The Online Roleplaying Book
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
The Online Role-player's Handbook.
By Raedyn
Table of Contents-
Section 1: Introduction to Role-Play. What is role-play? What's the point? Is role-play for me? Basic Rules and Etiquette
Section 2: Core Principles of Role-Play. The actor's theory Realism
Section 3: Character Development (detail) Specialized or generalized? Visual appearance, physical traits Speech and intelligence Physical strength and abilities History
Section 4: The Tools of a Role-Player. Visual Representation Emotes and Dialogue Imagination Forum stories and posts
Section 1: Introduction to Role-Play
What is role-play?
To put it simply, role-playing is playing the role of your character. Role-playing is a form of gaming that is not entirely dependent on game mechanics and game rules. Role-playing spans from sci-fi to fantasy games, and is popular in many online worlds. Some people even take role-playing to real life, taking part in LARPs, or Live Action Role-Play games. Role-playing can be a fulfilling and enjoyable hobby for the casual gamer, considering that, to role-play, you do not need to spend hours completing quests or amassing wealth to be competitive. In a role-play environment, a player¡¦s reputation depends on their role-play ability and the personality of their character, which is completely independent of any game mechanics or other governing variables.
What's the point?
Role-playing may catch a lot of flak from other players who enjoy using the game mechanics and concrete systems to fill their game time, and that¡¦s alright. Role-playing is not for everyone, in fact, it may not even be for you. The purpose of this section is to introduce you to the idea of role-play and to determine if you are indeed interested in pursuing it further. You are encouraged to proceed no further if you find that role-play sounds uninteresting or uncomfortable. Back to the point of role-play. The point of role-play for most players is to immerse them selves in to the game world. Role-play, in essence, brings to life the digital world that your in-game character is surrounded by. With a large role-play community, there are often governments and towns in which one may advance politically or through military accomplishments. In this way, it provides a sort of a "game within a game", with advancement opportunities and accomplishments outside of normal game play. Many enjoy role-play over playing a game regularly, getting in to their characters and interacting with other players and their environment as their character would. In a word the point of role-play is this: Fun.
Is role-play for me?
As was stated in the last section, role-play is not for everyone. Role-play requires a lot of imagination on the part of the player, as most game worlds do not provide all the visual aides that role-players would need. If you are an imaginative person capable of expressing yourself well through words and depicted actions, and you think it would be enjoyable for you to play the part of a character in a fantasy world, then yes, role-play is for you! However, some find role-play to be too restricting, requiring them to stay in-character at all times and to type in a different manner than they generally would in such a chat-type situation. That¡¦s fine! If you think that role-play would be in any way uncomfortable for you, don't do it! Of course, if there¡¦s even a small inkling of interest hiding in the back of your mind, I encourage you to stick a toe in the water and experience it for yourself. Role-play is often times compared to playing the part of a hero in an epic adventure story. If that sounds appealing, role-play is for you. Basic Rules and Etiquette
If you¡ve made it this far and are still interested, the next step is familiarizing yourself with the basic rules and etiquette of role-playing. These rules are generalized and are a common basis for the rules of many role-play communities in online games.
1: Always stay in character!
Staying in character implies not using abbreviations, acronyms, or internet slang in speech. It also dictates that your character must not speak or know of real-world things, such as TV shows or what happened on the news today. This may or may not also include mention of certain game mechanics. Skills and percentages should not be discussed as numbers, but rather as your character would perceive them. For instance, if someone inquires as to your ability with your sword, you would not say "I have 78 swordsmanship skill.", you would rather say "I am quite adept with my blade, more than three fourths through my training to Master Swordsman." Restrict your character's dialogue to what is appropriate for the game world, and to what your character can actively perceive.
2: Do not godmode!
Godmoding is when a character is impervious or invincible. For instance, if someone attempts to stab you with a knife fifty times in a row, and you dodge every time, you¡¦re most likely godmoding. Likewise, if they stab you and cannot miss in spite of your dodge, that is also godmoding. Godmoding is a touchy subject, as avoiding it requires a little give and take on all sides of the situation. Most role-players will be understanding and realistic in their reactions to any attempts that may be godmoded or godmoded against.
3: Do not metagame!
Metagaming is when a character knows something that the character did not learn. For instance, if a friend of yours messages you as a player, stating that his guild is going to raid your guild's city. You, as a player, know that this will take place, however your character does not. If you log in to your character and alert the guards and take up arms before your friend's guild arrives, that is metagaming. Obviously this is another tricky subject, as sometimes it is impossible to find people using only your character's awareness. Generally, use common sense and courtesy when it comes to knowledge that your character may possess or may not possess.
4: Keep conflict IC only!
While your character may conflict with another character in an IC manner, ensure that you do not grow angry with that player OOC for his or her IC actions! Obviously there is a line to be drawn, and if another player's IC actions make you uncomfortable, you should inform them and they should cease the actions while you are present. Role-playing relies a lot on player-to-player respect, so make sure you consistently remind yourself that IC happenings do not reflect on a player, and ensure that your character reacts according to the situation and his or her preferences and beliefs rather than your own.
Section 2: Core Principles of Role-Play.
The actor's theory
Over my time as a role-player and a role-play teacher within my guild, I have formed a theory that I have named "The Actor's Theory." This theory encompasses all role-play, and should be applied when possible to achieve the best role-playing results for your individual experience. The theory can be stated as follows: Role-playing is acting, and you, as a player, are putting on a show for the other players. Strive to make other players feel the moment and be immersed in the game due to your role-play, and you will achieve optimal results. This implies that you must take much care in your dialogue and emotes, not only for your own enjoyment, but primarily for the enjoyment of those around you. Role-players appreciate a good role-player, and you will receive the favor in return as people observe you working your hardest to give them a fantastic experience.
Realism
Obviously, in fantasy and sci-fi games there is going to be some difficulty maintaining realism. Luckily, in role-play, people generally do not want strict realism, they want only realism within the logic of the game world. In a game world you have many opportunities and surroundings which are not real by normal standards, but would be entirely realistic to your character within his or her perception of reality. Thus, realism can be a difficult subject to discuss and a difficult standard to maintain. What one must always consider when attempting to maintain realism in role-play, is that excess is generally frowned upon and that the game establishes most realistic standards, alongside the general logic of the real-world which carries over in to the game. For instance, if your character is in a frozen wasteland wearing only a pair of pants and nothing else, he or she would generally be very cold if not frozen to death by the time he or she reached his or her destination. At the same time, if your character is in a desert city at noon, he or she would be incredibly hot and want to wear as little clothing as possible. In considering simple factors such as this, a player can maintain realism in relation to the environment. On the other hand, when it comes to magic or psychic abilities, one must apply the avoidance of excess. Generally people want such abilities to be draining or physically tiring on the user, and that is a realistic expectation. Since a character is using enormous amounts of energy to perform feats of the mind and of magic, it would drain a character, and he or she would not go around casting spells or using abilities repetitively without some adverse effects. Again, realism also includes character movement. If you are walking a narrow path and there is a character in your way, do not shove through them, walk around them or ask them to move! Another integral part of maintaining realism in role-play is line-of-sight. This dictates that, though a player may be able to see a character's name on the screen around the corner or in the next house, the player's character would not know that the other character was there until the other character was within his line of sight. Overall, using common sense in role-play will help one attain desirable realism within the game world.
Section 3: Character Development (detail)
Specialized or Generalized?
In character creation, a role-player will generally create a character with a predefined premise. This premise can be that the character will be a half elven farmer from the northlands, or that the character will be a powerful mage searching for the ultimate spell. Either way, a premise is something that defines a character and his or her ultimate goal in his or her role-play life. Obviously, this is not a requirement. Some of the best characters can be developed through actual role-play interactions, whereas they began as a general character with no predefined premise. Do you want your character to be specialized in some field, with a specific purpose and/or background? Or, do you want your character to have a general description but nothing to restrict his or her development through role-play? It is up to you, and both options can be fun and rewarding.
Visual appearance, physical traits
Determining how your character looks is also a helpful step in character development. Your character's physical appearance and traits will be how other characters recognize him or her, since other characters cannot see the name floating above your head. Generally, you should keep your physical appearance and traits consistent with your character¡¦s race. An elf may or may not be six feet tall, depending on what lore you use. An orc would not be a beautiful maiden. These sorts of things should be kept in mind when considering your character¡¦s physical description and traits.
Speech and Intelligence
Again this is something that should be kept consistent with your character's race and background. Obviously, a tribal warrior would not be as eloquent as a noble's son from a large city. Your decisions in this field will represent your character's intellectual traits to other characters. Some characters may be more realistic by having a speech impediment, or a heavy accent. Either way, it is up to you to decide how your character will speak, and his or her intellectual capacity.
Physical strength and abilities
An orc warrior that is seven feet tall would be incredibly strong, most likely, but a four foot five elven mage would be frail and weak. Your physical strength and abilities will mostly be determined by your appearance (size, weight, etc,) and your race/occupation. Make sure you consider factors of realism in determining a character's physical abilities.
History
This is where your character really begins to take shape preemptively to his or her experiences in the actual game world. Use the history of your character to define historical factors in his or her behavior and beliefs. Obviously, you don't have to write a history for your character, but it is always a useful tool in development.
Section 4: The Tools of a Role-Player
Visual representation
While game mechanics are not always conducive to a role-play environment, some of them can indeed be used to help depict your character. For instance, armor and clothing can be chosen tastefully to represent your character's profession or allegiance. Remember to consider the factor of realism when choosing your character's attire. A noble paladin would generally not wear all black and use a scythe as a weapon. Another factor of visual representation comes in the form of shape-changing skills. In most games, you have at least one shape-changing skill on at least one of the classes. These can be used to represent abilities that your character may possess, or to represent your character in his or her natural form. Either way, one must carefully consider how his or her character looks in the game world, for it will effect how others perceive you immediately.
Emotes and Dialogue
I've mentioned emotes before. Emotes are depictions of actions or "emotions" through text. Emotes are generally surrounded by *'s, indicating the action is not a spoken message to the characters that observe it. An example of an emote is *smiles*, a popular substitute for =]. If one is creative and imaginative with his or her emotes, he or she will skyrocket in the role-play world to a respected position as an accomplished role-player. This brings us back to The Actor's Theory. Make sure that your emotes depict vividly the actions that your character performs, and the emotions that your character exhibits, so that those around you may feel as if the world is taking shape in a very realistic manner. For example, instead of using *scratches his nose*, one would consider the vividness and revise it to *raises his hand, using his index finger to scratch the right side of his nose, grimacing as he does so*. Obviously this is a lot to type, which is why I have established the principle of the "Establishing Emote." The Establishing Emote is an emote that is vivid enough to leave room for lack of vividness in following emotes. In the previous example, the emote was the scratching of a character's nose. The vivid emote would obviously take some time for the average player to type every time the character had an itch, and so this is where the Establishing Emote comes in to play. For example, the first emote would be *raises his hand, using his index finger to scratch the right side of his nose, grimacing as he does so*, but all following emotes could be *scratches his nose*. The emotes depict the same action, but the Establishing Emote depicts it in a clear, well painted picture. This establishes how the action is being performed for all following emotes that depict that action, which enables the player to use much less vivid emotes to depict the same action and still have a vivid image conjured in the observer's mind. Dialogue is also very important. When speaking as your character, you should always capitalize and punctuate properly. This helps observers to read your dialogue without pauses of confusion or noticing that you did not capitalize your sentence. The dialogue should always be kept consistent with the game world, as well. Avoid using slang or words that are not appropriate for the environment in which your character lives.
Imagination
Imagination is a heavy requirement for a role-player. You must create in your mind the images which the game does not depict for you. The character actions depicted in emotes will obviously not be performed by the avatars, so you must imagine that the avatar performs the action. Having a strong imagination will help you to excel and enjoy role-play. Use your imagination to form emotes that depict vivid images, so that other players may feel not only as if they are role-playing on an online game, but as if they are a character in a well written novel.
Forum Stories and Posts
Forum stories and posts can be used to describe adventures and stories in which your character plays a part. Sometimes, this is the primary form of role-play while a player is not able to log in actively. Characters can interact through forum stories and develop through them as well. Obviously, forum stories and posts are not a requirement, but are useful in helping your character perform actions that otherwise would be time consuming or boring within the game world. Another thing to consider, is that while you may read other player's posts of their character¡¦s actions, your character would not know of such actions unless indicated by the post. Flyers, personal messages sent to your character, or publicized actions such as speeches or plays posted upon a message board would be known to your character and thus can be acknowledged in-game.
(Added with the consent of the author. Who is also a noob.)