Post by moons on Dec 26, 2008 0:25:03 GMT -7
The way you choose to roleplay with one another is not subject to forum rules - but it is common courtesy to follow a few basic guidelines as to how to interact with those you're roleplaying with.
Roleplaying, more than any other game, is a heavily social thing (often to annoying levels). If you're stranded without anyone wanting to play with you, you'll at best be writing a story, at worst staring at an inactive thread without much of an idea what to do - no matter how you twist and turn in, that's not very fun. Worse yet, you probably didn't want that to happen... so here's a few guidelines to help you understand how things work in roleplay.
Legend:
@ - request for courtesy.
@ - request for caution.
@- tip.
Character:
All-powerful characters
@ POWERGAMING
Especially when making your first character, it might be tempting to give them a large amount of powers. But ask yourself: what are you going to use them for?
At first glance, roleplaying seems alluring because, unlike in other games, you don't have to work very hard to make a character that excels in all categories of skill - you just have to write their profile accordingly! But given that you don't win or lose a roleplaying session, you merely participate the telling of a story, the stronger your character, the weaker your gaming experience threatens to be.
If you let your character lose every once in a while, or even have something like a near-death experience, you've got a lot more to work with on the long run. Personalities deepen with reflection... and what character would reflect on themselves if their world was perfect? It may seem strange to you right now, but the route of the all-powerful becomes dreadfully boring in the long-run.
In a nutshell, powergaming (having an overly powerful character) is considered a crass violation of roleplaying etiquette, because it disrupts the game in favour of a very predictable and boring plot for all involvees (even the powergamer).
Characters that are just like you
@
A lot of people think that making a character that's a lot like they themselves are is a good idea. While there is no rule saying you can't make your character think and act like you would in their situation - not even an unspoken one - it's recommended that you don't do this. If your character ends up acting out of your beliefs and is attacked or insulted over it, how distant do you think you can be? Those are your beliefs being challenged.
The more your character is like you, the more likely you'll get upset at others during roleplay, and stop enjoying the experience.
Writing...
...about other characters
@ GODMODING
The worst violation of roleplaying etiquette is not keeping your paws to yourself. You're supposed to write about your own character(s), not those of others. This impacts many parts of roleplaying, most notably the fighting aspect - you should never assume non-action on part of your fighting partner. Specifically, this means that if you swing a sword at them, you should give them the opportunity to dodge the hit, and not state you've hit them square on the neck and decapitated them.
Of course, on The Abyss City, warfare does not just happen in writing. You're certainly permitted to roleplay a hit you've done in-city out as a story without having to give the other person the opportunity to dodge. If you've hit their character in-city, then you have hit that character in-city... no amount of complaining will have them retrospectively dodge that hit.
But godmoding can extend outside of fighting, too.
Other characters' actions and feelings, no matter how subtle, are not for you to describe if their players have not already done so themselves. Stating that another character is watching you out of the corner of their eye is just as out of the question as describing them running up to you and giving you a hug. Saying they've become aware of your presence is just as unfair as claiming they're overjoyed to see you.
If you know certain players well enough, they'll probably eventually be lenient and let you describe their characters' actions and feelings to certain degrees - OOC consent goes a long way here. If you're unsure about your degrees of freedom with the characters of someone else, just ask them! No one's going to bite your head off for it.
...about extra characters
@ NPCs
'Non-player characters' are characters that don't formally belong to anyone - they typically have no profile, and are just there to temporarily fill a role. For example, describing a bartender's actions in a bar (if that bartender hasn't be claimed by another person as a character) is controlling an NPC.
Despite their name, 'non-player characters' tend to get bound to a player during a roleplaying session. Unless it's specifically been stated otherwise, you should treat an NPC that's cropped up in the descriptions of another player as that player's property. As always, if unsure what the deal is, just ask.
In general, though, don't be afraid to make these and spice things up with them - they can add a lot!
...about what you know
@ PLAYER KNOWLEDGE VS. CHARACTER KNOWLEDGE
It's pivotal that you remember to separate character and player knowledge. If you, as a player, are reading something in a roleplaying thread that your character isn't a part of, and later have your character act on it as if they'd been there, that's considered very bad form. Again, this is because of the basic realisation about roleplay that one should have: it's not about winning or losing, it's about telling a story.
I'm sure you'd be disappointed if a character, in a book you were reading, constantly knew what was going on everywhere else in the described world of the book, despite not having been there. It kills all suspense - the path of finding out is completely removed.
Note - this doesn't mean that you can't have a character that practises clairvoyance, telepathy or fortune telling (or anything like that), but keep in mind not to godmode if you do choose to use some of these things. Walking into a room and reading everyone's mind shouldn't happen - walking into a room and attempting to read everyone's mind can. (The invidual players can decide if you were successful.)
...realistically
@
Of course roleplaying leaves room for much fantasy and magic, especially in a setting such as this. But even The Abyss City isn't entirely removed from the laws of physics, and the facts of the real world. There's really not much of an example that can be given here that will cover many eventualities - in fact, if you're already keeping in mind that you don't want to powergame or godmode, chances are you're already doing everything that's necessary.
Misc.
The thread author
@ THE GAMEMASTER
The author of a thread, unless otherwise stated, is also the gamemaster of the plot inside it. A gamemaster is someone - and, by default, the only one - who is permitted to godmode to keep things from going awry. It's rare that the gamemaster will have to use this priviledge, but occasionally, it may be warranted.
The most common form of intervention is the quick clearing up of an obvious misunderstanding - sometimes, you might unintentionally overread information that seems trivial, but is very important, such as a character leaving the room. If your post doesn't acknowledge the leave-taking, for example, you move to give the character a hug without leaving the room yourself, the gamemaster might post after you saying, "You don't hug the character, because they're outside the room," or "Your arms close around air as the character moves to leave the room and is, moments later, gone," or, if veering the story in your favour, "The other character doesn't manage to leave the room before you give them a hug." This clarifies what is really going on for the people involved if there is contradicting information.
Other than that, you may find your character's actions rolled back if they violate one of the guidelines above, or, in very rare cases, because it does not suit the setting or plot arc. For example, if your character is in a desert and the only thing visible all around is a pyramid, and you make your character walk away from this pyramid, the gamemaster may choose to intervene.
If you're asked to leave the thread by the thread author (or any co-gamemaster the thread author has appointed), please be courteous and do so.
Note: The rights of the gamemaster(s) are enforced by the moderators.
Credit for this goes to the Abyss Mod Team.
Roleplaying, more than any other game, is a heavily social thing (often to annoying levels). If you're stranded without anyone wanting to play with you, you'll at best be writing a story, at worst staring at an inactive thread without much of an idea what to do - no matter how you twist and turn in, that's not very fun. Worse yet, you probably didn't want that to happen... so here's a few guidelines to help you understand how things work in roleplay.
Legend:
@ - request for courtesy.
@ - request for caution.
@- tip.
Character:
All-powerful characters
@ POWERGAMING
Especially when making your first character, it might be tempting to give them a large amount of powers. But ask yourself: what are you going to use them for?
At first glance, roleplaying seems alluring because, unlike in other games, you don't have to work very hard to make a character that excels in all categories of skill - you just have to write their profile accordingly! But given that you don't win or lose a roleplaying session, you merely participate the telling of a story, the stronger your character, the weaker your gaming experience threatens to be.
If you let your character lose every once in a while, or even have something like a near-death experience, you've got a lot more to work with on the long run. Personalities deepen with reflection... and what character would reflect on themselves if their world was perfect? It may seem strange to you right now, but the route of the all-powerful becomes dreadfully boring in the long-run.
In a nutshell, powergaming (having an overly powerful character) is considered a crass violation of roleplaying etiquette, because it disrupts the game in favour of a very predictable and boring plot for all involvees (even the powergamer).
Characters that are just like you
@
A lot of people think that making a character that's a lot like they themselves are is a good idea. While there is no rule saying you can't make your character think and act like you would in their situation - not even an unspoken one - it's recommended that you don't do this. If your character ends up acting out of your beliefs and is attacked or insulted over it, how distant do you think you can be? Those are your beliefs being challenged.
The more your character is like you, the more likely you'll get upset at others during roleplay, and stop enjoying the experience.
Writing...
...about other characters
@ GODMODING
The worst violation of roleplaying etiquette is not keeping your paws to yourself. You're supposed to write about your own character(s), not those of others. This impacts many parts of roleplaying, most notably the fighting aspect - you should never assume non-action on part of your fighting partner. Specifically, this means that if you swing a sword at them, you should give them the opportunity to dodge the hit, and not state you've hit them square on the neck and decapitated them.
Of course, on The Abyss City, warfare does not just happen in writing. You're certainly permitted to roleplay a hit you've done in-city out as a story without having to give the other person the opportunity to dodge. If you've hit their character in-city, then you have hit that character in-city... no amount of complaining will have them retrospectively dodge that hit.
But godmoding can extend outside of fighting, too.
Other characters' actions and feelings, no matter how subtle, are not for you to describe if their players have not already done so themselves. Stating that another character is watching you out of the corner of their eye is just as out of the question as describing them running up to you and giving you a hug. Saying they've become aware of your presence is just as unfair as claiming they're overjoyed to see you.
If you know certain players well enough, they'll probably eventually be lenient and let you describe their characters' actions and feelings to certain degrees - OOC consent goes a long way here. If you're unsure about your degrees of freedom with the characters of someone else, just ask them! No one's going to bite your head off for it.
...about extra characters
@ NPCs
'Non-player characters' are characters that don't formally belong to anyone - they typically have no profile, and are just there to temporarily fill a role. For example, describing a bartender's actions in a bar (if that bartender hasn't be claimed by another person as a character) is controlling an NPC.
Despite their name, 'non-player characters' tend to get bound to a player during a roleplaying session. Unless it's specifically been stated otherwise, you should treat an NPC that's cropped up in the descriptions of another player as that player's property. As always, if unsure what the deal is, just ask.
In general, though, don't be afraid to make these and spice things up with them - they can add a lot!
...about what you know
@ PLAYER KNOWLEDGE VS. CHARACTER KNOWLEDGE
It's pivotal that you remember to separate character and player knowledge. If you, as a player, are reading something in a roleplaying thread that your character isn't a part of, and later have your character act on it as if they'd been there, that's considered very bad form. Again, this is because of the basic realisation about roleplay that one should have: it's not about winning or losing, it's about telling a story.
I'm sure you'd be disappointed if a character, in a book you were reading, constantly knew what was going on everywhere else in the described world of the book, despite not having been there. It kills all suspense - the path of finding out is completely removed.
Note - this doesn't mean that you can't have a character that practises clairvoyance, telepathy or fortune telling (or anything like that), but keep in mind not to godmode if you do choose to use some of these things. Walking into a room and reading everyone's mind shouldn't happen - walking into a room and attempting to read everyone's mind can. (The invidual players can decide if you were successful.)
...realistically
@
Of course roleplaying leaves room for much fantasy and magic, especially in a setting such as this. But even The Abyss City isn't entirely removed from the laws of physics, and the facts of the real world. There's really not much of an example that can be given here that will cover many eventualities - in fact, if you're already keeping in mind that you don't want to powergame or godmode, chances are you're already doing everything that's necessary.
Misc.
The thread author
@ THE GAMEMASTER
The author of a thread, unless otherwise stated, is also the gamemaster of the plot inside it. A gamemaster is someone - and, by default, the only one - who is permitted to godmode to keep things from going awry. It's rare that the gamemaster will have to use this priviledge, but occasionally, it may be warranted.
The most common form of intervention is the quick clearing up of an obvious misunderstanding - sometimes, you might unintentionally overread information that seems trivial, but is very important, such as a character leaving the room. If your post doesn't acknowledge the leave-taking, for example, you move to give the character a hug without leaving the room yourself, the gamemaster might post after you saying, "You don't hug the character, because they're outside the room," or "Your arms close around air as the character moves to leave the room and is, moments later, gone," or, if veering the story in your favour, "The other character doesn't manage to leave the room before you give them a hug." This clarifies what is really going on for the people involved if there is contradicting information.
Other than that, you may find your character's actions rolled back if they violate one of the guidelines above, or, in very rare cases, because it does not suit the setting or plot arc. For example, if your character is in a desert and the only thing visible all around is a pyramid, and you make your character walk away from this pyramid, the gamemaster may choose to intervene.
If you're asked to leave the thread by the thread author (or any co-gamemaster the thread author has appointed), please be courteous and do so.
Note: The rights of the gamemaster(s) are enforced by the moderators.
Credit for this goes to the Abyss Mod Team.
