Ierne Weyr: RP Guide

The RP Guide

First, we're going to cover the difference between IC and OOC and go over a few points that may help you become aware of that difference. We're going to assume you are aware that IC = In Character and OOC = Out of Character.

The first thing a good roleplayer should do is begin thinking of their character as a completely separate entity. While you may have included some of your own personal qualities into your character, they aren't you, and they will have at least some different sorts of attitudes and reactions to things around them. For instance, you may love swimming, but your character might hate it and prefer riding runners.

While that may be a simple difference, having more and more of them will make it easier for you to separate your IC self from your OOC self, and this is a very important sort of detachment that all players should have.

If detachment is lost, IC unpleasantness could be mistaken for OOC unpleasantness. The most common character for this is Sh'drian. He's ICly a pretty nasty guy, but that doesn't mean his player is. IC conflict is a way of life, both in the books and on the MUSH. It wouldn't make much sense if everyone was always pleasant to each other ICly. So, the first thing is to try and hang onto that detachment. Don't take negative IC actions as being OOC negative actions toward you, the player.

On the other hand, it is possible that someone does act in a manner you, the player, feel is more OOC-related than IC. In that case, you should check out '+lhelp resolution' and follow the steps there. Whatever you do, don't take that OOC feeling and translate it back into IC.

One thing to remember at all times is that you, the player, may know more about other characters than your character does. This is something that you should be very careful about, especially as you read logs. This is something called 'misuse of OOC information ICly'.

From here out in this news entry, we're going to assume you've made yourself familiar with the items in '+lhelp newbie'. The three primary commands used for RP are 'say', 'pose', and '@emit'. Most RP is done via the latter two. Say allows you simply to say something to the people around you. For example:

Gandalf says, "You shall not pass!!!"

Pose allows you to include actions in your RP, such as the following example:

Gandalf lifts Glamdring the Foe-Hammer in his hand and shouts, "You shall not pass!!!"

@emit allows you to put a word other than your name in front of the pose. However, make sure you put your name in the pose. For example:

After racing after the Fellowship, Gandalf lifts Glamdring the Foe-Hammer in his hand and shouts, "You shall not pass!!!"

Pose-length varies from player to player. Sometimes you may see something as brief as 'Legolas nods.' More often, however, you may see something that's at least 3 to 7 lines long, including what the other person says and does. On occasion, when certain characters are giving some sort of speech or rant, or there is a ton to react to, it may be far longer.

However, it is recommended that unless your character is having one of the huge long 'how in the world does he manage to breathe' speeches, or he's in a huge scene with a lot to react to, poses shouldn't be much longer than 7 lines, as too much stuff is considered spam. Basically, some people have trouble reading huge long blocks of uninterrupted text, so they'll skim over it and maybe miss bits of it.

Naturally, there are exceptions, generally when an Emitter is running multiple characters that need to have something said or done in a given pose; but for the most part, poses shouldn't be a novel.

When considering your response to someone else's pose, think like an actor. The best kind of acting is when it's all about giving the other guy stuff to make them look good. So, make your pose not just a response to whatever the other person gave out, but give them something in return. Ask a question, offer information, perform some action they can react to. This is a perfect time to show the others in your RP session what your character is doing.

The best kind of RP is a give-and-take. If you give someone else stuff to react to, they're more likely to give you stuff back, and they're more likely to come back to RP some more with you.

Remember, RP is acting, it's not like reading a book. People cannot read your character's thoughts, so pose things they can see, or hear, or smell. Basically, go with the five senses.

Commentary is the catch-phrase for RP that includes a lot of stuff about a character's thoughts, feelings, background, or anything intangible that the other people in the RP session are unable to ICly react to. On rare occasions, commentary can be a good thing, especially if it's a one-on-one scene where one character is normally quiet. For the most part, however, and especially during scenes where there's more than two or three people in it, commentary is to be avoided. Stick to stuff that the others can ICly react to, and they'll be more likely to do the same for you. Do stuff, don't think stuff, and you'll come up with more interactive RP.

There are always a few things to remember whilst RPing at Ierne...

Take your time. Unless it's a huge spammy scene (such as a Hatching or another equally large event), you'll have the time to think about what your character is going to do or say. You should prepare all the stuff your character is going to say and do in that one pose in answer to whatever's being directed at him or her.
Pose orders can be a good thing, especially in those large spammy scenes. Just keep an eye out for the pose of the person who posed in front of you last time.
Please remember that not everyone is a speed-demon typist. Some are unable to touch-type, either because they never learned, or they may have a physical disability, or they broke their arm last week and shouldn't be on a computer at all. Give everyone time to pose before tossing in another one of yours. If they're taking a bit of time, gently prod them through the mp/room command to make sure they're not just idle, but don't do that two seconds after you posed. :)
For the most part, we have the time to read our poses before we hit enter, so it's always a good idea to spell-check yours before you send it through. The occasional typo is fine and dandy, but if your spelling frequently looks like it's been through a blender, it's possible that others won't RP with you. Some people don't read English as their first language, or have reading disabilities that make it more difficult to read non-English words, or they may be blind and are having a piece of software read the text to them. This is mostly a courtesy issue.
This is the same reason why we prefer people do not type out their accents. Everyone should just say what their accent is.
RP is an interactive venture. Don't just RP with your best friend. Go out and RP with everyone with whom it would be IC to RP with. Most people like to come out and RP with new folks, and the dynamics that new characters bring to a scene can be quite interesting to watch.
Please keep your poses IC (In Character) at all times when in an IC room. The OOC Nexus and associated 'beginning' rooms are considered OOC and are exempt from this. If you need to say something OOCly, please say it on a knot, via page, or if you're RP-coordinating, you can use the mp/room code to state your comment to the whole room. mp/room is not to be used for chattering. Please do not precede your OOC comment with OOC: or *, as some other MU*s allow. There is no ooc, or +osay, or +ooc, or +sooc command of that nature here.
Emoticons are not IC and shouldn't be used in RP poses. If you'd like your character to wink, just say they're winking, for example.
If you'd like to emphasize a word or phrase, most people will use /, -, _, or capitalize the word or phrase. I.e. /Nice/, -Nice-, _Nice_, or NICE. However, the internet convention of all-caps being a form of shouting is generally how someone will regard the last version.
When typing, please use proper capitalization and punctuation, as if you were writing an essay or a book. Some people regard the inability to find the shift key as a sign of laziness and may not RP with you. English teachers everywhere will thank you greatly.
Wait for someone in the room to do a scene-set pose before posing your entry into that room. It may be on fire, or there may be an infestation of crawlies, or everyone's dancing, but you'll probably want your pose to be in reaction to what's going on there.
Conversely, it's not a good idea to pose to someone entering the room you're in. They may be running with scissors, and for the most part, you probably wouldn't think this was normal behavior and greet the person as if they'd just come in and looked around. The best thing to do is do a scene-set, basically a brief summary of who is where in the room and what they're doing. An example of this would be:
D'ram stomps into the Weyrhall, glowering at the room and its inhabitants as he makes his way to the hearth. There he grabs a mug of klah and hesitates over some bread, but finally sticks with just the drink. He heads towards the nearest empty seat, glaring at any who get in his path.
Sometimes, you just can't stay online for whatever reason. Thus, you should find some IC excuse to leave the room and put your character away. It's really simple to find an IC excuse to leave. Everyone's got to answer that darned call of nature from time to time. Or they might need a bath. Or there's some work to be done. It doesn't have to be much, just a little something to explain where your character has gone.
Once that quick pose is done, please do NOT type 'home' or disconnect in that room (unless that room is your 'home' ;). Try to get out of that room and into an unoccupied room to type 'home' without disrupting the rest of the RP around you.

In summary, RP is an interactive event, but like driving, there are rules of the road. Most of these are based on common sense and courtesy, and the admins of Ierne Weyr request that you adhere to them to the best of your ability. However, we suggest you have fun while doing so. :)