The Art of Role Playing

[Faile]

Hey guys,

Since I've made a comeback I've noticed that the realm as a whole has divorced itself from the “art of role playing.” I’ve been observing lots since as an effective 50 there isn’t much else to do except for gold and random and I’d say RP is dead. I can only think of two or three individuals who actively role play and that saddens me. I began to play amidst a time when role playing was an unspoken requirement and while people spoke OOC the general focus was IC conversations.

I was recently looking at some old posts of ceremonies performed by Cordir and the Fate crew and I was very nostalgic. I am not sure if, when Cordir retired, she took RP with her, but I’d like to see it come back.

Cordir, I’d like to crown you role play queen! Will your majesty please make a comeback and teach us all how to get it right? =) Perhaps you can post something that would be helpful. How did you motivate your players to stay IC and RP?

So, do you guys think it is the FLI’s responsibility to foster a role play environment? or do you think it’s the players who have the ultimate decision on whether or not they choose to RP regardless of the FLI’s opinion?

Another observation I’ve made is that character separation is nonexistent. I know I have been guilty of it in the past, but since my rebirth that has changed. What ideas do you guys have to make character separation more effective? OR What techniques do you employ to keep your characters separated? Do you think character separation is an illusion or can it be attained?

Some people mud to make friends, others to get the best equipment in the game, some explore and learn, others help, some pk, and some of us, yes, role play.

What’s your opinion?

[Totec]

RP and character separation are essentially social contracts and the responsibility of the community as a whole; a burden mortals share equally with the immortals.

There seems to be a strong lack of both carrot and stick to encourage the community to uphold these contracts, and character separation in particular is not a winning strategy in and of itself. If I make a character named Nubie, of course I want to *wink wink**nudge nudge* players for equipment support. And if my beloved Totec loses all of his gear, then who am I to turn away generous offerings from a player's 10 different 30's, 40's, and 50's with tons of spare equipment?

Strong followings and highly active FLIs go a long way to mute the impulse to depend on Joe Schmoe's 10 characters. Policing character separation is also easier when a character's host lookup is broadcast to lower level immortals who can use it to enforce "cool down" policies (i.e., "you can't log on to your character in MY following for 30 minutes after you have logged out of your character in someone else's following").

All of that aside, there is a certain not-so-small segment of the remaining MUD population that will *never* be thrilled by (and possibly lacking the ability to) role play. But people who DO role play encourage others who like RP to come out of hiding to enjoy that aspect of the game. RP begets RP.

So, Faile, RP your heart out. Maybe others will find themselves Fated to join you.

[Anduin]

RP is ok an to extent - if you're evil, act evil etc. I thought the Conclave did a great job of RP'ing whereas Fate took it too far. I found the aforementioned ceremonies etc. rather annoying and since I've always played a thief they were unavoidable to an extent.

But hey, that's me.

Oh and Totec's right, char sep is so hard these days it's ridiculous.

[Lycron]

I leave the option open in my following as to whether you RP or not. There is a ceremony that can be performed when gaining admission, but I don't force it upon people. Personally, I take a more neutral stance to not go too far either way. Char sep is hard for sure, but there are some people who literally switch chars in the course of a minute or less. That is bad in my book.

[boromir]

Greetings,

RP: is almost extinct and I do wish people would work more into their mudding

Char Sep: whats that?

There is some Char Sep but not alot. As all in the Nexus are aware, I prefer an hour between logins but its difficult to enforce. Not knowing all the alias's makes it tough to know who is or isnt keeping Char Sep.

Just a reminder: there is an FYI on char sep from Tamar.
=> Relogs, fast logins/fast log outs & character separation <=

And if you get caught, expect no sympathy !

I await your considered opinions!

[Cordir]

Faile -

Thank you for your kind post, it made my morning. I sure didn't want to 'take' RP with me... I truly hoped that I'd built a legacy that would continue on. I am sad to hear that it hasn't. I am a nerd. I really, really got a kick out of RP. Even a decade later, I still get a grin on my face when I re-read ancient logs. Guess that's why I could never bear to delete my TFC folder.

As for promoting and encouraging RP in a following as an FLI -- I found that a couple of things helped.

1) I had regular meetings. They weren't mandatory but a lot of folks did prefer to attend. For those unfamiliar, they were called "Fateful Hours" and I tried to have some kind of prepared theme. I have to say that there were a lot of excellent roleplayers in the following; as the Conclave draws those who like to PK, I think having an environment that focuses on RP, draws folks with that focus. (Though, I'm proud to say that I did have some remarkably skilled and prolific killers in the following from time to time - alts and primaries both. As a mortal, Ienjoyed some surprisingly good RP at unexpected moments from folks I just didn't think of as RP'ers. Daelin, Monk, Zara, etc. As an Imm, Rincewind surprised the hell out of me with several excellent spur of the moment RP'd scenes.). Bardic Circles were also a regular occurance - both before and after the creation of the Bard class.

2) I encouraged RP by giving rewards for it. Restrings were often given as a result of quests - and almost every quest had some form of RP element to it... not just 'go kill six dragons'. During the course of my Immortality, I wrote well over 100 unique restrings, for mud-wide quests, my followers, folks in other followings, etc. (Of course, the Triat Mastery quests were the penultimate badass blended quest, and the only 'prize' for that was a title.) There were also roleplayed roles within the following - not just 'who gets to be second in command' - but also specific roles: Handmaiden, Scribe, etc. One thing Molo did that was a fun RP was the Council. Each member had their own focus and title and responsibilities.

3) I required character histories of all my followers. I think when you sit down and figure out who and what your character is, not just a race and home town, it helps to react in various situations in character.

4) I fostered relationships between characters in the following - mentorships, apprenticeships, etc. Sometimes, these worked out REALLY well. Sometimes, not so much. As a mortal, Cordir was an Apprentice to an older, more experienced member of the Black Conclave. While we didn't get to RP very much due to playing schedule, what interaction we had was a lot of fun. (There's a triva question for ya... who was my Instructor?)

I also used other RP tools, like requiring Geasa (for those unfamiliar - all members of the Chosen of Fate had to take up three Oaths upon joining. They oftentimes worked out to be an oath that forbade a specific action, one that required a specific action, and one that involved some means of helping others. They were often developed a result of the character history. At one point, Nyx and Saran had an informal contest to see who could have the most geasa. Of all the Chosen, Saran had the most restrictive Geasa ever selected. But Saran was quite an RPer... and I was deeply honored to have him in the following. If you know who his Primary character was, you'll understand why).

As to helping with character separation: Yes - a separation period helps. I liked 30 minutes, but it's rather hard to mandate. Yes, that's the biggest reason I liked being able to see IP / login addresses, until that was removed from FLIs a long time back. Diversity of character is another big thing to help with seperation. My own characters were pretty diverse, if few in number:

• A High Priestess, somewhat obsessed with fighting plague... Married a paladin, bore a child who became a Paladin like his father... overwhelmingly goody two shoes. Good following.
  
• A feline humanoid, who hung out with vampires and liked to play chase... very child like in nature and intellect. Evil following.
  
• A heavily masochist, sadistic, evil bitch from hell (no, not Cordir :P) ... Evil following.
  
• A lost young boy, not entirely sure who his family was, but desperate to belong, and to choose the light over dark... Unaligned.
  
• and a broken woman who found her religion in madness, her humanity in an undead, and her purpose in Immortality. (Unaligned / Evil / Evil / Good / Unaligned/ Neutral)

Having extremely diverse characters helps to keep up char sep. (For an immortal, having a radically different mortal character helps break up the stress and sometimes monotony of being an immortal.)

I'll be honest; both as a mortal and immortal, I sometimes took my RP off mud -- TFC's restrictions as being a 'family mud' interfered with some scenes, due to appropriately profane language or adult situations. So I did a lot of RP in MSN Messenger or other telnet sessions. While I've always understood and respected those restrictions, they did sometimes chafe. I do wish that there were "no info" zones, specifically for RP.. but that's a pipe dream.

What can a mortal do, no matter their following?

• write a character history. Intertwine it with places, mobs, PCs, etc. (get permission of PCs FIRST)
• create emotes, specific greetings, habits for your character. Cordir greeted the mud on gossip the same way for almost 5 years.
• write a character description and put it in your DESC. If you don't think you can write well, ask help from someone who can. At one point, I was doing them for a fee or for free if the whim struck me. I think I did 10 in one day, one time. They add to the character, a lot.
• Collect restrings whenever possible, or nicely named, limited or non-limited eq that fits. Have spare clothes specifically for RP.
• create relationships between characters - romances, roleplayed feuds, etc. I *LOVED* arguing with Rath. Respected the heck out of the guy's RP.
• Spend time in the Guild, in character, roleplaying with newcomers. Teach them to enjoy it, and you'll affect a whole new 'generation' of TFC'ers.

Anduin - I'm really sorry that you still hold such bitterness about your time in Fate. While I don't regret my decisions with regards to your departure, I do regret the obvious and lasting pain it caused. For that, I apologize.

Yes, Thieves with their Info definately do get impacted by heavy RP sessions... and it's a coin toss whether one prefers to hear all the stuff, or turn the INFO channel off for a while to get a break from it, if it's not your thing. We did try to give a polite warning to thieves that a Fateful Hour was about to start, so they could decide if they wanted to channel -Info or not. (One of my more amusing logs is a conversation between Typhon and Jahiliya, back in the 90s - they were having a lovely time playing with Infos.)

Ok, I'm operating on only a few hours of sleep this morning, so that's about all I can come up with at the moment.

-C.

[Anduin]

Cordir,

I wasn't saying those things to be petty, I'm not 13 anymore . While I disliked you in-game, I never let it get to me outside of TFC, so don't worry about it. It's not that I hated my time in Fate, I don't really remember it to be quite honest. It was more so how you played the game, and tried to force it on others that annoyed me. I thought some of your ideas were neat, like having a character write their own history because it would promote creativity. However, I also found many things you did (like the three oaths) to be ridiculous. Not everyone joined Fate to RP, some just did it because they wanted to play with their friends. To me, RP should always be optional.

Another thing I disliked was how you would punish people for breaking their RP when you did it on several occasions where your emotions got the better of you. I remember when you got mad at Marissa for writing her own time line that included all of TFC's history, and not just the censored version you were making.

As for thieves', info3 is important and can be used for pk'ing etc. so turning it off wasn't really a simple fix.

Faile/others,

If you really want to bring RP back to the game, do it through actions. I remember a time when goods were not allowed to trade with evils - they just hunted them, when evils never allied with other evils (unless they were Nashites of course), and when char sep allowed people to pk their "MUD friends". If you want to bring RP back to TFC, do it through your actions instead of trying to be one of those people who dress up as an elf and run around in a forest all day in RL. (no offense Snape)

[Melisande]

Anduin, it was my understanding back then that anyone who wanted to be Fated KNEW they MUST rp (or were going to have to at some point). I'm sorry you missed the memo.

It is also hard to RP by yourself since RP requires usually more people than just one. I think it will take a collective to bring it back. If there is not a hint of role play in the way you interact then I do not know what you are doing playing a text based game.

[Anduin]

Actually I asked Cordir before I joined if I had to and she said I didn't Melisande.

Did you even read what I wrote? Apparently not, I said RP is good to an extent. If you can't read properly, I don't know what you're doing playing a text based game.

[Locke]

Role playing, like PK, has its ups and downs. It's definitely not for everyone, and it's hard to deny that (in character or not), it annoyed the crap out of some people when you info'd or tried to communicate with a role player. Similarly, I'm sure it annoyed a lot of people (perhaps best embodied by Cordir) when people went out of their way to disrupt it.

I think it's nothing more than a preference, almost like a religion, and something you will have to deal with one way or another. The people who hate role-playing aren't suddenly going to start joining in bardic circles, nor will characters like Cordir engage in heated discussions about Lindsay Lohan's imprisonment or the World Cup results.

This is a text-based game based on a fantasy/medieval world, so some people will approach it as a chance to play a character in a vastly different world, and others will approach it simply as a chance to have fun, and to be yourself, in a game setting.

I find role-playing annoying for the most part, but I do see the benefit it can bring to TFC and games in general.

One way or another, we're all just going to have to deal with it

[Tokugawa]

I think Khore said the following when he was active and a similar discussion was going on...

"Your role-playing experience is disrupting my pk experience!"

It was funny, and I think brought home the idea that what is one person's idea of a fun time, is not the same for everyone.

[Melisande]

Anduin, do not presume that I speak only to you on my post. Only the first line of text had anything to do with you.

When I think of RP I don't necessarily think of anything outrageous. What I think would be useful is to stay within context for the game. TFC is based on fantasy and If all you hear on ftell is how much bigger their penis size is than the other or who you screwed last night- that's not really appropriate.

[Cordir]

I wasn't saying those things to be petty, I'm not 13 anymore . While I disliked you in-game, I never let it get to me outside of TFC, so don't worry about it.

I wasn't taking it / implying / saying that you were being petty - I was trying to validate and acknowledge that our interactions still seemed to bug you. That made me sad, and I felt an apology was owed.

It's not that I hated my time in Fate, I don't really remember it to be quite honest. It was more so how you played the game, and tried to force it on others that annoyed me. I thought some of your ideas were neat, like having a character write their own history because it would promote creativity. However, I also found many things you did (like the three oaths) to be ridiculous. Not everyone joined Fate to RP, some just did it because they wanted to play with their friends. To me, RP should always be optional.

That's a valid opinion. I'd have to pull up my logs of our interactions / your joining the following to be able to accurately speak to what we agreed to prior to your joining, but I don't think I ever told anyone who joined Fate*, 'Feel free to ignore all RP...' but I also I never told anyone, 'You MUST roleplay in this (XYZ) specific fashion' - I encouraged folks to find their own niche, though many didn't. I think you left more to a following rule issue, than due to roleplay, if I am remembering right. (memory being the first thing to go.) Like you, I don't have very clear memories about it... and honestly, it isn't worth disagreement / arguement. I'm glad you enjoyed your mud experience better, in other followings.

Another thing I disliked was how you would punish people for breaking their RP when you did it on several occasions where your emotions got the better of you. I remember when you got mad at Marissa for writing her own time line that included all of TFC's history, and not just the censored version you were making.

I had no problem with Marissa creating her own time line. I had a HUGE issue when she copied massive chunks of mine and included it in her project without asking me about it. That was the core of my issue - I felt that hours of work was stolen. I was very, very angry with her. I recall ranting a couple of times, venting with folks I knew to be friends off mud as much as on, like Tranquility and Nyx and Ananasi. I honestly don't recall if I named Marissa Anathema as a result of the data issue or not. I don't THINK so... though I may have asked Abe if he wouldn't mind PK'ing her if he had the opportunity. Not one of my best moments, I'll be honest. But I was really upset and hurt by her actions. Time heals a lot - years later, I handed her my entire time line and she did a wonderful job merging the two into what appears on the TFC website today. It wasn't as important who gathered what, any more, as it was a chance to give something back to TFC.

As for breaking my own personal RP -- there were a few times that Cordir broke her own geasa, and came up with nasty punishments for herself. One was "never to take a life of a follower" - I think I didn't use SAY for a month or something along those lines as 'geasa violation punishment.' Sometimes those RPs were re-planned, and sometimes, yeah, it was me whacking myself up side the head, to remind myself to maintain my standards. I've never claimed to be a perfect RP'er, by any stretch.

As for thieves', info3 is important and can be used for pk'ing etc. so turning it off wasn't really a simple fix.

Agreed; definately not a perfect solution by any stretch. I had to channel -gossip and even channel -godtalk more than once, because what was being discussed was upsetting / irritating / etc. I just figured if thieves had the option, sometimes it's easy to forget the choice is there.

Thank you for the dialogue.

Locke: In regards to your point about irritation over RP disruption... I was sometimes struck by the irony that the folks who would tell me it was no big deal for them to disrupt my RP, were the most grumpy when I disrupted their PK attempts on my followers. "You spoil my fun... I'll spoil yours" was the rather petty and immature way I looked at it. I was exceedingly protective of the Chosen, sometimes too much so. But I looked at them as friends and family, and my responsibility...my own take on what a God would feel towards those who were faithful to Them.

-C.

*erm. Except maybe Ink. But I still made him do some of the entry requirements. That was a "I just wanna hang out with a friend" moment, when I was already questioning why I was still an Immortal. His alts in the following DID have to have some sorta RP - history, Geasa, etc. And he told me I was a big meanie for making him do it, too.

[Kylor]

I like PK and RP both and I believe that each should be optional (as a requirement within a following). I do however agree that if there was a place to focus RP that attracted RPers, like a specific following, then it'd be cool. I also agree with writing a desc and some background or theme for each character just to help you "get in character". I dunno... I guess if you feel in character it makes RPing on the fly easier.. BTW ANDUIN next time I see you out of safe I am going to RP YOU!

[Cordir]

OK. I've posted a coupla 'how to's over in the help section... any topics I didn't cover, that might be helpful?