Socialization – part of being on an RP site is the social aspect of it all. We are a community and have a highly active discord, though our online cbox lacks, but there’s also Private Messaging on site and various other ways you can connect. Sometimes, members can feel like they are not a part of the community because they are not engaged with a large member of the community. We have various ways in which members can engage.

Discord – we run a “Get to Know You” channel where people post questions about your characters and it allows members to engage that way
Cbox
Game Spam on Site
Private Messaging – you don’t have to do this just for plotting and stuff, you can use it just to chat with members
Posting in Plotters to get more plots and threads
IC Discord – a separate discord for members who just want to test out characters and character interactions or want to RP more mature themes that would not be appropriate on display on site

When responding offer ideas with some background on the how and why the two characters in question could be friends, romantically involved, rivals, enemies, etc. Include things like whether they share similar interests they could bond over, were they in the same year/house during their school days, are they close in age, do they frequent the same pubs, etc. Writing more will often generate an actual plot instead of a random interaction and allow for deeper plotting.

EX: Franceso and Tamanui are in the same house, same year and would have likely been dormmates so they are probably chummy.

This example gives a starting point for these two characters. We already know that they know each other and have been attending Hogwarts together for the last 5 years so there’s no need for a meet and greet type of thread.

In Group Threads – if there are multiple people who have already posted ahead of you and are NOT interacting with someone in the thread already (haven’t tagged anyone and are open) try interacting with those characters before posting your character as open for interactions. You’re more likely to get a respond and get to enjoy the thread by doing this.

In Replies – When writing replies, bring out your characters good and bad traits. Allow them to make mistakes and do foolish things. People aren’t perfect and characters should not be either. Don’t be afraid to have them say something dumb or something really clever or make a joke or ask a question or trip or fall or jab their finger in a door.

Take your time writing your replies. This is supposed to be fun and quality posts are more enjoyable to read/write. Don’t rush it – this leads to errors and confusion for both parties. Explore your character’s thoughts and feelings on the subject matter and give your RP partner something to work with instead of parroting back what they wrote.

If you are not enjoying the thread, find a plot point or prompt to help the plot along or to add to the thread to make it more enjoyable. Or simply communicate to your RP partner that you do not wish to continue.

Stay true to your character and the scene in your narrative. Character: If you have established they don’t like spiders, they are not going to be pleased if someone drops a spider on their head. Scene: If you’re in the Potions classroom, you’re not likely to pick up a cookie off the table and eat it – who knows what is on it! However, you might throw newt eyes at your companion.

Poorly Written Reply:
Sally walks into the room. She looks around before sitting down. “Hey,” she says to the person next to her. She waits for something to happen.

This posts lacks description. There’s no details about the character’s appearance, emotions or the environment. What room are they in? Is it the Potion’s classroom? The Divination tower? The kitchens? Some reference is required to help the other Rper to respond.

There’s no emotion. Is Sally excited? Nervous? Concerned? Hesitant? How does she feel walking into this room?

The action is vague. “Sally walks into the room” doesn’t offer much for the other players to build on. Again, what room? Where in the room did she sit? Front row? Back row? Middle? Who is she sitting down beside?

It does not engage with others. There’s no attempt to interact further and nothing to push the scene towards the goal of the plot. There’s little for the other player to respond to.

Well Written Reply:
The heavy oak door creaks open as Sally steps into the room, their boots leaving faint imprints on the dusty floor. They pause at the threshold, eyes scanning the dimly lit space, a mix of curiosity and caution flickering in their gaze. Tugging at the edge of their worn jacket, they move toward the center of the room, the air thick with the scent of old books and damp wood.

"Hello?" they call out, their voice soft but steady. They glance around, fingers tracing the edge of a nearby table, as if seeking something unseen. "Is anyone here?" Their brow furrows slightly, tension growing in their posture as they listen for a response.

This post provides description of the setting Sally is in. We know she has entered through a heavy oak door into a dimly lit, dusty place that smells of old books and damp wood. Other players can now visualize the room the scene is set in.

It adds character emotion – we know that Sally is curious and cautious as she enters this room because of how slowly she opens the door, the way she scans the room, tugging on her jacket, and her question of whether anyone is here.

The dialogue allows other characters to respond to her question and engage in a conversation. Simply saying “hey” like it the previous example, doesn’t entice a character to respond with anything more than a simple “hey” back and decreases the chance of interaction.

RPers Opinions - An Exceptional Reply Includes:
- Characters thoughts and perspectives about the person they are interacting with
-A narrative that pushes the thread forward and contributes to the over plot of the thread, instead of just repeating back what has already been written
- Bringing in flaws and depth of character
- Quality over quantity – shorter replies with workable content is better than lengthy replies that say nothing
- Addresses everything within the previous post
- Provides something for the other character to react/respond to (a post of just thoughts doesn’t do this because unless the character is a Legilimens, they cannot read your mind)

Ships – “Falling in love is easy, but relationships can be hard and like anything worth having in life, they take work.” Even if you’ve already planned that X and Y are endgame, there is still work to be done to get them to happily ever after, and what happens after that? A lot of times in RP, once a character ship is happily married, people abandon the ship and stop writing them but what about life after marriage?

Stages of a Relationship:
The Euphoric (honeymoon) Stage – this is the early part of the relationship, the giddiness, the excitement, the getting to know a person and falling in love with them despite their faults, the can’t sleep because you’re thinking about them all the time stage.

The Early Attachment Stage – this is generally where you’ve reached a deeper, richer level of knowing your partner better and you’ve made memories, gone through some difficulties and have developed a stronger attachment to them. It’s the phase where you can sleep and do things without the other completely encompassing your entire existence.

The Crisis Stage – this is the point where a relationship will make it or break. It’s generally the point where couples drift apart, or they go through some sort of crisis together. It’s the point where you’ve both grown and changed and recognize that change in each other and are able to overcome this “crisis” it makes the relationship stronger, and deeper.

The Deep Attachment Stage – it’s the calm stage. The point where couples know each other well and have been through all the ups and downs of life together and know they can deal with any crisis. This is the stage where couples feels secure and if you’re lucky, will last the rest of their lives.

So much can happen in each one of these stages that there is no reason for your happily ever after couple to become stale and inactive. There’s no time frame for how long each stage takes place, and couples can likely move back and forth between the stages to rekindle the romance.

Remember: A ship can’t sail with only 1 crew member. Both parties have to be actively involved to make it work. It’s not a ship if 1 member of the ship is not active. You might as well be rowing single manned raft at that point that is slowly going under.

These tips were all taken from the surveys members have sent back and a list has been compiled.

When Struggling to Write a Post
- Use a reward system
- Music
- Re-reading the reply
- Imagining how it feels to be in that situation
- Find ways to push the plot forward
- Find ways to remove your character from the scene
- Use a prompt – you can find all sorts on the internet or ask Lou (I have a box of random, hilarious prompts like “Man in a Mouse Onesie”)

Other Tips
- Don’t overburden yourself with threads
- Talk to your RP partners if you need to drop a thread or need to take a break, don’t just abandon or disappear
- Write out of joy, not obligation – if the thread brings you little joy and feels like a chore, drop it, but talk to your partner
- Limit distractions
- If too much is going on, pick one thing to focus on, your character doesn’t have to actively respond to everything
- Rely on common knowledge, you don’t need lengthy descriptions of common items or places
- Take pride in your replies, spend time on them to ensure you are delivering quality posts

Do's and Don't's:

DO'S

DON'T'S

- Remain Active - Take time with replies to ensure quality - Consider your RP partner’s preference for long or short replies - Ensure you are sharing the workload of pushing plots forward - Reciprocate efforts to plot - Respect boundaries - Be reliable, mature and understanding - Friendly - Communicate - Commit to your threads/characters/plots - Ensure your characters are genuine, realistic and well rounded - Provide opportunities for character development - Be Flexible with plots and ideas - Give your character goals to work towards

- Abandon threads (talk to your RP partner if you need to drop it) - Force plots - Be unwilling to compromise - Be inactive (you can't develop anything if you aren't participating) - Create unrealistic characters (no one is perfect, everyone has flaws) - Rush replies (this leads to confusion, mixed up storylines, forgotten ideas, etc) - Parrot back what the previous person wrote, it does not help a thread to progress - Write lengthy replies in group threads - Rely on 1 person for all your RP needs - sometimes this person can't keep up and it will leave you with nothing - Show obvious favouritism - by RPing to the same person/thread over and over while you let other threads sit and gather dust - this can unintentionally hurt someone's feelings