RPing pet hates

[Lace Neil Singer]

I recently had a character profile submitted to me that was so damn awful, I had to tell the potiental player to either get his shit together with the profile or just stop while he was ahead. It roughly took about five times before I eventually told him this; there was no reason for him to be so stupid when it came to creating a profile for a freaking character. Especally when some of the same crap I had told him at the beginning, he didn't bother to correct or re-worded it so that it sounded better but even a person who wasn't overly familiar with the things he was trying to put into the profile could tell him themselves to fix.

I've had someone do that; this girl basically appeared out of nowhere (she'd never RPed on the forum before and registered an account just to post on the RP) and submitted this profile which was full of awful, flowery prose and her intro was about four paragraphs describing how beautiful and talented her character was. -.- She also godmoded a bit as she described how other people's characters reacted to hers. As the RP owner, I told her to repost her character profile as it simply would not do; the character was a stone cold Mary Sue and she was not allowed to godmod. She sent me a PM saying huffily that she was an experienced RPer on her own forum, thanks very much, and there was nothing wrong with her character.

Needless to say, that approach didn't wash either with me or with the other players. I messaged her back to say that while I welcomed new RPers, as far as the forum rules went, they were for everyone to follow, not everyone cept for her. She then said she didn't want to join after all... and then posted her own RP which completely plagurised mine and had her revolting Mary Sue take centre stage. -.- I closed it, and she posted a b*tchy thread on the forum saying that she was leaving cuz we were too strict. The rules are actually far from strict; she'd have a horrible surprise if she ever went to a forum that was exclusively RP based.

[SkullKing]

How about this, You pack it with a simple system,(PM me if you want help with it), and make a version allowing the "crap ton of set up"

That way you can sell a cheap version and if people like it enough they can buy the complete version.

[Andara Bledin]

How about this, You pack it with a simple system,(PM me if you want help with it), and make a version allowing the "crap ton of set up"

That way you can sell a cheap version and if people like it enough they can buy the complete version.

That's actually a pretty awesome idea.

Also, there are a couple of systems out there that are open source, so you could include base setups for those without worry over copyright issues.

^-.-^

[Android Kaeli]

The rules are actually far from strict; she'd have a horrible surprise if she ever went to a forum that was exclusively RP based.

I get that a lot with the rules I have set up, which in reality is just an updated version of the old RP forum rules anyways. Almost ALL of the rules that I have, were there well before I even came back to this site's forums as a mod again -- with the exception of a couple of rules that I made up as a way to cover my butt.

Then again, I also state in these very rules that there are exceptions to every rule but ONE: if you aren't comfortable with other people being able to control your character for a post or two, GTFO now 'cause that's not changing and has been since well before I took the job. I know not everyone likes it, I don't mind RPing with or without it, but yea....

[SkullKing]

Interesting, how do you prevent abuse of someone's character then?

The only times I Roplayed over the internet, controlling someone else´s character was expressly forbidden. It was a small group though.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Everywhere I've RPed, controlling someone else's character without their consent is seriously taboo and is part of godmoding. It's generally considered to be rude, and a way for someone to have their character be all powerful; for example, if they constantly have their character hit other characters but with no returns.

[Skunkle]

By "controlling someone else's character", I assume what is meant is, for example, describing your action and then, with it, describing how another character reacts and/or what it does to them?

That was something you'd see occasionally in the AOL RP stuff. One thing called Furcadia (think MUCK plus visual environment, all anthropomorphic characters) has what's called the "rule of cool" - that is, if someone walks up and does something to you, and you don't approve, you're welcome to pretend it didn't happen. Not that this isn't done elsewhere, I simply don't usually see it written up.

[Gravekeeper]

How about this, You pack it with a simple system,(PM me if you want help with it), and make a version allowing the "crap ton of set up"

That way you can sell a cheap version and if people like it enough they can buy the complete version.

Its already set up that way. Game designer is my side job thus I do not require assistance, heh. ;p

Its just a bitch for a new user regardless of how intuitive I make the set up because of how time consuming it is. By default it handles a universal D20 system and allows for rule input ( it can conform to all editions of AD&D as well as Pathfinder ). The biggest issue is database input. To get the most out of it you basically have to enter all of your rule books into it. So you'd have to run off and download all these databases, which someone would have to make and that someone can't be us for legal reasons. ;p

I'm not saying its not a nifty tool, just that all things considered it would never be more than a niche application and likely do little commercially.

Everywhere I've RPed, controlling someone else's character without their consent is seriously taboo and is part of godmoding.

This was always the cardinal sin in every RP I was ever in or ran myself as well. Taking any control away from another player was utterly taboo.

[Amanita]

So my former friend dictating my character's wardrobes (as I mentioned earlier in this thread) would not be tolerated by a lot of other RP'ers?

Here's another one I hate:
I sometimes roleplay in the MMO I play, City of Heroes. I just love how open the game's character creator is, and how almost any character concept you can imagine can fit into it.
Many of my characters are the Avatars of actual skyscrapers, and those can be fun to RP. However, I really HATE it when I run into RPers in casual conversation who are all like "Oh, I could snap your structure with one hand..I could easily destroy you, blahblahblah..."
Is it just me, or is that hella rude, like RPing with a human character and saying "I could just kill you/rape you/whatever and you couldn't stop me!"

Seriously, it's a huge turn-off when people RP like that, to me it comes across as rude, bordering on godmoding. And it has a way of turning RP into a pissing contest, which I hate. Seriously. Pissing contests "My toon could beat up yours" are not fun at all. I really don't need the casual hostility. If somebody IRL decided to share just how easily they could kill me and how I couldn't do fuck-all to stop them during a casual conversation, I certainly would not see the humor in it. In fact, I would be telling that person to get the fuck away from me, because I don't associate with people who brag about how easily they could harm me for shits and giggles.

Hero vs Villain RP where both sides are on the same page and hostility is part of the game is one thing, interjecting "I could kill you with no effort whatsoever" into casual conversation is another.

[Gravekeeper]

So my former friend dictating my character's wardrobes (as I mentioned earlier in this thread) would not be tolerated by a lot of other RP'ers?

No, actually it wouldn't. Essentially the general rule at least in every circle I've ever been in, is that you only have domain over your own characters. You can't dictate the appearence, actions or reactions of anyone else. As you're assuming control over their character when you do. Mainly because of godmoders who would dicate the action of their character *and* the reaction of another character to it.

Hero vs Villain RP where both sides are on the same page and hostility is part of the game is one thing, interjecting "I could kill you with no effort whatsoever" into casual conversation is another.

Thats just people being dicks on a powertrip. Has nothing to do with RP. I'm sure they'd say the same thing in real life if they could hide behind a mask of anonymity to prevent having to back up said words. This is yet another reason I tend to play integral support characters in MMOs. So I can control who in the group lives or dies according to my whims. =p

[Mytical]

I never really understood the appeal of godlike characters anyhow. If nothing is a threat to you, what is the point? Even superman has a weakness.

I've played with some .. interesting gms/dms that turned every character I started into Deux Ex Machina...so those characters are only cameo characters now...way toned down from what they ended up as in the game. Rather have somebody survive because of skill and luck then because they are invincible. Guess I am more of a "batman" then a "Beyonder"

[Gravekeeper]

I never really understood the appeal of godlike characters anyhow. If nothing is a threat to you, what is the point?

The point is getting your rocks off by imposing your virtual dick on others. You don't understand because the thought of forcing another human being to comply to your will doesn't make you moist. ;p

[SkullKing]

Its already set up that way. Game designer is my side job thus I do not require assistance, heh. ;p

Cool, what have you released?(or would you rather not say for anonymity ´s sake?)

Also, it is not that godlike character´s are necessarily bad, but the same way that is difficult to write compelling stories to character´s that are too powerful, it is very hard to roleplay a very powerful character and keep it´s action interesting for everyone.


Normally they require some kind of restriction in their actions, like eatman's rule of always honoring a contract, or the phantom stranger´s prohibition on taking direct action in nearly all circumstances.

I did play a god like character once successively, but it was a very specific setup, where there were two different organization fighting for control of a city, and I was a neutral arms dealer, and as such, didn´t want to use the power he had to take over the city, to him the war was more of a spectator sport.

He was also used as a neutral party to arbiter duels and some disputes.

[Gravekeeper]

Cool, what have you released?(or would you rather not say for anonymity ´s sake?)

Ehhhh...hrm. How to put. Been in, out and around the industry for a long time. ( Was even a reviewer for a while, press copies ftw ). Unfortunately, long long ago the first company I was with perished with the dot com bubble before the project was completed and thus I went back into customer service for rent paying purposes. The second company likewise perished before it got off the ground in the shakey aftermarket. Its only been the last couple years with mobile devices and digital distribution coming into their own that there's room again for indie dev companies in the industry that's allowed me and an ex compatriot from my old company to form up as a side business outside of our day jobs.

Thus, annoyingly, I have tons of experience but little credits.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I have a couple of immortal invulnerable characters... but both can be neutralised. One can actually be killed; he just returns from death after a time, ie any time from a few months to a year, depending on how he was killed. The other I based slightly on Omega Red; he can be frozen in ice. I've never had a character who can't be neutralised; it doesn't make for inspired RPing.