Sounds like some weird sexual fetish when you talk to someone and they ask you if you roleplay. Sometimes, unfortunately, it can be 0_o. But most of the time it is a perfectly good past time (i.e. no sexual lol). I find it a good way to exercise my writing skills, relax, have fun, socialise etc. Let me explain;
Roleplay is where two or more people pick a character from movie, tv, book etc, or make up your own, and then... make them interact. It's like a story I guess, but you can only control your character (i.e. not other people's) and you take it in turns to tell the story from your character's point of view, each time progressing the story further. Can either be done in pairs or in groups, and it usually has a genre and plot.
genre - the genre of the roleplay. Can either be something totally made up 'Medieval Fantasy, Egyptian' etc, or from popular culture 'Harry Potter, Dragon Riders of Pern'
plot - a line of events that the roleplay should follow for it to remain interesting and avoid rambling off in no particular direction. The plot is usually discussed before people start the roleplay, but it can be added to and embellished as the story progresses.
a reply/line/post - Your side of the story, i.e your contribution. People praise replies on their length, quality, and inclusion of the/a plot.
a 'one liner' - a reply that is one line long. In roleplaying terms, you would usually apologise for only writing one line of reply because it's unusual that you can include detail that would move the plot forward. It's hard to reply to a one liner, but if your previous post was so bad that was all the person could write in response, it's your fault.
powerplay - making you character all powerful is generally frowned upon in roleplaying circles, this is because it isn't
realistic. Nobody on this planet was ever a ninja at ten years old, or could negate the effects of a nuclear missile. If physical fights are involved in roleplay, it's expected that you can avoid getting hurt to some degree, but you can't dodge everything.
Writers block - aah writer's block. Usually the excuse used when your reply isn't very good, but can genuinely be a source of 'being unable to write'. Mental block, incapacity to think in which direction the roleplay should be taken
Typos - Spelling mistake. Shouldn't be made if you have a spell checker, but we all make the odd one from time to time.
"Apologies for typos!"Godmoding/Godmodelling - two names, mean the same thing. Controlling other people's characters; not allowed, and it's easier done than you might think. Of course we go from obvious examples such as (where player 1 is Mrs.X and player 2 is Mr.Y) ;
Player 1: Mrs. X walked into a room and pulled Mr.Y into a tight hug. Mr Y scrambled out of her grasp.
Player 2: wtf mate? I'm playing Mr.Y!To subtle things like:
Player 1: Mrs. X slapped Mr Y around the face. A red mark appeared there.
This is assuming that Mr.Y got hit - which should never happen. The person who is playing Mr.Y gets to decide if he got hit by that hand or not, not the person who initiated the slap. Godmoding is a tricky thing to get right; in response to the above example, you should write something like;
Player 1: Mrs.X aimed to slap Mr.Y
So that it gives poor Mr.Y some choice over what happens. Godmoding is often hard to avoid, even intentionally, because you have to assume some things if you want to have a good storyline, and you want the roleplay to progress. In which case you might often find someone asking if it's ok if Mrs. X tackles Mr.Y to the ground to avoid the arrows. Or... something like that.
Mary Sue/Gary Stu - where powerplay is frowned upon because you shouldn't make your character all powerful, nor should you make your character perfect in terms of personality and looks. Mainly because, instead of everyone supposedly loving the character, you will often find everyone hates them. 'Perfect' characters aren't realistic, and they're boring to roleplay, the name Mary Sue/Gary Stu (female/male respectively) is a humourous name for such characters. They're not always called Mary Sue lol :D
eg;
"She had perfect long golden ringlets that just fell past her shoulders, and baby blue eyes that reflected the sky's brilliance. Riding up to them on her pet tame unicorn, Mary Sue beamed happily-"
It's often more subtle than this, here is a real example of your every day Mary Sue;
"patronus »» - animal; unicorn- reason; impossible to tame, very rare, fierce, magnificent, selfless, brave and mysterious. beautiful and elegant, a symbol of peace, purity, and pride."
Introduction/Intro - I rarely see this called anything other than 'intro'. The start of the roleplay, the very first 'post' if you like. Usually it's expected that it should be longer than a regular post, because you have to introduce the plot, set the scene and set the stone rolling, so to speak. Some people hate writing the intro, other's adore it, but it all boils down to one person and they have to do a good job. Sometimes you might hear people talking about 'their intro' i.e.
"You write your intro first, and then I'll do mine ok?"
But their intro's purpose is only to introduce their character. The
first post is always the most important, and this is the thing which we refer to when we say 'intro'.
OOC - "Out of Character." Pronounced, 'ooo-ck' 'oh oh see' or simply read out aloud, out of character. Sometimes annoyingly/humourously exchanged for other mnemonics such as 'out of cookies, old octopus crinkles'. All roleplayers know what ooc means, so we understand this little joke, but I bet some people sit there and think 'wtf?'
OOC is used when you want to say something outside the roleplay, i.e. to discuss the plot;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
But people usually have their own personal way in which they show ooc. The one above is what I use. Below I will list some of the more common forms, as not all ooc will be clearly labelled with 'ooc'. Eg;
((Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?))
{Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?}
[Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?]
-Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?-
ooc; Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Ooc - Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?Double brackets is probably the most obvious way to show ooc writing without actually writing "ooc." Generally, as long as you make it clear that it's seperate from the main body of your post, roleplayers will understand that what you wrote was out of character.
IC/BIC - "In character/Back in character." Where brackets are not used, it's usually what you would use to show that you are indeed, continuing the roleplay -
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
bic Simon looked around him... etc
obvious I know, but some people need telling. Sometimes I even show I'm bic by adding in an extra break;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
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bic Simon looked around him... etcChatspeak - should never be used in roleplay. Ever. Ok.. there are exceptions to the rules, say for example, in ooc. But never never never use chatspeak when making your characters talk, no roleplayer appreciates this;
bic Simon looked around him and smiled. "Lol guys, look, I can c a bomb droppin from de sky lol"ooc it's just barbaric. :D
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The next few terms are roleplaying 'labels' people use when describing someone's ability. On one hand, it's very elitist, and I don't agree with it. On the other hand, it is useful to allow you to avoid people who wouldn't create a very 'fun' roleplay. If you write out a page of introduction to set the scene and introduce your character, and recieve one line in return, it's hardly an incentive to continue roleplaying with someone. Usually you are asked for a personal evaluation of your own standard before beginning a roleplay, and people are fairly (I use that word loosely) accurate about themselves. I have explained the terms using language your average roleplayer would use to describe them, it is not my personal view.
Illiterate - In normal terms this is someone who can neither read nor write. But in roleplaying terms it's a cruel name for someone who writes 'one liners' constantly, makes frequent 'typos' and cannot for the life in them, advance the plot. Usually this person shouldn't roleplay at all, but they can have a great deal of fun with people of their 'standard'
(See what I mean? This is genuinely the view that roleplayers carry around with them, elitist, horrible...)
my view; people usually don't call themselves 'illiterate', so my personal opinion will have to wait until the next description.
Semi-lit - This term is very, very dangerous to use. According to most, you are either literate, or you are not. Semi-lit is what illiterates call themselves to make themselves sound better than they really are. It makes me sad, and usually if someone comes to me saying they are Semi-lit, I will point them in the direction of another 'Semi-lit'. Some people never improve beyond this point, but semi-lit is often the case with new roleplayers who haven't got the hang of what they should be doing. In this case they turn out to be great roleplayers, you can normally tell this by their short, but wonderfully snappy posts. So, the majority of Semi-lits end up roleplaying together and having a lovely time of it, while staying well away from our next point of conversation. On rare occasion I have had engaging and fun roleplays with these people - they're good for a break, and I love seeing someone improve their writing as a result.
Literate - There are two breeds of literate. The snobbish, and the 'power to the semi-lits!'. I'm sad to say I'm a sort of mongrel between them both. I dislike roleplaying with semi-literates because they don't give me what I'm looking for in post length, but I know this is a horrible view to take, and thus I always try to help them, either by gently pointing out a mistake and suggesting an improvement, or by showing them someone else they can roleplay with. Sometimes I'm bad and just ignore them. =/ I know, I'm horrible like that. Literate people can write long, detailed posts, move a plot along, and understand the nuances of roleplay society. Yet some people claim to be literate because they can write five paragraphs describing what outfit their character is wearing. Don't be drawn in by these people - they're usually the snobbish ones, and can sometimes go by the title in our next description.
Advanced - literates who think they're above everyone else. Usually write a page on their characters outfit and can't actually advance a plot. Poison.
Oh yeah, and they have this weird little thing where they always bolden their speech. I.e.
"Are we going to the chip shop?" Said Fred.
Wierd.
Literate/Advanced - literally (lol) pronounced 'Literate Advanced'. For some reason it's written 'literate/advanced' but that's how you say it. Anyway. These are the roleplaying elite, the people who know how to roleplay and can roleplay well. My kind of people, and generally a term used to let people know what they're letting themselves in for. Sometimes, this term is misused to ensure that roleplayers of 'lower standard' don't blunder in and spoil something, and that is wrong. Literate/Advanced roleplayers are the sort of people you want to mix with if you strive to improve, usually the friendliest faces on the planet. Usually.
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Limits - sometimes, usually among teenagers, roleplays can take on a decidedly 'sexual' flavour. Raging hormones and all that, but before a roleplay begins you will usually get asked what your 'limits are'.
"I'll also need to know your limits"Literally this means 'how far into a sexual relationship are our characters allowed to go?'. All the more reason to firmly state you wish to keep the roleplay G (:D I do this to annoy them) because they will not hesitate to try to 'get into your pants'.
Of course, it's not all about sex. Roleplaying limits also include language (making swears) and violence (blood, gore, excessive fighting). They're sometimes fun to include, but they don't make a good roleplay. To set a limit, a roleplayer would use a film certificate rating, i.e.
PG - 13
G
R/18
Sometimes to bypass word filters, people ask for these types of things in a roleplay by using the following.
Romance - Roman ants, Ro-to-the-mance
Violence - Violet lent, Viola lance
Don't ask. S:
Contacts - This is the umberella term used for your email address, instant messaging names etc. Or, in other words 'how you can be contacted if the person wants to roleplay with you'. Again to bypass word filters on some sites which don't allow offsite advertising, people use the following;
Email - Liam E, Fast mail, the other mail, non-letter mail, Mr Liam E
AIM - yellow running man, any mnemonic which uses the words A, I, M in that order
MSN - little butterfly, any mnemonic which uses the words M, S, N in that order
YIM - ... actually this might be the yellow running man. D: I can't remember. I don't use AIM or YIM to roleplay.
everyone has their preference when roleplaying - some people refuse to roleplay 'over' msn. Personally, I like roleplaying on a forum, or over email but that's personal taste.
"//" /Slash/mm, ff/Yaoi, Yuri - same sex relationship roleplays. Nuff said.
// is used to bypass word filters, mm means male male, ff means female female. Sometimes also written m x m - literally male times male. Yaoi or Yuri are japanese terms used in anime, but have also shifted into roleplaying slang. This is often discussed in roleplay because people aren't into doing that kind of thing. Kind of like me :D
"Do you do //?"
"No, I 'support it' but I don't do it."
That's right guys, if you don't want to be branded as a homophobe, you have to 'support it' otherwise you're evil.
The word Slash comes from literally 'slashing two characters together'. I.e Bill/Bob would mean that Bill is indeed, romantically involved with Bob. The order that you put said characters in is also very important, never -ever- put the least dominant first, that would mean they were 'topping' in the relationship. Haha, endless amusement when I discovered this I can tell you - slash roleplayers are so fun to talk with. :D
*action* /-action- - sometimes in roleplay ooc, people make their characters do humorous activities. These actions are always denoted with stars, or little dashes around the words. These actions are always in the present tense. Usually, the name of the character is not included within said action, because people assume that your character is the one you are referring to. Sometimes, the name of your character is included before you write the action. I think the use of stars comes from old MIRC or IRC forums... I'm not sure - I have a vague memory of having to use that syntax to do an action...
*jumps up and down like a spaz*
Sometimes
Barbara: *Jumps up and down like a spaz*
I think that just about sums up all the terms roleplayers use on a regular basis. There might be more newer ones, but these are the terms which have been around for ages and you pick up while you learn. There are many nuances involved in roleplay and out, but on the whole those should just about cover it. It's hard to realise when you're using roleplay slang and when you're not :D so I might have missed something out.
