Post by Headmistess McGonagall on Apr 11, 2012 13:36:16 GMT -5
For those of you not accustomed to the world of roleplaying. This page has all the need-to-knows when it comes to vocabulary. As with anything, there is a defined language often used. If you ever feel confused or lost and don’t want to ask, then this is the page for you.
Activity Check: A regular event in which we seek to find out who intends to stay and who has flown the coop. It’s a time period in which we do a bit of house cleaning and get rid of inactive members to make room for new ones. You will be given a short period of time in which you have to respond. You can choose to their stay, tell us you’re leaving, or not respond at all. In which case we will take as your notice of quitting.
Admin: Or Administrator if you want to get fancy. That’s us! The lovely people who run the site and make it as awesome as we possibly can. You have a question? Ask us and you’ll surely get your answer.
Advanced: It is a level of writing classifications. An advanced roleplayer/writer knows the general ‘How-tos and dos-and-don’ts’ of roleplaying. Their writing level is above average and they have fewer leniencies when it comes to spelling and grammatical errors. Advanced writers know what’s going on and generally follow the rule of ‘quality is more important than quantity… but yeah… have a novel because I love you’.
APC: Account per character. Make a new account per character you have or intend to have.
APP: Account per player. A site that allows you to have one account despite the number of characters you have.
Canon: These are the people already made by the author/creator. They have set names and sometimes personalities. A little bit of leeway will be given when/if you decide to make one. Interpret how you will. However, anything too far out of the box is a no-no. Canon. Pre-created.
Despie: “A despie, or desperate, is a usually female roleplaying character that concerns herself only with obtaining a boyfriend, by any means necessary. They often purposely injure themselves for attention or flirt outrageously with whatever male character they come across single or not.”—Urban Dictionary
NOTE: THIS IS A NO NO!
Face Claim/Play-By: This is basically a choice you make which becomes the face of your character. Generally celebrities are used due to the vast variety and abundance. You can have pretty drawings, but a face claim is needed here.
Fluff: Ever eat that yummy marshmallow stuff that comes in a jar? It’s called fluff. And for a reason. It’s basically filler that is so sweet it gives you cavities. On occasion, it’s nice to have fluff. But be aware that fluff is mindless drabble that adds nothing to plots and posts. Eventually your partner will get tired of it.
Filler: This is true pointless mindless drabble. It’s like potpourri. It looks nice from the outside, but when you get in it… you find out it wasn’t needed. Typing things just to type, and not adding any substance to your post is a no-no. Avoid it at all costs!
Godmoding: “When one plays a character that can never be destroyed, harmed, etc. The character, however, can hurt and/or kill the other characters without giving the other characters a chance.”—Urban Dictionary.
IC: In Character. AKA… this is your character talking. Not you.
Insta-Love: Highly frowned upon. This is when your character enters a relationship with another before any actual posting has started. It takes longer than a plot page and IC chat for characters to fall in love. WE ARE NOT HERE TO SERVICE YOUR ROMANTIC NEEDS.
Literate: Another writing classification. You have the general idea of the English language including spelling and grammar. More leeway is given here than to advanced players. Literates respect the rule ‘quality over quantity’ but often times give you both.
Meta-Gaming: “When game information outside of what is available in a game is used to give a player an advantage in-game. Most commonly seen and frowned upon in many forms of role playing especially when consent has not been given.” – Urban Dictionary
Mirror-Posting: Ever hear of the unwritten rule of ‘I’ll give you what you give me?’ Well… that’s what mirror posting is. It’s when someone gives you something, and you mirror the general length of it. This is an unwritten rule of roleplaying. Kinda like the golden rule you learn in kindergarten? Treat others like you want to be treated? If you want a good post, give one. It’s not a real rule… but one we like to have just so someone doesn’t give you a good post and you give them three sentences to work with.
One-Liners: Highly frowned upon. It is a post consisting of one line or one line of speech. If you don’t want one of these as a post, don’t give one. Writers block happens… but sometimes it’s better to wait than to give someone a one-liner.
OOC: The opposite of IC. This is when you’re not in character and speaking from your own personal perspective.
Plotting: Nike says it best, just do it. This is when you determine the path of a thread or storyline before it happens; this can be a vague idea or something set in stone. This can also be used to set up pre-existing relationships.
Powerplaying: “Power playing occurs in role playing, and it's when you control someone else's character, as well as your own, without the other person's permission” – Urban Dictionary
Sues/Stus: See Mary-Sue. A female character who is so perfect as to be annoying. The male equivalent is the Marty-Stu. Often abbreviated to "Sue". A Mary Sue character is usually written by a beginning author. Often, the Mary Sue is a self-insert with a few "improvements" (ex. better body, more popular, etc). The Mary Sue character is almost always beautiful, smart, etc... In short, she is the "perfect" girl. The Mary Sue usually falls in love with the author's favorite character(s) and winds up upstaging all of the other characters in the book/series/universe. There are several main types of Mary Sue:
Victim!Sues: The Victim!Sue is your whiny, wimpy, pathetic female character who can't seem to do much of anything except cry and get herself into trouble that the romantic interest of the fic has to rescue her from.
Warrior!Sues: The Warrior!Sue is usually loud, obnoxious and (of course) an amazing warrior. She'll usually have some tragic past that led her to become a warrior, and she'll upstage all of the Canon characters with her mad Sueish powerz.
Mage!Sue: Similar to the Warrior!Sue, the Mage!Sue has amazing stregnth in magic, or has a magical power that nobody else has. She'll usually wind up upstaging all of the magical characters of the series.
Punk!Sue: Also called Noncomformist!Sue or Goth!Sue, the Punk!Sue is usually written by female beginners in the 11-15 age group. The Punk!Sue is loud, obnoxious, annoying and generally the type of person who you'd want to send off to boot camp for six months. The Punk!Sue almost always has angst coming out of her ears and isn't really a bad person, she's just oh!-so-angry at whatever tragic past the author has chosen to give her. The Punk!Sue is based on what the 11-15 year old author thinks is "cool" and wishes she could be. This includes Evil!Sues.
Misfit!Sue: This includes all Sues who are supposedly geeks, nerds, misfits, etc. Usually, the Misfit!Sue doesn't start out as inhumanly beautiful, but winds up getting a makeover and finding out she had the potential to be a guy-magnet (or girl-magnet, depending on the genre) all along. Also includes the "My parents want me to do this but I want to do that and it's not fair!!one!" type of Sue. Usually, this Sue is very bookish and smart, but will find some sort of physical talent nobody expected and become a star as a result.
Another thing to note is that a Sue will usually have a completely off-the-wall name, like "Viquetoria". The more wierd and pretentious the name of the character, the more likely it is that she's a Sue.
Finally, Sues often have wierd, improbable or impossible bloodlines. A secret half-elf child of Elrond and a nameless human would be an example of this. A character who was Dumbledore's grandchild and Tom Riddle's daughter would be another example.
Tagging: This is when you determine who it is you want in your thread. It’s kinda like picking a person out of the crowd and saying ‘HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! OVER HERE!’ Or like… the game tag. You tag the person or persons you want to be ‘it’. This designates who it is allowed to reply to your thread. You can mark it with character’s names or simply leave it open.
Troll: Trololololol! Trolling or a troll is someone who posts inflammatory or off-topic messages with the specific intention of provoking people into a desired response (usually a negative one). You might think it’s funny, but it’s not.