Post by ize on Jan 9, 2011 0:54:38 GMT -7
BASICS
______
When in role play, there are two terms one will frequently hear;
"In Character" (IC): means simply the character you are playing, a cop, victim, rapist, in the context of the story of the sim.
"Out Of Character" (OOC): is conversation, knowledge and events that take place outside of the avatar's story.
IC and OOC are completely different. People behave one way, and say things while IC, they would not necessarily say or do OOC. A good way to think of it is IC, one is acting, as in a movie or play. It is a character hey are playing. While OOC is the person doing the acting, not the character they are playing.
If someone makes an IC comment, or does something to you ICly, it should not be taken personally as the way they truly feel OOCly. It is entirely possible to be great friends OOCly, and yet, IC, beat, rape or even kill that character.
GODMODDING
___________
Godmodding = bad, don't do it. It is not fun for anyone but you, and people will quit playing with you.
Simply put, godmodding is the following:
1) Saying what happens to other people
2) Refusing to take any losses. Or lose. Ever.
3) Having übertech powers or weapons or shields, etc.
Example for #1:
JimmyJoe JimBob looks the man in the eyes, his face turning red "get the hell out of my way"
Clevus Harperwell pulls his gun, takes aim, and pumps three rounds into Actor 1's head, exploding the right side of his head across the wall
JimmyJoe Jimbob is dead
Clevus leaves no room for JimmyJoeto have any kind of reaction. Clevus takes three turns in one; pulling the gun, aiming the gun, firing the gun. Clevus determines what happens to JimmyJoe. This should not happen. Give JimmyJoe the chance to react.
Example for #2:
JimmyJoe JimBob looks the man in the eyes, his face turning red "get the hell out of my way"
Clevus Harperwell raises the weapon in his hand, firing blindly in JimmyJoe's direction, hoping at least to slow the man down
JimmyJoe JimBob bobs and weave, dodging the bullets, and lunges at Clevus
Here, Clevus allowed for JimmyJoe's reaction, allowed him to decide if he was hit or not. However, JimmyJoe, but some miraculous super human power, managed to dodge bullets fired from a gun. It only serves to move the play along, if JimmyJoe takes at least a bullet in the shoulder or something.
Example for #3:
JimmyJoe JimBob looks the man in the eyes, his face turning red "get the hell out of my way"
Clevus Harperwell raises the weapon in his hand, firing blindly in JimmyJoe's direction
JimmyJoe JimBob laughs as the bullets from Clevus' hand gun bounce of his nantech kevlar suit.
This kind of falls along with #2, in that JimmyJoe can't be hurt. He has some special shielded suit, which is has never before been revealed, that keeps him from being injured by bullets.
Meta-Gaming
___________
Meta-gaming is where one uses knowledge gained OOC to manipulate the scene or story IC. Not all meta-gaming is bad, some is necessary to move things along, but should always be explainable ICly why one has that knowledge. If you learn via OOC that someone is, say a black belt in karate, you can't use that knowledge IC, unless there is a way for your character to know it. Maybe you saw them entering a karate dojo, or remember them from a tourney.
STORY
_____
What is the place about. Find out what happened and how things are. That will help you in portraying your character. Since there is no script you get to make the story up as you go along BUT remember, The person you're playing with is also a part of the story.
Anything can happen, so let it. Give the person you're interacting with a chance to help develop your story because you're helping to develop their story as well.
For many people, the thought of role-playing is a daunting one, so much so that they entirely give up on the idea altogether, which is sad, because RP really can add fun and excitement to the Second Life experience as it helps to immerse you in the world in which you are playing, and makes your character seem more alive to the other players.
BACKGROUND
___________
This is where you get to be someone else.
As for the difficulty, that is what this guide is for, to try and help you with your RP experience.
Before you begin playing your character, this is the questions you should ask.
Who is your character?
What have you been through in life that made you this way?
What is his goal in life?
What does he (or she) believe in?
What is his background and upbringing?
Is he good? Evil? Somewhere in between?
By answering all of these questions, you build up a picture of what your character is like, and it gives information for you to draw upon when you RP. You can go as far as you like with this, even building up a personal profile for yourself with details that others do not need to see, but will find out through interaction with your character. E.g. what is your character's favourite colour?
Favorite book?
Does he/she have any family?
Is he rowdy?
Quiet?
Charming?
Friendly?
Deceitful?
By building this profile, you are breathing life into your character. A lot of it may never be used but think about real life. You may get into a conversation with other people you meet and these are the kind of questions people ask. They define who you are, and this is no different for your character.
Once you have done this, you will have a clearer picture, and you might already have ideas about how your character might react in different circumstances.
Acting the Part
This is the meat and bones of role-playing. In fact, this is what the word actually means - playing a role. In other words, you are just acting the part of your character for the time you are playing the game. This is not as difficult as it might sound. You already have the background information you need. You know who your character is, what his aims are, you just need to put that into practice.
KEEP IT REAL
_________
If you're a mutant, a bad guy, a princess or a helpless victim, keeping it real is always good. It helps you show your character that you're playing.
A bad guy wouldn't walk up to a princess and say. "Hi wanna have sex?" She'd realistically say 'No" of course. Play your character. What would you as a bad guy do if you wanted the princess. How would she react?
If someone threw a rock at you. It would hurt. Not just bounce off you like superman. React to the hurt to keep it real. It's a reason you can do something back like get mad.
One of the biggest things to affect the way you play your character is his alignment - whether he is good, evil, or somewhere in between (neutral in other words). A common misconception about alignment is that it is very black and white, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, being good does not mean you have a heart of gold, you help every person you meet on the road, and you give away every last coin you own to the needy. The same is true for evil - it does not simply mean butchering innocent children, robbing and looting everything you find and so on. Just like in the real world, there are shades of good and evil.
Let's look at a few examples. Your character is a thief, and naturally, his tendencies are towards stealing. This makes him selfish perhaps, and self-centered. This would be considered an 'evil' attitude. He thinks of himself first and foremost. However, the thief may not be entirely cruel. Perhaps he only steals from rich young lords, or powerful merchants, something like a fantasy version of Robin Hood, but a touch more evil; this Robin Hood does not give to the poor, he keeps what he steals. He may still be evil, but he is not completely evil. He does not butcher the innocents purely for his own pleasure, or torture innocent victims.
Here is another example. You are a cleric, with healing abilities. But you have learnt your craft to make money from it. You heal others but only for a price. You are not evil, certainly, you are only making a living, but nor are you that "heart of gold" good we spoke about before.
Let's say for a moment that your character is like the cleric in the second example. How would a character like that react in certain circumstances. Imagine for a moment that another player who says his friend is close to death from some poison approaches your character. He will only live if he is given healing aid, but neither of them can afford your prices.
Would your character make an exception and heal the poison victim? Would he take whatever they could afford? Would he refuse outright, perhaps turning more towards evil as his greed intensifies? There is no right and wrong decision to make here - remember, you are in control of your character, and you decide what he does. All you need to consider is how WOULD your character react.
Personalizing your Character
The mud offers numerous ways for you to personalize your character. The main tools for this are the various socials and the 'emote' command. Emote especially is extremely useful in role-play situations because it allows you to perform actions that would not otherwise be possible.
Let's take the scenario above, with the cleric and the dying man and see how this might play out through use of the emote command.
A young man enters.
A young man says, "Please, you must help my brother, he is dying from some terrible poison."
You frown.
You say "My skills do not come cheap, can you afford the coin?"
A young man shakes his head.
A young man says, "We are poor, good master, we have little to offer except our heartfelt thanks, and the thanks of his family."
You stroke your chin thoughtfully and peer down at the young boy who is writhing in agony from the poison.
You say "I am not entirely without pity, yet nor am I in the business of offering my skills for nothing. In return for my aid, I ask that you return any favour I might ask in the future."
A young boy nods his head vigorously.
A young boy says, "I agree! Anything to help my brother!"
You rub your hands together and nod briskly.
You say "then our deal is done, I will aid him!"
Emotes do not have to be used extensively. There are more socials in the above example, but when used in the right place, emotes can be more effective, especially if what your character wishes to portray through body language does not fit any of the available socials.
Another way of personalizing your character is to give him some personal quirk, like a squint, or particular phrases that he uses quite often, or a limp maybe.
A note on emoting thoughts:
Generally, it is not a good thing. People can't hear what another is thinking. Take the following example:
Suzy Wintermore looks around for an exit, thinking she should run away
Donny Henfere: "trying to run would be stupid"
Donny should not know what Suzy is thinking, he can't read minds.
Sometimes you can guess what a person is thinking by their body language:
Suzy Wintermore looks around for an exit, thinking she should run away
Donny Henfere notices Suzy looking around, he smirks "running would be a bad choice"
______
When in role play, there are two terms one will frequently hear;
"In Character" (IC): means simply the character you are playing, a cop, victim, rapist, in the context of the story of the sim.
"Out Of Character" (OOC): is conversation, knowledge and events that take place outside of the avatar's story.
IC and OOC are completely different. People behave one way, and say things while IC, they would not necessarily say or do OOC. A good way to think of it is IC, one is acting, as in a movie or play. It is a character hey are playing. While OOC is the person doing the acting, not the character they are playing.
If someone makes an IC comment, or does something to you ICly, it should not be taken personally as the way they truly feel OOCly. It is entirely possible to be great friends OOCly, and yet, IC, beat, rape or even kill that character.
GODMODDING
___________
Godmodding = bad, don't do it. It is not fun for anyone but you, and people will quit playing with you.
Simply put, godmodding is the following:
1) Saying what happens to other people
2) Refusing to take any losses. Or lose. Ever.
3) Having übertech powers or weapons or shields, etc.
Example for #1:
JimmyJoe JimBob looks the man in the eyes, his face turning red "get the hell out of my way"
Clevus Harperwell pulls his gun, takes aim, and pumps three rounds into Actor 1's head, exploding the right side of his head across the wall
JimmyJoe Jimbob is dead
Clevus leaves no room for JimmyJoeto have any kind of reaction. Clevus takes three turns in one; pulling the gun, aiming the gun, firing the gun. Clevus determines what happens to JimmyJoe. This should not happen. Give JimmyJoe the chance to react.
Example for #2:
JimmyJoe JimBob looks the man in the eyes, his face turning red "get the hell out of my way"
Clevus Harperwell raises the weapon in his hand, firing blindly in JimmyJoe's direction, hoping at least to slow the man down
JimmyJoe JimBob bobs and weave, dodging the bullets, and lunges at Clevus
Here, Clevus allowed for JimmyJoe's reaction, allowed him to decide if he was hit or not. However, JimmyJoe, but some miraculous super human power, managed to dodge bullets fired from a gun. It only serves to move the play along, if JimmyJoe takes at least a bullet in the shoulder or something.
Example for #3:
JimmyJoe JimBob looks the man in the eyes, his face turning red "get the hell out of my way"
Clevus Harperwell raises the weapon in his hand, firing blindly in JimmyJoe's direction
JimmyJoe JimBob laughs as the bullets from Clevus' hand gun bounce of his nantech kevlar suit.
This kind of falls along with #2, in that JimmyJoe can't be hurt. He has some special shielded suit, which is has never before been revealed, that keeps him from being injured by bullets.
Meta-Gaming
___________
Meta-gaming is where one uses knowledge gained OOC to manipulate the scene or story IC. Not all meta-gaming is bad, some is necessary to move things along, but should always be explainable ICly why one has that knowledge. If you learn via OOC that someone is, say a black belt in karate, you can't use that knowledge IC, unless there is a way for your character to know it. Maybe you saw them entering a karate dojo, or remember them from a tourney.
STORY
_____
What is the place about. Find out what happened and how things are. That will help you in portraying your character. Since there is no script you get to make the story up as you go along BUT remember, The person you're playing with is also a part of the story.
Anything can happen, so let it. Give the person you're interacting with a chance to help develop your story because you're helping to develop their story as well.
For many people, the thought of role-playing is a daunting one, so much so that they entirely give up on the idea altogether, which is sad, because RP really can add fun and excitement to the Second Life experience as it helps to immerse you in the world in which you are playing, and makes your character seem more alive to the other players.
BACKGROUND
___________
This is where you get to be someone else.
As for the difficulty, that is what this guide is for, to try and help you with your RP experience.
Before you begin playing your character, this is the questions you should ask.
Who is your character?
What have you been through in life that made you this way?
What is his goal in life?
What does he (or she) believe in?
What is his background and upbringing?
Is he good? Evil? Somewhere in between?
By answering all of these questions, you build up a picture of what your character is like, and it gives information for you to draw upon when you RP. You can go as far as you like with this, even building up a personal profile for yourself with details that others do not need to see, but will find out through interaction with your character. E.g. what is your character's favourite colour?
Favorite book?
Does he/she have any family?
Is he rowdy?
Quiet?
Charming?
Friendly?
Deceitful?
By building this profile, you are breathing life into your character. A lot of it may never be used but think about real life. You may get into a conversation with other people you meet and these are the kind of questions people ask. They define who you are, and this is no different for your character.
Once you have done this, you will have a clearer picture, and you might already have ideas about how your character might react in different circumstances.
Acting the Part
This is the meat and bones of role-playing. In fact, this is what the word actually means - playing a role. In other words, you are just acting the part of your character for the time you are playing the game. This is not as difficult as it might sound. You already have the background information you need. You know who your character is, what his aims are, you just need to put that into practice.
KEEP IT REAL
_________
If you're a mutant, a bad guy, a princess or a helpless victim, keeping it real is always good. It helps you show your character that you're playing.
A bad guy wouldn't walk up to a princess and say. "Hi wanna have sex?" She'd realistically say 'No" of course. Play your character. What would you as a bad guy do if you wanted the princess. How would she react?
If someone threw a rock at you. It would hurt. Not just bounce off you like superman. React to the hurt to keep it real. It's a reason you can do something back like get mad.
One of the biggest things to affect the way you play your character is his alignment - whether he is good, evil, or somewhere in between (neutral in other words). A common misconception about alignment is that it is very black and white, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, being good does not mean you have a heart of gold, you help every person you meet on the road, and you give away every last coin you own to the needy. The same is true for evil - it does not simply mean butchering innocent children, robbing and looting everything you find and so on. Just like in the real world, there are shades of good and evil.
Let's look at a few examples. Your character is a thief, and naturally, his tendencies are towards stealing. This makes him selfish perhaps, and self-centered. This would be considered an 'evil' attitude. He thinks of himself first and foremost. However, the thief may not be entirely cruel. Perhaps he only steals from rich young lords, or powerful merchants, something like a fantasy version of Robin Hood, but a touch more evil; this Robin Hood does not give to the poor, he keeps what he steals. He may still be evil, but he is not completely evil. He does not butcher the innocents purely for his own pleasure, or torture innocent victims.
Here is another example. You are a cleric, with healing abilities. But you have learnt your craft to make money from it. You heal others but only for a price. You are not evil, certainly, you are only making a living, but nor are you that "heart of gold" good we spoke about before.
Let's say for a moment that your character is like the cleric in the second example. How would a character like that react in certain circumstances. Imagine for a moment that another player who says his friend is close to death from some poison approaches your character. He will only live if he is given healing aid, but neither of them can afford your prices.
Would your character make an exception and heal the poison victim? Would he take whatever they could afford? Would he refuse outright, perhaps turning more towards evil as his greed intensifies? There is no right and wrong decision to make here - remember, you are in control of your character, and you decide what he does. All you need to consider is how WOULD your character react.
Personalizing your Character
The mud offers numerous ways for you to personalize your character. The main tools for this are the various socials and the 'emote' command. Emote especially is extremely useful in role-play situations because it allows you to perform actions that would not otherwise be possible.
Let's take the scenario above, with the cleric and the dying man and see how this might play out through use of the emote command.
A young man enters.
A young man says, "Please, you must help my brother, he is dying from some terrible poison."
You frown.
You say "My skills do not come cheap, can you afford the coin?"
A young man shakes his head.
A young man says, "We are poor, good master, we have little to offer except our heartfelt thanks, and the thanks of his family."
You stroke your chin thoughtfully and peer down at the young boy who is writhing in agony from the poison.
You say "I am not entirely without pity, yet nor am I in the business of offering my skills for nothing. In return for my aid, I ask that you return any favour I might ask in the future."
A young boy nods his head vigorously.
A young boy says, "I agree! Anything to help my brother!"
You rub your hands together and nod briskly.
You say "then our deal is done, I will aid him!"
Emotes do not have to be used extensively. There are more socials in the above example, but when used in the right place, emotes can be more effective, especially if what your character wishes to portray through body language does not fit any of the available socials.
Another way of personalizing your character is to give him some personal quirk, like a squint, or particular phrases that he uses quite often, or a limp maybe.
A note on emoting thoughts:
Generally, it is not a good thing. People can't hear what another is thinking. Take the following example:
Suzy Wintermore looks around for an exit, thinking she should run away
Donny Henfere: "trying to run would be stupid"
Donny should not know what Suzy is thinking, he can't read minds.
Sometimes you can guess what a person is thinking by their body language:
Suzy Wintermore looks around for an exit, thinking she should run away
Donny Henfere notices Suzy looking around, he smirks "running would be a bad choice"