so this makes me feel really embarrassed, but i don't really know what role play is or how it works. or, i guess i thought i had a rough idea of it? but then i joined the forum and find that im constantly pretty confused about stuff. i think i've figured out some things, OOC means Out Of Character, right? and out of character you can like, plan the story and talk about what you do and dont want to do, or just, idk chat without pretending to be the characters? and being in character means acting as if you are the characters? and.. plot of a rp is usually planned out beforehand right? but sometimes not. and actual rp is like, acting out scenes? i feel like that is the basics but i still feel confused when i see people talk about rp stuff i don't have specific questions really because i feel very clueless and don't know what to ask? this is more of a "i dont know what's going on help" sign taped to my face.
That's the basics, yeah. Role play is at the heart of it make believe like kids do, but more formalized since there's a higher expectation to stay in character. So it's kind of like improv acting and collaborative storytelling as well. Sometimes it's more formalized still with rules and character stats, and you get pencil-and-paper role playing, like D&D and suchlike.
Yeah, colloborative storytelling/improv acting is the best way to look at it I think. Most roleplays, unless they're highly structured, are a little more off the cuff-- you can throw the whole thing for a loop, or have a character react in a way people don't expect, and everyone else gets to scramble and see where that takes them. Even super structured roleplays are like that, and while it may not let the plot go off the rails, it does mean characters can do interesting stuff. IC = in character to OOC = out of character, and even when formal plot building isn't discussed, it's generally good practice to have some sort of ooc back and forth. A lot of people will indicate ooc commentary or discussion in line with roleplay by using ((double parenthesis)), but in general doubling up on any sort of bracketing character works. //OOC// and -- ooc -- were both pretty popular on Neopets back in the day. A lot of the roleplay on the forum falls into the 'collaborative storytelling' section, with people having OOC pages to plan out interactions or set up character information for best meshing. Places like the Shitposting Rave and MSPARP (from what I've seen) are more along the lines of 'improv acting', where it's throwing characters at the wall and seeing what sticks. A lot of things are gonna be somewhere in between. (More terminology! Mun, mod, player, creator, and rper all refer to the ooc roleplayer. Muse, chara, toon, and character all refer to the ic character. Some roleplayers will have their characters reference 'the mun' in not-quite-ooc posts, and some roleplayers will talk at length about their 'muses' without always saying which one.)
the comparison to improv acting makes a lot of sense! i have a little experience with that and uaually there is some sort of prompt to start, but yeah people can throw it for a loop by doing something unexpected thanks!!
