OOC: Casual RP with Lnx1ynight16

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

RP thread: https://mlpforums.com/topic/203965-casual-rp-1x1-with-lnx1ynight16/

 

@Lnx1ynight16

I tried to be detailed, I hope this isn't too overwhelming! Let my know if any part of what's below confuses you. When it comes to casual RPs like what we'll be doing, the rules and guidelines are a bit more lax.

 

This is the OOC thread. OOC stands for Out Of Character. The OOC thread is used to discuss things outside of the story, basically the sorts of things we were doing in the message thread. So we would discuss the premise here, ask and answer questions about the story, or do anything necessary so that the in character thread remains clean of commentary and focuses on the characters and their interactions.

Once the RP thread is created, it will be linked at the top of this post, and the OOC thread will be linked at the top of the RP thread.

 

RP advice:

Posts in the RP thread should focus on your characters and their experiences, typically this is done in third person.

Example: Illiad stepped out of the forest, covering his eyes from the sun. He didn't much care for the heat here, and wished he had stayed inside today.

It is useful to clearly separate narration (description of your character and their actions), thoughts (what your character is thinking, but not saying), and words, (What your character is speaking out loud)

I personally use standard text for narration, italics for thoughts, "And quotes for spoken words".

 

When it comes to descriptions, typically important details will be expressed, like the presence or absence of objects or side characters, but the rest is often left up to the players' imaginations. You shouldn't bring in side characters without prior confirmation of course, but you're generally free to interact with the environment assuming the presence of typical objects and characters. Like if the story were set in Sugercube Corner, you could interact with the tables/chairs/food/etc even if the one in charge did not state their presence, as they can be considered typical unless stated to be absent. That is also a reasonable place to indicate that you spoke to Pinkie or the Cakes, unless they were stated to have been elsewhere.

In any case, if there's ambiguity as to what is or is not present, this is the place to ask.

 

Good rules to follow:

1. Don't try and control someone else's character.

This can be hard to avoid at first, as phrases like X hugs Y, do fall under controlling another character. A more correct way to phrase this would be: X goes to hug Y, as it leaves the success of the action indeterminant and allows the player controlling Y to accept or reject the action.

That's a bit of an extreme example, but the basics are that you should only say what your character does with respect to themselves, and attempts to do with respect to others. If an action towards another character comes in the middle of your post, you can add an If/Else to your post.

Example: X went to hug Y and comfort them. If Y accepted, X would rub their back and whisper that things would be alright. Otherwise, X would look sadly at Y, unsure how to proceed.

2. Don't act on information you don't have.

Many players will state in their posts what their characters are thinking and feeling, this is in part to inform the one in charge so they can tailor the experience accordingly, but is also a helpful tool to convey small expressions and countenances to the other players without having to spell it out. If a player says: X was sad, or X looked sad, then that is free information for you to have your character react to. But if a player says: X was disappointed, but didn't show it, carrying on as though nothing was wrong. Then it would be inappropriate to have your character react to that information.

This especially applies to thoughts, hence why the distinction between thoughts and spoken words should be made clear so as to prevent this rule from being broken accidentally.

3. If you have a problem, speak up!

In any roleplay environment, the sooner you say something, the sooner the problem can be fixed. While the one in charge is trying to be aware of everything, they can't always tell if you're not having a good time with the story if you don't say anything. If there's a misunderstanding, or if you want to clarify something before you make a post, that is the express purpose of the OOC thread. You can even use this thread to scry the future, asking questions like: If my character does this, what will happen? The quality of the answer will depend on who is in charge, and they may want to keep secrets for the sake of story, but more often than not the point is for everyone to have a good time, and not to blindly stumble through a narrative.

@Lnx1ynight16

Also! When responding to a message, it is a good idea to mention the user you're talking to to ensure they get properly notified.

On the website, you can do this by typing '@' followed by their username, usually they will be suggested after a few letters. You can also highlight part of their message and then click Mention.

 

Now, as to the premise for our particular story. I'm thinking of a casual summer day situation. My character will be a whitetail deer named Eironn just a bit younger than your character. He will see your character from the edge of the Whitetail Woods, where he lives, which borders Ponyville from the north. He will be curious, having never seen a creature like your character before, but won't leave the forest to approach as he is cautious.

The hook there (hook being a term of a plot point that gets the story moving, or encourages interaction to occur) would be for your character to notice him watching her, and for her to engage. I'll leave the characters and state of Ponyville up to you, in that you can decide who in Ponyville she is friends with or might be spending time, or what she might be doing when the story begins, but you won't have to control any other characters unless you want to.

 

Before we begin, does all of this make sense so far? Is there anything you're confused about or would like to alter about the premise?

Edited January 9 by Illiad Easle
Added RP link

[Lnx1ynight16 832]

It makes sense to me. I think the premise is nice. When do we start the roleplay? Also can we start it around 2:30 EST, because that’s when I get out of school.

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

@Lnx1ynight16

Like I said earlier, the exact timing doesn't matter since I'll only be able to put in about one post per day, So don't feel pressured to rush to post when it's your turn.

I'll make the RP thread tomorrow afternoon and let you know when it is ready.

[Lnx1ynight16 832]

1 minute ago, Illiad Easle said:

@Lnx1ynight16

Like I said earlier, the exact timing doesn't matter since I'll only be able to put in about one post per day, So don't feel pressured to rush to post when it's your turn.

I'll make the RP thread tomorrow afternoon and let you know when it is ready.

@Illiad Easle okay thanks 

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

@Lnx1ynight16

The RP thread is up! Again, no rush to post: https://mlpforums.com/topic/203965-casual-rp-1x1-with-lnx1ynight16/

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

@Lnx1ynight16

Alright, that's a good start! You are missing something that makes the difference between good and great RP though, let me explain. 

A great RP post has two major elements, the Description, and the Engagement.

The Description describes your character and their actions or reactions to a prior event. It can include dialogue, thoughts, feelings, anything that conveys the current status of your character as a result of the previous steps. 

In initial posts, you could also add background to your character, explaining how they got to where they are and why they're there.

Your post does this well, there's no ambiguity as to what your character is doing.

The Engagement describes what your character intends to do in relation to other characters. This can be complicated to get used to, which is why it makes the difference between good and great RP. I'll give some examples of some common types of engagement with reference to our story.

Passive Engagement 

Your character is either aware of other events and chooses to not participate, or is unaware of other events and thus cannot participate. 

Example: Lnx1y was so absorbed in the flowers that she did not notice the young buck approaching, or when he stopped to look at her from a distance. 

You could also put some thoughts here as to hopes that she has, a sort of motivation for the story to accomplish.

Active Engagement 

Your character is either aware of events and decides to participate, or is unaware of events and stumbles into them. More or less you as the writer encourage your character to join the action. 

Example: Lnx1y looked up from the flowers for a moment and noticed the young buck standing a distance away from her. She waved, hoping to indicate that she was friendly. 

Example: Lnx1y got up and turned, and was surprised to see a young deer standing a distance away from her, seemingly watching her. She was hesitant to approach, never having seen a deer before. 

Conditional Engagement 

This is a bit more complicated, but it basically sets up a future action to be taken based on the next post, usually this builds off of Passive or Active Engagement.

Example, building off of Passive: If the young buck approached, she would hear him and turn to see him. 

 

In any case, the point of the Engagement section is to set up the next post, give them something to continue off of or respond to. It is similar to Yes And in improv, which is quite similar to casual RP already, where Yes is the Description, and And is the Engagement.

 

I hope that all makes sense? Basically, I'm asking for just a little more at the end of your post that gives me an indication of where you, or your character, would like the story to go.

[Lnx1ynight16 832]

I’ll edit my post if you’d like. @Illiad Easle

Edited January 10 by Lnx1ynight16

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

@Lnx1ynight16

That would be appreciated, thank you! 

Also, out of curiosity, how is Lnx1y pronounced? Is it like linksy? Linksly? Ellen Exoney?

Eironn is pronounced Air-uhn like Aaron 

[Lnx1ynight16 832]

Lnx1y is pronounced "Links-Lee". It’s a modern Overlander name.

Edited January 10 by Lnx1ynight16

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

@Lnx1ynight16

Hmm...

I'm getting the vibe that you're not very interested or engaged with this story, and I apologize if that's the case. I'll admit that this premise is a bit slow to start given the cautious nature of my chosen character, but I do plan to have that gradually fade as he gets to interact with your character.

That does require some engagement on your character's part though. Referring back to my previous long post, we need both the description and the engagement to keep this thread flowing smoothly. Often when a player leaves off the engagement it is because they aren't interested in the story continuing in the direction that it is headed, but don't know how to convey a new direction or don't know where they would want the story to go instead.

I understand that this skill takes time to learn, looking back at some of my first posts I used to write a lot like you do now (They had longer minimum length requirements back then) So I don't expect big changes, but a little more And to accompany the Yes will make this improv easier to keep moving.

 

As it relates to the current post, Eironn's question was in two parts: What is an Overlander? and Are they like Diamond Dogs?

Your response answered the second question, indicating that they're not, but offered no additional information to satisfy the first question. Which leaves me in the awkward spot of either having to just repeat the first question, or drop it and move on, both options are unsatisfying as the first can feel like railroading or forcing a subject, and the second is fairly anti-improvisational.

If you or your character would be uncomfortable with a story direction, there is another improv function called No. But... 

In No. you clearly state why you or you character doesn't want the story to go that way (she says she doesn't know, doesn't feel comfortable sharing, you have her look uncomfortable without answering, you write some third person narration as to why she can't/won't answer, etc.)

Then it is followed up with But... which presents an alternative course of action (She asks a different question to switch topics, calls out a distraction to switch the focus, internal monologue or narration indicating an alternative approach that would be acceptable, etc.)

 

The point is that there should almost always be something in a post for the other person to build off of or respond to.

But, if the issue is that you aren't feeling engaged by the topic, please let me know and I can change it to better mesh with the ideas you have in mind.

[Lnx1ynight16 832]

@Illiad Easle

Oh no I’m interested. I’m sorry if I came across like this. I’m just not used to roleplaying with someone other than my older sister or alone. Also, I’ve been feeling pretty anxious lately because of an English exam I have to take tomorrow morning, so I’m sorry if I shutted you or anyone else out. 

Edited Monday at 09:30 PM by Lnx1ynight16

[Illiad Easle 3,160]

@Lnx1ynight16

No worries!

Sorry for the delay, the forums don't notify me when there's an edit and I've been busy myself preparing for my sister's wedding.

This sort of thing takes practice, don't be afraid to reach a bit with your actions. I may be the DM of this story but I'm not fully in charge, 1x1 RPs are meant to be collaborative.