The Ultimate Essay

Roleplaying. Most people think of “Dungeons and Dragons” or “World of Warcraft”. However, either of these are either “too nerdy” or they get boring easily. The step in between is something known as forum-based. Based mostly on free forums such as Proboards or Forumotion, these sites provide an exciting experience and can boost your writing skills to a new frontier. If you’re new to forum-based roleplaying, I, as a semi-professional, will provide you with a few steps to begin your trek into the glorious world of forum-based roleplay by first finding a topic that interests you, followed by how to treat the people on the site, and lastly how the site works.

The absolute first thing to do is to find a topic that interests you. Whether it is a TV show, book, or even video game, you need to pick a topic you enjoy. For example, Mecha (Giant “Real” Robots {Armored Core, Chromehounds, Mobile Suit Gundam, etc.}) may interest you. Thus, you would probably not enjoy a supernatural-based site. If you find a site that has things that interest you, check the last post date and if anyone has been online recently. After you pick your site, this next step shall help your progression.

The people on the site you have joined may be the nicest people you’ve met, but they might also be the biggest jerks you’ll ever meet. Introduce yourself to the site, but do not use “txt tlk”, since it looks extremely unprofessional and downright (At times) immature. Also, it would be a great help to you if you spell words correctly. While most browsers (Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome) have built in spell-checks, some do not; most forums will have a spell-check available. It would also be very helpful to you if you speak in a respectable manner and do not insult others (you can be banned {not allowed to enter the site} for that on some sites). Now that you know one another, it’s time to see how the forum works.

After the introduction, the best thing would be to look at the rules, as well as anything else important. The rules may tell you how to roleplay on the site, whether it is first-person or third person, or even one-line or paragraph-style. The other important things may be age requirements, what has happened on the site so far, what is happening now, or even what the site is about. When you see an announcement, it would be wise to read it, to make sure you don’t miss out on anything. Posting requirements are also crucial, as you’re going to need to see how long you have to post, or even how to post.

It’s official. You now know the basics on how to roleplay on a forum. Some sites will provide you with “Do’s and Don’ts” so you can learn more advanced things on how to roleplay. It would also be best if you rp on a forum before making your own. If you can simply follow the rules and not insult anyone, you will most likely have a grand ole time roleplaying on a forum.