>>What were you talking about? I think I used the correct
>room
>>for all of my nightgaunts.
>
>You sent some off from a room nightgaunts won't return someone
>to.
>
>>Next, what have you got against my rp? How can it be
>>improved?
>
>Most of your 'IC' conversations are indistinguishable from a
>conversation on IRC or QHCF.
>
>Edited to add a few quotes:
>
>'You lucky son of a bithc.'
>
>'I'd love to nail gzur'
>
>'A goddamn nexun conjurer gaunted me.'
>
>'where's your aura wand?'
>
>'have my ####'
>


Nep did a favor for me and listed some of the things which my character said, which he didn't feel were RP. My question is this: How could I of said these things better?

Suggestions are welcome.

>Nep did a favor for me and listed some of the things which my
>character said, which he didn't feel were RP. My question is
>this: How could I of said these things better?
>
>Suggestions are welcome.

I think a lot of it boils down to the idea that if you're going to use slang it needs to be archaic slang. The thing about slang is that it's very much tied to the time period it's used in, because it comes and goes so quickly. So when you say "son of a bitch" that doesn't sound right because "son of a bitch" has a modern sound to it. Whoreson on the other hand sounds more archaic. Same thing with something like "nailed" Nailed is a very new way to describe getting someone, and it therefore sounds very out of place in a supposedly medieval world.

The second big thing is using direct game-mechanic words like gaunt, aura wand, etc. I won't go too much into this one since there's already that big sub-thread on verbification re: gaunting, but I think one thing that's been missed there is that it's a lot like technical jargon. You wouldn't expect a non-conjurer to know what you're talking about if you say "gaunt" the same way I wouldn't expect a non-programmer to understand what exactly I mean by "hash" Sure, among other programmers I'll talk in programmer-y jargon, but even among other technical type people I wouldn't assume that they're familiar with my technical jargon. By the same token, you need to be aware that people who aren't in your guild aren't as familiar as you with your guild's terminology and detailed workings.

While I'm not going to go through a run down of how to make those specific phrases sound more like role playing, I will go over a few things that I do when I make a character regarding communication.

First, I do not make a character without at least a one chapter role. Even if this role is for a "throw away" character that I only made to explore the oceans, I still have a one chapter role. I make a role with each and every one, not for extra imm xp, but because even with a "throw away" character I will interact with other characters in the MUD. I need to know how my character is going to interact with them, because I can't interact with them as the player behind it.

When I write a role, I always include phrases my character is going to say or maybe think about if it is going to have an accent. A lot of these relate to the general mood of my character. Maybe I'm upbeat so I greet people by saying "Hello there!" or maybe I'm sort of depressive so I greet people by saying "End yourself now, before the curse takes you as well." I also think about my class. For example if I'm going to be playing a shapeshifter, am I going to have a special name for my class or special names for certain skills? Maybe I call myself a shape changer or a form master, whatever. If I'm going to be playing a conjurer, maybe I call my nightgaunts my winged beasts of darkness. I could go on and on, but I highly doubt you're going to be having an OOC conversation and say, "The conjurer sent a damnable winged beast of darkness after me!".

Along with the special names, it's good to think about what your character is going to call common things. For example, if you're playing a class that relies on mana, what are you going to say when you run out of mana? A lot of people say "my mind is tired", but there's plenty of unique things that you can say about it. Maybe you're a mage and you say something like, "The magic wanes within me, we must rest for a time." What are you going to say when you're looking for a group? Telling someone, "Hey want to group with me", just doesn't do it. You don't have to think about everything, but maybe you can have a general mental list of phrases you like to use for common things in the game. The more you practice using roleplaying appropriate phrases the easier it is to recall and mondify them for each of your characters. PK isn't the only thing in CF that can take some practice.

When generating a character, I also think about stuff like special emotes. You can easily make aliases so that you laugh a certain way or sit, stand and sleep a certain way that sets you apart. They're quick and easy and you never have to type them again. It's a nice way to communicate with others while roleplaying.

I would also like to add that capitalization and punctuation really make good roleplayers stand out from the rest a lot of the time.

I hope this helps you and other budding roleplayers, good luck.

>>>What were you talking about? I think I used the correct
>>room
>>>for all of my nightgaunts.
>>

"Rooms"... Well, if you're in the open plains area, there sure ain't any rooms for example. Or in the shadow groove. I would perhaps have said. "I think I the appropriate area to summon my nightgaunts."

>>You sent some off from a room nightgaunts won't return
>someone
>>to.
>>

"Room" again... The same idea here... There aren't THAT many "rooms" in CF, sure we call them rooms, but your char is perhaps in the shadow grove, the aryth ocean and whatnot. And as I said, no rooms there. ^^

>>>Next, what have you got against my rp? How can it be
>>>improved?
>>
>>Most of your 'IC' conversations are indistinguishable from a
>>conversation on IRC or QHCF.
>>
>>Edited to add a few quotes:
>>
>>'You lucky son of a bithc.'
>>
>>'I'd love to nail gzur'
>>
>>'A goddamn nexun conjurer gaunted me.'
>>

"Gaunted"... Perhaps say "A goddamn nexun conjurer sent a nightgaunt after me!"

>>'where's your aura wand?'
>>
>>'have my ####'
>>
>
>

Not sure in what context this is... But it's... It's not totally out of the window, but sure ain't good.
Perhaps: "Where did you find your sleek amber rod?" and "Do you have my armors?" (Or if you're a duergar and love profanitys: "Do you have my ####?".

Hope that helps a bit... Just try to think about WHERE you are and what your CHAR thinks/feels etc. Don't mix your on view of Thera into how your char sees it.

I just don't understand why an evil conjurer wouldn't use slang.


"Gaunted" seems to be kosher to me...

Snakes on a plane? Come on, you can't put that stuff out and then get on someone for this type of thing.

nt

slang does not equal saying things identically to the way you would on dioxide's.

If you made a character that used current MTV/T-Pain "slang", do you see how it would not fit into CF? You could call the nightgaunt a "faceless gnome-pincher" or a "nightstealer" or a "crepuscular person-nabber". That is slang. "Don't <del>tase</del> gaunt me, bro!" just doesn't fit in CF. Does that make any sense?

>'You lucky son of a bithc.'

"son of a bitch" is a worn-out irl phrase. Make a creative insult, or just say "Lucky." and smirk. The typo is the cherry on top.

>'I'd love to nail gzur'

This sounds more like a drunk frat boy with beer goggles on at the local ####ty dance floor/meat market. You could try saying something like... "I'd love to feed (type out enemy's entire name) to a Challegha." or "(Enemy) should beware the night, and the dark things in it." (SINCE YOU'RE GOING TO TRY TO GAUNT HIM TO THE TOP OF MOUDRILAR'S CABIN LOLOLOL)

Can you see the difference at all?

>'A goddamn nexun conjurer gaunted me.'

I'm guessing you would say this, verbatim, to someone on your AIM. JUST LIKE NEP SAID. GEE, WEIRD. You could instead say "That Nexun fool dared to send a Nightgaunt after me. AFTER ME!" You can be a bit theatrical. You can roleplay your character's emotions: perhaps in this scenario an evil conjurer would be surprised and angry that a neutral conjurer would try to use his own tools against him.

>'where's your aura wand?'

"Where did you find that amber rod? I'm researching places where wards of magical protection come to rest... and be found by enterprising magi."
>
>'have my ####'

"Take my things. They won't save you when demons tear your flesh in bleeding strips and devil's jaws crunch your bones to splinters."

I'm really not sure why I bothered wasting time typing this out, since the OP is a (possibly unconscious) troll. I don't think you are able to "become" another character than your powergaming self.

(irrelevant tangent: I believe the term "powergaming" is thrown around far too often here and on qhcf.net: in a cutthroat pk environment like ours, not min-maxing your character to some degree is, at best, a conscious roleplaying decision to accept a handicap, sliding quickly toward ignorant and, at worst, stubbornly unrealistic. The type of character who would say these examples Daevryn quoted of this dude, in my mind, exemplefies the powergamer that is not immersed in the atmosphere at all)

nt

nt

And the point is, "Nightgaunt" is the name of the thing that's attacking you.

You don't get "Elephanted", you don't get "Werewolfed" or "Mountain Lioned". And you don't get "Gaunted".

It's personal preference. You can verbify taser two ways. You can say someone got tasered, or someone got tased. What does society use?

"Don't tase me bro!"

The point of verbification is to produce a slang term which communicates a big idea in a short span of time. It's not a large stretch of the imagination to truncate terms in the process. Lobbing off the descriptive part of "nightgaunt" during verbification is not only good roleplay.. it's good grammar.

Your examples also suck. There's a big difference between using an object to do something to someone, and an animal doing something to someone. My verbification makes sense. Yours doesn't.

Examples:
If I use wood glue on someone, I "glued" them.
If I tie my shoelaces, I "laced" up.

Counterexamples:
If a lion attacks someone, we don't say "lioned". We say "mauled", "attacked" or "chewed upon". Each of these verbs is already in the dictionary and understood.

If a nightgaunt attacks someone, "gaunted" is the single best verb for describing what happened. Anything else is fluff.





PS: I'm of the opinion that good RP is staying IC and telling a story. I think my way is better than the ways which are suggested in this thread. Everything I've seen suggested here is just a nerdy / silly distraction.

Mree! <-dork

A Nightgaunt is a creature, summoned from the Outer Plane to attack someone. Maybe that's what you don't understand about Conjurers. They aren't creating these objects out of thin air. They're yanking them from their natural habitat (on what is essentially an alternate universe), and forcing them to do their bidding.

I say again, a Nightgaunt is a living breathing creature. It isn't a shoelace.

How is that more akin to being glued, than being lioned?

Just because you say it, doesn't make it so.

If shoelaces came to life and attacked you, would you tell people you got "laced"? I don't see how you could call that "good grammar".

Java.. You're an idiot.


You're arguing that being "lioned" makes as much sense as being "gaunted".



Give up. You looked at the subject and author and had your response already written. You're just a troll.

A Nightgaunt is essentially an animal. It is a creature known as a "Nightgaunt". "Gaunt", in this sense is by no means a verb. It's part of the name of a creature.

If you want to ignore that simple fact, fine. But you posted this thread asking for RP advice. I gave it to you. I know what I'm talking about.

And for the record, I didn't even know who you were until Theerkla mentioned it, AFTER my response to you.

An Imm that runs a religion that is focused on RP gave you advice, if you think that's a silly distraction/nerdy then I don't know why you asked for help.

step 1 Form an opinion on something
step 2 Ask about the above on the forums, as if you want advice
step 3 Disagree with everyone who doesn't parrot the opinion formed in step 1

I had hoped Josiah had grown up by now. How many years has it been?

>An Imm that runs a religion that is focused on RP gave you
>advice, if you think that's a silly distraction/nerdy then I
>don't know why you asked for help.

You're not humble.

.

I can't say this in a mature way, because it'd take too long.


I'll just say this. All of my characters play a role consistantly. I don't do things which would compromise my role. I will stay IC and speak like a character in the world of Carrionfields would speak.

I refuse to perform for "RP staff". I refuse to make "RP" emote alias' to prove I'm a consistant roleplayer. I think people who use "fluff" to draw attention to themselves are attention-whores and should be dispatched if it's at all ICly reasonable (Mree!, Deary, *snarling*.. I'm talking to you types)

I think immortals judging roleplay is silly. I think staying IC and living your role through your actions is "GOOD RP". I think the rest is just a lame excuse for imms to reward people they like and #### on people they don't.



I'm glad that I've never seen a character become a PVP powerhouse because of "RP rewards".... So I think the system works pretty good. I would only get concerned if a PC's power potential relied on an RP-elitist's approval. That would suck.

Funny thing is, I can appreciate most of that. It's unfortunate that a number of people seem to feel rping with "the rp crowd" (heralds, imms, cabal leaders, whatever) is like jumping through a hoop, instead of an opportunity to interact in a unique, rich, challenging way. I personally view an opportunity to "verbally spar" with interesting characters and enemies, and to argue/act/say crazy #### from *my character's* strange Theran history and warped philosophy as another form of competition.

I'm not sure right now (due to my lack of motivation and constrained time) how to explain to you the "magic" of when your character truly comes to life... when (personal anecdote) even though you despise Eshval, you have to tip your cap to Soucivi emoting taking a towel in hand to take a hot kettle from the fire.

I'm guessing your roles are something like "I'm evil murderconjie. I'm going to kill people, take their #### if I want, join Scion, and be super-duper-powerful!" That is a role, but it's cliche and unspecific. If you really wanted to try, you could be "I'm evil murderconjie from Hamsah: Achmed Arat-ibn-shahamud-ibn-hashmet-ibn-quq. My great, great, great grandfather was a compatriot of Faruq, and so my family had abandoned the art of magical conjuration until my burning curiosity, fueled by stories of my grandfather of his grandfather's stories of HIS father's glory and power drove me to seek training in Arkham. I will summon enough demons and devils to destroy the Sultan's palace! Only then will my family's glory and fame be restored, and I shall crown myself the new Sultan!"

I appreciate having a basic role, and staying in character... if you do. Daevryn disagrees with you. Just cut out the "I wanna nail Gzur" and "the ####ing asshole gaunted me" and speak like a person in Thera would speak. Or at least make it different from what you would say on AIM.

RP is not jumping through hoops. It's actually another way to show how cool and clever you are (that's why I rely on it, since I'm bad at pk). And your response to Neltouda still doesn't make any ####ing sense. I guess take our genuine advice, or don't, but don't make more threads in a month if you don't even give it an honest shot. Play the full game, not just the half you can min-max.

You can read my roles. I just disagree about how a "theran" would talk bit.

If you hate roleplaying, maybe this isn't an environment for you.

You claim that your characters "play a role". But do you really think that's true?

How different would your characters act if roleplay was not mandatory?

A better question, if you were to intentionally play YOUR PERSONALITY as a role on CF, would it be distinguishable from the characters you actually play?

From seeing you, and seeing the comments other people have made, I doubt it.

asdf

As always, you ask a question, and you don't like the answer you get.

There are two possibilities: either everyone else is always wrong, or you're wrong. Hint: It's not the first possibility.

asdf

sadf

>I just don't understand why an evil conjurer wouldn't use
>slang.
>
>"Gaunted" seems to be kosher to me...

And conveniently, "gaunted" happens to be the term the playerbase uses in it's OOC discussion as a result of such verbification that you speak of. It is commonplace event enough for CFers OOC to form such new verb. Also, it refers to using a command to call nightgaunt on someone. For the conjurer character, it is a complex summoning procedure.

Can you explain how likely you consider such verbification to be happening for your evil conjurer? Does he discuss nightgaunting people with others often enough to form such verbs?

Also, as I mentioned, the verb is OOC term from nightgaunting, so people can't distinguish your conjurer using slang from you just using the OOC term. Thus, it is more likely to be regarded as semi-OOC when you use it and not as good roleplay. You can make clever excuses for it, but you will likely be unable to convey that to people so you're better off not using terms like "gaunt" in your RP.

This applies to other RL slang terms and expressions as well. You are better off not using most of them in CF if you want that your roleplay is regarded as good.