Roleplaying 101

I hope you find this guide at least minimally useful. I've written it distinctly with my slant of mind in terms of what I consider "polite" roleplay behavior. Not everyone will agree and this is fine. However, bear in mind that these are the standards I attempt to follow (more or less) and that I will be reluctant to play with anyone too far outside of these guidelines. Remember that these are guidelines, not gospel. The ultimate key to enjoying yourself in the game is to remember there is no one "correct" way to play so long as you are enjoying yourself. As long as everyone is having fun, nothing else matters. Or to put it another way: in my opinion, it is better to roleplay "incorrectly" and enjoy yourself than follow a set of guidelines to the letter and be miserable. So once again, I hope you find these guidelines helpful, but if not then by all means do whatever works for you.

- Felia
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Character Creation:

This is what it's all about, and some of you might have to learn this the hard way. For you to really shine, you'll have to be creative and come up with your own ideas. This is all YOU. You can influence other people, and other people can influence you.

Names:

First thing first, think of a name for your character. Names are very essential in roleplaying success.

A list of things to avoid when choosing a name:

1) No historical, religious, or book names. You aren't worthy to rip off other great ideas.
2) No matter how much you think your IC parents dislike you, they would never name you Satan, God, Death, Darkman, Knight, Fighter, Lamer, Dumbass. Need I go on? Having a retard name is usually a good indication that you're a retard.

If there's something you're unsure about, talk to other players and see what they think.

A list of things to adhere to when choosing a name:

1) Names without profanity contained within them or sound profane.
2) Names with only the first letter capitalized.

These you will have to strictly obey, because there's nothing in the code to prevent them. So avoid them, or face the wrath of an angry god whom will most likely make your mortal life a living hell, subtly and anonymously of course.


Family:

Take some time and think about your characters family life. Don't let the fact that they won't have any literal parents in the mud hinder you here - use your imagination in both creating a background and roleplaying the existence of your IC parents. Is your character the snotty daughter of a wealthy merchant? Did he grow up in the forests with his human mother, never knowing his elven father? Was he born to a tavern whore? Or maybe she's the illegitimate daughter of a respected noble? The possibilities here are great, take advantage of them.


Childhood:

After you've decided on your characters family life, think about their experiences through childhood. Was he beaten up by the other kids on a regular basis? Was he the town bully or village idiot? Did her fathers status as a respected merchant earn her more attention then she deserved or desired? Was she always itching to explore the lands beyond the city walls?


Personality:

Once you've decided where your character has come from, you're ready to decide where they are now. Personality encapsulates everything from unique mannerisms and taste in clothes to things like temperament, self-confidence, and how they relate to others. Are they eccentric socialites who like gaudy jewelry, or slightly insane introverts who fly off the handle at the slightest provocation? Maybe he's a gaudy showman who has a habit of sucking on his mustache and wearing green shorts, or a strong and silent type who naturally creates causes and leads people into them. Does he/she love or hate a specific group, race, or type of person? Is she friendly or withdrawn? A loner, leader, or follower? Stubborn and opinionated, or easily swayed and open-minded? Think up habits, accents, phrases, and mannerisms for your character. These are things that will bring your character alive in the mud.


Goals:

All you have left to do now is figure out what this fleshed out character wants to do with their life. Having a firm idea of your characters goals is very important to a fulfilling roleplaying experience. At the same time, goals are probably the hardest thing to invent, especially for those new to the game, as they don't have the perspective to know which goals are reachable and which are dreams, or more importantly, which goals will provide them with things to do in the game.

Perhaps your character wishes to establish their own merchant house, defeat a group of bandits, become the champion warrior of a city, or be the most renowned member of his profession in the land. IC goals, and the way you set about achieving them, are one of the easiest ways to help your character come alive in the game. If you have trouble coming up with goals for your character initially, try talking with a few characters in the game who seem to have a good idea of what they want to do. You may find that your character is compelled to help (or prevent them from) accomplishing their goals.

Experience will help a lot here, so don't fret if you don't get it right the first time. Your goals don't have to be production orientated. A successful character's purpose in life could easily be to waste himself away in the local taverns, sharing stories with other travelers who pass through. Your goal doesn't have to be grand or specific. Maybe your character feels the need to spend as much time as possible away from the city, or just wants to make accurate maps of the world.

Whatever you do, choose a goal that will be fun to pursue, not one that will be fun to attain. Trust me here. Choosing the goal of becoming an Immortal just because you, the player, think it would be super cool to be an Immortal is a sure way to have a crappy roleplaying experience.




Other Points of Interest:


Roleplaying IS an acquired ability. Don't expect to get it all right with your first character. To successfully play a character, it's necessary to step outside of your real life and enter the mindset of your character. This means while in the game, you should think, talk, and act as the character would, not as you (the player) would.

How a character should be roleplayed is dependent on the race, age, sex, class, occupation, history, and individual personality of the character. As this suggests, the possibilities are
immense. Just don't forget that there are other people behind the characters you interact with, so thoroughly examine your character before taking it out into the 'world', as what you say and do could very well be detrimental to other peoples fun.


IC and OOC gameplay:

The first thing to remember is the difference between In Character (IC) and Out Of Character (OOC). Acting IC refers to playing your character and anything within the game related to them, while OOC refers to your real life outside of the game. In general, everything your character does in the game is IC, while discussing things like game mechanics, the latest sports scores, and what your kids did in school that day are OOC things and should be kept outside and off of the mud.

Another important distinction between IC and OOC is that of character knowledge. There are many things about the game that you as a player will know that your character will not. If you play multiple characters, how to get from point A to point B and which mobs load which equipment would be OOC knowledge, and not something each character you play will instinctually know from the moment you create them.

Keep IC disputes IC, and OOC disputes OOC. People are not their characters, and under no circumstances should you ever 'flame' someone for something done IC. Also, there is NO excuse for being a dick. I've mentioned the separation of OOC from IC, so let me state here that just because you're IC it does not follow that you can be a dick to other people. These are your friends you're dealing with (I hope), and you want to keep relations with them friendly (again, I hope). Just because something is said or done "only" IC'ly doesn't mean that bad behaviour won't hurt or drive other people away from the game. Yes you can get away with a lot more in the IC context, but don't use this as an excuse to be a dink. Let me repeat that again just to make it abundantly clear: Being IC is NO excuse for being a total dickhead. Get it? Good. This game is here for fun, so let's keep it that way.


NPC Interaction:

When playing, keep in mind that you should always treat Non Player Characters (NPC's) as you would treat any other player in the game. When attacking a NPC consider two things: 'Would my character attack this person/thing?' Unless your character is a psychopathic mass murderer, he/she is unlikely to go around killing people indiscriminately. Second, consider the consequences of your action. 'What will happen if I kill this person/thing?' Remember, this is a 'world', and much like the real world, there will be consequences for your actions. Even in the worst parts of town, people won't tolerate a maniac charging down the street swirling a sword, and a lynch mob would likely be after said maniac in short order.


Immortal Interaction:

To begin with, yes, there are Immortals that exist within the game, and are a very active part of the 'world'. They will watch you mostly unaware to your eyes, but be assured they are watching. However I wouldn't let your paranoia overcome your ability to live. The major issue I want to unravel here is RESPECT.

It is essential to use this in all interactions. If you fail to show respect to the immortal you are speaking with, then be prepared to face the consequences. The punishment may be light or severe, but expect one. These beings have the ability to control your life in any way they deem fit. You would want to greet the god to begin with if they were to appear, with reverence, no matter if you serve them or not. It is advised not to insult, nor physically attempt to harm a god (thunking them, whapping them, etc.).

There is a fine line however between what's commonly known as kissing up (brown nosing) and respect. I would suggest you avoid the former and persist with the latter. Every god has their weakness, as bad as this sounds. Some, hardworkers.. some women.. and others may find a fond fascination with those who roleplay exceptionally well.


Player Interaction:

NEVER dictate another character's actions. Period. This is perhaps the most frequent breach of roleplay etiquette. You'll see it the most in player descriptions, but the situation does often arise elsewhere. The problem is you can't control how another player will react to you. Doing so robs the other players of a chance to respond how they want. You effectively usurp control of their character, and this can lead to some very ugly scenes. In short, don't do it. Ever. To avoid doing this, don't dictate how others react to you, only dictate your actions and allow others to react as they see fit. As I mentioned above, this most commonly occurs in player descriptions. A good example of this would be: 'She turns her blue eyes upon you and her stare chills you to the bone.' Instead, you should write: 'She surveys the area with ice blue eyes that hold a chill like winters heart.' The difference is sublet, yet significant. The first example declares the outcome of how another player reacts to you, while the second conveys the look of your character without removing anothers chance to decide how they would react to it.

Given the fantasy (in the psychological sense) nature of most RP muds, 'realism' is a poor guide for the outcome of an action. The key here is to avoid thinking there are objective, universal standards of 'realism' that determine the level of success of a characters actions. So long as you keep in mind that whatever standards you use are arbitrary and make those standards explicit and clear you should be fine. Remember that different people WILL have different standards, so at the very least you should get a clear understanding of those standards before playing with them.

Give other people time to respond to your actions. You shouldn't fire off a whole sequence of actions without giving other people time to respond to what you've posted. At the very least, any action directed at another character shouldn't be followed up until they've reacted. The point is you need to give people time to respond to what you've done. Yes, this does slow down gameplay and yes, I know in the era of T.V. and video game we all have the attention span of a gnat, but for coherency and everyone's enjoyment it's important to slow down and let people get their actions in.


Important notes:

Don't be overly competitive. Remember, this isn't a game with winners and losers. I know we live in a competitive world and we've been taught that it's good to compete, but honestly it has no place in the game. Online roleplay is about having fun, not showing how 'leet your gaming skills are. Roleplay is essentially an expressive conduit of communication, and if you're thinking in terms of 'winning' and 'losing' you aren't going to have much fun. This isn't a game where you can win and quit. It's a sustained, co-operative endeavour. The point is to have fun and use your imagination to write 'shared stories' where everyone is both the author and the reader. It's about the play as a whole, using your creativity to express yourself, and having fun while you do it. If you lose sight of this, you might as well quit.

Don't 'flame' people for their style of roleplay. Yes, we all have our own standards of what constitutes 'good' roleplay, but remember that with freeform online roleplay, you have to co-operate with other people to get most things done. Flaming them because you don't happen to think that their way of roleplaying is 'best' won't accomplish much of anything. If you really can't stand the style and system another player uses, just don't play with them. This isn't a holy war over which system of roleplaying is 'best', it's an outlet for fun - no matter how tempting it might be to flame someone for 'crap' roleplaying, doing so won't accomplish much except ensuring that there is little roleplay at all.

Last but not least, you should always remember that it's the process of playing, and not the result, that will yield the most enjoyment from your mudding experience.

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