The most important point to remember in order to be a successful roleplayer is that the term "roleplayer" should be taken very literally. When playing the game, you are supposed to be playing a role. Before you begin you need to decide what your character is going to be.
Think of traditional wrestling characters. There are a variety of different personas your character can adapt, but whichever one you choose, always remember that there will be limitations on what you can do. If you decide you are going to control a dark, mysterious, gothic-type character (in the style of the original Undertaker), that's fine, but always remember when doing a roleplay or an event strategy that this is your character. This type of character doesn't care about money, so he shouldn't be giving interviews lounging by the swimming pool at his mansion. Drinking and sex are not going to be significant parts of the character, so having him hang out in bars or talking about getting laid all the time isn't going to make a whole lot of sense. Conduct interviews in settings that fit the character, and write your dialogue accordingly. A Ted DiBiase-esque rich man will shoot promos at the mansion; a pimp character should talk about his women. A character who tries to delve into everything will lack direction and not make for very interesting writing. In other words, your character will never get off the ground and have a very hard time winning matches. It is better to be a little repetitive but consistant than to be doing something entirely different in each post which makes it hard to define the persona.
ROLEPLAY: Your roleplays will be the primary way you define your character. Writing three lines about how you challenge so-and-so or how you're going to kick everyone's ass does not constitute a roleplay; it constitutes a waste of not only my time, but the time of everyone who clicks on your post. Don't do it. There is no room in EWI for people who can't write a properly formatted roleplay. You should establish a setting early in your RP. Tell the reader where your character is and what he's doing. Often times a roleplay should take the format of the vignettes the WWF commonly used to introduce new characters in the early 1990s. For example, when Jeff Jarrett was playing his "Double J" country singer gimmick, his segments would have him playing the guitar in a bar or outside of a country record store. It wasn't simply Jarrett standing in front of a wall and talking. He didn't have to say "I'm Jeff Jarrett and I'm a country singer" because it was obvious what he was supposed to be by watching the segment. If you have to come out and explain in your dialogue what your character is supposed to be, you need to go back and re-establish your setting. Without setting, you have nothing.
Once you have established your setting, attempt to tell a story with your dialogue. Don't simply tell everyone that you're going to kick your next opponent's ass a half dozen times and leave it at that. Include a bit of back story on your rivalry. Elaborate on your thoughts on that specific opponent and why you want to beat him. Talk about the reprecussions of your match.
Most importantly, don't use the same post over and over again. There will be similarities between roleplays if you are consistant with your character, but it should not seem like you are simply copy-and-pasting the same interview every time you post. Be creative. Make people want to read your posts every time.
STRATEGIES: These will also help distinguish your character, but will be used by the writing staff in preparing show results rather than being posted on the roleplay board. For each match you participate in, you will be required to send in a strategy. This should be a description of how your character would approach a given match. It should be written in the format of a match. Basically, assume that your opponent is not going to get in any offense whatsoever and write how your character would proceed through the match. You should consider a different strategy for each opponent. If you are a smaller wrestler facing a super heavyweight, you would naturally need to adapt a different strategy that if you were facing another wrestler of comparable size to your character. Be sure to include a finish for the match. Strategies are absolutely essential to the fed as they enable the writers to prepare show results. If handlers did not submit strategies the writers would have to make up the matches on their own, and most matches would be very, very similar. Strats allow handlers to write a wrestling style that best suits their character, and greatly lessens the burden on the writers. It also makes for a much more entertaining card.
Strategies can also be submitted for elements of a show other than your own match. If you want your wrestler to interfere in a given match, submit a strategy explaining what you want to do and why you should be allowed to interfere in that match. Same thing goes if you want to ambush someone backstage. If you have something very important to say, write it up in the format of an in-ring or backstage interview and send it it. If it is important to your character or ongoing storylines, it will be worked into the show. Inclusion of these angles in the show will be based on their importance to the development of angles as determined by the commissioner.
The most important thing to remember about roleplaying is that quality is more important than quantity. It's easy to post every day if you aren't putting much thought into your roleplays. A person who takes the time to post something solid a couple of times a week will be much more successful. Of course, if you have the time and the ability to post quality work frequently, you'll be that much better off.
Any questions about this tutorial should be directed to the commissioner.
