It is of utmost importance that all roleplayers in this forum read this.

Now, remember the basic concept of Role-Playing:
You are your character.
... and nothing else!

Imagine a message board... like this, like the RPG Maker Magazine. Now, imagine what it would be like if everyone had Administrator privileges. Imagine if everyone could sticky, delete, move or edit any post that they wanted to. Would it be cool?
Nah, it'd be a completely chaotic nightmare.

That's what happens sometimes in RPGs, when players decide to take privileges that they, actually, don't have.
In RP, you are your character.
The other players are the other characters.
The GM is the REST.
The GM won't play your character for you. Why would you play the world for the GM? You can control every action of your character, whatever he thinks or feels or wants to do or does. But that's it. You have complete control over what your character does, but that's it. Nothing else. You can't say how the people react to your character. You can't tell whether your character was succesful or not in a certain task.
You can only control the actions of your characters, and not their outcome.

You're a member of the Mag and you can post, but you can't manage the site itself.
The site is Ixzion's to manage.
The game world is the GM's to manage. And his only.

You can't make up the reactions of the NPCs. ("He likes me.")
You can't shape the world around you ("I see a house.")

<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=god+modding">Click here!</a>

Now, you may be thinking, with all those "can'ts", how am I going to have fun?
The answer is: you're going to have more fun!

Imagine the following: The GM prepares his game. He creates a NPC, a powerful antagonist, a "boss", if you want to call it that way. The GM thinks how he wants the NPC to act, he gives his NPC a personality, and strategies for combat. This NPC is ready to be a challenge for the players.

But then comes one player and says, "The NPC attacks me and I dodge, and then I slash at him with my sword and the NPC is hurt badily!"
What happened to the personality of the NPC? What happened to his battle strategies? What happened to everything else about the NPC?
It was overwritten by the player, who decides to control the actions of the NPC, a NPC that he knows nothing about!

You see? Playing other characters takes the fun out of the game. Oh sure, it may be fun for you, but you'll be taking the fun out of others.
When you play a NPC, you take the fun out of the GM.
When you play another character, you take the fun out of that character's player.

Seriously, if you want to play every character and the world, go GM your own game. Or write a story.
Role-playing means Role-playing. Not storytelling! ROLE-PLAYING. You play the role of your character.
You don't storytell.
Of course you can influence the story, but only through the actions of your character. In the same way that we can only influence the destiny of the Mag as members and not administrators.




I'm sorry if I sound a little harsh... it's just that I want that message to get across. The basis of role-playing.
You are your character, and ONLY your character!
You have NO control over ANY of the rest!

That's like... important. Very important.

Examples of what NOT to do:
1. "I attack the bandit and hit him! The bandit falls to the group screaming in pain, bleeding!"
2. "The bandit attacks me and I dodge, counterattacking."
3. "I talk to the old man... but the old man doesn't listen to me and goes away!"
4. "I see a tree and go hide behind it."

The problems:
1. You played the bandit: it's not your job to decide whether the attack hit or not. Think: if you could hit whenever you wanted to, no battle would be fun!
2. You don't know and can't play the action of the bandit. Moreover, you can't know if your dodge attempt will be successful.
3. You played the old man.
4. You made up a tree... the world is not yours to shape.

Examples of what TO do:
1. "I attack the bandit, aiming at his chest with my sword!"
2. "Hey... is the bandit attacking me at all? If so, I try to dodge."
3. "I talk to the old man, trying to convince him to tell us what he knows."
4. "Is there a tree around? Or anything else that I can use to hide?"





Of course, it all depends on the GM and the nature of the game you're playing. But I'm sure most GMs would prefer that their players stay in their characters.

In the end, the fun of roleplaying can be summarized in two things:
a) creating a character that's believable: that thinks and acts like a human.
b) use your character to make a real difference in the world of the story.

Again, sorry if I sounded harsh. ^__^

Now go out there and roleplay, tiger!

Actually these are really good tips for first time players. And for vets as well. From the point of a vet it can be hard at times to stay in character. Sometimes an opportunity presents itself that we just can't help but take, even though we shouldn't.

Maybe this can be stickied? Like I said really good stuff.

Some good stuff, Gnasher. There were some times in my game that people made up rooms and even monsters. Though, I usually go along with it, because I like the players to have some creative freedom. But when monsters that don't exist come into play.... I get cranky. Everyone has been doing a pretty good job, regardless.

Sorry. Then I don't how I should've posted this better:

Ryan and Charlie belong two to other people.

Very nice The Gnasher. I been kinda busy lately. Just stopping in the RP threads to see how things are looking.

It's not good for everyone to GM a game. It will make things frustrating and spammy.