`glossary

[chaoTEZY]

RP
Roleplay. Can be modified into 'RPer', which means roleplayer (the person roleplaying), or RPing, which means roleplaying (the act of roleplay).

RPG
Abbreviation for Roleplay Game/Roleplaying Game. Often used to describe forums so you know what they are – ie, our mini-banner says 'horse RPG' on it.

NEWB
A new person to the site or RPing in general. Usually not a nasty or a hostile term. If they improve as they go along they're usually praised, and as long as they're respectful and friendly they're often looked-after and offered tips to improve by the other players. Considered a major part of most site's memberships.

N00B
N00b is a nastier term than newb, and is usually used in reference to people who are purposefully idiotic, rude, disrespectful or annoying. Often very set in their ways and don't listen to advice given by other players in improving. Even the most 'elite' players can be n00bs, so they don't need to be new to RPing (and in fact, the majority of n00bs are older players who believe they've improved to a point they don't need to listen anymore). Often break many rules and can end up with several warnings.

GOD-MODING
God-moding is making your character perfect (stronger, faster, more intelligent than anybody else, etc), resisting things that would normally hurt another equine, or any other god-like traits. In fights this is severely looked down on and will get you in a lot of trouble. In normal roleplay it's also considered noobish and rude, but you will not get banned for it.

METAGAMING
Metagaming is giving a character outside knowledge (about the plot, other characters or future events) which it couldn't possess or find out about, such as knowing one of their friends is actually secretly a friend of their enemy, etc. It's a form of powerplaying, but is less common.

POWERPLAYING
Powerplaying (or PPing) is a term to often used to describe the actions of a player that gives their character/horse an unfair advantage. Powerplaying includes writing that someone else's character says, does, thinks or reacts to something, without the other player's consent. It also includes stating that their character was injured by yours without their consent. In fights this is unfortunately common, and is a disqualifying offence.

MARY-SUE
Mary-Sue's are perfect characters, usually beautiful, intelligent, brave and all around amazing. Often extremely annoying to RP with, they're not banned though, unless they use powerplaying, metagaming or god-moding. Mary-Sue characters are also considered quite n00bish, although some players can pull them off – but don't assume you can. The best way to avoid Mary-Sue's is giving them flaws, which actually have to effect them (as in their clumsiness meaning they often get hurt or fail in fights, rather than making them adorable.) There are different forms of (human) Mary-Sue's which you can read about here.

GARY/MARTY-STU
A Mary-Sue’s male equivalent. Can also be the hero with a tragic past, or the brooding angsty one.

IC
In character – usually not stated but can be if there was an OOC comment above. Means it's back to the roleplay at hand. 'BIC' may also be used, which means back in character. IC is usually used to describe the situation rather than actually used in that situation (ie, 'IC I sometimes get really into the roleplayer' vs. 'Okay, this is IC now.')

OOC
Out of character – means it's the actual roleplayer speaking, not one of their characters. Often used when roleplayers need to ask questions to each other such as (ooc; do you want them to leave now?) or sometimes applied to whole boards, like our OOC category.

CHARRIE/TOON
A fond name for a character, or in this context a horse. Usually used OOC by the roleplayer, not IC.

RL
That magical place outside called real-life xD Also used in the abbreviation IRL, which is 'in real-life'. Sometimes used in the chatbox or OOC to talk about events at home – not allowed IC.

PLOT
Characters and the way that they interact with one another form plots. Some plots are a lot more intricate than others, such as one spanning the whole site, whereas some can be just two horses meeting and either hitting it off or not. Often RPers develop individual plots with other RPers before-hand, but that's not always the case.

ADMIN
The highest power. There's usually one main admin, and sometimes (depending on the site's size) several other Admins. The main admin is often the owner, or developer. Usually have put way too much time into the site. Other admins have usually proven themselves as long-term members or mods long before they've been promoted. Admins do have the ultimate say in the site, but don't be afraid to ask them questions. Can accept/decline characters.

MOD
Mods are those individuals who the admin has decided to give the job of looking after the site too. Usually don't have as much powers as an admin but often patrol boards (locking and deleted threads) or help organise stuff (updating the taken names list.) People who ask to become mods are often less likely to become them – and being a mod is not a very easy thing to do, so they have to prove themselves to be active and capable. Can accept/decline characters.

TRAINEE MOD
A mod in training, as such. Usually a position given out to those who have shown themselves to be active and helpful, but have not yet proven that they can handle moderator duties. Some people may stay trainee mods because they prefer it (there's less work involved), others may move up.

BIO MOD
A moderator with the sole duty to browse the bios and make sure they're nicely written and informative. Doesn't have much powers over anything else, but should be listened to and obeyed at all times when they give comments on your character's profile. Can accept/decline characters.

PM
Abbreviation meaning private-messaging, or sending a message on-site to one person or a set of people specifically. They cannot be seen by anyone except from the people who are logged into the accounts you've chosen to send one too. Good for planning behind-the-scenes or just catching up. Admins can send site-wide PMs with important messages.