Ronnie's Roleplay Guide 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Ronnie]

Three or four years ago, I created a roleplay guide to the server. I remember one comment saying that "this guide was the only good thing you did for SAES".
Funny, but unfortunately the guide was lost when the forum changed.
With the recent decline of quality RP on SAES, I thought that maybe, the aversion people have to roleplaying isn't due to them not wanting to do it, it could be, in part, that they don't entirely understand it. So, with that, I bring you, my roleplay guide, written from memory.

1. Rules

There are rules to roleplaying, just like there are rules to joining an organization, or a group, and if you want to have a good time while roleplaying, you need to make sure that this rule is upheld by everyone. These are self-enforced, and it'll take some getting used to, but if everyone sticks to them, the roleplaying experience will be enhanced, and everyone will have much more fun.

a) Deathmatching

This is probably the most straightforward rule, as it exists on the server, in a way, but there's more to it than what's in the F1.
Obviously, killing people for no reason is a big no-no in roleplaying too. However, deathmatching in RP extends further than that.
When looking at violence alone, you need to make sure that whatever act of violence you do, it is equal to the offense of what that person did to you, to deserve it. I know, it seems complicated, but it really isn't.
For example, let's say you are armed with a Colt 45, and a set of brass knuckles.
Here's the situation: You walk out of your house, and see someone______

situation 1: You see someone walking by, who turns their head, looks at you, and tells you to go fuck yourself, for no reason.
In this case, I personally do not think that any act of violence is necessary. I would not use any weapon, perhaps telling him off works just as good.
situation 2: You see someone breaking into your car. In this case, the usage of a melee weapon to give a vicious beating would be more than justified, but using a firearm still is not acceptable.
situation 3: You walk out and see someone robbing someone, or trying to rob you, or using an extreme degree of violence.
In this case, the usage of a firearm to wound or even kill is justified, and alright.

See a pattern? You have to make sure that any act you take AGAINST someone is justified

I tried not to overcomplicate it, hopefully it worked.

b) Metagaming
This one is a little more abstract, but I'll try to go slow.
SAES uses a very neat little indicator to show who a person is.
It shows their name, their role, and their wanted level.
Obviously, on an RPG server this is necessary. If it wasn't in place, it would cause a lot of confusion.
However, when you are roleplaying, and your character sees somebody in the street - these informations are not available to them. All they see is exactly that - somebody. And unless they had previous interactions before, they're not going to know anything besides what they look like.
To demonstrate, using a picture:

Avoiding metagaming is a surefire way to make sure that your roleplay experience stays immersive, and fun.

c) Powergaming
This one is probably the simplest. The point of this rule is to make sure that you do not do unrealistic superhuman actions that would negatively impact a roleplay.
Jumping ten meters and killing someone with a simple punch? Don't do that, that's powergaming.
Another aspect of powergaming is when you do realistic and perfectly okay actions, but you do not let the other player respond to your action with another action. For example

/me hits Bob in the face

In this case, Bob is hit in the face, and he cannot do anything against it. In order to make roleplaying more fair, what we usually do, is to phrase the action as an attent. For example:

/me attempts to hit Bob in the face

In this case, Bob has a chance to respond. He can try dodging, he can try jumping, he can try anything he wants. Whoever succeeds is usually decided between the two parties. For example, if Bob is two meters away from me when I try to hit him, he would probably succeed in trying to dodge my attack.

This is the first part of my RP guide concluded. Right now, I cannot think of anything more to add, but I'll re-visit this in a few days.

Roleplaying on SAES used to be a thing that people did for fun, and not to gain levels in their organizations. I still like roleplaying today and whenever I have a chance to RP, I sit down and do it. It's a fun way to pass the time, so long as everyone involved knows how to do it.

[Ronnie]

This post will be updated whenever someone has to add something constructive, or whenever I remember something that should be posted. If you have any suggestions, please leave them here.

[Ronnie]

It is understandable that some people view roleplaying as just a form of acting, because, in a way, it is just acting.
You take on a role and you try to portray that role in a realistic manner.

More and more I have been seeing gangs, squads, and et cetera as acting out a pre-written script, or even worse, taking screenshots then writing a half assed story on the forums, and calling that RP. Yikes!

I want people to realize that roleplaying is often much, much better if you're not acting out a script, but improvising instead. Improvising adds twists to your story, it forces the people you RP with to improvise too, and adapt to situations that you create.

I'll give an easy example that most roleplayers are aware of : drug deal.
Now, the idea of a drugdeal can be spun and twisted in so many different directions, it's another entry in this topic itself, but let's keep it simple for now.

Scripted RP: You all show up to a shady spot. They give you the money, you give them the drugs. Everyone walks away.

This kind of roleplay takes ten minutes to orchestrate, and from my experience, it's not that fun.

Now take a look at a non scripted version of the same events:

You all show up to a shady spot. They give you the money.

Now at this point, you have several options. Maybe you'll go through with the deal, as usual. Maybe you'll set up in advance, and ambush them. Maybe you'll get your cop buddies to arrest them, and send them away for a long time.

The only limitation is your imagination.
I don't want to force anyone to change their way of RP, but give me a chance: next time you're going to roleplay with somebody, don't script it, or at least not completely. Try it out, see how it goes, and how you enjoy it.

[Casuall]

I hope, some read this topic and learn something. So they dont make us mad...

[Latinoo]

Amazing job!

[Piercee]

The Owl roleplaying guide to not get sent back to the application stage LUL

[Ronnie]

@Piercee said in Ronnie's Roleplay Guide 2: Electric Boogaloo:

The Owl roleplaying guide to not get sent back to the application stage LUL

It's really the same set of rules but for a different reason.
Over there, it's in place to prevent you from ruining others experiences.
Here, they're used to enhance your own.

But there's more to it than that tho xd