Rinne's Handy-Dandy Guide on How to Avoid an RP Lock

[bury the year]

I've been locking an inordinate number of threads lately, and have received an inordinate number of complaints in response. Therefore, I've decided to do some preventative medicine for our beloved RP section. This thread contains a list of points on how to avoid getting your RP thread locked/warned from my approach. Note that other mods, like Shadius or Sushi (if he ever mods again) might take different factors into consideration.

 

---

 

TIP the FIRST – Make lengthier-than-average apps.

If a person can fill an app out and post it in the span of 10 seconds, you're doing something wrong. I've found that the shorter an app is, the shorter posts people will make, because they think less effort is required of them. Go into detail. Don't make personality or biography optional if you include them; they're essential to building characters. Don't allow the use of pictures, because that's a definite lazy way out.

 

TIP the SECOND – Make lengthier-than-average plots. (This tip was suggested by Blazinghydra.)

Kinda goes hand-in-hand with the above, but in reverse. People aren't going to put much effort into their end of the project if you don't with yours, and that mainly includes the plot. If you're only going to write three sentences, people will be confused on just what they're applying for, and quality will suffer as a result. Plot out everything you will need for the first round of posts, as a rule of thumb, and you should be set. More can be revealed IC.

 

TIP the THIRD – Don’t accept every single app that comes flying your way.

Be discriminate with your applicants. How someone fills out an RP application is a good sign of their posting habits, so judge the strengths of what they are showing before going all "lolaccepted." If it seems like they'll be a detriment to you later on, then PM them with some changes and suggestions you'd like them to make. Hopefully, this'll encourage/prod them to do better, because they will know that their current level is unsatisfactory. (Making RP samples a part of the app helps with this a lot.)

 

TIP the FOURTH – Enforce your rules upon your participants.

Rules are there for a reason, y'know, and since I take the "one strike and you're out" approach to enforcement, you should try to make sure that I don't drop that on your head. If someone's posting habits are unsatisfactory, just inform them that you'd like them to improve on them. If they don't, remove them from the RP. By doing this, less of what pops up on my radar will occur, and you can keep going with good standards.

 

TIP the FIFTH – When your thread is warned, follow up on it.

You're doing something wrong if I post that little "last warning" in your thread, and if you don't mend your ways fast, that hammer might be dropped down on your thread's head faster than you expect. I do give a grace period to adjust, though, so use that to determine what isn't working and to weed out any possible sources of trouble. This'll make things go much more smoothly.

 

TIP the SIXTH – If your thread's locked, it's not the end of the world.

Although it isn't an everyday occasion, I have unlocked threads of those people who manage to provide a set of good reasons on why their thread should be unlocked and how they plan on keeping up good quality. If you can impress me, I'm more than willing to, but be prepare to stand your ground. It's not going to be the easiest thing in the world.

 

TIP the SEVENTH – Don't be an asshole to the mods.

This might seem a bit biased, and in fact, it somewhat is. I know the posting habits and styles of almost all of the regulars in this section, and that can end up weighing on my decision to lock a thread or not. Of course, if you go ahead and flame/insult me or any other mods, we will most likely lose our patience with you and any of your future projects. We're humans; what can we say? Just be nice and respect everyone on here, even if you don't agree with their decisions.

 

---

 

I'm leaving this thread open so people can suggest more tips or comment/critique my ideas. Keep it civil, though!

 

[Hydra of Ages]

Nice list, covers pretty much everything I'd suggest to anyone who wants to make an RP, with one exception- Plots. Every RP needs one, and needs to tell people what said plot is. In my honest opinion, people whose' plot spoiler-tags are smaller than their applications generally fail fairly quickly, or are locked if they DO get off the ground. A good, lengthy plot summary gives the people posting more of an idea of what's going on, so they don't need to make as many assumptions when building their apps, and I find the longer the plot is, the more the applicants seriously take the Roleplay.

 

Hell, even I'm not immune to it; I'll freely admit the weakest applications I've ever written were for RPs with a plot consisting of about three sentences.

[bury the year]

Nice list' date=' covers pretty much everything I'd suggest to anyone who wants to make an RP, with one exception- Plots. Every RP needs one, and needs to tell people what said plot is. In my honest opinion, people whose' plot spoiler-tags are smaller than their applications generally fail fairly quickly, or are locked if they DO get off the ground. A good, lengthy plot summary gives the people posting more of an idea of what's going on, so they don't need to make as many assumptions when building their apps, and I find the longer the plot is, the more the applicants seriously take the Roleplay.

 

Hell, even I'm not immune to it; I'll freely admit the weakest applications I've ever written were for RPs with a plot consisting of about three sentences.

[/quote']

 

Didn't think of that one, but it's a very valid point, now that I do. Added as number two.

[dragonofdarkness101]

I agree with BlazingHydra, it is a very good list plus the plot idea, but I've been noticing a lot of centering an RP around yourself even if it isn't yours. Just saying that in general, because it's been annoying a lot of people.

[bury the year]

I agree with BlazingHydra' date=' it is a very good list plus the plot idea, but I've been noticing a lot of centering an RP around yourself even if it isn't yours. Just saying that in general, because it's been annoying a lot of people.

[/quote']

 

I'm trying to state things for the YCM RP populace as a whole, so I'm only using myself as an example. I am the only active RP mod, anyways, so I can't exactly take many other people's views into opinion if they're not on. Sorry for the misinterpretation. :3

[.Leo]

This might help New-Comers liek me. I was wondering about some of this. Thanks :]

[PrimalFear]

All right Rinne I've been looking through some of the older discussions in the Improvement section and figured I try and help the section out by giving a bit more to your guide, Note: Most of this stuff if not all has been said by other members I'm just sharing them here and now.

 

- Post Time Limit: Once every five minutes unless all members of a rp are on. This stops rps from growing 9 pages in a single night and also makes sure that people can keep up with the others with little to no problems.

 

- Try to keep a minimum of being in 3 rp's at one time which will help with the speed in which rp's go at but also it will also cause less signing up for a RP and then just quitting before it gets started or gets very far. It makes for unhappy roleplayers.

 

- The 3 Types Of Fighting: I've heard of this and did some research on it and this is what I'd like to share;

 

T1 (Technique 1): T1 is probably the hardest way to role-play if you are not good at being descriptive. T1 is turn-based, so you have to wait for your opponent to finish typing his/her attack. It is also paragraph fighting. In a T1 match, your opponent can strike you. You have the ability to reverse the attack or take the hit and come back with one of your own. In T1, you can ONLY TYPE ONE ATTACK EACH PARAGRAPH. If you type more than one attack in a paragraph, you will be disqualified and lose the battle.

 

T2 (Technique 2): T2 is very simple if you can be descriptive. You have to have a minimum of 7 words for your attack. And the same for the outcome. To reverse you need the minimum of 10 words. And the same for the reverse outcome. To pin it is 5 words. And when you state and attack or reverse, be descriptive and say their name instead of him or her, or his. So to look at it, it would be: 7-10-10-12-5. (Note this tech should include the Minimum of a Paragraph or two and follow the Advanced clause rules)

 

T3 (Technique 3): T3 is probably the easiest and noobish way to role-play. All you have to do is say an attack and then type connects. It's that simple. If you like this style better and like to be called a noob, you might also want to try a font that is 14 or higher. (Note this would never work with the Advanced rules and shouldn't be used, the only reason I wrote it is to have the knowledge of what not to use)

 

 

[spoiler=Rant Made by Ixigo]

This is a Rant made in the improvements section, made by Ixigo, I posted it here because I think you Rinne should read through it and see if you can figure a way to word it into this section or to use some of the info to help create more to the guide.

 

Basically, an RP needs three things:

 

* A Plot

* A Character Development System

* A Character Interaction System

 

 

Without all three of those, an RP isn't an RP. However, most RPs I see focus on one single thing, and that is fighting. An RP can't function on that alone, there needs to be a consistent plot that guides the storyline and some degree of freedom for characters to maneouver around. So basically, a good RP needs a good RP creator, which does not equate a good RPer, and there are only a handful of those around, if that.

 

To go on, most people who join RPs do so with half-assed character sheets and no real desire to RP with others, just wanting to get a few posts of their characters doing something heroic and epic. That's not how an RP functions - if you want to create a character and godmod him, go write a fanfic (it will be a bad fanfic, but at least it won't bother others who want to RP properly). One-liner posters and people who can't spell or structure their sentences properly are a mere nuisance compared to those who godmod or take control of other characters without appropriate permission. Also, another reason many RPs fail is because of the large degree of freedom given by the creator, which happens solely because said creator is too bored to create a proper system and just lets everyone do whatever they want.

 

Again, after an RP has been properly designed, and I can't emphasize enough on that, it needs three things:

 

* A Game Master willing to involve himself and steer the RP

* Members who actually want to adhere to the rules of the RP for their and others' enjoyment, instead of doing what they want

* An ongoing plot to maintain interest

 

 

Notice how the plot is here, too? Good. By "plot", I don't mean "bunch of people trapped in alien planet, go kill kill kill aliens and survive!". Your RP doesn't have to be the next Lord of the Rings or World of Warcraft, but it can easily be decent without you having to spend too much time on it. An RP where members can contribute to and steer the plot is a good RP, an RP where everyone can control the plot by doing as he wishes is a bad RP.

 

I wrote this because I've seen too many people believe that three lines of ripped-off backstory and some copy-pasted character sheet with a few "cool" additions can make an RP. When an RP thread degenerates into trash, it's usually the creator's own fault. Usually.

 

Now, I've seen very few members here who are actually capable of RPing to a relatively good degree and maintain a proper adherence to some basic rules, so as not to ruin a well-designed RP. But everyone can have fun if they try - RPing shouldn't be an elitistic priviledge, rather, a fun option for everyone. And for those who can't tolerate the 'noobs', there are always private RPs for them.

 

[Esplin 9466 Primary]

I would say that this list is good. However your wrong about #6, your probably the only mod that would ever unlock a persons RP. ive had a few of them locked for crappy reasons & never unlocked.

 

These aren't going to be made in to rules, are they? Because there is one thing on here that i don't agree with

[The Warden]

I kinda don't agree with #2, it is good to have decent length plots so people know what is going on, but there is a fine line between decent plot and tl;dr.

[Blackstone Dresden]

Visser, you really shouldn't say that to Rinne AND call him an jabroni in your sig, it just doesn't make a thing of sense

 

What's tl;dr? (I have no idea if the ; should even be there, but I put it there anyway)

 

Also, I have a decent length list of RP fight does and don'ts that I did for the last site I RPed on so as soon as I get to that, I'll post it on here

[Esplin 9466 Primary]

wait....Rinne is Déjà Cru? well then i take what what i said about him.

And i was only stating a fact, #6 is wrong.

 

Tl;DR = Too long ; Didn't read

[Pegasasu]

I agree with BlazingHydra' date=' it is a very good list plus the plot idea, but I've been noticing a lot of centering an RP around yourself even if it isn't yours. Just saying that in general, because it's been annoying a lot of people.

[/quote']

When yu said that, it reminded me of something. People who make themselves the main character of the RP. It's annoying when people don't PM me and say they have super powers or whatever.

[bury the year]

wait....Rinne is Déjà Cru? well then i take what what i said about him.

 

Well' date=' your sig doesn't, at least. xD

 

- Post Time Limit: Once every five minutes unless all members of a rp are on. This stops rps from growing 9 pages in a single night and also makes sure that people can keep up with the others with little to no problems.

 

Don't agree. I'd say that three excellent posts a day by a single person beats 20 poor ones by far. Also, if it's five posts a day per person and there's eight people involved, that's 40 posts a day. That's a lot of post inflation and one of the major problems here. Five-minute posts.... wow. I can gauge almost 100 posts a day with that logic, considering you don't spent all day in RP.

 

I kinda don't agree with #2' date=' it is good to have decent length plots so people know what is going on, but there is a fine line between decent plot and tl;dr.

[/quote']

 

Keep the plot at around 10-12 sentences. That's just a bare minimum, but you should be able to sum everything unique about the plot up in that amount.

 

I agree with BlazingHydra' date=' it is a very good list plus the plot idea, but I've been noticing a lot of centering an RP around yourself even if it isn't yours. Just saying that in general, because it's been annoying a lot of people.

[/quote']

When yu said that, it reminded me of something. People who make themselves the main character of the RP. It's annoying when people don't PM me and say they have super powers or whatever.

 

You're the thread maker for a reason. You can kick someone out if they're not giving everyone their fair share.

 

Also, on an unrelated note, try doing a specific post order. One person posts, then another person, and then another different person. It goes in an established order, so people don't overwhelm the place with rapid-fire posts, and you can easily see who's not keeping up the pace.

[SmallieBigs]

If this is in the wrong place move it to the right place.

 

Praise Rinne, anyway the fact that we can just post up to three lines or is it a pargraph? The point is the paragraph could be awfully short like a dog turd, or it could be extremely long but all in one sentence. Examples are needed:

 

"I summon Dark Dragon of Doom. Now I summon Kuraz the Light Monarch." Billy smiled. "I end this duel with Icarus Attack tributing Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind."

Okay yeah a 4 sentences awful length

 

Example #2

 

"I use my face down trap card' date=' the Noob in the Mist" Rawhide said "it lets me play as much monsters I want from my deck which means I fill the field with 3 Blue Eyes White Dragons and 2 red Eyes Black Dragons" Rawhide laughed "that was a fail move, and I'm assuming it's my turn, well then fine, I use Polymerization fuse together my Bue Eyes' to summon Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, now I equip him with Shooting Star Bow - Ceal, now he attacks for the win. [/quote']

 

Both were pure fail, how about making the rules like 1 Paragraph at the least in 3 lines.

[bury the year]

If this is in the wrong place move it to the right place.

 

Praise Rinne' date=' anyway the fact that we can just post up to three lines or is it a pargraph? The point is the paragraph could be awfully short like a dog turd, or it could be extremely long but all in one sentence. Examples are needed:

 

"I summon Dark Dragon of Doom. Now I summon Kuraz the Light Monarch." Billy smiled. "I end this duel with Icarus Attack tributing Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind."

Okay yeah a 4 sentences awful length

 

Example #2

 

"I use my face down trap card' date=' the Noob in the Mist" Rawhide said "it lets me play as much monsters I want from my deck which means I fill the field with 3 Blue Eyes White Dragons and 2 red Eyes Black Dragons" Rawhide laughed "that was a fail move, and I'm assuming it's my turn, well then fine, I use Polymerization fuse together my Bue Eyes' to summon Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, now I equip him with Shooting Star Bow - Ceal, now he attacks for the win. [/quote']

 

Both were pure fail, how about making the rules like 1 Paragraph at the least in 3 lines.

 

High time I get around to fixing that... Dx

 

I've been locking threads based on line count, not on sentence count. That's mainly because of the point you just made, in that a person can post 4 one-word sentences. Going to fix that right now.

[PrimalFear]

 

 

- Post Time Limit: Once every five minutes unless all members of a rp are on. This stops rps from growing 9 pages in a single night and also makes sure that people can keep up with the others with little to no problems.

 

Don't agree. I'd say that three excellent posts a day by a single person beats 20 poor ones by far. Also' date=' if it's five posts a day per person and there's eight people involved, that's 40 posts a day. That's a lot of post inflation and one of the major problems here. Five-minute posts.... wow. I can gauge almost 100 posts a day with that logic, considering you don't spent all day in RP.

[/quote']

 

OK yeah that does sound better I was just throwing out any ideas I can to help. What did you think about the Fighting Techniques? Also did you happen to read over Ixigo's rant I posted it's a little out of date since we have upgraded to Advanced but he has valid points I think should be added in here and their to the Guide.

[Megami Seika]

Well I think its realy important for rp samples, and some people dont get that just becaous the minimum amount of sentaces is 4 that dosent mean you have the right to only use 4 sentances for the whole RP, take my RP samples as examples, Even my sample where I have nothing to go off of has 7 sentaces.

 

[spoiler= When I dont have much to go off of]

"Ah..... Daikun.... I'm sorry...." Haru says.

Haru blaintly looks out to the distance before ablidgeing to the priest.

 

"What happened to the happy girl at the Dinner, Why is she scared Even of me!" Haru yells.

"What happened to the girl I fell In love with......."

Haru stared at the priest Waiting for an awnser.

 

[spoiler=When im lazy]Saku Slightly moves and rubs her face on Yusei's chest.

"Warm....."

 

Saku shifts her body once more, latching her arms around Yusei's arm, she then latches her legs around his leg, Squeseing tightly like as if she were fighting.

 

[spoiler= my average post]

Saku had a very shocked look on her face and fell backward, Her legs still attached to his neck.

Saku let out a Horable Screem, at first it sounded like a scream of pain but, "AHAHAHAHA!" Saku rises up out of her own will without using her other arm, once up with her other arm she grabs his rist and snaps it, takeing the wepon and throws it.

Sakus other arm had spewed blood but black blood the blood starts to form tandrills that restrain his arms puting more pressure on his neck.

 

At this point Saku isent there anymore Just a visious creature that grins as she merselessly kills, Not but one could make her stop.

 

 

[Nexev]

The weird thing is the only club rp for the organization that worked had pretty much no plot and everybody just improvised.

 

That's probbaly just a freak of rp nature.

[-Griffin]

The weird thing is the only club rp for the organization that worked had pretty much no plot and everybody just improvised.

 

That's probbaly just a freak of rp nature.

 

It's odd actually, a lot of the best RPs I've ever been in have had minimal plot - not to mention one that had no plot, setting, or anything really, but was one of the most enjoyable things I can remember RPing as everyone worked together in it so well. However, I wouldn't encourage that sort of thing, since most of the time I would expect it to crash and burn.

[dragonofdarkness101]

You SHOULD include a lengthy plot, it also helps out for another person joining your rp. I once joined an RP that looked interesting, i took a look at the plot, but I had no idea how to start my post once the Rp started.

[Apocalypse Cards]

I like your ideas and all they make sense really but in my opinion I know your in charge but there really shouldnt be a global rule that says how long a RP post should be I think it should be based on what the owner of the RP says its his RP so it should be his rules am I right? Rinne they arent your RPs so I dont think you should decide how long a post must be your stuff should just be more of a recommendation and those who break the RP owner's rules would be given warnings then reported to you or another mod who would deal with it then but I hope you understand my opion I hate the forced long posts at times because they cause problems for me when I am trying to say something and the length limit just makes my character sound arrogant when I am just trying to say something and get to the point of it instead of putting in a bunch of filler crap to make sure I fit within the length limit so it doesnt risk you closing the thread because I just wanted to get to the point and not put in a bunch of filler crap. I usually like to get to the point when it comes to certain things like asking a question so you might have to end up asking it multiple times in the same post or making it take the other person forever to answer the question make it look like they arent even going to answer it at all.

 

If anyone has comments or questions or anything of the like to talk to me about involving this matter please feel free to PM me I will answer anything to the best of my ability.

[PrimalFear]

I like your ideas and all they make sense really but in my opinion I know your in charge but there really shouldnt be a global rule that says how long a RP post should be I think it should be based on what the owner of the RP says its his RP so it should be his rules am I right? Rinne they arent your RPs so I dont think you should decide how long a post must be your stuff should just be more of a recommendation and those who break the RP owner's rules would be given warnings then reported to you or another mod who would deal with it then but I hope you understand my opion I hate the forced long posts at times because they cause problems for me when I am trying to say something and the length limit just makes my character sound arrogant when I am just trying to say something and get to the point of it instead of putting in a bunch of filler crap to make sure I fit within the length limit so it doesnt risk you closing the thread because I just wanted to get to the point and not put in a bunch of filler crap. I usually like to get to the point when it comes to certain things like asking a question so you might have to end up asking it multiple times in the same post or making it take the other person forever to answer the question make it look like they arent even going to answer it at all.

 

If anyone has comments or questions or anything of the like to talk to me about involving this matter please feel free to PM me I will answer anything to the best of my ability.

 

This section has all ready been placed with the Advanced rules, and as so anything less then a certain number of sentences in a post would be a violation. Secondly if you know how to role play in the least you wouldn't call describing the scene and adding in descriptive writing fillers, Its not. Think about it what if you spent 3-5 minutes writing a nice descriptive 3-4 paragraph about your characters battle with their opponent and then the opponent just comes in and says "My character deflected the attack." would that make you happy or piss you off.

 

Their is a major reason why Rinne placed the Advanced rules in effect, and though I don't think some stuff should be forced and other stuff should be I respect his decisions because its to help better the Forums role play section.

[Apocalypse Cards]

I mean I understand that but there are some out there who respect other people like myself I am not one to do that but if I am not in a battle and just trying to say something informing somebody else of something that would take no more then maybe a line and a half I want to be able to do that. If somebody makes a long post like that in a battle then I will do the same I am just saying why does it all have to be so long I am saying that your are throwing in like a couple sentences ending up as a line or 2 in a battle I would do the same on other sites but if you do a a 20 line thing about just yourself I dont want to have to do anything near that I would maybe put a sentence or 2.

[PrimalFear]

If you cannot write at least 5 sentences per post, then your obviously not trying. Stop being lazy and think about new ways to incorporate other parts of whats happening in the rp into your posts. Its that easy, Ya know what screw it, if you want help with learning to write better and longer sentences plz just PM me.

[Apocalypse Cards]

You dont get it the only way I can do those long posts sometimes is if I am either the RP owner/host or I godmod which if I am not mistaken is NEVER allowed and can be punishable by ban from the RPing section or the site in general