Some of us might be interested in participating in the RPG threads but have no idea what "Fallout" or "Caverns of Insufficient Light" is all about or how to play them. It would be helpful if the RPG threads followed the grand WGARS tradition of always posting the instructions for the game in the first post of the thread. Alternatively, you could have a sticky thread that contains the instructions for all the various game types.

Actually, they're pretty much all just like a tabletop RPG, but with the table being figurativly spread all around the world. All the character creation info is provided, and, after that, it works like a game of D&D or whatever.

Oh, I guess that would explain the problem... I'm not really familiar with tabletop RPG games. I felt lost because I did play a game of Werewolves once, and that thread had the instructions in the first post like WGARS games do. So I was a bit lost when I decided to take a peek into the RPG threads again and saw all these games that I didn't have a clue how to play and there were no instructions for someone who isn't familiar with tabletop RPGs, which is fine since the RPG threads aren't supposed to be tabletop RPG tutorials.

Generally the first thread with the title of the game in the archives contains all the info you'd need about the game. Alternately, most of the GMs would be more than happy to give you some idea of what their game is about if you PM them.

Werewolves isn't like the other RPG threads because Werewolves started as a WGARS game. It was decided that it better fit in FRPG, though.

AT, anyone can play an RPG, especially over the forums. If you ever played Cops and Robbers as a kid, you're most of the way there. You create a personality and then you react to what the Game Master describes as if you were that person. The GM takes largely takes care of making all the rules work (on a forum especially) and will happily guide you through whatever you do need help with.

Perhaps a sort of FAQ for novices about "What is Roleplaying?" should be included as stickies on both RPG forums?

I think that would be extremely helpful to newbies in the RPG area (myself included).

I'd sticky it if anyone feels inspired and types one up.

Perhaps it would help if people supplied questions here that they would like to see answered in such a FAQ.

Well, the questions would differ from game to game, but basically, the FAQ for a game would answer this basic question:

What are the players expected to do in [name of game]?

The problem is that the games all feel like Mornington Crescent does to a newbie. The main thing that causes me to balk at jumping into a game is that I don't know what the objectives are for the players. I also don't know the rules, culture or tradition of the game. I would want to see what the rules are, if any, and a basic description of the "feel" of the game. I don't want to post with anachronisms and self-referential humor when the game strives for serious drama and ultra-realism.

Take, for example, Caverns of Insufficient Light. Is there backstory that I need to know before joining in? Are there things I'm not allowed to do? Are there things that I might do that would detract from the feel of the game? Are there conventions that I should follow (for example, first versus third person perspective)?

Here are some basic questions that each game could start out with, adding more as needed:

• What is the story behind [name of game]?
• What is the players' objective, if any?
• What are the rules of the game, if any?
• Can I join in at any time, or is there a signup period?
• Do I create my character any way I want or are attributes assigned by the gamemaster?
• What guidelines are there for writing true to the feel of the game?

That's right; pick on the poor Caverns of Insufficient Light...see if they care.

As for the rest of your questions; most of them can be answered by simply reading a thread or two of the actual game, especially the first couple of threads. That will tell you everything about the feel and style of the game you might want to know, and generally all the technical details as well (usually in the first ooc thread). For the older games where the first threads are lost to the mists of time, you can always PM the game master after you've read a thread or two for game play; asking them for any technical information you might want.

That doesn't help when the game is just starting up, though, Were. There is no example of play style or, often, background detail given in a sign-up thread. By the time there are a couple of game threads up, the game is usually closed to additional players.

AT's questions are certainly something that every GM should take into account when creating their first info thread.

I'm going to try to create an info and FAQ thread for the RPG forums. If the mods approve, Dom can sticky it as he offered above. It will be a good place for people to ask additional general questions about role-playing in the future, too.

Actually, people in GRPG use certain typing conventions +Like enclosing text in plusses+. An explanation of the conventions would be nice.

Actually, there are no such conventions, Dodger. I, for example, enclose actions in asterisks, telepathy in curly brackets, and leave spoken text unenclosed. Others use quotes for spoken text, italics for telepathy, and leave actions unenclosed. GMs sometimes ask for conventions to be followed, but there are no official ones.

Anyway, I think most of AlternateTorg's ideas are answered in a signup guide. Most GMs provide enough backstory to give the players a good idea of what to do, but reveal the objectives during the course of play. And, honestly, I don't think I've ever seen rules, including character creation rules, not written in the opening thread. And, after the signup thread, it's pretty rare for new players to join a game... at least, in my experience. I don't really see what benefit codified FAQs will add to RPGs that a good startup thread wouldn't... Maybe a sticky for guidelines on how to make said signup thread would be a good idea, though.

I agree that most of AltTorg's questions are things that each GM should cover in a sign-up thread. However, there are basic concepts that newbies don't understand about roleplaying that could be answered by a FAQ sticky, like the fact that roleplaying games don't have an objective along the lines of "Do x and y and you will win the game."

Also, some guideline for GMs to follow about what they should cover in a sign-up thread to reduce confusion might be helpful.