Caspian’s Guide For Improving Your Roleplay Experience

[Caspian McBride]

 

Before you read further, please understand that I do not consider myself to be some Roleplay god or anything like that. I’m mediocre at best, below are just a few things I’ve picked up over the last year and a half I’ve been Roleplaying in GTA V.

 

Make sure you’re using the various chat channels correctly. 
There are 4 main methods of communicating in BigCityRP. They are (Twitter, LOOC or “Local Out of Character”, OOC or “Out of Character, and 311 or “Non-Emergency Municipal Services”.) 

Twitter is a method for communicating with other players IN-CHARACTER. What you say on Twitter should always be from the perspective of your character. Try not to tweet out things like “My microphone isn’t working, what setting do I need to change to fix it?” or “I’m in a coma, where are the ems?!” Additionally, remember not to tweet when you’re in jail or in a coma as technically your character wouldn’t have access to a phone/Computer.
LOOC is a method for resolving issues in the immediate area of the roleplay that is currently being played out. This channel is for saying things from the players perspective and not their character’s perspective. You can expect messages such as “One sec, my microphone isn’t working, I’m fixing it.” or “I can’t see anything right now.” in this channel. Remember this is a text channel and what occurs in the LOOC channel shouldn’t ever carry over into Roleplay. If someone is having issues, you should act as though something strange is occurring. For instance, someone’s mic isn’t working and they let you know though local-out-of-character. You could say something along the line of “Sir/Ma’am, can you hear me?” or “Are you Ok?”. By doing so you’re roleplaying without directly addressing the problem the other player is having but you’re still allowing the player to demonstrate if and when the problem is resolved because they will respond to you, eventually.
OOC is a method of resolving issues which work very similar to LOOC, usually without being related to RP. This channel allows the whole server to offer assistance out of character.
311 is another method for communicating with other players IN-CHARACTER, specifically Emergency Services, (Police, EMS, FD). This channel is very simple. If you need to get into contact with Emergency Services but you don’t have an immediate emergency, use this channel. Examples of usage are “Reporting someone speeding down the highway or someone trying to break into vehicles.” or “Giving PD Information without displaying it to the public over Twitter.”

 

You decide the quality of Roleplay that you experience.
     With Roleplay, you get out what you put in.
    
 If you ignore everyone that you come into contact with and just spend all day going from point A to Point B doing drug runs, don’t be surprised when you find yourself sitting in silence. Don’t get me wrong, if that’s fun for you, keep doing it! But why not put some thought into your character and what goes on in their life? Here’s my thought process. Imagine you’re walking to Legion Square and upon arriving, you see two individuals. The first one is sitting in his/her car silently, windows up, engine off. You approach them and greet them. In return, you get a brief hello followed by more silence, they then pull off and speed down the road. You then begin to walk over to the second individual who is already approaching you. They initiate the conversation with a simple “Hey there, I don’t mean to bother you, but by chance do you have an extra umbrella I can borrow? This rain is killing me right now.” you could then go on to offer them your umbrella, or RP that you have a second umbrella of course, and carry on the conversation. Let’s assume you loan them the umbrella, “Sure, let me grab it from my backpack real quick.” They reciprocate and say “Thanks, so what’s your name?” You’ve just made yourself an acquaintance. Now take a step back. Which interaction are you more interested in having? Be that person who initiated the conversation, pump some life into your Roleplay and I promise you’ll see positive results. The best part of roleplay is that it’s an endless spider web of opportunity. You are in complete control, usually. 

 

3. Make sure you’re utilizing all of the tools given to you.
    I’ve run into my fair share of players who are unaware of a few helpful systems in the city so I felt it important to include this one.

    If you’re driving there are a few things that can make your life a little easier. First of all, cruise control is a thing and I don’t mean the speed cap. Hit your desired speed and press Y, then take your finger off of W. This will keep your car rolling at that speed and all you’ll have to do is steer. Also, use your blinkers people! I know it’s not very important as not many officers will pull you over for not using signals. However, personally using blinkers keeps my hands busy and people often praise me for doing so, which improves the quality of roleplay. 

Next, there’s a bank app on your phone. You can save yourself some time by checking your balance on your phone. You’ll still have to go to the bank to deposit your money and withdrawal from ATM’s, however. 

Additionally, Control your voice. If you’re trying to talk in private, use that F1 button to whisper, need to exclaim something to the world? Press F1 and shout. Sometimes people can’t hear you when you want them to and CAN hear you when you don’t.

Finally, in the settings section of your K Menu, you can disable the chatbox when you're in Roleplay. This is a minor note but it’s something I do and I feel like it makes Roleplay more enjoyable when you don’t have a ton of text on your screen.

 

4. Think outside the box.
Change things up and be creative with your roleplay.

Roleplay to me is like a coloring book. You can choose to color in the picture the way it’s supposed to look with a pencil or you can break open that 64 pack of crayons and get a little crazy. It’s really not hard to drive roleplay in different directions, even in re-occurring roleplay. Running from the police? Sure you could lead them on a chase, this time. Maybe next time you stay put and go through the motions or you still lead them on a chase but then turn yourself in afterward. Now you’re just an adrenaline junky instead of a criminal that doesn’t want to be rehabilitated. I like to color outside the lines personally. I prefer to roleplay as law-abiding citizens but sometimes I’ve got places to be and people to see. I’ve got some pretty hilarious excuses up my sleeve and most of the time they’re so out of this world that they work! Another example I see happen a lot is people riding in Taxi/Uber. As a Taxi driver myself, I could mix things up and let the passenger drive. Usually, confusion ensues but sometimes they bite and I pay THEM the fair. It’s a mess, but we’re having fun! My favorite thing to do right now is Cash Cab! I google some trivia and ask my passengers questions and they earn some cash! Just something to think about, you know?

 

5. Use /Me..A LOT.
The more information you provide, the more other participants have to work with.

Anytime you do an action or need to paint a picture of what you’re doing, communicate that with the people around you. If you’re going to smoke a cigarette, /me {Name} smokes a cigarette. Finished your burger? /me {name} throws his burger wrapper over his shoulder into the backseat of the car. Make people aware of what’s going on even if you tell them what you’re going to do. It makes things more….definite and allows others around you to shape their RP accordingly. 

 

6. Roleplay even if people are not around.
Incorporate as much as you can into your character’s life. If it exists, you can find a way to address it.

    This one is pretty simple but I wanted to touch base. I find that people are more inclined to approach you and initiate Roleplay if you look/sound like you’re already doing something. Curiosity killed the cat, you know? If you walk past a local and they say something, respond to them. If something strange happens nearby, (A vehicle incident or an explosion, etc etc), react. Every action has a reaction. Your teachers weren’t lying, you would use that information at some point in your life. Although this is probably not how they imagined you’d do so.

 

Once again, these are just a few of the things I’ve picked up over time. Depending on how this thread is received, I may update it occasionally with some additional tips or just write up another guide altogether.

Thank you for reading over my guide and I’ll see you in the City!
-Caspian McBride