Setting An Example

“If you must RP, RP Responsibly…”

Sounds like an old whacked out beer commercial, right?

Whatever the game we play online, we interact with folks. This is very much like what we all face in everyday life. You meet others and develop friendships, rivalries and so forth and become part of the world. So is the impact of our actions.

Events and interaction with others strengthen that immersion and help make the online world “live”. They also get players involved and adds fun to the game. Even the smallest of events, exchanges or actions help.

For RP realms/servers, it’s very important but sometimes overlooked. The things we do or say can and do reflect positive or negative towards new gamers wanting to role-play, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Setting a passively positive example helps the role-playing community as a whole. Otherwise it not only shys folks away from wanting to rp, it can also reinforces the negative stereotypes that some folks have on role-players.

That means less people wanting to role-play and lessening the appeal of it in general to existing players.

Here’s some ideas that can help:

Some tips/ideas on role-playing responsibly:

• Remember that games are suited for certain age groups and that you do not know the age/gender of other players you meet. Try to treat everyone as fairly, with respect and with common courtesy. Also think before saying or yelling something you may regret, whether it’s IC or OOC.

• Know the ESRB rating of game you are in. The rating for the game you play is on the packaging and sometimes on startup screens. For more information, check out http://www.esrb.org.

• Also check the Terms of Service (ToS) or Terms of Conduct (ToC) and related policies for your game and read it. This gives you a good heads up on what is permissible or possibly banworthy.

• If certain/behavior content is against the rules or inappropriate, don’t lean towards it. Set role-playing boundaries for both you and your character and stick with them.

• If you must lean towards such behavior, get a room! This also goes for ERP (Erotic RP) as well if that’s your cup of tea. Use a private channel, /whisper or something and respect others.

• Remember that younger folks may play and even a filter doesn’t give players a “green light” to be overly vulgar or abusive - or worse. Don’t force what may be “inappropriate” RP on folks (especially younger players) - it’s just bad form and can/will get you banned.

• If you “hear” such behavior that is clearly against the rules in /say or /yell, send a “friendly” warning and let it be. If it continues - report it and/or ignore.

• The best thing to do is get out there and role-play responsibly and have fun. Get involved and try to make a difference. Just do your best and inspire others via a good example.

The things we do and say are important, beit IC or OOC. It can also make the difference between a good night or RP and a terrible one. We can be either bad or good examples for our guild, our server or our community.

What we do ICly as well as OOCly tilts that scale.

RP safe, RP responsibly and take care.