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Roleplay

Cyren

Cyren

Inactive Members
#21
#21
Okay, I'll show you mine if you show me yours...characters, that is. Anyone wanting to know who I play here can ask me privately and I'll fess up.

But consider this...the mystery of NOT knowing who that is...is a lot more fun than knowing.

People can try out new aspects of their own character and imagination without having to fess up. I mean, it's more fun to deal with roleplay faces as a dog than have someone ask you "So...really, you're a dog, what are you trying to say here, that you need to be housetrained?" out of character.

Curiosity is the most fun part of the whole thing, but revealing every mystery...can kinda ruin it.

Folks are here to play with fantasy, at least that's my theory. They don't really wanna know. I mean, they wanna know, but when they know, they think they know everything. More fun to leave people guessing. Who really knows themselves anyway?

Anyway, a dogcatcher might have trouble catching the dog if it can walk through things, bamf or chew through steel.
 
ShoeHorn

ShoeHorn

Inactive Members
#22
#22
Cyren,

yeah, I see your point about the mystery of not knowing.. but I also have to say that there are certain talents here that I'd like to see in action under their various roleplay creations. It doesn't spoil the fun so much for me, sometimes it makes it even more fun. But also, it is fun having a bit of mystery.. so I guess I can't say I'd want everyone to just flat out say who they play. The idea of revealing it to others in PM when asked nicely would work well enough though.

Having said that.. being a dog isn't much of a sophisticated character, lol. But then again - not all is how it appears on the surface perhaps? hehe. dirrty nasty dog wanttsss its preccciousss

As for me, I'm pretty open about who I'm playing.. I'm simple, so right now I'm only playing my main character ShoeHorn, and I just added 'Sneakers'. And no plans right now to go any further
 
L

LadyChina

Inactive Members
#30
#30
If you haven't met Monica, you haven't met me. Therefore, knowing that "Lady China" was also .... and .... and ..... and ..... and ..... and ....... and .................................................................... (that one was always a tough one to play), is a meaningless bit of information. Lady China is only Lady China. Always. Which brings me to an interesting point that was recently brought to my attention. Did you know that there were actually some people in this wacky world of online gaming that actually thought that Lady China was a real person? As in, they didn't understand that her every word, at any given point in time, on any messageboard or in any game was a role. A very acerbic, wicked, dominatrix-ish, chaotic, hopefully entertaining - role. The thing thats so very interesting about this, besides its absolute lack of veracity, is that inspite of all the "free-wheelin', anything goes" mode of thinking, people still cling to the deep rooted need to "know" - they crave a solid filter to pour information through so that they can arrive upon a scenario that brings them comfort with its apparent solid reality.

It just ain't so, folks.

If you talk to me as Creature A. - I will refuse to even consider any information I might know regarding Critter B. that is also "you". Of course I don't really know "you", unless we've spent some time talking behind the scenes. Be all that you can be. Nothing transfers, every account has its own credits and debits - unless you chose to pull the curtain back, and allow the nuts and bolts of magicks to be seen.
 
ShoeHorn

ShoeHorn

Inactive Members
#31
#31
now now LadyChina, if you're gonna go and get all deep and philosophical, hehe.. the "knowing" isnt all about tearing a person apart and trying to find out what makes them tick or what their motives behind making characters is. Maybe for some it is, I wouldn't know.

For me, its about seeing the varied talents of people as they assume new character roles.. kind of the same as reading a new book by a favorite author.. seeing them approach things with a new style of writing or taking a new concept and watching how they weave it all together. Of course, this could lead to a bit of 'favoritism' or a little bit of a fanbase that follows every piece of work you do. I suppose that could make them a little less open (or even opposed) to other people's writings, but whatever.. thats their problem. Its still your own choice to whom you reveal your alternate identities, and of course can be done discreetly in private.
I doubt it will shatter anyone's worlds by knowing those secrets though :p.

As far as the 'crossing characters' bit, I'm sure we don't need to be reminded on the proper manner of playing a character as that character alone, carrying only the knowledge that 'said' character should possess.
If someone expects you to remember an encounter with another person that hasn't happened under your current roleplay character, then give them a bit of a reminder in private because confusion will no doubt happen as the stories on the board grow and grow.

just my thoughts on the matter ;)

by the way - I enjoy your writing LC!. Also, Cyren, Arboc, Lilly (and I'm not sure if any of those names are one and the same, but whatever). For some of you, it looks like the writing comes sooo easy! Whereas here I am struggling with one sentence at a time.. hehe

-SlowHorn
 
Cyren

Cyren

Inactive Members
#32
#32
Figuring out who other people are playing can be fun too, sometimes there are dead giveaways, like using a unique style of punctuation that the writer is unaware they using, or misspelling the same word over and over. It's not only mistakes that can give someone away, once you get to know people's writing styles, their attitudes and what they tend to be like, you can peg them sometimes and that's fun. It's like poker tells. But you have to watch really carefully with some folks. Monica uses hints and clues sometimes, you have to watch and then say "Aha!" when you find them. It's a little code for when she's messing around and she's leaving little scavenger hunt clues. Of course she could also come out as someone completely unrecognizable, dumb as dirt, annoying and just there to be a pain in the ass. She probably won't get credit for doing that because it's not a recognizable style. Has she done it? Yes.

This game also leads to meeting new friends that you thought you already knew. I've met a few new people by saying "Hey, do I know you?" because there was something about their style, humor or intelligence that was just fun and you wanted to hang out with.

Out Of Character is completely different from In Character and that's where I usually get into the biggest trouble. Some of my characters are completely outspoken, flamboyant and looking for the most interesting effect, so I have certainly hurt people's feelings and caused upset I didn't want to cause by people taking anything that one of my characters say personally.

I'd have to say that I'd give even more complication to the original statement that Monica used, and I think it's true for her too. I know Monica from roleplay and we hope our kids will get married some day and we've sent pictures, chat. We might have qualified for "meeting", but I'd never say I "knew" her. Even a 24-hour camera on this person and a chip inside her head wouldn't know her. But she knows herself enough to be fun!

I write for lots of different audiences for different reasons and to check out different things that can be fun or interesting. I can blog, I can roleplay, I can even write for only one person or for a few with shared special interests I care for, and it's all going to be different. Nobody can read that much in a day, either, so I just keep on writing and the audience can become completely unnecessary. I just love writing. In the end it's like music, really endless variety, but I see it pretty abstractly that way. I laugh, I cry (I've done a bit of crying here as well as years ago in the original volcano, but that's not a bad thing, I just get really involved, like crying at the movies.) Then I have a popsicle and get on with my day, but now I might be thinking "Hm...I wonder what trouble/joy/fun I can get started, and where?"

I know how Monica might respond to one particular thing in one particular character, from knowing what she's written before, or from knowing in particular a lot of Lady China's history and what fleshed that character out. I know not so much about how she'd act in private, when I'm not around to see.

With roleplay you get the opportunity to set bits of your brain that can otherwise only be observed by that chip in your head. I can't actually kill people in real life. Gets messy. Jail time. Bad. But I can here. Doesn't mean I'm yearning to be a killer, just gives my brain exercise.

And if you feel you don't know how to write, just practice! That's really what it takes, that's like saying you can't bench press a lot of weight when you haven't been working out. With practice, you get better.
 
ShoeHorn

ShoeHorn

Inactive Members
#33
#33
<scratches head>

ok.. well, Im not sure exactly when or how the idea of knowing who a person roleplays as got interpreted as knowing who a person is in real life, but I just figured I'd try to get things back on track here.

You can't very well know who a person is in real life by reading their writing anymore than a Stephen King fan can know him by having read his books, or a Tom Hanks fan by watching all his movies. The idea is silly, and certainly not one I've ever alluded to myself.

I'm sure we can all appreciate someone for their work without going and trying to draw conclusions about who the person is in real life. But, if its a fear of yours that such a thing could happen, then don't reveal who you roleplay as, simple as that.

<proceeds to bang head against wall> :p
 
Cyren

Cyren

Inactive Members
#34
#34
No! It's not all that serious, and not directed at you! Just an observation that misinterpretations are legion! :)

I'm not losing sleep. I'm not sitting in my bed like the people from "The Grudge" staring out the window and babbling "what do they think? What do they THINK!?"
 
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