OOC - RP Rant - stolen with love from
beshter
2009-09-16 15:22
thewatchmaker
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I was going to have my own little rant on a soap box, but then I read
beshter's. In true Sylar fashion, I steal her work to share with you. I have been RPing with
beshter for so long - on line, PBEM and paper/dice. One of these days we might even end up LARPing if I'm bound and gagged and forced to do it.
In
beshter's words but I agree 100% -
For those of you who know me...I do take my Role Playing Games seriously. Even when they are 'just for fun', I take them very seriously. There are reasons for this. RPG is not a substitute for real life or for fantasies. Frankly it's a game, a game where you get to tell the story of what is going on. It's like being one of many authors for one story, where each of you get to play a key role in the development of the tale. You are taking on a persona, a character, who isn't you, who has a mind of their own, with goals, dreams, and aspirations. And you have to play your character true to who he or she is...not how you wish he or she would be.
Cardinal rules for me when playing on an RPG:
1) Know your medium: This applies to anything you play, whether its as serious as a table top game with dice, or as fun as an online based game on LJ. Know your medium. Know what the rules are, know what does and does not cross the line...and if you don't know...ASK! Don't assume things, don't run around shooting your mouth off without knowledge, and if you don't know the medium, at least have the grace to ask the ST or moderator about what is going on before you take any drastic steps. This saves a ton of headaches on the back end for you and your fellow players.
2) Know thyself: You are playing a person here. They have thoughts, feelings, aspirations, quirks, strengths, weaknesses, everything a normal person has. Play that! Don't turn your character into some over-the-top Mary Sue of perfection, and don't force your character to conform to things just because you the player think it will be cute and fun. Believe me, it's not. Nor is it brilliant, silly, or quaint...it's annoying.
3) Know your friends and enemies: Some people will be your friends in game...some will not. I can tell you right now that no matter if they are a friend or enemy of yours in game, it's nothing personal. If they are your enemy in the game, they don't usually hate you in real life, and likewise if they are your friend they may not be your best bud in real life either. This is just a game, and you are playing a character...remember that. I've seen husbands and wives play raging enemies before to great effect, and I've seen real life couples play lovers in game and they sucked ass. Remember these characters have their own motivations independent of you.
4) You are responsible for your own good time: This is a phrase Kelly, Patric's ex-wife and one hell of an ST once liked to bandy about. I know, I know, we all get into sucky slumps where we aren't creative, and we don't feel it, and it all sucks. It happens to the best of us. But winging about, causing havoc and acting like a an idiot isn't fun...nor is simpering in the corner and whining. We all have our moments, but when this becomes a habit...you suck as a player. Suck it up, create your own story, or come chat with someone for some ideas to bounce off your brain. And no, getting skills, gaining friends, or fucking somebody is not a good story.
Pet peeves of mine:
1) Somebody, please fuck me: This is perhaps my single, biggest pet peeve. They gamer bunny, the person who just wants to play to create the romance, or to live out the fantasy of sleeping with a vampire/werewolf/serial killer/fairy/immortal. Sometimes relationships do happen in game, they are evolved for the characters out of the struggles and interaction that the characters face. That is understandable. It happens in real life. But to go into game looking for a sympathy fuck...that is both juvenile and perhaps a sad statement about you as a person.
2) Hey, I've just met you, but look at all the cool shit I can do: This is not only annoying, it is stupid! Anyone with half-a-brain of sense would tell you letting anyone know all of the things about you at first is a sure way of either getting hurt or getting killed, and in an RPG its usually both. Being a rampant Vampire: The Masquerade player, it sort of instilled in me an inherent distrust of anyone who walks up to you and whips their characters ability dick out, (or their real one for that matter, but that's another story). In VTM, hell, it's grounds for getting killed, (Breech of the Masquerade, you die now). It is not smart wearing a sign around your neck that says, "I am Bob, the Immortal Fairy Werewolf Vampire who shoots sparkly poo out of my ass and is a sex magnet". Chances are a smarter, wiser, more capable character will come and gank you in the end because of it.
3) Vocabulary...it's not just for elementary school anymore: Have something to say for yourself. If your playing a character you want to be taken seriously, then speak or write like it. Don't give single word responses, or meaningless sentences that don't further anything. You are smart...act like it. Be loquacious, be eloquent...and don't sound like you've read one too many VC Andrews books.
4) This is not a social club: The purpose of gaming is not to hang out with your buddies and recreate your silly times in a different medium. I am not here to be set dressing while you and your friends create whatever cracked out plot you have in mind. I am serious about this, I have plot, I'm not here to forward your romance, to be the best buddy you come and tell your crush too, nothing. I'm here to game, and if you can't handle that, go find someone else to play with.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
In
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
For those of you who know me...I do take my Role Playing Games seriously. Even when they are 'just for fun', I take them very seriously. There are reasons for this. RPG is not a substitute for real life or for fantasies. Frankly it's a game, a game where you get to tell the story of what is going on. It's like being one of many authors for one story, where each of you get to play a key role in the development of the tale. You are taking on a persona, a character, who isn't you, who has a mind of their own, with goals, dreams, and aspirations. And you have to play your character true to who he or she is...not how you wish he or she would be.
Cardinal rules for me when playing on an RPG:
1) Know your medium: This applies to anything you play, whether its as serious as a table top game with dice, or as fun as an online based game on LJ. Know your medium. Know what the rules are, know what does and does not cross the line...and if you don't know...ASK! Don't assume things, don't run around shooting your mouth off without knowledge, and if you don't know the medium, at least have the grace to ask the ST or moderator about what is going on before you take any drastic steps. This saves a ton of headaches on the back end for you and your fellow players.
2) Know thyself: You are playing a person here. They have thoughts, feelings, aspirations, quirks, strengths, weaknesses, everything a normal person has. Play that! Don't turn your character into some over-the-top Mary Sue of perfection, and don't force your character to conform to things just because you the player think it will be cute and fun. Believe me, it's not. Nor is it brilliant, silly, or quaint...it's annoying.
3) Know your friends and enemies: Some people will be your friends in game...some will not. I can tell you right now that no matter if they are a friend or enemy of yours in game, it's nothing personal. If they are your enemy in the game, they don't usually hate you in real life, and likewise if they are your friend they may not be your best bud in real life either. This is just a game, and you are playing a character...remember that. I've seen husbands and wives play raging enemies before to great effect, and I've seen real life couples play lovers in game and they sucked ass. Remember these characters have their own motivations independent of you.
4) You are responsible for your own good time: This is a phrase Kelly, Patric's ex-wife and one hell of an ST once liked to bandy about. I know, I know, we all get into sucky slumps where we aren't creative, and we don't feel it, and it all sucks. It happens to the best of us. But winging about, causing havoc and acting like a an idiot isn't fun...nor is simpering in the corner and whining. We all have our moments, but when this becomes a habit...you suck as a player. Suck it up, create your own story, or come chat with someone for some ideas to bounce off your brain. And no, getting skills, gaining friends, or fucking somebody is not a good story.
Pet peeves of mine:
1) Somebody, please fuck me: This is perhaps my single, biggest pet peeve. They gamer bunny, the person who just wants to play to create the romance, or to live out the fantasy of sleeping with a vampire/werewolf/serial killer/fairy/immortal. Sometimes relationships do happen in game, they are evolved for the characters out of the struggles and interaction that the characters face. That is understandable. It happens in real life. But to go into game looking for a sympathy fuck...that is both juvenile and perhaps a sad statement about you as a person.
2) Hey, I've just met you, but look at all the cool shit I can do: This is not only annoying, it is stupid! Anyone with half-a-brain of sense would tell you letting anyone know all of the things about you at first is a sure way of either getting hurt or getting killed, and in an RPG its usually both. Being a rampant Vampire: The Masquerade player, it sort of instilled in me an inherent distrust of anyone who walks up to you and whips their characters ability dick out, (or their real one for that matter, but that's another story). In VTM, hell, it's grounds for getting killed, (Breech of the Masquerade, you die now). It is not smart wearing a sign around your neck that says, "I am Bob, the Immortal Fairy Werewolf Vampire who shoots sparkly poo out of my ass and is a sex magnet". Chances are a smarter, wiser, more capable character will come and gank you in the end because of it.
3) Vocabulary...it's not just for elementary school anymore: Have something to say for yourself. If your playing a character you want to be taken seriously, then speak or write like it. Don't give single word responses, or meaningless sentences that don't further anything. You are smart...act like it. Be loquacious, be eloquent...and don't sound like you've read one too many VC Andrews books.
4) This is not a social club: The purpose of gaming is not to hang out with your buddies and recreate your silly times in a different medium. I am not here to be set dressing while you and your friends create whatever cracked out plot you have in mind. I am serious about this, I have plot, I'm not here to forward your romance, to be the best buddy you come and tell your crush too, nothing. I'm here to game, and if you can't handle that, go find someone else to play with.
◾ Tags: