Hi!

I've heard about role plays quite frequently after joining Sylestia but have no clue what it really is XD I feel kinda silly asking this, after all i know what role playing is, or what it would be in real life. I just don't quite understand what it is on here. Why do people role play and how do they do it on here? How serious is it? Is it just a fun thing to do, like a light game in the games and contest area or something more serious?

Haha, that's a lot a questions =P But just a general idea of what it is would be fine :)

Thanks in advance!

Hey Rabbitaka, I haven't participated much in roleplays on Sylestia, but I have a lot of experience with them in general, so I hope I can answer your questions!

Role playing refers to any sort of game or activity where you take on the role of a character -- generally one which you have created. It can be done in "real life" (LARPs, or Live Action Role Plays, where people dress up in costume and hit each other with foam weapons), via video games (often turn-based in a "fantasy" setting), board games/table top games (like Dungeons and Dragons), or in a text-based format like here on the forums.

Usually a role play is set in a specific context or world by the creator -- you can see people pitching these ideas in the "Finding Roleplayers" board. They will set out the parameters for the world and then other people will fill it with their characters. A creator can also lay out a specific route they want the role play to take, with a defined "end point" or "conclusion", or leave it open ended and see where the players take it. For a forum-based role play, it's basically like writing a story collaboratively. You write "in character" and respond to what others have written or come up with new ideas to bring into play.

It's generally a little more serious than the forum games/contests, in that it requires a bit of a commitment to check the thread regularly and contribute to the story -- it can be awkward if someone's character suddenly drops out in the middle of the story. Other things, like rules, vary from role play to role play -- like whether or not you can write parts for someone else's character. But it's still for fun, so it should be enjoyable.

If it sounds like something you're interested in, I recommend checking out the "Finding Roleplayers" board to see what new role plays are starting up, and join in one that inspires you to create a character.

Hope that helps!

what happens is you make a character within the guidelines of the roleplay (that are set by the person who made the rp), and you interact with other characters, as well as the enviroment. it is reccomended to not make a character that can "do everything" (op) because that makes roleplays boring and unbalanced. people roleplay for fun often. roleplays are often text-based, but there is role playing in real life which is called LARPing (live-action roleplaying)(aka people in costumes with fake weapons hitting eachother). The seriousness of the role play varies based off of what events are going on, but it tends to be more serious than games on here. there are two main formats for text-based roleplays that i have seen: paragraph and script. script style rp is similar to a play script. the dialogue is free, and the actions have astrics around them. it is usually in first person and present tense, and normally mostly dialogue.
(example)
TM: That's a large house :/
TM: *opens door & enters house*
TM: *trips over a cat*
(end example)
on here, roleplay is normally paragraph-based, due to the way the forms are. paragraph-based roleplay is written similar to a book, and is often in third or first person, and is in past or present tense. it normally is more actions & descriptions than actual speech.
(example)
Tam walks up to the house. He glances up slowely, taking his time. under his breath, he whispers, "wow, this house is huge." He opens the front door, careful to not leave any smudges on the doorknob that looks to be made of solid silver. Tam slips inside the mansion and closes the door behind him.
(end example)

Hope this is somewhat helpful to you. (also sorry if my spelling is shoddy or there are no caps. my kindle hates caps and the autocorrect is very broken)

Thanks! Both your replies added together were absolutely perfect. After reading Colonelhazards description, the question of how it is actually worded popped into my head (i have a lot of questions a lot of the time XD) but then i read Uranium's and got my answer!

Thank you both so much for such detailed answers and nice example. I'll certainly check this out further as it seems like lots of fun, i like story-telling :3

Thanks!!!

Why people join rps: Reason I guess is it's fun for us? Most of us join rps that interest us, some join them to pass time, some join to try out rping, some join to better their writing skills, etc. It depends on the person, and the reason 'why' varies.

How do rps works here: Rps usually take place on the forums, in the ropeplay section. Some prefer to use PM, while some advertise here and the rp actually takes place somewhere else. I don't really understand what you mean by 'how', so i'm assuming you mean how as in where do the rps take place.

How serious: Depends on the rp, really, but once it gets boring/tiresome, we have no time, etc, the hosts don't mind if we drop it - some of us do drop without telling the host

Is it for fun: Definitely! Some use rps for contests or games, but it's still fun overall. As noted before, it can be serious depending on the rp

Thanks Soltra, I learnt something new again! XD

I guess that gives me more reasons to join :D

Hope to see you in the rp section ^^ And Uranium and Colonel - those were such good explanations...

ikr! They were really good explanations! and yeah, i'll see what i can do, gotta get there before school starts =D

Yay, glad to be of help! After writing about how I wasn't in any RPs here, I actually checked out the "Finding Roleplayers" forum myself and found one which was of interest to me, so I'm joining it! So thank you for reminding me to go check out the current offerings :D