Post by Liz Bathory on Jan 5, 2008 23:00:58 GMT -5
Foreword -
This roleplaying guide is indeed an opinion written in guide form, as it is extremely difficult to write down exactly what is good roleplay. The opinion is, however, backed up by several years of experience as well as many other roleplay guides, so you can probably get a very good idea, or at least grasp enough to formulate your own take on roleplay. Please also note that I use a loose organization, and there isn't much of a set order. Also note that there are many excellent roleplay guides and FAQs thathave been around for ages; give them a read too, as multiple opinions can usually give you insight on good roleplay and bad roleplay.
The basics -
Dictionary Definition
What is roleplaying? Let us start with the dictionary definition and elaborate:
Roleplay-
1. to assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of (another), esp. in a make-believe situation in an effort to understand a differing point of view or social interaction: Management trainees were given a chance to role-play labor negotiators.
2. to experiment with or experience (a situation or viewpoint) by playing a role: trainees role-playing management positions.
3. to engage in role-playing.
Looking at other roleplay mediums to see where we fit in
The first term you will likely hear in tandem with roleplay is Dungeons & Dragons, the pen and paper roleplaying game. More recently, roleplaying has become very popular in MUDs, MMORPGs, and other CRPGs with multiplayer function, generally those with the ability to host persistent roleplaying worlds.
What is roleplaying?
So, what is roleplaying? With that history in mind, roleplaying on Atlantic can best be defined as: Assuming the attitudes, actions, and discourse of your character on Atlantic, and interacting with other roleplayers that may be friend, neutral, or foe. Create your character, and play it to the fullest. While this may seem like an alien concept to non-roleplayers, millions of roleplayers worldwide do enjoy roleplaying in PnP (Pen and Paper), LARP, MMORPGs, and RP PWs (roleplay persistent worlds, generally using emulators for MMORPGs, or CRPGs like Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, and even some that do not have good persistent server capability such as Diablo 2).
Another term you will hear a lot in regards to roleplay is immersion. Roleplay is all about immersion; the best roleplay experiences are when you are really 'connected with' or 'into' your character, and all else around you helps you really get into character and get into the world. This is very hard in a low graphics game like Ultima Online, but very possible with good roleplay and good roleplayers.
Where to begin -
Character setup
So, where does one begin if interested in roleplay on Atlantic? While many will convert characters not made specifically for roleplay, I will cover that later. Lets start at the very start.
Firstly, your character must have a race. In UO, we are given the races Human, and Elven. Now remember the tool of roleplayers: creativity. We can indeed play races besides those two, but be VERY careful what you decide to roleplay. The ratio of humans and elves to non-humans/non-elves should be no worse than 25:1. I'll list the more commonly used non-standard races under specialized roleplay.
Humans: Now, you are well versed in humans. Standard real world human names work just fine. There really isn't much special to have in mind when making a human character. One of the core five races of Ultima lore.
Elves: Elves have a unique history and mentality. Elves are use in plenty of roleplay worlds; go watch Lord of the Rings, you'll get the idea. Haughty, arrogant, condescending, you name it. One of the core five races of Ultima lore. Here is a handy guide to elven names.
There are many others that roleplay being the creatures found under the polymorph and animal form list, as well as other undead and races. Ask around for advice if you have an idea that has no precedent.
Now, once you've decided the race, name, and appearance for your character, it is time to decide what your roleplay will be about. You might as well come up with skills you want, as they can sometimes lead to an interesting roleplay concept. So, on to...
Personality, history, edges, flaws, alignment
Really, everything that makes up your character besides what race and class they are. Is your character paranoid? A jerk? Is your character kind, forgetful, lazy, determined? About the only things you have to remember here are, be creative, have fun, but also be careful not to take every edge and roleplay bonus imaginable without any negatives. For every edge you have, pick a flaw; this will make for a very interesting character. Remember that edges and flaws do not have to be extremely obvious; I know of a few -HUGE- secrets that old roleplayers have that are STILL not discovered, but the hints are there in underlying roleplay. Characters that have deep, dark secrets that they don't want discovered often make the most interesting people to roleplay with. Every character is a book that lasts years, with twists and turns; make sure that your story is interesting, unique, and not overly 'out there'. You don't have to be a demi-god or have an extraordinary history to be interesting; sometimes the plainest characters make the most interesting ones.
A word on alignments... Atlantic generally goes with 'good, neutral and evil', but many adhere to or have adopted the D&D alignment system. I will not bother re-explaining, simply check my alignment guide here.
So, you have your character. History, race, class, personality, edges and flaws, alignment... You are ready to begin.
Also a quick word on converting non-roleplay characters to roleplay ones. Not everyone has the time to start a brand new character, but remember a few key things when using a non-roleplay character as a roleplay character: Non-roleplay named characters are somewhat immersion breaking, and some will be less tolerant of others. It would be a solid investment, down the road, to buy a character name change token. Until then, simply put in your profile your 'roleplay name', and introduce yourself as that name. Other roleplayers will understand and adopt it; your name floating above your head is not nessicarily 'your name'. I will elaborate on this later under metagaming.
Do's and Don'ts
Or mostly, just don'ts...
Let us start with godmoding and metagaming. I am simply going to copy/paste from another post of mine where I think I sufficiently covered them:
Godmoding - The name is homage to the old Doom and Hexen and Wolfenstein games' "God Mode" cheat, where you can do whatever you like and have every weapon in the game because, simply, you are a god. In Ultima Online and a roleplay setting, godmoding is the act of doing something (99% of the time via emotes) that the game mechanics cannot represent; A.K.A. something you -simply can't do-. However some 'godmoding', A.K.A. "*he laughs, as dark energies swirl around his hand*" or other such harmless emotes are generally fine. "Godmoding" is used, 90% of the time, on players that do an action/emote to another player without allowing them to resist. It could be as small as "*hits him in the head with a thrown rock*" or as large as "*picks him up and eats him in one bite*" or "*shoots an arrow through your neck, killing you instantly*" or "*banishes you from space and time*" or perhaps claiming to control an invisible army of 100 soldiers that nobody can hurt whatsoever. Remember there are alternatives. Instead of dictating what happens with the rock, just emote *throws a rock at him*. Mostly try -attempting- things. *attempts to push the man over*.
Likewise, if someone is attempting something on you, think of your stats. You aern't Neo, don't dodge everything if you have 25 dex, and if you are wearing full platemail armor (haha yeah right) then you wouldn't be very good at balancing if someone pushes you over. Likewise, note that some emotes, even if not affecting another player, might be viewed as godmoding as per the 'not represented by gameplay mechanics' thing. I have seen rituals done well like this, but I have also seen some *points at a mountain and it explodes* kind've stuff. If it seems outrageous, don't do it. And remember that we are all here to have fun... Don't godmode another player without their permission, don't ruin anyone elses day.
Metagaming - This is when your character learns something that they could not possibly have learned, but they know it because you, their player, knows it. This is huge. Anything from OOC contact with other players, to IC posts that your character was not present at (don't do the 'I was outside standing under the window, I heard the whole thing!' unless the author gives you explicit permission), knowing things that you learned on another character, or it can be small things nobody would even think about. Say you are deep inside your castle and all the sudden you see a fight outside. Oh no! Rush and help! NO.
Your character sees with two eyes, directly in front of them. You do not have eyes in the back of your head, and you do not see from a 3/4 overhead view. You do not have X-ray vision, you do not see through walls. If there is a window, or its a thin house ( a.k.a. not in a big keep with 2 huge stone walls blocking the sound) you might hear the sounds of battle and investigate. If you think it is metagaming, just think, 'did my character learn about it? or did i?'.
Communication - When communicating in an In Character fashon, several internet shortcuts are not to be used. Shortened words such as 'lol' and 'imho' and such have to go, as well as smileys. While you don't need perfect punctuation, capitalization and spelling to roleplay, try to type as if you were writing a book for others to read. Nobody wants to read a book along the lines of "lol but liek ur such a noob necormancer, wud u liek 2 duel? ". This is also extremely immersion breaking, and is not acceptable. So, at worst, don't use internet acronyms, smileys, symbols, etc. Everything should be spoken, or emoted.
OOC chat comes in the form of parenthesis, I.E., (Must go AFK, brb!!). OOC chat in game is to be used only in extreme, emergency circumstances, where you literally have only seconds to type and MUST convey the message as quickly as possible. If you have more than a few seconds, you can denote AFK roleplaywise, I.E., *closes eyes in meditation* and use *awakens from his/her meditation* when you return. There are many forms of OOC communication and parenthesis are to be used as an extreme last resort.
Also note that many game mechanics are OOC, but can easily be roleplayed. You wouldn't tell someone, "My sword is excellent; It boasts 32% hit lightning, and 25% swing speed increase!". You would probably say something along the lines of, "My sword is excellent; It boasts a magical enhancement to how quickly I can swing it, and is charged with electricity and can often reinforce my strike with a bolt of lightning." Skills are another one; A suggetion is to use the built in game levels; If you want to tell someone IC'ly that you have 110 necro, 110 spirit speak, 100 magery, 100 evalint, 90 med and 90 poisoning, you could say "I am an elder in the necromantic arts, an elder medium as well... I have grandmastered magery, and am also a grandmaster in the ways of evaluating intelligence. I have mastered meditation and am also a master in the use of poisons."
Here is the chart:
Legendary 120 Elder 110+ Grandmaster 100+ Master 90+ Adept 80+
Expert 70+ Journeyman 60+ Apprentice 50+ Novice 40+ Neophyte 30+
Rules:
Uh oh! Rules!
I will make this as painless as possible. Firstly, know that there are two communities on Atlantic, and while both roleplay with eachother freely, the two communities have different rules and procedures. It would be wise to know of both of them.
Ceinwyn's Atlantic Roleplay resource website - You will find links to ARPC and FAR's forums, a lot of history, as well as guides to roleplay like this one, and a listing of many roleplay guilds in the realm.
ARPC's Rules - You will find many rules and RP guides on this "Our Community Standards" forum. Skim em all, at least.
I think both communities will agree with the following common sense rules:
1. Stay IC at all times.
2. Be respectful to other roleplayers. While you can roleplay conflict, negativity, even hatred for others IC'ly, do not be rude to other roleplayers on an OOC level. They are here to have fun just like you.
3. Do not Kill on Sight. Each community has rules for PVP. Know them.
4. Do not loot other players without permission beforehand.
5. Even though this is the 'quick common sense' section of the rules, I am going to tell you again to know both ARPC and FAR's rules inside out. Seriously! Being informed is far superior to being ignorant. Read up, it doesn't take long.
PVP:
*Walks up to you on an armored swamp dragon* "Dual me?"
Player versus Player, or PVP, is a large part of roleplay. Roleplay generally includes conflict, and the direct embodiment and representation of conflict in Ultima Online is PvP. It will happen; roleplay accordingly. If you are being challenged to a fight, and you do not back down clearly (no need to grovel, just express the fact that you do not wish to fight) then they have every right to kill you, provided the encounter and conflict was roleplayed out at least somewhat beforehand, long enough to give you a chance to back down. There may be some circumstances where it may be in someones character to attack you even if you do not back down; remember that if you roleplay a character someone might want to attack (annoying, obnoxious, you are evil and they are good, you are good and they are evil, etc) there may be some roleplay instances where someone will attack you whether or not you back down; these are not common, however. If there was no roleplay before a fight (and a kill on sight status was not agreed upon OOC beforehand), that person has broken rules. Contact their guildmaster immediately and let them know. If you were roleplayed with briefly, a'la "I don't like you. Prepare to die!" and you are killed, or other such rushed, poor roleplay, it is a good idea to take a screenshot of your journal and send it off to that persons guildmaster to explain. Remember a key thing here: Do not get upset if you die, even if you were attacked withou reason. It is just a game. Also, all is fair in love, war and roleplay, so if you try your best and lose, roleplay with it, don't get upset OOC.
Specialized Roleplay:
Races
Here I will list some of the uncommonly roleplayed, but accepted races and roleplay styles.
Orcs: Noted for strength and an amazing knack for group battle tactics (and not noted for their intelligence), orcs are one of the core five races of Ultima lore. They follow the Bloodgod, of which I know little; I'd reccomend asking an Orc or reading their website. All orcs to my knowledge are all in the Stormreaver Orc guild.
Drow: Dark elves from the Forgotten Realms books. I suggest reading some Drow books (such as war of the spider queen) to better understand them before roleplaying one. They do not exist in Ultima lore but are an accepted race to roleplay. Drow are elves with charcoal or dark, dark grey skin, and pure white to platinum blonde-ish colored hair, generally with red eyes. Drow with blue eyes usually have surface elf traces in their bloodline. Followers of Lolth, the spider queen, drow consider spiders sacred. They are almost ALWAYS chaotic evil; Lolth also only has female priestesses, as the entire race is female run. Really, read the books, they will explain 1,000,000x better than I can ever hope to.
Dwarves: Despite being one of the five core Ultima races (also know as mountain men) these are rarely roleplayed. (There is some speculation that this race will be playable with Kingdom Reborn; we will have to wait and see.) Watch LOTR for more on dwarves.
Gargoyles: The last of the core five ultima races, Gargoyles are also extremely rarely roleplayed by players. Deserves its own section, won't go into detail. If you are very interested in gargoyles, look up info on the old Ultima games, or play one.
Vampires: Atlantic generally uses Vampire: The Masquerade lore and clans for its vampire roleplay. This deserves its own section and I won't get into detail over vampire roleplay here. I believe there is a guide to them on ARPC somewhere.
Werewolves (Lycanthropes): Generally unroleplayed, but not unheardof. Follows the World of Darkness lore (of which Vampire: The Masquerade is a part of) from what I remember, but we haven't had a werewolf roleplayer in ages.
Liches and other undead: Liches and vampires are (generally, there are exceptions) the only sentient undead out there. Some undead are still roleplayed today, and this is considered a prestigeous roleplay style. Don't attempt unless you are well versed in undead roleplay and necromancy.
Other: Remember, creativity is the name of the game. If not human, elf, one of the above listed races, an elven/dwarven subrace of some kind, your best bet is posting in the general forum and ask what everyone thinks of your idea.
OOC 'Problems'
Since this is rarely covered...
Lets face it: There is a lot of drama that revolves around roleplay. I will be up front and say this: Ignore those that give you a hard time, get back in game and roleplay. I highly suggest not having voice chat, ICQ, etc open while roleplaying, as constant OOC chatter during roleplay really kills immersion. Don't ever get wrapped up in drama; if you aern't breaking a rule, just ignore the person OOC'ly. Also, most problems will be handled by your guildmaster, so try to keep out of it as much as possible. I can honestly say that the more OOC'ly involved you get in problems, the less fun you will have in game. So, summarized: Follow the rules, be respectful of others in game and out, and if anyone gives you a hard time OOCly, just ignore them OOC'ly. Seriously, years of experience talking: Don't get too wrapped up in the OOC politics that shouldn't even -exist- in a roleplay community. Just go and have fun roleplaying and all is well.
Credits
I'd like to thank those roleplayers that try their hardest to keep drama out of everything, that really strive to keep OOC and IC seperate. Kudos to you. I'd like to thank those guildmasters that spend a lot of time and effort keeping Atlantic drama-free, and dealing with problems in a timely manner. You guys really dedicate a lot of your sanity and your own enjoyment keeping it enjoyable for others; seriously, good job. I'd like to thank the admins and mods of both forums, as they spend a lot of time keeping things in order (and again, drama-free!). As much as I disagree with many things, I agree to disagree, and that doesn't mean I don't respect or dislike any of the mods or admins of either board, contrary to rumor. I'd also like to thank the writers of the guides under Our Community Standards and on the FAR boards, as I skimmed guides from these two locations for inspiration when I felt like I was getting off track. I hope this guide is useful to new roleplayers interested in learning, and becomes a substitute for the roleplay classes I no longer have time to hold. And lastly thanks to Isk for the quote at the start of the PVP section. #Humanis days, gotta love em
Lastly...
While the disclaimer did mention this is my opinion, that doesn't mean my opinion can't be wrong. If you feel that I am completely off base about something, please contact me and let me know and discuss it with me so I can update the post. Roleplay is ever-changing and ever-improving (can't go anywhere but up sometimes) and thus learning how to roleplay should be the same. Also if you want a link added under my rules thing, PM me.
Edit History
First edit: Had to remove a link and replace it with a tinyurl link because the link contained parenthesis that broke the URL tag. It will point you to the proper resource now, and not be broken.
This roleplaying guide is indeed an opinion written in guide form, as it is extremely difficult to write down exactly what is good roleplay. The opinion is, however, backed up by several years of experience as well as many other roleplay guides, so you can probably get a very good idea, or at least grasp enough to formulate your own take on roleplay. Please also note that I use a loose organization, and there isn't much of a set order. Also note that there are many excellent roleplay guides and FAQs thathave been around for ages; give them a read too, as multiple opinions can usually give you insight on good roleplay and bad roleplay.
The basics -
Dictionary Definition
What is roleplaying? Let us start with the dictionary definition and elaborate:
Roleplay-
1. to assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of (another), esp. in a make-believe situation in an effort to understand a differing point of view or social interaction: Management trainees were given a chance to role-play labor negotiators.
2. to experiment with or experience (a situation or viewpoint) by playing a role: trainees role-playing management positions.
3. to engage in role-playing.
Looking at other roleplay mediums to see where we fit in
The first term you will likely hear in tandem with roleplay is Dungeons & Dragons, the pen and paper roleplaying game. More recently, roleplaying has become very popular in MUDs, MMORPGs, and other CRPGs with multiplayer function, generally those with the ability to host persistent roleplaying worlds.
What is roleplaying?
So, what is roleplaying? With that history in mind, roleplaying on Atlantic can best be defined as: Assuming the attitudes, actions, and discourse of your character on Atlantic, and interacting with other roleplayers that may be friend, neutral, or foe. Create your character, and play it to the fullest. While this may seem like an alien concept to non-roleplayers, millions of roleplayers worldwide do enjoy roleplaying in PnP (Pen and Paper), LARP, MMORPGs, and RP PWs (roleplay persistent worlds, generally using emulators for MMORPGs, or CRPGs like Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, and even some that do not have good persistent server capability such as Diablo 2).
Another term you will hear a lot in regards to roleplay is immersion. Roleplay is all about immersion; the best roleplay experiences are when you are really 'connected with' or 'into' your character, and all else around you helps you really get into character and get into the world. This is very hard in a low graphics game like Ultima Online, but very possible with good roleplay and good roleplayers.
Where to begin -
Character setup
So, where does one begin if interested in roleplay on Atlantic? While many will convert characters not made specifically for roleplay, I will cover that later. Lets start at the very start.
Firstly, your character must have a race. In UO, we are given the races Human, and Elven. Now remember the tool of roleplayers: creativity. We can indeed play races besides those two, but be VERY careful what you decide to roleplay. The ratio of humans and elves to non-humans/non-elves should be no worse than 25:1. I'll list the more commonly used non-standard races under specialized roleplay.
Humans: Now, you are well versed in humans. Standard real world human names work just fine. There really isn't much special to have in mind when making a human character. One of the core five races of Ultima lore.
Elves: Elves have a unique history and mentality. Elves are use in plenty of roleplay worlds; go watch Lord of the Rings, you'll get the idea. Haughty, arrogant, condescending, you name it. One of the core five races of Ultima lore. Here is a handy guide to elven names.
There are many others that roleplay being the creatures found under the polymorph and animal form list, as well as other undead and races. Ask around for advice if you have an idea that has no precedent.
Now, once you've decided the race, name, and appearance for your character, it is time to decide what your roleplay will be about. You might as well come up with skills you want, as they can sometimes lead to an interesting roleplay concept. So, on to...
Personality, history, edges, flaws, alignment
Really, everything that makes up your character besides what race and class they are. Is your character paranoid? A jerk? Is your character kind, forgetful, lazy, determined? About the only things you have to remember here are, be creative, have fun, but also be careful not to take every edge and roleplay bonus imaginable without any negatives. For every edge you have, pick a flaw; this will make for a very interesting character. Remember that edges and flaws do not have to be extremely obvious; I know of a few -HUGE- secrets that old roleplayers have that are STILL not discovered, but the hints are there in underlying roleplay. Characters that have deep, dark secrets that they don't want discovered often make the most interesting people to roleplay with. Every character is a book that lasts years, with twists and turns; make sure that your story is interesting, unique, and not overly 'out there'. You don't have to be a demi-god or have an extraordinary history to be interesting; sometimes the plainest characters make the most interesting ones.
A word on alignments... Atlantic generally goes with 'good, neutral and evil', but many adhere to or have adopted the D&D alignment system. I will not bother re-explaining, simply check my alignment guide here.
So, you have your character. History, race, class, personality, edges and flaws, alignment... You are ready to begin.
Also a quick word on converting non-roleplay characters to roleplay ones. Not everyone has the time to start a brand new character, but remember a few key things when using a non-roleplay character as a roleplay character: Non-roleplay named characters are somewhat immersion breaking, and some will be less tolerant of others. It would be a solid investment, down the road, to buy a character name change token. Until then, simply put in your profile your 'roleplay name', and introduce yourself as that name. Other roleplayers will understand and adopt it; your name floating above your head is not nessicarily 'your name'. I will elaborate on this later under metagaming.
Do's and Don'ts
Or mostly, just don'ts...
Let us start with godmoding and metagaming. I am simply going to copy/paste from another post of mine where I think I sufficiently covered them:
Godmoding - The name is homage to the old Doom and Hexen and Wolfenstein games' "God Mode" cheat, where you can do whatever you like and have every weapon in the game because, simply, you are a god. In Ultima Online and a roleplay setting, godmoding is the act of doing something (99% of the time via emotes) that the game mechanics cannot represent; A.K.A. something you -simply can't do-. However some 'godmoding', A.K.A. "*he laughs, as dark energies swirl around his hand*" or other such harmless emotes are generally fine. "Godmoding" is used, 90% of the time, on players that do an action/emote to another player without allowing them to resist. It could be as small as "*hits him in the head with a thrown rock*" or as large as "*picks him up and eats him in one bite*" or "*shoots an arrow through your neck, killing you instantly*" or "*banishes you from space and time*" or perhaps claiming to control an invisible army of 100 soldiers that nobody can hurt whatsoever. Remember there are alternatives. Instead of dictating what happens with the rock, just emote *throws a rock at him*. Mostly try -attempting- things. *attempts to push the man over*.
Likewise, if someone is attempting something on you, think of your stats. You aern't Neo, don't dodge everything if you have 25 dex, and if you are wearing full platemail armor (haha yeah right) then you wouldn't be very good at balancing if someone pushes you over. Likewise, note that some emotes, even if not affecting another player, might be viewed as godmoding as per the 'not represented by gameplay mechanics' thing. I have seen rituals done well like this, but I have also seen some *points at a mountain and it explodes* kind've stuff. If it seems outrageous, don't do it. And remember that we are all here to have fun... Don't godmode another player without their permission, don't ruin anyone elses day.
Metagaming - This is when your character learns something that they could not possibly have learned, but they know it because you, their player, knows it. This is huge. Anything from OOC contact with other players, to IC posts that your character was not present at (don't do the 'I was outside standing under the window, I heard the whole thing!' unless the author gives you explicit permission), knowing things that you learned on another character, or it can be small things nobody would even think about. Say you are deep inside your castle and all the sudden you see a fight outside. Oh no! Rush and help! NO.
Your character sees with two eyes, directly in front of them. You do not have eyes in the back of your head, and you do not see from a 3/4 overhead view. You do not have X-ray vision, you do not see through walls. If there is a window, or its a thin house ( a.k.a. not in a big keep with 2 huge stone walls blocking the sound) you might hear the sounds of battle and investigate. If you think it is metagaming, just think, 'did my character learn about it? or did i?'.
Communication - When communicating in an In Character fashon, several internet shortcuts are not to be used. Shortened words such as 'lol' and 'imho' and such have to go, as well as smileys. While you don't need perfect punctuation, capitalization and spelling to roleplay, try to type as if you were writing a book for others to read. Nobody wants to read a book along the lines of "lol but liek ur such a noob necormancer, wud u liek 2 duel? ". This is also extremely immersion breaking, and is not acceptable. So, at worst, don't use internet acronyms, smileys, symbols, etc. Everything should be spoken, or emoted.
OOC chat comes in the form of parenthesis, I.E., (Must go AFK, brb!!). OOC chat in game is to be used only in extreme, emergency circumstances, where you literally have only seconds to type and MUST convey the message as quickly as possible. If you have more than a few seconds, you can denote AFK roleplaywise, I.E., *closes eyes in meditation* and use *awakens from his/her meditation* when you return. There are many forms of OOC communication and parenthesis are to be used as an extreme last resort.
Also note that many game mechanics are OOC, but can easily be roleplayed. You wouldn't tell someone, "My sword is excellent; It boasts 32% hit lightning, and 25% swing speed increase!". You would probably say something along the lines of, "My sword is excellent; It boasts a magical enhancement to how quickly I can swing it, and is charged with electricity and can often reinforce my strike with a bolt of lightning." Skills are another one; A suggetion is to use the built in game levels; If you want to tell someone IC'ly that you have 110 necro, 110 spirit speak, 100 magery, 100 evalint, 90 med and 90 poisoning, you could say "I am an elder in the necromantic arts, an elder medium as well... I have grandmastered magery, and am also a grandmaster in the ways of evaluating intelligence. I have mastered meditation and am also a master in the use of poisons."
Here is the chart:
Legendary 120 Elder 110+ Grandmaster 100+ Master 90+ Adept 80+
Expert 70+ Journeyman 60+ Apprentice 50+ Novice 40+ Neophyte 30+
Rules:
Uh oh! Rules!
I will make this as painless as possible. Firstly, know that there are two communities on Atlantic, and while both roleplay with eachother freely, the two communities have different rules and procedures. It would be wise to know of both of them.
Ceinwyn's Atlantic Roleplay resource website - You will find links to ARPC and FAR's forums, a lot of history, as well as guides to roleplay like this one, and a listing of many roleplay guilds in the realm.
ARPC's Rules - You will find many rules and RP guides on this "Our Community Standards" forum. Skim em all, at least.
I think both communities will agree with the following common sense rules:
1. Stay IC at all times.
2. Be respectful to other roleplayers. While you can roleplay conflict, negativity, even hatred for others IC'ly, do not be rude to other roleplayers on an OOC level. They are here to have fun just like you.
3. Do not Kill on Sight. Each community has rules for PVP. Know them.
4. Do not loot other players without permission beforehand.
5. Even though this is the 'quick common sense' section of the rules, I am going to tell you again to know both ARPC and FAR's rules inside out. Seriously! Being informed is far superior to being ignorant. Read up, it doesn't take long.
PVP:
*Walks up to you on an armored swamp dragon* "Dual me?"
Player versus Player, or PVP, is a large part of roleplay. Roleplay generally includes conflict, and the direct embodiment and representation of conflict in Ultima Online is PvP. It will happen; roleplay accordingly. If you are being challenged to a fight, and you do not back down clearly (no need to grovel, just express the fact that you do not wish to fight) then they have every right to kill you, provided the encounter and conflict was roleplayed out at least somewhat beforehand, long enough to give you a chance to back down. There may be some circumstances where it may be in someones character to attack you even if you do not back down; remember that if you roleplay a character someone might want to attack (annoying, obnoxious, you are evil and they are good, you are good and they are evil, etc) there may be some roleplay instances where someone will attack you whether or not you back down; these are not common, however. If there was no roleplay before a fight (and a kill on sight status was not agreed upon OOC beforehand), that person has broken rules. Contact their guildmaster immediately and let them know. If you were roleplayed with briefly, a'la "I don't like you. Prepare to die!" and you are killed, or other such rushed, poor roleplay, it is a good idea to take a screenshot of your journal and send it off to that persons guildmaster to explain. Remember a key thing here: Do not get upset if you die, even if you were attacked withou reason. It is just a game. Also, all is fair in love, war and roleplay, so if you try your best and lose, roleplay with it, don't get upset OOC.
Specialized Roleplay:
Races
Here I will list some of the uncommonly roleplayed, but accepted races and roleplay styles.
Orcs: Noted for strength and an amazing knack for group battle tactics (and not noted for their intelligence), orcs are one of the core five races of Ultima lore. They follow the Bloodgod, of which I know little; I'd reccomend asking an Orc or reading their website. All orcs to my knowledge are all in the Stormreaver Orc guild.
Drow: Dark elves from the Forgotten Realms books. I suggest reading some Drow books (such as war of the spider queen) to better understand them before roleplaying one. They do not exist in Ultima lore but are an accepted race to roleplay. Drow are elves with charcoal or dark, dark grey skin, and pure white to platinum blonde-ish colored hair, generally with red eyes. Drow with blue eyes usually have surface elf traces in their bloodline. Followers of Lolth, the spider queen, drow consider spiders sacred. They are almost ALWAYS chaotic evil; Lolth also only has female priestesses, as the entire race is female run. Really, read the books, they will explain 1,000,000x better than I can ever hope to.
Dwarves: Despite being one of the five core Ultima races (also know as mountain men) these are rarely roleplayed. (There is some speculation that this race will be playable with Kingdom Reborn; we will have to wait and see.) Watch LOTR for more on dwarves.
Gargoyles: The last of the core five ultima races, Gargoyles are also extremely rarely roleplayed by players. Deserves its own section, won't go into detail. If you are very interested in gargoyles, look up info on the old Ultima games, or play one.
Vampires: Atlantic generally uses Vampire: The Masquerade lore and clans for its vampire roleplay. This deserves its own section and I won't get into detail over vampire roleplay here. I believe there is a guide to them on ARPC somewhere.
Werewolves (Lycanthropes): Generally unroleplayed, but not unheardof. Follows the World of Darkness lore (of which Vampire: The Masquerade is a part of) from what I remember, but we haven't had a werewolf roleplayer in ages.
Liches and other undead: Liches and vampires are (generally, there are exceptions) the only sentient undead out there. Some undead are still roleplayed today, and this is considered a prestigeous roleplay style. Don't attempt unless you are well versed in undead roleplay and necromancy.
Other: Remember, creativity is the name of the game. If not human, elf, one of the above listed races, an elven/dwarven subrace of some kind, your best bet is posting in the general forum and ask what everyone thinks of your idea.
OOC 'Problems'
Since this is rarely covered...
Lets face it: There is a lot of drama that revolves around roleplay. I will be up front and say this: Ignore those that give you a hard time, get back in game and roleplay. I highly suggest not having voice chat, ICQ, etc open while roleplaying, as constant OOC chatter during roleplay really kills immersion. Don't ever get wrapped up in drama; if you aern't breaking a rule, just ignore the person OOC'ly. Also, most problems will be handled by your guildmaster, so try to keep out of it as much as possible. I can honestly say that the more OOC'ly involved you get in problems, the less fun you will have in game. So, summarized: Follow the rules, be respectful of others in game and out, and if anyone gives you a hard time OOCly, just ignore them OOC'ly. Seriously, years of experience talking: Don't get too wrapped up in the OOC politics that shouldn't even -exist- in a roleplay community. Just go and have fun roleplaying and all is well.
Credits
I'd like to thank those roleplayers that try their hardest to keep drama out of everything, that really strive to keep OOC and IC seperate. Kudos to you. I'd like to thank those guildmasters that spend a lot of time and effort keeping Atlantic drama-free, and dealing with problems in a timely manner. You guys really dedicate a lot of your sanity and your own enjoyment keeping it enjoyable for others; seriously, good job. I'd like to thank the admins and mods of both forums, as they spend a lot of time keeping things in order (and again, drama-free!). As much as I disagree with many things, I agree to disagree, and that doesn't mean I don't respect or dislike any of the mods or admins of either board, contrary to rumor. I'd also like to thank the writers of the guides under Our Community Standards and on the FAR boards, as I skimmed guides from these two locations for inspiration when I felt like I was getting off track. I hope this guide is useful to new roleplayers interested in learning, and becomes a substitute for the roleplay classes I no longer have time to hold. And lastly thanks to Isk for the quote at the start of the PVP section. #Humanis days, gotta love em
Lastly...
While the disclaimer did mention this is my opinion, that doesn't mean my opinion can't be wrong. If you feel that I am completely off base about something, please contact me and let me know and discuss it with me so I can update the post. Roleplay is ever-changing and ever-improving (can't go anywhere but up sometimes) and thus learning how to roleplay should be the same. Also if you want a link added under my rules thing, PM me.
Edit History
First edit: Had to remove a link and replace it with a tinyurl link because the link contained parenthesis that broke the URL tag. It will point you to the proper resource now, and not be broken.
