How Did You Get Into Rp?

[Saaber]

How do you get into RP?

Seriously, though. It seems increasingly difficult to get into any sort of RP, especially for shy and/or introverted roleplayers. Mostly, I direct this at sewer RP, although it can apply absolutely anywhere at all. And I couldn't care less about how crappy someone's character is. I couldn't care less if they're rude, violent, or whatever, or if they try and attack me as soon as they approach them. What bothers me is the OOC level. OOCly, it seems people are too intimidating to approach. I sometimes listen in on conversations, and most people OOCly seem far too unwelcoming to accept newcomers.

But maybe that's just me, although I feel like I'm role playing with the same four or five people because they are existing friends of mine, some of the few people I know that won't turn me away for trying to initiate some sort of scene with them. Has anyone else felt similar? Does anyone have advice on trying to get yourself involved in a roleplay group without being given the cold shoulder?

Honestly. All responses welcome. I'd like to hear from all you role players out there! (Especially you well-known ones, you guys seem to know how to communicate well and make a bunch of friends!) I know I'm not the only one out there who is just too afraid to try and initiate RP... but is there any way to fix this?

Ples. Tag anyone you think would be able to contribute some dank advice to this.

​

 

[Manatee_]

i just walk up to someone and say hey tbqh. just do that w/ me whenever fam

 

[GoodDreamer]

I usually either look for someone else who ain't doing nothin, or I make something happen.

Tavern seem boring? Start a friendly fight to the death with an Orc!

Streets too quiet? Time to start a friendly fight to the death with an Orc!

Do the sewers Echo with every drop of water? Time to start a friendly fight to the death with an-....

So yea, I just fight Orcs.....

 

[Myujin]

What I usually do is I approach any character that seems to be free/not busy and I just start conversating with them. Of course, that also depends on the character I am playing at the moment and his/her personality. A reserved character isn't likely to approach someone out of nowhere, compared to a more social and friendly character. I also don't recommend joining a conversation between two or more characters that can be too personal or just not for you, it can get really weird and awkward. But yeah, I usually just start a convo with anyone that is not busy.

 

[TinySnowcloud]

I think a really important thing to remember is that 99% of the time, people are not as intimidating as they seem. We're all here to roleplay, and if you're going up to them and initiating, that saves them the difficulty of facing the same struggle you do. To make this easier, have some in character reason for initiating. Perhaps your character needs work or is curious about an oddly dressed person's background. When in doubt, ask someone to say something interesting. Everybody loves having their character be the focus, so feeding someone's vanity will definitely get you in, and will almost always lead somewhere more interesting!

 

[JarlJade]

I used to feel this a lot too. Where I wouldn't get involved because i'd be afraid of intruding on peoples scenes or whatever. There will be situations in RP where you will go up to random people and try to initiate and they'll just shrug you off or ignore you, whether that's intentional or not that's bound to happen from time to time and it's happened to me a lot in the past, especially when I had a white name. What I'd say to that is don't be discouraged if a few people ignore you or if they're busy with their own stuff. The best place to initiate are public places likes the tavern as I find people go there often to seek out roleplay as well and are more inviting to include you in rp. Keep on approaching people.

I've also played my fair share of characters. Some have been very reactionary and some have been very instigate-y. From personal experience, it's always easier to get involved in a situation if you have an antagonist character. At the end of the day of course play what character you enjoy, but I find if you make a character who can jump into any social situation, you'll find it easier to as well.

 

[taintedly]

tfw idk if I'm well-known or not but basically I have the same problemmmmm so I'm posting here to watch the thread for adviceee.

 

[FireFan96]

I honestly was the person who self emoted getting a drink and maybe conversing with someone at the bar. And I'm going to tell you that that never worked for me, as any interaction was completely meaningless.

The thing that helped somewhat was interacting with guards. My first incarnation of Walthur basically didn't have anything noteworthy about him. Then one day I somehow ran into @Film_Noir hunting some random criminal that escaped arrest, only for me to find said criminal at the bar. Then I found Chris still looking around with a posse and I led him to arrest the guy. That was my second interaction with the Violets. My first was when I had a totally skinned together SAO Spriggan skin I made from the server I usually played on (#darktimes) that had red eyes. nuff said.

Anywho, even though those interactions happened, they mostly served for getting immersed into the lore. Then I sat down to write Walthur's app and realized "wow, for an Empire with a strong navy, you don't see much in the ways of navigators." So then I totally changed the character from some Green eyed black haired circus acrobat (cuz I thought traits were compliant) to the borwn haired brown eyed navigator that is present today.

So why did I type that whole paragraph? It was to segway into the last good way to get into RP: shops. Nothing helps to get into the swing of things than selling wares to people. You get to interact, and eventually people keep coming back and telling other people. Connections. I know that there will opportunities from myself for people to get into this shop business in the futures, so maybe keep a lookout for that.

The last thing is find an active group to be apart of. I know for sure that guard work opened up a lot of the connections I have today, and also helped to generate plots, which in turn gives RP opportunities to people. While it usually requires some notability to become a guard (not really, but it helps to have references) it is a very rewarding experience.

 

[Nudibronch]

From personal experience, the way I solved my initial nervousness was by taking up jobs at roleplay hotspots. I used to be nervous when attempting to strike up a conversation with nobles, so I had my character apply as a bard at the Golden Willow. Once the character officially received the permission, I was able to instigate conversation with shortlasting and shallow topics that would help me ease into roleplay instigation without ending up in a frighteningly deep and controversial topic (in terms of Regalian events). I've found that roleplay jobs are wonderful teachers in the sense that you are forced to instigate, but you don't have to hold conversation for an extended period of time.

Most importantly, remember to be patient with yourself. Instigating conversation is not always an easy thing to do and it can take a very long time to finally get a good grip on the reins.

Might add more if more thoughts come.

 

[taintedly]

Buuuut I guess I'll have a shot at giving you advice. Even though I too rp with the same eh 15-20 people and can't seem to make any other friends, probably because I'm overwhelmingly shy and socially awkward. And while I lead a gang and a noble family, neither are very popular and I feel like I'm basically ignored and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
IIII'd personally recommend joining a roleplay family/group, or purposely trying to instigate. Maybe make some characters that can roleplay outside of the sewers, and involve yourself with nobles. For example, when I started getting Saelihn An'Kaynan involved with the Tzavaras family, specifically Applepap (@Manatee_) I met a /lot/ of new people, and it was probably the last time I felt one of my characters was "important". Too bad Sael was shelved due to IC events and a lack of OOC interest.
Trust me, a lot of people that I thought were super scary ended up being pretty cool people. Heck, Manatee scared the living hell out of me when we first met. All nobles did.
That's the best advice I can give unfortunately. As stated, I'm awful with these sorts of things myself.

 

[Manatee_]

Manatee scared the living hell out of me when we first met

Click to shrink...

<3

 

[Gabauchi]

Okay, i read like, maybe four of the above posts so i have no idea if this has been said or not. but so, basically, here's the trick to instigating rp 100%

So most people who are shy just hope someone else approaches them right? you know the person (maybe you are the person, bite me//) the kind that like, "pulls out book" or "nods off in corner" or "buy's drink"

This kinda dude is your Free Ticket to Rp Landia. this guy is obviously wants nothing more than for anyone to walk up to them, and say "hey wat is this ur are drawing in ur sketchy booky my guy"

Saying hey to this dude would make his day my man. this man wants nothing more than for u to rp with him. this dude is free rp hotspot express.

So if u ever just want to walk into a room and roleplay, peel ur eyes for someone who is sitting alone making references to their backstory. there's p much always gonna be one, i can basically guarantee it.

Also, if ur lookin for long term, show the kiddo a good time, and make friends. if u do this everytime you see someone like this, then there's a good chance that:

a) at least one of them has a good chance of becoming a Rp Hotshot, since they are a go getter and you are not, you can leech of their sucess by making friends w/ their friends
b) you'll have a decent circle of friends eventually, and roleplay will always come to you now​

 

[taintedly]

you can leech of their sucess by making friends w/ their friends

Click to shrink...

gab u are amazing

 

[taintedly]

Okay, i read like, maybe four of the above posts so i have no idea if this has been said or not. but so, basically, here's the trick to instigating rp 100%

So most people who are shy just hope someone else approaches them right? you know the person (maybe you are the person, bite me//) the kind that like, "pulls out book" or "nods off in corner" or "buy's drink"

This kinda dude is your Free Ticket to Rp Landia. this guy is obviously wants nothing more than for anyone to walk up to them, and say "hey wat is this ur are drawing in ur sketchy booky my guy"

Saying hey to this dude would make his day my man. this man wants nothing more than for u to rp with him. this dude is free rp hotspot express.

So if u ever just want to walk into a room and roleplay, peel ur eyes for someone who is sitting alone making references to their backstory. there's p much always gonna be one, i can basically guarantee it.

Also, if ur lookin for long term, show the kiddo a good time, and make friends. if u do this everytime you see someone like this, then there's a good chance that:

a) at least one of them has a good chance of becoming a Rp Hotshot, since they are a go getter and you are not, you can leech of their sucess by making friends w/ their friends
b) you'll have a decent circle of friends eventually, and roleplay will always come to you now​

Click to shrink...

BUT YEAH. I've actually made one of my best friends here by randomly approaching their char when they emoted sitting in the corner and writing in a journal. Pretty gucci advice. It works.

 

[IdleFaerie]

idk if this is just me but i used to be super intimidated by people with gorgeous skins
i always thought, omg so much detail...they must be the real deal...

 

[AtticCat]

To be Honest, I don't know how I ever got my character(s) to have larger groups of friends, most of the time it was from either barging into their conversation (dead serious, my main is a bit nosy) or being introduced to them/meeting them at the Golden Willow. (Though the Golden Willow one was sort of..assumed considering she worked there and it was pretty obvious she'd meet a lot of new people.)

 

[Optimalfriskies]

The best advice for nyone looking to iniciate rp is this.... Don't go for a group that seems to be doing something. If a group of people are planning to move someplace else, let them, and don't follow around unless you have an IC reason to, such as espionage, or such. Even then, it's nice for the worst of criminals to have some off time. Try to be respectfull of others roleplay.

 

[tin77]

I used to play the instances and pretend I was explorer, setting the ground work for my character. What really got me into roleplay was joining up with everyone else doing the instance and making up a new story that had to do with the instance itself. That's how I met me people. My wacky antics in adventure led me to Revolution where my roleplay furthered developed.

My roleplay got more serious and straight forward when I was told about Lukkerdam and I just HAD to understand the story behind it.

 

[Beetletoes]

Okay, i read like, maybe four of the above posts so i have no idea if this has been said or not. but so, basically, here's the trick to instigating rp 100%

So most people who are shy just hope someone else approaches them right? you know the person (maybe you are the person, bite me//) the kind that like, "pulls out book" or "nods off in corner" or "buy's drink"

This kinda dude is your Free Ticket to Rp Landia. this guy is obviously wants nothing more than for anyone to walk up to them, and say "hey wat is this ur are drawing in ur sketchy booky my guy"

Saying hey to this dude would make his day my man. this man wants nothing more than for u to rp with him. this dude is free rp hotspot express.

So if u ever just want to walk into a room and roleplay, peel ur eyes for someone who is sitting alone making references to their backstory. there's p much always gonna be one, i can basically guarantee it.

Also, if ur lookin for long term, show the kiddo a good time, and make friends. if u do this everytime you see someone like this, then there's a good chance that:

a) at least one of them has a good chance of becoming a Rp Hotshot, since they are a go getter and you are not, you can leech of their sucess by making friends w/ their friends
b) you'll have a decent circle of friends eventually, and roleplay will always come to you now​

Click to shrink...

gab this is amazing ily