It's my roleplay and I'll godmode if I want to.

To self-entitle or not to self-entitle?

That is the question facing many of you RPG owners. You've suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous member behaviour, skins and codes gone wonky, absentee moderators and more. You feel you've earnt a few perks!

Well, whether you have or haven't is actually irrelevant. It's your game. You can give yourself as many privileges as you wish. This is the main appeal for many if not most who start their own forum: I can do whatever I want to.

Yeah, that's cool. But once you set your rules just as you like them, will you give your members the same in-game rights you have, beyond what is necessary on your part to keep the plot going and keep the peace {such as bringing in PBA's}?

It starts to get thorny when you consider whether your privileges sit well with your members. Take it from me: Godmoding, getting "the best characters" for yourself, and other types of privileges that let you lord it over your players in the game will not sit well with them. It will come off as just what it is: power tripping.

Now, there's a difference between starting off the game with an important character, and full-on power tripping behaviour. Obviously, especially at the beginning of the game's plots you're going to have to be the one hauling most of the weight. And if Hermione is your favourite character, by all means start with her. But the whole Hogwarts trio? ....and all 4 Marauders...and and and...You do realise this is an RPG, right, a cooperative writing game?

Share and share alike. Members can smell an admin's greed a mile away. When the owner of a Pokemon game I was in at one time decided to fashion themselves a female Mewtwo with yes, all the power and privilege that implied, including nuking whole armies singlehandedly, nobody was fooled and a lot of disdainful things were said behind their back regarding it.

I've found the best way to run the game is to play by the same rules that you enforce. Don't want your members godmoding? Don't godmode yourself. They will learn by your example, and respect you for enforcing the rules to keep things fair. But not for being "above the rules" yourself. Nobody respects that.

You are a leader, a peacekeeper, an equaliser. Not a tyrant. They're your members, not your minions. And your game is nothing without them.