Don't @ unless the game is one that says to usually, or sometimes someone will ask that you do in their post. It does notify, and for a lot of people that's annoying if it's for a forum game which they posted in not that long ago and could easily be checking in and will see. It might be acceptable if it has been months to a year since the last reply, but only if it's a game where they gotta come back and edit in a response. That's how it seems to go with pings, that's the term for @ ing people here.
But other than that? Look at the posts, get an idea how to reply from reading those for a game! They're not too complex, some ask for your best effort in writing, but that's as tough as it gets. They're for fun, and everyone is there for that, so it's a really easy going place~
Hello folks! I just joined yesterday from a person on Flight Rising (love me some fashion dragons) And i'm just wondering how the forum games work on this site? Do you @ the person above you when you post? Does it just notify them? I kinda scouted around and even posted a thing (but I deleted it cuz what if it was wrong !!!) so I'd very much appreciate the help '^^
I'll add on some stuff:
-Pinging (@'ing the person) is not necessary unless the person above asked for it or their last post is over a week or two.
-Bump button is your friend! But I do recommend bumping a game once it gets pretty buried instead of literally every 30 minutes. A thread can't be bumped once the last post is over a week(? I forgot lol) old so you'll have to manually add a new comment like "this is a bump, skip this post" to use the button again.
-Post the word "claim" (especially for past-faced gamed) and edit with your response later. This is to avoid being ninja'd/sniped and another person may have responded to the person above before you could refresh the page and have to delete/redo your post.
-If you see a post with mature filter or from a person who blocked you (or vice versa, you blocked or muted them); make sure to wait until there's another person you can claim instead of skipping them.
-Always double check if its a high/longer effort game! Look at rules and other responses before participating! I know people may get really excited to participate in a game but the thing you want to avoid is giving a response that is not equal to the amount of effort with the person you claimed, or even the rest of participants in the game.
-And lastly but also most importantly, always put the kind of responses you want to get! Forum games isn't all about receiving, but also about giving too, and it's always good to make people feel happy about their OCs as much as you want people to look at and enjoy your OCs too.
Hope that helps! I could add more but I don't want this to be too long or complicated so I'll wait if others wants to add on their part too (I'm sure you'll slowly learn once you've participated enough, still).
A lot if these may sound like a given thing but people do forget them from time to time! That said, have fun and welcome to TH :>