The most important elements to role playing? (Poll included!)

[Yeovilty]

Interesting characters are important above all else. Characters drive plot. They say if you get enough monkeys in a room they can write Shakespeare; well if you put enough interesting characters in an RP, Shakespeare will happen on its own. Interesting characters are essential for an RP's survival, because if the characters are boring, there's no reason fr me to interact with them, and thus no reason for me to post. Interesting characters are also the sign of a skilled player, and skilled players can make stuff happen when the plot starts to drag.

You put a good point forward, but without player choice, as in freedom to do things they want, even an interesting character can lead a bland story. But it doesn't work the other way around, a bland character can still create and be a part of an interesting story. Even have a key roll.
Interesting characters add life and spice in the short term, and it definitely does help to have them, but if they are stuck in a line of preset events, you might as well just be reading a book instead of typing it out. That's why I stuck player choice above having interesting characters; it is pretty high on the list though!

[Disciple Cain]

Because being led by the ear is boring as hell.

[Tomaru]

You put a good point forward, but without player choice, as in freedom to do things they want, even an interesting character can lead a bland story. But it doesn't work the other way around, a bland character can still create and be a part of an interesting story. Even have a key roll.
Interesting characters add life and spice in the short term, and it definitely does help to have them, but if they are stuck in a line of preset events, you might as well just be reading a book instead of typing it out. That's why I stuck player choice above having interesting characters; it is pretty high on the list though!

I would have to respectfully disagree. I cannot think of a single interesting story (or roleplay) with bland characters. If a character is bland, you can give him all the choices in the world and you will get bland choices, making the roleplay as a whole bland. However, even if a character is set in a line of preset events, there is still the journey from point A to point B. An interesting character will be worth playing for the interpretation of the events rather than the events themselves. Even with minimal player choice, there is still room for creativity and enjoyment, as long as the character is interesting. The plot itself cannot tell us how the character feels, or make moral statements about the events that happened. Don't get me wrong, I like player choice in an RP, I just don't see it as the most fundamental ingredient of enjoyment.

[Disciple Cain]

Player choice also includes player's choice of character, if you're taking it in a certain context. In ways, Player Choice is... still clutch. The player chose to play that character, and they ultimately chose to play a bland one (in your example) so it still is on the player's head. But mostly the GM because they had to actually accept the sheet first.

[Yeovilty]

I would have to respectfully disagree. I cannot think of a single interesting story (or roleplay) with bland characters. If a character is bland, you can give him all the choices in the world and you will get bland choices, making the roleplay as a whole bland. However, even if a character is set in a line of preset events, there is still the journey from point A to point B. An interesting character will be worth playing for the interpretation of the events rather than the events themselves. Even with minimal player choice, there is still room for creativity and enjoyment, as long as the character is interesting. The plot itself cannot tell us how the character feels, or make moral statements about the events that happened. Don't get me wrong, I like player choice in an RP, I just don't see it as the most fundamental ingredient of enjoyment.

I do see your point, but what if you took away the choices from that character, so he just lead his normal life? A lot of characters would then become boring. For example, if The Hobbit was roleplayed, but Bilbo didn't have a choice to go on his adventure, he would be living out the rest of his life a rather short and well fed little guy. But I can hardly say he'd be interesting without that story.
It's just as an example of course, he would have been a very uninteresting character without that storyline, which in the case of an RPer, it would be the choice to go out and make that story.

Player choice also includes player's choice of character, if you're taking it in a certain context. In ways, Player Choice is... still clutch. The player chose to play that character, and they ultimately chose to play a bland one (in your example) so it still is on the player's head. But mostly the GM because they had to actually accept the sheet first.

True! The way I took player choice at first though was giving the player choices to make whilst RPing. Leaving it almost sandboxed. I love those types, with a base storyline or a long term goal to lead towards that still drives the main plot.
I actually only even thought of it meaning different things like what you said after I voted and posted D:

[Jannah]

Definitely a good plot.

[Syllanna]

I play mostly as a co-GM or flat out GM. Very rarely do I get the option to be just a player and I think that heavily influences the way I look at roleplays and how they are built and run. Having stated where I'm coming from, the only thing I don't think is important on this list is genre choice. If you're putting up a roleplay or joining it, then you're already interested in that genre. Sometimes they're niche genres which can be difficult to find players for but no story is dependent on genre for survival.

The way I see it, a lot of the success of roleplays on this forum comes from having participants who are all about the same level of interested and committed. Players who are interested and committed will usually take their time with crafting a good character to play and be consistent about posting. And speed is very important. If everyone is not on the same page about speed then some of the more frequent posters can lose interest, though having everyone post once a week works just fine if everyone agrees to that speed.

But the characters themselves have to be crafted well for exploration and to drive decision making. As a GM, I can plot all I want and it won't mean a thing if the characters are simply not driven to take bait or forge a path off of the loose plot I created. In fact, oftentimes, in-depth characters can make plot as they go. I voted for relationships between characters as helping me be successful the most because interaction between characters is essential to making the story come alive for me and my players. If characters have no interest in one another, it becomes increasingly difficult to have any sort of plot. I'm not saying the relationships have to be friendly mind you. I've had plenty of characters whose players spent half the game trying to kill the other's character because of some backstory revenge or the other character rubbing them the wrong way. [such as evil characters trying to take out the paladin-esque character that keeps interrupting their evil schemes].

And that's where the GM having tight control on the setting comes into play. You don't have to lead characters along to make a good story, but you do need to be firm on the rules that make up the world for the players. Oftentimes, I find myself having to remind players of certain rules that are in place for a very good reason. It helps lower the rate of players complaining that so-and-so did this if I can calmly point out that these rules were put down in the beginning and everyone agreed on them when they joined. It also helps mitigate players who want their characters to be overpowered or act as a god in their world.

Now that I think about it, all of it really comes down to communication. If you have an idea for an rp, or see one you think you want to join, everyone involved needs to be on the same page. The GM will paint the world and the structure of that world [tweaking if the players areunififed in a request and it doesn't break anything], the players will introduce characters that fit into that structure and hopefully add some color to it and then maintaining that communication throughout the rp for when new events occur or someone has an idea that may add some spice while they work at getting to the plot through their own way.

I probably wrote too much. Apologies, but roleplaying is near and dear to me. I could go on for ages.

[Meeky]

I'm not going to read answers to this right now, but... Honestly? You really need pretty much everything on that list.

See, the GM needs to have a noticeable presence and have some measure of control, but the players absolutely must have an ability to drive the story, too. The characters should be well defined, and they should also mesh together in SOME fashion, so relationships (defined broadly here) and good characters are both also important... though so is character variety, since having four very special characters makes them all seem dull when nobody is actually roleplaying a normal character to compare them to. The story needs enough life ("action") to keep players interested, and enough speed, too.

In short: You REALLY need a to strike a balance, and base things based upon what the other players in the thread want. Remember: Roleplay is a group activity. We're working together to make a story, so you have to ask your fellow roleplayers (especially if you're the GM), "What do you guys want out of this roleplay?" And you have to tell them what you want, too.

Concerning genre choice... This really, really, REALLY depends on your roleplaying group. "Poor genre choice" is pretty much non-existent, because there are wonderful stories for every feasible genre out there. Rather, genre choice only matters as much as the group, as a whole, cares about it. I find that, mostly, the genre choice attracts a player to the roleplay, but it's RARELY what keeps a player there. The content of the roleplay and the dedication of the group will keep the player there.

As for whether roleplays should be plot or character centric, I'll just summarize it like so: Some people like epic struggles, and some people cherish character development. Others, still, want a piece of both pies. Both of these story types have their merits.