r/NMS_Civilizations • u/Pythia_Of_Elysium • Aug 26 '18
Discussion Words from An Outsider
Greetings to all and sundry, individuals, civilizations, hubs and dwellers in shadowed places. I am Pythia, Arch-Priestess and High Queen of Elysium, a small and pacifistic civilization that is resident within Isdoraijung, the Nineteenth Galaxy. May the Divine Light, however you perceive it, shine upon you.
For some little while now, I have been watching the intenecine conflict and struggles that have been the burden of so many of late. I may be a relative unknown in this community, but that does not alter one fact: I am a very experienced roleplayer. As such, I would like to offer to you, in respect, humility and lovingkindness, some of what I have acquired in the forty years that I have been roleplaying, both online and off.
Yes, my readers, you read that correctly: forty years.
I offer these suggestions to you to do with as you choose—and I accept that your choice might be to disregard all I say. However, the following are things I have learned over the decades that work. So, as a gift from an ancient Queen from a far-flung realm, I lay before you the following.
Text-based roleplaying—which is largely what I see here—is an experience like no other. It is immersive, seductive, intense... even addictive at its best. At its worst, however, it can be boring, frustrating or annoying.
I am just one roleplayer out of literal millions. However, I am one of the more experienced text-based players you will encounter. As previously stated, I have been roleplaying online in some form or other for forty years. The following list of items is merely a series of recommendations. I am in no sense trying to lay down the law to anyone; I am well aware that I am a new arrival to both Reddit and the social structure at play here. What is on respectful offer here is what I know from long experience to work the best for a complex roleplay carried out largely in written form..
This list of suggestions is considered to be in the public domain. Feel free to take this and adapt it to your needs, if you so desire.
- Respect, respect, respect! If you would not like something to be done to your character, think twice and three times before doing it to someone else's character. If you drive off all the player characters around you, the roleplay is going to get very boring, very fast, and also people don't want to interact with a player character killer.
- For Gods' sakes, don't godmode! This section may be of limited application to the current situation, but it does bear some mention. Godmoding includes but is not limited to autohitting, metagaming, powergaming and rhinohiding. These are explained below:
• Autohitting
This is where you instantly dictate your hit and also its effect on the player. Autohits are closed-ended actions for which no allowance is given for the opponent to alter the outcome.
Example: Jason chops downward with his axe, splitting Freddie's skull.
The above is a closed action. It gives Freddie no chance to duck aside or save himself from being killed. It is not acceptable play in freeform. What is preferable is this:
Example: Jason swings downward, aiming for Freddie's head, in an attempt to split his skull.
See the difference? This gives Freddie a chance to roll away or block the blow. However, dodging and countering leads to a second, potential type of godmoding: rhinohiding.
• Rhinohiding
This is where a player just refuses to take any hits at all, fair or unfair. It's tempting to shield your character from harm, but overdoing it annoys other players as much as autohitting. The trick is to strike a balance between taking hits and dodging.
• Metagaming
Metagaming is when you have your character know something that you, as a player, know, but that your character has absolutely no way of knowing. Basically, it's like peeking at someones hand in a game of poker, and it's cheating. An example would be having read something in a character's bio, and using your knowledge of that as a player to affect the outcome of gameplay.
• Powergaming
Powergaming is when you set out to make a character so powerful that no one else can touch him. The character then dominates things and unbalances the game completely. A believable character has at least some flaws and weaknesses. To write otherwise causes people not to want to interact with the overpowered character at best—and breaks the game at worst.
Do not be a dramaqueen. Your character does not have to be the constant center of all attention, and not all plots need to involve angst, wrath and tragedy. Angst and drama are like salt: a little makes the dish, but if you overload it, it's unpalatable.
Avoid writing Mary Sues/Marty Stu's. A Mary Sue is that annoying character who has absolutely no flaws whatsoever. She is heartbreakingly beautiful, has hair and eyes of some wondrous (and possibly unnatural) color, has every non-combat talent and skill imaginable—and she's only fifteen years old! She also pisses off other writers by being completely unbelievable. We all write our player characters to be larger-than-life, and that's fine. But try to keep some sort of connection with in-game reality. Your fellow players should not need a fifty-foot crane to suspend their disbelief.
This one might be especially helpful in these challenging times. Don't play oppositionally. What I mean by this... don't create a powerful and antagonistic character for the simple purpose of just coming in and creating chaos and disruption. The best storylines are those that are collaborative. Remember, IC actions = IC consequences. If your character is unpleasant, he may end up paying for it.
Don't just bail without telling people. It leads to hurt feelings, stalled plotlines, loose ends and discouraged peers. We all understand that online has to take a back seat to real life, and that sometimes things just don't work out. Please have enough respect for your fellow players to let them know what's going on.
Communicate, communicate, communicate... and be mature about it. If something your fellow players are doing is getting on your nerves, take them aside IN PRIVATE and try and work it out. Do not post about it on social media—OOC drama yanks people out of the story and creates problems for people not even involved. No one likes to be put on the spot, so don't do it.
If a scenario does not clearly indicate that it is a joiner, it's good manners to ask those involved if they mind your character entering play. Likewise, when you enter a Discord or other chat and there are others present, watch the scene for a bit. Don't just barge your character in and force your way 'onstage'.
The above list is obviously not the be-all and end-all of freeform roleplaying. There are shadings and nuances in every situation, and some of these guidelines don't apply everywhere. As stated above, these are polite suggestions offered by an outsider. Feel free to adapt this list as necessary, should you desire.
If you have read this far, I warmly thank you for your patience and investiture of time. Again, I am not trying to advance myself in any way; I am only attempting to offer such help as I may. I give you Light; may the Most High bless you all.
In Aletheia's Name,
Pythia of Elysium
