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Proper Etiquette of the Roleplaying Forum

Discussion in 'Roleplay' started by steels12, Aug 26, 2013.

Proper Etiquette of the Roleplaying Forum
  1. steels12 Regular Member

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    -~[Proper Etiquette of the Roleplaying Forum]~-
    -~[Welcome]~-

    Hello and, firstly, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this. Just know that by simply entering this thread shows that you truly care about keeping the roleplaying forum a respectable and calm category of the shotbow forums. I'll try not to ramble on as I know how long posts can be tedious to endure.

    In this post I will be going over basic etiquette for posting a roleplay, maintaining one, and replying to another's thread. It shouldn't take much reading and everyone will appreciate you for it.

    -~[Posting]~-

    if you plan on posting a roleplay then please, follow these few general guidelines:

    Use proper grammar and punctuation
    This should be obvious, it is to ensure your roleplay is neat, readable, and organized

    Separate paragraphs clearly
    Shotbow doesn't allow indentation, meaning the next best way you can identify differing paragraphs is through double-spacing. This makes reading easier as it ensures your story no longer looks like a huge wall of text.

    Make two, and ONLY two threads for each of your roleplays
    Ensure one thread is SOLELY made for your roleplay, thus you can post in chaptered form with each chapter being a new reply to the same thread. The signifigance of chaptered threads is explained in the maintenance section. The second thread should be solely for comments, feedback, and/or character applications.

    Inform your readers
    Tell your readers that your roleplay post is only for your entries and that if fans feel like commenting they should do so on the comments thread (which you should link in the main post). You should also tell your readers what they should expect from the story (foul language, adult themes, etc, etc).

    Just because you CAN make a thread, doesn't mean you SHOULD.
    Simply put, no one is stopping you from saying something, but by putting yourself in the eyes of the public you should accept moral integrity for your work. Don't post something that you can clearly see is unnecessarily offensive, crude, or lacking in quality. Don't let this deter you if you don't feel you can write like a professional, just so long as you put effort into the quality, people will be able to see that.


    -~[Maintaining]~-

    If you plan on continuing your roleplay for a good, long time then you should know how to differentiate from posting a short story and writing a whole story. This entire thread is focused on whole stories, but short stories should also use common sense with their etiquette.

    To properly care for your growing story you need to understand you will face MUCH adversity if you don't familiarize yourself with the limitations of the forum. These limitations are NOT given to you in writing until you reach them, and thus I am here to help warn you:

    Your posts are limited!
    Main posts of a thread are limited to 60,000 characters. This may sound like a lot at first, but your story can soon grow much too big and leave you in a spot of trouble. This is why chaptered stories are the best kind as it separates stories by chapter and removes the issue of reaching character limits. It is polite to ensure that each new chapter is a new reply (tip: if your main post is not a chapter itself then the number of "replies" will tell readers exactly how many chapters your story has).

    Titles are permanent!
    Yes, it's true. You CANNOT EDIT YOUR THREAD'S TITLE once you have created it. Do not put ANY words on your title that you would want to remove at a later time because you can't. It's easier to put such information in the main post which CAN be edited at any time.

    Understand that feedback is mandatory.
    Please, please, do not ever assume that everyone is going to be nice about your post. Do not ever assume that everyone is going to like your writing. All you can do is ask for their feedback, but ask for it in the form of constructive criticism. Ask your readers what they liked and what they disliked so that you can grow your story to please your fans as much as it should please you.

    You are a celebrity... kind of.
    In your own thread: You. Are. God. Think about it, you make the rules and everything inside of it. Do not let this go to your head though, do the opposite. Humble yourself, realize that your readers can't be readers without anything to read, nor can you be a writer with no one to read your writing. It's a mutual relationship and you NEED TO RESPECT YOUR AUDIENCE. Neither one of you is better than the other, but they are here to read your writing and thus you must be presentable, kind, and understanding in your replies. If all else fails, treat them as you wish to be treated.

    Use the reader workforce!
    A big issue for writers is proofreading. It's both difficult and tedious to go back and re-read your entire story a few times looking at every word carefully, trying to find mistakes that may not even be there. Ask your readers to submit an error form to you, they generally love to help out their favorite stories!

    -~[Replying]~-

    Lastly, and potentially most importantly: feedback. Being a good reader. Giving people feedback can make or break their entire story. No one on this forum writes for money or for professional fame, they write for the people. This whole section is built on the foundation of every day talent to be seen by every day talent. We all learn and grow from each other, and thus we all need to at least appreciate the work of others.

    Not everyone needs to be a professional critic, nor does everyone need to be a crazed fan boy. If you can find some points that you agree on then tell the author. You don't need to say you're in love with their writing, but if you let them know that they're doing something correctly, something that is also entertaining, well that could just keep them striving to write better. A few good things to remember:

    You don't need to be here
    It's true. This can be taken as a good thing or a bad thing. You don't NEED to show your appreciation, which makes it all the more heartwarming when you do. You also don't NEED to swear profusely at a writer due to their lack of skill, it only ruins your reputation and hurts the author.

    They don't need to be here, either
    These writers can easily find another place to display their writing pieces. If you truly enjoy their writing then speak up. They may know they have talent, they may not, the key to showing them that they have skill is if their readers tell them so.

    Care, don't swear.
    All-caps-rage does less than nothing. It makes you look immature, irate, and a bigot. No one gives a shit about your useless crap, just like no one is willing to sit around and be verbally assaulted by your loud and angry opinion (see what I mean?).

    Guide them, don't shove them.
    The trick to helping writers grow and develop their skills is to give constructive criticism. This doesn't mean that you need to agree with everything they do, it doesn't mean that you need to agree with ANYTHING they do. Do not scare them off and do not shoot them down, they might just be on the fence about writing in general and your feedback could make or break their entire writing career.

    -~[Being Polite]~-

    The following list is not part of the expected etiquette of the roleplaying section, but rather some tips that I and other users deem to be polite practices. (Feel free to suggest your own!)

    - Add some diversity to your vocabulary. (Repeating the same word over and over gets monotonous)
    - Use real names. (Nicknames are fine, but please, no usernames)
    - Do not include your name in the title. (We can all see who you are, you don't need to tell us)
    - Use numbers properly. (I.E. write "four" or "twenty-seven" instead of 4 and 27)
    - Do not antagonize someone for commenting on your roleplay with something not directly about it.
    - Do not start a flame war on your own roleplay.
    - If you DO start a flame war, just drop it. (No arguments: Just. Drop. It. Even if you're "winning")
    - Keep your titles short. (It should be just the title of the story and if it's the story of the comment thread)
    - Update your post regularly. (Keep a schedule or else you may end up having to necro your post)
    - Do not necro your posts. (The roleplay section moves slowly, if your post dies, leave it there.)
    - Keep your readers informed. (Tell them why you're not updating regularly ASAP, not after a month)

    -~[The End]~-

    That's it. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps. There are many great examples of good writing on the forum that are all open and available for you to read. All I could ever ask of you, if you agree with the ideals of this post, is that you leave a like. I don't ask this for myself, but so the community can see that people DO actually support proper etiquette on this forum. This post is, of course, open to discussion and addition, please let me here your feedback.

    If you'd like more help, I also have a guide to help people with their writing. I'm not going to pretend that I'm a professional writer, but I merely wrote down a few helpful hints, building on that foundation with help from you, the community.

  2. NikkoTheNeko Gold

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    they need to make you the mod of the roleplay forums or some shit, seriously
    oxpoweryea and jrbarsinister like this.
  3. steels12 Regular Member

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    I think Pyros would be ahead of me, maybe a few others. I'm just active is all. (besides, being a mod would mean I couldn't be sarcastic D: )
    Ole_Byzantine likes this.
  4. NikkoTheNeko Gold

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    For time being here yes but you are laying down ground work to help new writers and proper etiquette on these forums.
  5. blockhead1110 Platinum

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    This needs to be a sticky thread.
    DaFunkPvP likes this.
  6. steels12 Regular Member

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    *shrug*
  7. mrnutty12 Platinum

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    wait I think I found out how to indent... but seriously nice post, very informative and
    overall useful to pretty much anybody who actually cares...
  8. steels12 Regular Member

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    That's the point :3
    mrnutty12 likes this.
  9. steels12 Regular Member

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    suggestions are always greatly appreciated
  10. Dodger546 Regular Member

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    I suggest the admins pin this thread. But no seriously this is strictly directed towards roleplaying. How on earth is this along with our other threads not pinned?
  11. steels12 Regular Member

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    It's their call, not mine. As long as I can help people, I'm happy
  12. Dodger546 Regular Member

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    Well I am making a group role play thread (I got sick and tired of clockeye [Used a few of your threads rules, cause they were good rules]) And I posted the three links of our guides to it. They are also in my signature. Hopefully we can make the role play forums a little cleaner :lmao:
  13. steels12 Regular Member

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    I WAS going to make another group roleplay, but I need to know if GunZ is getting its own roleplay section first
  14. Dodger546 Regular Member

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    :/ I just made another role play :lmao:
  15. steels12 Regular Member

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    I... didn't say you couldn't
  16. Dodger546 Regular Member

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  17. steels12 Regular Member

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    :3
  18. Megaplaylist64 Platinum

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    Yea.
  19. Dodger546 Regular Member

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    There are three role playing help threads. Not one has been pinned. :/
  20. steels12 Regular Member

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    Added a new section. Feel free to suggest your own additions/changes

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