind the actions I take as GM. Sometimes I don't bother, if it's for tiny things that I don't expect anyone to object to and therefore doubt that they care what my reasoning was, but, if you do care, or disagree with a decision I've made, don't be afraid to speak up. I want us to have a mutual understanding of each other's concerns. The only catch is: I'm still in charge. I'll give your argument a fair hearing, and, who knows, you might even make me change my mind -- but, if I don't change my mind, even after I've already clearly explained myself and argued against all your concerns, then, that's the end of that. You can't force me to change any of my decisions and throwing a fit isn't going to help you at all. But, if you do have concerns, then I encourage you to speak up so that we can work all this out. Usually what happens when players criticize a rule of mine is that they just walk away with a more clearer understanding of why that rule exists in the first place, but, regardless of the outcome, I do still value people's opinions, and I don't want you to suffer in silence if you think that one of my rules is actually a bad idea and negatively impacting your RP experience. So long as we can all act civil about our disagreements, and we all understand that I am the one with the final say when all is said and done, then I am totally alright with criticism. You don't have to be afraid to question me.

Soooo... yeah. Tl;dr -- don't be afraid of me, I'm here to help, be totally open with all your questions and comments, tell me if you're dropping out, or have any other reason for not posting, don't be afraid of the rest of the player-base, don't be "all business"... yeah, I think that's the gist of it. Just be open with me and remember that I'm understanding and want to run the RP the best I can for the benefit of all my players. That's the basic philosophy behind most of it, I think.

Calling other people on BS when I'm not around and resolving the problem before I as the GM have to do something. Never experianced this as a GM, but I've experianced it as a player, and that's a back in Nam war story.
Hah, this one was already on top of the list. What's the problem with players resolving a problem before you get to see it, though? I mean unless a fight breaks loose in the mean time, that's actually a really good thing if you ask me ;p
Aye, I actually agree more with Kestrel on this. But, I think the fine line that makes a huge difference is that any player-resolved disputes must happen with the understanding that no one there is the GM and that I can have my own take on the subject when I come online to see it. Common sense should dictate when this is and when it isn't an issue.

Small things are usually fine when player-resolved, and a bit of a time-saver for me. For example, say a player made a mistake in an IC post by not acknowledging some important detail that they must have missed. If another player points out the mistake, and everyone's in agreement on what happened, once the first player sees what they missed the first time, then everything's resolved, and I take no issue with it -- because that's something that any player could've pointed out, and they don't need to be the GM to do so. But, say that one player brought up something that seemed to be an issue with another player's IC post, but then you have other players jumping in on that discussion as it becomes clear that some sort of misunderstanding is going on about what actually happened in the IC. At that point, as no one is GM, no one can really definitively say how to solve this problem, though they can offer suggestions and try to work out the confusion the best they can before I come online and settle things properly. Often times, though, seeing that sort of discussion before-hand can help make my decision easier, as it's easier to see where everyone stands in regards to the issue and therefore I don't have to spend as much time trying to understand what the problem even is.

So, player-resolved disputes are fine when those problems are small and easy to quickly resolve. But, when it's clear that there's no real solution without the GM's input, then it's fine for people to at least discuss the issue, so long as no one's calling the shots like a GM would. And, yeah, no fights breaking out would be nice -- though that's usually prevented by players saying "ok, we'll let the GM handle this" when it's clear that there's no definitive answer. If no one's calling shots, then there's nothing to fight about, really -- there's just a possible issue that the GM can probably resolve more smoothly than the player base can, once they get online and see it.
 
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Other way around ;p
Oh... Woops. XD

In that case that case I'd basically have to say communication and co-operation.
A group needs to be on the same page, and the players although should have freedom should also be willing to respect the DM and not do things that can destroy the RP.
 
To not suck <- Duh. Let's try something more useful.

  1. Communicate: As Kaga & others have said, I echo. Ask questions, talk to me, tell me what's going on, and how you feel. Be truthful, please. I can't fix problems unless I know they exist. :ferret:
  2. Language Comprehension: You don't need a Master's Degree in English. Hell, go ahead, fuck up common grammar sometimes, it happens to the best of us. (That previous sentence for instance improperly uses commas where, in at least one point, it could use a full stop instead.) However, if you are constantly failing to understand things written by everyone around you, you're going to create far more problems than your presence will ever warrant being worth. I'm sorry, but this is rather important for me, because the number of times I've watched people ask me questions I already answered in the plot because they failed to read the plot, is astounding.
  3. Please Read: I'm serious. I'm dead serious. Just read what's written first and then ask your questions.
  4. KISS Is Your Friend: KISS as in Keep It Simple, Stupid! I don't need your character's entire history in the biography. Let me put it another way: If I have five characters to review, and each has two paragraphs for a biography, that's ten paragraphs to read through. I can deal with that. If I have five characters to review, and each has eight paragraphs for a biography, that's forty paragraphs for me to read through in detail, vet, and then release. Now typically I don't have just five, I usually have ten or more character sheets to go through, doubling this painful phenomena's effect. Remember: Less is more. The more you can say with less words, the better your writing generally is. Anyone can write ten paragraphs: It's what's in those ten paragraphs that makes them interesting. The more detail you can squeeze into a smaller space, the better it is on everyone. Especially me. Because eighty paragraphs is a mind numbing exercise.
  5. Be active, not passive: Passive is fucking evil, man, especially against a GM. What I mean by passive is someone who only reacts to situations and never takes any actions themselves. These people are vampires and they hurt everything. My job as a GM is to create a world for you to play in. If you just stare at it all day and look moody, what the hell am I supposed to do? It's my job to be reactive to you, and create the world accordingly. If I try to be active and force you forward, there's a word for that in the roleplaying community: Railroading. By the nature of storytelling on a forum I am already forced to use some level of railroading to help guide you into new areas and introduce NPC's and the like, so please don't be that guy who does absolutely nothing and forces me to railroad even more. It also typically causes crippling doubt in newer GM's, because now they're sitting there, wondering "what did I do wrong? Why are the players just sitting there? Is the plot not interesting, is it confusing? Is the world not engaging? Am I just shitty at this?" It's a terrible feeling. It truly is. Please stahp being passive only, do things, act on the world. If you don't, you're just playing an NPC with the "N" knocked off, and there's no reason for you to be bothering writing a post.
Seriously though, that last one. I mean it. Players who are passive only, forever and ever, are the bane of my existence. No amount of world building or tension in the plot is ever sufficient to get them to move, and I feel like a dick for kicking them over it. However, if you are going to do nothing, if your character has no motivation to act upon the world around them, then why the fuck did you bother joining my role play? Seriously, you could have just played a video game and not wasted my time. :ferret:

As for everything else, it can be worked on. It can be taught. I can teach someone how to KISS their posts better, how to read, to gain a better grasp of the English vocabulary. Heck I can even remind people and teach people to ask me questions persistently until I give them an answer, but I can't teach people motivation. That's something you gotta bring yourself, and if you don't have it, I and no other GM on the planet can help you. Gotta believe in the me that believes in you, man, and act on the world!
 
  1. Be active, not passive: Passive is fucking evil, man, especially against a GM. What I mean by passive is someone who only reacts to situations and never takes any actions themselves. These people are vampires and they hurt everything. My job as a GM is to create a world for you to play in. If you just stare at it all day and look moody, what the hell am I supposed to do? It's my job to be reactive to you, and create the world accordingly. If I try to be active and force you forward, there's a word for that in the roleplaying community: Railroading. By the nature of storytelling on a forum I am already forced to use some level of railroading to help guide you into new areas and introduce NPC's and the like, so please don't be that guy who does absolutely nothing and forces me to railroad even more. It also typically causes crippling doubt in newer GM's, because now they're sitting there, wondering "what did I do wrong? Why are the players just sitting there? Is the plot not interesting, is it confusing? Is the world not engaging? Am I just shitty at this?" It's a terrible feeling. It truly is. Please stahp being passive only, do things, act on the world. If you don't, you're just playing an NPC with the "N" knocked off, and there's no reason for you to be bothering writing a post.
Oh, yeah, this. I can't believe I forgot this. @_@ But yeah, this is a big one. I always put a rule in my RP's telling players that every post must contain something that other players can react to -- even if it's only a single action, a single line of dialogue, anything. Because being completely passive and reactive does nothing to help anyone, and it's just infuriating to read. Especially when players ask why everyone is ignoring them. >.< Because I'll be completely, brutally honest in telling them why.

Edit: Also, sort of in response to Brovo's 4th point -- I for one don't mind when people get a bit lengthy with their posts/CS's. I kind of like it, especially when it's clear that they put a lot of enthusiasm and thought into it. But, what I don't like is when people treat it as some sort of requirement, therefore fluffing up their posts/CS's just to make them longer. It's hard to explain, but, somehow you can just sort of feel when a post/CS was made longer just to make it longer, and not because the player actually had more that they wanted to say.

So often, I see players apologize for not being able to make things longer. And... don't??? O_o I have no length requirement, especially not for IC posts (with CS's I might tell people to elaborate on things, but that's only when a field is so skimpy that it really does need elaboration because I feel like I didn't learn enough). If you actually want to write a long IC post because the situation your character is in moves you or whatever then fine, I'll probably enjoy reading it, even. But if you aren't in that sort of situation, and your response only takes up a paragraph... then just leave it at a paragraph. There's no reason to make it longer, and I don't want to see you fluffing it up just to make it longer.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is: don't worry about length. I for one don't exactly prefer conciseness, contrary to what Brovo said, but, I don't want to see anyone worrying about length when length is not a concern of mine. Just write as much or as little as the situation demands. That's all I ask for.

If you truly want to write more because you're getting artsy and really want to get all in-depth with your character's emotions then fine, I won't complain. But if you think "hmm, my post is too short, it needs to be longer" and try to fluff it up with needless description of their surroundings and everything... yeah, that's what bugs me a little. Not so much because I find it a hassle to read, but just because I don't want players to feel like they have to worry about it. @_@ It just... isn't necessary. Stop after a paragraph if that's what feels right to you, it's fine.
 
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Well that is why I said kiss. Keep it simple, stupid. If you have a ton of stuff to say in 10 paragraphs, go for it, but in general, the more detail you can squeeze into a smaller space, the better. Just means that when you do write ten paragraphs, they will be the most depth filled paragraphs ever. :ferret:
 
I've found a few things that bothered me in the few RP's I've tried to get rolling here and the ones that have gotten rolling for however long or short.

  • Read EVERYONE's posts: Far too often do I see someone pick up a object or press a button that someone else already pressed, grabbed, or whatever. Worse yet is when they don't react to something happening around them until about a page later when they realize it's what everyone else is doing. Doing a action that the GM has clearly stated is impossible is another part of this, if you know that the GM said no in a broad spectrum, and you want to anyway, at least ask them and figure out what would actually happen.

  • State who you're interacting with, who your character can see, ect: Saying 'you' or 'blond-hair' doesn't really help, at least include a name somewhere in there or something that will catch the players attention and let them know that's who they're interacting with. Its not fun, and it's actually embarrassing to try to get someones attention for a series of posts, or not realize you were supposed to be reacting to someone who has been dancing in front of you for a few minutes.

  • Don't be that guy: Just because your character has a special backstory, power, set of skills, item, or anything like that, does not mean you get to be all loner and moody but then expect people to interact with you. Typically this is a bad experience for everyone, the person playing the character included. Conversely, if someone's character is being left alone, not because their character is going out of their way to do so, don't be afraid to make a new friend.

  • Following and Leading: Just because you have a GM doesn't mean they will take the in-game lead and cause everything to happen. In some cases the story will be very linear, yes, but in others you have a world to explore, not just a series of corridors and rooms. Conversely, if Cthulhu is smashing the world into bits, it might not be the best time to say "Let's go to the bar guys." Don't be afraid to suggest little bits and pieces, some GM's will have the whole thing mapped out, others might find the little side-storyline interesting(This does not mean to have ninjas jump in through the windows so you can destroy them because you're bored) Also, to GM's as a aside, do make sure that if you want players to take a specific action, they know that it's something you want to happen for the story, don't just leave it up in the air for what they're supposed to be doing.

  • Length is a Virtue and a Sin: This has been stated before, but you don't need to have the longest posts, but that does not mean simply typing in "Okay" to the thread is alright. Make your posts as long as they need to be to describe what your character is doing, but I don't need to know that their jeans creaked in a weird way or that there was a fly down the street, I would however like to know any specific mannerisms to their actions.
 
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if Cthulhu is smashing the world into bits, it might not be the best time to say "Let's go to the bar guys."
Personally, I figure that if Chutlu is smashing the world, it's not unreasonable to spend your last hours smashed. ;p

Thanks for the feedback, all.
 
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A great deal of wisdom has been shared here - and many who are into interactive and communal storytelling could benefit from this kind of insight. Really, you can apply any of the lessons learned from playing RPGs to forum roleplaying. There are a few ways to just ''do it right'' and they're by no means extensive and fully documented. Everyone knows how you can do it wrong, however.

1. Approach it how you approach a game - you're not necessarily there for the game itself, so much as the people playing with you. Sure, you don't know anyone in a forum when you start out, and new people constantly filter in and out. But you start building up connections naturally, as you go. Look at it as an opportunity to meet neat new people.

2. Make an interesting character, not a ''powerful'' character. Now this is subjective to the setting of the RP in question, but easy go-tos in Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and such is to make a character who is literally powerful in terms of the amazing feats of awesome that they can perform. And all too often they tend to be introverted loners. That's not very interesting for everyone else that's going to be playing with you, now is it? Make someone with weaknesses, regardless of the setting, make someone with layers, like Shrek. In RPs that aren't nearly as ''combat-oriented'' you can apply the same thing, but ''powerful'' in those settings, usually means either cash money, friends in high places, or a reputation as someone not to be fucked with. You can be a badass - but wouldn't it be more satisfying if you had to constantly defend your status as such? Or if you didn't start at that place?

3. Show interest in other people's stories. Send PMs, exchange skype handles, brainstorm ideas for collaborative posts where you use an instant chat to RP organic conversations between your characters, it not only looks more natural, but it's a great way to motivate the other people in your RP. Heck, make -every- post a collaborative thing, with a different player, show the GM and the others that you're more interested in telling something interesting and memorable than you are stroking your own ego. Scenes where your character is alone are good when used well - use those as a way to give everyone a glimpse into their inner-workings, use it to drop the mask and show their nature, but don't ever make it just about you and your avatar.

4. Don't be defensive - don't be afraid to ''lose''. Bad things happen to everyone, and they will and should happen to your characters. Failure and tragedy open the doors for the greatest change and the most compelling stories. Being invincible and blessed to always prosper isn't interesting.

Those are all the ones I've got off the top of my head, keep it coming though - there's never going to be a definitive list, but people ought to make these things known.
 
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On top of what everyone else has already said, consistency in actively posting. I mean, being communicative and a forward acting player is absolutely crucial to be sure, but if as a player they're scarcely ever posting then it means nothing. There's nothing wrong with the occassional skipping, life calls and gets in the way, but if they're not actively posting enough then it doesn't really matter how fantastic their writing, character or personality is. End of the day they still need to contribute.

Have to say though, really agree with Kaga's expressions on socialising within the OOC and using it as a lounge and Brovo's point on passive players; two very important elements as well. The former just helps to add to the fun aspect of an rp and help show interest and activity within the rp, the latter being a bane on any GM's ability to push the rp or maintain interest in their own rp when they get such minimal feedback.
 
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The former just helps to add to the fun aspect of an rp and help show interest and activity within the rp,
Not only does it show interest and activity, but it also helps players feel more comfortable, and gives them a stronger sense of dedication to the RP.

That's really the main reason why OOC socialization helps, I think. Players who only ever communicate with me via PM always just feel so... disconnected from the rest of the RP, and I can only imagine what that must feel like on their end. I also get a greater vibe of shyness and awkwardness from these types of players, as well. I know I've dropped RP's when I felt like I just didn't fit in with the rest of the players there. So if a player doesn't even try to socialize and become part of the group? Well, it stands to reason that it would be much more likely that they'd feel that way.

Meanwhile, when players do socialize, it starts to feel like a bit more than an RP. Friendships form, and there's somewhat of a sense of community among the player group. It gives them a reason to stick around and to want to contribute, as opposed to already feeling disconnected and left out and therefore feeling little remorse about dropping out.
 
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Absolutely. OOC socialistion has helped to form some wicked bonds between myself and the players of my rp that simply wouldn't have happened if everyone was more... sterile? and focused on just rp talk. With the players in my rp I've forged book and music buddies, gaming friends and a girlfriend. We've had quite a few meetups with some of the players in my rp and I'm sure that'll only continue to grow more and more. A few of us have been exchanging christmas presents this year too. :)
 
From my experience on other sites (I haven't made many RP's here!) these are some of the things I want/don't want my players to do! I'll try and go over points that haven't already been made:

>Try and make a friendly introduction, and express some interest in the RP. Just posting a CS is fine, but if you give a little introduction and say that you like the concept of the RP, you're giving the GM a little back-channelling to let you know that you're legitimately interested. Just posting a CS without saying anything for ages is fine, but it's a little on-the-nose, and kind of leaves an awkward feeling - especially if the CS isn't really that good. Introducing yourself or saying hello to other players doesn't hurt, and shows that you're ready to get down for some GROUP RP'ING, rather than just being quiet and posting every now and again. If you don't want to post in the OOC for the sake of posting, even rating posts shows me that you're still active and showing enthusiasm. So please, don't be the one person everyone's really unsure of. It makes people unsure to RP with you/interact with you in general, which isn't something you want - especially in a GROUP effort.

>Making a nice-looking CS is fine, but don't make it obnoxious. I really don't like it when a player has quickly made a CS, and it shows when this does happen. There's stuff from the template that still needs to be deleted, or there's unnecessary spaces or bolding of certain words. Making a CS look neat and tidy is great, and presenting it in a way that can be easily read is even better. Colour can look great, too, and formatting an image to smoothly accompany an image can look even better...

...However, if a CS is so overly-decorated that I'm having an epileptic fit just by looking at it, to me that shows you've spent more time making the CS look pretty and to be noticed rather than the actual meat and bones. Trying too hard to make your CS look good can sometimes distract you from actually developing your character! I'd rather have a good character made using no colours and the default template in my RP rather than an okay character put into overly pretty colours and insanely good formatting. If you can make your CS look great AND make a great-looking CS, nice job! But keep in mind that it's THE CHARACTER ITSELF that most GM's care about.


>Do not steal characters, and do not make characters clearly based off other things. Obviously, in fandom RP's, this is absolutely fine - but if it's an original roleplay, making a character that's clearly meant to be something like Naruto or Katniss Everdeen is one of the #1 no-gos. Getting inspiration from characters from other things is fine, but using pictures/key features of a popular, well-known character is an absolute no-go. Make your own characters, and don't steal stuff/abilities from other shows! That's just lazy, and if you're a huge fan of the show/place that character is from - fine - but find an RP where non-original characters are allowed!

>Don't reserve spots and then never end up making a CS. This speaks for itself, I won't go too far into this one, but it REALLY grinds my gears when people do this. Thankfully though, not many people do this as they actually have some dignity/common sense!

>Nobody. Likes. OP. Characters. When you're given an option to freely make your character as powerful/weak as you like with no stat restrictions or anything like that, let me just say this. NOBODY LIKES MARY SUES. NOBODY. If you make a character that's extremely powerful and could kill another character in the flick of the finger, nobody will like them. Even One-Punch-Man, probably one of the most overpowered characters ever created - has a weakness - and that's his extremely low intelligence. I'm not saying it's okay to create characters like One-Punch-Man (even though he's fucking great), but you get where I'm coming from.

>Prioritising the power of your character/PowerGaming. In most RP's, OP characters aren't allowed. Making your character as powerful as you can whilst it still being allowed, to me, is a really douchey and downright obnoxious thing to do. If there's some sort of stat system, carefully exploring/considering each stat to make the mechanically best character you can possibly be whilst still being in the rules is DOUCHEY. Making a character to be as powerful as possible tells me that you're not interested in seeing where the RP goes and having a great writing experience, but it tells me that you want to beat all other characters when a fight scene arises, and you want your character to succeed in combat above all others. If that's how you feel, I DON'T WANT YOU HERE, AND MOST OTHER PLAYERS DON'T WANT YOU THERE EITHER.
Don't be afraid to make characters weak in some areas, as it can make fight scenes interesting rather than one-sided. Nobody will want/be looking forward to fighting your character if they know they're just going to lose thanks to you being a real clever guy and making them uber-powerful but still allowed. Give legit (not stupid) weaknesses for your characters, and it's even cool to make them downright awful in one/multiple aspects. Original and cool abilities are better received than ones purely designed to kill/counter other players. Which brings me to another of my pet hates...

>Don't strategise against other players. Ughhhhhhhh. Don't even get me started on this. It's so pathetic. Basically, if someone's made something like - I don't know - a fire wizard that poses a threat to your character, randomly giving them an ability called 'Fire Blocking Shield' just to beat them if you ever get into a fight with them is SCUMBAGGY. You shouldn't be thinking 'ok I have to beat everyone', even if IT IS a PvP RP. You know where making strategies against other players is good? Video games. If you do in an RP, however, then maybe you should try League of Legends Ranked or some sort of competitive game instead of RP'ing, eh?

>Help to make a balanced cast. This is pretty self-explanatory, but basically, if there's 4 mages in the cast and like 1 warrior, for goodness sake... don't make another mage just because you want to! What's the fun in that? GM's like to have diversity of characters, not the same product painted in different colours. Think of the GM as someone who's about to enjoy a fruit salad. If there are just pineapples in the fruit salad, he'll get bored of eating the same thing over and over, and wonder why the fuck there's only pineapples in the fruit salad he paid £5 for. If there's a nice mix, though, the fruit salad will usually be happily consumed right through to the end. Even though that's probably the worst metaphor I've made in my life (and I've made many awful ones), I think you know where I'm getting at here...

...Also, players don't like it when you make a character who's concept is pretty much the same as theirs. If they've made a character who's specialised in healing, and then you come up and also make a character who specialises in healing - the other player is going to be pretty annoyed most of the time. THEY wanted to be the healer, and now they feel their character is less significant. Basically, if someone's made a point to have their character specialise in something and you follow the same specialisations as that character, or, even worse, try to outdo them - not only is it boring, but it's downright insulting.

>Don't post half-hearted posts. If you're not feeling up to a post, wait until you are and write a great one, or explain your problem to the GM. You could be struggling to find the time to write a proper post - in that case, asking the GM for more time will usually give you more time to post if they're a fair GM, or you should be able to skip a round without getting kicked from the RP. If you're just not enjoying the RP, have the guts to tell this problem to the GM, or leave the RP altogether. Whilst it may sound a little dark, if you're dragging the group down or making really short and uninteresting post amidst a group of enthusiastic posters, you're not really going to be wanted.

>Join an RP on your ideal level. Pretty self-explanatory. It's great to try new things, but if your ideal posting length is 3 lines and the RP your about to join demands multiple paragraphs, you're likely going to be seen as doing the point above. It's like being a penguin and throwing yourself into a desert. Learn how to tolerate the heat before you go diving in harsh environments. (Another terrible metaphor, I'm on a roll today!) This isn't to say you shouldn't join a high-level RP if you're willing to try your hardest, though. You might get rejected/kicked, but overall it'll be a learning experience, and you'll get some XP for your 'Roleplaying' skill tree. Keep 'grinding' XP on low-level RP's, and your Rolep... no, you know what, I'm starting to get onto another shitty metaphor - let's move on.

>Follow through with the personality description of your character. If your character is quiet, angry, and doesn't like to socialise - don't make them talking every 10 seconds and loudly introducing themself to everyone. If your character is evil, don't make them suddenly be good to be liked by other characters (which is a common thing I see.) If you want an evil character to be good, or vice versa, they won't just go against their will straight away. Develop character personalities through long-term character development, which, if you pull of correctly: is an EXCELLENT thing to do. If you do character development correctly, it'll look fantastic and engaging, and your GM will likely be pleased with it!

>Don't Ignore People. Being ignored is shit. Like, really shit - whether it's in the OOC or IC. Whilst most people don't aim to be the centre of everyone's life, they appreciate it if people actually take notice of them once in a while. For example, if someone gives you a compliment in the OOC - why not rate it a 'Like', a 'Love' - or - hold on to your socks... a 'Bucket of Rainbows'! It shows that you actually care, and people will feel a bit mugged off if they try to interact with you and you just blank them. This goes for IC posts, too. If a character interacts with another character, don't just completely ignore them/not mention them at all. It might be because you didn't notice that the character said something to you - in that case, edit your posts, and read other people's posts better in future ya little shit.

Always keep in mind that this is an online community where people want to share, interact, and create - and if you're ignoring the community just to show off your own stuff or for whatever reasons, it's not appreciated by other people and is pretty selfish - not to mention the GM's affinity for you will likely decrease! Show that you care! And if you don't care, find a place where other people don't care - I'm sure that's a great place to be.



I could make a bunch more points, but most've them have already been made, and I'd just be going on too much, haha! But yeah, those are what I like/don't like my players doing, some of them a pretty obvious - but it still sometimes happens! Hope whoever took the time to read this enjoyed it/learnt some things nonetheless.
 
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>Don't post half-hearted posts. If you're not feeling up to a post, wait until you are and write a great one, or explain your problem to the GM. You could be struggling to find the time to write a proper post - in that case, asking the GM for more time will usually give you more time to post if they're a fair GM, or you should be able to skip a round without getting kicked from the RP. If you're just not enjoying the RP, have the guts to tell this problem to the GM, or leave the RP altogether. Whilst it may sound a little dark, if you're dragging the group down or making really short and uninteresting post amidst a group of enthusiastic posters, you're not really going to be wanted.
Oh, yes, this. I second this.

That's not to say that I expect posts to be a certain length/quality, though, since I normally don't really care about length and that sort of thing. But, it's often pretty clear to me when an IC post was rushed, and I'd rather not see that.

There have been instances where I've tried to talk to a player about their spotty posting and they seem to interpret that as me asking for a post right then and there, thus resulting in a rushed post that they whipped up on the spot. But that's not what I wanted. If I'm asking you why you're not posting, I'm asking you why you're not posting. And all I want is an honest answer. :/

I'd much rather have an explanation for not posting than rushed-out posts. Also, I tend not to care too much about time frames, either, except when a wait is exceptionally long. So, if you're faced with the choice of making a rushed post in a limited amount of time tonight, or waiting till tomorrow when you can actually write a good post? Then please, wait till tomorrow. I'd much rather see effort put into something than see players rush to churn out sub-par content. It'll be worth the wait.
 
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Thanks all. These have quite a few things I hadn't thought of yet among them.