I've just joined the site and could use a hand. I need some help understanding how to create a series (or what ever they're called.) I've RPed on a site called Gaia, but other than that I only have experience writing short stories. Please, please help!
Hi there! Let me see if I can help you. 
The site itself is intended to be a sort of omni-forum, that is a welcoming place for people who like any type of RP. So there is a huuuuuge range in terms of specific play styles and game rules. Because we have such a huge range, there's a ton of ways to find RP. The sheer number of options can make your head spin at first, but bear with me! I'll try to talk you through them all.
That said, it's most common for people to start in either the Looking for RP forum, where people post "want ads" for players and characters that will suit their RP, or to hit up the RP Finder. What's the difference? The RP Finder only lists game concepts from people who have been online and active in the last 10 minutes, so if you feel that you need to start a scene right this very second and can't possibly wait a day or two for someone to come back online, The RP Finder gadget is most likely to pair you up with someone who is ready to roll this second. If you want to spend more time planning and plotting with someone, combing through characters until you find exactly the right match, the forum is your best bet.
If you'd prefer to go straight to the source and observe people in action in order to decide who you want to play with, there are many "rooms" or topics that people have started as generally stand-alone stories in the three public RP forums, better known as Fantasy RP, General RP and Sci-Fi RP. It's usually considered very poor form to simply barge into one and start playing, and might cause a moderator to be summoned to remove you. But there are ways to tell where you are welcome to jump in and where you aren't:
Finally, there are groups. Groups are most often used by those with exacting requirements for settings, character creation, etc., because groups allows them to write out their story's rules, history, environment, and everything else you need to know to integrate beautifully into the unfolding world. Groups can also carry out the RP on their own private forums just for their setting. Because they have all these resources devoted to their one story, and are not just an isolated scene jumbled in with everything else, groups tend to be the most likely place for long-term continuity play, where every action a character takes becomes part of the world's history forever and ever.
You can find groups here: http://www.rprepository.com/group/browsegroups.php Although I warn that we are still in the process of setting up good ways to search for a group, so it can be a little bit needle-in-a-haystack to just start browsing through the entire list of groups. Groups often recruit from the Looking for RP forums, however, and sometimes even show up in the RP Finder if they are configured to do so, so the first options I mentioned are still totally valid.
If I were you, I would pop into the Looking for RP forum tonight and make it known what kind of RP you are looking for, and see if any groups want to recruit you, or any interested souls take you up on it as individuals.
Oh! And here's a few other articles about getting started with RP that you may or may not find interesting.
New to RP?
Writing for RP
The responsibility of all RPers
Please do let me know if you have any other questions, concerns or problems!
The site itself is intended to be a sort of omni-forum, that is a welcoming place for people who like any type of RP. So there is a huuuuuge range in terms of specific play styles and game rules. Because we have such a huge range, there's a ton of ways to find RP. The sheer number of options can make your head spin at first, but bear with me! I'll try to talk you through them all.
That said, it's most common for people to start in either the Looking for RP forum, where people post "want ads" for players and characters that will suit their RP, or to hit up the RP Finder. What's the difference? The RP Finder only lists game concepts from people who have been online and active in the last 10 minutes, so if you feel that you need to start a scene right this very second and can't possibly wait a day or two for someone to come back online, The RP Finder gadget is most likely to pair you up with someone who is ready to roll this second. If you want to spend more time planning and plotting with someone, combing through characters until you find exactly the right match, the forum is your best bet.
If you'd prefer to go straight to the source and observe people in action in order to decide who you want to play with, there are many "rooms" or topics that people have started as generally stand-alone stories in the three public RP forums, better known as Fantasy RP, General RP and Sci-Fi RP. It's usually considered very poor form to simply barge into one and start playing, and might cause a moderator to be summoned to remove you. But there are ways to tell where you are welcome to jump in and where you aren't:
- Any topic with a title that includes a phrase like "1x1" usually means it is a private scene between two people, and they are not looking to add anyone else for any reason, don't ask.
- Any topic labelled "OPEN" usually means it is open for anyone to barge into, although around here it is common for people to post OOC by wrapping their text in parenthesis to ask if this is a good time for them to step into the scene, or else to send a private message to the original topic starter with the same question.
- If the topic title doesn't have a clue as to how the players in it feel about adding new people, but you find one that interests you, there's typically no harm in asking if they'd consider a new player, either. You're just going to get a slightly lower hit rate than in those topics labelled "Open".
Finally, there are groups. Groups are most often used by those with exacting requirements for settings, character creation, etc., because groups allows them to write out their story's rules, history, environment, and everything else you need to know to integrate beautifully into the unfolding world. Groups can also carry out the RP on their own private forums just for their setting. Because they have all these resources devoted to their one story, and are not just an isolated scene jumbled in with everything else, groups tend to be the most likely place for long-term continuity play, where every action a character takes becomes part of the world's history forever and ever.
You can find groups here: http://www.rprepository.com/group/browsegroups.php Although I warn that we are still in the process of setting up good ways to search for a group, so it can be a little bit needle-in-a-haystack to just start browsing through the entire list of groups. Groups often recruit from the Looking for RP forums, however, and sometimes even show up in the RP Finder if they are configured to do so, so the first options I mentioned are still totally valid.
If I were you, I would pop into the Looking for RP forum tonight and make it known what kind of RP you are looking for, and see if any groups want to recruit you, or any interested souls take you up on it as individuals.
Oh! And here's a few other articles about getting started with RP that you may or may not find interesting.
New to RP?
Writing for RP
The responsibility of all RPers
Please do let me know if you have any other questions, concerns or problems!
Thank you so much!
You're very welcome!
@Kim: Just so you know, I've made several friends and am very glad to be a member of this fantastic site. All the best, BeatlesFan68
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