How To Roleplay

The Guide to Being a Good Roleplayer
So here is a list of key fundamentals all roleplayers should value and respect. Feel free to reply with any ideas and guidelines that you feel are helpful.

1. You are your character. Act like it.
I have run into people who are calling each other by their gamertags, meta-gaming, and just doing illogical things. I know that sometimes as the gamer we get bored but if everyone lives the lives of their characters the whole experience will be much more awesome as a whole.

2. The game is about developing your character and his life, not a bank account of made up money.
It always bums me out to see people who are just obsessed with getting money and have no regard for their character. I know it feels good to get your character alot of money but that shouldn't be what matters. You are playing the story of your character's life, not managing an online gaming website's bank account.

3. Respond to physical interactions correctly.
This applies to everyone in any scenario. Don't worry if the consequences end up being bad, bad things happen to people.
Examples
a)Say you get in a car crash while in a chase, you wouldn't hop out of your car immediately and start running full speed. There is no logic to that and that is not roleplaying. You would be dazed, maybe even unconscious.
b)You are in a shootout. You get shot in the arm, or even the leg. You would not be able to sprint away or after the person. You would be wounded! You just got shot! So start acting like it. Stay where you are, maybe you are slower because you have a limp. Who knows, just think of something that makes sense instead of going on a 10 minute sprint with five bullets in you.
c)This is more directly towards cop situations. If you are handcuffed to an object you must stay there unless there is an obvious way you got free. I hate handcuffing people and then seeing them punch you. HOW COULD YOU PUNCH SOMEONE IF YOU HAVE YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!!! This also applies to tazers. Personally when I am running after a criminal I will state, "I am shooting your tazer, now you are stunned." And the criminal will not pay any attention and keep running. This bugs me the most because its just self explanatory.

4. Have Fun!
The point of roleplaying is to have fun you guys. And it is also a key to roleplaying. Although your character may be going through tough times let that just create new opportunities for you. Don't resolve to metagaming, TDMing, or cheating to get ahead. In the end its the experience that counts.

I hope everyone reads this. For some it is a reminder and for others this is news, but it is always good to have a refresher.