What is a roleplay?

BASIC:
The type used by many beginners, and still used by many of the advanced Roleplayers I once knew. It's askin to just typing out your characters name, adding a colon ( : ), and then typing out what they say afterwards. For example:

Ryken: Ehhhh...personally, I think you're a moron.

It's an easy style to learn, very hard to get down if you want to pull more out of it. It's kinda hard to convey how your character really feels. Usually, you have to put something in brackets to show what your character is doing; a facial expression or action towards another person. It's not the wrong style to go for, however, since you can get creative with it. For example:

Ryken: Ehhhh... [Ryken makes a face at Vlad as if disgusted.] personally, I think you're a moron.

It adds a lot more to the Roleplay if you make people picture in their head what your character is doing. It adds to the realism, as well, which is always a plus. Also, if using this style, there are four important things to remember.

1] DOUBLE SPACE. Don't condense your Roleplay down into an unreadable chunk of text.

2] DO NOT COLOR YOUR ROLEPLAY. It's more annoying than anything else. The time you take coding the color could be spent on actually Roleplaying. Don't waste your time.

3] UNDERLINE THE NAME OF WHOEVER IS SPEAKING. The above example when I had Ryken speaking is what I mean. It makes it easier to separate who's talking with what they're saying without having to rely on the colon.

4] ITALICIZE THINGS IN BRACKETS. Again, the second above example with Ryken speaking is what I mean. Brackets separate what your character is doing from what they're thinking, or whatever. Italicizing it makes it all that much easier.


STORYLINE:
The type of Roleplay I use. It's basically like reading a book. In ways, it's the harder type of Roleplay to use. The benefits, however, can be greater in the end. You can expand on your characters thought process and actions by going this route in a Roleplay. For example:

Ryken: Come on, Yoruichi...you're gonna have to tell me what you think sooner or later.

Turns into:

"Come on, Yoruichi..." Ryken pleads, the worry evident in his voice."You're gonna have to tell me what you think sooner or later." He crosses his arms and looks slightly miffed at her cold demeanor and then stalks off, steam almost visibly shooting from his ears.

You see, the second one conveys a whole lot more then the first. The downside to this is it takes more and moe time, especially if you get into a current Roleplay or storyline. Another downside is the proper use of grammar and punctuation. I cannot stress enough how important that is. Commas and the continuous period ( ... ) let you go for dramatic pauses, which adds to a conversation you happen to be writing between two people. Grammar is ALWAYS in good taste, so for God's sake, spell check and don't look back. It makes things easier, and I HATE bad grammar almost as much as I hate, say, child molesters. Yes...I hate it THAT BAD.



YOUR ROLEPLAY SHOULD ALWAYS MAKE SENSE:

Just a few tips and things to keep in mind here.

1] Being a Heel in one Roleplay and a Face or Neutral in another makes no sense. Be consistent with your character and his/her depth will grow and grow. Pretty soon, it won't even be that much a problem writing how they act/talk/anything else because it will become second nature. It's hard when you first start off because you're still trying to get a handle on things, but it only becomes easier and easier as you Roleplay more and more.

2] I HATE In Ring Promos or backstage interviews. However, I know a lot of you are imbedded in this type of Roleplay, and I admit I used it when I first started Roleplaying all those years ago. The reason is this; how realistic is it that a entire arena is waiting just to hear your wrestler speak? I can't TELL YOU how much this bugs me. I stepped away from this (and have never done it in the E.W.S.) some time ago, and went to something that made more sense; tapes. Yes, since everyone watches television, why not make a tape of your wrestler cutting a promo and then "air" it? It's a real simple process as well.

[Static appears on your television screen and the scene cuts into Ryken sitting on a simple overstuffed chair, sipping some wine. He glances at the camera and then shakes his head, his smile secretive and knowing. Setting down the cup, he claps his hands together and holds them out wide.]

Ryken: Welcome...to the Mouth of Madness.

Something like that will add to the realism of your character. TWG is basically a 24 hour wrestling show; and fans don't wait in arenas 24 hours a day to wait for you to speak -- that would be stupid. They do, however, sit in front of televisions all the time. Use this to your advantage, if you wish.

3] For God's sake, use humor and don't take yourself too seriously. There's nothing worse then a spoilsport, especially in a game as random as TWG. Our matches aren't based off of Roleplays; if they were, this would be an eFed. Instead, we're trying to make this a more entertaining aspect of the "show" we're putting on by making our rivalries seem more real. So in such cases, make fun of your opponent. His picture looks funny? Use that against him. His name stupid? Use that too. Use whatever you can, but keep in mind that you almost HAVE to expect the same thing in return. getting mad because of a Roleplay directed at you is childish; don't do it. It doesn't make sense to be angry over nothing.

4] Be tactful. Constant swearing is very hard to read, unless it is tastefully done, which is hard to do. As are racist remarks of any kind, or any kind of sexist nature. However, if that is the angle of your character, then run with it, but remember to keep it toned down (however, if your particular federation doesn't allow this, then you're SOL, so pick a different gimmick). In real life, someone that was dropping F and N Bombs everywhere on television would be banned and possibly fired. Take the same precautions when writing your Roleplay.

5] Responding is good, however, be aware how your character sounds. If you respond to a Roleplay made by someone else, keep in mind that all you may be doing is sounding like a whiny baby. In responding, I believe it's best to take the "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" approach. If you really want to respond, do it in your own Roleplay, and don't respond to theirs in their thread. Break down their insults and throw them right back at your opponent. Take their words and play Scrabble with them. It's not a hard process to use, but a hard process to master.

6] Know your competition and don't always be polite. There's not a whole lot that needs to be said about this. Know what you're talking about is really all that needs to be said. Don't make up random facts and hope it all pans out, because then you end up looking like an uninformed moron. This also branches off into the Baby Rule; don't always say things like "Hey, let's have a good match, eh?" or some such thing. Talk trash, even if you're a Face, talk all the trash you want. Why? Because winning make you feel good, losses develop your character. Sure, you may lose after talking a bunch of crap, but that just makes you want to make an excuse for why you lost, or whatever. If both you and your opponent are busy telling each other that you hope the match goes well and that you hope it all ends "fair and square", then that leaves no room for a rivalry and to overall boring Roleplays. Add substance, talk trash, and keep it interesting.



DO NOT OVERUSE MEDIA:

Your Roleplay will NOT look cooler if it has a billion random links and pictures all over it. If anything, have one, maybe two pictures TOPS in any given Roleplay. This is for several reasons.

1] It looks tacky. Really, I can't tell you how annoying it is having to sift through ten pictures only for ten total sentences of Roleplaying. First and foremost, not everyone in the world has a high speed internet connection. Therefore, having to wait to see the Roleplay because there are all these pictures is kind of annoying.

2] It looks like you're trying to compensate for lack of an actual Roleplay. No matter what your actual intentions are, adding a whole mess of pictures will only make you look kind of silly. Trying to lengthen your Roleplay with pictures is a sad business. That's all there needs to be said on that subject.

The Do Not Overuse Media is not a general rule, but it's a good one to follow. It's also considerate.



QUALITY versus QUANTITY:

I've heard several arguments of these two things over the years in regards to Roleplaying. Honestly, there are several factors it depends on, and all involve who's actually running whatever federation you happen to be in. Who judges what and how is not up to you. All you can do it post what you can and hope for the best. However, there are certain things you can do to lessen your burden -- mainly, ask. In all my years, however, I've NEVER run into a federation President that says quantity is better then quality. So keep that in mind as I point out a few things to help in that regard.

1] Less equals more. Seriously, you don't need to elaborate on what the heck your character is doing, going through every single movement he/she does over any given period of time. It's boring when you read a paragraph on how, for example, someone is picking up a can of pop when the basic action can be condensed down to a simple sentence, or tacked on to an existing sentence at that. Don't overuse descriptions; if your Roleplay gets too long because you're too busy describing the interior of a room or the description of a car, people will stop reading.

2] Quality means good story and good dialog. This all depends on you, the writer. What you think is good may not be what someone else thinks is good. The best thing I can say is this; do what you want. Write what you want, but always be open to other people's ideas. This is why I encourage reading other people's Roleplays; you can get a general idea of what people are saying and how they write and maybe, maybe that might inspire you to change up your writing style until you start pounding the keyboard with a style all your own. It took me years to develop my style, and I did so through tons of reading and an open thought process. If anything, please keep this in mind.

3] Let people know when to breath. This goes along with the spelling and punctuation thing I was talking about earlier, but it also equally important here. If you're writing something, nothing turns off the person reading then improper use of words and bad punctuation. If you type ten sentences without a period or so much as a comma, it becomes quite irksome because then the reader has to guess when the old sentence ends and when the new begins. As a writer and Roleplayer, it is your job to make sure you keep your reader enthralled with your story as much as possible, without making the reader do any extra work in regards to your spelling and punctuation.