Looking for suggestions about a roleplay element

[THF_Martin]

A roleplay is something I have always wanted to give a shot in terms of hosting one on my community, however I have never really managed one or taken part in any so I feel a little bit nervous to start one off. With my horror forum I feel I have a perfect niche to start a really interesting roleplay that could span into a lot of settings for horror related stories. I think this could be a great selling point of my forum over others in the niche but really do not know how to tackle it.

I know this forum has quite a lot of members who have given a shot at having a roleplay on their forum. Can anyone please offer some advice on what I should know if I was to start one?

Thanks!

 

[Teapot]

I used to be an avid roleplayer myself as I had always enjoyed writing and making up stories. I think the big thing when making a roleplay is knowledge of how a role play actually works. There's a huge set of guidelines and rules most roleplays follow as well as hundreds of little terms that are used to describe big things. When I first started out, I found it somewhat difficult to kind of get in the swing of things. It really is a huge learning experience in itself. But I would say once you get to know all of the fundamentals of roleplaying and do a few yourself you should have a pretty good feel of how the flow works and how to run one yourself.

 

[THF_Martin]

I used to be an avid roleplayer myself as I had always enjoyed writing and making up stories. I think the big thing when making a roleplay is knowledge of how a role play actually works. There's a huge set of guidelines and rules most roleplays follow as well as hundreds of little terms that are used to describe big things. When I first started out, I found it somewhat difficult to kind of get in the swing of things. It really is a huge learning experience in itself. But I would say once you get to know all of the fundamentals of roleplaying and do a few yourself you should have a pretty good feel of how the flow works and how to run one yourself.

So you'd suggest reading guides for different roleplaying sites to get a feel for how things work then join in with one (ideally horror related), to get a good idea of how they are run and the direction they take before starting anything myself? That would make a lot of sense.

 

[Teapot]

I used to be an avid roleplayer myself as I had always enjoyed writing and making up stories. I think the big thing when making a roleplay is knowledge of how a role play actually works. There's a huge set of guidelines and rules most roleplays follow as well as hundreds of little terms that are used to describe big things. When I first started out, I found it somewhat difficult to kind of get in the swing of things. It really is a huge learning experience in itself. But I would say once you get to know all of the fundamentals of roleplaying and do a few yourself you should have a pretty good feel of how the flow works and how to run one yourself.

So you'd suggest reading guides for different roleplaying sites to get a feel for how things work then join in with one (ideally horror related), to get a good idea of how they are run and the direction they take before starting anything myself? That would make a lot of sense.

Definitely! You also might want to take part in a few of your own too! It's always good to have experience yourself when it comes to role plays.

 

[Migi]

I think I've seen a forum where there is a separate area for new roleplayers to 'practice' before they join the actual game. I think that will be helpful for starters, at least for people like me who is interested in the concept but can't read the guidelines until the end because it is too confusing. It takes time to get used to the system and you don't want to join the existing games when you are still a newbie. But running such a section may be even more demanding as you need to know a lot of the system and patient enough to teach new bloods.

Good luck with the idea, Martin! :great:

 

[Platipoo]

You should also try to compare different roleplay sites and find an arrangement that you think will work best on your own site. Aside from the roleplay threads itself there are 'supporting' stuff you might need to have to keep things tidy, and some established roleplay sites have automated services to support roleplays that you could consider.