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Defining A Good Roleplayer.


Shaderz

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Hey.

 

With the large number of players in the community, I want to believe we have all already come across talented, original and as the titles says, good roleplayers and hopefully had an overall great experience with them but I'm still curious to see what the community thinks about what objectively characterizes a good roleplayer so I left below a series of questions that I believe are relevant for the purpose of this thread. Feel free to answer them and participate in the discussion.

 

  • What in your opinion defines a good roleplayer?
  • What qualities must a good roleplayer have?
  • At what point can you consider someone a good roleplayer?
  • What exactly in your opinion differs a good roleplayer from a not so good/meh/bad roleplayer?
  • What do you look for the most in someone when you roleplay with them?
  • Do good roleplayers necessarily have to have knowledge in multiple types of roleplay (government, legal, illegal)? 
  • Is it better as a roleplayer to focus solely on a specific type and be exceptionally great at it or know not as much about them but still be enough as per server standards even if not as good as the former?

 

Keep it civil. 

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This is like asking what a good writer is in that you'll never be able to provide a complete answer, however good roleplayers generally:

1) Write convincing dialogue for their characters. I hate trite and cliched dialogue. I like people who can write mobster characters who don't instantly remind you of someone from The Sopranos. Similarly, I like high ranking criminals who actually feel intimidating in the way they speak - because you don't run a continuing criminal enterprise without being able to affect a very real threat of violence in your speaking. (Some prison roleplayers are really good at roleplaying inmates who are genuinely scary presences in a scene.) I like people who can write good accents, lingo and local vernacular in their dialogue. 

2) Avoid purple prose. No one cares. Really. If your character is swigging from a beer bottle then just say that - don't dedicate three paragraphs to the process. Good roleplayers say what they need to and they do it succinctly. They use as many words as necessary. They avoid tired or clumsy metaphors. They can turn a phrase when it's needed, but they also show enough restraint to keep a scene moving.

3) Have an actual character. Real people have motivations and histories that shape their motivations. Real people are conflicted and complex and messy. They're prone to mistakes. They have regrets, some fleetingly but some that linger. All of this complexity needs to be brought into your characters. And then the good roleplayer will allow it to seep into the roleplay over time - rather than unloading a bunch of backstory with all their motivations in a single expository scene. Real characters aren't always sad, happy or guarded - even if they might tend more towards some feelings than others. Supporting characters in movies serve a very specific function, so they often don't have the depth you'd need to bring them into a roleplay setting. Better inspirations can be found in TV series like The Wire - where you spend hundreds of hours with characters and get a much clearer sense of what they're like in all manner of circumstances.

4) Know their characters. Good roleplayers don't need scripts. They have a sense of how their characters will react to certain situations and can often improvise with them. This is hard and requires practice to ensure you are responding as your character and not just as yourself. 

5) Know how to use grammar and spell words. Seriously. I am so glad we got rid of '-..'. Use punctuation properly. Try and spell properly. Use words you know the definition of to avoid confusing people.

 

6) Appreciate that characters change over time. I have never supported, for instance, roleplaying a 14-year-old and ageing them to be 18 over a couple of months.  I don't believe the necessary development of four years of teenhood can be stuffed into a few weeks. I'd rather have a character with a rich backstory written prior to the start of roleplay. You can then think about how they might change based on what they experience - and these changes will often be subtle and gradual. Having a character who adjusts based on their engagement with others is very satisfying for those other players. 

 

7) Try and learn proactively. No one will ever be perfect. Good roleplayers ask questions about what it is they're roleplaying and about roleplay generally. They reflect and they self-criticise. They seek out feedback and respond to it. They don't just plod along unthinkingly. 

 

Those are seven of many points about what good roleplayers do.

 

Other stuff: I don't think it matters if a roleplayer can play a cop convincingly if they have no interest in doing that. What matters is how good they are at playing what they do currently. Joe Pesci basically only ever plays mobsters but who cares? He's awesome at it. Denzel Washington tends to play characters who sound alike, but he does it with so much depth.

 

People should know as much as they need to to enhance their character portrayals. I don't know how to fly a plane - but that's not relevant to any of my characters and so it doesn't matter.

Edited by Kipps
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Roleplay doesn't have a meta and it's not a competitive thing. The only thing that helps roleplay is english skills, knowledge of rules, ooc wisdom and imagination. What differs roleplayers is who plays to play, and who plays to win. Besides that, is just a matter of how much effort and time a roleplayer wants to put in it.

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Treat your character like they are NOT a disposable object. I've seen it too much nowadays that people kill off their characters when the going gets tough. 

 

When difficult situations and hardship presents itself to your character, work with it. Grab the kite and fly it, don't be lazy.

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7 minutes ago, Captain said:

If your RP is believable, engaging, and transparent to the point where your character is not questioned in any way shape or form.. you're a good roleplayer.  

To add on top of that and maybe expand a bit. A good RPer is someone who can properly develop their character, show a sense of progression and achivements in their character. RP emotions, possible illnesses whether that would be mental or physical illnesses. Someone who RPs if not all but most activities that they're doing. For example simple things as cooking from time to time, refuiling your cars etc. 

 

By progression and achievements I mean a character that doesn't work 7 jobs and bartends for 4 clubs a night. Someone who slowly but surely makes their character earn (or lose, up to you) money to afford their expenses, and if not - they don't own lots of cars and properties, because obviously they wouldn't be able to realistically afford to pay for them. I can understand that sometimes it's hard to make money for some, however, if that's the case then please don't own massive amounts of expensive cars that you can barely afford the insurance for.

 

That's just my two cents on it.

 

TL;DR

  1. Emotions
  2. Daily tasks, if not always then at least from time to time.
  3. Realistic assets and enough money to keep them all running. (Loans also exist to make this happen and add some development.)
  4. Realstic amount of properties/vehicles.
  5. A character with personality, flaws and strengths.
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