In a Roleplay game, we play the role of our character, and all our actions affect the story around them directly, and as your character grows, the world story moves forward and the world can change directions.

Seeking to bring the biggest freedom possible in a virtual world, the game was made with this style, focused in playing a role. Basically, there’s a pack of rules and systems that allows interactions between the players and the game.

In Azusa, the character’s actions are an important part of the generation you’re playing, since you can start as a child with a simple life and, depending on what happens around you, your character can become a legendary guardian that might save or destroy the world; create or destroy a town or become a king or a queen! These unlimited possibilities are only possible when the players follow the basic rules of roleplay.

The terms with its meanings are self-explanatory:

• IC, In Character, is everything the character does
  
• OOC, Out Of Character, is everything the player does.

To start a roleplaying game, both concepts must be well-known and distinguished, since they’re one of the most important concepts for a good performance in this type of game. The definition is as simples as shown above, but let’s dive into some details:

You might want something that your character might not want. So when you’re playing you must play your character taking into account their decisions, and not only yours. It’s like a theater where you play a character made by someone, in Azusa it’s no different, you create a character, think as it and play as it, it’s never as you.

Some commands distinguish those two definitions: the speeches that appear in green in the game’s chat box, accessed by the S key, are all IC, being visible only by those around, unless they’re followed by parenthesis as in the following example:

Inu: I’m hungry! Can you help me? (Hey john :D)

What has been said outside of the parenthesis it’being said by the character, and what has been said inside the parenthesis is what the player is saying OOC to those around, which is called Local OOC. The image in this section also is a good example of Local OOC, where the characters talk about their roleplay as players.

In red we have the OOC Global chat, acessed by the space key. Its where the characters usually speak with one another, but remember, never give IC informations on OOC.

There is a command called Roleplay, using the B key, and there you can write your character’s actions to give the game some life and action. The Roleplay/Emote verb is really important and the good players use it constantly.

The roleplay isn’t used only to describe something, but it gives a certain value and fun to your character’s development. While you’re using the Roleplay command, write as if you were writing a book, describing the action/scene in third person, but always your character’s only, never a third party’s. Basically you will only control your character, and not someone else’s.

Every Roleplay and IC conversations are saved in your character’s logs. They will be later compared to the whole online player base and the best and more active players receive Roleplay Points, and there are RP checks every hour, and those points can be used to get lots of stuff like: Status, learn new training methods by yourself, cosmo, and more!

A powergamer focus only and mainly on the fact of being strong, when winning or increasing status are the only true reason to play, eventually leaving the development and roleplay aside in any type of situations.

Basic examples: doing walls of texts for a flower-picking RP only seeking to win RPP and ignoring the opportunity to make an interaction with a player close by.

Don't be this person!

To learn more about it, with more clear examples and a more deep explanation, click [here] and be directed to thec complete guide about Powergaming.

The metagamer is the player that forces situations for their roleplay in stupid ways, e.g.: they won’t play with someone that don’t bring useful things, but will force roleplays with important characters only to get a better role. The metagamer is also the person who puts their OOC thesis and wills to change the character’s situation.

Don't be this person!

In the picture ahead we see an example of metagame through the use of OOC information; its called IC in OOC, avoid doing that too. Another person can end up using that info to force a situation, as is the case of the player in the Athena statue. IC no one knows that he’s there, unless those his character spoke of, but after sending OOC messages with IC info, the metagaming can be made by using these informations.

To know more about this, with better examples and a deeper explanation, click [here] and be redirected to the complete guide about Metagame.

If you’re good and learn to separate IC and OOC you will be able to avoid becoming a metagamer and will have more fun playing your life with your singularity, when you become more interested in the real roleplay, interactions and story developing, more than just status and forced achieviments, you will have more fun and will be seen as a better player.

Well, godmode is basically making a Roleplay of something your character can’t do, e.g.:

While you’re only a farmer, making a roleplay claiming that your character dodged an Elite Guardian’s ataque, who’s probably 30x faster than you are, is godmod. In other words, godmoders

are players that constantly try to ignore the physical and mechanical limitations given to your characters and try to abuse that.

Don't be that guy!

Another classical example for that is to make a roleplay claiming that a poisoned arrow shot by your character fatally wounded your targed. Ignoring all the possible dialogues between the mechanics and roleplaying that Azusa promotes, no one dies only because you wrote so in your roleplay text.
Does it means its impossible to kill someone with an arrow? No, it is possible. Without godmode it’s indeed possible to kill someone with a poison arrow, but isn’t your text alone that will define that, who or what defines that factor is the game’s mechanics.

There’s also opportunities to roll dices and to have the agreement of both players to do the mechanic of judging an action outside of the usual paths, and you can also do that witouth godmode, e.g.:

Player 1: (uhhh I mean, I have a poison vial here and an arrow, I will shoot it at your char, if you take 1 damage and I draw a 10 in the dice, you drink the poison, k?)
Player 2 (Yeah, go for it)

Both agreeded with the idea and so Player 1 does the attacking roleplay and shoot the arrow, it ends up dealing more than 1 damage and the result in the dice is 15. Player 2 makes the following roleplay, describing how the arrow scratched and poisoned him, and then drinks the poison given by the Player 1, when the scene reaches its conclusion soon.

The fun in playing isn’t only the victory, winning is fun too, but your character’s development can’t be skipped, or it won’t even be fun to play. Act like someone strong when you are strong, play as someone weak when you are weak and you will be fine. Also don’t try to roleplay controlling otherpeople’s characters or the actions they do! That is also considered godmode.

Some characters develop themselfes to become powerful and important in the Azusa world, we call these characters “ranked”, e.g.:

A town’s Grand Master, that haves the obligation to be a leader to everyone, acting as the one with the biggest political power in that region;

An Elite Guardian, who haves a high power inside a Guardian’s army, with the duty to teach the weaker ones and carry on their legacy;

A God with deliriums of grandeur, trying to protect or destroy the world;

A Dark Sorcerer living in the forest with dark and obscure plans against the creation.
These positions are usually roles that are played by different characters, but the roles stay in the story: The rankings are really important and to become most of them it is needed a minimum value of Roleplay Points (RPP) to be sure that you’re a good enough player to not fail.

The Ranks usually have duties, characteristics and sometimes even pre-set objectives, e.g: the king must protect and rule a city; and so on. If you have a role or rank, remember that those roles or ranks always come with responsibilities and most of them are made to generate adequated Roleplays for the whole playerbase! Ranks usually earn uniques relics, advantages and even trainig methods!