Kay Dreamer

@@Phoenix Flair,
Hi there! My name's Kay, and I'm one of the staff for the Roleplay World here on MLPForums. I'll try to answer a few of the questions you've put forward here, and see if I can't illuminate things a little. I'm extremely passionate about roleplay. As a teacher, I see it as a fantastic platform for people to practice writing, without the need to worry about the overwhelming feeling of writing a story from scratch on their own. Controlling a single character is far easier, and learning the nuances of good character writing is extremely valuable in the context of moving forward to write your own original work.
 
First of all, here on MLPForums, we have separate OOC, or Out-Of-Character threads which are linked to every roleplay in our section. These threads serve three primary purposes; to allow the person hosting the roleplay to explain what it's about, including the overarching plot if they wish; to allow people to sign up for this roleplay; and finally, to facilitate any roleplay-related communication which is not 'In-Character'. This is where the nitty-gritty stuff like plot, characters, and who can do what is worked out.
 
MLPForums has fantastic character databases where you can specify everything about your character. This can include personality, backstory, likes and dislikes, in addition to what skills or powers your character has. Generally, it is a character in this database whom a player will link to when indicating what they're playing. A good rule of thumb is: If that power is not in your character sheet, your character can't do that.
 
The best indicator of the quality of a roleplay is always going to be the DM, or 'Dungeon Master.' This is the person who runs the roleplay. A good DM knows which characters to accept, and which to refuse. A good DM looks at the writing capabilities of all his players to ensure they're of a comparable level. A good DM specifies the tense in which he/she wants his/her players to write in, and manages the roleplay with a fair yet strong hand.
 
The act of roleplaying is primarily for the joy of the writers. Collaborating to build a story, and bouncing the actions of your character of the other characters in the story, is a lot of fun. However, best kind of roleplays will produce a finished product which is fun and engaging to read. These are the roleplays populated with skilled writers, and with a DM who has a clear vision of where he/she wants his/her plot to go, and when.
 
There are some superb roleplays being run in both the Roleplay World, and the Equestrian Empire sub-section. They both have value, and they're both worth taking a deeper look at. If you're interested in partaking in a roleplay environment with a higher entry level and stricter rules, I'd encourage you to have a look at EqE. It is our canon section, and requires all characters to go through an application process before they are accepted into our database. You can find information about the section here: http://mlpforums.com/topic/88047-equestrian-empire-roleplay-what-it-is-rules-and-how-to-join/
 
Hope I helped. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!