I've been playing the game for about 2 years now and sort of a newbie. Im getting better and have learned the lands pretty well and places to go etc.But my friends still tell me im not ready for empowerment and that I should stick to warriors and assassins.I have tried a paladin and was close to getting empowerment(I think).I just have a few questions.
1.How long should a role normally be.
2.Is their a certain criteria for roles.
3.What is a good way to role-play(because my friends say I suck at it).<-- Dont know any other way to ask this.
4.In playing for 2 years am I ready to try an empowered char?

Thanks for your help in advance.
-Dead X-

>1.How long should a role normally be.

Roles do not need to be long to be good, although they can be long. I like roles that tell me something interesting about the character. One way to view a role is to ask yourself "What would a god know about my character without talking to them?" It can be phrased as part of a backstory, but it can also just be an informative list of characteristics and motivations. Any motivations that help clarify your role that would not be apparent from your actions would definitely be in your role.

>2.Is their a certain criteria for roles.

Nope! But the better a framework you give us, the better a story we can help you build from it. Or the better we can help you tear it down. All's fair in love and war.

>3.What is a good way to role-play(because my friends say I
>suck at it).<-- Dont know any other way to ask this.

I'm sorry to say, but if your friends are telling you something you're not seeing yourself, you're not going to have much chance of fixing it. I'm not sure if your friends are to be believed or not, but like they say of any other "problem," recognizing it yourself is the first step to a solution. What I'd recommend is that you not try to ask yourself if someone else thinks what you're doing is good roleplaying but instead go out in the game and look for what you think is good roleplaying. Or look at logs that players have posted. When you find something you think is good, ask yourself what you would have done in the situations you find. Would you have been able to come up with an appropriate response to the situation given your character? What are those players doing that you're currently not doing when you roleplay?

>4.In playing for 2 years am I ready to try an empowered char?

There's only one way to find out. And no, I wouldn't be a good choice for a new empowerment character to try to follow. :-P

I always wondered...

Let's say I put it into my role that I wanna be a kinda devious backstabbing-type Paladin that is really evil at heart, but I never do anything overly noticeable IC to get my alignment changed. Would an IMM look at that ooc knowledge (this includes backstabbing cabals etc - you get the point) and be faster to change te alignment or whatever, or would they try to go about like it they never read it

I suspect that imms would be quicker to change your alignment, if you were in fact not acting good. Partly because they are more likely to watch for behavior based on this after reading it in your role, and partly because they know that what they are witnessing is representative of the character and not a temporary aberation or them misunderstanding an inference.

However, I don't think purely putting something like this in your role and never reflecting it in your behavior is going to get your alignment changed. You have to live in a manner consistent (which might not mean in line) with your role if you want it to affect you.

That said, when they see you acting this way, they are less likely to view you as a badly played paladin, and more as a well played non-paladin (or borderline paladin if such a thing exists).

That's my guess. Could be wrong, but you see the logic behind it so you can take it or leave it.

>But my friends still tell me im not ready for empowerment and that I should stick to warriors and assassins.I have tried a paladin and was close to getting empowerment(I think).

With two years experience playing CF (I assume regularly), I will encourage you to try an empowered character. Though you don't need an empowered character to RP, being empowered with a sphere and having a religion do require you to be on your toes in your role and RP skills. You'll never know when your god is watching you.

All this is said with presumption that you know CF fairly sufficient in regards to cabals and religions and some areas. All in all, if you don't try, you'll never know how much you learnt through the years.

>1.How long should a role normally be.

All depends on your character. This includes your writing skills. However, if an Imm needs to read a few pages just to understand your character, it will be quite a hinderance to empower you.

>2.Is their a certain criteria for roles.

There is no hard and fast rules to it. Some like it to be in story form, some in short paragraphs, some in point forms, some in personal point of view, some in log-type formats, etc. It's all about your character actually and your style.

>3.What is a good way to role-play(because my friends say I suck at it).<-- Dont know any other way to ask this.

Brushing up RP skills requires many factors like being involved in game, cabals, group interaction, listening and hearing what people say and RP, reading fantasy books, etc. It's about fleshing out your character.

>4.In playing for 2 years am I ready to try an empowered char?

See above.

Presumably you're already familiar with all the stuff at http://www.carrionfields.com/search.html?keywords=roleplaying, like the page on character creation, and are looking for something more.

First question is: have you been around other players who impressed or interested you by how they played? How would you describe what it was that you noticed? What happens when you try doing that kind of thing? If you can find things you admire (or hate, or ...) about other people, and work them into your character's person, I think that can help.

Personally, I think the essence of good roleplaying is in evoking emotions. Other people might have different approaches (that's why I started out with a couple more general paragraphs). But, if you really get into the "I'm a different person" thing in the right way, it matters to people, and engages them. And, I guess, one way to get into the whole roleplaying thing is start with things that matter, emotionally, to you, even though they don't require anything of modern times or situations.

It doesn't hurt if you spend a little time, when you're not playing, thinking through stuff like this.

Also, there's plenty of stuff out there on the web about characterization, even not all of it applies to muds. For example: http://www.rachelsimon.com/wg_character.htm

Do a google search on characterization characters and you'll find lots more like that. (A lot of which is much better than my advice.)