Roleplaying Rules/Guidelines.

[RaiRai]

General rules

You are allowed to create whatever scenario you want and use whatever character you want, except copies of pre-existing characters, such as someone who is exactly like Cloud, Sephiroth, whatever. Those will not be permitted. Try and use some originality!

If you want a signup thread, cool. If you just want to jump right into the story, cool. We would ask however that you do not create any battle arena types, or god mode characters. Those are pretty standard rules anyways. If someone has already started an RP and it is going strong, it's usually a better idea to make a post asking if you can join, or even better to PM the author of the RP asking if you can join, rather than just jumping right in. It all depends on the style of the RP and how quickly it's going and such.

Threads will be locked at 100 posts. This doesn't mean the RP is over, it's more of a 'chapter' situation. It makes it easier to find older stuff in the RPs. Participants are more than welcome to start up a new thread. If the current thread is at 100 posts and nobody is around to close it, start a new one anyways. We'd rather just keep everything organized.

One-on-one battles.

Pretty simple, if you just want to duke it out with someone take it here. Basically it's just for fun. Still no free-for-alls since they never work out anyways, but at least a place where you can have a good little fight.

Some random things that came up:

Para RP is essential to get a good basis on enviroment, character emotion, background, conversation and even little things like time, weather etc. It makes things more detailed and almost like a story in which we can explore and expand horizons with the roleplay.

Character description is important so that others will know how you look, what you wear, even what you smell like - all of these things can be used to an advantage when writing a post.

Use of descriptive language is also pretty good. For example, instead of saying 'I pointed my blade' use 'directed' or 'angled' that way if you need to say it more times within your post, it won't sound as if you are repeating the same thing over and over again.

I'm a fan of T1 fighting. The rules are pretty simple (unless you happen to be a white mage or the like) and consist of writing paragraphs of text describing what you are doing. If you are fighting against someone, try to say that you are waiting to see if the attack hits ie: "I lunged my rapier at his chest, hoping he would not dodge' - or something to that likeness. If you automatically make the hit, this move is then 'void' because the other character 'could' have had a chance to avoid it.

No playing God. No character can survive too much of a beating, even if we are playing within fantasy realms. Being a God-like character without due cause isn't funny nor is it fair.

Always, yes always, give your character a purpose. This way even if the story is moving away from your character, you can still do something. And it helps that your character might have a problem or barrier to overcome, as this always makes for a good side-line sometimes becoming involved in the main story.

If you enter an RP and then decide you don't have time for it or don't want to be in it anymore, either tell the maker of the RP, or find a way for your character to be killed off. That way it doesn't leave others wondering where you are and waiting for you to post.

The decisions about roleplays are up to the person who started it. If they choose to lock it, delete it or so forth, no one shall squabble about it. It's usually for a good and decent reason that they have done it, and for them to do it, they need to go through me first, so I can judge if I think it is right or not. If anyone wants to make a complaint about the way things are run, about anyone here or even myself, then either tell me or another mod.

I do agree that sometimes RP's take a long time to progress, but don't forget, it is the job of EVERYONE within that storyline to make an effort to keep it going. If you can see that it is really struggling, there's nothing too bad about double posting. (As long as it is with due reason) This way you can say how much time has passed.

Try variation in your character names. Sometimes its good to have a name that sounds like the race you are, or where they come from. That way it makes things seem more realistic. This also sets your character apart from any other RP, so it doesn't become confuzing trying to remember which part you play in each RP.

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These rules were taken from the old forums and my own forums at www.avariel.net . These are guidelines to GOOD roleplaying. We're not stopping you from having your fun, but please, keep spam to a minimum. Short posts can often be regarded as spam, and in this case, will be deleted if there is a complaint. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.

If we come up with anything else it will be added either in a subsequent post or edited on to the end of this one. Thanks.

[RaiRai]

RULES on God-Moding Roleplays

With recent events, it has been noticed that there is a need for some ruling regarding god-moding roleplays. Often, these threads end up being pure spam and spam is NOT allowed upon these forums. Thus those threads are closed and then the complaints begin. So, here's the deal. These are the new rules to which you will abide. If you have complaints, you shall take it up with ME and no other mod. Because I have the permission to look after these forums. This is my JOB here at the 8bit theater forums and one that I intend to take seriously.

All roleplays which reduce to spam WILL be deleted. I don't care which roleplay it is or who is playing within it, spam will not be tolerated.

Roleplays which consist of mainly one line posts and random OOC talk will be locked. This is not a good basis for story and it is NOT fun. It's just an excuse to spam. THIS POINT IS CRUCIAL. IF YOU ARE WRITING ONE/TWO SENTENCE POSTS WITHOUT ANY DEPTH OR THOUGHT YOU ARE MAKING IT WORSE ON YOUR FELLOW PLAYERS. IF THE ROLEPLAY IS CLOSED YOU'LL BE TO BLAME BECAUSE YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER AND FOLLOW THE RULES. SO THINK BEFORE YOU POST AND SAVE YOUR ROLEPLAYS FROM CLOSURE. I just thought I'd make that point VERY clear because as yet this warning has gone unheard and people are STILL making useless posts. This is only to cause me to close your threads and you'll have no one but yourselves to blame. If you think someone needs to improve their posts, tell them. Otherwise I will lock the threads. Thankyou.

Overly god-modey roleplays will also be locked. Surely playing God in every roleplay will get boring. Surviving direct hits from bazooka's or dodging custard bombs is just stupid. Unless I see that there is ACTUAL roleplay taking place, this will be considered as spam.

If you have an idea for a roleplay that you think falls under the god-mode category, you should PM me first to let me know of your idea.

I will be keeping an eye on ALL new roleplays to make sure they don't get reduced to spam. I will ask other users to NOT report posts, but to PM me directly with the problem at hand. Reporting posts clutters up the inboxes of ALL mods and I'm the only person you really need to deal with.

If there are any questions, add them to the sticky thread for that purpose and we'll talk it through.

Thankyou.

[RaiRai]

PLAYER CONDUCT

Yet another update on the rules, because some people have driven me this far. For clarification, rudeness toward other users is not tolerated in any of these forums. A slight nudge in the right direction is all it takes for most users to change their tone and improve, but bashing another user and making them feel like they have to leave the forums is NOT acceptable.

If I see players bash other users again, everyone involved will have a temporary ban. No ifs/buts. No warnings. Just bans. It's not right that people should be afraid of what they can and cannot post. If you have a problem with a user, you contact a moderator (Shiney and I are dedicated to this forum, so that would be your best bet) or you contact the user in question with a POLITE private message explaining your concerns. You DO NOT make threads and publicise your dislike for said user.

These rules aren't difficult to uphold, and if people had some decency, I wouldn't have had to make these rules in the first place. Just try to be nice.

[Krylo]

Enforcement

There are some people who have been having problems with description, god moding, or other such problems, and due to complaints we, the moderators, have created a new method of enforcement.

First we notice, or are informed of, a player who is lacking description, god moding, or otherwise having problems with their writing/roleplaying. Next we take this to a few other roleplayers, asking other people's opinions of that person's posting. If the consensus is that the person is fine as is, it is dropped, and they are left alone.

If, however, the consensus is that the player in question, could, indeed, use some work, then that player is PMed with examples of posts which could use some work, along with pointers on how to improve. This will continue over the course of a week, with them being watched for quality a bit longer if they show improvement.

If, after a week, they have not notably improved, they will be put into a new usergroup which moves all of their posts in the roleplaying section into the moderation que to be looked over by myself (as the only roleplaying moderator), whereupon they will be edited for quality if necessary. This will last until the vast majority of posts from the poster in question no longer need editing to be acceptable, at which point they will be unbanned and allowed to post normally.

Note that all normal rules of conduct apply to PM conversations between moderators and players during this time, and though you may not feel that your writing needs work getting angry and taking it out on the moderator who has PMed you will only result in more severe board wide punishment.