Cantr II Discussion Forum

Before you vote in that poll, I'm not talking about "novel syndrome," or having to be lengthy in detail of an action in roleplaying/emoting. I'm curious as to whether it's really required to show whatever your character visibly does on the Events page, including what your character does personally (not to be confused from privately).

For example, let's say that one of your characters has an feeling of envy towards another. Should you hint that kind of feeling in front of everyone in the area? Could she be able to contain that feeling reasonably? Or would you just skip it entirely, thinking that nobody would care anyways?

I maybe metagame thinking, but it's from the conflict that judges whether I am really making solid evidence to contribute to the development of my character, or just lengthening everyone's daily reports.


Feel free to vote, post, have me make my point more clearer, ect.

i dont think i really understand this poll.

i mean, you show what you want to show of your character's feelings, but you shouldnt say something like "*he lieks her*, but if you do, you should flirt with them or make advances.

You should never show what your character is thinking, unless you do it physically.

The question indeed is vague. Some emotions are hard to express in writing. But if you don't bring them out then other people will never learn about them. And most stuff will rise to the surface eventually, if it's something that counts.

I think I know what you're saying... but it all depends on your character's personality.

If your character is envious, and they have the sort of personality where they might contain it or hide it well, then don't modify their actions. But if their personality is the sort where, maybe they can contain it, but it shows just a smidgeon, then maybe accentuate it a little bit by their words and actions. If their personality is the sort that they wouldn't be able to really disguise their envy well, then that ought to come out through their actions and words.

Example:
Johnny gave Susie a gold necklace.

Martha: That's a beautiful necklace, Susie. *she smiles happily* It will look wonderful on you.

Or..

Martha: *she smiles warmly when Susie shows her the necklace* Oh, what a lovely gold necklace, Susie. I always wanted a gold necklace. *she casts a longing glance on the necklace*

Or..

Martha: Oh! That's a gorgeous necklace, Susie! I would die to have one of those! I can't believe Johnny went to so much trouble to get that for you! *she glances towards Johnny, then eyes the necklace greedily* I really did always want one. You're so lucky. It's just not fair. Some girls get all the pretty things from their guys and others get stuck with sleeping lumps!

It all really depends on how much reaction you want to get, or what sort of vibe you want your character to give off to others.

Not really sure if I'm answering this right....

Some people just can't hide their emotions. I have a char who is kind of stiff and detached from people, so I try to reflect her unease via emoting when people are nice to her or just general indifference to certain things.

As for things like *he sits against a wall and starts sharpening the edge of his sword's blade* or *she hums softly while gathering potatoes*... I don't mind this. Sometimes it's not necessary to emote every little thing, but I would not discourage someone from it. Might even make someone else respond...

Hiding a character's emotions, intentions, etc. are just as valid a choice as expressing them. If you are a villain, you would be more successful in your villainy by not laughing like "Mwahaha!" and wearing a black cape and telling everyone how you plan to conquer the town and enslave everyone.

By the way, I get a little peeved when people type something like, "*She is amused by the joke*" instead of "*She throws her head back and laughs loudly*" The first is telling me something that cannot be directly observed, only inferred by observable signs (like laughing). If your description of what can be observed is good enough, I will probably come to the conclusion that you want. But don't force the conclusion on me.

If a few chars is doing it I don't see a problem. Though it would be very frustrating if all 50+ chars of a large town did the same for an extended period (not that it would ever happen, lol)

In short, on teh rare occasions it happens, I'm fine with it.

I don't think it hurts to throw these type things in every once and a while. It makes for better imagery and makes the characters feel a bit more real.

Another thing is that I don't believe every other character should be able to expertly detect these visible emotions. After all, they can't see EVERYTHING right?

Leo Luncid wrote:For example, let's say that one of your characters has an feeling of envy towards another. Should you hint that kind of feeling in front of everyone in the area? Could she be able to contain that feeling reasonably? Or would you just skip it entirely, thinking that nobody would care anyways?

I know exactly what you're talking about.

The answer is no. In the real world, people have "tells" that give away what they're feeling, envy in your example, but there is so much going on around us that such things are quite often missed by others. In the world of Cantr, everything put down in the events log is supposedly significant, so if your character lets slip a hint of envy, everyone will see it and wonder wtf your character's problem is, because even if the expressed emotion is not that significant, the fact that it was role-played instantly makes it entirely significant. Role-playing tells simply makes mountains out of mole-hills. It's best to leave your character's inner thoughts and feelings to themselves until you really want them to be made publicly known.

I don't think it's true to the character if it's not done to some degree (if they have "tells" that would be expressed but aren't simply because it will go into an event log).

Imagine for example that a person was rp'ing to be nervous. Then you would think that there's something significant going on that makes them nervous when in fact they might just be nervous by nature. Or then they might be nervous because they have feelings towards some another character, but you couldn't outright say which of the characters is causing this abnormal behaviour until you have observed the situation for a while to notice if it happens especially after a certain individual or kind of a person has spoken or arrived. There could be a character who's afraid of men or women or armed people or old people or foreigners or animals or boats or the sound of engines. And if that person rp's fear or nervousness after seeing a triggering event but doesn't point out what caused it then I would call that subtle. So it's not like everything is automatically clear if it's rp'ed.

The biggest problem is that sometimes you would want people to guess what your character is feeling but you play it so subtly that they don't realize it.

hehe subtlety can be a pain...

it took 15 years of pre-relationship before my first charrie got with his girlfriend.

we both kinda beat around the bush... a lot...

You should include things that a person would notice in real life. For example, a person in real life would not be able to see another person's jealousy, but from the other person's actions, could recognize it. Ex:

*Jack runs up to Jill and smacks her right on the rump*

*Joe narrows his eyes at Jack*

This is a good way of RPing because it keeps other characters guessing, while showing valuable information as to a character's profile.

I've seen people RP this way as well:

*Joe angrily narrows his eyes at Jack*

The adverb angrily would work because anger is one of the most basic facial languages of humankind. However, the adverb jealously, while it may be used quite often in Cantr, is less acceptable because jealousy is more of a sub-feeling, if that makes any sense. Jealousy is much harder to recognize in real life than anger, sadness, or happiness.

SekoETC wrote:The biggest problem is that sometimes you would want people to guess what your character is feeling but you play it so subtly that they don't realize it.

He he, yeah, I get that a lot. I've come to the conclusion that nobody really cares enough about my charries to notice, but at least I like them. Erm, most of them.

Solutions Maximus wrote:You should include things that a person would notice in real life. For example, a person in real life would not be able to see another person's jealousy, but from the other person's actions, could recognize it.

Well said, SM. That's exactly the way I feel emotes should be used in game.
Another use that doesn't happen much is to remind people of certain characteristics that are not always seen by other players, such as clothes, physique, and features.

I don't understand why when I rp my "much stronger than average" character as being a large man, I rarely get a reaction from "much weaker than average" chars due to size difference.