Luco
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2011
- Messages
- 9,232
- Location
- The isle of venom, Australia
- NNID
- dracilus
- 3DS FC
- 2638-1462-5558
Hello and welcome to the Forum Fight (Story forum) Guide and ruleset!
Why is it needed?
The Forum Fight we have going on currently runs in to several issues when people try to Role-Play. If one character assumes something about another, they can make a mistake when RP-ing them and annoy the player behind the character. There are also times when people get mixed up, some stories become obsolete and you have to go back a way to start that section again. Examples like this are why the Story Forum should have a few of it's own rules and a guide-line on how to post. As well as this, the Story Forum currently doesn't fully explain itself in the OP. This means newer players don't know what's going on and there is less of an incentive to join, especially when players have to butt in right in the middle of something to ask so.
What is the aim?
Ideally, have people understand and abide by the rules so everyone remains happy in the Story Forum. That said, these rules shouldn't make anything less fun! They are simply to avoid confusion.
Will it even matter? I mean, this is just a forum game, what does it mean?
A good question. It's like asking why some-one plays video-games or is obsessive about watching every episode in a season of one show or another: It won't matter in the long run but it's fun to do then and there and morals can indeed come out of it. The story forum would benefit from this and it would ensure that people going there to have a good time (which is the point of Forum Games), can do.
Okay, so what are the rules?
1. The global rules apply to these threads:
While the double posting rule is a little more lax in here than most (for certain reasons, important parts of stories not being able to be seen because an edit won't show up in a search and people don't always check it regularly), trolling/spamming, flaming... it's not cool. That said, maintain respect when doing this. Either don't respond or if it's a friend in the wrong, gently let them know.
2. Perhaps one of the most important ones - Be extremely careful when RP-ing others:
Most people, when new to RP have a tough time dealing with other people. So they make those people act in certain ways, which may-or-may-not be what their player intended. This encompasses good characters suddenly turning evil for no reason or making a normally smart character do something incredibly stupid without justification. It can annoy the player behind the character when you do something like that and even dialogue should be monitored. If you don't like the way somebody is RP-ing you, let them know what you're like so they can attempt to RP you better.
3. Let people know when you have an issue with something:
If you see something you don't think works in canon or uses mis-guided information, or is slightly inflammatory or troll-like, or get offended by something and so on, let the person know so they can fix it. If they put something in to the story that you don't like but you don't raise the issue with them, that thing or fact will be used in subsequent stories and you may not be enjoying it as much. Let people know when you have an issue with something they've written. If you don't take it up then, your chance may be gone!
4. Don't get too over-powered without a reason/don't make random things occur out of nowhere unless on occasion:
You can decide early on that you want to have the power to do this or do that and you can even occasionally get OP in the middle of something or have a random thing occur in the middle of something. That's okay: The world will allow for it, random stuff does happen. That said, don't go over-board. Don't suddenly bring all your favourite characters in to one place in the space of a paragraph without having a proper reason. Be reasonable with your 'co-incidences'. Try not to give yourself random powers either without a reason. For instance, if you're finding things that give you back your power, be controlling in what powers you get from each item, though occasionally, you can give yourself the power to deal with a situation you're in. As stated, the world will allow for it. Just be careful and keep it in moderation. Probably best to decide what most of your powers are early on so people don't think you suddenly overpowered when you do something unexpected later on. In fact, it might be good to let somebody else know what your powers are so they can keep it in check, unless of course, as stated you have a full on reason for doing so.
5. It's okay to bring in well-known characters:
To clear it up, yes you can bring in Mickey Mouse or Mario or Sonic or a MLP character. Be careful though and if possible, check before-hand what characters you can use and which ones you can't. Some characters might be forever lost or even dead and others might be in hiding. Better yet, if somebody posts an up-date every so often to notify newer Forum Fighters who is being used and who has died and so on, this would help people immensely.
6. Do not take OOC knowledge and suddenly apply it to an IC situation:
OOC (Out of Character) knowledge is called OOC for a reason: it's used to explain info... or it can be used to give the player info without letting their 'character' know. Applying your OOC knowledge to IC (in Character) situations is like cheating. Try not to do it. That said, we are human beings and it's incredibly hard sometimes to separate what we know OOC form the things we know IC. Mistakes do happen. Try to make as few of them as possible though and if you do see something unfair, point it out.
7. Watch out when doing large story-lines or plots:
While having a long-winded plot gives everyone things to do, if you are the sole director of a storyline, the entire effort becomes compromised if you leave for any significant period of time, with players left with nothing to do by themselves save random RP with no point. If you can, alert people to what you want to happen before you go away, or write things up before you go away and post something to keep people entertained for a while or perhaps even make your storyline shorter or postpone it a little. If you do this, the thread can always remain active so long as people have ideas to put in!
8. Have fun!
While Story Forum can afford the structure, it doesn't come at the cost of fun. Be creative and remember that crazy things can happen sometimes. If the group of friends you're with has no problem RP-ing each other and you don't care how they RP you, you can ignore that rule. It's about the players and keeping it fun. Aside from rules 1 and 3, you can pretty much bring the others down if the group is fine with it. That said, you may find you prefer the rules and go back to them. Indeed, being OP for too long does become a little boring!
Those are the biggest rules. This post will be edited with a rough guide a little later on.
Mods, if this thread could be stickied, that would be amazing!
If you feel there should be something else added or taken away from the rule-set/guide, this thread would be the place to discuss it.
With that said, enjoy Forum Fight and we hope to see you there!
Now for the guide. This should be edited over time to find a form of RP that works perfectly for our community. This isn't as strict as the rules but is simply a way to help you structure your posts easily and get better at RP in general. You have to remember that RP is very varied. It conforms and adapts to the community and vice versa, until a middle road that suits everyone is created. The original version of the guide is a more traditional view over it; however this analysis and guide of RP may change over time.
We'll start with what Forum Fight is basically about.
[COLLAPSE="A description of Forum Fight"]So you want to know just what Forum Fight is? The answer is simple, yet complicated at the same time.
The story forum is a place where characters RP (role-play) a character of their choice in an effort to tell a story, in tandem with other forum posters. It can be a traditional story, with good guys and bad guys, or it can be complicated, a struggle with different viewpoints. A poster can take the role of a hero/villain/anyone, really... and shape that character for a purpose. They then take them through-out the world, trying to fulfill that purpose, while dangers around often alert them to a greater threat. This often causes players to band together and write their stories as friends.
You usually start with a quick post that introduces your character and their basic problem. Feel free to edit this structure and have the problem tied in to the 'greater issue'. In fact, your problem might BE the greater issue! Feel free to play around with the structure but try to introduce your character as clearly as possible so people know who you are if they want to include you in their story segments.
When you start, you can usually give your character certain abilities that will help them as they go through this adventure. They might be extremely fast, have access to high-tech weaponry, command the use of magic or have familiars which attack for them and so on. Perhaps your character is an archer who finds that his bow, whom he was given to by his dying mother, has been stolen and must find it, only to realize that the bow is only one part in a much greater plan and must band together with friends to help get it back and stop the evil threatening to destroy his world. There is no real limit to what you give your character but try not to go over-board: You'll soon find that being ridiculously over-powered becomes stale rather quickly.
The story then continues as objectives are made, plans are carried out, clashes happen with the enemy and new complications are made. Perhaps one of the archer's friends gets kidnapped along the way by a band of wandering thieves and the archer must try to get him back before they can continue. Perhaps the only way to defeat the enemy is to collect the three pieces of the 'sacred' heart-wood which will act as a shield from the powerful rays the enemy uses to incinerate their foes.
The plot can be as long as you want, perhaps for as long as you're interested!
Basically, the Story Forum is about using your imagination and being creative. It's an extremely enjoyable experience and also leads to greater friendship among players in general: You'll find you may really enjoy a friend's company on the boards after you've played a bit of Forum Fight together. Perhaps your thoughts on there were a reflection of something you really agree about in real life, perhaps you really enjoy the other person's values because they are much like your own.
In all, there's no telling what benefits Forum Fight can have. The only advice here is: Try it and see what happens![/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="A guide for posting"]Posting in Forum Fight is no easy matter. It takes an idea, the courage to go along with that idea (and sometimes include plot twists!) and an active imagination. These three things and you have a basic segment in Forum Fight. But what are the specifics, is there anything I should include, what if I want to RP another character? Here's the place to look for advice:
First of all, posts in Forum Fight have to be canon. You want them to be believable and work in tandem with the story. ridiculous things can happen but keep it to a limit. This applies to your first post. That said, you can almost (not quite, but almost) break the fourth wall in this game (for those who don't know, the concept of 'breaking the fourth wall' is one that applies to movies, stories and video-games where a character references the fact they are in a book, movie or game. Basically, making references to the real world). You can make references to video-game characters, comic characters, even cartoon characters. Usually, video-game characters are as far as it goes but My Little Pony has been used and even the Power puff Girls (some might remember from child-hood) have been used!
This applies even to the first post you make. Just be careful when setting out your introductory post.
Forum Fight has traditionally used skits to tell a story - that is, character dialogue for the most part with what's happening around in brackets. Recently, the fight has begun to develop a story-book approach, whereby characters give a far more accurate description of scenery and include emotions as well as words. Both ways are fine to use (on a personal note, I prefer to use the story-book method as it allows imagery to be clearer and emotion to be explained in far more detail, but that's just me) and don't feel like you're 'cheating' just because you only did a 20-line post and somebody else did a 100-line post! It's simply different ways of exploring and explaining the situation.
When it comes to actual post structure, most anything goes. You can do it general story-style (orientation or beginning, complication, climax, resolution), you can try Game of Thrones-style (Orientation/beginning, complication, climax, resolution, lull (where the story settles down for a small while), cliff-hanger), you can start off with a hook (climax or cliff-hanger, Orientation, complication, another climax, resolution/cliff-hanger) or anything else you want! Toy around with it a little, see what works best for you and feel free to vary your structure a bit as you go along, if you want to keep things fresh.
While following the rules above, this isn't to say you cannot RP another character. it just takes practice and skill and I recommend that if you're starting out, check your story with the person(/s) you are RP-ing to make sure they agree with it. Change it if necessary and re-submit. When it comes to RP, you have to remember: That person is not your character and may not think the same things as you nor act the same way, so though it may feel a little odd at first, try to make their personality what you've already seen of them, even if it's not quite what you'd normally write (Once you're good at this, you can include your style of writing whilst making them their own character. Why? Because by this time you've learnt how to vary your RP enough so that most styles feel at least some-what natural). Getting used to a certain player's character can also be individual and even if you're bad at varying view-points and dialogue, you'll likely become proficient with at least the people you fight with. General skill at RP comes later, so no need to worry!
Oh, one other thing. It's not exactly a rule and it's only for people who've gotten in to the story for a bit, but lets say the thread goes inactive for a few days and your memory begins to fog up on a few details. Yes, it's fine to ask but it'll probably save more time if you just go back a few posts and read what's in them. Indeed, you may find writing out what's going on or at least writing out your company/your powers in FF can really help keep you up to date.
The rest comes with learning. Remember, if you're confused about an issue, you can always ask your fellow peers, they will (or should be!) happy to help. Enjoy your time on Forum Fight and with any luck, you'll take away from this a fun, enjoyable way of writing your story segments and proper role playing experience!
Good luck![/COLLAPSE]
Why is it needed?
The Forum Fight we have going on currently runs in to several issues when people try to Role-Play. If one character assumes something about another, they can make a mistake when RP-ing them and annoy the player behind the character. There are also times when people get mixed up, some stories become obsolete and you have to go back a way to start that section again. Examples like this are why the Story Forum should have a few of it's own rules and a guide-line on how to post. As well as this, the Story Forum currently doesn't fully explain itself in the OP. This means newer players don't know what's going on and there is less of an incentive to join, especially when players have to butt in right in the middle of something to ask so.
What is the aim?
Ideally, have people understand and abide by the rules so everyone remains happy in the Story Forum. That said, these rules shouldn't make anything less fun! They are simply to avoid confusion.
Will it even matter? I mean, this is just a forum game, what does it mean?
A good question. It's like asking why some-one plays video-games or is obsessive about watching every episode in a season of one show or another: It won't matter in the long run but it's fun to do then and there and morals can indeed come out of it. The story forum would benefit from this and it would ensure that people going there to have a good time (which is the point of Forum Games), can do.
Okay, so what are the rules?
1. The global rules apply to these threads:
While the double posting rule is a little more lax in here than most (for certain reasons, important parts of stories not being able to be seen because an edit won't show up in a search and people don't always check it regularly), trolling/spamming, flaming... it's not cool. That said, maintain respect when doing this. Either don't respond or if it's a friend in the wrong, gently let them know.
2. Perhaps one of the most important ones - Be extremely careful when RP-ing others:
Most people, when new to RP have a tough time dealing with other people. So they make those people act in certain ways, which may-or-may-not be what their player intended. This encompasses good characters suddenly turning evil for no reason or making a normally smart character do something incredibly stupid without justification. It can annoy the player behind the character when you do something like that and even dialogue should be monitored. If you don't like the way somebody is RP-ing you, let them know what you're like so they can attempt to RP you better.
3. Let people know when you have an issue with something:
If you see something you don't think works in canon or uses mis-guided information, or is slightly inflammatory or troll-like, or get offended by something and so on, let the person know so they can fix it. If they put something in to the story that you don't like but you don't raise the issue with them, that thing or fact will be used in subsequent stories and you may not be enjoying it as much. Let people know when you have an issue with something they've written. If you don't take it up then, your chance may be gone!
4. Don't get too over-powered without a reason/don't make random things occur out of nowhere unless on occasion:
You can decide early on that you want to have the power to do this or do that and you can even occasionally get OP in the middle of something or have a random thing occur in the middle of something. That's okay: The world will allow for it, random stuff does happen. That said, don't go over-board. Don't suddenly bring all your favourite characters in to one place in the space of a paragraph without having a proper reason. Be reasonable with your 'co-incidences'. Try not to give yourself random powers either without a reason. For instance, if you're finding things that give you back your power, be controlling in what powers you get from each item, though occasionally, you can give yourself the power to deal with a situation you're in. As stated, the world will allow for it. Just be careful and keep it in moderation. Probably best to decide what most of your powers are early on so people don't think you suddenly overpowered when you do something unexpected later on. In fact, it might be good to let somebody else know what your powers are so they can keep it in check, unless of course, as stated you have a full on reason for doing so.
5. It's okay to bring in well-known characters:
To clear it up, yes you can bring in Mickey Mouse or Mario or Sonic or a MLP character. Be careful though and if possible, check before-hand what characters you can use and which ones you can't. Some characters might be forever lost or even dead and others might be in hiding. Better yet, if somebody posts an up-date every so often to notify newer Forum Fighters who is being used and who has died and so on, this would help people immensely.
6. Do not take OOC knowledge and suddenly apply it to an IC situation:
OOC (Out of Character) knowledge is called OOC for a reason: it's used to explain info... or it can be used to give the player info without letting their 'character' know. Applying your OOC knowledge to IC (in Character) situations is like cheating. Try not to do it. That said, we are human beings and it's incredibly hard sometimes to separate what we know OOC form the things we know IC. Mistakes do happen. Try to make as few of them as possible though and if you do see something unfair, point it out.
7. Watch out when doing large story-lines or plots:
While having a long-winded plot gives everyone things to do, if you are the sole director of a storyline, the entire effort becomes compromised if you leave for any significant period of time, with players left with nothing to do by themselves save random RP with no point. If you can, alert people to what you want to happen before you go away, or write things up before you go away and post something to keep people entertained for a while or perhaps even make your storyline shorter or postpone it a little. If you do this, the thread can always remain active so long as people have ideas to put in!
8. Have fun!
While Story Forum can afford the structure, it doesn't come at the cost of fun. Be creative and remember that crazy things can happen sometimes. If the group of friends you're with has no problem RP-ing each other and you don't care how they RP you, you can ignore that rule. It's about the players and keeping it fun. Aside from rules 1 and 3, you can pretty much bring the others down if the group is fine with it. That said, you may find you prefer the rules and go back to them. Indeed, being OP for too long does become a little boring!
Those are the biggest rules. This post will be edited with a rough guide a little later on.
Mods, if this thread could be stickied, that would be amazing!
If you feel there should be something else added or taken away from the rule-set/guide, this thread would be the place to discuss it.
With that said, enjoy Forum Fight and we hope to see you there!
Now for the guide. This should be edited over time to find a form of RP that works perfectly for our community. This isn't as strict as the rules but is simply a way to help you structure your posts easily and get better at RP in general. You have to remember that RP is very varied. It conforms and adapts to the community and vice versa, until a middle road that suits everyone is created. The original version of the guide is a more traditional view over it; however this analysis and guide of RP may change over time.
We'll start with what Forum Fight is basically about.
[COLLAPSE="A description of Forum Fight"]So you want to know just what Forum Fight is? The answer is simple, yet complicated at the same time.
The story forum is a place where characters RP (role-play) a character of their choice in an effort to tell a story, in tandem with other forum posters. It can be a traditional story, with good guys and bad guys, or it can be complicated, a struggle with different viewpoints. A poster can take the role of a hero/villain/anyone, really... and shape that character for a purpose. They then take them through-out the world, trying to fulfill that purpose, while dangers around often alert them to a greater threat. This often causes players to band together and write their stories as friends.
You usually start with a quick post that introduces your character and their basic problem. Feel free to edit this structure and have the problem tied in to the 'greater issue'. In fact, your problem might BE the greater issue! Feel free to play around with the structure but try to introduce your character as clearly as possible so people know who you are if they want to include you in their story segments.
When you start, you can usually give your character certain abilities that will help them as they go through this adventure. They might be extremely fast, have access to high-tech weaponry, command the use of magic or have familiars which attack for them and so on. Perhaps your character is an archer who finds that his bow, whom he was given to by his dying mother, has been stolen and must find it, only to realize that the bow is only one part in a much greater plan and must band together with friends to help get it back and stop the evil threatening to destroy his world. There is no real limit to what you give your character but try not to go over-board: You'll soon find that being ridiculously over-powered becomes stale rather quickly.
The story then continues as objectives are made, plans are carried out, clashes happen with the enemy and new complications are made. Perhaps one of the archer's friends gets kidnapped along the way by a band of wandering thieves and the archer must try to get him back before they can continue. Perhaps the only way to defeat the enemy is to collect the three pieces of the 'sacred' heart-wood which will act as a shield from the powerful rays the enemy uses to incinerate their foes.
The plot can be as long as you want, perhaps for as long as you're interested!
Basically, the Story Forum is about using your imagination and being creative. It's an extremely enjoyable experience and also leads to greater friendship among players in general: You'll find you may really enjoy a friend's company on the boards after you've played a bit of Forum Fight together. Perhaps your thoughts on there were a reflection of something you really agree about in real life, perhaps you really enjoy the other person's values because they are much like your own.
In all, there's no telling what benefits Forum Fight can have. The only advice here is: Try it and see what happens![/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="A guide for posting"]Posting in Forum Fight is no easy matter. It takes an idea, the courage to go along with that idea (and sometimes include plot twists!) and an active imagination. These three things and you have a basic segment in Forum Fight. But what are the specifics, is there anything I should include, what if I want to RP another character? Here's the place to look for advice:
First of all, posts in Forum Fight have to be canon. You want them to be believable and work in tandem with the story. ridiculous things can happen but keep it to a limit. This applies to your first post. That said, you can almost (not quite, but almost) break the fourth wall in this game (for those who don't know, the concept of 'breaking the fourth wall' is one that applies to movies, stories and video-games where a character references the fact they are in a book, movie or game. Basically, making references to the real world). You can make references to video-game characters, comic characters, even cartoon characters. Usually, video-game characters are as far as it goes but My Little Pony has been used and even the Power puff Girls (some might remember from child-hood) have been used!
This applies even to the first post you make. Just be careful when setting out your introductory post.
Forum Fight has traditionally used skits to tell a story - that is, character dialogue for the most part with what's happening around in brackets. Recently, the fight has begun to develop a story-book approach, whereby characters give a far more accurate description of scenery and include emotions as well as words. Both ways are fine to use (on a personal note, I prefer to use the story-book method as it allows imagery to be clearer and emotion to be explained in far more detail, but that's just me) and don't feel like you're 'cheating' just because you only did a 20-line post and somebody else did a 100-line post! It's simply different ways of exploring and explaining the situation.
When it comes to actual post structure, most anything goes. You can do it general story-style (orientation or beginning, complication, climax, resolution), you can try Game of Thrones-style (Orientation/beginning, complication, climax, resolution, lull (where the story settles down for a small while), cliff-hanger), you can start off with a hook (climax or cliff-hanger, Orientation, complication, another climax, resolution/cliff-hanger) or anything else you want! Toy around with it a little, see what works best for you and feel free to vary your structure a bit as you go along, if you want to keep things fresh.
While following the rules above, this isn't to say you cannot RP another character. it just takes practice and skill and I recommend that if you're starting out, check your story with the person(/s) you are RP-ing to make sure they agree with it. Change it if necessary and re-submit. When it comes to RP, you have to remember: That person is not your character and may not think the same things as you nor act the same way, so though it may feel a little odd at first, try to make their personality what you've already seen of them, even if it's not quite what you'd normally write (Once you're good at this, you can include your style of writing whilst making them their own character. Why? Because by this time you've learnt how to vary your RP enough so that most styles feel at least some-what natural). Getting used to a certain player's character can also be individual and even if you're bad at varying view-points and dialogue, you'll likely become proficient with at least the people you fight with.
General skill at RP comes later, so no need to worry!Oh, one other thing. It's not exactly a rule and it's only for people who've gotten in to the story for a bit, but lets say the thread goes inactive for a few days and your memory begins to fog up on a few details. Yes, it's fine to ask but it'll probably save more time if you just go back a few posts and read what's in them. Indeed, you may find writing out what's going on or at least writing out your company/your powers in FF can really help keep you up to date.
The rest comes with learning. Remember, if you're confused about an issue, you can always ask your fellow peers, they will (or should be!) happy to help. Enjoy your time on Forum Fight and with any luck, you'll take away from this a fun, enjoyable way of writing your story segments and proper role playing experience!
Good luck![/COLLAPSE]
