The player base needs to get together in a civil manner and make a.....

A definitive game wide definition ( one that can be agreed upon by the majority)  of solo posting needs to made and enforced by the majority.

There also needs to be clarification made on entering an rp becasue like I said before to others  people want to be tagged invited to rp's

 This self conscious ploy leaves a lot of peoples stories ( role-plays) looking like solo posts when in fact the original  poster is actually waiting for someone to be creative and find a way into the story, in a respectful manner that follows the original post to develop a story line together.

 I said this last part becasue I have been accused of solo writing but if no one is going to find a way to incorporate themselves into the story it is going to look like solo writing. 

I actually have no issue with Journaling. Journaling is not solo posting so maybe when people do journaling or their chara's history they should mark it in  the title ( journal) or History).

We should not need the game admin/creator to tell us to do this.  It should be basic etiquette we all practice. 

but solo posting has been against role play rules for at least 25 years that I have roleplayed.

Maybe start with a list of rp rules like this and majority agree and majority enforce . You do not need the game staff to do this.

Please note that these rules pertain to EVERY roleplay thread within this forum unless otherwise specified and will be enforced.



-- Rules --

1. All posts should be made in character, all of the time. Only proper Staff will be permitted to make out of character posts within an active RP thread. All others will be deleted. Any and all OOC comments and discussions should be made via Messages. This includes responses to posted warnings from a Moderator.


2. Text speak, and one word posts will not be permitted within the Roleplay Forums. A post should always contain at least one paragraph (5 lines on an). This rule does not apply within the Free Roleplay Board.


3. Within the RP threads, all posts should be made in third person perspective, and past tense (Unless otherwise specified by the Roleplay host).

Incorrect post - I placed my sword on the table.
( The above post needed to be made in third person perspective.)

Incorrect post - Beth places her sword on the table.
(The above post is not made in past tense.)

Correct post - Beth placed her sword on the table.
( The above post keeps to third person perspective, and past tense.)



4. Forcing reactions upon other characters(God-modding) will not be permitted. For example. You can post that your character pushed another, but not that they fell. You can hug them, but THEY have to hug you back themselves. It's up to the other player to post how they respond to your character's actions concerning them.


5. As a Roleplay Host (the creator of a Roleplay Thread) you may host only 5 Roleplays at one time. If you are found having more than five, one will be deleted without notice. Please note that this total is made up of all threads open by one player on all boards- locked threads are not included in this number.


6. When a Roleplay Thread has come to it's conclusion, or is finished due to inactivity, you must edit your thread and change the title to "Closed" to prevent excessive dead roleplay threads from building up in the forums. Also note that if you have marked your thread "Closed" this will not count as one of the 5 threads you are allowed to host at any given time.


7. Meaningless threads, one word (or short) non-sense posts, posts containing only emoticons, or posts not pertaining to the role play at hand will not be permitted in the forums. This will be considered spam and removed.


8. The bumping of threads is not permitted. (Bumping is making a post for the sole purpose of keeping a thread at the top of the topic list.)


9. Making posts with the text content all or mainly in capitals, bolds, italics, or colours is not permitted in the forums. These posts are extremely hard to read and will be removed.


10. Derogatory statements regarding the quality of another individual's writing will NOTbe tolerated within the forums.


11. English is to be spoken in the forums at all times. The use of an occasional word in another language is acceptable so long as the entire post as not in a different language.


12. While there may from time to time arise a dramatic scene between characters, at no time is any personal disagreement to be passed off for roleplay and placed in the forums. Any and all personal out of character arguments are to be left out of your roleplays.


13. The back to back posting by one player (double-posting) in any roleplay thread will not be permitted.

14. Posts depicting self harm or suicide are not permitted. These will be removed immediately.



 

My only issue with stories (primarily solo) in the streets is basically that the streets are live action. What do I mean by that? Well they are essentially things that you conceivably observe whilst walking down the street, Newspaper sales, public announcements, debates, conversations, bank robberies or jewel heists etc. If you are relaying a story, particularly one that happened some time ago, then essenually you are standing in the street telling a story. Which is fine, I guess, but would I be more likely to tell you my background on the streets to anyone passing by, over drinks in a bar, or in a private conversation? Similarly I have no issue with people playing wierd ass characters, I've played my fair share, but what purpose does it serve to tell a story unrelated to the mafia life, surely you would find a way to incorporate this life into your other worldly life so that it bridges a gap? 

For example, an evil extraterrestrial entity that comes to earth and decides to join the mafia in an attempt to take over the world and enslave humanity?

Seriously, if you just like writing stories about, for instance, established characters from your favourite TV show or movie, there are plenty of fanfic sites out there that would be only to happy to host your work and expose it to an altogether more appreciative audience.

Just my two cents on the topic.

People should be able write solo stories under a guideline such as marking them as history  or journal so people who don't want to bother looking at it won't.   But those people who don't read the thread marked history will be missing out on important character development. Therefore missing details about the character.

This is the first theme based rp game I have been in that did not have an   established rp guideline nor does it have a full rp forum.

It does not have a place for a character bio either, Yes there is the back alley and then posting on your page I have done this many times but who really reads these? character info the reader is missing out on.

There is no forum for outside 1930's rp here. For those werewolves and aliens you naturalist  do not want to read.  But this is off topic.

Back onto the topic of my thread

A definitive game wide agreement needs to me made on role playing guidelines. 

Or everyone will always be bickering like school yard children.  The one I posted is an example of a roleplay guideline.  I posted it  as an example of what I mean by guideline.  NOT as to tell you what to make the rules  in the guideline.

Quite frankly if you do not step up as a role play community and  create  and enforce the guidelines you create as a community . Then you should stop bickering and complaining about what  other people are  writing .

But why would I know your characters background unless we work together and have interaction? I dont know the background for everyone in my street, I dont know the background for everyone I  my work, so why would I know the background of a random mobster in another crew or city? This is why it should be in a back alley thread with a link in your profile.

As to why there is no forum for non 1930s rp, it's because this is a mafia mmorpg set in the 1930s, there is no need to have a forum for roleplaying other periods or settings. You want to rp vampires and werewolves in the 1990s doing non mafia things, join a vampire frog. You want to rp ash ketchum catching pokemon, play a pokemon rpg. You want to play a Mafioso killing other mobsters and trying to rank up in the mafia, play MR.

The reason there is no established RP guidelines is because before now we've never really needed one. All the help about staying in character and the era is in the help forum, including price guides and links to catalogues. When I opened my business in Cicago I used similar sources to set prices, so that we have an ounce of spirits cost cents rather than dollars.

You want rules, I can give you rules:

https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/67661#232109982

And that is all we have needed for years. Now I grant you, a little more definition could certainly be added, but its gonna include a ban on backgrounds and non mafia related rps if I'm any judge on how popular opinion is going. 

Backgrounds should be in the back alley, and non mafia rps should ideally be left to the business district, so you and the scooby gang can all hang out in the bronze after defeating this weeks big bad.

As an after thought, I believe Izzy has gone on re ord to state that the forums are indeed in need of a major overhaul, but its not likely to be something done prior to the release of the new GUI. Its doubtful that any serious work would be done on the forums in their present state because of that.