4.20.3 GOOD ROLEPLAYING
Questions asked in this file:
- How does someone in character deal with things that are out of
character?
- How can I make my roleplay even better?
Q: How does someone in character deal with things that are out of
character?
- Bugs or quirks in skills may be submitted via the bug command (HELP
BUGS). Typos may be submitted similarily (HELP TYPOS). If it is
being discussed with another player to verify what occurred, it is
best to keep such conversations in tells to reduce the possibility
of breaking the illusion of your role. If the situation is urgent,
contact a Celani or an Admin person (HELP ADMIN) who may help you.
Remember the Gods strive to maintain their roles as well. Unless it
is a dire situation, stick to the TYPO and BUG commands.
- Out of role or OOC situations will usually arise when other players
break their role. How you deal with such situations is your choice.
You may ignore them, privately speak with the person in tells to
point out or request they not break character.
- It is also possible to deal with OOC situations by contexualizing it
IC as much as possible - acting like they are speaking nonsense. If
they continue to be OOC, you might see if they simply do not know
better. Newbies, for example, might not understand that they must be
IC at all times. In that case, you could go OOC yourself and tell
them something along the lines of: "(OOC: I would rather roleplay,
sorry. Please read HELP ROLEPLAYING, okay? :))" - kind, but firm.
If they continue to be OOC, it's considered reasonable to leave and
cease speaking with them.
- On the other hand, some believe that a good roleplayer will not
respond to OOC interruptions. After all, they are OOC and not part
of what affects your character. If you are disconnected and
suddenly return to the game, there is no reason to say "My soul was
interrupted." We all know what happened; it does not need to be
acknowledged. For those things that cannot be ignored, simply gloss
over them with some kind of in-game, in-character action or
explanation. For example, you may clear your throat after a typo or
excuse yourself as clumsy and fatigued after you hit the wrong
macro and perform an unintended, strange action.
- All of the above methods of handling unwanted OOC behavior have
been recommended by roleplayers in Aetolia - choose whatever style
suits you best.
- Sometimes, some things must be dealt with OOC for whatever reason,
and in these extreme cases, most roleplayers prefer to keep them
to tells and always bracketed by parentheses.
Q: How can I make my roleplay even better?
- Make your character feel like a real Aetolian person. Give your
character flaws and weaknesses and let them make mistakes and
learn. Allow your character to change over time. Real people
change over the years, as different things happen to them and they
learn more about themselves, and your character should, too.
- Use the setting of Aetolia to its full extent to create a
character that could not exist in any other realm.
- Stay in character, even (or especially) when someone emotes that
you are being pinned against a wall. Roleplay out of it, or even
along with it.
- Treat non-player-characters ("mobs") as if they were just as real as
other characters.
- Do not rely on game mechanics to define your reality and judgements.
An example of this would be saying, "All vampires are responsible for
their state because they must have AGREEd to become a vampire," where
as a better player would not allow that mechanic to dictate the
roleplay surrounding an embrace or how their character reacts to the
circumstances of individual vampires.
- Use custom emotes (HELP EMOTES) to convey a greater range of action
and emotion than is possible with predefined emotes. Anyone can
SMILE, but a good roleplayer will EMOTE a smile with her personal
features, and craft a more unique and specific expression.
- Be aware of your character in their physical space, and you will be
able to more greatly enhance their role with the simplest of
actions. Does your character like the rain? What does the ground
feel like underfoot? What smells may be in the air?
- Along a similar line, pay more attention to detail. An average
roleplayer makes good use of the MUD's predefined emotes to
accurately portray their character's emotions. The excellent
roleplayer frequently uses the EMOTE command to show his character's
feelings, but in a more personalized manner.
- An average roleplayer will often simply say, "This is who I am,"
while a good roleplayer will demonstrate who they are through their
actions. There is a difference between a vampire who plays the game
with the attitude that "I am a vampire and I am evil because I am a
vampire," and a vampire who plays his role by demonstrating and
developing his capacity for various kinds of evil through his
interaction with other characters.
- Some roleplayers believe it is poor form to use the ID number of a
monster, or to ask someone in a public area to "doublewhisper" them
to work on their "reflexes". They prefer to avoid slipping into OOC
behaviour in public or referencing OOC behavior with thinly veiled
euphemisms and synonyms. An example would be substituting the word
"reflexes" for "triggers" as if it made such a discussion any more
IC. They also suggest limiting or eliminating modern colloquiums
from your speech ("newbie," "dude," et cetera). However, other
roleplayers believe these IC terms for OOC matters are invaluable
when discussing matters that cannot be avoided. For example,
referring to the player as his 'soul' takes an OOC term and makes
it IC. A good player does not 'logoff,' he 'departs from the
realms.' He does not 'go on a vacation,' rather he 'embarks on a
journey beyond Sapience.'
- React to the play of others with an open mind. Your reaction to the
roles of others should not be to judge their play by metagame
standards of what X guild/city/order members "ought to be like."
Instead, react to situations like your character would react. Treat
your role like a continual improvisation in which you play a part
and keep it going.
- Some believe it's most important that your characters should appear
to be consistent in how it behaves and how it reacts. Roleplay at
the core is the person's ability to capture a convincing,
enthralling role. It isn't the quality of your emotes, or the way
you speak. It is how consistent you are with the personality (the
role) you have envisioned for your character, and how well you
remain in that character. An example of a typical failing in this
area would be a person who plays a character that sits at one moral
extreme, such as being a necromancer, but has an OOC friend who
plays a character at another extreme, such as a Luminary, and the
two characters freely associate without any kind roleplay to
explain their interaction.
- Treat the world you are in like ... well, a world. Monsters are big
and scary, ghouls smell bad, hidden people are hiding, and
backbreakers really do hurt. Seeing a child get murdered is usually
a traumatic event for real people, at least the first hundred times.
After being stabbed ten times in the gut, would you just calmly sip
an elixir as if it were a matter of course?
- Roleplay even when you don't have to, even when you're sure you're
not being seen.
- Enjoy yourself!
See also: RP, ROLE, INTERACTION
