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A low level character may not have actually done much in the city and so may not be well known, but someone who is level 20+ is very likely to have had their picture taken and hero name found out.
So basically what I'm saying is that unless someone puts in their info that their character actively avoids getting their picture taken and avoids people finding out their hero name then I think it's perfectly reasonable for someone to walk up to them and say "Hey, aren't you Soandso? I saw your picture in the paper."
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Okay, there's 2 things I'd like to comment on here.....
1) Character level bears little / no relevance to RP, apart from meaning your toon doesn't have to walk around the city, and will have more out fits to choose from when they go out.
This leads nicely onto.....
2) Let's use my main Ves as an example. He happens to be lvl 50, has been around Paragon for over a year now, and has at various times in his career been in the local press (usually not recieving praise). However, since he no longer lives in Paragon, hasn't worked as an actual 'hero' for a while, and spends far too much time in Icon stores for his bank balance's well being, it wouldn't really make sense for anyone that has seen his picture in the papers to recognise him if they passed him on the street, regardless of what he happens to be wearing.
The same can be applied to plenty of other people that attend GG meets, and more than likely any other RP meet in-game. When all that stands between your hero and their public is a thin layer of spandex, it's often better to just replace a suit after a tough day of being puked on by zombies, zapped by little robots, shot, stabbed and generally beat on etc than going to all the trouble of trying to patch up all the holes.
I've given up on my argument.
I'm not keen on the GG roleplay group, but I guess that's just because different people have different styles of roleplaying.
[url=http://vox-doom.deviantart.com]Take A Gander At This.[/url]
is there any way to walk instead of run everywhere? it looks really tacky running around constantly :/
Sadly not, no. Much like the devs didn't consider we'd use supergroup bases as personal appartments, they didn't consider we'd want to walk.
One thing i will say as a good roleplay hint.
You don't see people say this in real life:
"Colon Closebracket Hi mum, how are you doing?"
Whats that? Don't understand what was just said, well, i'll put in a Colon and a closebracket instead of saying it this time.
"
Hi mum, how are you doing?"
A lot of people dont seem to see this as such a big deal, but personally, i really, really dislike smilies in the middle of conversation as it ruins the flow of the RP.
If you want your character to smile while saying something like that, try an emote:
/e smiles at his mother "Hi mum, how are you doing?"
will show up on other peoples chat windows as...
Dark Stone smiles at his mother "Hi mum, how are you doing?"
It also helps people feel your a more mature roleplayer!
On the other hand, the idea of Dark Stone smiling at his mother completely breaks my suspension of disbelief.
That said, the smiley point is valid. Feel free to extend this to leetspeak (unless under very controlled conditions)
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I just wanted to add a few of my own tips to Zortel's great guide.
My 'qualifications' for giving any advice, if you want to know are simply that I've been a roleplayer for over 22 years (starting out with AD&D), and that I have managed to integrate 3 separate alts into the regular groups at Pocket D within just a week. That last bit is the important part - if I can fit three characters in so easily, then following the same tips should help you too.
My first tip is the most basic but essential: Know your character. You are going to have to play a part realistically enough to seem completely real to strangers. You're also going to need to be consistent from one meeting with other characters to another. That all starts with having a really strong idea of your own character's tastes, beliefs, and identity.
If a big brute lumbers up to your character, will they be intimidated or attracted? If someone casually refers to having murdered someone, is your character shocked or not? Do they speak out or back off?
You are going to have to react in real-time to all the weird and unexpected things that dozens of other people's imaginations and plot-lines will throw past you. The better you bknow your role, the better your rolepay will be, and the more enjoyment you'll get from it too.
My second tip is to keep it real. Don't play the game, play the character, and make them as realistic as you can so that others can relate to them. Think of your character in the context of the game world. You are not actually that special in a whole city of heroes or villains. Positron doesn't walk in and expect to be worshipped, so if your character act's like that, everyone else's is likely to regard him/her as a bit of a fool, and way too weird and arogant to want to know.
If your character is in a new situation, such as joining the social gathering at GG, or in Pocket D, only the most stuck-up and conceited would expect everyone to treat them like a friend right away. Take it slowly and keep it realistic. Just getting to introduce yourself on evening one is an accomplishment. On evening two you can wave to people you met before, hopefully remember the names they gave (often not the ones above their character), and be a loose aquintance.
Making friends in character should be like making friends in the real world - it takes time, and comes about through either many interatcions, or very meaningful ones.
My third tip is the most important of all. Remember that this is a MMRPG - massively multiplayer. RP is not just about showing off your brilliant ideas for a colourful background. It is just as much about being the foil for other people to Roleplay their characters to. Be someone they can talk to to further their own roles and you'll be someone popular to RP with. Spend too much time just showing off and self-absorbed and there's no reason for others to talk to you at all - they aren't playing to be an audience for your monologues. It is all about participation and mutual enjoyment of the roles you have chosen.
http://www.savecoh.com/
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That all starts with having a really strong idea of your own character's tastes, beliefs, and identity.
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As you gain experience, this becomes less necessary, and it isn't needed at all if you're just new to roleplaying in CoX. It does depend on you and how comfortable you feel in winging it.
One of my best roleplaying characters... no, two of them, weren't planned out in more detail than a vague idea before taking them to GG the first time. Their personalities developed from interacting with other characters.
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You are going to have to react in real-time to all the weird and unexpected things that dozens of other people's imaginations and plot-lines will throw past you. The better you bknow your role, the better your rolepay will be, and the more enjoyment you'll get from it too.
[/ QUOTE ]
Roleplaying is roughly akin to improv-theatre, except there's no audience, just other actors. I find I get a huge amount of enjoyment out of reacting to a situation based on a kernel of knowledge about the character, and then going with how I feel that character would react in the given situation.
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My third tip
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Pet bugbear of mine. Please everyone read this and take careful note. A lot of people consider roleplaying to be like acting, and it is, but only vaguely. There's no audience, only other actors, and they have egos just as big as yours. There's no script, so you can't assume people will react in the way you want to what you say and do.
I've been around when world-shattering events have taken place in the GG world. I've listened to people say how wonderful it was to be part of this roleplay experience. I've looked back on many of them and thought "that was probably one of the most boring experiences of my life."
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
[ QUOTE ]
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That all starts with having a really strong idea of your own character's tastes, beliefs, and identity.
[/ QUOTE ]
As you gain experience, this becomes less necessary, and it isn't needed at all if you're just new to roleplaying in CoX. It does depend on you and how comfortable you feel in winging it.
One of my best roleplaying characters... no, two of them, weren't planned out in more detail than a vague idea before taking them to GG the first time. Their personalities developed from interacting with other characters.
[/ QUOTE ]
I do know what you mean there, and certainly an experienced roleplayer can take on a variety of roles with only minimal planning. But they are often rather hackneyed characters at first, based on predictable stereotypes with no depth but what develops with later thought.
The other danger, and one that affects even the experienced roleplayers, is that one can easily end up reacting with one's own reactions, making all the characters a little too similar, like some of those cameo roles that professional actors end up in, where they are really just playing the same part in differing situations from one film/story to another.
Personally, I do recommend adding some original depth to a character from the start, before ever roleplaying, if one wants a meaningful character to be predicted.
There's a lot of fun in just slapping a loose idea together - say for an archer who is an ex poacher and has a mummerset accent - but those characters, while fun and easy to play, are really not so believable to interact with in the main, and much more shallow at the start than a really detailed concept, who has a history, attitudes, and rationale behind those attitudes all planned out.
The great characters are not those that are everything we expect, and so easily swallowed - they are the one's who surprise us, and yet are utterly convincing with those unexpected twists and unpredicted character details and realisticly individual psychology.
My 2 cents anyway.
http://www.savecoh.com/
Personally, I think a good roleplayer can build a good character from anything. A poor roleplayer will destroy a character no matter how much thought and planning went into it.
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The great characters are not those that are everything we expect, and so easily swallowed - they are the one's who surprise us, and yet are utterly convincing with those unexpected twists and unpredicted character details and realisticly individual psychology.
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None of that requires planning in any way. Some of the best RP I've had in game has been based around Velvet. Velvet wasn't even meant to do much apart from look slightly comical and be around GG while I couldn't play War Crow. I knew where her personality came from, but not what it was when I took her to the statue, and very few other people really knew what was going on with her either.
It wasn't until Fusebox died and came back, I think, that anyone found out how her mind worked and why she was constantly taking in 'strays'. She got really wound up about the way people were treating the revived Fuse, and basically told them they should be damn grateful to get the second chance she had never had. At that stage, I don't think anyone knew IC or OOC why Velvet had become a hero, and it came as a bit of a shock.
My point is that her character was as much defined and revealed by those around her. The only thing I had was a basic statement of where she had come from, why she lived in Paragon (she was born in Kent), and why an ex-Playboy model should be out hitting villains with a katana.
If I knew all about everything she could do in every circumstance before it happened, I would be an actor, this would be a play, and I would have no reason for interacting with anyone else.
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The other danger, and one that affects even the experienced roleplayers, is that one can easily end up reacting with one's own reactions
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Yes, that's a danger, but it's far less a danger in a computer environment than it is at a tabletop or in a LARP environment. Computer-moderated roleplay is expected to come with built in delays because you have to type everything. You also tend to be dealing with non-English speakers, dyslexics, you name it, so tolerance of slow reactions is a must. As a result, it gives you far more time to just sit there and think about what the character would do rather than letting your own feelings run the show.
Since this isn't a general purpose roleplaying hints thread, I'm quite happy to say "use the tools you have, give yourself time to think, be a better roleplayer for it."
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Oh jeeze, not yet another ex-playboy-model katana-wielding skantily-clad heroine running around Paragon... hehehe
Given the topic title, I've tried hard to focus on tips for new roleplayers, people who are not yet experienced, and who have no idea whether or not they are 'good' or 'bad' roleplayers.
http://www.savecoh.com/
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Oh jeeze, not yet another ex-playboy-model katana-wielding skantily-clad heroine running around Paragon... hehehe
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No, she was the first ex-playboy-centrefold katana-wielding scantilly-clad heroine. All the others are weak copies. 
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
No, the others were in less reputable maganzines.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Maybe, though I'd point out that on her bedroom wall, she has a framed copy of the playboy cover alongside a framed, but rather yellowed, copy of her debut on page three of the Sun.
My timeline for her was a bit off, actually. I should have made her a little older. That is something where having more time to plan is a good thing. It was much easier to get Jason Caine's timeline correct, but I had 8000 years to play with on that one.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Would anyone be offended if I wrote a small guide here on how to be a "American" better?
As long as it isn't a guide on stereotyped American behaviour, I can't see how anyone would object. Some people have only seen Americans on TV, a bit like wild lions, or David Attenborough.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
No its not to stereotype americans, its more to make you feel or act believe-able and to stop things like ((Americans don't say mate)).. ((OOPS i forgot)).
Must admit.. It does irk me slightly when in RP, I see people playing American characters but using English terminology...
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Yep, doesn't seem right when you get charged 50p for a soda in Pocket D or when someone makes a call on their "mobile phone".
@Romanov
Nadja Romanov, Lily Pink, Little Death - The Cadre
Estoque, Bastinado, Spidermonkey, Chic Doyle - The Militia
Miss Teen, Dead Reckoner, Dee Dee Diablo, Kaneko
UltraNova's Quick Guide to Being American!
1) Americans don't drink "Lager", as a rule. Most would not even know what lager is!
2)Chavs do not exist outside of england/europe. We have hoodrats, but they have a different attitude to chavs.
3) Americans would not use these words and might even find them offensive: Mate, [censored], Cocker, Flower, Pet,
4)I doubt any americans would say "lo", "heya!" or "Hiya". Its not something they typically say
5)Americans say Elevators, not lifts. Toliets,John, Can bathroom, washroom, not loo, bog or other english sayings
6)Pubs are not common site for america, nor does it have a pub culture, This one is a tought one to describe, but if you go to pocket d and act like your in a pub, you are breaking character to a degree. Especially if you are younger.
7)Sayings like "can't be asked, taking the mickey, or Go on them. In fact I don't even no if we have equalivalents?
Got burned, dissed,spanked, ripped, or just plain made fun of.
8) Snog is making out or kissing. Mobiles are cells. You call someone not ring them. Calling some one mean calling some one not making fun of them. Lad is boy/guy. Lass is girl/shorite/honey/lady/babe. Chips are crisps. Chips are fries, don't really drink pints, more likely to get a pitcher or a half pitcher, jug for short, or a bottle.
I.e "Can't I get a pint of lager mate?" would be "Can I get a pitcher of beer man/dude/buddy."
"One second flower, let me ring my mate, she's a bonny lass"
"One sec babe, Let me just call up my friend, she's a pretty girl/ hot shortie etc"
I will make a much more organised list sometime in the future. If you have any other questions, PM me or use this thread?
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she's a bonny lass
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And for the non-English playing English, no one outside of the North East of England calls someone a bonny lass anymore. 
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Really? then why do they say it here in the North West?
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1) Americans don't drink "Lager", as a rule. Most would not even know what lager is!
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i had come to belive that it was more likely they wouldn't know waht bitter etc is, with things like budwiser, Miller, Rolling Rock etc, that they mostly drink larger, even if it is mistakenly called beer.
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Really? then why do they say it here in the North West?
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Well, I say it (rarely) and I'm in the North West, but I'm from the North East.
Personally, I blame When the Boat Comes In, but then I blame that for a lot of things, like, world hunger.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Folks. This is stickied as a helpful hints page for roleplayers. If you want to argue about this, I suggest you create a new thread.
Otherwise, anything useful that's in this thread is going to get lost in the spam.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.