RP Advise

[Mafia Salad]

I’ve decided to start a thread for some RP advise, I figure with all this griping about bad RP recently people will have a few words of advise to bring the overall role playing of the game up a notch. I’m also hoping that people have finished their ranting and whining so that they don’t bring that into this thread. It really doesn’t help that many people to be fumed over or mocked. (I know I’ve done my fair share and seen the lack of results, not to mention the discouragement and bitterness that comes with it.)

I also didn’t want to make a tread like this for the strategy aspect of the game because I want to fight monotony in Cantr, the different strategies for achieving goals I think make up the backbone of the game for most of the role playing to take place around. Game strategy to get power or iron or whatever should be diverse and worked out in the game by the different characters, not carbon copies of each other born on the forum. A thread to advise on that would encourage people to use the same methods all over Cantr. But since strategy is related to what you role play; I will say that the best thing to do is look for and try to solve problems in game that are relevant to your character. They don’t need to be epic problems that plague all of Cantr, they can be simple, like being a bad wood collector or just plain lonely. As long as they are relevant then you can role play them and get others involved too.

I’m far from the best role player in the game, I often rush through what I’m typing and don’t put a lot of thought into it. Sometimes I use my gut reaction to make choices instead of thinking like the character would, creating odd inconsistencies of personality. I go through phases where I emote and phases where I don’t and many other little problems that detract from my ability to role play well. But I am trying to improve most of the time. I’m saying this because I’m hoping that others will elaborate on, correct and add to what I write today. Now onto some advise. Most of this has been said before, but is worth of a repeat for the next generation of role players and to remind some of us who are forgetful.

First and foremost: Spelling and grammar matter.

Accents and speech impediment aside, it is better to use full words and proper punctuation. Chat room shortcuts are only acceptable in a few circles. In-game-Cantr isn’t one of them. Using periods and commas, proper capitalization and correct spelling would also be a good idea. I personally have poor spelling, so I keep a word document open when I play and copy everything I type into it, spell check, and copy back before my character say it in the game.

Written English developed over centuries and is generally well known and understandable by people who play Cantr in the English area. There are all sorts of rules, they are taught in schools, most people know what they are. Even people who spend a lot of time in chat rooms can make out and understand a complete sentence, but for people who don’t spend a lot of time in chat rooms and such “hay im new can u help me 2 play tat wud b gr8 lol” comes across as lazy or nonsense. (It is my understanding that lol is equivalent to a period and the proper way to finish every sentence in some web communities) I can’t recall anyone griping when a newspawn starts their sentence with a capital letter and ends it with a period. If anything typing properly in Cantr can be practice for other times you need to write formally in real life. It’s not a bad habit to get into.

Emoting is good… in moderation

A lot of people here on the forum make emoting seem like the pinnacle of role playing. I doubt that any of them mean for it to seem that way, but that’s how it comes across in their praises and posts. Throwing some words between the *asterisk* doesn’t automatically make you a better role player. Believable characters with substance behind them; presented in a believable, understandable, and consistent way do that.

Emoting thoughts, feelings and motivations is usually a bad idea. People wouldn’t be able to see you *Thoughtfully takes in the surroundings, glancing this way and that he become intrigued. Confused and horrified by the beautiful buildings and rotting bodies in the street he wonders how a town can do so much yet still not give their dead a proper burial. Finally he raises his voice and speaks* “Hello I’m an Explorer from a few towns over.” - I like to call this novel syndrome, it comes when people treat Cantr like their writing a novel. It reads nicely and adds depth to characters but it is difficult to interact with. How are the other players supposed to treat this sudden telepathic information from your character?

Instead it is better to think of Cantr like a play instead of a novel, write out the actions to give the audience (other players) an idea of what is going on inside the characters head. *Walking into the center of town, he looks wide eyed and mouth open at the many massive stone structures around him. When his eyes come to the large cathedral near the center of town he gasps, but then suddenly starts coughing and quickly turns his attention to the rotting bodies on the ground around him. Covering his nose with a piece of hemp cloth he backs away from the bodies. After a few paces he put the cloth away and turns to greet the townspeople* “Hello, I’m an explorer from a few town over.” Same general ideas, but with room for interpretation (or misinterpretation) and it is something that the other people can react to. It can also get people to ask questions, which gives you a chance to better define your character. People who have novel syndrome are far from uncreative and are very capable of finding substitute actions for their characters feelings.

Another problem with over emoting that I see is when someone emote every little detail of their characters motion, it can be tedious to read. More words doesn’t always say more. *Working her way to the rose bushes on the far side of town, sweeping her arms as she walks, she find the most beautiful rose on the third bush over. Bending slightly at the knees and waist she swings her right arm over to the flower. Hand extended and open she grips the stem just below the perfect blossom between her forefinger and thumb and snaps the flower off. Standing straight again she brings her left hand in front of her body and up to just above her right ear, where she lifts several locks of hair and places the rose beneath them, securing the rose in place with the weight of her hair.* doesn’t say a lot more then *Smiling, she gracefully picks a perfect rose and places it into here hair.* There are cases where the first method is better, but they are usually more private matters and not something for your everyday activities in the town square.

That’s all I’m going to say about emoting, I got pretty wordy and started throwing in a lot of examples so if I hit on anything else It’ll take all day to read. Plus I’m not very good at emoting in the game so some more experienced players can give some better advise on it.

Create believable characters.

One thing I see fairly often is when a player imports a character from a book, movie or TV show. I’ve also felt the desire to bring an amazing character I saw or read about into Cantr. There are some great characters out there, but they almost always have a back story in their own universe that they don’t have in Cantr. They lose something without that history. Captain Malcolm Reynolds from the show Firefly would be fun to play, but he won’t be Malcolm Reynolds without ever fighting with the independents, and he undoubtedly wouldn’t be in the same situation as the Malcolm Reynolds on TV (or more recently DVD).

One nice thing about Cantr is that you get to live out that characters history. You watch events unfold and can choose how it shapes them. You can have a character work for a company, get burned by the boss when he steals your woman, steal from him and slowly plummet into a life of crime while trying to avoid him and get close to that woman, eventually becoming a pirate captain and killing that man. Or you can have a character spawn, say he’s a pirate captain and ask who wants to be part of his pirate crew, then get pissed when the town leader kills you or forces you to work in the town prison. I think the first one would be a lot more fun to play, and it would also add a lot more depth to you character later in life. Natural character development has a lot more long term playability then forced character roles.

Another great thing to do is to find other peoples characters that are well played and interesting in the game, and emulate them. Find little traits they have and steal them for your own use. And do this with that character who knows them. Just think of the saying and habits that you pick up from your friends and family. Not only does this created a cultural uniqueness for you town or group. But it makes associations between you and the other character and gives that other player an interesting situation to role play with. (Why is he talking like my character now? How should I react?)

And one thing I think every player should do with a young character is ask questions. Ask about history, morality, the physical world, other characters, yourself, anything that isn’t a CRB to ask about, use your imagination, it‘s fun, but don’t overdo it with all your characters, that’s annoying. If you don’t get answers then form your own opinions. That’s when you can start to make your own simple regional superstitions and religions. And PLEASE don’t import these beliefs from one character to another, have the others find out on their own.

You don’t always need to play a hero

One thing that I think makes the game duller that many new people do is when they take some noble stand for their town or ideals right in their first year or two. That’s fine, except that it happens so often. It seems just like the player wants to play a hero, but one thing that makes a hero a hero is that they are surrounded by people who are less then heroes. If you give it a try, it can also be a lot of fun to play the coward, traitor, weenie, confused person or the bumbling idiot who keeps getting in the way in the same situation. The same is true for a martyr, why should so many characters die for their town or cause? Why not betray your beliefs and have that haunt your character for years. Isn’t that the kind of a back story that many of the interesting characters on TV have?

Limit you quirky gimmicky characters

Characters who have something weird about them can be fun to play, but they also lack lasting ability. When you base their personality around some gimmick then often you will play everything that character has to offer in a month or two. I’m not saying it isn’t possible for a character with some strange quirk that defines them to grow and develop like any other character, but it is a lot less common.

Gimmick characters also tend to just be different frosting on the same cookies. You have the gibberish nuts, the one word guys and mutes, the single resource obssessers, the religious prophets and a few other roles that all seem to be the same thing in their groups with different words used and names. I believe that almost all the people who play this game are creative and imaginative people, but many are limiting themselves by getting stuck in the same old ruts.

Look for a balance

Here is what sets the great role players apart from the good role players. The great characters apart from the decent ones. You need to find a working balance between everything. Set a balance between consistency of character and adaptation to surrounding. A string of events connected by a name isn’t a character, there needs to be some method to the madness. At the same time someone who is completely unphased by everything around them isn’t a character either, they are a machine. I’d say start your character fairly adaptive and become more stubborn and consistent as your character ages. You also need to find a balance between entertaining and creative and being realistic and believable. I find that letting the world around you shape you for the first few years does this for you. You should have a complex character with some depth to them, but not so deep that no one else can figure them out. Depth also develops with time if you let it. Where you put your characters on that balance is what will make them unique and different, but if you put the to far to one side or another then they won’t be fun to play or play with for very long.

Make goals

This is where strategy and RP come together, you character needs some sort of motivation. I’d say to start their goal should be to find out about the world around them, then take something you find and build a goal on that. This is something subjective and personal, but essential to the game.

Have fun

Remember that this is a game, not a life obligation, you should have fun here. You don’t need to be a creative genius to play. You don’t need to be an amazing role player, and you shouldn’t stress if you find it difficult to role play with certain other people. You can leave a town, I’ve done that in Dory with three characters now because I couldn’t follow the conversation there. But if you make an effort to improve your RP, others will improve and open up around you. There are people waiting for someone to RP with in nearly every town out there, by putting a little more effort and thought into your characters I guarantee you will have more fun in the game. And make the game more fun for others around you.

[Solutions Maximus]

Give a character weaknesses. People love to see that. Make them fail.

Sorry, I would say more but, after reading all that, my brain is a little mushy.

[N-Aldwitch]

First off, Good work!
The sad/bad thing about putting all your effort into writing this is, the forumers are generally the good RPers, you know, active players and all. The minority of bad RPers probably are too lazy to read all that, too. :'(

[Mafia Salad]

I read the forum for over a month to figure out how to play before I started posting. My bro and a few friends that I got to play would browse the forum without posting too.

If someone is honestly looking to improve the way they play then they will read this thread. And even most active players could use a refresher to bring the way the RP back to the front of their minds so they can think if they have fallen into any bad playing habits.

[Blackdeath]

Heh nice advice Mafia, one can always use something like this