Running TPs

So you've gotten your TP all written up, approved if need be and all your NPCs are awesomely well thought out? Congratulations! But your job is just beginning. Now you have to run the TP, arbitrate between players and generally do a ton of work to keep things moving smoothly. The following is a list of things that should help you in running your TP more smoothly.

ADVERTISE
Be sure you have given yourself plenty of time to advertise your TP. At least a week in advance for a good turn out. This goes for small TPs or large ones. You must let people know you are running a TP if you expect them to show up for it. Doing one on the spur of the moment will generally net you far less participants. It helps to post IGN news stories about events leading up to your TP. Do one about every other day, for a week before your plot actually begins.

GET PLAYERS
This seems obvious but getting players to commit to your TP is very important. After all the hard work you have done it would be a shame if half of them flaked out. This can be avoided by getting people to RSVP. You must be understanding if real life gets in the way of their commitment to your TP but if you get people to give you a definite answer before hand you are much more likely to have the players you are expecting. Talk about your TP occasionally on some of the appropriate channels, like the TP channel, possibly your faction channel, and channels in which you think people will be interested. If you are not a regular on a channel it might be taken as rude if you log on just to plug your plot. Keep this in mind as well.

BE PREPARED
Being prepared consists of having everything ready to go by the time your plot is scheduled to begin. Do not add things on at the last minute unless it is an absolute neccessity. Players have set aside time to play in your plot, they may not have a lot of it so you must be considerate and get things going at the time it is scheduled to begin.

DON'T GET MAD
Players have a knack for doing unexpected things. Do not get angry with them if their characters are not acting how you want them to. If a player is getting out of hand it might be ok to page them to keep them on track but you should avoid pushing your agenda on them. Just keep your story going and allow them to adapt.

REWARD GOOD IDEAS
I don't mean give them the rewards that come at the end of your plot (if there are any). But if they do a cool pose or something they do inspires you, or furthers your plot, react positively towards them and reward them somehow. You will have to decide how to reward them, sometimes NPC respect might be a good reward, maybe a small stack of credits (if it makes sense in the scene) but you want to keep them on the path of good ideas and good roleplay. Reward them for it. Make them want to do it more and more.