1. Relax and have fun. We have enough stress in life as it is, and there's no need to bring that into the game. REMEMBER THIS IS JUST A GAME!

2. Incorporate and be friendly to new individuals. Remember how difficult it was for you to initially start off playing. However, if they act in a manner that is disruptive to your group, offer them the chance to make an attitude adjustment or as a final act,warn the owners.

3. Don't expect to be loved. If you are being out of character, crude, cruel, or even disruptive to a game, do not expect to be liked, or have folks take your side. It's important to remember that people generally have social norms, and breaking them can get you trouble.

4. What happens in game, stays in game. People who do not know you may make assumptions about your personality based off the type of character that you play, or vice versa, but don't allow this to color your view of someone, or let it prevent you from making friendships. People are not their character.

5. You can never assume that you know how a character will react to any given situation--unless that character is yours. Just as you wouldn't want other people to take liberties with your characters, you mustn't take liberties with theirs. Don't spoof other people's reactions unless you have their permission.

6. Traditionally, in one-to-one roleplaying there is a constant trade off. One person says something, then the other, then the first player has a turn again, etc, etc. It is a good idea to maintain this in two-player situations; allow your fellow player time to react to your words. In larger situations, the feasibility of this guideline breaks down somewhat, however it is still always a good idea to give players time to react to your actions before assuming that they do not react. By nature, roleplaying on the Net is a somewhat time-consuming affair. Don't accidentally cut off the other players in a rush to include everything you want included.

7. If you enter in an existing storyline where a group of people are planning for a specific mood or direction, do not change that mood or direction or story without asking first. Ask if the session is open to others if the mood seems intimate, and if you want to bring in a radically different mood, ask the participants if they would mind the change of pace. Sudden mood-changes by incoming characters can be very jarring to people who are in mid-play.
Conversations, threats by evil characters on good characters, saber rattling, etc. should be fine spontaneously. But attacking another's kingdom, or coup attempts , attempting to steal from them, being the other woman (or man) all require some kind of OOC confirmation before hand. This is a MUST as failure to do so will result in bad feelings, complaints, and in a worse case scenario, get one banned. Basically, think before you act, and be polite and respectful of other players as a player. It will make RP fun for everyone. And may have the added benefit of making friends in the process, even for those with evil characters.

8. Courtesy is important. This does not mean your character needs to be courteous, but a player must always be courteous to the other . The general rule is to make sure anyone you are interacting with knows and agrees with your character's behavior toward their characters. Don't assume everyone will get it because "it's your style." There are many ways to accomplish this, such as the use of the grams or message boards or even ICQ or email, to discuss the situation in an out of character environment before acting out the situation in character.

9. Stay In character - Once you step in the RP zone think of it as an actor stepping onto a stage. All the others that you RP with are your fellow actors and the improvisation begins. There are no scripts to follow just you and your fellow actors telling a story.

Emotes are commonly used when role-playing. Most tend to speak in the third person, like one would see in a book. Instead of saying “I would” you would say “She would.” There is a switch within SL that will cause your statements to look like the following:
example:
/me looks about the crowded room to find a seat.
Muppet looks about the crowded room to find a seat.

Using emotes also helps you to remember this is your character and not you personally. When your character speaks use quotes
example:
Muppet walks into the room to find an empty seat, finally locating one she sits, she nods to the bartender indicating she would like to order and says, “Blood wine please.” then waits for her order to be filled.

The more information or descriptions you give them the more your fellow actors can use to interact with. We are limited in SL in that not everything can be depicted even the way your character may move across the room. Describe moods, actions, taste, expressions, accent of your voice. There are 5 senses, taste, touch, hearing, sight and smell. When appropriate try to find a way to incorporate these into your RP.

10. Proper language - When Role-playing use proper language. Txt speak like LOL, OMG, ROFL, WTF, WTH, etc or emoticons :), :D, :P,..etc….all of these have their appropriate places, IM’s, yahoo, MSN, text messaging for example, but not in a role play environment. Your character would not “say” LOL they would laugh, chuckle, bust out laughing. Your fellow role-players need to KNOW what type of laughing are you doing….are you laughing in sarcasm? are you laughing with them?…help your fellow players know what it is your character is feeling for only you know and gives them an opportunity to respond.

11. Role-play Limits - this is something that is difficult for all of us, but keep one thing in mind….”Role-play limits only limit your role-play” Keep in mind your character is not you, but there are things that can happen you personally cannot handle role-playing. This is the reason for limits, it is that line that you just can’t see yourself crossing.
Respect your fellow RPers limits. Just because it is fun or challenging for you does not mean it is fun or challenging for them. If one should say “I am sorry that is just a line I cannot cross.” be an adult respect their wish and decide upon a different course of action. And most of all, IF YOU DON’T WANT IT DONE TO YOU DON’T DO IT TO SOMEONE ELSE!!!

12. OOC - When any player goes OOC or out of character it interrupts the flow of role play. There are times that we all need to step away from the computer and let our fellow players know. That is just being courteous. However, if you have a dispute, a question, or a misunderstanding, instead of interrupting the role play, speak with the person/s privately in IM to discuss the issue. All that is necessary in general is to say, ((Please pause RP one moment)) if the sim you are RPing in allows OOC in general chat. We are all adults and at times have read or misunderstood the intent of a statement or find the direction of the role play is bothering you personally and would like to see it go another direction. Give your fellow players a chance and let them know instead of getting upset.

13. Godmodding & Power-gaming - there are several examples of godmodding that most are already familiar with but there are some they normally don’t think about. The main thing to remember is you cannot DO something to or FORCE another player and expect them to accept it. You can ATTEMPT to do something which gives them the option whether to accept it or not. Godmodding takes CHOICE away from the other player. Remember it is their RP and only they know how their character will react.