Ever played "let's pretend" when you were a kid? Cops and robbers?
Indians and cowboys? Play at being grown up? If you did, you
were roleplaying.
Roleplaying, simply put, is stepping outside of being YOU, and pretending
to be someone, or something, else.
Take this example. You have made for yourself a character called
Silky, an elf, female, who is a mage. Now, instead of having Silky
walk through the
realm, randomly killing, perhaps you might like to think about these
things:
- What sort of person is Silky? Good? Evil? Selfish?
Kind?
- What was Silky's life like before she came into the Realm.
You start the game aged 17. What might she have enjoyed doing during
her childhood? Did
she have lots of elven friends? Was she somehow "different"
from them?
- What does Silky want out of life? She is going into a world
of dangers and quests, far from her elven home. Why?
Based on these questions, you decide that Silky was always a bit selfish,
thought that the good qualities in elves were a bit over-rated and longed
to escape the Elven home to look at the outside world. She wants
to meet new sorts of challenges, see distant cities. She's neither
evil or good, but depending on what adventures she meets with, she could become either.
Now, how do you play your character in the MUD? For a start,
killing everything you meet along your way is not really in Silky's nature.
She might kill very evil creatures, as well as "dumb animals" such as foxes,
birds etc. But she should be very upset at the notion of killing children,
or townsfolk, or travellers she meets on the road. This means that YOU, playing
Silky, will have to make careful decisions about what to attack.
When you meet other players, you interact with them as Silky, not as
Bob sitting at his keyboard. You don't talk about the football scores.
You talk about your travels, what you have seen, your elven home, your
ideas about the world Silky is living in. You ask questions about
the Realm and talk to the other players about their journeys and experiences.
Dragon Realms has a story. Many of the areas you can explore in the
game are strongly tied into this story. Your character will also become
tied into the story, if you roleplay. Perhaps one day, Silky will
be known throughout the Realm for her exploits.
"Remember when Silky got that band of adventurers together to beat
back the goblin invasion?"
"I saw Silky yesterday. She had just got back from slaying a
Dragon!"
You are asked to write a note to the imms (see help NOTE) outlining
your character (about twenty lines is enough) by the time you reach level
10. Players who don't roleplay will find their enjoyment of the game much
diminished. Don't hesitate to talk to an immortal or other players
if you need more help with the idea of roleplaying, or developing your
character.
TIPS ON ROLEPLAYing
Roleplaying is an art. It always has been, just like acting. As a matter
of fact, it IS acting. You play someone you created in an imaginay world,
filled with monster and creatures, and you need to act that person out.
It's fun too, if you do it right, but it can be hard work. Most of the
new players in DR, the haveners are bad RP'ers, because they haven't watched
the higher level players carefully yet on how they do it. They are the
ones to ask, the are the ones to watch, although there are ofcourse players
starting over, and thus being masters of RP at low levels. RP is not to
simply talk with people, something that is often thought. It also isn't
about emoting all your actions and movements, because then you are spamming
the other players. It should be controlled and clear, with the intention
of giving the other player, the one you are rp'ing with, a very profound
feeling of what you are like. You shouldn't tell him what you are like,
you should show him. for instance, let's say you are indeed silky mentioned
above. If silky would meet an old friend, she wouldn't just walk up to
him and say " Hi, how've ya been dude?", No, she would do this:
Silky walks up to you, with half a smile on her face, studying yours.
Silky sais "Uhm.. Is that really you Erran?"
Silky still seems unsure, but reaches out her hand to you.
Silky now seems sure that you are Erran, and smiles hapilly.
Silky sais "Whoaw, it's been so long.. How are you, old friend? Still
in the mess you were when I left?"
I have written a small "manual" on how to rp. Go here
to read it. It also inculdes things like character creation,
descriptions and background writing. common problems among new players.
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