How Socially Acceptable is Roleplaying Online?
By
Bindweed,
Posted on: 2008-11-11 07:26 in Roleplaying
I'm just not a fan of Fantasy to be honest, though I can stand it in small doses and it does allow you to make some seriously polarized characters and get away with it. Unlike more modern or futuristic stuff where people seem to think the setting should be consistent and believable (Lies! Stop over analysing things like legal structure or technology and just have fun you fu-- nice people.)
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so I have made a rod for my own back it seems.
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You sure have. If you really can't make a character that isn't uber-to-the-max in some way, shape, or form, then you probably shouldn't be worrying about roleplaying in an environment like GG. It works best when one or two characters can't ruin everyone's plots by one-upping everyone, and we already have enough of those as it is.
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.
Actually I'd go to say that likely that character would fit in fine with the current crew. About half the statue have nigh infinite cosmic power. Without the itty bitty living space too!
As for feeling a little off, to be honest most of the people at GG have no real reason to be there (5 CEO's and counting!). It's just something we happily gloss over as long as you're not going to try end the world right in front of us.
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The student nationals is always fun too even if our tiny team will never win anything
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I used to go to the nationals, though my friend runs our team he was petrified when we won and he had to host it 
But I have to say the nationals for me are more about the horrendous booze up than the games itself, I cant believe I placed in the "supers" catagory when most of my gaming was spent trying to stop the hangover from exploding my frail and weak mind 
Art of War Co-Leader - Union *Global@Warscythe*
"The box said Windows Vista or better - so I installed Linux"
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The student nationals is always fun too even if our tiny team will never win anything
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I used to go to the nationals, though my friend runs our team he was petrified when we won and he had to host it
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Haha! My Uni's too small to ever win luckily. The boozing is also a big part of it yes, but then that enhances the role-playing experience as people loosen the hell up. Or are too drunk to care it's all gone Pete Tong.
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so I have made a rod for my own back it seems.
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You sure have. If you really can't make a character that isn't uber-to-the-max in some way, shape, or form, then you probably shouldn't be worrying about roleplaying in an environment like GG. It works best when one or two characters can't ruin everyone's plots by one-upping everyone, and we already have enough of those as it is.
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I agree totally..the backstory for war is just that, just some back story, its hard to socialize with a toon that essentially is awaiting his bosses to attempt the end of the world so he can try and stop it, bit of a party pooper imho
Hence why im trying to stick to stryke (my gobby Dr Aeon hating blapper) or Rockcrete (ex malta agent with a penchant for russkie speak and rambling about his war stories - true style war vet with nothing else to do but run his mouth 
) as they are a little easier to place at GG than a herald of the apocalypse, tho he is available for buisiness functions 
Art of War Co-Leader - Union *Global@Warscythe*
"The box said Windows Vista or better - so I installed Linux"
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Actually I'd go to say that likely that character would fit in fine with the current crew. About half the statue have nigh infinite cosmic power. Without the itty bitty living space too!
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I can think of one. Three if you push the definition of ultimate cosmic power.
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As for feeling a little off, to be honest most of the people at GG have no real reason to be there (5 CEO's and counting!). It's just something we happily gloss over as long as you're not going to try end the world right in front of us.
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Of the two CEOs I know, one is barely ever there and probably turns up for purely nostalgic reasons (Zortel) and the other does so for perfectly good psychological reasons (Shadowe).
I realise you're being flipant and got narked because you felt everyone was ignoring you, but shall we try to be faintly sensible? 
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.
Well I often exaggerate for comic effect. Else how am I going to fit Disney lines into my posts?
The 5 CEO's were, Shadowe (Who'd IC name I forget far too much), Zortel, Richard, Molly.Exe (Though admittedly not there as much any more) and Infinitron! Hoo-hah. Ed left us, but he might count as a half and we can round up if Molly doesn't count.
I was just pointing out that back story doesn't really matter for turning up, it's just a meeting spot we use to get the heroes out there role-playing. I've never really had much of a reason for any of my heroes to turn up there that wasn't very flimsy at best! The CEO's were just a quick and easy example, I could probably name better ones with a bit of time. Hell let's pick on Emily, she turned up originally despite being Paranoid about Heroes. Or Schroedinger, who hates crowds, still turns up on busy days because it's that or don't RP at all. PD is not an option for me!
It actually sounds a bit like the Silver Surfer that character. Which means they'd at least have an excuse to turn up and go all Herald on us, it's the staying about bit that causes problems.
I made my flippant and narked post already in a different thread. This is just your average grade silliness.
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The 5 CEO's were, Shadowe (Who'd IC name I forget far too much), Zortel, Richard, Molly.Exe
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Snipped a bit: Shadowe and Richard are the same person. Do you perhaps mean Shadow'er (whose IC name I can never remember, either)?
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.* Yes I do! I always get those two names mixed up, good catch.
Yeah Shadowe'r is Sean O'Brain, of O'BrainTech.
Unfortunately I am no longer part of that list, as Infinicorp. shutdown a few months back (if you followed the RP story arc threads at the time) after having the majority of staff brutally murdered.
But nice to know someone actually knew about it.
Oh and inf was a hero before a CEO, so has reason to be there (as sporadically as he is).
Meanwhile, back on topic...
Now I wouldn't mention my roleplaying to anyone outside of my gaming community; which includes MoX (currently at 951 members), here, and my mates in RL who are gamers. Everyone outside of that, parents, brother, girlfriend probably wouldnt get it; and are perfectly content to think of me as just a bit geeky who plays computer games. Which i am, and don't see RP as making me geekier - in my mind i have more respect for RP'ers than grinders. After all it is a creative output, with more imagination in the roleplaying forum than many modern writers could dream of.
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The 5 CEO's were, Shadowe (Who'd IC name I forget far too much), Zortel, Richard, Molly.Exe
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Snipped a bit: Shadowe and Richard are the same person. Do you perhaps mean Shadow'er (whose IC name I can never remember, either)?
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Technically, Ellie could go on that list, as she owns and runs her online clothing boutique. She is, however, also the only member of staff as well as owner/CEO...
Mind you, it's not a mega-corp and though in brings it plenty of money, it's never going to BE a mega-corp...
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Ed could be on that list if he still went to GG.
He's CEO of Necrotech industries who produce the ever popular walkie-talkie toaster and now the 'dream partner' production of genetically manipulated beings to provide the perfect partner for a wealthy businessman or crime syndicate (which is what a LOT of his money comes from, people will pay large fees to get their hands on super-powered bodyguards).
His services are currently available and fees are excepted in United States Dollar, Japanese Yen, Gold bars, Diamonds and items of high value which he can sell on at the black market (such as highly prized paintings, ancient relics, magical artifacts and rare comic books, such as Freedom Phalanx Issue 1 in mint condition).
The reason he use to hang around was because it was far easier to hang around a group of heroes than it was a mixed group and also kept him from running into his old Rogue Isles running buddies (fat load of good it did him anyway). Besides, who wants to hang around at work all day making sure those undergraduate mad scientists from Cap Au Uni don't blow themselves up?
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
Back when I did tabletop roleplaying, I never bothered trying to hide it. I used to put it on my CV, because it was something to talk about in interviews, and it helps weed out the kind of employer you don't want to work for anyway. I've never had much problem with bad reactions, in interviews or with friends and family. I think a lot of it really is how you explain it. If you sounds like you expect someone to think you're a geeky loser, than that's what you'll get.
The only on-line roleplaying I've ever done was years ago on Usenet, in the various White Wolf threads on rec.games.frp.storyteller. (Now *that* was an unlikely collection of different characters who all ought to have been trying to kill one another. I think we had representative from just about every group in the World of Darkness.) I don't really remember if I used to tell non-roleplayers about that. I can't imagine it came up much, but if it did I probably just lumped it all together with the tabletop games.
For some reason, I can't really imagine RPing in an on-line game like CoH. Maybe it's the immediacy of it. One thing I loved about Usenet was being able to take time over the replies, and how conversations would wait until you had time to deal with them.
Arc#314490: Zombie Ninja Pirates!
Defiant @Grouchybeast
Death is part of my attack chain.
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Maybe it's the immediacy of it. One thing I loved about Usenet was being able to take time over the replies, and how conversations would wait until you had time to deal with them.
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a. Believe me, immediate responses are very rare in online RP.
b. That very disjointedness you like about USENET RP is why I find forum RP to be a total waste of time.
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.
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a. Believe me, immediate responses are very rare in online RP.
b. That very disjointedness you like about USENET RP is why I find forum RP to be a total waste of time.
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Oh! Suddenly, many things make sense. I was thinking about the idea of RPing in-game via chat, not of RP-ing in the forums. {is newb}
Arc#314490: Zombie Ninja Pirates!
Defiant @Grouchybeast
Death is part of my attack chain.
no, you didn't get mixed up, but in game isn't immediate, it's quicker than forum or Usenet, but it is not immediate.
Especially when you're waiting on someone who's just crashed.
*whistles innocently*
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
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Especially when you're waiting on someone who's just crashed.
*whistles innocently*
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hmm.. that whistling *almost* sounds like you *make* them crash...
I replied on this subject earlier...but don't think I *actually* answered the question...
Question: How Socially Acceptable is Roleplaying Online?
Answer: VERY!
Just not to everyone, I suppose .
But you can gain good friends with it. All over the world... IC and OOC. That IS social..isn't it?
Basicly, the main rule is to keep IC and OOC apart.
Aspecially when you're telling people about yourself...like with job interviews
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- coXso - It was a memorable time filled with art!
Read my in-game stories and check out my DeviantART page.
- coXso - It was a memorable time filled with art!
Zortel's a CEO, or was, yes.
But she's also a hero. The first meet at GG was called for heroes in the city to get together and strike a blow against the newly formed Council. Afterwards, heroes began to congregate there to meet up, socialize and gain friends and allies.
Zortel doesn't go to GG as former CEO of ZorTel Industries. She goes as the Battle-Hardened, Armoured Zortel, a tech using hero and leader of the Unity Vigil.
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I've never had much problem with bad reactions, in interviews or with friends and family. I think a lot of it really is how you explain it. If you sounds like you expect someone to think you're a geeky loser, than that's what you'll get.
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I take your point and yes, in an ideal world I would be able to scream to the world at the top of my lungs about my interests and no-one would give a damn. But there are certain things that I just don't want to have a conversation about.
Take my birthday for example. I was born on the 5th November. I dread the subject coming up because in a group of people (typically work although there are other times as well) there will always be some wag who thinks that there is a Bonfire Night joke that I haven't heard in the last 33 years. The same with Paganism. I can't be bothered to fend off the stupid comments when I mention it as it's a conversation I've had a hundred times over and I'm pretty much tired of it.
I've mentioned roleplaying a few times to people outside of my social circle and watched as the conversation descends into ridicule and laughing about the hobby. It's ok for me to be writing a novel about superheroes but strangely it's not ok to roleplay being one in an MMO. Go figure. So these days I'll talk about it with someone who I reckon will get it (sci-fi nerds and gamers are typically understanding) but otherwise I don't bother. It's not that I particularly care about their reaction, it's more that I've had that conversation and I can't be bothered to go over it again.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
ah we used the old 2nd edition DnD rules (the ones that came in a big red box with a dragon on the front, regular DnD not ADnD) the rules were an awful lot simplier before they started focusing on the ADnD version of the rules as being the standard.
Back then Dwarfs and Elves were a class, not a race choice, good old THAC0 was still in play and the levelling was split into several books which introduced things the more experienced a player was (1-5 was dungeon crawling, 6-10 was Outdoors adventures, 11-15 was cities and continents, 16-20 was travelling different planes) and the campaigns had a definitive end (by level 20 you were pretty much godlike and thus had to go on quests to get items of godhood and prove yourself to the current pantheon you had a place amongst them, once you achieved godhood you had the choice of starting a completely new character or manifesting your newfound god into the physical realm but be stripped of all the powers you had gained so you could 'help out ordinary folk' and thus start back at level 1).
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!