Roleplayer Weekly Volume I, Issue I - General Introduction to Roleplay Preface.) Welcome to Roleplayer Weekly! This journal of sorts is built with the intent of improving the Roleplay Community's experience at large with tips and tricks for making your roleplay a much more solid, enjoyable experience. What you take with you after reading is entirely up to you, but I hope you learn something new each issue! [b][i]In This Issue[/i][/b] [b]A.) What is Roleplay? B.) Where can I Roleplay? C.) Roleplay Etiquette D.) "HEY AVERUS!" E.) Conclusion F.) About the Author [/b] [b]A.) What is Roleplay?[/b] The worlds of JK2 and JK3 are pretty damn old, suffice to say. The community we have is severely diverse in many ways, each having their own personal mod, preference of gameplay, and experinces therein. In JK3Files' most recent poll, Roleplaying was voted one of the top activities that the community at large engages in. So what the hell is it? Well there's no small answer for it, so let's get started, shall we? The basic objective of Roleplay in the JK series in general is to essentially immerse yourself into the Star Wars Universe, taking on some form of character or "role" in some form of storyline, and have your character interact with other players' characters in an effort to create (or in some cases, recreate,) intense and gripping scenes and events that will basically take your entertainment to the next level of immersion. Many players love to have their characters engage in some sort of intense dialog-injected lightsaber duel to the death, whilst others are content in simply hanging out at the bar with their buddies; it hardly matters where so long as you're having fun! Now, a fair share of people think that this in general is flat out stupid, but if done correctly, it can result in some amazing stories that you can be proud of, and it's a good method of meeting new people and making new friends! Amusingly enough, that's how Averus met up with his girlfriend =_,= [b]B.) Where can I Roleplay?[/b] Wow, where to start? There's quite a plethora of Roleplay servers out there, each with their own quirks, perks, storyline, scale, and tone. [img]http://www.arsu.net/epsalon89/RPWeekly/V1I1_List.jpg[/img] Some of them are less active than others, as the community may have lost ideas or interest in their ideas, but there are still quite a few out there that are still up and running. It all depends on your needs. For example: [i] - What timezone is this server in? - Are they serious about RP? - Do they have some sort of special mod(s) I need? - Will I need to register on some sort of forum and apply? - What kind of story is this server supporting? - Will I be able to fit my character within said story? - How active is this community? [/i] Those being just a few of possible requirements you might have to take in mind. Now I've done quite a bit of hopping on various JA+ servers, so I'll point out a few recommendable ones that I've stopped in on: - If you're looking for an active community that takes RP in a more laid back manner with no real regards to realism but more focus on just raw fun and fantasy, SWD: RP, Final Fantasy Overdrive, and the J-Tech RP Servers are definitely up your alley. - If you're looking for something more professional and artistic, with more emphasis on making a more intellectually stimulating storyline, I would wager {LoF} RP, RPG Universe, and RPG World for a more grounded developed RP. These are all JA+ servers, as I said before; there are multiple Lugormod, Makermod, OJP Enhanced v1.2, and even a few Forcemod III RP servers still drifting out there that I have yet to reach. I encourage you to go out and there take a look for yourself. There are plenty of servers for you to check out there! [b]C.) Roleplay Etiquette[/b] So, once you've figured out where you wanna go, you have to figure out the best way to enter without disrupting everything. Roleplayers in general tend to form cliques, and they get very touchy if some random tool comes barging into their server with not a clue as to what's going on: [img]http://www.arsu.net/epsalon89/RPWeekly/FAILRP.JPG[/img] First off, if you're a new RPer, [i]PLEASE LEARN USE OF THE OUT OF CHARACTER(OOC) System![/i] RPers tend to be a very picky lot, and will banhammer you rather fast if you don't calm down. There are various forms of ways to denote that you, rather than your character, are speaking to the other players in the server. Here are some common ones: - //Ohai - OOC: Ohai - ((Ohai )) - Black text (inserting ^8 or ^0 before your message) - "Name: Ohai***" Alright so what's up with that last one? The "OOC" Channel is an increasingly common OOC method in JA+ servers. To activate it, first you must do the following: - Press shift + `, a key to the left of the 1 on the standard US Keyboard(I can't speak for where it is on international keyboards, so for the sake of simplicity, you will have to use the tilde (~) key to activate the developer console) - enter: "/clanpass OOC" Now there are three methods to tune your team chat to this channel: - Enter "/exec chat.cfg" and hit = once, you'll see that it says "Clan" - /say_team_mod clan - or if you're lazy, just go to controls, JA+ Controls, and set a button to Message Mod, and do the first thing. [img]http://www.arsu.net/epsalon89/RPWeekly/MuchBettar.jpg[/img] Check to see if the OOC Channel is in use. Generally, if you join in and send your way, more often than not if they don't use the OOC Channel, they'll show it. This'll at least get you a foothold into the server. So, with that said and done, several things may happen. Some times a player will fill you in on the spot. Others may simply direct you to a forum/website URL, and sometimes they'll be too engrossed and might ignore you. Regardless, the key is to [b]OBSERVE THE SERVER![/b] When observing, make sure what you see is agreeable(duh XD.) If you're a stickler for punctuation, make sure they're at least trying to speak properly, as opposed to reverting to contractions like GF, ur, lol, etc. If you're not too big on that, then I guess you're set, but also, make sure if you like the storyline. More often than not, you're going to be finding some sort of Jedi-related story, so if you're looking for something other than that, you're gonna have to try ultra hard to find a server where Jedi aren't necessarily the key. A lot of those are outside of JA+ so I can't give you much help out there. If you've found a server and found it agreeable, strap yourself in and get ready to have a blast, I say! [b]D.) HEY AVERUS![/b] [b]Q.)Well, my question is how the heck do you stop freeroamers from ruining an RP when I do not have admin? o_O - Anonymous[/b] [b]A.)[/b]Ah yes, those can be quite a pain, can't they? How does one keep these misinformed players in line, you ask? Well there are quite a few methods to handling this server-wise, but what if we're stuck without a moderator and some guy wanders in like our friend Joe Jackass up there? Well, I have a few suggestions: - Split dimensions: This is more of a JA+ oriented thing, but if you have it available, shift your RP to an alternate dimension using /amaltdim. While it's a tad inconvenient, they won't really bother following, especially if they're just looking at a map. - Vote to Kick: Yeah, I know a lot of servers have voting disable to prevent map change spam, but if it's active, just boot the guy if he proves to be too irritating. - See if you can get them interested in the RP: If you can't beat 'em down, see if you can convert them. Explain to them what's going on and see if they're willing to play long. Sometimes it'll work. - Don't be afraid to pause the RP and indulge them: Believe it or not, as dumb as some people can be, if you indulge them just enough, you might be able to neutralize their hazard to your story. For instance, say Joe Jackass comes in and starts asking for a duel. If he doesn't listen to your initial reasoning, give him a few rounds and satisfy his thirst for a bit, and then once that's done, just him that you've got to get back to the RP now and can't duel anymore. It may sound like caving in, but it's definitely going to help your odds of getting him to settle down, or maybe even leave to seek fun in another server." - Explanation: A pseudo-branch of the conversion, this is if someone wanders into an area that regular "civilians" may not be authorized plotwise to enter. Just tell 'em and let them exit peacefully. and if all else fails: - Ignore them: More often than not, if you have a strong constitution and the freeroamers just aren't going to settle down, maybe going so far as killing you, dig this: let them and just keep moving on. "But Averus, that'll ruin the RP!" This is a very uncommon occurance if someone getting killed will actually disrupt the flow of the RP entirely. Believe me, if done correctly, you can essentially pretend their actions didn't do a damn thing to the plotline and essentially blot out their existance. Ignore them long enough, and they'll get bored. [b]E.) Conclusion[/b] Well then, that's about all we got for today. Tune in next week when I'll be discussing how to create a compelling and fleshed out character. For your question to be answered on "HEY AVERUS!" please send your question to [email protected] and include the name you'd prefer to be known as when posting it. Thanks for reading and JOYOUS ADVENTURES TO ALL OF YOU =_= [b]F.) About the Author[/b] Averus Retruthan is a veteran 8-year Roleplayer who has used multiple mediums for Roleplay, including JA, Neverwinter Nights, Text Role-play, Forum Roleplay, and Starcraft, and continues to expand his experience wherever possible. Averus credits JA and NWN being the key elements that helped him develop his skills to where they are today. He currently resides in the newly founded {LoF} RP clan, a small but talented group of RPers, and works with map makers of RPG maps to help improve and bring dynamics to their maps within his post at JK3files.com