Title: Tips for Having Successful Topics
Description: how to finish a topic before it dies
Lothlómendil - May 23, 2007 04:44 AM (GMT)
There are two parts to ensuring you have a good role-play. The first part involves learning to be a better writer and how to interact with others when posting. Such information is found in the RP Tips topic. The second part is a subject which this topic will address: actions you can take OOC to ensure your topic is successful. These tips are not about how to write your posts, but rather about how to make sure a topic finishes without dying.
1.) Invite people to play.The most important thing to do to make sure your topic gets replies is to let people know they are welcome to join. You can post in the RP Requests & Plotting forum to get people interested in your topic. You could also invite people via PM.
2.) Have a goal / plan.Start your topic with a plan in mind already, and share that plan with others. Leave OOC notes about what you want to happen with this topic, or tell about it in your RP Requests & Plotting topic. Have some PM convos with the people you're posting with and discuss with them how you could progress the topic. Your topic needs a direction in order to remain interesting and not die out before it's finished. It's fine that you want to start your topic with you just sitting in a bar having something to drink, but you should have an idea of where you want to go from there, what kind of adventure you want to have, and how the topic might end.
3.) Anticipate problems.Think about how you might continue on if someone stops participating, or if they join to disrupt the topic with a fight that you hadn't expected.
4.) Too many people can be confusing.If you have several people participating, it may get too hectic to figure out what's going on. There's also a greater chance that someone will go missing from the topic and that can mess up the story line. 2 to 3 other people is a nice, comfortable amount.
5.) Private topics can be easier to manage.Once you get an idea of what your topic's goal is, it can be easier to achieve it if you and the few chosen participants don't have to worry about random interruptions that don't contribute a lot. That's not to say most topics should be private, because that would make participating in topics more difficult, but it's a good option sometimes. Especially for topics that are critical to your character's development.
6.) Budget your time.Discipline yourself with when you are planning to reply to the topic so that it does not fall behind with a load of other things you have on your mind. Maybe plan ahead for when you have free time available for RPing and then make sure you do write up a reply in that time.
7.) Avoid having too many topics at once.This is because some topics may be more time consuming than others or energy draining meaning that you cannot reply to all of the topics you are a part of. Only take on what you can handle.
8.) Don't get too far ahead of other participants.Say you have 3 people participating in the topic, yourself and 2 other friends. If you and one of the friends make a total of 10 posts before your third friend gets a chance to reply, that person gets left out and may no longer want to participate. It can also create inconsistencies in the story line.
9.) If someone hasn't replied in a while, send them a friendly PM.Sometimes people need a reminder that it's their turn to post. The worst thing to do is wait around without reminding anyone and just letting the topic die when it doesn't have to.