Light the Dark

[Casual+] ~Fantasy and Romance~ Light the Dark's 1x1 IC (Actively Looking!)

Looking for one or two new partners. ^^

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Busy, then....nothing.

RP Tag Requests

Perhaps something to do with settings (which both western and modern can hint at, though they are also genres)? Examples might be: Medieval, Ancient World, Victorian, Earth, Alien Planet. (Admittedly, I'm mostly thinking for fantasy/sci-fi, though the first three could work for historical as well.)

Also, I think at the very least the tonal tags of light, dark, comedic would be useful.

How to be a good GM?

Or, more fully: How can you be a good GM while also being able to participate in the roleplaying aspect of the roleplay?

In 1x1s and small group roleplays, a GM also is (often) a character and part of the story - not just someone running things. I really like that aspect, though I am sure others perhaps will disagree or have different preferences. But the couple of times I attempted to run things like that on my own, one of two things happened:

1.) The RPers went all gung ho, inventing monsters and fighting them and really not paying attention to my posts at all. (And also leaving me way behind - I went to work one day and came back to a page of posts.)

2.) I had a plot that had certain things that needed to happen in the beginning before the main portion of the story, otherwise the story wouldn't make sense. However... I couldn't gently nudge the player into the direction it needed to go, and the RP fell apart.

Now, I know with the second example, I should have been clearer that there were events that needed to be established. I also needed more room for the player/character to make decisions. (Though I did not expect for the character to decide to hole themselves up in their house...) However, the main point of starting the story where I did was to introduce one of the possible love interests/allies before everything in the characters world went to hell in a handbasket.

So here I am, asking you: What makes a good GM? How do you personally GM? How does one GM a fairly linear plot without making the other RPer(s) feel like you are just pulling them along without a choice? How can one GM a roleplay and still be involved as a character? And any other tidbits you might like to share, along with any experiences of GMing or failing to GM.

Is 12 to young to start roleplaying?

Honestly, I've never seen an 18+ Roleplay that has actually been too mature for a high school student. I temper this with several caveats: -I'm not saying that the 18+ restriction doesn't exist for some legal reasons (as weak as they are). It does. They should be respected for that, for reasons stated above. -I'm talking about 18+ roleplays that don't actually venture into X-rated territory. Graphic sex, abuse, torture, rape, I'm sure those exist in roleplays somewhere. On the whole, R-rated/18+ roleplays don't usually involve those subjects, and I am speaking about those roleplays in particular. [...] And that's the key here. Consent. Legally, a minor cannot consent to a whole host of actions which s/he would otherwise be mature enough to handle. Not because there's some conspiracy against them, but because the law was designed that way. For some, it sucks. For most, it's just right. For a few, it's not enough. Could you join an 18+ roleplay, act mature enough and avoid detection? Yep, probably. Should you? No. If, and it's a big if but the if still exists, the Guild was ever discovered to have minors participating in mature situations, Mahz and the Guild would probably come under legal suspicion. It can cause problems. RPG is probably not as big of a target as the old Neopets once was, or other big boards like that, but the threat still exists. The best way to avoid this and keep the Guild away from that kind of trouble is to respect the 18+ restriction and wait a few years.

@Captain Jordan

Not only Mahz and the Guild, but also the person you were RPing with. There are so many things that could happen - though they likely won't - that the people who are posting the 18+ interest checks need to cover their rear. Like Mahz said, though, the main thing is trust. Be honest with the people you want to RP with. And I've seen many interest checks without the adult content warning - which on here often doesn't mean blood/gore/violence/language, but rather bedroom activities. To answer the question in the subject, though: No, I don't think 12 is too young to RP in general. It is great for expanding your imagination and improving your writing skills. Keeping it appropriate for all parties involved is key, though.

Things you Google while writing.

When making a character sheet/developing a character - height/weight image chart names that mean '___' (nationality) names (nationality) surnames When developing a world - Ancient Egypt/Rome/China // Middle Ages Europe/England/Scandinavia For recent RPs - Mongols Celts Women warriors '___' synonym (often followed by a synonym for the synonym.) wtf how do I spell '___'? Ancient Egyptian Fashion etc, etc. But mostly, I use it for spell check because oh my god, I cannot spell worth a damn. Sometimes I get close enough for my browser or word program to guess, and sometimes I need to use google to figure it out. xD

Mental Illness

It saddens me, in this day and age, that there is really still such a stigma against mental illness. Not just a stigma, but a lack of understanding even some of the 'simplest' forms of mental illness, like depression. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety and has to fight daily to live a productive life, it sometimes makes me feel worthless. I've had people say to me that I just needed to think positively, and my depression would go away. If it was that easy, don't you think I'd be better by now? I had more that I planned to say, but another lovely side effect of depression is my memory is shit. Ah well.

Mahz's Dev Journal

<Snipped quote by Light the Dark> That's definitely a feature I will add. I've been trying to take a break from working on "boring" forum features like better notifications, so I can't promise a deadline though. These features are important, but sometimes they are just too draining on me.

@Mahz

I can certainly understand that! It's nice to know they are planned for a future update, though. ^^

Mahz's Dev Journal

Just wondering - are there plans to make email notifications an option? At least for PMs and subbed threads? I feel like I'm compulsively checking for a new pm on here when I could just have my email up in another tab. But I might just be a bit neurotic. xD

RPGC #1 -- Inspired By A Song

Oh, this sounds like fun. I'll have to see if I can come up with anything. ^^ Is there any length limit or requirement?