Volume Virus's Non-Canon Roleplay Training Thread

[Volume Virus]

Alternate name a la Red: "Vol's Realm (Thread) of Role Play Advice, and Maybe a Little Ranting".

Alright, my friend. There are two scenarios here. You could be a new member (see A), or you could be an old hand (see B). Either way, I certainly do hope that this little thread of mine is helpful. Thank you for the time you've spent reading, and have a great day!

A: So, you're new at this! Welcome! You may have no idea what you're doing, or you could have been a part of an RP forum before and know the general rules. Either way, great! We're glad to have you. Just know that there are rules to follow, which are located at killjoytransmissions.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=noticeboards&action=display&thread=89 and killjoytransmissions.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=noticeboards&action=display&thread=88. It would be nice if you read them. You don't have to commit them to memory, but have a fair enough understanding of them that something inside you twinges if you break one. I'll add a few pointers in this thread over time, so be sure to check back sometimes; you never know what advice I might have for you!

B: Well, hi there, old friend! You probably know me, Volume Virus, former moderator and relative veteran. If not, you've got all the general particulars now. Hopefully, you trust my judgement. I'm not saying that you're bad at roleplaying, oh no. This is in no way meant to insult you. I'm just pointing out a few things that I find are troublesome on occasion. You may or may not be exhibiting some of the traits I'm trying to rectify, but may I ask you to check yourself for them anyway? Really? Thanks!

Whether new blood or veteran, I hope you benefit from this list, which I will be periodically adding to. Have a Better day and stay shiny!

[Volume Virus]

Lesson One: A Guide To BLI For Killjoys

Ah, Better Living. The scourge of the Zones, if the Killjoys are to be believed. However, there are a few points that most Killjoys, seasoned or not, tend to forget:
BLI has the advantage of numbers. For every Killjoy, there are more than two Dracs, possibly as many as ten. Remember, they are the ruling order.
They are trained in fighting. Sure, the Killjoys are too, but the KJ camp is often sleep-deprived, hungry, and therefore weak. Dracs are hard to kill, and that doesn't even mention Crows, their betters. Exterminators? They're practically untouchable.
They may be drugged, but they're not stupid. They'll call for help if there's too much trouble and can relocate previously found hideouts. If you get a break, run.
They're still human. Some KJs have a tendency to kill any faceless, nameless Dracs they come across without a single twinge in the soul. These Killjoys forget that BLI is made up of humans. They could have been civilians who wanted the pay or even reclaimed Killjoys. You're taking a human life, and it's not natural to feel nothing, unless you're playing for a psychopath.

(I'm not going to add a guide to Killjoys for BLI because all BLI members also have Killjoy characters and should know everything. If you feel such a lesson is needed, please tell me and I'll do my best to make one!)

More lessons to come, my friends. Hope you learned from this one. Tips? Just comment; I'd love to hear 'em!

[Volume Virus]

Lesson Two: Know Your Setting

One thing that can get very, very confusing in this roleplay is the flow of time. For instance, I currently have two characters who are set to meet up in a short period of time; however, one thread is moving slower than the other, so the times will technically be different when the storylines collide. Does it matter? Nope! However great the time difference, they automatically get to the same time when they meet. The only time thing that EVERYONE must adhere to is the year changes: currently, in the RP, it is sometime in the spring of 2021. It's nice if you keep the months constant, too, but it sometimes takes about a week for time to advance one day, so that's not strictly necessary.

This is what the Zones look like:
Battery City is located on top of the modern-day city of LA. The Zones themselves are fairly large. Sure, it won't take too long if you're driving through them at 100 MPH, but if you're walking? You'll probably have to sleep out in the desert.

Speaking of the desert, let's talk about the things that live there. You might want to talk to Incendiary Aftermath for a full list of animals, because he's got them all planned out. However, the list as I know it is: Big Horners (giant cows), Komodos (giant lizards, which are not actual Komodo Dragons but they look pretty damn close), Gnashers (hairless, eyeless mountain lions), and Razorclaws (a sort of cross between a vulture and a Pterodactyl, pretty much the animal version of an Exterminator). I've also thrown a coyote or two in there for good measure, except they have three eyes. If you decide that you know how desert animals work and decide to add in, I don't know, a massive owl that has developed a taste for human flesh, you're good. No modern-day animals, though, as they've all been irradiated, mutated and warped into crazy versions of animals. So next time you're out in the desert with nothing to do? Consider a Gnasher attack, not just Dracs. Apparently, the running theory with everyone else is that mutated animals don't exist. Go with that theory and I can pretty much guarantee that no will think you're an idiot.

Electricity and running water seem to be omnipresent in hideouts for some reason. I'm not quite sure I understand it, as one would think BLI would have cut off the flow of these things to the Zones by now, but I guess there are civilians living out there that need them. If you want your hideout to have cool stuff like automated traps and cable, be my guest. However, please don't go overboard. I think I'm the only person who's gone overboard (I made an entire interconnected system of hideouts run by a giant A.I. system, but it seemed like a good idea at the time), but if you decide that your hideout is randomly connected to something important, it had better have reason to.

Anything I missed? Feel free to ask, as usual.

[Arson Anthem]

I might just pitch in here, about the animals - not to say IA's wrong (after all, we have begun to recreate the world after so long writing in it) but personally, I'm not sold on the mutations. They're non-canon (meaning the band hasn't included them in any of the media they've released) and from a scientific perspective I'm not convinced that such radical mutations could develop in such a short amount of time.

That's not to say you shouldn't use such creatures - by all means, go ahead! I'm just throwing in a second opinion. I'll be sticking to more natural creatures, like small lizards or birds that could have migrated back in after the radiation died down enough.

[Volume Virus]

That would also be an opinion. It doesn't exactly matter what you do, really. I'm just sort of embroiled in the world of mutant creatures. Honestly, you should probably go with Arson's plan. Sorry about that. I'd go edit it out if I thought no one would yell at me, but they totally would, so I won't. I'm sorry and you're welcome.

[Glass~Vendetta]

There could be both normal and mutated animals. Who is to say that some desert animals hadn't survived the conditions? I like the mutations as well, though.....

[Electric Revenge]

Maybe a compromise. There's nothing to say that Better Living /may/ have done some animal testing, and then released those results into the world once the Killjoy problem became a, well, problem.

I tend to go more on Arson's side of smaller animals and insects that may have survived, but I thought maybe the above would make everyone happy.

[Volume Virus]

You guys don't need to try and make me happy. I'm just glad you're actually reading this XD

[Volume Virus]

Lesson Three: Continuity and You.

Now, I know that some people here can get rather...enthusiastic...about continuity. A bit of an inside joke there. However, keeping the continuity isn't exactly a laughing matter, and can sometimes be one of the most difficult things in writing. I know that I've made quite a few errors in my time (if I was keeping tally, it would probably be over fifty), and I'm the one writing these things. Continuity breaks aren't usually things that end up getting people killed or anything, but they sure can be confusing, so it's usually nicer if you avoid making them.

There are two kinds of continuity error: storyline continuity and character continuity. Storyline continuity errors are easy to prevent. Before you make a post, look over the last few posts in the thread. Maybe refresh if it's taken you a long time to write out the whole thing, because things can change in ten minutes. If you're not doing anything that seems wrong in your post (such as, for instance, knocking out somebody who's already down, or getting into a car that shouldn't exist), then go ahead and post away.

Character continuity is a bit more difficult. As different people from our characters, it's quite easy to let real-life emotions get mixed up with theirs. However, our emotions aren't exactly the kind that match up with our characters'. For instance, if a normally shy, reserved character starts shouting at someone she knows for no reason, your character continuity is a bit out of whack. Sometimes it's hard to know that you've broken this sort of continuity until after the fact, and it's sometimes too late to edit your post (as in, someone's replied to it). When you're at that point, the best thing to do is to explain it away and then forget it ever happened. For instance, if the character you've broken continuity in is BLI, you can say that they haven't taken their pills yet, or haven't had their morning coffee. If he or she is a Killjoy, you can say that they're under stress or sleep-deprived and thus a bit fuzzy. Damage control is easy to do, but avoiding the problem altogether is tricky. The way I see it, the only way to stop making these sorts of continuity errors is to know your characters down to the littlest details and really get into character before you post. Immerse yourself in their mind and try to get at least a vague sense of how they would react to the situation. Does the response you were planning fit how they would respond? If yes, you're in the clear; if no, then you need to change your post to fit their personality, which shouldn't be hard if you've gotten into character.

Questions, comments, concerns? Does this sort of thing seem like child's play to you, or do you want me to explain more? Drop me a line, either here or on the private messaging system, which is also an option.

[Bullet Ringer]

I'm loving these keep 'em coming =D

[Volume Virus]

Huzzah! I'm not making as many flawed lessons as I thought! People are actually caring about them! I feel so significant.

...sorry. I'm just...not always as useful as I usually hope to be, and even the faintest hint of "I'm-being-helpful" is always very, very welcome. Don't trip over yourself to say it, because if you do I probably won't believe you, but there you go, there's my first mini-rant. You are welcome.

[Glass~Vendetta]

fucking continuity.
lol.

these are cool, though.

[Electric Revenge]

Continunity...even I have that problem writing fan fiction...

But I really just wanted to say I really love these posts, especially since I'm quite the newbie at this! It's kinda hard when you jump right into the thick of it. Just having a basic understanding is really helping me figure out where to take my story to.

So, thanks again!

[Bullet Ringer]

It's true what you're saying about character continuity, especially having more than 1 character you can get personalitys mixed up and stuff, it's good to remind people to take care with them kinda things. Personally I think it's really helpfull

[Volume Virus]

Haaaa, Glass remembers that joke. Small shame that IA's not reading. He'd start bouncing off the walls.

My continuity problems usually revolve around allowing my emotions to snake into my characters'. This is especially apparent with Angie, usually, but Vol's personality has been warped in the past as well.

It's my pleasure to help you guys. No thanks necessary. [: