How did you 'improve' as a roleplayer?

[i dont wanna od in LA]

research

[wizardofxyz]

Always think about what your character would do and not you. Try to distance your own personal feelings and mindset when you inhabit your character; they should have their own thought processes and feelings separate to yours. I suppose jotting down a few notes about what their traits and flaws are and having some semblance of a backstory helps too, just so you have that foundation to work from. I definitely wouldn't recommend getting attached to any character cause then you could influence them ICly by OOC emotions and this could also lead to someone 'playing to win' rather than acting as their character would.

Unnecessarily long /me's are just a pain for everyone but you also don't want to just half-ass every action either. You'll get a better feel for it over time by just roleplaying continuously. And make sure not to write in a /me what your character is feeling inside, but rather show their emotions on the outside through facial expressions, body language, tone and word choice.

I actually think reading fiction enables me to understand a character's thought processes and psyche a lot better, especially if the book is written in their POV.
Most importantly, don't be afraid to ask for advice. I think learning from each other can be a great thing, since everyone can benefit.

[Koko]

Interact with other RPers and pick and choose style choices that you look up to, adapt them in your own writing.

 

Also read about topics, be open minded and curious.

[diabla]

i stopped playing myself lol, i think it's an issue for a lot of fresh roleplayers where we put a lot of our own behaviors or ways into the characters almost forgetting that they're fictional. this can cause a whole bunch of issues, i.e feeling too attached to the character and its life and emotions, which can cause some disruptions emotionally / mentally (i've seen it). some people still roleplay as if their character was their second-self and gtaw their second life, and it kinda gets to a point where you cannot for example rolepaly disliking an another person's character without having some sort of an issue with them ooc which is also annoying. other than that, i've realized that writing long /me's and /do's is not an indicator of good roleplay. it's about how you portray the character from a to z, because someone can be a great writer and type out 20 sentences about lighting up a cigarette, but their character is bland and doesn't hold any value or depth or story to itself. also, as others mentioned here, allowing myself to get into the mindset of the character i'm playing in the moment. even watching documentaries / movies / tv shows that include characters similiar to mine as well. open mind is key

[SCANDALOUZ]

I was born a perfect role player.

[sparky]

joining a faction and learning from other ppl

[Terrabyte]

i personally think gtaw has made me an actively worse roleplayer

[SkaliX2]

I was just interacting with other people, saw how the others role play and I kinda you know.. learned and improved that way.

[Birdie]

Research, definitely that. 

 

In my opinion it helps to decide how your character would react in certain situations. If you know what drives your character, why they made the decisions that they have throughout the life it becomes much easier to react in situations where quick responses are required. 

 

This doesn't only count for the background of your character, but also as you roleplay. If your character roleplays a lawyer but you out of character don't know the first thing about law, you're not going to have a good time. Know what you roleplay.

 

And I've also learned not to plan too much, you know what direction you would /like/ to see your character go in, but, accept if they don't and follow the logic of a character. I've had several experiences where I genuinely thought certain things would turn out one way, while it ended up completely different. 

[Harbinger]

Roleplaying with other people has helped me tremendously over the years. Roleplaying with those who are better than you is generally a good way of improving. If you surround yourself with bad roleplayers, you're going to end up as a bad roleplayer yourself.