A good RP has a plot, but alows people to be free. It has plent of action while the plot is being carried out, but I have found its the RPers that make it or break it. Characters have to be believable, and well written. If the writter is not believable, it just dosn't work. One liners don't necessarily bug me. It depneds more on how they are used. If they fit in with th plot, aid it along, and make sence, its perfectly fine. What I don't like about them is most people are lazy when they write and end up with only one sentance.

One thing I absolutely abhor are all-powerful characters who can control the weather, elements, etc. Of course every character has their strong points, but they've got their weak points too, and it's just plain irritating when people simply ignore these weak points. It's much more fun RPing with a "flawed" character than with a perfect character. I should know, I've done both.

Romance: I think it's fine as long as there's not too much of it, and as long as it's not sappy. I totally agree with Seral on this one; I think it's more exciting if there's a sprinkling of tragedy in a romance. ^^

When it comes to RPing, detail is everything. I find it much more inspired when I read a detailed post then a blunt, unimaginative one. I tend to get carried away when it comes to details; every little thing counts. Including lots of details is a good way to make your posts longer.

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That's very true. I also think that a good plot is important, but the people in the RP are even more so. I mean, you're not going to get anywhere with a good plot if all everybody posts is, "Legolas sat back and waited for something to happen." People need to be able to add their own little twists, and do unexpected things to keep it interesting, as well as interacting with other characters in interesting ways. "Legolas sighed and kept riding," isn't interesting - if you're gonna make a post like that, don't post at all!

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I second that. I mean, hanging around and waiting for something to happen is OK if you're RPing on the tag, but not on the forum. You definately need a plot.

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I ditto all that was said above, but I'll add (and I'm not sure if this has been said before) that the characters need to "click." Not exactly be similar, but both the rpers' styles and their characters have to complement each other. It's difficult to tell what characters go together well, but a male/female balance is usually imperative, as well as a diversity a personalities.

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^ Indeed and what I´d like to add is one element that makes an rp interesting, change. Because it would be boring, if a character would be left unchanged by what they have experienced and thus they wouldn`t develop as characters or grow in any manner.

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Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

I agree with pretty much everything you guys have said so far. This may have already been said, but please don't use chat abbreviations like, 'g2g' or 'u' for 'you'. it's ok for when you're ooc, but when it's in the middle of someone speaking, it really messes people like me up.

Another thing, as I have said, someone may have already said this, but when I make RPGs I usually put a character limit, because sometimes it can get so confusing even when there are only 5 characters.

Also, whenever I'm posting I quote the person my character is speaking to. That way, the other person knows that I was talking to them and also other people know that I was talking to that person. It keeps the confusion at a lower level.

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Only 2% of teens have never tried a cigarette. If you are one of these teens, copy this and put it in your signature.

Having done written word role play for 10 years on the internet, I have to say that what makes a good RP story is the chemistry between the writers. Back in 2000, I was involved in two amazingly good stories where the writers read the previous posts and used hooks in them to carry on the story. One worked well with only an outline of a plot, letting the writing take the story forward, and the other had a plot guideline that sort of spelled out the end goal. In the first case, the adventure moved well for nearly two years, when one writer developed a crush on another writer, and the tale started to fragment. I wrote my character out of the story at that point. The other kept going with interesting and well developed characters, and the consistent writers were able to use what some writers that quit showing up had done, and move it forward. It finally stalled when one by one the main writers drifted away, and one who was doing a lot of the heavy lifting got banned for something unrelated to RP.

Writer chemistry aside, some thing that make a good Rp story is decent written grammar. Knowing that some writers have English as a second language, basic structure of paragraphs help keep it readable. A good sized post is about a computer screen full or longer. Line breaks between paragraphs help make it more readable on a computer screen in my opinion.

The right balance between Dialogue and Narrative is a bonus. Sometimes there is a need of a simple narrative post to help move time and distance, and to set scenery and environment and such, but I found it was easy to put that into a post that contained some dialogue between characters. This gets back to writer chemistry in that one has to be comfortable in writing some minor dialogue for another's character. What bogs down RPs too many times when I tried to get involved in them was posting some dialogue that required a wait until the writer of the other character had to reply. You then start getting these short, one or two line posts that take forever to have a simple conversation. One has to be comfortable in using and allowing use of one's characters in dialogue. You try and keep them in-character, when using them, and you don't get upset if what is said pushed out the boundries you have on your character's personality. A little is good, too much is not.

I pretty much agree on the points Aerandir made, with the possible exception about the romance. Character romance can work IF it does not become the central driving force in the story. Like I said before, my issue has been romance between writers more than romance between characters.

Now. if the RP is based in Tolkien's Middle Earth, then have the characters act that way. Half-elves were a rarity in Tolkien's world, yet every RP I can think of seems to have some sort of half-elven character.

The biggest thing is to have fun!

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Hanasian
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
The Free Company of Arnor
~ ~ ~
Durian: Dúnedain Ranger of the North: Rhudaurian Lineage
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Roleplay Repository

Precisely this.

For me, the most important thing, before the description or character design or grammar or anything else comes into play is the players READ each others posts.
There is nothing worse (and I used to be very guilty of this) than writing your own descriptive, detailed posts if they're separate to everybody elses story. It doesn't matter how good someone's writing is, if they're off on their own little tangent, it ruins the whole chemistry of the group.

I've done a lot of roleplaying; for about 11 years now, both tabletop and online; and the best ones I've done have not been with the most grammatically correct writers, or with the most thrilling plots - but the one where the people I was roleplaying with really paid attention to what their partners had written.

As for romance, it can be good in roleplay...but it depends on the people playing it. I don't care if there are two characters in a relationship from the beginning as long as it isn't something they feel the need to point out every few posts. I'm all for tragic overcomplicated romance, but if you're in a roleplay about the defensive struggle of a city or something, you're probably just getting on everyone elses nerves.

Another important thing is for the players to have a hold on their characters. I don't care what their character is, as long as that isn't changing constantly. There is nothing worse than someone who claims they're playing an honest, good-willed character just to do a heel-face turn everytime it suits them better.

...there are many things that make a good roleplay, and many things that don't. A lot of them are personal preference, and a lot of it is in not just having fun yourself, but making sure that the people you're roleplaying with are having fun as well.

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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde