Posted by Tassnor(VIP) on November 04, 1999 at 17:46:31:
I know this subject has already been talked about quite a bit, but I want to make sure everyone is clear on it (and possibly help a few people). These are suggestions posted by Immortals a while ago and I thought I would post them again. If you don't want to read it then don't, and don't bitch either. If CF imms voicing bothers you, just skip to the next thread. I'm trying to give anyone who _is_ interested a little insight into my mindset, and to some degree the CF imm mindset. Give it whatever (lack of) importance you like. 1) Be in character all of the time. If you can't manage that, try for 99% or as close as you can come. This sounds simple. Let me assure you it is not and almost no one that I have watched does it. Being IC on cb will keep you in a cabal, but if you are ooc in 90% of your tells or group tells, if I watch you for even five minutes you are unlikely to stick in my mind as a good roleplayer. There have been people that stick out in my mind as good roleplayers who got only this right. There was nothing that exceptional about their role, but they were _always_ in it. It is not as hard or painful as it sounds, and you may find yourself enjoying it. [Side comment: while having your client set to always do says or emotes at certain times or for certain actions is a nice touch, it does not qualify for fulfilling this requirement.] If anyone interacted with Llorenthos, or going back a year or two Xurinos, they stand in my mind as people whom did this well. 2) Don't be afraid to do things that are anti-beneficial [I can't remember the real word right now] to your character. I am not suggesting that you create an invoker who hates magic, but small weaknesses or deficiencies will show us that you are not purely a power gamer. These things are neither necessary nor sufficient for being a good roleplayer but they are a step in the right direction, and can be fun. Some examples that come to mind: Laurella refusing to wear some pieces of equipment because they were ugly or clashed with her outfit. Lachdanan attempting to avoid killing good-aligned Arbiters on many occasions while wanted, even though he could have justified force dueling them and killing them. Padishar deciding to quest to lose his spells and become a neutral drow assassin, then again to become good, then again to get the spells back, and deal with Lloth sending people after him, all to be a drow Knight assassin when an arial would have been just as good and far less painful. Hwulezar refusing to enter warm areas. Ygnacio being too lazy to heal his own group sometimes. Sranu refusing to lead groups containing necromancers into Hell. Amberlea not practicing a useful song for roleplaying reasons. Many others. 3) Little things mean much. If everyone is going to get the big things right, the smaller, subtle things will distinguish you. Did you kill a good creature or get a friend killed by mistake as a good? Would you feel remorse? Then show it. Would your Arbiter really wield a flaming sceptre of chaos? If you're not unusual about it, no, so don't. If you are unusual about it, make it clear to others. Is your paladin the type of person to kill an evil or attempt to save a friend given the choice between the two? Either could be right, but for the given character, only one _is_ right. That last I had to pick between some time ago with a character, and I chose incorrectly [for that particular character] but I had a good enough grip on their RP to realize it and deal with it IC, and I think my imperfect ability to roleplay is stronger for it. Reflect on what seems unimportant, learn from your mistakes, and get a better grip on both the character you are playing and your own blind spots. 4) Don't just have a history to pass interviews. Keep it, and the experiences you have throughout playing, in mind, and let them influence your character's actions. Stop and think sometimes. Given this character's history and life, would s/he be doing what you are doing? I feel obligated to offer my suggestions here, since roleplaying is the most enriching part of the game to me, and I feel it is too often sorely neglected by the players. Don't get me wrong; roleplaying has dramatically improved over the past few years on CF, but I'd like to see it continue to improve. Right now I'm going to forget about making any suggestions on how to make a complex character. The following are just two basic things I'd like to see more mortals follow: 1) Roleplay your race: Almost no one roleplays their race, and it drives me bonkers! To quote a friend, mortals on CF are almost all "humans in funny suits", and it's really aggravating. A lot of humanoid folks I play with consider their character the "exception" to the rule about cultural behavior, but really, overall I think that really detracts from the MUD. If you're a dwarf, be stubborn! Or Yammer! Or throw a rumbling tantrum whenever your group tries to lead you over the sea! Scratch your beards! If you're an elf, be arrogant, condescending, and aloof. Or if you prefer, poetically jovial and graceful in all you say and do! You may be thinking "gee, this is awfully archetypal", and perhaps, but almost *no one* does it, and as I've said, as a result atmosphere is detracted, not added. In my ideal world, people would be considering the racial advantages and restrictions to the role, not just the stats. Now there are some exceptions. Characters like Laurella (elf), Shamaad (felar), Vella (storm giant), or even Taceolus (human/human supremicist) have gone out of their way to emphasize roleplaying their race. Now, say what you will about whatever flaws these characters may have had in their actions, ability to playerkill, and so on, the fact that they've put forth a concerted effort to remember that they are *not* just "humans in funny suits" is appreciated by me, at least. 2) Roleplay flaws. Allow your character to be stupid, naive, petty, or deluded if it is suitable to the character. Don't be afraid to make decisions your character would make even if it hurts him or her. If you have prejudices or hatreds, don't let those be entirely dictated by your cabal. Create your own. You can distrust mages as, say, an arbiter. Maybe you are a sylvan warder who is just really bothered by the way svirfnebli chisel away at Mother Earth from the inside. Sacrifice using items, skills, or spells that you have a reason for your character to dislike, even if no religion Lyria Some related comments of my own: I'm rambling a bit, but that is my thoughts on it. Whatever tattoo you seek, pray at that god's shrine, then assume you are being watched from that point on, and exemplify that tattoo's characteristics. That's pretty good advice. A few of my own thoughts: You don't want to go into a tattoo interview half-cocked. Read the helpfile, not skim, read. Read it again. Think about it a little. Talk to the existing tattooed people of the religion if you can. Now, think about what you know from the help and what you learn from the people. It's important to remember that what a given tattooed says is not gospel truth with regards to the religion. It's their take on it. So don't copy everything they do, but listen to what they have to say and try to decide what parts of their beliefs are part of the religion's core beliefs and which are maybe just theirs. Ask yourself some of these things to help find that groove: For this belief system, what kinds of things are "right" and which are "wrong"? This is clear-cut for some and not for others. This will prevent you from wearing a "the Idiot, Betrayer of X" title a month down the line for managing to commit the most hideous blasphemy of your religion without thinking about it. I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who clearly have never really put two and two together on this and realized, "Wait, so I'm a follower of Shokai, that means grouping with these evils would be bad." or the equivalent. Along the lines of the previous question "Don't care" conditions are also telling. (Karnaugh maps, anyone?) For example, for my religion, victory is a "don't care". Why you choose to do something and whether or not the thing you pick is "right" is far more important than the actual success of the action. For a follower of Radickon, victory would not be a "Don't care." Where does this religion come into everyday life of my character and people in general? I personally wouldn't expect a dissertation but if you can't point to one thing and tell me 'See that, that's Order, and this is why' you probably don't understand what you're supposed to believe in. Oh and I don't know who most of the authors are just that that one is by Lyria.
A large percentage of the player base can roleplay well enough to survive a cabal interview. They can get empowered or tattooed at least some of the time. They know enough to avoid being completely out of character on public channels. [Note: this last is a big improvement in our collective roleplaying over the years--I remember well hearing Masters talk about their homework and dates over the cb] They rarely if ever commit grievous alignment/ethos violations. If you do these things, you may be good as roleplaying goes. But, if it ends here you are nothing extraordinary by current standards.
Our standard for roleplaying [and areas, and some other things] is constantly evolving. This is a very good thing. Good roleplaying breeds more of the same, which in turn breeds better roleplaying. Can you imagine going onto a MUD that is completely OOC and trying to roleplay well, when no one else would interact with you in character? It would be difficult if not impossible. The better you roleplay, the easier it is for others to roleplay well. We, the people who maintain and expand CF, believe that makes for a better [and more fun] game for everyone.
If you accept the validity of that idea, and you are willing to admit you are not perfect [I'm not perfect], then you may be wondering how to be a better roleplayer. If not, you may have noticed that characters we consider to be well roleplayed often end up with nice little extras, vitality quests when they need them, leadership positions, immortality, and other goodies. [Like all sweeping generalizations, there are exceptions. This is not the time to point them out.] A desire to have those goodies may drive you to want to know what would make the immortals think you are a good roleplayer if you didn't buy my pitch on the greater good. The immortals are not a hive mind that thinks as one, but I can list a few things that stick out in _my_ mind are distinguishing those that are ahead of the pack in roleplaying.
That is enough of a rant for now. Feedback and criticism is welcomed so long as it is constructive in nature.
or cabal is breathing down your neck forcing you to make the sacrifice. I guess what it comes down it is people allow them to fall into the archetypes that benefit them via tattoos or cabal powers, yet they neglect to fall into characters or archetypes that really make the MUD an interesting world.
Neoclerics - It's a shame we can't start over (wipe out everyone's memories) and bring up CF without old-style clerics and just use the current system. Some players have problems with empowerment -- probably going to be true with nearly any implementation of clerics that stresses role-play -- but if it had never been any other way, would it be as big an issue? When Liches went in you had to complete the quest to achieve the Becoming. Is it a lot of work? Yeah. Is it harder to hero a Necromancer because of it? Probably. But in the end it's a pretty cool thing (well, in my opinion anyway) that after you go through that extra work (and risk life and limb doing it) that you can become a unique kind of player/class as a result. Imagine the outrage if the first batches of Necromancers just turned into Liches without the quest...
Awaiting Empowerment - I'm not sure why most (posting) players think that hanging around in shrines is the only thing they can do while awaiting empowerment. Evangelize! Socialize! Spread the word of your faith and make connections! The point of this game isn't to reach hero as fast as you can and then just kill everyone. And if that IS your goal, the gods probably aren't going to want to empower you anyway.
Role-playing for all - In one of the connected posts here, someone asks why shouldn't all players be held to high role-playing standards. I have two comments on that. First, it's important to remember that anyone empowered by an Immortal is (IC) drawing all his or her power from that divine mana-well. The Immortals aren't going to want to hand that out without consideration and certainly aren't going to want just anyone representing them in the mortal world (whether associated with a religion or not). Immortals, IC, can be fickle or stubborn or anything else that fits their roles and to be counting on them for power may be risky at best. Second, and I'm sure this is going to be unpopular, I happen to believe that some classes/cabals/whatever should be played with built-in sacrifices -- neoclerics are no exception. If you have to walk barefoot from town to town preaching the word of Sog to the heathen so that the Lord of the Feast will grant you greater blessings, hey, embrace that. If that means you're the only neo-cleric in the game (as another poster suggested) then won't you be a popular fellow ("We need healing... call Sugartooth!"). Sacrifice makes for more interesting characters, for more interesting world-plot development, and for more intriguing decision making.
Be the ball.
My second thought expounds on that be the ball thing. Remember that you're trying to be an exemplary person of a religion, like a priest or something level rather than a mere lay worshiper type. If I can use Christianity as an example that I think would be at least moderately familiar to a majority (if not all) of our players. You are trying to convince your god that you are worthy to be one of his/her priests, and that you are not just that guy that comes to church twice a year on Easter and Christmas and otherwise does absolutely nothing to live the religion. So yes, that means constantly roleplay. But it also means that the religion should constantly be creeping into your role in some form, even if it isn't always overt. I can't think an example of that right now that I think I can explain though. More than once though someone has done such a good job of breathing/reacting in ways that showed they really understood some of the trickier parts of my religion that I knew inside of a minute that they were getting tattooed.