Challenging Roleplays

by Unknown

Back to Common Grounds.

Murphy2005-09-01 15:47:15
bah thaemorn i've so told you before!

Exarius2005-09-01 16:31:15
I sort of agree with Gwylifar on this one, but off on a tangent.

For "good, challenging" RP, you've really got to look at the long term.

Anyone can bring a bizarre, colorful character on stage and act out for an hour. Most people can even pretend to be something they're totally not for that long.

Playing on a MUD's not like acting out a script, or even slipping on the ocassional "mask" around a gaming table. Sure, Branwyn's used to adopting different personas -- there's some advantage to that -- but that doesn't make her used to maintaining them in an intense, immersive world filled with hundreds of other, unpredictable players. MUDing is a medium all its own, and if you come into it thinking you know how it works because you've already done "X", you're only fooling yourself.

The most common casualty when most people falter trying to role-play on MUDs is internal consistency. There has never been a storytelling medium invented in which it was more challenging to maintain. Nor has there been one invented where it's more important, if you want actual RP going on, because without it everyone's constantly at everyone else's throats, accusing them of playing the game wrong wrong wrong!

("Hey! No Serenwilder would do that!" "Stop trying to oppress me! Serenwilde's all about freedom and individuality!" "What are you talking about?! It's there to destroy the taint and the cities and reforest the Basin! Get with the RP!" "But Auseklis said way back at the beginning, we don't give a damn what's happening outside the forest, or if we have control of a single village!" "But Mother Moon says..." "Stop stepping on my RP! Cusix and me established that weasels were the spawn of Kehturu all the way back in open beta. If I want to release a pack of 'em in Murphy's boxer shorts, that's not cruelty to animals!" And so on...)

Even on the best of MUDs, the arguments run deep. The arguments run bitter. The arguments run OOC, destroying friendships, leaving even innocent bystanders wearied and worn, and burning out once avid players of the game.

My answer? The KISS principle ("Keep It Simple, Stupid"). MUD role-play is already challenging enough without seeking out new ways to challenge yourself. Focus what feels right to you, and on reconciling your attitiudes with those oft-glossed over facts of MUD life -- like, if no one really dies, how come everyone's history and RP is rife with stories of the tragic loss of loved ones? And how come we're more obsessesed with punishing violent crimes (assault, murder, etc.) from which we bounce back in no time, than we are with punishing the emotional crimes (theft, betrayal, etc.) that can truly hurt the player, to say nothing of the character?

Unknown2005-09-01 16:44:17
QUOTE(Exarius @ Sep 1 2005, 11:31 AM)
My answer? The KISS principle ("Keep It Simple, Stupid"). MUD role-play is already challenging enough without seeking out new ways to challenge yourself. Focus what feels right to you, and on reconciling your attitiudes with those oft-glossed over facts of MUD life -- like, if no one really dies, how come everyone's history and RP is rife with stories of the tragic loss of loved ones? And how come we're more obsessesed with punishing violent crimes (assault, murder, etc.) from which we bounce back in no time, than we are with punishing the emotional crimes (theft, betrayal, etc.) that can truly hurt the player, to say nothing of the character?
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Occum's Razor - such a wonderful concept. biggrin.gif
Unknown2005-09-01 18:43:12
Hm I wouldn't agree that playing a character very different from you is necessarily hard...

I've played quite a few characters that are very different from me, and couldn't say they were really that much more difficult to play than those who are much like me. Lommy now, there's a lot of me in him, with some critical differences orc.gif

He's had a major change in RP when he moved to Glomdoring, in a way, in another he's still quite similar. I try to get a challenge by roleplaying him differently in the facets, which change from time to time... People who really knew him from the Serenwilde would quite likely see quite a difference if they talked to him now.

Or not, seeing as I never really told many people about what happened there and the great majority of Serenwilde's characters still suffer from TFS. Maybe I should write his histories some day, or something on the forums from an OOC point of view. hmmmm.
Suhnaye2005-09-01 22:12:32
I remember most of Loms history... I think it fits fairly well that he ended up turning to night... Though he really coulda gone either way...

As for challenging RP... I've played nearly the whole spectrum since I started playing Achaea as a sophmore in highschool... And I can say right now, if you just play the short term, nothings really a challenge... Its when you get into the long term, EI: months, or years... That things get difficult. I had a few characters in Achaea that I played for maybe two or three weeks that were fun and all, but I got bored of them after a while because they weren't deep enough. I had a couple that were fun to just get on to relieve stress... Theres really no substitute for being able to get on a character and go on a bloody rampage, or go around stealing everyones pants you cat hypnotize off people... But that was way back in my early days... After about two years I started trying to make my characters deeper, so I could play em longer. I found that the best way to develope a challenging, fun, and long living character is to really just interact and let the character build themselves from the interaction they have with other characters.

My second longest lasting character was a Sentinel on Achaea, and he lasted for about 8 months... He was an average character, few people knew him, he did his job, didn't complain and was basically the good little forestal he was supposed to be, putting out fires and all that... It wasn't untill I came to Lusternia that I even started getting interested in the history of the world, or the politics or intrigue that went on... Suhnaye is easily the most interesting character I've ever had from an RP perspective, mainly because he has a very strong philosophy that is completely open-ended... He could tip evil or good and I could keep playing him. The only thing he's really centered around is his family, and his search of knowledge and philosophy. Right now he's sort of in a state of waiting cuz I RPed him into a corner, as his whole philosophy right now prevents him from joining ANY of the societys in the basin. And I really don't want to sacrifice his history and beliefs just to make him a little more fun, I have a couple Alts for fun times... I'm intending for him to join the next society that enters the Basin, whether its one of the cities or Ackleberry... I'd certainly prefer Ackleberry seeing as thats what he's been working for for ages, but I think its time for him to have a bit of a change. I'd love it if he could join Hallifax... I think he'd fit there nearly as well as he'd fit in Ackleberry...

Something I have sort of wanted to do is try out a character like Artemis Entriri, but right now the guilds aren't really set up in Lusternia for that kind of RP, he'd have to be a loner, and a loner in Lusternia isn't very capable of combat.