Roleplaying Guide[WIP]

Let's begin this small guide, with a simple question people who have never roleplayed before might have. What is roleplaying? Well, that's simple. Roleplaying is a game in which the players assume roles, usually the roles of characters and/or nations, in a fictional setting, controlling them. Players act out those roles through narrative posts, taking part in and building the story, and interacting with the other players. Roleplaying is one of the most interesting things that can be done on NationStates, either on the roleplay reserved section of the NS Forum, the Portal to the Multiverse(P2TM), or, if something like that exists, on the regional offsite forums. Roleplaying is extremely fun and largely appreciated, mainly because the only limit to roleplaying is your imagination. Do you want to be a fire elf wizard, fighting on a huge space station against Nazi Orcish aliens who want to destroy the Gods? You've got it.

In this guide, we'll try to explain and introduce roleplay for the newcomers, and further explain it for the people who have already roleplayed in the past.

Roleplayers use a series of specific terms and abbreviations while talking about roleplaying stuff. Here is a short list to help explain them.

• OP. Can mean two things. Original Poster, so the one who created the roleplay, the big boss. Or, alternatively, Original Post, which is the first post of a roleplay, the one that usually contains the introduction, the title, the application forms.

• CO-OP. A player appointed by the OP to help him in things like managing the roleplay, accepting the apps, and keeping order. Basically, a smaller OP.

• Roleplayer/Player- The person at the keyboard, roleplaying the character or the nation.

• Thread/Topic-Several instances of interconnected roleplay, written by two or more players. A thread consists of an initial opening posts, and subsequent replies moving through a storyline.

• Post- A single instance of roleplay, written by one player. Posts can be initial posts (sometimes called openers or starters, but not usually referred to as anything special), or they can be replies to other posts.

• Reply
  A single instance of roleplay, written by one player, in response to another player. All replies are posts, but not all posts are replies.

• OOC. Out of Character. A roleplay usually has two threads, the OOC thread is one of them. The OOC is reserved for what the roleplayer himself is saying, for discussions, sign-ups, and stuff like that. Basically the center of the roleplay.

• IC. The other type of thread is the In Character thread. The IC is reserved for in character posts, the posts the roleplayer is doing is doing while playing the role of a character or a nation. The story and the real roleplaying go on here.
  

From what it looks like, a lot of people have problems in actually starting to roleplay. Maybe they're not confident in their writing abilities. Maybe they're shy. Maybe they're scared to enter the roleplaying community, or are intimidated by all these new things. The reasons vary from person to person. But if one thing is sure, it's that none of those reasons are actually true.

Even if starting to roleplay might seem difficult at the beginning, you just have to try. You aren't confident in your writing abilities? No problem, at least try. Most roleplayers will even help you with advice and so on if you request it. Not all of us have been born English story writers, important is to have fun, as long as we respect the rules and a level of decency. So at least, no one liners. Try to always aim for a paragraph. Then of course, joining other people to roleplay and get into something so strange might be intimidating, but most roleplayers are really accepting. We all want to have fun, and there is no reason we would want to refuse someone who also wants to have fun. Try and be confident, and there is no way you can fail.

At the beginning, it would be the best to join lighter roleplays, easier ones. Join what you would like to roleplay. If you're interested in fantasy roleplays, join a fantasy roleplay. There are multiple places where you can roleplay.

The NationStates Forum, the Portal to the Multiverse. P2TM, as it is usually called, is a large thread in the NS Forum reserved specifically for roleplaying. Almost all kinds of roleplays are present there, so it is the paradise of any roleplayer. And what's the best about it? Well, you don't have to leave NS to check it! You can join any roleplays, but the INWU itself will hold open roleplays there for everyone to join, in the near future.
The INWU's Regional Forum. The regional forum has a special thread reserved for roleplays. Roleplayers from all the region will use that thread to make their roleplays and have fun together. Check it, and take part in the fun!

The region will also soon hold a series of tutorial roleplays, meant to introduce the newcomers to roleplaying in an easy and interactive way. Coming soon!

Talk about how to roleplay; add other sections by copying background block BBCode section. Please do not change the color. Good luck!

Written by Tracian Empire