User blog:Zippertrain85/How to be a Good GM in Roleplaying

So, Roleplaying, I've had some blogs on it, which looking back on, think I made some mistakes in logic. None the less, I still think in theory I was somewhat correct in what I was saying. There are certain standards a GM is expected to live up to in a Roleplay, so I thought, why not list a few of these out. Since, being a GM isn't as easy as it looks. Without further ado, here are some tips on how to be a decent GM in your RPs.

Have a plan
When you make an RP, you want to atleast have some idea how you want it to turn out. If the GM doesn't really know what's going to happen with the story as they're playing, it will fall apart. As regular users sometimes look up to the GM for some tips on where the story is going, without this stable guidence, the RP gets random, which in turn makes users lose internet quickly.

Be there
This is an obvious one, if the GM makes the RP and hardly contributes to it, the whole thing is going to start to go downhill, as I said before, people look up to them for guidence on the RP, if they don't ever show up or contribute to the story, it's going to be stuck without anything happening. So please, one you make an RP, stick to it!

Don't be too controlling
This is one of the things that really make me not want to RP. A GM should not be 100% controlling of every little aspect of an RP, as this ruins the fun for people, since I assume most play because they like to be creative. But when a GM has such a tight grip on the story that they basically dont let anyone do anything creative with their characters or even the story a little. It sucks the fun out of an RP when a GM is veryt controlling over how the story is, might as well just write fanfiction if you're going to be like that. XD

Be controlling to an extent
Now, I know this sounds like a contradiction to my other advice piece, but hear me out please! A GM does need to be kind of in control of what happens in the RP, or else people will just walk all over you. If the GM just lets every user do whatever they want the whole RP would be a mess. People would do what ever they wanted, there would likely be no coherent story, there would be arguments that no one would have the authority or power to resolve, and much more. A little bit of leadership is not a bad thing.

Don't be Generic
When you make an RP, there needs to be something that sperates it from the rest (as there are a few RP on here), one way to do this is to have interesting ideas and stories. Making RPs that constantly re-tell the same story are not unique or creative, they're generic! Not to be confused with re-makes, those can be good if done right, I mean like let's say some adventure Roleplays, some might have different characters and settings but overall some just always tell the same story.

Don't Lorebreak
This is obvious, nobody wants to be part of an RP that makes no sense in the Elder Scrolls Universe. I get in order to be creative sometimes lore does need to be distorted a little, but don't take it so far that it completely puts into question a huge established lore fact. These drive people since most who actually RP here know the Elder Scrolls, and want to do stuff that involves the already set-up lore from the games (and books).

Be mature and unbiased
This is another thing I cannot stand when a GM does, what I'm talking about is when they act biased and/or immature when it comes to issues between users to the RP in it's self. Like when a GM says "I'm the GM, so therefor I'm going to make you lose this fight against my character" or when in a disagreement "I'm going to side with this user's point because we are friends on Social Media", a GM has a responsiblity to be fair when making an RP, it's a lot of power controlling an entire thread and a good idea can be ruined by just one user's bad behavior.

Well, those are my tips for now, might possibly do another one of these in the future, but for any GMs out there or any aspiring GMs, take some notes now, and remember that being a GM can be very fun and a good way to gain connection with users, but only when they do it correctly.