I have read over the initial guide, but this thread is much too long for me to go over to add a small suggestion.
When performing improv, which is similar to RPing, most professionals would tell you that you should never flat out say "No" or disagree about something unless you are able to lead what is happening somewhere else fairly quickly and without it seeming odd.
Tonight while hanging out in Pocket D, there were two people "powerposing" trying to be tough guys. It got silly because they were both "using powers on one another" yet neither would be "affected by the other". This is obviously an Ego thing, similar to "My character is the best", but if you can suck it up and let your character be knocked down once and a while, you could find yourself in a different situation rather than just going back and forth where it leads nowhere.
Take for example the show "Who's line is it anyway?", they almost always go along with whoever is leading, and it works out perfectly and almost seamlessly.
I am fairly new to RPing in a game, although I have taken drama in the past and I decided to try this method and so far it has worked out pretty well.
I've got some other tips from my tabletop experience:
1) Play Dumb. It is much easier and much more convincing to play a character under your personal intelligence level than above it. Also, it gives the other players an opportunity to "fill" the RP and take the spotlight for a while. "Dumb" supers can fall into the dumb and earnest, dumb and naive, dumb and brutish, or dumb and huggy (think Sloth from the Goonies).
2) Baffle them with BS. If you are personally intelligent, you can play a hyper-intelligent character. One way is to use technobabble to fill a little exposition. However, if you do this, you have to make up new canonical jargon for each technology or hyperspacial flux your mind invents. If your eyes glazed over at that sentence, this approach is not for you. Also, keep the technobabble to one post at a time. Other players' eyes glaze over quickly with this approach, so make your point and be prepared to rephrase your technobabble.
3) Characters with weaknesses. This is a combat based game, and no amount of RP will change that. Further, there is no way to really build a weakness into a character, but there are ways to roleplay one out. The easiest way is to bring your character's weakness up while your team rests during a mission. Characters get hit with enough of a range of things that eventually you'll get to the character's weakness that you choose. Makes for good RP while the team rests, and RP midway through a mission makes the experience memorable... as long as the rest of the team is okay with it beforehand.
4) Issue numbers in bios. Every character is the "star" ni their own personal comic on CoH, so why not use each adventuring RP as an "issue" in your own personal canon? Starting with #0 (and #1/2 if you're really early on the RP), you can both keep count of your personal progress independent of the game's level grind, give a shout out to the players you game with, and make others who read the bio curious as to the history of that character. Keep an independent log of your "issues", and you can make certain issues special, like #25, #50, and so on. Something to look forward to.
5) Creating a Nemesis. Pocket D is a great place to do this, and puts your character into direct (professional RP) rivalry with another player. I call that motivation. If you can get a player from redside (or blueside!) to be your Nemesis, there are places where conflicts can get played out. I'm still researching ways to best do this for maximum RP impact.
More to come as I think of them,
Hope this helps!
- Zax, OmegaVerse Editor-in-Chief
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Yeah people I know who brought me back to CoX didn't like the term MRP because usually they felt it lead to the same crap, just another way to get off. :P
Personally I'm an MRPer, if stuff happens... well hey, "shiat" happens. But I don't purposefully go around looking for "stuff" to "do". Otherwise to me MRP is all about being mature about what is described or done in a RP format. Cursing, body language, violence, gory descriptions, etc/etc.
Like an R-rating pretty much.
[/ QUOTE ]
I couldn't agree more.
"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah people I know who brought me back to CoX didn't like the term MRP because usually they felt it lead to the same crap, just another way to get off. :P
Personally I'm an MRPer, if stuff happens... well hey, "shiat" happens. But I don't purposefully go around looking for "stuff" to "do". Otherwise to me MRP is all about being mature about what is described or done in a RP format. Cursing, body language, violence, gory descriptions, etc/etc.
Like an R-rating pretty much.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, my own basic rule of thumb is that this is a "T" rated game, meaning other people I am interacting with COULD be young teens with whom my mature self should NOT be having "mature" exchanges with.
Unless you know the other person in real life (as in actually met them, not just know each other from myspace), it's simply inappropriate to leave the guidelines the game itself has set of keeping things "T" rated, IMNSHO. Otherwise that hot 20 year old catgirl you described all those wicked naughty things to might really be a 13 year old boy.
Think about it.
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Originally Posted by eltonio
This is over the top mental slavery.
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And now the thread's title is censored for a fairly innocuous word. Funny enough, it still shows up uncensored in the title bar if you reply.
Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
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Very good points here. I had an idea the other night about a way to incorporate /tells into my RPing though. I started a SG with my 50 PB the other night, and well according to CoH comic lore.. Kheldian technology is WAY more advanced than anything here on earth. So it would only make sense for him to create earbuds for his SG mates to use, or hand out when so desired. For those that might not know what a earbud is... a earbud is a communication device which fits quite snugly in your ear.. its large enough to be held between two fingers, but small enough that once placed inside the ear it can't be seen. So far this has worked out very well in my RP'ing as far as sending tells to someone. Of course it does take a little bit of explaining.. but seeing as how it fits with my story line, nobody has questioned it.
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Originally Posted by The_Widowed
One of the devs was just asking us about the double parentheses over the CoHGuru channel a few nights ago. The parentheses have their place, but I can understand how a non-RPer would find it annoying to be talking casually within a non-RP team with one or two people who insist on saying everything in double parentheses. "Which one should I snipe first? The Behemoth Overlord or the Agony Mage?" "((The Agony Mage))" "((I agree. Agony Mage. He has less Health.))" "Oy."
If it's a decidedly non-RP group (like your average pick-up team), please, don't put "((" and "))" around everything you say. Other people will think you're being overly pretentious, and people who don't understand what they mean will only be confused, not impressed with your ability to roleplay. Me? I subscribe to the old "Local chat is for roleplay, Team and Supergroup channels are kinda-sorta, everything else most likely isn't" creed. Nobody on Global chat uses the parentheses, and for good reason; It's more oriented for players than their characters. And please don't use them in private Tells; Just the fact that Tells are usually used for discreet, out-of-character conference should suggest that Tells are between players, not between characters...unless we're talking about telepathic communication or whispering to someone standing next to you, perhaps. Just my 2 rubles.  |
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Ahahahah, I remember that. I was Adam Storm. Yeah, thanks to this guide, i've come a long way.|
Originally Posted by ResidentBaka
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Also, My advice? Don't do what I do xP
Playing characters with weaknesses and flaws (a point in a well-written post just a few above this one), is excellent advice.
Characters that fail, have problems, or can't conquer something are much more interesting than a character that is flawless, and all-knowing. They should eventually triumph of course, but its the journey to the triumph where the fun RP lies.
Any good story, in just about any genre is about the protagonist struggling, failing, getting up and trying again - until finally they emerge victorious. Too often role players cut out the struggles, the defeats, the set backs and the weaknesses, when in fact, that's 90% of the fun.
I almost always gravitate to role players willing to lose, willing to express weaknesses, because this is an immediate signal to me that this role player can probably craft a great tale.
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This is so true. I am fairly to to RPing myself in been in the D 3x|
Originally Posted by Smurch
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Unless you know the other person in real life (as in actually met them, not just know each other from myspace), it's simply inappropriate to leave the guidelines the game itself has set of keeping things "T" rated, IMNSHO. Otherwise that hot 20 year old catgirl you described all those wicked naughty things to might really be a 13 year old boy. Think about it. |
I guess I am a little scared of what to do and how to interact with the pro without looking like an idiot. This guide is a good guide. But if you use your common sense, myself included, I should be just fine! With the quote from above, its just like talking to someone online. You trully can't believe them unless you have met them in person because everything they tell you could be a web of lies!
Lots of good stuff in here.
My only serious advice: if you want to interact with people in your environment, take the initiative and be direct about it. Example: if you see people at one of the bars in Pocket D and there's little conversation being had, don't just lean against the bar and expect someone else to question why you're brooding there... More likely than not, if no one recognizes you at that particular time, you're going to be very lonely standing there. If there's a character who interests you, speed things along by being the one to break the ice.
Of course, that's not so easy for players portraying "shy" characters who aren't so socially overt. I've seen people use emotes to let others know they're prime for interaction, but I'd advise against running up to lone characters in corners, rub up against them, and emote like crazy in order to entice them to interact with you. I personally find that irritating when players beat around the bush with me. Either say something, or move along. Because just sometimes, there are players who put themselves in unassuming corners for the purpose of observation, and watching other people craft stories.
I have a question. Last night I found a RP bio that said something like "Storyline combatant only. Please don't pick a fight."
First time I've ever seen anything like that. What praytell is it supposed to mean? I wasn't able to ask the player in question, fwiw.
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I use Tells for telepathy, "whispering" between characters, and I'm reminded of something else from a while back. Between a small circle of self-styled socialite characters, Tells were played as text messages sent fromt top of the line gadgets, with little *texts* notes before the message.
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Originally Posted by OmniSurge
Very good points here. I had an idea the other night about a way to incorporate /tells into my RPing though. I started a SG with my 50 PB the other night, and well according to CoH comic lore.. Kheldian technology is WAY more advanced than anything here on earth. So it would only make sense for him to create earbuds for his SG mates to use, or hand out when so desired. For those that might not know what a earbud is... a earbud is a communication device which fits quite snugly in your ear.. its large enough to be held between two fingers, but small enough that once placed inside the ear it can't be seen. So far this has worked out very well in my RP'ing as far as sending tells to someone. Of course it does take a little bit of explaining.. but seeing as how it fits with my story line, nobody has questioned it.
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Tales of Judgment. Also here, instead of that other place.
good luck D.B.B.
I believe the tag was just an indication that the player didn't want to engage in text-fighting, or as I call it the, "bang you're dead", "no you missed me" - school of RP. 
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I use MRP too, as I play a lot of murderous psychopaths and fascist types. |
Originally Posted by Stryph
Yeah people I know who brought me back to CoX didn't like the term MRP because usually they felt it lead to the same crap, just another way to get off. :P
Personally I'm an MRPer, if stuff happens... well hey, "shiat" happens. But I don't purposefully go around looking for "stuff" to "do". Otherwise to me MRP is all about being mature about what is described or done in a RP format. Cursing, body language, violence, gory descriptions, etc/etc. Like an R-rating pretty much. |
And to me, MRP and ERP are two entirely different things, as I have exactly one character that has any semblance of (or interest in, really) a sex life.
Don't really have an explanation for it, but I rarely swear IC. S'funny, as I do tend to curse like a sailor IRL.
Tales of Judgment. Also here, instead of that other place.
good luck D.B.B.
My main character, Demetria Tacita, is a more light-hearted, comedic style of character. She's basically a troll (as in the purposely acts stupid to cause trouble troll). A devil summoned by the Circle of Thorns who escaped and is now growing accustomed to living life as a mortal being, in the sense that she tries to imitate a human. She just comes off as looking extraordinarily strange however, and can never really pass up a good opportunity to deliberately piss people off. She does swear, a lot, and has on occasion tried to "surprise sex" people for comedic effect. Multiple times. She has never succeeded.
As for text fighting, it's a very simple thing if you can OOCly agree on who will win before you actually start fighting. If you can't agree OOCly on it, then don't do it, because OOC hatred of people for things they do IC is pretty lame.
Speaking of OOC and IC, one of my bigger peeves is when people try to retcon things as never happening without the consent of the other person. Let's say a pregnant character is stabbed in the gut for whatever reason through whatever means. Obviously the pregnant character will go all freak-out Mary Sue lolcow drama mode (and eventually later play it off as never happening), or just completely godmode it out. People don't like it when other people disrupt their super special perfect snowflake RP, and if they try to play it off as never happening, then they're not really roleplayers, they're just fanfic writers.
I tried to argue that point in the D earlier today and someone responded by insta-godmode emoting cutting my character's head off. Touchy people, I don't get why they completely fail to understand perfectly logical reasoning. Then again, I was trying to argue a point in Pocket D.
Well, if that player didn't want their pregnant character to be stabbed in the gut, they could have just emoted being able to avoid said stabbing. There's nothing that can be done to your character that you don't ALLOW to happen. Godmoding, after all, does work both ways. If they don't want to get involved in a storyline where their unborn child is killed in a brutal fashion (not for everyone, you have to admit) then that's their right. Allowing it to happen and then retconning it just seems.. weird. And far more trouble than just emote-escaping.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
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Let's say that your character pretends to be nice and wants to place her hand on the pregnant girl's stomach to feel the baby... then suddenly form spines/claws and stab. Or use super strength to rip the unborn fetus out and pull it's head off.|
Originally Posted by Elysienne
Well, if that player didn't want their pregnant character to be stabbed in the gut, they could have just emoted being able to avoid said stabbing. There's nothing that can be done to your character that you don't ALLOW to happen.
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Not allowing that to happen would be rather godmody, but it'd also be incredibly and utterly stupid for your character to give her that premature abortion "just because you wanted to".
Completely ignoring a roleplay event as not happening just because you don't like the outcome is a classic sign of being a bad roleplayer and/or a Mary Sue (which requires you be a bad roleplayer). If you really want to make it never happen, you could always go back in time to stop it from happening, or get an empath, or something like that. But playing it off as never happening? That's bad and the person who does it should feel bad.
And equally the person that roleplays the aggressive character is godmoding if they state as a simple statement of fact that they perform that villainous act.
What I'm talking about here is the word "tries." It is, and always will be, the roleplayer's friend. For example:
Spineygal place her hand on the pregnant girl's stomach to feel the baby... then suddenly form spines/claws and stabs the child in the womb! ... is bad roleplaying.
Spineygal place her hand on the pregnant girl's stomach to feel the baby... then suddenly form spines/claws and TRIES TO stab the child in the womb! ... is good roleplaying.
The first dictates the event as a statement of pure fact, with no getout clauses or consideration for the other player's desires. All I'm saying is, if Spineygal can dictate terms like that without any kind of compromise or discussion of consent, then Ultramother is well within her rights to write off the entire event as if it never happened. Or suddenly discover she mutated a womb of solid steel. Or discover that her baby partially exists in the land of dreams, so all she has to worry about is getting herself patched up.
One person's desires for RP to move in a direction does not dictate RP's direction. Compromise and consent are the keys to the RP world.
Now, if you were complaining about Ultramother consenting to being given a sudden abortion, then turning around the next day as if nothing's changed then yes, that would be strange and very poor roleplaying. But other than that... well, speaking for myself, if I'm going to be godmoded at... especially concerning something like the example stated where physical harm is being inflicted... then I'm going to godmode right BACK, but with sillier examples.
As for the original example, though...
Spineygal place her hand on the pregnant girl's stomach to feel the baby... then suddenly form spines/claws and stabs the child in the womb!
Ultramother smiles as Spineygal places her hand on the swell of her stomach... then staggers backwards in horror as the claws slide from Spineygal's fingers, screaming and falling on her backside, narrowly avoiding being stabbed!
Done and done.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
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I just wanted to say that using the (( )) marks is a habit I've gotten into when typing, and I often don't even have to think about it before I do it. Even when I know everything's OOC, I sometimes forget and they slip in.|
Originally Posted by The_Widowed
One of the devs was just asking us about the double parentheses over the CoHGuru channel a few nights ago. The parentheses have their place, but I can understand how a non-RPer would find it annoying to be talking casually within a non-RP team with one or two people who insist on saying everything in double parentheses. "Which one should I snipe first? The Behemoth Overlord or the Agony Mage?" "((The Agony Mage))" "((I agree. Agony Mage. He has less Health.))" "Oy."
If it's a decidedly non-RP group (like your average pick-up team), please, don't put "((" and "))" around everything you say. Other people will think you're being overly pretentious, and people who don't understand what they mean will only be confused, not impressed with your ability to roleplay. Me? I subscribe to the old "Local chat is for roleplay, Team and Supergroup channels are kinda-sorta, everything else most likely isn't" creed. Nobody on Global chat uses the parentheses, and for good reason; It's more oriented for players than their characters. And please don't use them in private Tells; Just the fact that Tells are usually used for discreet, out-of-character conference should suggest that Tells are between players, not between characters...unless we're talking about telepathic communication or whispering to someone standing next to you, perhaps. Just my 2 rubles. |
I don't do it to be annoying, honest.
"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
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Nobody is going to have the ability to jump back from the claws, which extend out instantly (if not semi-instantly), and still be in one piece.|
Originally Posted by Elysienne
words
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If you are carrying an unborn fetus, and your body is suddenly moved with instant or near-instant acceleration, then your baby is going to be hurt. To successfully dodge the activation of a point-blank claw extension will involve two things: one, being able to discern intent and/or the exact precise point in time the claws begin to extend, and two, the ability to accelerate yourself instantly to a greater acceleration than the claws are extending at. The former would require extreme precognitive or reflexive superpower, the latter would involve ultra reflexes or super speed.
When a car is travelling at two hundred miles an hour and comes to a complete stop instantaneously, the passengers inside are still moving and need to be stopped. This is usually accomplished by the car itself. Further down on the scale, the organs inside the passengers need to be stopped, and are stopped by the outer walls, the bones and the skin of said passengers. Severe internal damage can be caused by organs smashing up against the skin, muscle, and bone - this is how people get concussions, when their brain smacks against the inside of their skull.
The same applies to an unborn fetus. If a mother moves at two hundred miles an hour to avoid claws being extended, that fetus is going to be subject to the equivalent force of being slammed into a human body at two hundred miles an hour. This will undeniably result in the death of said fetus, and, if the mother is not superpowered, the mother as well, due to the extreme G-forces at work. The argument "They're superheroes, it doesn't count" is invalid. In the City of Heroes and City of Villains worlds, heroes and villains take damage from falling. This is completely unavoidable in almost every case. Since the act of impacting a surface after a fall is essentially an abrupt change in acceleration, the same physics can be applied in this scenario.
If the mother is a mutant, the baby will share superpowers. However, it is an implied fact that powers do not develop in the fetus. This is why mutant mothers are able to successfully bear children and not be burned/frozen/shocked/shredded to death from the inside out. The only feasible way out of the situation once the claws have begun to extend that leaves the baby alive, is for the mother to have the ability to completely mitigate the damage done so that the claws do not even penetrate the skin. This requires invulnerability.
In summary: It is completely logical to assume a mutant invulnerability tanker will be able to avoid having her stomach stabbed through and her baby killed, but pregnant female mutant invulnerability tankers are few and far in between. Unless precise forces have come into play, if a claws or spines wielding person has their hand pressed against an pregnant mother's stomach, and then extends said claws/spines into the womb, there is no logical or feasible method of mitigating that damage unless you completely ignore the roleplay and play it off as having never happened.
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I thought you were against people dismissing things entirely from their RP. I've just offered up some vaguely feasible ways for the mother to escape from the situation without resorting to OOC complaints or IC dismissal. Apparently that isn't good enough for you, so I'll use some facts plucked from the air and apply them too. |
Originally Posted by MondoCool
I'm dismissing the opposing argument implicitly by not even bothering to recap it. I'll just gloss over it with some pithy editing.
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People can often judge the reactions of others before they manifest themselves for a variety of reasons. Empathy/sympathy, interpretations of body language and subconscious 'tells,' prior knowledge or suspicion that the person they're interacting with doesn't have their best interests at heart.
Also, the human body (and most animal bodies, so I'd extrapolate that pretty much all sentient species) have self-preservation routines in their nervous system that mean they react faster than they think. Like when you touch something hot and jerk your hand away before you've even registered more in your mind than "Hot!" It could be said that, as soon as the mother felt "sharp!" she moved to preserve herself and her child. And, really, there is no such thing as "instantaneous movement." Extrusion of matter through other matter is a process, with much dilation and complex muscular movement. And while, yes, dodging the attack may harm the child, it'd probably harm the child significantly less than being rent in twain.
But here's the important part; it isn't the attacker's decision.
The attacker does not get to impose consequences on the defender. The defender does not get to impose consequences on the attacker. If there were some sort of GM, then he or she would decide in both cases, from physical attacks to psychological damage, to social implications. But the best we've got is the in-game mechanics. Which is why people have to talk over their RP plans and come to a compromise. Or not, in which case the RP interaction should be written off as a bad idea before it's even begun.
I'm not here to argue physics and biology, I'm here to argue RP etiquette. And frankly, the vehemence with which you're arguing the attacker's case makes me wonder if you have a specific and similar circumstance in mind.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
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The attacker creates the action, the defender causes the reaction. My previous post was there to prove that the defender could not create an ideal reaction unless a specific set of criteria were met, and there would be absolutely no possible roleplay-based way to escape what would logically happen if you did not meet said criteria.|
Originally Posted by Elysienne
more words
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The vehemence with which I argue with is forged by a lifetime of arguing, and being correct in said arguements. If you don't like people making sound, reasonable arguments then maybe you should go play Runescape.
So defensive!
You can't dictate whether there would or would not be any roleplay-based ideal reaction to your hypothetical argument because you don't know the extent of any given character. Its impossible to try and impress your own values on other people over the internet, and to try makes you come off as a self-important jerk (why yes, I have been drinking the irony juice today...) As I've said over and over again, consent is key in all RP reactions if you want to avoid drama. No matter how much you'd like roleplaying to move in a strictly logical fashion, it never will. Roleplaying is collaborative, not objective, and so trying to apply objective reasoning to it is an exercise in frustration and futility.
As for sound, reasoned arguments, I love 'em. Don't get enough of 'em on the internet, you really don't. But as you become more and more aggressive towards me, when I've already put down my reasons and you don't address them in any real way, I can't help but feel that your troll character in-game may reflect your posting style to a certain degree.
To reiterate my main points for the last three posts; Nobody can dictate terms on roleplaying interaction. Nobody SHOULD dictate terms on roleplaying interaction. Good roleplaying can only be achieved through solid cooperation, communication and consent. It should not be a game of "one-upmanship." You cannot "win" roleplaying in this kind of medium. Anyone who believes that their own fun is more important than another persons, anyone who finds their enjoyment at the expense of another person's character is "bad, and they should feel bad." Anyone who believes they have that entitlement is just as much of a "super special perfect snowflake RPer" as the person they antagonise, as they believe their vision of the character interaction comes first. That's some pretty big Mary Sue-ism right there.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
I think the only way someone should get away with performing a violent act in RP in Pocket D, is if they're then willing to never enter Pocket D again, due to being banned by DJ Zero for breaking the no violence rule (at least outside of the arena, anyway).
At least then people might reconsider being a ****** more thoroughly.
As for out in the normal world, I'm sure something like fetus stabbing would get all sorts of law dudes on yer butt.
Basically what I'm saying is I don't mind that kinda stuff if the other person is also willing to RP the consequences of their actions. But if they're doing it and then just walking around like they didnt just stab a fetus or whatever, then they're annoying and dumb, and feel free to ignore whatever the hell they just did.
If you want someone else to suffer the consequences of your actions, RPly, then you have to suffer the consequences as well, IMO.
And as someone said earlier, the whole "tries" thing is probably the most important rule to follow, to avoid being an annoying godmoding ******.
ERP-is what happens when u meet that special someone online you cyber for six months and ERP! itz not a girl!
all kidding aside i like that definition and im sticking to it!
as Ood Sigma said....We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep. This song is ending. But the story never ends.