Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

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cidracin
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Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#1 Post by cidracin »

Hello all who are reading this :) My Guide to Creating a Succesful Online Text Based RP is in the 2nd post of this thread so scroll down if thats all you're interested in reading.

Since your reading this then you must be interested the site's RP forum which of late has been quiet aside from Aicinor's Court of the Phoenix King(Props to all you involved as you're keeping this section from becoming a graveyard). I felt the need to comment on the state of the RP forum as during my active time on this site it was both my favorite forum and one where I laregly lurked and posted. I joined Ulthuan as a young college freshman to take part in the site's final online campaign Ulthuan In Flames. After that ended I almost quit visiting the site because I really didn't play much Warhammer anymore. What kept me coming back to the site was my discovery of the RP forum and the amazing Anarion's Tales of Beleriand Tolkien RP thread. I was amazed to discover text based RPing. It actually allowed this group of Ulthuanites to RP with a group of players sscattered across the globe. I began following the thread and reading it for pleasure. I enquired about joing and was politiely informed that it was a small invite only group. Inexpirienced in text based RPing I joined every RP startup effort during the next six months or so, many of which never took off. I had a lot of fun playing in the sites Druichii Among Us minigames and built up a bit of expirience in RPs that lasted only a few thread pages before dying out. Then Tales of Beleriand ended and for a long time RP stagnated except for DAUs which grew stale to over use, though (former??) Loremaster Ruherl Kahn later reinvigorated these for a time.

Luckily one of Tales' players and accomplsihed Ulthuan RP game maseter Calarion Sapherior decided to start up a new Arturian based RP in late 2009 called One Brief Shining moment and was recruiting all Ulthuanites who were interested! I jumped at the chance to play in a RP with all the great RPers, like former Loremasters Anarion and Bob as well as Prince Asuryan, whose threads I read and enjoyed. OBSM went on to last for three odd years, during which I and talked with fellow players from across the globe on MSN. We had a Brit, a Canadian, Kiwis, Aussies, and even a Fin in the later years while I was the sole American. It was fun to enjoy an RP expirience that utilized MSN in addition to the RP forum. Depsite the massive time zone disparities the lot of us managed to get online at the same time with suprising regularity, as the lone East Coaster for most of this time I had many nights where I was up till 4AM talking with those across the date line, though PA suffered with me as well. College lets you have a crazy schedule and it was a truly amazing expirience that sadly came to a natural end last year may it rest in peace. OBSM was truly an amazing RP accomplishment due to the efforts of all involved and not a failure in any sense of the word.

Since the passing of OBSM RP has struggled to hold off becoming a graveyard thanks to the efforts of an enterprising new generation. I realize now that I was one of the last of a previous generation of Ulthuan RPers. We've almost all grown up and real life makes our schedules to 5AM RP MSN chats untenable. Thats a young person's game. This month I am graduating from university. I'm 22, God I feel old saying that, and the time for me to participate in RPs like OBSM has passed, like OBSM my online text RP career has come to a natural end. I've "graduated" in a sense. I am writing all this because I wish to impart what I have learned to the next generation of Ulthuan RPers. In my following post I will lay out a brief guide for making a succesful long lasting online text based RP based on what I learned from master game masters like Calaraion from my time talking to them. I sincerly hope this thread is not a posthumous memorial for the RP forum and that with the release of the new High Elf army book the site's membership surges and brings a fresh wave of young RPers with it.

See ya later RP forum goers,
Cidracin

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Last edited by cidracin on Tue May 21, 2013 5:50 am, edited 3 times in total.
Cidracin Greyrider 12/14/3
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cidracin
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#2 Post by cidracin »

Cidracin's Guide to a Long Lasting Online Text Based RP:

1. Utilize some form on online chatroom to communicate with your fellow players, like MSN or Skype or whatever new fangled service is avialable since I'm not tech savy. RPs that only use OOC site threads or PMS almost all universally die within 3 to 4 weeks.

2. Find a dedicated GM and player base. If your players can't find the 10 minutes to reguarly make a short post every day or so then you RP will stall before it gets off the ground. The secret to OBSM's sucess was that we posted often and consistently in the beginning due to the players and GM's enthusiam and dedication.

3. Don't be afraid to be be selective about membership. Having a player who consistenly fails to post will drag your whole RP down and spell death in the long run. If your in the middle of a tense adventure and one of your fellow companions can't respond then it throws the flow of the story off if they're ignored or stalls the game indefinately if you wait for them. If someones dragging the group down cut them loose.

4. Despite rule #3 be open to accepting new members on a trial basis. Player drop off is common in even the best text based RPs so new blood is important though following rule #2 and finding a dedicated GM and player base will give your RP longevity to last years if done right!

5. Use small limited time RPs like DAUs to get interested peoples feet wet. It got my foot into the door and taught me the basics of how to write for text based RP to the point where I could function at a beginner's level.

6. Be patient with beginner's writing. As long as new players are dedicated to your RP the quality of their writing will improve with time. I know I cringe if I look at my early OBSM posts the writings that bad. Text based RPing requires a unique wriiting style thats part fiction and part game that takes time to master.

7. Use an established rule system that involves dice, unless you are an expirienced GM. Trying to make up your own sytem will most likely fail unless you are expirienced and talented. Calarion invented his own SPAM system. It worked for him but when inexpirienced new GMs tried to use it they struggled and ultimately failed. Guess what if your a new GM you aren't Calarion, so don't try and pioneer your oen system your not as good as he is. Professional game developers get paid to do this for you. Feel free to adapt an existing system and set in a Warhammer setting or whatever setting you prefer.

8. If your schedule is limited try to find players in the same hemisphere as you are cause unless your in college or work a flexible job you won't have time to meet online.

9. Have fun chatting and getting to know your fellow online players. Chatting with my fellow OBSM players was half the fun and what made the expirience so unique.

Well thats it I hope this brief guide helps future RPers. I know some will probably think I should take up GMing myself and start a new RP or DAU but unfortuneatly I don't have that time anymore and I sense a change in generations happening that I'm not inclined to fight.

Good luck and if you make a good RP in this forum odds are I'll be lurking and reading in my spare time. :D :wink:
Cidracin Greyrider 12/14/3
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Shannar, Sealord
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#3 Post by Shannar, Sealord »

Where is this new generation you think you see? This board has been dead for years. There is one current small attempt to get something going, but it's certainly not a new generation or anything important like that. In fact I'd say feel free to drop in on the one that is going, because it's kind of designed for that. Oh, and at 22 you are very much a youngen :wink:
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Aicanor
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#4 Post by Aicanor »

You are right in many points, Cidracin, but I fear Shannar said it really well. Most of what you've written is beyond realms of possibility for most of us. Let's hope the "Court" can survive the way it is intended.

You feel old??? Don't - it is not going to get better. :mrgreen:
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#5 Post by cidracin »

Shannar, Sealord wrote:Where is this new generation you think you see? This board has been dead for years. There is one current small attempt to get something going, but it's certainly not a new generation or anything important like that. In fact I'd say feel free to drop in on the one that is going, because it's kind of designed for that. Oh, and at 22 you are very much a youngen :wink:
Sorry if my first post, or posts, was overly cathartic and melodramatic. #-o Its my own rather rambling attempt to present my feelings about my expiriences in RP. I'm not delusional or idealistic, I realize that RPs odds of resugence are low, more so than I'd care to admit. I guess I'm choosing to hope that with the new book coming out that new members will find my post and my quick guide as well as old RP threads like Tales and OBSM I did and decide to try and create a long running RP of their own . It was more of I really loved RP and you can have a great expirience too maybe post. Yet again I apologize if my post was filled with uneccessarily cathartic thoughts but they're ones I felt like expressing and heres really the only place to do so. I refered to a new generation because almost everyone who frequened this board is gone, myself incuded. I realize that this site's non Warhammer sections have been slowly dwindling for years, RP and OOC especially. So odds are my posts end up a sad memorial to RP if the forum ever closes and gets archived. Despite that I'll hold on to the small hope that my guide may be of some small use to some RP hopeful sometime in the future. I hope that my post is taken in the opimistic and hopeful manner I intended and not analyzed too deeply as its just my ramblings.

And yes I know that I'm still young but someimes you just have our I'm feeling older days :lol:

Hoping that I can lurk and read some RPs in the future. :D
Cidracin Greyrider 12/14/3
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#6 Post by Aicanor »

I didn't mean the post as critique. If it appears curt, it is just because I do not have time to write all I want now. Perhaps later. :wink:
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#7 Post by Shadow star »

I too would love to see more RP'ing and when I am able to would like to set up a rp using pathfinder.
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#8 Post by Bob of Beleriand »

In the spirit of your topic Cid, I could be convinced to run another DAU if people were so inclined. :)
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#9 Post by Luna Guardian »

Bob of Beleriand wrote:In the spirit of your topic Cid, I could be convinced to run another DAU if people were so inclined. :)
Please do, I'll sign up.

Which reminds me, I need to go post on the Court...
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cidracin
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#10 Post by cidracin »

Bob of Beleriand wrote:In the spirit of your topic Cid, I could be convinced to run another DAU if people were so inclined. :)
Thatd be great Bob! I may not have the time for a fulltime RP but I could easily handle a DAU. Maybe it could get the RP a bit of attention. DAUs were always fun :)
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#11 Post by Bob of Beleriand »

I'll look at setting something up over the next week or so.
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Re: Cidracin's RP Guide and State of RP Forum Address

#12 Post by Aicanor »

I really think your points are sound. I was roleplaying long enough to know how much time a long time campaign can (and will) eat. It is worth it - and I can not quite agree the RPing should be left to the young only. I have very limited experience of these matters, but here it is:

When starting the Court, what I had in mind was more an opportunity to get more into character of one's general, alaborating upon the backstory. Open court to "get your feet wet' in Warhammer world, making playing battles more meaningful. It went slightly other way, but as far as there are enough people interested, I think we can live with people getting in and dropping off along the way. There is not a set storyline after all.
I have very limited time so in perfect worls, everyone should also be a part time gamemaster of his/her own story.

I throw some dice to honour Loec, mostly to determine the course of events from several possibilities or determine whether things go well or not. Every GM I guess needs to add the random element to prevent himself from getting set on the one "correct" outcome.
I just hope the rest of us enjoys it as much as I do.


I will not join another RP at this time, but I'll definitely read and learn. :)
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