Indulge my spergging for a bit in an opine about the finer and more nuanced elements of role play. Certain elements of role play stand out in my mind as in need of nomenclature for the purposes of examination, analysis and deconstruction. Some of the terms are of my own invention. If there already exist terms for the things described, by all means put me in mah place!

Player and Character: These deserve distinction because, through my experiences with rp on sl, they're easy to muddle. Let's not mince words here: the player is the God of a character. The player's goals will often determine the character's goals, but all of us, to some degree enter an altered state of consciousness that allows the character to become more autonomous. Of course we all become attached to our little mental offspring. Vicariously living through them, however, can be a problem for creating stories. The less we think of our characters as tools for storytelling the less dramatic risks we're likely to take with them.

Passive role play-- This is a term I have coined for role play that occurs with NPC's, either between a player and an NPC or among two or more NPCs, or within Non-Playable Environments (NPE). Passive role playing can be handy for resolving scenes, especially when players find themselves stuck without a scene partner. For instance, say you go into Lulu's for a drink or the Red Herring for coffee but find the place empty. You can invent a npc bartender or barista to fulfill the scene and move on. NPE's are places that have no physical presence for actual scenes to take place. For example, Ming flies to China to set up a large shipment of female genital enhancement powder for delivery to the States, and to have that powder show up at her tea house. China is a real place, of course, but Ming didn't actually go to a China themed sim to get her powder.

Active role play-- I guess you can see where this is going. Active role play are scenes that take place 'in-world' or 'on-sim' among real players. I call it 'active' because other players have more of an active role in the scene. In addition, active rp has more of an impact on other players due to the dynamic spreading of information which can lead to immediate consequences. If Ming had to get her powder from Fae instead of going to China, my DEA character could follow Ming to Fae's studio and possibly bust them both (or get busted himself, knowing those two). Most of the time we don't always have the resources or the people to do things actively and must rely on passive rp.

Scene-- A scene consists of three parts: set-up or introduction, conflict and resolution. A scene can be elaborate (e.g. Shade interrogating a suspect killer to get him to confess) or simple (e.g. Flak asking Fae to join her at the movies). What determines an actual scene are those three parts mentioned. That said, walking up to Kahlen to say hi and then going about your way does not constitute a scene. Introductions are the preliminaries. The meat of the scene is the conflict, but I'm using the word 'conflict' a little liberally here. Conflict in this sense does not necessarily mean confrontation but proposing a problem for the characters to solve, and normally centers on character motivations. At times the motivations of one character will agree with the motivations of another or other characters in the scene, and the scene runs smoothly into resolution, or solving the problem. But at other times motivations among characters will clash, perhaps prolonging the scene until the PLAYERS--not the characters--agree informally on which the direction the scene is going. It is important to recognize that in a collaborative creative effort such as role playing the scene is more important than any one character. Constantly going back and forth, refusing to 'give in' to your opponent will only wear out the scene. Failing to nail down your motivation and to stick to that one motivation can make the scene meander. All players must recognize that while they may be opponents as characters, they are still partners as players. What is good for the scene will not always be in the best interest of the character's motivations. In order to bring the scene to resolution, players must cooperate and find some middle ground without wholly contradicting their character's personality. Not all scenes end happily or even satisfactorily for the character's involved. What's important that the players see it to its logical end. If resolutions seem forced, overly convenient, illogical the scene suffers and the characters walk away unsatisfied.

Engagement-- The act of approaching another character to invite her into a scene. Engagement is simple enough and most have no problem with it, especially if the character we wish to engage is alone. RP etiquette dictates that before introducing a character into a scene already in progress, the player waits for a round of dialog by the characters in that scene. Waiting a round is not only polite, but clues the player in to the scene mood before she jumps in. Introducing brand new characters into the world is a whole other subject and one that deserves its on discussion.

These are just a few things off the top of my head. Feel free to take issue with anything I've mentioned here or add your own bits.