Post by "The Reaper" Marcus Ash on Jul 15, 2007 1:33:31 GMT -5
I don't remember who wrote this, only that one of those interviewed was our very own Colin Martin, (Prez Martin and i think character Mark Martin) in this piece.
This is efedding history.
It what makes or breaks you. The amount or lack there of a push is decided by it. If done right tempers flare, emotions run high, reaction is eminent. It doesn’t take long to learn but still there is a certain skill to it and practice always makes perfect. Not many can get it on their first try. Yet no one tells you how it’s done. What might work for some doesn’t work for others and certain ideas and gimmicks can get over used.
So how is it done?
What makes a GREAT roleplay?
What makes an AWFUL roleplay?
Shakesphere once wrote, “It’s only poetry if the words don’t mean what they say yet the meaning is always clear.”
While few are out to make poetry, there is something to be said about the art form of roleplaying. There are things that can work universally to make a great roleplay. Just as there are certain things repeated that make a bad one. If used properly a roleplay does more than trash talk, it moves the storylines along and creates a character and a world that character lives in for the fans to know and follow. So in many ways it may not be poetry but it certainly is good fiction.
Most of us when we here roleplaying refer back to our earliest days of youth and the board game Dungeons and Dragons. There you are given a character, you build him up, you think him through certain situations and then you either fight till you die or you give up. It can be a long and complicated game that lasts for hours upon days upon weeks upon years. Where as most wrestlers get their fifteen minutes and like that they are thrust into the oblivion know as mid carding. Some last longer than others but even then there is a limit to being on top, if the same two or three guys are always competing for the top spot the fed becomes stale and other guys get angry, frustrated and quit. Pretty soon a fed owner gets frustrated, angry and quits and thus many feds die out even before they can get started.
Of course no one ever wants to give up the top spot when they get there and certainly no one wants to step aside and let another guy get his due while you wait in the wings for the next shot. It’s a very bittersweet game and it sometimes can be looked upon as unfair. Obviously the object is to win or is it? Do really the best roleplayers always win? Is it always fun to win and horrible to lose?
FPWI is not here to give you it’s opinion and after all what do we know we are only journalists right? Instead we thought it be best you hear it from the guys you work for or know as some of the best in the game. Some things you may have heard, some things you may disagree with, but rest assured if you take to heart what is being said you might learn something you didn’t know, and everybody, even the best can always learn more.
Can you really define what a good roleplay is?
”A good roleplay in my point of view is getting your point across to the readers. Get the readers interest and have them reading the whole roleplay instead of just scanning it for their name. End the roleplay in some sort of fashion where the reader can’t wait for your next one to come out,” says FWF Owner President Hamid.
”In all cases a good roleplay should at least define the wrestler’s setting, further any angles he is in and elaborate on his gimmick. Trash talk, while often used is very rarely anything more than filling banter,” says Aidan Campbell, owner of a soon to be opened fed called WWWA and expert roleplayer.
Bill Laird is known to many as The Idol. A character who first arrived on the indy circuit scene in the infamous BAWA(Bad Ass Wrestling Alliance) and later was one of the mainstay headliners for the UWC(Unified Wrestling Corporation). He is enjoyed a successful career as a roleplayer and yet has never held a World Title (though I, Justin Sissen can admit he was going to right before I closed the doors of the UWC). What makes him successful? Besides the fact he is one of the most intelligent and flexible characters out there, The Idol commands a respect. He has done so also from his days of running his own fed, SGW(Solid Gold Wrestling). For this article Bill graciously gave ten general guidelines he follows in building his character in a new fed.
1. Be Original- If I want to see Scott Hall, I'll watch WCW. If I want to see The Rock, I'll watch WWF. I read your roleplay, give me something I can't find elsewhere. Anyone but Hall saying "hey yo" is usually classified as a moron in my book, and I don't give a damn what you're cooking.
2. Act like you care, even if you don't- The difference between a good roleplayer and a real class act is this: treat all of your challengers like it's the biggest match of your career. Pull out all the stops when posting against them, even if their Roleplays look like: "M gnna kik yr but."
3. NEVER EVER say anything like "M gnna kik yr but."- I'm not even talking about the spelling (that's later). One line roleplays about how you're going to beat everyone up are, generally, unacceptable.
4. Don't worry if your character is a LITTLE bit like someone else- Here's the distinction: If your character is self-centered and wears expensive clothes, chances are, you're NOT marking out for The Rock. Even if your guy raises an eyebrow every so often, you're ok. Anyone who wants to make an issue out of this: Shred them. If your character is named "Rocky Austin," You're in trouble.
5. Angle angle angle- Wanting to beat someone up is one thing. Having a REASON to want to beat them is entirely another. TALK to your fellow handlers, work something out, AGREE TO TAKE A FALL IF IT FURTHERS THE STORY. It makes your Roleplays MUCH better. You have something to TALK about.
6. DETAILS (but not too many)- Your character has a specific trait, (The Idol smokes like a fiend, for instance) MAKE A POINT OF IT. Chances are, people will notice it. At the very least, anyone who has seen a few of The Idol's roleplays knows he smokes, and can identify him as "that guy who smokes a lot." That will make you stand out in a crowd. ON THE OTHER HAND, too many details are just boring. Nobody cares about the exact dimensions of the room you are in when you are giving an interview. Nobody cares about what color the paperweight is on your desk. Believe me, people do it. And SOME Fed Owners mistake an overabundance of description as "good writing." If that was good writing, The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne would be more popular.
7. Have a point- If a summary of your roleplay would go something like, "The character did some stuff for awhile," it's time to edit. At the very least, you should be working towards a punchline.
8. Your character is not invincible- Give him some character flaws. Flawed characters are far more interesting than perfect ones. Think about how much more interesting a flawed person like, say, The Rock is, than someone like say, Goldberg. Invincible boring AND there's nowhere to go when you lose.
9. Following up to #8, lose gracefully- I once saw a rookie who challenged a real monster and got creamed. The very next night, he did an Roleplay that said "So I lost. It happens. Now who want's some?" I was impressed. I expected the kid to quit. He wasn't a great Roleplayer, but that took chutzpah. I dug it.
10. Most importantly, BE INTERESTING- This is more or less a summary of all the other 9 rules. If you can't hold someone's attention, you need to figure something else out. You can write technically perfect roleplays but if you didn't get my interest, I probably won't read the whole thing.
Along with Bill’s 10 points there is one more to make about spelling and grammar, most all the experts we interviewed here for this article all mention it as a key ingredient. So use spell check, everyone has it on their commuters whether you think so or not. Believe it or not it can make the world of difference in understanding one thing you are trying to say and changing an entire roleplay into confusion.
So now we now what makes a good roleplay, so what makes a bad one?
”Being a heel and having face reactions in an roleplay. Using the wrong HTML codes. Making your wrestler out to be a God. Powerbombing and beating up innocent cameramen. Not going with the current angles and tossing out challenges to people not in any way shape or form involved with you at that time,” says Phil Zygmunt, Owner of ICWA Online.
”Repetition, you can only tell a wrestler that he sucks in so many different ways. Insulting someone’s manhood only works if you can do it in an original way. Repeating yourself in subsequent roleplays is bad enough but repeating yourself in the same roleplay is a sure mark of a bad roleplayer. Lack of consistency, this mainly refers to staying in character in a roleplay. If an is meant to be out of character make the whole thing out of character and many feds have separate Out Of Character Boards anyway. Not knowing who, Wrestlers should know a little bit about the people they are “speaking” to in order for the interview to make sense. In addition wrestlers should know who the champions are before they start making challenges to them,” says President Martin of the LWA.
So who is your character and does he have a past or story to tell? Most of our experts say he’d better or he’ll never go anywhere.
”You can’t get into a storyline if people don’t know your gimmick or identity,” says President Hamid.
”The importance is to get the character “over” as a personality and get him to slightly stand out prior to involving him in any heavy storylines,” says Aidan Campbell.
”I’m partial to the trial by fire method. I think a character should jump into a fed like a ball of clay and develop his character as time progresses. Too many pig hole themselves into a very rigid character and then have no where to go,” says President Martin.
What happens after a character is developed and ready to jump in the mix and get involved with storylines? Is there a certain way to trash talk, is there such a thing as too much of it?
”Some wrestlers make a good living as trash talkers but you really have to be good to exist on trash talk alone. Like everything people get bored of it and a wrestler has to be able to reinvent himself if he wants to stay in the title scene for a long time, “ says President Martin.
Bill Laird agrees, “Rolelplays devoted entirely to trash talking are boring and pointless. Go somewhere with it.”
So there is a fine line but what if there are no ideas, what if you run out? Can you salvage or save yourself from certain plummeting in the rankings abyss?
”Oh god that’s the million dollar question. I would say finds a new person to feud with for one. Fighting the same people can be too much, challenge some one out of the blue,” says Bill Laird.
”Of course the old adage, “write what you know” applies not only to short stories but roleplays as well. That’s the easiest to play a character that is like yourself. Incorporating real-life occurrences gives your character a little realism as well as something new to talk about,” suggests President Martin.
Aidan Campbell has been in the game for sometime, he currently runs a character called Devon Campbell in the LWA but is about to embark on his own in a fed opening June 1st named WWWA(World Wide Wrestling Alliance). He has as President Martin suggested to incorporate real life occurrences into his roleplaying by using his fed, soon to be opened by a “cousin” and making shifty business moves and alliances. It has caused quite the stir in the LWA and Devon in just a short time became one of the most targeted wrestlers in the fed. Something else though that is very evident in his roleplays is what he suggested if you run into trouble, “Watch wrestling shows, rent old PPV’s on tape and some elaborate promos and training footage. Also read, read, read, I got one of my recent angle ideas from a Stephen King novel as weird as it sounds.”
There is so many influences on a character floating out there and believe it or not, so many get unused. You never know what is going to work but it certainly could be worth a shot. Does that mean technology with all you can do, adding sounds, changing colors, and putting up banners is part of that test process?
”HTML tags and banners mean little, I appreciate the effect of basic italics and bolding but 300 point purple letters and banners mean nothing if the content of an interview is lousy. There’s an old saying that you can take a piece of crap and shine it up but you got to show for it is a shiny piece of crap,” says Campbell.
”If you want to have a full package roleplay, the HTML and banners come with it. It doesn’t count that much when a winner is decided, but believe me, it makes a difference, “ says President Hamid.
Most agree in moderation it’s good to use but don’t make it an emphasize.
All and all there is a lot of thought and production value in a great roleplay, even a very good one, you can’t just put together a good roleplay in a few minutes and expect it to sell. Maybe every once and a while you can get away with it but to be a champion takes time and effort and a good, solid roleplay is always where the push starts and stops.
This is efedding history.
It what makes or breaks you. The amount or lack there of a push is decided by it. If done right tempers flare, emotions run high, reaction is eminent. It doesn’t take long to learn but still there is a certain skill to it and practice always makes perfect. Not many can get it on their first try. Yet no one tells you how it’s done. What might work for some doesn’t work for others and certain ideas and gimmicks can get over used.
So how is it done?
What makes a GREAT roleplay?
What makes an AWFUL roleplay?
Shakesphere once wrote, “It’s only poetry if the words don’t mean what they say yet the meaning is always clear.”
While few are out to make poetry, there is something to be said about the art form of roleplaying. There are things that can work universally to make a great roleplay. Just as there are certain things repeated that make a bad one. If used properly a roleplay does more than trash talk, it moves the storylines along and creates a character and a world that character lives in for the fans to know and follow. So in many ways it may not be poetry but it certainly is good fiction.
Most of us when we here roleplaying refer back to our earliest days of youth and the board game Dungeons and Dragons. There you are given a character, you build him up, you think him through certain situations and then you either fight till you die or you give up. It can be a long and complicated game that lasts for hours upon days upon weeks upon years. Where as most wrestlers get their fifteen minutes and like that they are thrust into the oblivion know as mid carding. Some last longer than others but even then there is a limit to being on top, if the same two or three guys are always competing for the top spot the fed becomes stale and other guys get angry, frustrated and quit. Pretty soon a fed owner gets frustrated, angry and quits and thus many feds die out even before they can get started.
Of course no one ever wants to give up the top spot when they get there and certainly no one wants to step aside and let another guy get his due while you wait in the wings for the next shot. It’s a very bittersweet game and it sometimes can be looked upon as unfair. Obviously the object is to win or is it? Do really the best roleplayers always win? Is it always fun to win and horrible to lose?
FPWI is not here to give you it’s opinion and after all what do we know we are only journalists right? Instead we thought it be best you hear it from the guys you work for or know as some of the best in the game. Some things you may have heard, some things you may disagree with, but rest assured if you take to heart what is being said you might learn something you didn’t know, and everybody, even the best can always learn more.
Can you really define what a good roleplay is?
”A good roleplay in my point of view is getting your point across to the readers. Get the readers interest and have them reading the whole roleplay instead of just scanning it for their name. End the roleplay in some sort of fashion where the reader can’t wait for your next one to come out,” says FWF Owner President Hamid.
”In all cases a good roleplay should at least define the wrestler’s setting, further any angles he is in and elaborate on his gimmick. Trash talk, while often used is very rarely anything more than filling banter,” says Aidan Campbell, owner of a soon to be opened fed called WWWA and expert roleplayer.
Bill Laird is known to many as The Idol. A character who first arrived on the indy circuit scene in the infamous BAWA(Bad Ass Wrestling Alliance) and later was one of the mainstay headliners for the UWC(Unified Wrestling Corporation). He is enjoyed a successful career as a roleplayer and yet has never held a World Title (though I, Justin Sissen can admit he was going to right before I closed the doors of the UWC). What makes him successful? Besides the fact he is one of the most intelligent and flexible characters out there, The Idol commands a respect. He has done so also from his days of running his own fed, SGW(Solid Gold Wrestling). For this article Bill graciously gave ten general guidelines he follows in building his character in a new fed.
1. Be Original- If I want to see Scott Hall, I'll watch WCW. If I want to see The Rock, I'll watch WWF. I read your roleplay, give me something I can't find elsewhere. Anyone but Hall saying "hey yo" is usually classified as a moron in my book, and I don't give a damn what you're cooking.
2. Act like you care, even if you don't- The difference between a good roleplayer and a real class act is this: treat all of your challengers like it's the biggest match of your career. Pull out all the stops when posting against them, even if their Roleplays look like: "M gnna kik yr but."
3. NEVER EVER say anything like "M gnna kik yr but."- I'm not even talking about the spelling (that's later). One line roleplays about how you're going to beat everyone up are, generally, unacceptable.
4. Don't worry if your character is a LITTLE bit like someone else- Here's the distinction: If your character is self-centered and wears expensive clothes, chances are, you're NOT marking out for The Rock. Even if your guy raises an eyebrow every so often, you're ok. Anyone who wants to make an issue out of this: Shred them. If your character is named "Rocky Austin," You're in trouble.
5. Angle angle angle- Wanting to beat someone up is one thing. Having a REASON to want to beat them is entirely another. TALK to your fellow handlers, work something out, AGREE TO TAKE A FALL IF IT FURTHERS THE STORY. It makes your Roleplays MUCH better. You have something to TALK about.
6. DETAILS (but not too many)- Your character has a specific trait, (The Idol smokes like a fiend, for instance) MAKE A POINT OF IT. Chances are, people will notice it. At the very least, anyone who has seen a few of The Idol's roleplays knows he smokes, and can identify him as "that guy who smokes a lot." That will make you stand out in a crowd. ON THE OTHER HAND, too many details are just boring. Nobody cares about the exact dimensions of the room you are in when you are giving an interview. Nobody cares about what color the paperweight is on your desk. Believe me, people do it. And SOME Fed Owners mistake an overabundance of description as "good writing." If that was good writing, The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne would be more popular.
7. Have a point- If a summary of your roleplay would go something like, "The character did some stuff for awhile," it's time to edit. At the very least, you should be working towards a punchline.
8. Your character is not invincible- Give him some character flaws. Flawed characters are far more interesting than perfect ones. Think about how much more interesting a flawed person like, say, The Rock is, than someone like say, Goldberg. Invincible boring AND there's nowhere to go when you lose.
9. Following up to #8, lose gracefully- I once saw a rookie who challenged a real monster and got creamed. The very next night, he did an Roleplay that said "So I lost. It happens. Now who want's some?" I was impressed. I expected the kid to quit. He wasn't a great Roleplayer, but that took chutzpah. I dug it.
10. Most importantly, BE INTERESTING- This is more or less a summary of all the other 9 rules. If you can't hold someone's attention, you need to figure something else out. You can write technically perfect roleplays but if you didn't get my interest, I probably won't read the whole thing.
Along with Bill’s 10 points there is one more to make about spelling and grammar, most all the experts we interviewed here for this article all mention it as a key ingredient. So use spell check, everyone has it on their commuters whether you think so or not. Believe it or not it can make the world of difference in understanding one thing you are trying to say and changing an entire roleplay into confusion.
So now we now what makes a good roleplay, so what makes a bad one?
”Being a heel and having face reactions in an roleplay. Using the wrong HTML codes. Making your wrestler out to be a God. Powerbombing and beating up innocent cameramen. Not going with the current angles and tossing out challenges to people not in any way shape or form involved with you at that time,” says Phil Zygmunt, Owner of ICWA Online.
”Repetition, you can only tell a wrestler that he sucks in so many different ways. Insulting someone’s manhood only works if you can do it in an original way. Repeating yourself in subsequent roleplays is bad enough but repeating yourself in the same roleplay is a sure mark of a bad roleplayer. Lack of consistency, this mainly refers to staying in character in a roleplay. If an is meant to be out of character make the whole thing out of character and many feds have separate Out Of Character Boards anyway. Not knowing who, Wrestlers should know a little bit about the people they are “speaking” to in order for the interview to make sense. In addition wrestlers should know who the champions are before they start making challenges to them,” says President Martin of the LWA.
So who is your character and does he have a past or story to tell? Most of our experts say he’d better or he’ll never go anywhere.
”You can’t get into a storyline if people don’t know your gimmick or identity,” says President Hamid.
”The importance is to get the character “over” as a personality and get him to slightly stand out prior to involving him in any heavy storylines,” says Aidan Campbell.
”I’m partial to the trial by fire method. I think a character should jump into a fed like a ball of clay and develop his character as time progresses. Too many pig hole themselves into a very rigid character and then have no where to go,” says President Martin.
What happens after a character is developed and ready to jump in the mix and get involved with storylines? Is there a certain way to trash talk, is there such a thing as too much of it?
”Some wrestlers make a good living as trash talkers but you really have to be good to exist on trash talk alone. Like everything people get bored of it and a wrestler has to be able to reinvent himself if he wants to stay in the title scene for a long time, “ says President Martin.
Bill Laird agrees, “Rolelplays devoted entirely to trash talking are boring and pointless. Go somewhere with it.”
So there is a fine line but what if there are no ideas, what if you run out? Can you salvage or save yourself from certain plummeting in the rankings abyss?
”Oh god that’s the million dollar question. I would say finds a new person to feud with for one. Fighting the same people can be too much, challenge some one out of the blue,” says Bill Laird.
”Of course the old adage, “write what you know” applies not only to short stories but roleplays as well. That’s the easiest to play a character that is like yourself. Incorporating real-life occurrences gives your character a little realism as well as something new to talk about,” suggests President Martin.
Aidan Campbell has been in the game for sometime, he currently runs a character called Devon Campbell in the LWA but is about to embark on his own in a fed opening June 1st named WWWA(World Wide Wrestling Alliance). He has as President Martin suggested to incorporate real life occurrences into his roleplaying by using his fed, soon to be opened by a “cousin” and making shifty business moves and alliances. It has caused quite the stir in the LWA and Devon in just a short time became one of the most targeted wrestlers in the fed. Something else though that is very evident in his roleplays is what he suggested if you run into trouble, “Watch wrestling shows, rent old PPV’s on tape and some elaborate promos and training footage. Also read, read, read, I got one of my recent angle ideas from a Stephen King novel as weird as it sounds.”
There is so many influences on a character floating out there and believe it or not, so many get unused. You never know what is going to work but it certainly could be worth a shot. Does that mean technology with all you can do, adding sounds, changing colors, and putting up banners is part of that test process?
”HTML tags and banners mean little, I appreciate the effect of basic italics and bolding but 300 point purple letters and banners mean nothing if the content of an interview is lousy. There’s an old saying that you can take a piece of crap and shine it up but you got to show for it is a shiny piece of crap,” says Campbell.
”If you want to have a full package roleplay, the HTML and banners come with it. It doesn’t count that much when a winner is decided, but believe me, it makes a difference, “ says President Hamid.
Most agree in moderation it’s good to use but don’t make it an emphasize.
All and all there is a lot of thought and production value in a great roleplay, even a very good one, you can’t just put together a good roleplay in a few minutes and expect it to sell. Maybe every once and a while you can get away with it but to be a champion takes time and effort and a good, solid roleplay is always where the push starts and stops.
