Hello Friends,

[disregard the below, as I have read the FAQ, and I feel like an idiot XD]

Pardon me for my complete ignorance when it comes to forums etc., and please be sure to correct me any of my misgivings. And that is the purpose for my visit here.

I was off looking at the advertised games for players, and I noticed that most of them had applications without responses, so I was wondering: how do you go about applying to a game? What is involved in that process? I suppose making a character and backstory seems self-evident here, but by what means should I get this sort of information to an interested (or disinterested (or even worse uninterested)) GM?

There was also a bit of jargon on some of the posts that I didn't quite understand. Something about RTJ or something? Apologies, I can't go back and look, and I didn't have the forethought to copy and paste what some of those terms were.

Thank you for your understanding.

Knees

P.S. How do I go about updating a signature or maybe a bit about myself on the side like I see on so many other people's posts? Is that as simple as in User Preferences?

P.P.S. Sorry I'm so stupid X3
This message was last edited by the user at 21:41, Thu 26 Mar 2015.

No need to feel badly. We are all new at something from time to time. Did you get your questions answered in the FAQ about the "signature." If not you can edit it from the user preferences button, next to your name and under the rpol banner on the left.

There's lots of games to join and a flavor for every season to be sure. So, welcome and good gaming!

In reply to Knees (msg # 1):

RTJ is just an acronym for 'Request To Join'...the official process of requesting to be part of the game (as each GM sets up their own criteria for what they want out of such requests, there's not really any standardized approach to getting into a game, except to actually go to the game, read any relevant information posted there--typically in a thread that references RTJ information--and clicking the 'Request Access' link in the top right section of the screen while you're in that particular game.  What you have to do beyond that is entirely up to the individual GM...)

In reply to Knees (msg # 1):

Don't sweat it. I've only been gaming a few months but have found the people here very happy to help. You'll end up learning terms like fanboy(girl), power gamer, Betty Sue, and such as you learn to game.

Some stuff I learned the hard way, for myself AND the poor gamers I learned the hard way with;

Don't Assume, really! I thought I knew best more than once and learned not only don't I, but you can drive yourself out of a game by alienating everyone. I don't mean they tell you to go, I mean I left apologizing because I'd screwed up AND insulted them with my arrogance.

Take suggestions from the GM seriously, and do as they say. It might not be to your immediate advantage but not doing so can really mess up your game and other's too. Twice I ended up leaving a game because I had spent a couple of weeks doing things MY way,only to find my ideas made for a very weak, not easily playable character. Not worth the trouble.

If you are hungry, angry, upset or overtired because of ANYTHING, don't post. Read all you like, but those are the situations I found I could over react, misunderstand as well as be misunderstood, take any statement wrong, write something wrong (as in inappropriate, unintentionally insulting, stupid ie mistakes of bad mood/attitude/emotionally wrong), or be insensitive.

Be polite, courteous, and helpful WHENEVER possible.
As much as I've screwed up and made mistakes, the GMs and players have been great.
I make sure now to let them know I have limited gaming experience, that I'm disabled, and go through a lot of pain. A person snaps when in bad pain or reacts badly. Knowing this GMs and even players have pointed out a out of character post or character post looked like a cranky reaction that I should delete and not post more then. When I listened, I'm still in those games. When I didn't listen properly I left the game, so far. Though they had every right to ask me to leave afterwards, they didn't ban me or kick me out. They did leave it up to me to make the proper choice, so I could learn and do right. So in those situations I've apologized for my screw ups, mistakes are acceptable and good, screw ups I've found come from not listening properly, not following advice and postings when I shouldn't.

The stuff I've just shared is about how the people in rpol have helped with my difficulties, but no matter what your skills, talents, or difficulties I strongly suggest taking what I shared to heart.

The way to have and provide the best gaming experience, even if you have disabilities, challenges, or years of experience ;seems to be with the focus on respect, understanding, paying attention, an open mind, and taking suggestions from GM along with fellow players. Even if you're an expert in a particular gaming system, common sense is hard to come by.

*grin*  Compromise is only a dirty word in politics...for the rest of us, it's the best, easiest way to keep everything running smoothly.

In reply to ClydeSebastian (msg # 4):

That's... Really great advice ClydeSebastian. I could have used some of that back in the early days for sure. I think I'm pretty open minded now, but who knows? Maybe I'm just fooling myself. :)

Thanks to everyone and their kindly words!

I didn't even expect to get a single response considering the silliness of the question(s) and it's good to see that the community is both helpful and understanding (well, at least you lovely people are).

Much obliged.

In reply to Knees (msg # 7):
In my opinion, asking questions
or asking questions in a different way is anything but stupid.

Stupid is when you know something doesn't work, is hurtful, and you do it anyway. Like ragging on someone who doesn't know a system, when they don't have the money or resources to get them, and yet being unwilling to teach them.

For that matter allowing yourself to be ragged ON even after you've gained some self esteem because they are your friend. Friends don't rag on you like that.

You started a thread that got us all thinking about the positives on rpol.

In my books that makes you an
Everyday Hero(ine)
This message was last edited by the user at 03:06, Wed 01 Apr 2015.

In reply to ClydeSebastian (msg # 8):

XD Hope in humanity has been partially (albeit very slightly) restored!