*between the asterisks*

[T-shirt]

It should be something others can observe your character doing, but not saying.

*Bumps her head against the building*
*Lies down in the grass*
*Frowns*
*Takes off his loincloth and dances around naked*
...

[Torch]

Exactly, HF, although as we've seen repeatedly many disagree because it might mean actually having to RP what others would see and verbally (okay, textually) interacting with the other characters to share thoughts and emotions that only a telepath/empath would be able to observe, instead of just info-dumping what one chooses to force the others to interpret.

Unless of course our characters are telepathic or empathic. But since they seemed to have an issue with the fairy conjuring lightning when she spawned, it's only fair that those phenomena wouldn't be fair game either.

[Songthrush]

It has nothing to do with telepathy or empathy. The stuff between the stars is the other character's player communicating the subtler parts of their role to you, a player. Your character need not know anything the stars told you, if you choose play it that way, or you could play along and have your character notice some or all of the starry stuff.

You talk of roleplaying, but the examples you gave are nothing but typical AOL chatroom emotes. Where is the role playing? What is the role. I don't want to play with those whose whole theatric repertoir consists of such emotes and a puritanical hatred of anything that goes outside the accepted bracket.

The stars give the opportunity to develop more realistic personalities and auras around your characters - for other players, of course. It's a creative writing vehicle.

[Leo Luncid]

Geez, that's what I've been saying in the first post of this thread. Nuff said.

[BlueNine]

I'm one of the *visible action* people, i accept certain emotional parts added in such as *gives a look of desperation*, but I don't see how *looks out to the sea, thinking about whether or not he'll have enough potatoes to last the year* will help me or anyone roleplay any better, sure the player now knows what they're thinking, but the character still doesn't and wouldn't be able to mention it...

I say po-ta-toe, you say po-ta-ta...lets all go chase some iron

[herkamer]

I had thought that there was an accepted norm, though I am happy to read that it seems the norm is open entirely to interpretation. This allows me the flexibility to find my own balance, and I have allready seen the difference (for the better) in my approach to expressing the details of my characters' behavior. Thank you again everyone. Torch mentioned that there are other threads discussing this topic, but I can't find them.

[formerly known as hf]

Songthrush: It's not about RP, but the style of RP. I prefer it to be somewhat realistic, hence I will get to know a character through conversation, mannerisms etc. I'm well aware there are different styles. I'll stick to mine, and happily adapt to others. If someone RP about thinking about potatoes. I'll just go along with it, although I would have prefered the chance to ask them what was on their mind as they stare out to sea, it's more natural that way

[Lumin]

It has nothing to do with telepathy or empathy. The stuff between the stars is the other character's player communicating the subtler parts of their role to you, a player. Your character need not know anything the stars told you, if you choose play it that way, or you could play along and have your character notice some or all of the starry stuff.

I'm sorry, but I have to take issue with this.

*thinks that putting thoughts between the stars is a LAZY player's completely unsubtle way of beating everyone over the head with too much information*

*wonders how anyone can possibly think being 'subtle' means inflicting every detail of their character's overwrought inner turmoil on other players in the most blatantly obvious and unrealistic way, instead of RPing it out through words and actions and body language the way real people do*

*she sighs, wishing certain players could respect her intelligence enough to let her interpret the reason for a character's actions for herself, rather than trying to restrict her RP by flat out telling her what her character is supposed to realize*

*shakes her head, turning away from the computer and feeling unhappy because there's no more pizza in the fridge and she'll have to cook beef stroganoff tonight and then stay up late washing dishes when she'd rather be reading a book*

[The Lurker]

Ditto, although I don't think it should be expected that everyone has reached full roleplaying maturity, so to speak.

I'm a firm believer in 'show, don't tell' roleplaying. In most situations, I'll simply ignore the parts which reveal thoughts instead of pulling the player aside and telling them it's bad form (as I dislike using ooc comments even more than I dislike hearing telepathic emotes). I would like to take this opportunity, however, to encourage everyone to refrain from using telepathic emotes. Here are a few reasons:

- I personally find it challenges me more as a roleplayer to be precise with my character's actions to convey the depth of their personality. It encourages me to be inventive and spice up the world with interesting emotes.

- I think it is more rewarding to interact with players who use 'show, don't tell' roleplaying, because it allows me to a wide range of opportunity to interpret their actions as they are presented.

- I feel that it improves the roleplaying environment as a whole, because it reduces awkward instances where one player's character acknowledges a telepathic emote and another player's character does not.

I know that everyone has their own unique roleplaying style, but I really don't think that telepathic emotes lend power to your roleplaying. Consider what I've said; maybe try converting a telepathic emote into a physical emote one day, see how the experience is different.

[The Industriallist]

The defense of putting emotions and thoughts in the ** seems to be that it's not broadcasting emotions to the character, it's a form of semi-OOC communication to allow you to decide for yourself what you see.

I have to say, that's one sort of OOC information that the game would be easier to play without. My characters shouldn't understand most of the motivation those things convey...so if I have the knowledge, I have to try to actively insure I don't use it.

[Hellzon]

*she sighs, wishing certain players could respect her intelligence enough to let her interpret the reason for a character's actions for herself, rather than trying to restrict her RP by flat out telling her what her character is supposed to realize*

While I don't like that people scream "LAZY" and "BAD" everytime someone isn't a top-notch roleplayer, you've got a good point there.

[EchoMan]

It has nothing to do with telepathy or empathy. The stuff between the stars is the other character's player communicating the subtler parts of their role to you, a player. Your character need not know anything the stars told you, if you choose play it that way, or you could play along and have your character notice some or all of the starry stuff.

You talk of roleplaying, but the examples you gave are nothing but typical AOL chatroom emotes. Where is the role playing? What is the role. I don't want to play with those whose whole theatric repertoir consists of such emotes and a puritanical hatred of anything that goes outside the accepted bracket.

The stars give the opportunity to develop more realistic personalities and auras around your characters - for other players, of course. It's a creative writing vehicle.

If you can't roleplay your character without emoting your thoughts I consider it either bad roleplaying or bad linguistics. To me it ruins roleplaying to have people do the telepathy around my character. Almost anything can be said using "visible emotes", if not, say it out loud.

[SekoETC]

I say Go Songthrush! I also agree that if someone is expressing thoughts, they are meant for the player, not their character. And if the receiver can't tell the difference then it's their own fault. But since expressing thoughts is generally disliked, it's good to be limited to interaction between just two characters, close friends etc - When two people spend a lot of time together, they start guessing each other's thoughts, having some sort of a mental connection. It's a wonderful feeling. But it's not something you'd have with everyone in your location. Anyway, I hope I get a chance to rp with you sometime.

[The Industriallist]

The stars give the opportunity to develop more realistic personalities and auras around your characters - for other players, of course. It's a creative writing vehicle.

I missed that sentence...I think that's a lot of the point behind people doing that. But...cantr is not about creative writing, cantr is about roleplay (and what develops from it). If the depth of your character doesn't come through to other characters through what they do, that's alright...you know it's there. Is there any need to flaunt it in an IC channel of communication? If you have to tell everyone about how complex your character is, do it in the forums.

[Lauren]

But...cantr is not about creative writing, cantr is about roleplay (and what develops from it). If the depth of your character doesn't come through to other characters through what they do, that's alright...you know it's there. Is there any need to flaunt it in an IC channel of communication? If you have to tell everyone about how complex your character is, do it in the forums.

The thing is, though, in order to develop a realistic, believeable roleplay, and one that people enjoy reading, I do believe that there is a strong element of creative writing that needs to be in place. In your everyday conversations, I bet you don't interrupt yourself to say, "Oh, by the way, my thoughts on this topic and how I live my life are very complex." which, in my opinion, is about the same as having people only know the subtleties of your character on the forum. According to the CR, we can't use that in game to better play with your character. It's a losing situation.