Roleplaying in the Realm of Ultima Online
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Roleplaying in the Realm of Ultima Online: Atlantic Shard
A CRASH COURSE
Version 1.2.0 - Written by Naereuth Dracul - 05/11/02
I could sit here and force a lecture down your throat, but I'm not going to. That isn't what you want. You want the facts straightforward and without hesitation. I'm going to give them to you. However, remember that you must follow these guidelines in order to be taken seriously. I've seen many guilds/people get trashtalked because they are horrible at roleplaying (henceforth known as RP)
The way one speaks in Ultima Online is nearly entirely up to you. Orcs may speak as "Ey, cun ju mayke meh uh blu duur tu da tuwn ub Bwitahn?" for a gate to Britain. Others speak normal. But in all circumstances, the player must stay IN CHARACTER(henceforth known as IC.) This means that the player in a sense IS the character, in the way he talks and reacts to others in the game. If the character breaks character, this is known as going OUT OF CHARACTER(henceforth known as OOC). In some situations this is necessary for things like battle arbitration, RL(real life) emergencies, etc. It is also alright to do it in houses, or other such places of privacy if it is your fancy, but I do not enjoy such things. However, if it is not necessary, DO NOT break character. Here is an example of a good, IC conversation:
Naereuth: *looks to GreyPawn* GreyPawn: "Good day, Necromancer.." Naereuth: "The orcs have slain my father! How can you say this is a good day?" GreyPawn: "What? Why would they commit such a horrible act?"
etc. etc.
Here is an example of a roleplayer trying to interact with someone breaking character:
Naereuth: "Greetings. I seem to be a bit out of mandrake root. Could you loan me some?" Supaa Dude: "Get the !%#@ away from me, n00b." Naereuth: *coughs* Supaa d00d: "wtf you suck. rpers should fall off tha planet or something" Supaa d00d: "go" Supaa d00d: "away" Supaa d00d: "newbie" Supaa d00d: "vendor buy the bank some guards so i can take them to recdu and recsu"
This is so very obviously unacceptable. I have actually been in similar conversations, so you see the need for this essay.
The character does not know how to say "Smile hehe" This is not a word. You would not just yell out "COLON CLOSEPARENTHESIS HEHE!!!" So smileys and other such things are out. YOU MUST STICK WITH WORDS!!! Punctuation is a big problem I have seen. One question mark, period, or exclamation point to end a sentence. No more, no less. Some sentences may end with an ellipsis("..."). An ellipses is ALWAYS three periods. It is never more or less than that, and is only distracting if there are more. Do not overuse them, as it can get old fairly quickly. As usual, "hehe" is not something appropriate for ingame use as well.
Capital letters. I cannot stress this enough. Capital letters when you say someone's name (unless the name was made before you read this. That can be okay, as some with names like this are great people and great roleplayers, and you know who you are, those of you that I am talking about *wink*) Capital letters at the BEGINNING of sentences, not every word, or no words at all. This Is Not How You Would Write A Sentence In English, Is It? You Would Get An 'F' you would also get an f if you did it like this. always use your correct capitals, grammar, punctuation, and spelling is good too, but can be overlooked in certain situations.
Do not call someone a modern insult. Calling someone a piece of horse crap is not good. Think of something IC to call them if you must, though I discourage such behavior, here is an example. "You, my hated enemy, are quite the target for llama fodder!" "May you and your family be eaten alive by mongbats before the day is gone!"
DO NOT USE ABBRIEVIATIONS! Come on people, do you really think the characters would know what 'stfu brb afk ooc ic wtf bbiab cya etc.' etc. mean? Hell no! If you must go out of character, use brackets [] or (). Example (brb phone). Even if it is a guild abbrieviation, if it has a nonletter character in it, DO NOT SAY IT. The same goes for numbers. Always spell out numbers. Always spell out numbers! ALWAYS SPELL OUT NUMBERS!
Do NOT Emote Thoughts. *Thinks this would not be a good idea* How the hell would I know what you are thinking? Also, you would not know my name. My name doesn't actually float over my head, even though it would be cool if it did.
And most importantly, DO NOT TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY Many things have been ruined because people could not separate the real and the unreal. Do not get all pissed off if you are about to raid a underdefended guild and their allies rush in to save the day. That does not give you the right to go OOC and push them out of the way. There is no IC way to do that, so it cannot happen. Roleplay your way through it. Remember, it's just a game. You win some, and you lose some. You cannot have good without bad, and vice versa. Your characters may not care about that, but you the person should.
Remember, what is most important is the roleplaying. Do not let petty squabbles and rules get in the way of what is best for the RP for the shard as a whole. Don't let IG(in game)or RL(real life) politics kill roleplaying as we know it. You are playing with real people with real feelings and emotions. I am glad to have many, many people I have met through Ultima Online that I can truly call "friend." You should too, and you should think about something. Have you been good to these people? Do they really deserve to be treated like poopies? No. If they're being jackasses, ignore them, but do NOT explode on them and screw it up for everyone else. This is my essay. I hope it helps you introduce yourself into the world of Roleplaying on the shard of Atlantic.