Further Thoughts on RP and Netiquette
Once you've settled into M*ing, you can probably develop your own RP style reasonably well and pick up on any flaws remaining and iron them out yourselves. However, if you are looking for some thoughts on what takes RP and etiquette beyond the basic level, here are some that I've seen people mention on various occasions. Many of these are the individual's own preference or pet peeve, and certainly from this point it's all down a lot more to personal taste, but it's always interesting to read and form your own opinions. I think it is anyway. Please note: these are not necessarily things you need to worry your first day M*ing. Make sure you've got the hang of all the tips on the Rules for RP and Netiquette pages before starting on these ones.
Keeping the RP Moving Don't make your character a one-trick pony, where they're forever RPing the same thing. Similarly, don't let the RP get stuck on one note: be prepared to progress, however fun this one bit of it is.
ICness and Consistency Be aware of your character's IC position: physically, geographically and socially. Remember not to confuse what your character knows with what you know.
Working with and Including Others Don't try to make yourself always the centre of things, or try to change the RP to something new just because you've entered the room. Run with what everybody else is RPing, and even if people join in with your RP, be prepared to move the spotlight about a bit.
TS It's up to you whether or not you do it, but don't pressure others into it. Similarly don't let yourself be pressured into it: most games should have a policy on this and if anybody does harass you, you should report it.
Sucking Up Yes, some people have more OOC responsibility than others (and their IC status doesn't necessarily have anything to do with this), but no, that doesn't mean they're more special than anyone else. Don't suck up to those people, because they do notice it and you'll end up with a reputation you don't want.
Spammy Poses You don't normally need to do a pose longer than 6 lines anyway, but if you must write a longer one, make sure it's worth its length. There's no need to write five lines of detail if it doesn't relate to the RP in progress.
On Alts It's up to you how many you create and what they're like, but don't commit yourself to more roles than you can handle.
So you have your character and you've got a feel for RPing him or her. This is a good point to sit back and see what you RP. Frequently, you get a personality tag, so to speak, for your character and play that time and again. It's not really wrong, but be careful that you don't end up a one-trick pony. Say you design Foofoo as a flirt, and practice her flirting skills at every opportunity. Soon you develop it into a fine art and can RP flirting with the best of them. People love it when they see Foofoo's flirtation RP. The trouble is that most of this sort of thing gets old really quickly. Funny as Flirting Foofoo may be, Goober may one day like to RP with her when she doesn't spend all her energies coming on to him. Something different. If you stick to the same type of RP each time, you start experiencing a strange sense of deja-vu. Don't make your characters one dimensional.
Similarly, don't let an RP session get stuck in a rut. It often happens that a group of people start RPing around a particular theme: say Foofoo's pretending to Goober that she unwittingly used the piece of paper with the secret code on to light the fire. Goober poses panicking and trying to put out the fire and salvage the charred papers, while Foofoo poses looking innocent. Both players are having great fun with this scenario, but it has to progress—you know the saying 'quit while you're ahead'? Because eventually one player's going to get tired and want to go on to the next stage. So Goober has put out the fire and is weeping over the ashes ICly and OOCly praying that Foofoo is going to pose laughing at him and whipping out the real piece of paper, secret code and all, because he can't think of anything else for Goober to do other than despairing. But Foofoo is enjoying herself too much and doesn't provide Goober with an opening to find out the truth. At this point, Goober is finding it as difficult to think of something to type as he would if Foofoo was posing Foofoo smiles and sips her juice. So watch out for when the only changes in the poses are ones brought about by a Thesaurus, and move the RP forward (as a note, the most common example of this you'll come across is where somebody is crying and no matter how much people comfort them, they won't stop. This always gets incredibly frustrating for the other person, so try to avoid doing it yourself). If you're stuck waiting for somebody to progress, page them and ask them where they want to go with this.
At all times be aware of what your character is doing. If the only RP is across the other side of the world ICly, you can usually still go (unless for certain reasons, your character has been restricted to your area), but make sure you have a reason, not to mention an explanation of how you got there. And if your character is a young child, it might be an idea to bring along an NPC nanny or guardian. There are very few worlds where a toddler can travel across continents alone without getting stopped by somebody and returned home. There are very few toddlers who could manage it in the first place. If possible, it's best to stick to your own area or one close to it for RP—that's where you want to make your friends after all—although occasionally there are M*wide events that everybody is invited to. IC reasons for being anywhere, rarely need to be more than token ones, but at least make some effort to account for your presence.
Also be aware of people's positions in the room. If Goober has posed that he's leaning back against the wall, it's going to be pretty tough for Foofoo to sneak up behind him. Similarly, if somebody is sitting down, that's not the best time to ogle their rear end. The same goes for your own actions. Don't sit down twice in a row, or lie down and then fall over. If you've picked up a glass of juice, make sure it doesn't turn into a mug of cider halfway to your lips. Mistakes like this are easily made and usually don't matter too much, but it's easier for all concerned if you try to keep straight what you're doing.
Finally be aware of what your character knows as opposed to what you know. Maybe Foofoo's player knows that Goober ICly went skinny-dipping with the new cook last night, but ask Goober if it's common IC knowledge before Foofoo starts teasing him.
You don't have to be right at the centre of the RP to enjoy it; let somebody else in the room be the focus of attention and RP off them. If you walk in on an RP session in progress, try to insert yourself into what they're doing rather than starting up something new that involves your character. It gets confusing if you have two people posing along completely different lines—not so much for them, as for the third person who has to try and respond to both of them. In that sort of case, it's not all that surprising if one character gets ignored. Always go along with whatever RP is in progress if possible, and if you don't want to, consider going to another room to RP something else... it will create less spam than if you have two different plotlines in the same room.
If you are involved with an RP session and somebody else comes in the room, try your best to include them. If you're in a public room then you have no right to exclude people from the RP there, and you will often find that the RP is only improved by letting other people join in and add their own input. If you're RPing something fairly intense however, it might be a good idea to tell the entrant what's going on first so they can opt out of it. But always try and include people. It's sheer rudeness if they pose and you ignore them totally. As usual there's the exception to this rule, if there's over five people in the room, it's going to be impossible to include them all in every pose, if you try, you'll find your RP gets awkward. Do try and stay aware of who's being posed to and who isn't... if four people are posing to Goober, do him a favour and leave him to them, but if Foofoo said hello and nobody responded, then talk to her yourself.
It's almost inevitable... characters grow up, start noticing other characters and it reaches the point where Foofoo's going to spend the night with Goober and do more than cuddle. For obvious reasons this is a touchy subject, but contrary to what the media would have you believe, people talking on the internet are not all perverts, and in fact a good many M*ers let such activities happen off-camera. That is, Foofoo and Goober have ICly made love, but their players haven't RPed it. It can be avoided with a 'fade to black' pose, that is ending the RP with a pose like: Foofoo presses her lips to Goober's, and as their rising passion slowly overwhelms the pair, she pulls him down to the most ancient and intimate of embraces. Or if you don't want to break off the RP, you can do a glossing over pose: Foofoo suddenly grips Goober with fierce intensity and, for a good while, no further coherent words are exchanged. (it's all in the context, you see) and then go on to 'the morning after' RP. Or you don't even have to get that close to it. End the RP with your characters scuttling off 'someplace private' or just assume that Foofoo's having a bit of fun when you're not playing her, perhaps with an NPC.
Of course, many people see no reason not to RP sex as they do so many other things in their char's lives. The actual RPed act is known as tiny-sex, or TS. Again, I'd like to point out that people who do this aren't necessarily perverts, just as authors and film-makers who use sex-scenes aren't necessarily perverts. Obviously, it does rather depend on your own personal view, but it's fair to say that TS is often done for reasons other than to turn a player on. However offensive you may find such things, you've got to admit that the films There's Something about Mary and American Pie were not aiming to be erotic, and similarly, TS can be RPed in a variety of ways from comedic to romantic and probably others. But if you choose to RP it, be aware of the rules of your game regarding TS and harassment over it.
On most M*s you'll find that people keep such activities in private rooms only. Many M*s are rated, just as films are, and a family friendly M* will not allow you to TS (or come too close to it) in public. A parent who found that their child was able to see or take part in such activities on a game that purported to be child-safe would be well within their rights to sue the game, and it's unlikely that the game's admin would care to go to court for something they make no money from. Far easier to shut it down before things can get that far. Abuse your privileges, and you lose them. For similar reasons and the fact that we're all supposed to be able to get away from hassles on the game, most M*s have a policy on TS to protect players from harassment—check on your game. And it is sexual harassment. Don't pressure people into it, and if somebody's pressuring you, tell somebody else. Just as you would in RL. If you want to TS, page the person in question before you get that far and check that it's OK, and if they say no, tell them not to worry about it then and get on with the RP, fading to black at the right point. Conversely, if you're RPing and it's getting a wee bit more passionate than you're comfortable with, let the other player know that you'd like to fade to black or move into a less risqué area. And remember, the glory of a game is that you can never be trapped into doing something that you don't want to do. If somebody's not listening to you when you say 'no', you can disconnect any time or simply move your character somewhere else. But please inform somebody if you have a problem like that. The admin will want to know about such people so they can deal with them.
Please detach your lips from my rear
Now, since this is a game, it needs a referee, an umpire of sorts... several in fact. People are needed to make decisions, and so you get OOC authorities and admin of an area. Also, the goal is to achieve a virtual world, and to do that, you need IC authorities and admin of an area. Sometimes the IC and OOC people in power are the same, sometimes they're different depending on the game's policy and players' RLs. But the fact is that if a player is seen as having authority either ICly or OOCly, they're going to be seen as a-good-friend-to-have. My point is, don't suck up to anybody, because leaders really aren't that much more different from any other character. When it comes down to it, we're all just people tapping away at keyboards, we're all here solely for pleasure. Perhaps I could say that we're all equal, but it's more accurate to say that each person is what they make of themselves, either as a delightful RPer or a reliable staffer, and the only way to make a name for yourself is to get out there and do what you're best at. OOC leaders tend not to have that much power because most M*s are run on a democratic basis, where the majority rule. They can suggest things, but then, so can anybody else, right down to the raw newbie who connected for the first time this morning. The difference between them and the others is that they're the ones who'll count up the votes—and even that can often be done by somebody else. The main job of a leader is to keep their area active—which is a full time job, when done well, with a lot of hard, thankless work involved—and they rarely have the option to provide benefits for their friends.
So there's little point in sucking up to somebody who you see as being in authority, yet, of course it still happens. People just have a natural desire to want friends in high places. Do be careful that you're not clinging to a visible authority though. People with IC leadership positions or positions seen as such, tend to get paranoid about it. Also, it's impossible to tell by IC status alone who's on staff and who isn't. The IC ruler of an area might not be on staff. That beggar-child could be. And people tend to compare notes. If IC ruler gets hugged by Foofoo every time they see each other and the beggar-child has never been given the time of day, it's a fair bet that Foofoo is not going to look good with the admin as a whole. So when she asks them for a favour or applies for a position, they're going to have that extra reservation about her.
Finally, however cool you think it would be to have your character marry the king or some equivalent, it's a fair bet that the king has not been waiting with bated breath for you to suggest this. It's likely the king wants to pick somebody that they've known and RPed with for a good while if they want to get married at all. And only one person can marry them (depending on theme) or have their child or be their best buddy or clip their dog's toenails... The point is, don't be desperate to have IC connections with the IC authorities. If they're active and worth being friends with, then they'll be accessible in RP anyway, and it makes for a far better-balanced and fun area if everybody's role in life doesn't revolve around the IC leader.
Now, the original challenge for most people is finding enough to say to do a pose longer than one line. But once you get into your stride, you need to be wary of going too far the opposite way. Most RP sessions rattle along at a good clip with everybody contributing three or four lines per pose. This is enough for them to make it interesting and conform with the atmosphere, to make clear their character's position and to contribute to the RP moving it a little forward. But remember that it's quality not quantity. We urge players to do poses more than one line long, just as a guide to get them writing enough to be doing something. A pose of ten lines is not what's wanted. It's surprisingly easy to finish a pose and find you've ended up with Foofoo doing five different things. It all gets close to playing by yourself again, since you've done everything before Goober can react to your first action. There's another type of spammy pose... one which is far too detailed. If your characters are eating a meal while talking, it's nice to throw in a sentence like Foofoo pokes the chicken on her plate suspiciously before answering Goober. But don't get carried away and go on in detail about Foofoo savouring the taste of the chicken and dribbling juices down her chin, if it doesn't directly relate to the RP. Even if it's beautifully written, it's just too long, and there's nothing there that Goober is really going to react to. Yes, it's nice to have these little throwaway details, but in moderation.
So what's really so wrong with these spammy poses? Is it so much effort to have to read that little bit more? Sometimes, yes. If there are four or five people RPing, poses are going to come quite regularly, and it slows the whole thing down if somebody suddenly drops in a long one, plus it can throw the balance if one person poses one long pose while everybody else poses two normal ones. And RP does work best when everybody's going at the same rate. Also, suppose it's an event and there are a lot more people around—sometimes you can get upward of twenty people all posing actively. A pose that takes up half the screen then is not received well, since it's not leaving you time to read the others before they scroll out of sight. And if you're just a spectator at the event rather than taking an active role, people are going to get pretty grumpy if they miss something they need to respond to thanks to your pose detailing ten lines of cheering or gasping in awe.
Exception to the rule? Naturally! I don't think there's anything wrong with a spammy pose or two if there are just a few people RPing. Two, maybe three, people who are doing intense RP may well want more than four lines to convey their character's emotions. Since the other person is only waiting for your pose, they won't mind reading it so much, but be sure not to leave them too long waiting for it. It always longer when you're waiting for a pose.
Are multiple personalities really a good thing?
There is no set number of characters that it's possible to have. Very few people have just one (although most people have a favourite who takes up most of their time), some people have well over a dozen at one time and I've seen pages where people have listed up to 100 characters that they have at some point played. A few games might limit the number of alts you can have on that one game (although this is hard to catch) and several may say that you cannot have more than one alt in a particular position. But with the depth and variety of many M*s, it's hardly surprising if you want a few more characters out there to try out different aspects. The one thing to think about is whether you can really give each one enough time to make them worthwhile. I tend to get a headache if I RP two characters at the same time, although I can talk on different channels with a few different characters without too much problem. On the other hand, I've heard people say they RP five characters at once—I've yet to be convinced that this did not hurt the quality or pace of their poses. The speed of your typing and modem are definite factors here, but it's also very dependent on you. Just don't get dozens of characters, work them up to positions of OOC authority in various places, and then idle them down to the minimum activity requirement, only doing anything with them when it suits you. This does happen and it's not fair to the area that gave you the authority in the first place for the very simple reason that any OOC power you have on a M* consists entirely of responsibility. If you don't intend to contribute fairly regularly, don't ask to be made a staff-member or whatever in the first place.
Of course, one reason to create a new character is to try
something very different—and often something 'harder' which is where my
next point comes in. Like Hollywood stars favouring different charities in quick
succession, there's what I call 'disease of the week' syndrome as, in the
eternal quest to come up with a unique and challenging character, a particular
handicap becomes popular among players. I can't and won't stop you from creating
any sort of character you like, but if you want to play one with a handicap I
strongly recommend that you make sure you know about that handicap. There
is little point in setting yourself a challenge if you're not going to put in
the effort to take it properly, and badly played characters of this ilk are
uncomfortable or disturbing to RP with.
Keeping the RP Moving ICness and Consistency Working with and Including Others TS Sucking Up Spammy Poses On Alts
