This guide is still a Work in Progress. Read it, give feedback, but do not take it as law.
Introduction: I submitted this guide to the Mesalia enjin site over two years ago. I saved it and have carried it with me through the years. I edited it to be more generic, edited it to be more specific, and then tried to move it back into terms of Mesalia. The poor girl's a mess. Please give me some feedback on this, when it was first submitted it generated a fair amount of traction and interest, I believe it could genuinely help. However, this is a large task. Something this broad will have mistakes and issues and things have certainly changed in the two years since it's been Mesalia formatted. So, drop me some feedback so this can be a wonderful resource for players, new and old alike.
Current Work List:
-Section about playing the opposite sex
-Section about doing research for your characters
-Section on the setting (It's medieval, it's not high fantasy, realism)
-Redo the skill section a little bit, edit some wording, shoe-in the current skill guide.
-[Potential] Include what types of technology are available and around. Possibly include a link to the rune guide or some more information regarding that. This might require a bit of staff collusion.
-[Potential] A list of things that do not exist in Mesalia, such as creepers and other minecraft specific things that don't exist. Also, technology that doesn't exist in the setting such as cars and planes and things of that nature. This and the previous are more detailed things to be put into the section regarding the medieval time period and setting in general.
-[Potential]Add links to some online test type things that test for Mary Sue-ness.
- update this to be Mesalia current.
This is a large effort, don't expect this to suddenly be done overnight. I'd rather this guide be perfect and wonderful, rather than rushed and not so great.
Welcome! My name is Brewstone and I've been roleplaying for a very long time. I've done Mesalia, I've done D&D, I've done a ton of other RPGs. So trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Now, I've seen many different characters, some good and some bad, some dull, some interesting. As such, I think I am qualified to write a short guide on what to do to make a good character. For people entirely new to roleplay and for more experienced people looking to make a new character, all are free to use what you will.
Well, you've thought of a great new character. S/He's cool, fun, fancy, and a real badass. But wait. This is an RP server. Not an RPG. Listen, we all want to play awesome ninjas, murderers, thieves, and the like but they can be extremely difficult to play. If you make a character with a limited skill set it is hard for your character to survive. On the other hand, if they have a ton of skills you won't have fun with playing out any of your weaknesses. I highly suggest that you pick an easier to RP character as your first character, or even second. Until you get a good feeling of how the server works, it's best to keep it simple. I've made a list of professions and assigned a difficulty of playing it. If you're new to RP I suggest you start with an easy one. If you're not new to RP but new to the server it might be good to start with a medium one. Do what feels comfortable, but remember, don't pick a profession if you can't do it justice.
Easy:
Miner
Farmer
Lumberjack
Shopkeeper
Any sort of profession that involves gathering materials. These characters always have a way to contribute to society, and it's easy to strike up conversation with other players as your character provides needed materials.
Medium:
Guard
Huntsman
Politician
Builder
Any sort of lawful fighter. Professions that don't bring anything of worth into society by themselves require a bit more skill to roleplay properly. A guardsmen is essentially useless if no one is committing crimes and a politician can be impossible if there's no government in place. However, a more skilled roleplayer can take advantage of these situations a still get their character involved.
Hard:
Murderers
Thieves
Crazies
Seductress
Any character that is highly chaotic. Characters that don't bring anything positive into society are very hard to play. Frequently they will be shunned by other characters because of their nature. It requires a very skilled roleplayer to be able to use this to their advantage and create unique roleplay based around the hatred for their character. If you are new, you should stay away from professions such as these.
Wonderful! You've made your new character and you have a profession chosen. But...is s/he balanced? What does balance mean? Well, would the character win about half the time against an equally skilled character? How many skills does your character have? Is he a master swordsman/blacksmith/builder? Think about what you are capable of. Use that as a basis of what sort of skill levels your character would have. For example, I make a new character that fought in the war so he learned to fight, he helped with the building of defenses and kept his own weapons in good repair. Therefore he would be a skilled fighter with some skill in building, with a specialty with defensive fortifications, and a very small ability to craft and maintain weapons. A good suggestion to make a new character, if you're not sure, is to give your character one trained skill, one skill with proficiency, and one weak skill, remember this applies to characters that are about 20 and is not the only way to go about it, it's a general guideline. Of course other skills can be added for character depth such as singing or playing a musical instrument, but remember that these take time to learn as well. I've added a short list of skills sorted into categories to help you think of some.
For more in-depth skill discussion, I suggest you take a look at the official skill guide here.
Combat:
Sword fighting
Hunting
Archery
Hand to hand fighting
Any skills that affect combat. Most people will know how to hold a knife, even if poorly, but few people will know how to properly fence. Remember that certain skills are harder to learn than others and require more time to become good at them.
Building:
Carpentry
Masonry
Black smiting
Architect
Towns need buildings. Buildings require maintenance. People need small things built. Builders, of any nature, are always needed. And please consider the fact that "building" is rarely a skill on its own. Maybe you're a mason and work with stone, maybe you're a blacksmith and work with metal. Rarely is the skill "builder" descriptive enough, and it really does need some depth to it.
Gathering:
Mining
Lumberjack
Fishing
Farming
Gathering professions are the backbone of any town. Sure, it might be that some people can survive off the land, but a scribe isn't going to know how to mine minerals. There are tons of types of gathering and every single one is needed. Maybe your character tended berry bushes and so they know how to find berries. Maybe they were a lumberjack and can bring in wood. There is always space for gatherers in Mesalia.
Domestic:
Cooking
Healing
Tailoring
Brewing
If half the town is out gathering things, the other half had better be using it. Many of these skills are needed and provide great opportunities to roleplay. Please consider the phrase "show, don't tell", especially in these professions. It's easy to say "She chops the vegetables." but it's more interesting to say "She chops the vegetables with a fast rolling motion, rocking the knife back and forth on the cutting board."
Character depth skills:
Singing
Playing an instrument
Artist
Storyteller
Lying
Things that don't offer any major advantage over another character. These skills are something that most people pick up while doing other things. People learn to play the guitar while working as a guard, or they tell stories to pass the time. Please remember that you actually have to roleplay these skills, so if you know nothing about painting and couldn't accurately describe how your character paints, it might be best to pick another skill.
So far, so good. You have a profession, skills, are balanced, and are ready to get into the RP! But wait, how does your character interact with others? Seeing as how the server is based mostly around non-combat RP it is important that your character's personality be well developed. It is similar to being balanced. Being the mean villain that hates everyone might be fun for a while, but what about when s/he meets a character that makes them rethink their life? What about when your character gets lonely and desires company? The same applies to the noble knight. No one is perfect, what happens when you encounter someone that makes your character angry? Or constantly ridicules them for their beliefs? Every character needs to have depth, and to have depth, you need character traits. There are good traits and there are bad traits. There are even traits that are neither good nor bad. Try to pick two to five good traits and one to three bad traits. More of these might show up within the RP and some of these might change. Neutral traits are fair game. Feel free to pick however many of these you think might be appropriate. A list of some of these has been included.
Good traits:
Honest
Caring
Independent
Smart
Wise
Friendly
These traits are mostly those that help you have good relationships with other characters. If you have these traits other people will get along better with your character and will smooth things out. Try to pick the traits that fit your character. If you have a thief, they probably wouldn't be too honest about what they do.
Neutral traits:
Drinking
Smoking
Manipulative
Stubborn
Religious
Hiding emotions
These traits make your character feel alive. If there's down time do they roll up a dog ear? Do they get nervous? Variety is the spice of life and with a character, it needs to be spicy. If you're doing the same things over and over, it gets boring for you and the people you're roleplaying with. Keep it fresh, and add some traits to make it a lot more fun.
Bad traits:
Violent
Jealous
Addictions
Depressed
Temperamental
Fears
These traits, while bad for your character, are great for you. What if your character is easily frightened and they are faced with a terrifying situation? Will they bull through their fear? Or will they sit there crying like a little child? What if they're jealous? Conflict breeds interest. This doesn't mean that there constantly needs to be fighting between the characters, but if your character has weaknesses, they can be extremely fun to interact with, for you and for others.
This section could be miles long. There is an almost limitless number of things that help you get accepted and things that hurt your chances. Here is a quick rundown of what you need to do to get your backstory accepted.
1. Add relation to the lore. Show how the lore of the server affected the character. Or explain why the lore doesn't affect the character. If your character is going to live in the world, make sure that it shows that they do.
2. Use proper spelling and grammar. Not all of us are Grammar Nazis so we won't destroy you for making some mistakes. However, having good grammar and spelling makes it much easier to understand the backstory. If the whitelisters can't understand it they'll make sure to point it out and you'll have to go back over it. I understand that some of our players are non-native English speakers. That is 100% fine. Just use a quick spell check, there are plenty online, to go over the story and it should correct about 90% of the issues.
3. Follow the correct application format. This might seem a bit obvious but some people seem to not follow this simple and easy rule. If you don't follow the format you're not going to get accepted, simple as that.
4. Avoid words like magic. There is nothing more scary than finding an application with the word magic in it when we strive for realism. If a performer does amazing tricks those may be referred to as magic by characters in your story, but it’s actually sleight of hand and a well trained performer. It's not actual magic. This also applies to other things. Keep your story realistic. If a dragon comes out of nowhere and destroys an entire nation, it's going to have to be rewritten.
5. Use paragraphs to split the story up. Separating the story based on what happens in each paragraph makes it much easier to read. Remember, a happy whitelister is less likely to see faults and more likely to see the well written story beneath.
6. Have the story end in the setting. The RP takes place there so you better hope that your character is present.
7. Logic logic logic! Does everything make sense? Could your character destroy an entire army by him/herself? Does he even have skills in sword fighting? Does the story explain how your character got each skill and give a fair idea on how they acquired their personality? Make the story flows and have each event make as much sense as the last. If your story is a list of events, get ready for a rewrite. But if your story is a giant mess that's hard to follow, also get ready for a rewrite.
This section could be as long as anything I've ever seen. However, I'll simply touch on a few things.
1. Use shading. Shading makes the clothes and hair of a character look alive. No person has clothes and hair that are exactly the same shade as every other part. This can be hard to do, but work at it. Remember, there are dozens of resources on the internet for people looking for a good skin.
2. Make the skin fit your character. If your character is blond with green eyes and tanned skin, don't have a skin with black hair, blue eyes, and incredibly pale. This applies to clothes as well.
3. Make your skin look natural. If they eyes are too big, or the mouth is overly large, it might be strange. The biggest thing here it to keep relative sizes in mind when making a skin. Be careful with it.
4. Don't overuse the burn tool or auto shading. It can lead to the skin looking messed up and gross. The key here is moderation. If you use it lightly, it can add texture to a skin that is otherwise lacking it, if you use it too much, it looks like your character has a horrifying disease.
5. Don't be afraid to do something and then fix it. A skin is more than half mistakes that just happen to look nice. If you mess up, you can always go back and fix it.
6. The skin portion of the skin needs to look natural. Remember the relative size of each pixel you place. This applies to scars and tattoos. If your character has an arm tattoo, make sure it's properly sized, and looks good.
This section is other things that can spice up a roleplay for a character and general tips that don't belong anywhere else.
1. Small things. I'll take a line of common knowledge and apply it here. Enjoy the small things. Give your characters some small interesting things that make them unique. Add quirks or tells that each character has. Add in an accent, maybe they talk like a pirate or they slur their words. This can make an rp more interesting, humorous, or longer. People can easily react to these small things and quickly join into an rp or they can be used for character development.
2. Goals. Make sure that your character has goals. Many people make a character sheet on the forums to keep track of relationships, goals, and personality. It is understandable if you don't do this but, no matter what you do, you need to have goals for each character. Imagine playing a game with no purpose. You opened the game and had fun but then after a while it would dull. Characters are the same way. Always have a few goals, some short term and some long term, to have your character work on. They could be as serious as "Make a shrine to commemorate my dead parents." or as silly as "Find out why cows have spots." Have something for your character to do and have something to work for. Otherwise the character will dull very rapidly.
3. Take breaks. Life is hard enough to live as one person, so imagine how hard it is to live as two people. Take a break from Mesalia occasionally, even if it's just for a day, so that you don't get burned out. It's better to play less over a long period of time than to play constantly for two weeks and then leave because you lost interest.
4. Get involved in the community. The reason we're here is to have fun, but don't forget that Mesalia is made up of other people. Get in the Skype chat, talk with the other people there. Get to know them. At the end of the day, we're a community, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to be a part of.
5. Be bold. If you see an RP going on and you're not a part of it, don't be afraid to walk up in-character and see what's going on. Of course, don't be rude about it, but more often than not, people will be glad to have you join in the RP. The more the merrier.
This guide is just general tips and some helpful hints to playing on the server. But remember, it is just a guide. Use it as such, don't treat it as a holy text. Sometimes, I'll be dead wrong. Times might change and nothing in here even applies anymore. So take everything in here with a grain of salt. Good luck out there, it can be rough.
Introduction: I submitted this guide to the Mesalia enjin site over two years ago. I saved it and have carried it with me through the years. I edited it to be more generic, edited it to be more specific, and then tried to move it back into terms of Mesalia. The poor girl's a mess. Please give me some feedback on this, when it was first submitted it generated a fair amount of traction and interest, I believe it could genuinely help. However, this is a large task. Something this broad will have mistakes and issues and things have certainly changed in the two years since it's been Mesalia formatted. So, drop me some feedback so this can be a wonderful resource for players, new and old alike.
Current Work List:
-Section about playing the opposite sex
-Section about doing research for your characters
-Section on the setting (It's medieval, it's not high fantasy, realism)
-Redo the skill section a little bit, edit some wording, shoe-in the current skill guide.
-[Potential] Include what types of technology are available and around. Possibly include a link to the rune guide or some more information regarding that. This might require a bit of staff collusion.
-[Potential] A list of things that do not exist in Mesalia, such as creepers and other minecraft specific things that don't exist. Also, technology that doesn't exist in the setting such as cars and planes and things of that nature. This and the previous are more detailed things to be put into the section regarding the medieval time period and setting in general.
-[Potential]Add links to some online test type things that test for Mary Sue-ness.
- update this to be Mesalia current.
This is a large effort, don't expect this to suddenly be done overnight. I'd rather this guide be perfect and wonderful, rather than rushed and not so great.
Guide to new character creation
Welcome! My name is Brewstone and I've been roleplaying for a very long time. I've done Mesalia, I've done D&D, I've done a ton of other RPGs. So trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Now, I've seen many different characters, some good and some bad, some dull, some interesting. As such, I think I am qualified to write a short guide on what to do to make a good character. For people entirely new to roleplay and for more experienced people looking to make a new character, all are free to use what you will.
Professions
Well, you've thought of a great new character. S/He's cool, fun, fancy, and a real badass. But wait. This is an RP server. Not an RPG. Listen, we all want to play awesome ninjas, murderers, thieves, and the like but they can be extremely difficult to play. If you make a character with a limited skill set it is hard for your character to survive. On the other hand, if they have a ton of skills you won't have fun with playing out any of your weaknesses. I highly suggest that you pick an easier to RP character as your first character, or even second. Until you get a good feeling of how the server works, it's best to keep it simple. I've made a list of professions and assigned a difficulty of playing it. If you're new to RP I suggest you start with an easy one. If you're not new to RP but new to the server it might be good to start with a medium one. Do what feels comfortable, but remember, don't pick a profession if you can't do it justice.
Easy:
Miner
Farmer
Lumberjack
Shopkeeper
Any sort of profession that involves gathering materials. These characters always have a way to contribute to society, and it's easy to strike up conversation with other players as your character provides needed materials.
Medium:
Guard
Huntsman
Politician
Builder
Any sort of lawful fighter. Professions that don't bring anything of worth into society by themselves require a bit more skill to roleplay properly. A guardsmen is essentially useless if no one is committing crimes and a politician can be impossible if there's no government in place. However, a more skilled roleplayer can take advantage of these situations a still get their character involved.
Hard:
Murderers
Thieves
Crazies
Seductress
Any character that is highly chaotic. Characters that don't bring anything positive into society are very hard to play. Frequently they will be shunned by other characters because of their nature. It requires a very skilled roleplayer to be able to use this to their advantage and create unique roleplay based around the hatred for their character. If you are new, you should stay away from professions such as these.
Balance
Wonderful! You've made your new character and you have a profession chosen. But...is s/he balanced? What does balance mean? Well, would the character win about half the time against an equally skilled character? How many skills does your character have? Is he a master swordsman/blacksmith/builder? Think about what you are capable of. Use that as a basis of what sort of skill levels your character would have. For example, I make a new character that fought in the war so he learned to fight, he helped with the building of defenses and kept his own weapons in good repair. Therefore he would be a skilled fighter with some skill in building, with a specialty with defensive fortifications, and a very small ability to craft and maintain weapons. A good suggestion to make a new character, if you're not sure, is to give your character one trained skill, one skill with proficiency, and one weak skill, remember this applies to characters that are about 20 and is not the only way to go about it, it's a general guideline. Of course other skills can be added for character depth such as singing or playing a musical instrument, but remember that these take time to learn as well. I've added a short list of skills sorted into categories to help you think of some.
For more in-depth skill discussion, I suggest you take a look at the official skill guide here.
Combat:
Sword fighting
Hunting
Archery
Hand to hand fighting
Any skills that affect combat. Most people will know how to hold a knife, even if poorly, but few people will know how to properly fence. Remember that certain skills are harder to learn than others and require more time to become good at them.
Building:
Carpentry
Masonry
Black smiting
Architect
Towns need buildings. Buildings require maintenance. People need small things built. Builders, of any nature, are always needed. And please consider the fact that "building" is rarely a skill on its own. Maybe you're a mason and work with stone, maybe you're a blacksmith and work with metal. Rarely is the skill "builder" descriptive enough, and it really does need some depth to it.
Gathering:
Mining
Lumberjack
Fishing
Farming
Gathering professions are the backbone of any town. Sure, it might be that some people can survive off the land, but a scribe isn't going to know how to mine minerals. There are tons of types of gathering and every single one is needed. Maybe your character tended berry bushes and so they know how to find berries. Maybe they were a lumberjack and can bring in wood. There is always space for gatherers in Mesalia.
Domestic:
Cooking
Healing
Tailoring
Brewing
If half the town is out gathering things, the other half had better be using it. Many of these skills are needed and provide great opportunities to roleplay. Please consider the phrase "show, don't tell", especially in these professions. It's easy to say "She chops the vegetables." but it's more interesting to say "She chops the vegetables with a fast rolling motion, rocking the knife back and forth on the cutting board."
Character depth skills:
Singing
Playing an instrument
Artist
Storyteller
Lying
Things that don't offer any major advantage over another character. These skills are something that most people pick up while doing other things. People learn to play the guitar while working as a guard, or they tell stories to pass the time. Please remember that you actually have to roleplay these skills, so if you know nothing about painting and couldn't accurately describe how your character paints, it might be best to pick another skill.
Personality
So far, so good. You have a profession, skills, are balanced, and are ready to get into the RP! But wait, how does your character interact with others? Seeing as how the server is based mostly around non-combat RP it is important that your character's personality be well developed. It is similar to being balanced. Being the mean villain that hates everyone might be fun for a while, but what about when s/he meets a character that makes them rethink their life? What about when your character gets lonely and desires company? The same applies to the noble knight. No one is perfect, what happens when you encounter someone that makes your character angry? Or constantly ridicules them for their beliefs? Every character needs to have depth, and to have depth, you need character traits. There are good traits and there are bad traits. There are even traits that are neither good nor bad. Try to pick two to five good traits and one to three bad traits. More of these might show up within the RP and some of these might change. Neutral traits are fair game. Feel free to pick however many of these you think might be appropriate. A list of some of these has been included.
Good traits:
Honest
Caring
Independent
Smart
Wise
Friendly
These traits are mostly those that help you have good relationships with other characters. If you have these traits other people will get along better with your character and will smooth things out. Try to pick the traits that fit your character. If you have a thief, they probably wouldn't be too honest about what they do.
Neutral traits:
Drinking
Smoking
Manipulative
Stubborn
Religious
Hiding emotions
These traits make your character feel alive. If there's down time do they roll up a dog ear? Do they get nervous? Variety is the spice of life and with a character, it needs to be spicy. If you're doing the same things over and over, it gets boring for you and the people you're roleplaying with. Keep it fresh, and add some traits to make it a lot more fun.
Bad traits:
Violent
Jealous
Addictions
Depressed
Temperamental
Fears
These traits, while bad for your character, are great for you. What if your character is easily frightened and they are faced with a terrifying situation? Will they bull through their fear? Or will they sit there crying like a little child? What if they're jealous? Conflict breeds interest. This doesn't mean that there constantly needs to be fighting between the characters, but if your character has weaknesses, they can be extremely fun to interact with, for you and for others.
Backstory
This section could be miles long. There is an almost limitless number of things that help you get accepted and things that hurt your chances. Here is a quick rundown of what you need to do to get your backstory accepted.
1. Add relation to the lore. Show how the lore of the server affected the character. Or explain why the lore doesn't affect the character. If your character is going to live in the world, make sure that it shows that they do.
2. Use proper spelling and grammar. Not all of us are Grammar Nazis so we won't destroy you for making some mistakes. However, having good grammar and spelling makes it much easier to understand the backstory. If the whitelisters can't understand it they'll make sure to point it out and you'll have to go back over it. I understand that some of our players are non-native English speakers. That is 100% fine. Just use a quick spell check, there are plenty online, to go over the story and it should correct about 90% of the issues.
3. Follow the correct application format. This might seem a bit obvious but some people seem to not follow this simple and easy rule. If you don't follow the format you're not going to get accepted, simple as that.
4. Avoid words like magic. There is nothing more scary than finding an application with the word magic in it when we strive for realism. If a performer does amazing tricks those may be referred to as magic by characters in your story, but it’s actually sleight of hand and a well trained performer. It's not actual magic. This also applies to other things. Keep your story realistic. If a dragon comes out of nowhere and destroys an entire nation, it's going to have to be rewritten.
5. Use paragraphs to split the story up. Separating the story based on what happens in each paragraph makes it much easier to read. Remember, a happy whitelister is less likely to see faults and more likely to see the well written story beneath.
6. Have the story end in the setting. The RP takes place there so you better hope that your character is present.
7. Logic logic logic! Does everything make sense? Could your character destroy an entire army by him/herself? Does he even have skills in sword fighting? Does the story explain how your character got each skill and give a fair idea on how they acquired their personality? Make the story flows and have each event make as much sense as the last. If your story is a list of events, get ready for a rewrite. But if your story is a giant mess that's hard to follow, also get ready for a rewrite.
Skins
This section could be as long as anything I've ever seen. However, I'll simply touch on a few things.
1. Use shading. Shading makes the clothes and hair of a character look alive. No person has clothes and hair that are exactly the same shade as every other part. This can be hard to do, but work at it. Remember, there are dozens of resources on the internet for people looking for a good skin.
2. Make the skin fit your character. If your character is blond with green eyes and tanned skin, don't have a skin with black hair, blue eyes, and incredibly pale. This applies to clothes as well.
3. Make your skin look natural. If they eyes are too big, or the mouth is overly large, it might be strange. The biggest thing here it to keep relative sizes in mind when making a skin. Be careful with it.
4. Don't overuse the burn tool or auto shading. It can lead to the skin looking messed up and gross. The key here is moderation. If you use it lightly, it can add texture to a skin that is otherwise lacking it, if you use it too much, it looks like your character has a horrifying disease.
5. Don't be afraid to do something and then fix it. A skin is more than half mistakes that just happen to look nice. If you mess up, you can always go back and fix it.
6. The skin portion of the skin needs to look natural. Remember the relative size of each pixel you place. This applies to scars and tattoos. If your character has an arm tattoo, make sure it's properly sized, and looks good.
Closing notes
This section is other things that can spice up a roleplay for a character and general tips that don't belong anywhere else.
1. Small things. I'll take a line of common knowledge and apply it here. Enjoy the small things. Give your characters some small interesting things that make them unique. Add quirks or tells that each character has. Add in an accent, maybe they talk like a pirate or they slur their words. This can make an rp more interesting, humorous, or longer. People can easily react to these small things and quickly join into an rp or they can be used for character development.
2. Goals. Make sure that your character has goals. Many people make a character sheet on the forums to keep track of relationships, goals, and personality. It is understandable if you don't do this but, no matter what you do, you need to have goals for each character. Imagine playing a game with no purpose. You opened the game and had fun but then after a while it would dull. Characters are the same way. Always have a few goals, some short term and some long term, to have your character work on. They could be as serious as "Make a shrine to commemorate my dead parents." or as silly as "Find out why cows have spots." Have something for your character to do and have something to work for. Otherwise the character will dull very rapidly.
3. Take breaks. Life is hard enough to live as one person, so imagine how hard it is to live as two people. Take a break from Mesalia occasionally, even if it's just for a day, so that you don't get burned out. It's better to play less over a long period of time than to play constantly for two weeks and then leave because you lost interest.
4. Get involved in the community. The reason we're here is to have fun, but don't forget that Mesalia is made up of other people. Get in the Skype chat, talk with the other people there. Get to know them. At the end of the day, we're a community, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to be a part of.
5. Be bold. If you see an RP going on and you're not a part of it, don't be afraid to walk up in-character and see what's going on. Of course, don't be rude about it, but more often than not, people will be glad to have you join in the RP. The more the merrier.
This guide is just general tips and some helpful hints to playing on the server. But remember, it is just a guide. Use it as such, don't treat it as a holy text. Sometimes, I'll be dead wrong. Times might change and nothing in here even applies anymore. So take everything in here with a grain of salt. Good luck out there, it can be rough.
