15.6 ROLEPLAYING and OOC
(See also: HELP ROLEPOINTS, HELP INSANITY, HELP LANGUAGERULES)
To roleplay means to play a role. In the context of Achaea, roleplaying means
that you play as if you were your character. Achaea is a roleplaying game: some
level of roleplaying is required. (And there are some punishments for those who
act in an OOC (out of character) manner - see HELP ROLEPOINTS).
RP required: where?
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Roleplaying is required on/in all public venues:
- shouts
- yells
- news groups
- house channels
- city channels
- order channels
- church channels
- oakstone channels
- market channel
- newbie channel(*)
- party channels
- some clans
(*) We are a bit more tolerant of OOC departures on NEWBIE since the members of
that channel often do not know our rules. This does not mean we condone going
OOC there, but we will be gentler, and more private, in handling any
violations.
Some few clans may be ooc. This will be explicitly indicated somewhere in the
clan helps. Says and tells may be ooc if both parties agree.
All channels are subject to HELP LANGUAGERULES, except clan channels.
Staying IN CHARACTER, and Other Restrictions
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Always stay in character (IC) on channels - you are playing the role of a
person in a magical world called Achaea. Talk about real life, other muds, or
your favourite singer - this should all be done outside the game or, if you
must, use TELLS.
Be most careful with shouts and public posts - stay in character, watch
language rules. Market channel is only for buying and selling: no chatting
please. Newbie channel is for questions and answers about how to play the game:
no chatting please. Most other channels have their own rules, but are
generally more tolerant of chatting and general conversation.
Please do not use tagged emotes on channels, such as "*cough*" or "-smile-"
or "<stumbles around blindly>". The same applies to emoticons such as :) or
^_^. All these are considered OOC devices which deteriorate the IC
atmosphere of the channels.
Roleplaying
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Roleplaying means staying IC - in character. If you don't stay in character,
then that's OOC - out of character.
Approaching Roleplaying
-----------------------
Perhaps the best way to roleplay your character is to first create a coherent
"life philosophy" for your character, and then follow that with your actions in
Achaea. You might even want to write out a summary of your character's
psychological makeup in order to make this process easier.
For example, imagine a character named Valtre, who is a young male Mhun
Sentaari monk. Valtre was raised a street urchin in Hashan and was bitterly
unhappy until he began following the way of the monk, and began to experience
moments of inner peace. His primary motivation, currently, is to increase his
knowledge and power, but his long-term goals are not those of domination over
his fellow mortals. Instead, he seeks to rise to political power in order to
help the beleagured and down-trodden. He chooses not to worship any particular
God, and his primary loyalty is to his race. He despises, perhaps irrationally,
all Dwarves, due to mistreatment he experienced at their hands as a child.
Finally, Valtre has recently discovered poetry and is given, somewhat
pompously, to quoting his favourite poets at what others might consider to be
inappropriate times, such as the heat of battle.
With just this brief biography of Valtre, we have an interesting character with
well-defined motivations and some indication of his psychological status. You
would not find Valtre out slaughtering his fellow Mhun in Moghedu, nor would
you find him killing most sentients for no reason. He would be extremely
interested in practicing his skills in order to master them, and would perhaps,
as a hobby, hold poetry readings. Valtre also might be very fond of helping the
orphans of the city of Ashtan out by enrolling them in the Halfway House, a
place created to help orphans. Perhaps Valtre would even attempt to establish a
similar organisation in Shallam and other cities and towns. While Valtre is
open-minded enough to accept Dwarves in the same guild as him, he definitely
would not socialise with them, and would likely be quite terse, though not
overly rude with any Dwarves he was forced to deal with.
(See also: HELP ROLEPOINTS, HELP INSANITY, HELP LANGUAGERULES)
