But this topic is about me! *pout*

As an alternative to RP of 'evil' being defined as cold, heartless, ruthless, arrogant, etc., there's also the different approach of being charismatic. Who would follow someone cold, heartless and arrogant? What if there was someone who was witty, friendly, and outwardly displayed all the characteristics that is usually associated with 'good'.

But all actions lead to the subjugation of others or the accumulation of personal power and wealth, achieved by spreading rumors, lying when necessary, driven to achieve ends by any means possible. Friends flock to this person, who is flattering and loyal ... so long as that friend doesn't cross their goals. If so, that friend is ruthlessly attacked by underhanded smear campaigns and innuendo until their reputation is destroyed--but strangely enough they have no one to turn to but their loyal 'friend' (who was actually the instigator).

Anyway, the point is there's no reason that 'evil' has to be stereotypically cast.

Estarra =

Pure genius.

Just like every other thread you make... um, I mean... what did I mean?

Oh yea, well, I wouldn't really worry about it if you do play the cold arrogant bastard, the tabletop reference was actually pretty close, just because you feel like the person on the other end isn't having a laugh about it because you can't tell if you are or not dosen't mean they actually aren't, that's how I treat it when I run into things like this, anyway.

Suuuuure.

Thanks Estarra. I guess it's up to me to find the balance between the charismatic merchant and the twisted killer.

Anyone else have this dillema though?

Maybe I'll go for more of a Jaraxle (a la forgotten realms) instead of a Raistlin (from dragonlance).

I think this issue is actually one of those tough MUD issues out there, the "how do you play someone bad and not have everyone be offended ooc".

Maybe it's just me.

Algers not evil, maybe a glutton but far from evil. He just likes protectin his home for the most part.

the devils greatest trick is to make people think that he doesnt exist.

In all fairness, Richter left out one key part of that "conversation". Two minutes after it happened, I appologized to him and took responsibility for my words to him. I felt bad for what I had said. I don't know if he got that tell or not, but I did send it, whether he remembers it or not.

If you're looking for twisted, a lot of people have the misconception that roleplaying insane has to be loopy, bouncing off the walls random and entirely nonsensical. I think its much more interesting to be stalwartly convinced of a specific order of things, come up with a set of rules or principles to actually back that up, and make friends based on that set of your scruples (or fool people until its too late, even though in character you might not be thinking you're fooling anyone deliberately). A la Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs. He demanded politeness in an insane way that most characters in the movie could only be scared of, rather than stand up against. There's also "that traitor." Think of that spot in so many stories where the evil character with his cult of personality is having that critical talk about the primary weak points of so on and so forth, then tells someone else so he isn't implicated. Also, quiet but confident threats are often more eerie than angry depictions of violence, take any loose cannon and compare their personality to the results of being asked by the Godfather if you're disrespecting him in his house.

Vis does some pretty cold things, and is evil(although that's only really showing itself lately.. was hidden by the fact that he was a dick )

The whole "Rah I'm evil" thing is overrated.

I'm not going to read the rest of the replies, as they are probably useless, I'll just post my professional advice:

First step, if you can't do it, then skip this: realize that it is just a game.

Second(first): You have to realize your character is not you, unless you are a bad roleplayer.

I actually asked a rabbi about this problem.

He told me this.
Your playing a game, and that game is, by its nature, something that removes a person from the physical world. This is not a 'good' thing and can often result in a person getting hurt in the real world (i.e. divorce, lost job, failing school etc.)

As long as you keep the OOC and IC mix seperate, and are clear to people that you are not your charachter and will not mix the two, then you can be carefull about what promises and such you make to a person. As long as you refrain from 'stealing thier thoughts' and you have contant reminders that your just playing a game, it should be ok.

The concept of stealing a person's thoughts is this. When you enter a store and ask the store clerk who is working on commision about a product, but you have NO intention of ever buying the product, you are stealing the thoughts of the clerk, who has hopes and expectations to make some money from this sale, and so will spend time with you instead of another customer.

similarly in a mud, if your stealing someone's gold or items, or killing them or hurting the reputation of thier charachter, these are all parts of the game a person expects and is warned about. But if your cheating someone out of credits, your crossing the line. And if your being evil to a newbie who does not know that this is a game where people can be ruthless, then you are also crossing the line.

The important part is to know who you are screwing over, and for them to know that being screwed is a real risk in the game. For example, OOCly deciding to change your charatcher and betray everyone is bad, but if you planed the betrayal since hte begining, and left hints, then its not bad.

Nah, I got that, and it took some restraint to say, "Nah, it's okay, I was RPing a jerk. Let's go have some drinks and a good laugh!" I stayed IC. *shrug*

Your not gonna run off and become one of those kiddie sacrificing cultists, or commit suicide, are you? If the answer to all these questions is yes*, then I think your still ok. You just have to realise that your character isn't you, and that by logging into the game everyone excepts that fact, and understands that the real person behind the persona isn't a creepy serial-killer, new-one ripper.

My suggestion, though it's to late for you, is to have seperate names for real-life, your forum account and your character, that way no one knows anybetter.

@ to all the posts that were off-topic - ... How does this always happen? It's amazing, this place must hold the world record for hijacking.

* I really mean no.

Personally I love this comment. If you have been on both sides of murphy, you'll find that if you are an enemy, you'll hate him. The moment you become an ally, you'll be surprised how nice and helpful he can be.

Who said Taint was Evil? Well, Kethuru. But not all taintlings are evil. I, for example, am greedy and stupid. Someone like Aajen just doesn't seem to care. Jadryga is almost snuggly. Erion came closeISH to evil when he was around, though.

I agree..Aurella for example, I had her as a shy, hesitant faeling (mainly cause I can't rp as cold and heartless ), who seems nice (so far ) and could have been from Serenwilde for all we know, but there's still this dark side of her that she can't get rid of even if she wanted to...and i'm completely lost my train of thought and can't remember what point i was trying to make, but yeah!

Honestly, the evillest character I've heard about in Lusternia is Rhysus. But that's just from what others have told me, really - could have just been skewed perspective.

If he'd done all of the things he'd done on purpose... he'd be in a good spot to contend.

But actually, the level of frustration he really had with the city sometimes, and general apathy some other times, you don't quite so much get "malicious."

The only guild leader sort who I heard of publically denouncing the fae idea when it was being executed was Rafael. Even though Rhysus knew it to be on bad intel after the fact, and as it was something which could theoretically happen again, and even though years of issues spawned from it and even though a good lot of the city was upset about it, when Dumihru FINALLY got an apology out of him after about three posts (and inferred rather than literally if I recall correctly), he finished by saying that he'd do it again.