How to engage other players effectively

[NuttsnBolts]

How do you engage, or become engaged with other player characters at the beginning of an RP? Occasionally we might see people who create loner characters, make the decision to start away from the group/other players, or on the other side of the coin we have players who try to include everyone into their opening post with the aim of drawing them into the collective.

Do want to hear the opinions from both a player perspective and a GM perspective, as well as what you may do when you see another player starting to drift away to perhaps create their own solo storylines.

(The idea of the topic was bought up after remembering an old RP where everyone started in one central hub, but one character by one player was positioned in another town.)

[Penny]

From a collaborative standpoint a GM has a responsibility to handle character connection during character creation. Although it is possible to have a scenario where everyone meets each other for the first time, its usually better to start in medias res or as far forward in the story as you can.

Characters choosing to start away from the party or who play DARK EDGY LONERS are usually just rejecting the premise of a story. From a literary stand point it might be possible to have widely separated characters working towards some common story goal, even possibly never meeting, but the collaboration in such a chase would have to be thematic or world building rather than character interaction. I might write a story where a barbarian's struggle in the wilderness parallels the barbarity of 'civilized' life but unless this impacts the other characters in some way, people would need to be really bought into the premise for anyone to ever care.

[BrokenPromise]

Engaging other players is about good communication, and good communication is everyone's responsibility. I've played both the "outsider" who is alone at the start of the story and the social butterfly who makes as many connections as possible. How effective each approach is depends on their execution as well as the type of RP it is.

One of the weakest ways to get other people to engage your character is to enter a crowd and have your guy/gal shout "Hello everyone! I'm *insert name here*, how are you all doing?" While it's clearly an open invitation for anyone to approach your character, it's not personal enough. It gives other players very little to work with. Not only that, but how many times have you seen someone do this in a group of strangers? Few people have that kind of ego and/or are that out of touch with proper etiquette. You need to be a bit more selective. That's not to say you couldn't open up with something like that, but then if your character is a womanizer, maybe then have them approach a female player character and be all like: "And you especially, I think we might have a few things in common." followed by some suggestive brow movements. Now the character you have approached has some material to work with. They can react cautiously around your character, or maybe they enjoy the attention and continue to converse. Maybe this bothers another character who thinks your character is being rude, and says their piece. Then maybe another character reacts, and before long everyone's taken notice of your character. Alternatively, the character your character just hit on might choose to ignore you in favor of someone and something else. That's fine, there are plenty of other players to engage with.

For a loner character, it's basically knowing when to join the story. Which should be as soon as possible. Just keep an eye out for an opportunity. The GM may push you along, but it's not their responsibility to give you special treatment. I would much rather join the story on my own terms before being forced into it. What Penny said holds true though. Some people just want to play in a setting without doing anything with the story.

You'll also be a lot more successful if you get to know the players. Pay attention to their antics OOC/on discord and you'll know if they are interested in being interacted with. The silent guy who never comments? They might need some more time to establish their character or to get invested in the player base. The other one who occasionally comments and is either ignored or is swept aside by some of the more vocal members? Ripe to engage with. There's also no harm in asking if anyone would like to write with you. We are role playing for collaborative adventures.

Loner players might just want some time to set up their characters or want to be outsiders, and might not be engaging because they aren't ready. Other times it's their lack of experience or inability to compromise that keeps them distant. Again, it's really easy to solve these issues by just talking to people.

Though in really big roleplays, I would argue that people who want to have their character know and be friends with everyone can be just as irksome as people who want to stay solo. I mean we all want a big ol' anime harem, but come on, even if you like all the players, your character can't like all the characters!

I guess the short version of all this is:

-Communicate, communicate, communicate!

-Players genuinely prefer personalized experiences. "Hey y'all!" will not get a reaction as strong as "Hey, Cindy!"

-The better you know your players, the easier it will be to engage with them.

-Loners probably plan on joining the story later, or might need some help.

-You can't waifu them all, don't even try.

[Ammokkx]

-You can't waifu them all, don't even try.

@BrokenPromise

i beg to differ

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Serious contribution to the topic: If I GM, my preferred way of getting people to do stuff is to put them all in the same room or general area, and give them 1-3 things to do, depending on group size and types of characters. Everyone will gravitate to an event and naturally form bonds; whether those become cliques later is a problem to deal with down the road. Generally I like to be as loose as I can with my players, though, unless someone is actively fighting against what the collective wants to be doing and is clearly not engaging with the bigger picture.

As a player, though, if I don't immediately have something I can insert my character into, I just talk to people and ask around what I can join with them. There's usually someone that isn't doing anything, and even if there isn't, there's usually a way to get your character involved in a group activity in some way. Sometimes I'll even just solo with the GM for a bit if my character starts in a far-off location, but the end goal is then to contrive me into the group at the end of that tango.

Usually I've never had too much trouble getting characters to interact, but that may be down to my personality of just being very involved in the going-ons. I'm not the most vocal person in any RP, but when I do speak up, it's usually to plan something out for the IC or asking people if they want to post. As broken said, just communicating does most of the work.

[spicykvnt]

How do you engage, or become engaged with other player characters at the beginning of an RP? Occasionally we might see people who create loner characters, make the decision to start away from the group/other players, or on the other side of the coin we have players who try to include everyone into their opening post with the aim of drawing them into the collective.

Do want to hear the opinions from both a player perspective and a GM perspective, as well as what you may do when you see another player starting to drift away to perhaps create their own solo storylines.

(The idea of the topic was bought up after remembering an old RP where everyone started in one central hub, but one character by one player was positioned in another town.)

@NuttsnBolts

I'm fairly seasoned in large group roleplays now, and I think there's a trend sometimes where cliques tend to form with certain characters - so as a GM I do like to fuck with that a little and create scenarios where characters have to interact outside of the clique - perhaps for a mission etc. All of a sudden two characters who've not really been around each other, have to go into a dangerous mission together and find a way to bond. It makes for variation of story, and it's also good storytelling.

I'm a very 'other player' conscious player, and to be honest sometimes that's to my own detriment. I don't like seeing people excluded from the narrative. I've been in situations where I see OOC isolation going on, and then that slips into the IC. That's a shitty time for all involved.

When you join a roleplay, you have to have to be conscious of the fact it's a group effort, a group story. I'm that person who will pitch collab ideas to every player each round, and if someone bites we'll write it. I generally want everyone to be happy and highlighted in roleplays I'm in, GM or not.

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

Talk to other players OOC. My favorite way to help characters play off each other is to create a character history with another player(s) and have that be incorporated IC. Rather than a bunch of complete strangers coming together for the first time, for some characters it could be a reunion, or they start off already being friends/rivals/ etc. with a pre-existing relationship.

If you do start with all-strangers then talk to players OOC about how they’d like to see character relationships develop as the RP progresses. Communication, especially from the GM, is key when it comes to setting expectations and making sure everyone is included. I feel like a level of planning when it comes to character development among the players OOC also encourages more OOC discussion about the RP. And don’t forget to switch it up and do some scheming with other players/characters so you don’t catch yourself running off on unrelated side-quests with your new best bud.

Those were always the sorts of RPs I’ve had the most fun with anyway.

[Idea]

Engagement is a very important aspect to consider indeed, and I would encourage to try to engage players by their work. Taking a genuine interest in people's characters and other creations. In the end of the day, that's what we're here for, and that's what we pour our blood sweat and tears into. Don't get me wrong, as others have said engaging with other players OOC is important, but don't overlook this step. Play to the player's ideas and character: If you're a GM try seeing how you can integrate their personality into your hooks, and their backstory into your plot. Try to see how you can personally engage their character in a unique way or role that they aren't just filling as a token spot that anyone could take.

If you are a player, then I recommend finding a dynamic for the characters to establish. This can but doesn't have to be prebuilt,but make use of the other player's character sheet to find a way for your character to organically get their attention if they are alone, if they are not alone or not passive, then instead try engaging with what they are trying to do. Pre roleplay you can also try to define predefined relationships between the characters.