Formatting doesn't matter much, you can find some kind of agreement pretty easily. Characterization doesn't matter much, so long as you're close enough to IC that your character is recognizable from the tags. Tag length doesn't matter much, so long as it's enough to keep a thread going. Everyone has different tolerances for these things, but in general most people are pretty flexible on them.
But tag speed is the number one thing that with absolutely, positively, without a doubt kill a thread. You could be the most IC player ever, with the most amazing tags ever, and it won't mean jack shit if you don't actually do your tags. Most players will just end up dropping threads with you and moving on to something else.
You should be replying to threads at least once a day, if not more. I don't set an amount for myself beyond at least 'once a day', but it is not uncommon for me to tag back in a thread 5 or more times in a day if the person I am playing with is on and tagging me back. Ideally, if you are following this plan, you should be meeting your AC requirements within the first week of the month. And you don't stop there. Keep threading, keep doing your tags.
I find that keeping a small number of threads going at once (5-10 total at one time across 2 characters) and finishing them as quickly as possible keeps me active in my game. Are there slow periods? Yes, sometimes. But if I'm personally on top of my tags and get them done as soon as I get them, then the threads go faster and I accomplish more in a game, which in turn makes people tag me because they know I am active and will thread with them.
TL;DR the absolute best thing you can do to make yourself a good RPer is to do your tags.
Re: ANONS, WHAT MAKES A GOOD RP WRITER?
Formatting doesn't matter much, you can find some kind of agreement pretty easily. Characterization doesn't matter much, so long as you're close enough to IC that your character is recognizable from the tags. Tag length doesn't matter much, so long as it's enough to keep a thread going. Everyone has different tolerances for these things, but in general most people are pretty flexible on them.
But tag speed is the number one thing that with absolutely, positively, without a doubt kill a thread. You could be the most IC player ever, with the most amazing tags ever, and it won't mean jack shit if you don't actually do your tags. Most players will just end up dropping threads with you and moving on to something else.
You should be replying to threads at least once a day, if not more. I don't set an amount for myself beyond at least 'once a day', but it is not uncommon for me to tag back in a thread 5 or more times in a day if the person I am playing with is on and tagging me back. Ideally, if you are following this plan, you should be meeting your AC requirements within the first week of the month. And you don't stop there. Keep threading, keep doing your tags.
I find that keeping a small number of threads going at once (5-10 total at one time across 2 characters) and finishing them as quickly as possible keeps me active in my game. Are there slow periods? Yes, sometimes. But if I'm personally on top of my tags and get them done as soon as I get them, then the threads go faster and I accomplish more in a game, which in turn makes people tag me because they know I am active and will thread with them.
TL;DR the absolute best thing you can do to make yourself a good RPer is to do your tags.