Now I for one never really came to respect Mr. Dangerfield even posthumously, but even I have to admit he had more professional role-playing experience than anyone likely to frequent these boards, and when I stumbled across this it made me think of all the debates on what constitutes good role-playing that I've heard over the course of the last 25 years.

To me, it doesn't matter much. I see role-play as a game, not performance art, and as long as you're making an honest effort to pretend you're part of another world, and you're having fun at it, along with your fellow players, that's all that matters.

Yet the players who do get snobbish about role-play also tend to maintain that "masterful" role-play involves pretending to be someone completely unlike yourself -- in effect, wearing that figurative mask Rodney is just saying an actor doesn't put on.

The quote spoke to me particularly because I go through a similar process when I write. Creating compelling characters and portraying gut-wrenching emotions isn't about detaching from who and what I am. It's about projecting myself into unfamiliar circumstances, and pondering what parts of my personality would come to the forefront if I was there and then in that body, instead of here and now in mine.

Delicate semantic distinction that it may be, I find that coming at the question from the other direction ("How would Bob the Baker react?" rather than "How would I react if I were in Bob the Baker's shoes?") leads to superficial and unrealistic portrayals -- that over-the-top acting we call melodrama.

Don't know if those observations amount to anything useful to anyone, but I thought I'd throw them out there just in case.

I do a lot of RP pen and paper style and do amateur acting. If I have a strong enough character. (Shaeden's no where near enough nut Nagashii may develope) I don't think RP, at least online style, can get you into the situations where you need to RP constantly. This is where you show yourself. But it's not, to me, like "Look at me, this is who I am." That does happen in writing, but in acting, it's almost like you put a mask on and can do things you never could. You explore parts of yourself you don't like and show them to the world, showing the core of you being. I don't think so much it is that everyone can see who you are when you act, but it is more you put yourself on display, and show your hidden self. It's hard to explain, and I am crap with words, but that's how I feel about it.