"Don't be an #@$hole" is a wonderful rule of thumb to go by in all roleplaying interactions. However, what one person deems un-#@$holish may not be the same as another's interpretation. That's where all these strange, almost draconic social sub-rules come into play. A vague guideline of what is, and what is not, #@$holery.
Personally, I think it all boils down to communication. If you're in even the slightest doubt about what your character is doing in terms to the reactions it may elicit in others, then talk to the player or players. Even if you need to call a brief OOC time-out to set boundaries and rules. Though, frankly, if the situation you're creating is going to be that involved, I'd suggest getting a hold of the players you're going to run it with beforehand and laying out the OOC guidelines for IC interaction as a scheduled event for whatever plot you're running.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
Don't forget to make her a FUTA. :P I think the D is funny when you look around and see lvl 1 toons with the only thing in the bio (RL Lesbian - ERP - Futa)...that stuff cracks me up. Some guy at home needing his quick fix i bet.
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Three Rules of Good Roleplay:
[/ QUOTE ]*snip*
Smurch, may I steal this for use with my VG I run? ^.^ I'll give credit where it's due of course.
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
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"Don't be an #@$hole" is a wonderful rule of thumb to go by in all roleplaying interactions. However, what one person deems un-#@$holish may not be the same as another's interpretation. That's where all these strange, almost draconic social sub-rules come into play. A vague guideline of what is, and what is not, #@$holery.
Personally, I think it all boils down to communication. If you're in even the slightest doubt about what your character is doing in terms to the reactions it may elicit in others, then talk to the player or players. Even if you need to call a brief OOC time-out to set boundaries and rules. Though, frankly, if the situation you're creating is going to be that involved, I'd suggest getting a hold of the players you're going to run it with beforehand and laying out the OOC guidelines for IC interaction as a scheduled event for whatever plot you're running.
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I suppose. I definitely agree with you about communication, though it seems kind of strange to me that anyone would even need that explained to them. I think my experience with "the rules" has been very different from most Virtueites, though; I RPed for quite a long time in Everquest and Anarchy Online and a bit in DAoC without even knowing about godmoding and canon breaking and all this other stuff that people seem to worry about a lot here, and that worked out fine, whereas here I've had about as many experiences with jack@#$es abusing "the rules" as I have people I gave half a fig about causing serious problems by refusing to follow them. I have to assume that hasn't been the experience of most folks on this board, given how often this stuff comes up.
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"Don't be an #@$hole" is a wonderful rule of thumb to go by in all roleplaying interactions. However, what one person deems un-#@$holish may not be the same as another's interpretation. That's where all these strange, almost draconic social sub-rules come into play. A vague guideline of what is, and what is not, #@$holery.
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Are you kidding? Flea, Despair, Jack and Ceratus all thrive on being absolute bastards. It's the nature of their characters and each one tells a different story... (Flea is the way he is due to feeling an alien exile, Despair is just a psychotic Wraith symbiote, Jack is an Irish mutie terrorist and Ceratus is a hyper-evolved Ceratosaur...which was dinosaur for [censored].)
Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
There we hit upon the difference between the character being an #@$hole and the player being an #@$hole.
A very big part of not being an #@$hole as a player, yet playing an #@$hole as a character, is being willing to lose, or be shouted down in an argument, or be made to look like a fool. Nobody who is a sore loser should even try to play an #@$holeish character, as it will lead to OOC conflict and drama.
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 definitely agree with you about communication, though it seems kind of strange to me that anyone would even need that explained to them.
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The same thing applies to why a can of spray cheese has to have instructions like "Do not spray cheese into eyes."
Common sense (and RP Sense) is far from common.
Live arcs: 517377 and 517381
Virtue: Quickshot. Swiftwind. Aliuneidis. Gizmodeus. Dasher. Fiver. Inuit Acer. Daniel Darke. Cerebral Flame. El Halcon.
Intel Core2Duo 2.4 Ghz 4 GB RAM**NVIDIA Geforce 9600 GT set to 1280 x 1024**Windows Vista 32 bit
My frustration comes from the RP snobs who think that their way of RP is the ONLY way. I've actually had a person * add emo / goth / vampire sulking freak in a black duster here * ask me "Are you trying to RP me ? If so you must address me by my correct title blah blah blah" ( ok genius, if we're RPing how would I know what your "title" IS if we've never met .. Hmmm??? ) . . . RP is a completely individual thing, like conversation, sure we all do it, but we all have our little twist on it.
Forget for a moment that I've played pen and paper RPGs since the late 70s. Forget that I've played nearly all the major MMOs @ one point or another, the real issue is with CoH in particular.
The types of people that RP in this game are pretty much social deviants as near as I can tell. Virtue in particular is a breeding ground for this type of behavior. I've been playing CoH since closed Beta. The first year was a great time on Virtue. We had HEROES * GASP ! * not vamps and devils and "DETHGAWD" the hero ?!? C'mon.
Half the battle of RP is immersion. It's tough when this game has gone so far from "heroes" that we, who actually play a character that resembles a hero and acts as a hero are the exception, not the rule.
The population is small enough on all the servers that they should just create a Goth server, and allow a free transfer to it for all the folks that think that is what CoH is. I'd love to have my game back.
/rant off
As someone who plays a Goth supervillain (she's perky Goth, though), that rant is a little offensive. Heroes and villains can come in Goth. Heck, Batman's probably the poster child for Goth Hero.
Perky Goth ? Oookay.
Batman may be the Dark Knight, but he doesn't seem to be that way when he is out of costume. . . He is character driven, to a point, by his past. Not by his need to suck blood, slit his wrist, dress only in black and constantly "brood". At the end of the day he is still a hero. This is defined by his actions and his words.
I can't imagine why you would take offense. They are my feelings, and mine alone. It affects you in no way shape or form. Anyway I thought Goth was all about the FTW attitude ? Oh wait, you're "Perky" goth .. my bad.
The difference between Goths and Emos is that both think the world sucks, but Goths laugh at that fact while Emos cry over it.
I smell a flame war!
HEROES! JOIN US TO SAVE PARAGON! SIGN THE PETITION TO KEEP CITY OF HEROES FROM SHUTTING DOWN!
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Please. no flame wars. This is a great thread, keep the insightful stuff coming.
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I've been playing CoH since closed Beta. The first year was a great time on Virtue. We had HEROES * GASP ! * not vamps and devils and "DETHGAWD" the hero ?!? C'mon.
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Really? As far back as I can remember (say, I1-I2), we had vampires. And demons. And everything inbetween, including my first real foray into Virtue, a normal teenage boy living in a city full of super-powered beings... and still holding his own, with sharp pointy objects. I've since deleted him, though, mostly to make room for some other characters.
And actually, two of the coolest people I know (who no longer play the game, I believe) actually had vampire characters, who themselves were awesome incarnate.
... I'm just saying, though.
Can i help?!
See, Virtue does attract odd balls, partly it's how lore takes thing, it says "there's hell, alternate dimensions, all kinds of unexplored and populated planets, all kinds of magic, tech, humanity has advanced in all kinds of fields too boot, and if you spend enough time outside you're gonna be losing your humanity pretty quick. let your imagination take you!"
but the social oddball isn't your average murdering neighbor who was so nice until he ended up on the news and lamb, no this is the weird guy at the office who has these odd quirks, nothing like OCD, but they'll talk to their filing cabinets or something; and thankfully won't shoot up the office later that year. Truthfully, it ain't so bad.
Also perky goths do exist, it's more a fashion trend these days, when the norm is you see three girls in the mall with slushies, laughing and rocking the plaid skirts and dark make up.
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My frustration comes from the RP snobs who think that their way of RP is the ONLY way. I've actually had a person * add emo / goth / vampire sulking freak in a black duster here * ask me "Are you trying to RP me ? If so you must address me by my correct title blah blah blah" ( ok genius, if we're RPing how would I know what your "title" IS if we've never met .. Hmmm??? ) . . . RP is a completely individual thing, like conversation, sure we all do it, but we all have our little twist on it.
Forget for a moment that I've played pen and paper RPGs since the late 70s. Forget that I've played nearly all the major MMOs @ one point or another, the real issue is with CoH in particular.
The types of people that RP in this game are pretty much social deviants as near as I can tell. Virtue in particular is a breeding ground for this type of behavior. I've been playing CoH since closed Beta. The first year was a great time on Virtue. We had HEROES * GASP ! * not vamps and devils and "DETHGAWD" the hero ?!? C'mon.
Half the battle of RP is immersion. It's tough when this game has gone so far from "heroes" that we, who actually play a character that resembles a hero and acts as a hero are the exception, not the rule.
The population is small enough on all the servers that they should just create a Goth server, and allow a free transfer to it for all the folks that think that is what CoH is. I'd love to have my game back.
/rant off
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hello I had to comment, ((sorry on my net book so there may be some errors in grammer and spelling))
I too have played most MMO's and many Pre-MMO ((MUDS)) I have also done WOD LARP, and as for pen and papper Cyberpunk, AD&D, and I am currently DM'ing a 4th ed. Game set in my rather unusual world.
I also started in the 1st year, however I was not on Beta, and was one of the 1st Vampire characters on Virtue,
((ok now that we have my referances))
(Mariel was based on my Favorite AD&D character who got cursed with Vampirism, I tweaked it a little to fit with the 7 other Vampires on the server at the time and Made her more WOD at the time.)
i was not filled with this games Lore, and from what i saw very few at the time where, needless the RP wasn't ERP, it was everywhere, and I realy liked the club before the D. right around the end of the 1st year when I got to lvl 50 i started to play a lot of WOW, but to have fun in that game you have to grind, and I got tired of non stop grinding and then raiding at set time set day every week. it started to feel like work, so i came back, and though I have had a lot of fun, and even got a fun alt back in the new version of my old guild, I have yet to find any RP even with my old freinds from long ago who may talk and chat ((OOC with me on the global channel, I haven't seen any RP except in the D, and we all Know whats going on there... 
so to my point yes the RP here has turned in to verbal foreplay at the D, and I'm sure that somewhere people are doing good story telling but the vaste majority of RP'ers are now just playing the game. and this game still holds a lot of fun in that esp.. with all the new things they have added and are still adding.
----
as for the goth thing, been goth since 1989, ran a goth/industrial night club at one point, and as i near 40 years i am still as goth as i was at 18, its a sub-culture and a way of life that is differant than the norm, but has been around as long as people... if i had time i would show the historic perspective, as for EMO, its not a full subculture, how ever it has been around a very long time just like goth, and there is even some overlap in music, fashion and other things, the one Major differance and as far as I can tell the only differance is the attitude, a goth may cut herself with a razor blade, and so will the EMO but the goth was doing it for the Art, the EMO for the pain... the differance is very subtle but its major.
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We had HEROES * GASP ! * not vamps and devils and "DETHGAWD" the hero ?!? C'mon.
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Don't forget about the misunderstood villains who really just want a hug. This is why I have alot of difficulty RPing in this game, it's "City of Vigilantes".
I'm proud to say all my Heroes are justice-driven good guys, and all my Villains are self-serving evildoers...With the exception of one "Antihero" Villain who's intentions are good, but who's extremist methods are definitely not.
The off-beat space pirate...Capt. Stormrider (50+3 Elec/Storm Science Corruptor)
The mysterious Djinn...Emerald Dervish (50+1 DB/DA Magic Stalker)
The psychotic inventor...Dollmaster (50 Bot/FF Tech Mastermind)
Virtue Forever.
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Perky Goth ? Oookay.
Batman may be the Dark Knight, but he doesn't seem to be that way when he is out of costume. . . He is character driven, to a point, by his past. Not by his need to suck blood, slit his wrist, dress only in black and constantly "brood". At the end of the day he is still a hero. This is defined by his actions and his words.
I can't imagine why you would take offense. They are my feelings, and mine alone. It affects you in no way shape or form. Anyway I thought Goth was all about the FTW attitude ? Oh wait, you're "Perky" goth .. my bad.
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I love people who whine about stereotypes.
If stereotypes offend you that much than might I suggest a different MMO altogether? The superhero genre is loaded with stereotypes. You could even say that the genre is stronger for the stereotypes.
Jocks? (Flash Gordon)
Geeks/Nerds? (Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Octopus, Beast)
Valley Girls? (Power Girl, The Stepford Cuckoos)
Goths? (Shriek, Raven)
Angst? (Batman, Wolverine, Anti-Venom, Spider Man)
Lawful Stupid, I mean Good? (Superman, Cyclops, Captain America)
Bullies? (Blob, Toad, Juggernaught)
Mafia/Gangsters? (Kingpin, Killer Croc)
Gun Bunny? (Punisher, Nick Fury, Cable)
Smart [censored]? (Deadpool, Spider Man)
Cheesecake? (White Queen, Wonder Woman, Power Girl)
Way Too Many Psychological Issues? (Wolverine, Iron Man, Batman, Bane)
Dinosaurs? (Sauron, Anything that goes near the Savage Land, Stegron)
Robots? (Iron Man, Sentinels, Mr. Hero)
Pirates? (Corsair, Nightcrawler)
Bikers? (Lobo, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Vengeance)
Death Is Only Temporary? (Wolverine, Magneto, Jean Fscking Grey, Cyber, Superman)
The End Of The World? (Doomsday, Apocalypse, Galactus)
And loads more...
Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
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Looking at the above example, Character Y is an arachnophobic and Character X is playing a prank. Under normal circumstances, the sight of a spider would send Y into a fit of terror, but Y's player should be able to see the situation is comedic in nature. Therefore, Y may still react with fear, but perhaps do so comedically. IE, add in some slapstick with Y flailing madly, inadvertantly hitting X.
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Theres a difference between what the PLAYER knows, and what the CHARACTER knows. You're saying take knowlage the player knows, how hero X is trying to pull a prank, and use it to influence the character's actions, aka metagaming.
IRL, if someone put a spider on your shoulder, you'd have no idea if it was for a prank or otherwise, and if you were afraid of spiders, you'd freak out too.
now, to no one in particular.
By the way: the EMOs and CATGIRLS and DEVILDOODS and such are also *Gasp* VALID character concepts. You going off and ignoring them just because of what type of character they are also labels you an RP snob.
Yes, most of the above mentioned characters are bad, but don't label the entire network of them that way.
Characters!:
Pinny - Scrapper
Shadewing - Defender
@Pinny
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My frustration comes from the RP snobs who think that their way of RP is the ONLY way. I've actually had a person * add emo / goth / vampire sulking freak in a black duster here * ask me "Are you trying to RP me ? If so you must address me by my correct title blah blah blah" ( ok genius, if we're RPing how would I know what your "title" IS if we've never met .. Hmmm??? ) . . . RP is a completely individual thing, like conversation, sure we all do it, but we all have our little twist on it.
Forget for a moment that I've played pen and paper RPGs since the late 70s. Forget that I've played nearly all the major MMOs @ one point or another, the real issue is with CoH in particular.
The types of people that RP in this game are pretty much social deviants as near as I can tell. Virtue in particular is a breeding ground for this type of behavior. I've been playing CoH since closed Beta. The first year was a great time on Virtue. We had HEROES * GASP ! * not vamps and devils and "DETHGAWD" the hero ?!? C'mon.
Half the battle of RP is immersion. It's tough when this game has gone so far from "heroes" that we, who actually play a character that resembles a hero and acts as a hero are the exception, not the rule.
The population is small enough on all the servers that they should just create a Goth server, and allow a free transfer to it for all the folks that think that is what CoH is. I'd love to have my game back.
/rant off
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Sweet irony.
cat ears does not a poor character make, nor does spandex and a red white and blue theme make the character a work of art.
We seem to have strayed off the point of "How can I have a better RP experience overall" which was more about tolerance and communication, and more to "WHY YOUR RP IS WRONG."
On a side-note, I have issues with the whole emo thing (how can music be labelled as "emotional?" Music is DESIGNED to evoke emotion!) but that's a whole different discussion. If I'm misinterpreting the genre, feel free to tell me. VIA PM. Not via this thread which, up until fairly recently, was going in a good direction.)
... boy, that was a very long aside.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
I dunno, I can see the points made here but so many of these very complex explanations for how to RP seem to me to boil down to "Don't be an #@$hole".