Start an RP for Dummies

SHOULD YOU?

You have ideas. You have passion. You have time. You have resources. You want to take the next logical step and make your roleplay. But is it right for you?





A lot of people don't ask themselves this question, which leads to lots of problems in the future. Running a roleplay takes a lot more than just ideas and two cups of caffeine. You can even be a good writer of books and still not be a fit for running an rp.

What is going to determine if you are good to go with starting your own site is:

• Do you have the time? Running an rp is not the same as rping. You cannot just casually log on, look at some posts, make a tweak, and leave. You need to do a lot of, well, NOT rping. You need to put some time into making the site aesthetically pleasing (look good). You need to regularly update the site, and I don't just mean adding a new character or love ship. You need to do a LOT of reading. Not just your posts, but everyone's posts. Several times. Many times. Write down their posts in a book. Not to mention everything else. These are just some of the things. If you can only put in two hours a week or just hop on once on Saturdays, rethink your stance on this.
• Do you have the energy? Unlike being a rper, running the rp does not end when you log off for the night. You need to be coming up with plots, scenarios, new material, new advertising strategies, etc etc etc even in your downtime. In the shower, at work, in the car, in school. Make notes. Draw doodles. Daydream. Dream in general. Just like a TV show or an MMORPG, you need to keep coming out with new material to keep your "audience" entertained. Yes, you WILL obviously have to shut off your brain to the rp and buckle down to do your homework, but once that's done, you should be figuring more things out for your rp again.
• Do you have the patience? Rome was not built in a day. Neither will your rp. There will always be conflict between people (you and players, players and players, etc). There will always be slow periods and hectic periods with site activity in constant fluctuation. There will be real life drama dragged into the rp. There will be complaints, "helpful suggestions", demands, and more. If you can't handle things calmly and cooly, then maybe this isn't the best thing for you to do.

So do you have what it takes? If nothing I said above has daunted you yet, then congratulations, I think you're lying. In all seriousness, it is a challenging, daunting task. It will eat up your time, energy, and patience. I did point out the worst case scenario type stuff in the above points, but it was all genuine. Unless you're willing to commit, you should reconsider.

But you are not out of options! You can still make rps even if you don't have all three. An alternative would be to join a forums where you can make your own little rps. Some forums for fanbases feature areas where you can Roleplay. You can just make a forum thread and keep it small. The smaller the rp, the easier it is to run.So if you don't have tons of time, consider making a small little rp on a big roleplay forums. I have one myself, featured here at http://tragedia-rex.freeforums.net

If you have the time, energy, and patience to run a roleplay, then go ahead and make your own site. Some last forever. Some unfortunately don't. But if you're willing and determined to commit, then by all means go for it.

SUPER BASICS OF BUILDING ANYTHING

Alright, so you have buckled in and are ready to start. Here's just a few things you need to get started:


First, you need to find a good host for your roleplay. Personally, I use a combination of weebly.com and freeforums.net (also known as proboards). I use the weebly site to store the majority of my site information, like locations, characters, rules, current plot, etc, then I use the forums for the actual roleplay, with areas of each one holding links to direct the members between the two sites as need be.
There are many free options out there, not just weebly or freeforums. Look at the details of website hosts and figure out which one suits your needs best. Try to avoid paying fees at ALL costs. It's never worth it, unless you are actually making money off your roleplay.

I could go on all day about what to do and not to do when building your roleplay, but here are just some basics to get you started.

• Simple and clean. Don't clutter with big images/graphics or huge fonts. Don't use contrasting or shocking colors (neons are a no-no, yellow text on a red background is awful, etc). Having a plain old black and white site is not going to kill you or make your site seem boring. Decorate with (nicely) colored and sized graphics instead.
• Keep the posting areas simple. Black/dark colored text on white or light gray, or pastel text on black is perfect. Everyone can read the writing. 
• Have clearly defined areas. Make it clear where you go to join, roleplay, and read the information. It's really fancy to say "Make Your Mark on the Wall Immemorial", but this may confuse the poor new people. Just make it say "Join" or "Sign Up" or "Create Character" etc.
• If you have music on the homepage or main rping area, consider NOT having it on autoplay, OR make the default volume relatively low. Then people can listen to it at their leisure and won't be blasted by something they may not like. Loud, obnoxious music is a turn off.
• Have an Out of Character chat. Wether it is a chat widget or certain threads on the forums, do NOT let your roleplay or information areas get cluttered with other people's conversations. It breaks immersion, is annoying, and can cause lots of clutter.
• NEVER EVER include these pages when you are JUST creating your site: fan art, fanfiction, list of relationships, theme songs, etc. Those sorts of pages are fine and dandy, but they should be added to celebrate the actual NEED for such. When a few pairs of characters hook up in game, start a relationships page. When THREE or more pieces of art were made in relation to goings on of the site (plots, ships, etc) THEN add a fan art page. And so on. Do not make the pages initially. This makes you look pretentious and all "My site is SO good, I KNOW that you will DEFINITELY make art to put on the fan art page." No one is automatically a fan. Fans are made, not forced. Let the fan base grow.

Those are just the basics. You can get a feel for what else you might want to add or take away by looking at other roleplay sites or forums.

SUPER BASICS OF ADVERTISING

Advertise. Advertise. Advertise.
One of the most annoying yet totally necessary pieces of running a rp.

Advertisements come in all forms. The key is to be catching, exciting, and quick to read. Some people opt to just post the link to their site, but having a little blurb tends to attract more views. Here are some examples.

Hello! My name is Niitari. Shadows Rising is an all new sci fi vampire rp with a heavy focus on action and thriller. Lots of important positions open. Come check us out here www.shadowsarentactuallyrising.site.com

^ Short. To the point. A nice little friendly blurb that tells people what is what.

Shadows Rising is an all new action thriller rp set in a post apocalyptic future where vampires rule from the shadows. A new threat has emerged. The vampire death toll has been rising and the royal vampire family, the Fang, has been sending out assassins and spies to investigate. Will you be the hunter or the hunted? www.shadowsarentactuallyrising.site.com

^ A little more wordy, but still of decent length. Gives a little more about the nature of the site and the plot with a fancy hook at the end.

Blood. It runs in rivers down darkened streets where even the moon cannot bear witness. Lurking around every corner prowls a threat. It could be a foe, a friend, a lover, even you. In a world supposedly bettered by the advancements of technology, murder still runs rampant, killers still escape, and something fouler than darkness is bathing the city in crimson tonight. The Shadows are Rising. www.shadowsarentactuallyrising.site.com

^ More poetic and prettified. It's more about sucking people in on a creative level than telling what the site is about. Should stay intriguing enough (but SHORT enough) to catch their interest.

Vampires and lightsabers? Murderers and robocops? Sounds insane. Sounds deadly. Sounds like Shadows Rising is finally open! New plot! High positions open! Moderate to advanced rpers welcome! Join today! www.shadowsarentreallyrising.site.com

^ More TV salesman pitchy than all the others. Meant to stir fun filled excitement. It's even better when dark humor is used. Just don't go overboard. Keep them short.

Hello. My name is Niitari and I just opened the new site Shadows Rising. Shadows Rising is Hello! My name is Niitari. Shadows Rising is an all new sci fi vampire rp with a heavy focus on action and thriller. Lots of important positions open. Come check us out hereShadows Rising is an all new action thriller rp set in a post apocalyptic future where vampires rule from the shadows. A new threat has emerged. The vampire death toll has been rising and the royal vampire family, the Fang, has been sending out assassins and spies to investigate. Will you be the hunter or the hunted? Blood. It runs in rivers down darkened streets where even the moon cannot bear witness. Lurking around every corner prowls a threat. It could be a foe, a friend, a lover, even you. In a world supposedly bettered by the advancements of technology, murder still runs rampant, killers still escape, and something fouler than darkness is bathing the city in crimson tonight. The Shadows are Rising. Vampires and lightsabers? Murderers and robocops? Sounds insane. Sounds deadly. Sounds like Shadows Rising is finally open! New plot! High positions open! Moderate to advanced rpers welcome! Join today! www.shadowsarentreallyrising.site.com

^IT SHOULD NEVER BE THIS LONG!

Now you have an advertisement. Save it (or several variations) to your advertising page. Copy and paste to mass advertise wherever you go.

When you advertise, I suggest resisting the urge to post your advertisement in every single site you come across. Granted, this is a fantastic way to get more views, but this is also a good way to get weirdos. If the site you come across is an erotica one, then you can expect erotica rpers to come to your site (yes they exist). If you advertise on a site with notoriously bad grammar and spelling, expect people with such low standards to come to your site. When you advertise, simply glance briefly at the site in question, then make your judgement call from there.

Never advertise in people's chat boxes. The OOC box is meant for the players, not the telemarketers. Look for the proper spots for rping, usually a separate page, chat box, or forum thread, and post your advertisement there.
If they don't have an advertising place, you can do one of two things:
1. Don't advertise there. Plain and simple. Just move along.
2. If all they have is an OOC box, post something SHORT similar to the following:
   " Hello. My name is Niitari. I tried to find an advertising spot but couldn't. I'm just going to leave the link to my rp here (linklink.com). I'm sorry if this violates your rules."
IF YOU DO THE LATTER YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE AN ADVERTISING SPACE ON YOUR SITE. It is very unfair in general to not have an advertising space, but especially if you call someone out for not having one and then you don't have one either, you are a horrible hypocrite.

IN SUMMARY...

Ask yourself if you have the time, energy, and patience necessary to run a site.
Determine wether you should find a little niche on a mass rp collection forums or actually build your own site.
When making your website, keep it professional, clean, organized, and easy for members to navigate.
When advertising, keep it short, to the point, and interesting. Exercise proper advertising etiquette.