Wolfery Roleplaying Guide

[Accipiter]

Wolfery is a roleplay environment rooted in the textual MUCK games of old. It can differ a bit from how you would normally type in a chat.

This guide will go through some of its aspects.

(For a guide to communication commands, see A short introduction to using Wolfery)

Proper language

Spelling and grammar doesn’t have to be perfect in any sense, but we should strive for proper language. By following rules of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structures, roleplay gets more immersive and enjoyable.

BAD - Sloppy chat text

John woke up i need some coffee

GOOD - Proper text

John says sleepily ,“I need some coffee.”

In Character (IC) / Out Of Character (OOC)

Your character exists inside the realm of Wolfery, oblivious to things beyond, such as real life.
Just like in a book, the character only knows what they have experienced in the past, unaware of what goes on outside the story, and beyond what they are told.

BAD - John doesn’t know Jane’s name yet

Jane arrives from the train station.
John says ,“welcome jane. new here?”

GOOD - John greets Jane like someone he doesn’t know

Jane arrives from the train station.
John says to Jane ,“Welcome, miss. Are you new here?”

GOOD - John’s player OOC:ly greets Jane’s player

Jane arrives from the train station.
John^ooc says ,“Hi Jane, and welcome to Wolfery.”

Present tense

When roleplaying, use the present tense (“says”, “goes”, “nods”, etc.) in your poses, to avoid the confusion coming from mixed tenses.

BAD - Past tense

Jane finished her coffee and sighed.

GOOD - Present tense

Jane finishes her coffee and sighs.

Respectful roleplay

Respect others’ roleplay, and do not force them into roleplay with you. If you wish to roleplay with somebody, try to ask them in an OOC whisper; or even better, show interest through some roleplay of your own, while leaving it open for them to respond.

Severe or repeated disrespectful behavior, including disrupting others’ roleplay, powergaming and godmodding (see below), may lead to suspension.

BAD - Jumping into someone else’s roleplay

John walks over to the two cuddling girls and hugs them ,“Hi, I am John.”

GOOD - Showing interest

John watches the two cuddling girls with curiosity.

Powergaming

Powergaming (also called twinking) is when you force players into roleplay they don’t agree to.

When doing something that may affect others in a way they might not want to, leave the consequences of your action open for them to decide.
This also includes “helpful” consequences. Struggles, and dilemmas, can be exciting roleplay elements quickly ruined by a single insta-healing spell from an overpowered character.

BAD - Forcing unwanted consequences upon someone else

John takes Jane’s staff and breaks it in two.

GOOD - Leaving the consequences for the other player to decide

John tries to grab Jane’s staff in an attempt to break it.

BAD - Unwanted altering of someone’s character or roleplay

John casts a spell that replaces Jane’s robotic arm with a real one.

Godmodding

Similar to powergaming, godmodding is the disrespectful act of describing someone else’s action without providing any option form them to act differently.

BAD - Pose including what the other character does

John gives a beer to Jane and watches her drink it and get drunk.

GOOD - Pose only including the character’s own action

John gives a beer to Jane, hoping to get her drunk.

Roleplay advertisement

Some roleplay environments encourage players to advertise what kind of roleplay they are looking for. In Wolfery, this type of announcement is discouraged in favor of a more In Character approach.

BAD - OOC roleplay advertising

John^ooc says ,“Anyone wanna RP at the inn?”

GOOD - Expressing interest through roleplay

John looks at the others ,“I think I’ll head to the inn. Anyone wanna join me for a drink?”

Summary

By following this guide, you can be part of creating a friendly and fun roleplay environment for all to enjoy.

Have fun roleplaying!

[Elissa]

The F-list wiki has a very good entry on roleplaying guidelines with reasons why some of the “bad” things you listed are considered “bad.”

[Vernon_Otter]

I would like to add to this guide the following section:

Proper use of “Would”
There are some who think using Would in every action is a good thing:
Little Red Riding Hood would walk through the forest.

The problem is, ‘would’ is a potential action, not an action in and of itself. Sure, Red /would/ walk through the forest, but obviously isn’t because she is not WALKING. She would, though! So, remember, use active verbs when you think you’re doing something, and “would” only when providing for an alternative:
Little Red Riding Hood would get eaten by the wolf. But she doesn’t, because she gets the woodsman to take care of the Big Bad Wolf.

[Raeth]

I would like to give you some food for thought. I think would is used in the past tense to imply the previously speculative engagement becoming factual in the absence of a conditional. It’s completely valid for would to describe past habits or willingness. Usually though this is attached to something like a second conditional. I’m no grammar wizard, but I’m not entirely certain it’s incorrect in the absence of the conditional.

So I think perhaps the issue lies in the perspective it’s written from rather than from its grammatical legitimacy. You say “I go to the store” to tell someone what they see you do. But if you say “I would go to the store” you act as an observer telling me what you saw. Well, then what would happen? Don’t tell me, show me please! n_n Or better yet… let’s go to the store together. I hope they have free samples. <3

[John]

I feel a bit called out here. I think would is a very powerful and useful tool used correctly. I use it extensively whenever I interact with other players where I have to assume their immediate reactions. This is most true whenever my character makes an attempt at touching people, moving them physically or anything else that would be considered god-modding if I just did it. My suggestion therefore is that “My character would go up to your and lay his paw on their shoulder” is the legit and correct way to imply “(if your character doesn’t mind and stop that from happening)”. Any ideas/opinions here?

[Vernon_Otter]

John, this is a valid use of ‘would’ because you’re offering the potential for the character to perform the action given the other’s acceptance. The request for permission implied in this case is the restraint that justifies the use of ‘would’. This would not be the case for actions you are performing without any other individuals, such as the example ‘Red would walk through the forest’ because there is no other individual that needs to give permission nor any other stated reason why Red might not go walking through the forest. Maybe if it was ‘Red would walk through the forest if she could find her hoodie’, but that’s an entirely different sentence. At least it’s inviting interaction by letting somebody offer to help find it, or point to a piece of fabric they see sitting under an empty bench and is that it under there? (But I digress…)

That said, the sign of a good writer (and as roleplayers we are all acting as writers of a shared story) is to use variety in our sentences. If you continually use ‘would’ in your work, then it is going to look very repetitive and might put people off. Perhaps think of other ways to phrase things you aren’t sure are going to be permitted, such as ‘Red knocks on Granny’s door and enters when invited.’ If Granny never says to come in, then she’s left standing out on the porch. Or, in your example, ‘John walks up to Suzy to put his paw on their shoulder’. You are walking to Suzy, but still giving them the opportunity to pull away from having your paw on their shoulder.

[Kale]

Good guide! Also yes agreed that the F-List wiki has good examples too.

I am new to this site here, and honestly I am still planning out a character that’d fit THIS site. Would there be any guides or resources for that? I’m not new to RPing and such, but never have been a part of a furry community site/space before.

[Talon]

Good question. We don’t have a real ‘style’. This goes along with the theme of Sinder being an amalgamation of various places that have been pulled through the Rift. This neatly puts us in general RP territory, as a feature, or bonus.

[lady1]

How to you use PM? I just unlocked it.

[moz386]

I think you know what Vern meant. Vern was pointing out that using speculative posing is bad form, because better form would be to use a pose that allows the target character to anticipate the intended action and belay it in a response pose.

Instead of saying “John would walk up to Karen and deliver a greeting,” one could instead say “John approaches Karen as if to deliver a greeting, but hesitates, waiting to see if his advance is welcome.”

In better form, the writer avoids the repetitive use of “would” as a lazy way to avoid a possible rejection with every pose.