By Gabby

Here at ReVolutionary Theory, our number one goal is to address the needs and concerns of our readers. We received a request asking for tips on how to run a successful room, and Gabby’s going to give us exactly that! However, let’s remember that everyone’s opinion of what constitutes a successful room is different, and as Gabby’s writing from her own experiences, her views may differ from yours, your room leader’s, or even ReVo’s. With that in mind, Gabby, take it away!

When assignments were handed out, it seemed that this was the only one left unclaimed. Stands to reason, right? It’s a touchy subject, and frankly, no two rooms are going to be alike. Once upon a time, you could actually get into the mechanics of keeping players interested and a room full and running smoothly. But, that is a bygone era that no one really wants to talk about besides the old timers like myself.

This was a requested subject, which suggests that others do want it to be written about. Hopefully, this doesn’t disappoint. Just remember that disclaimer above!

First things, first:

What is a successful room in your mind? Is it having a room where you can roleplay what you want to roleplay, without anyone else telling you that you’re doing it wrong? Does traffic make the room successful to you, or does the roleplay itself? Those are important things to consider. You have to decide what makes a room successful in your mind, not in the minds of others.

The world of chat roleplay has changed in the past two decades. It used to be that all the rooms that were open would have busy periods. It didn’t matter who the room leader was – everyone played there anyway. Over the years, that evolved. The storylines didn’t carry with characters from one room to another, but rather stayed within the room itself. Less and less was it acceptable to take one character to any and every room.

Introduce: Character sheets.

We could argue about character sheets all day long, but that’s not what this article is supposed to be about. However, allow me to point to a few rooms up in the creative area of our whochat: the SOA rooms. Perfect opportunity for successful cross roleplay that could pull in a lot of interest. Having a character sheet in one SOA room means you have one in all. After all, if your character is a Son in one chapter, shouldn’t he be accepted when he visits another?

The problem with it is that there are less players than there were in, say, 2000. You don’t see the mass of players that you saw back when players would go from room to room – together. There are many reasons for such, but one is the fact that it doesn’t stay in character as it once did. There are more and more tiny groups of core players, and some don’t play well with others. This can kill roleplay, or the potential for such, when you have bans.

There are some rooms that have been opened that should be among the most successful to date, that offer complete freedom for the player to intermix with others without hassle. But it seems the day has waned that even that is widely wanted.

Therefore, we come back to our original question: As a room leader, what is success, to you?

If it’s all about attendance, and the amount of minds filling the room with bodies, then we need to approach it as such. This means you have to wear many different hats, yet not that many sets of clothes – read, characters.

1. You must actually be able to play with and hand-hold the newbies that are new to the genre you have, as well as actively include them in storylines every time they are in the room. You will need to actively set them up in such every time they want to come into the room, keep the posts smaller so they aren’t overwhelmed. Actively do board posts to keep them invested and interested, and allow them to become integral to storylines and in-character leadership as you can.

2. Even as you do this, you will also need to be entertaining those with a medium level of experience. Do bigger posts that will actively engage and interest that level of roleplayer, yet still do some hand holding for when they are unable to find storylines that will hold their interest. Depending on the individual player, it’s also possible that they may not be able to contribute their own content to your storyline, and are more likely to simply go along with what you create.

3. Then, you have the more experienced, yet problematic, player. This will be the player that you won’t have to hand-hold, but you may have clean up their messes. They will be able to entertain themselves; however, this entertainment just as often creates its own brand of trouble due to players not paying attention to what else is going on in the room. You can either be a hall monitor type of room leader who steps in to prevent their storylines from being damaged, or just let it lie and leaves those players to themselves.

4. Next are the players that are only there for the hookups. This may actually cover a larger amount of players than some realize. They want only to play this, they don’t want to play with others, and they generally feel imposed upon if they are asked to play when there’s little to no chance that sex will be involved.

5. Last, but not least, are usually your best players, those that you want to bring into your room: The players that can help you with the creation and management of storylines. These are usually your in-character leaders. Unfortunately, they come with both the good and the bad as well. They can be great in pulling in other players and keeping the play going, but they can also be something of elitists and will at times end up turning off some other types, whether intentionally or not.

Most don’t want admit there are these types of players. Which makes this a great place to refer again to that disclaimer up top!

Now, if you are the type of room leader that is about having your own room just because you want that place to play out your own stories and have a core group of players, guess what? Your room is already a success! Honestly, why change what already works for you?

Just remember, sitting in a room day after day doesn’t cut it. You have to actively seek to play. Get in character, run a story by yourself. Sometimes, they will pull a player in just due to curiosity. Allow the OOC. The days of old where OOC wasn’t acceptable are long gone. Tell others to cut the OOC out, and you may lose players. Most want the OOC conversations. They want to chit chat. Roleplay among that, and sooner or later, they will join in just because of what’s going on.

It’s the running of dynamic storylines mixed with intriguing characters that will make you successful in drawing in players. It is making the storylines easy to follow along that will keep those players going. Don’t make it all too complicated. KISS is the best way here.

Also, keep it fun. After that, everything else will fall into order.

Do you have your own opinion on what makes a successful room? We’d love to hear from you! Start a thread on the ReVolutionary Theory Forum, or contact us about contributing an article for our next issue!