PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: bloodedIrishman on September 17, 2009, 05:36:02 am
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Hello,
This is a guideline on the way to write a description for yourself.
A personal description helps other players see what you look like. Most players add items to their body that couldn't be placed their with in game items. Therefore descriptions help roleplay.
However, I have noticed players put incidents from their past and the name of their guild which are not relevant to IC. This is because a person would not discern a past or a guild's name from looking at a body from the outlook.
So guys, just remember when you write your description to put in what you want yourself to look like, and what you wish for others to see you as in IC.
Also, things such as "You suddenly feel frightened by his strong aura of courage" or "You feel attracted to her perfect features" aren't right because its making decisions about someone else's feelings or movements. It's the same concept as when people RP fight and say "/me stabs Johnny in the face and he dies". It's just not fitting into IC.
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There are indeed recommendations: Only add what people can see at a glance - or might see with more efforts. But don't add too much, the description should be readable in a moment. And don't add invisible information (like your whole life story). Furthermore, "godmodding" entries (enforcing a reaction or feeling) are discouraged. And faking system messages ("You evaluate that..."<newline><newline><newline><newline>) is forbidden.
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Also, it is a staple for every female character to note their "perfectly-shaped butt" and "large, busty chest".
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preferably mandatory :thumbup:
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This topic, as well as the RP one in the other thread have been covered many times in the past, and people have yet to listen to them. Here are the main reasons why:
1. The people you are talking to don't read forums.
2. People don't want to be told what to do.
3. Everyone thinks they are right.
4. People don't give a flying teffpile about playing in ways they think are stupid.
5. Those people are ignorant.
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Your most constructive reply ever, UtM. ;)
...
BTW: Those few 1337 people who want to play "correctly" (or talk about your opinion how to), visit the Stonehead Tavern forums too! :D
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Personally I like short brief descriptions since it takes less time to read them .. I am guilty though of having a longer multi-part description - mainly because I don't feel like retyping my description each time I cloak or uncloak. ( it would be nice if I could at least copy and paste ) . Worth noting - the detaut description from character creation tells you all kinds of OOC stuff like religion, your mother's name, things you did in your past etc... I don't think it should say all this... but thats just my opinion.
I follow this convention:
** current status **
- unusual things that stick out - ie. looks badly beaten and has a fresh wound on his lower lip
**
Currently wearing: Normal Attire
When in Normal Attire:
-- description
When Cloaked:
-- description
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What I cannot understand is why people say they are wearing cloaks, when they aren't actually available in game, and thus you cannot physically perceive someone as wearing one.
The only concession I have made to people having to use their imagination when looking at a char, is my daughters char, as I want her to be perceived as just a child in game, as she is in RL. (she's 6, but already plays quite well), so her char description is "you see in front of you a female nolthrir child of around 8 years old, and you wonder idly where her parents are".
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What I cannot understand is why people say they are wearing cloaks, when they aren't actually available in game, and thus you cannot physically perceive someone as wearing one.
Exactly because the cloaks are not yet implemented. This is the only chance to make your character look as it could not look due to game mechanics: I the imagination of the watcher.
...and you wonder idly where her parents are".
This could already be too much. Don't tell people what they shall think, seeing your char. ;)
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What I cannot understand is why people say they are wearing cloaks, when they aren't actually available in game
Yep, people cheats all the time.
They cheat in descriptions stating they wear cloaks...
...talking about "other levels" of Yliakum... (you really mean you can't train these?!?!)
...assuring diaboli are black skinned... (you colorblind fools)
...or that they even have a tail!... (hilarious, dude get some glasses)
...saying they're hammering the anvil when all they do is stand next to it all day (the lazy gits)
...making up sheathes for their weapons... (my char ate them, the avatar carries no sheathes)
...using /me to smile or frown.... (for god's sake, my avatar didn't move the mouth at all... and he can't blink, either ¬.¬)
...then they complain when I type "/me kills eveybody" and call me goofmodder or summit...
...cheaters all.
I hate cheaters.
I really do.
Ban all.
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...and you wonder idly where her parents are".
This could already be too much. Don't tell people what they shall think, seeing your char. ;)
Yes, I agree. My character is also a child and while I did write the parents are deceased, it's all the way down at the bottom (with the basic info) of the description and it's in brackets saying that's OOC info. I don't say how they died or anything else about her past. You would have to ask IC to get this information.
Yes do try to make descriptions short. Often I come across a really long description and me not having any patience often skim the bio and usually miss something vital. This is what my description basically is:
{{some OOC info you need to know}}
Currently:
Mood: Normal
~any changes at the moment
You see a Nolthir about 10 years old. The rest is a basic description of what she looks like.
Short sentences that describe a little bit more about her. (i.e. You might see her singing songs to herself, cares a lot about younger children. etc.)
Last bit is the basic info that comes with the char when first created.
Okay so some of my description is OOC stuff. But mostly things you would see.
What I cannot understand is why people say they are wearing cloaks, when they aren't actually available in game
Yep, people cheats all the time.
They cheat in descriptions stating they wear cloaks...
...talking about "other levels" of Yliakum... (you really mean you can't train these?!?!)
...assuring diaboli are black skinned... (you colorblind fools)
...or that they even have a tail!... (hilarious, dude get some glasses)
...saying they're hammering the anvil when all they do is stand next to it all day (the lazy gits)
...making up sheathes for their weapons... (my char ate them, the avatar carries no sheathes)
...using /me to smile or frown.... (for god's sake, my avatar didn't move the mouth at all... and he can't blink, either ¬.¬)
...then they complain when I type "/me kills eveybody" and call me goofmodder or summit...
...cheaters all.
I hate cheaters.
I really do.
Ban all.
Twould be quite a boring world if all we right all day is /me stands next to blah blah and nobody wouldn't be able to say anything since the avatar mouths don't move. That's why you have to use your **IMAGINATON**
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LOL ...
Oromir - Think of what you see on the screen as an imperfect representation of reality. There are a lot of things that *shoud* be there but aren't so you cannot really go by that logic.
There are no bathrooms, there is nowhere to wash ( lake of tears would become the lake of swill ) , people don't starve if they stop eating, characters never get out of breath, they never bleed, kran don't have mouths (yet they eat rocks), characters do a funny levitation turn without moving their feet, bones don't break, swords can go though you without doing harm, apples can be stuck in walls, characters can walk *though* each other etc...
to add to Lhaa's list:
...assuring Nolthrir's are wearing heavy armor when they are in fact scantily dressed.
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Something comes to my mind reading over this thread.
You play, and roleplay, your char over months and years. You always tried to backup all your actions by trained skills and such, by mechanics.
And while RPing your char along, during battles and wars, your char might be granted some "features", or "skills" by other chars", and you carry on with your char assimilating such skills.
After a while such skills might become most ridiculous.
As a vague example:
Your char was fighting a baddie, the baddie was defeated, and the baddies players tells you, by having defeated his char, your char is granted the ability of residence to blunt weapons.
Now multiply this by 10 baddies and 10 different skills or features.
Another example:
Your char was given a weapon that grants immunity against Dark Magic after a hard fight - gosh, from now on your char is invulnerable against any Dark Magic!
How would this fit into this thread?
People, dont be too greedy or well-taking, but remember that your chars wont be able to learn EVERYTHING. Keep it realistic and fun - to you and to others.
Oh, and dont put into your description: "You see a Nolthrir carrying a weapon making him inharmable by Dark Magic" lol
PS: Regards to Kaerli for the sake of greeting
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A very good point imo. In a game that is supposed to very much evolve around RP it's important to give the people you interact with freedom to interpret you the way they decide. Stating that you wear a cloak would, in my case of RP at least, make me a bit vary of the person and why they have decided to cloak themselves. Other things mentioned in the description might lead to good dialogs and RPs about the person's background and history, a great way for storytellers to have a startingpoint!
Of coarse with much not implemented yet, people will have to use their imagination. And we can all agree that we at least got a little of it, you wouldn't play videogames if you didn't. At least not one with stonepeople and blue wingy thingies ;)
That being said, a trait I've wondered a bit about: The Dark Way is said to have some kind of bad/unfortunate effects to the ones who have great knowledge of it. Do they mean physical alteration or mental? For now I'd say this is up to the player, just don't overdo it and levitate with black eyes and speak with 5 voices at once as the surrounding area drops in temperature.
Starting point duly noted and I've rewritten my description a bit from what it used to be ;) I haven't changed my background or history, just taken out the storytelling and added items/frequent actions instead.
"You see a proud Klyros with a gentle look, but black veins run through the translucent skin of his wings. He also have a small scar on his right wing.
He wears a small pendant showing a pair of widespread wings over a faded badge of The Warriors on his chest. His right arm armor is filled with Enki tribalmarkings.
He will seem irritated at the mentioning of gods or in the presence of divine or blessed objects.
He is often found singing or humming to a tune by the band "Klyros Ulber Farm". "
At the end a little bracket with what languages I speak. I have previously found it to be useful for others who aren't necessarily most comfortable with english and have problems asking about game mechanics and such using english.
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Forgive me if you think this is naïve but how is limiting descriptions to only what you can see at a glance conducive to good role play? I know this topic has been raised many times but have yet to hear a good reason for it. In fact if this is your view then why not go all the way and have no description at all as I can already see what race you are and whether you are wearing armour/ swords etc.?
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In fact if this is your view then why not go all the way and have no description at all as I can already see what race you are and whether you are wearing armour/ swords etc.?
At the moment nobody can see what race Aiwendil is. Nobody sees her tail or her black skin. The uneditable start of the description even states she is a Ynnwn. Without the text there would be not chance to tell others that she isn't one. The same is true for the dresses she wears, the injuries she has or what kind of jewelery she wears.
Forgive me if you think this is naïve but how is limiting descriptions to only what you can see at a glance conducive to good role play?
When you see a person in RL you notice the scars in the face, but you will have no idea how he/she got those scars. If you want to know you have to ask the person. About the same applies for roleplay in the game. It's not very helpful for roleplay if you go to a person, read the description and then know by magic means that the person got the scars by defending his sister but failed and now feels sad about his dead sister and tries to help everyone else around. This are information one should acquire in a conversation with that person. Or in my view it's even worse if you ask someone about the scars and only get as answers "Read my description". I don't get any idea how the person reacts to the questions in this case, I don't see how he talks about the events in his/her/kra past. Not very helpful to get a impression of the other char. Roleplay is a lot about communicating with other characters and in my view the description should be a tool for this, but by no means replace the conversation with the other char.
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on t he other side it might help to remember traits of people you've known and it's always nice to read a well done story. but the reader must also be careful to not use the elements in the rp till he knows them in another way, for sure an easy pitfall...
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And please don't forget the other senses.
It's nice to discover that the tinkling sound is a bell tied to an enki, or the unusual smell is coming from the dwarf in the corner :-[
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I know this topic has been raised many times
There may be a reason for that. ;)
but have yet to hear a good reason for it
You have been given plenty.
In fact if this is your view then why not go all the way and have no description at all as I can already see what race you are and whether you are wearing armour/ swords etc.?
But have some more...
Swords shouldn't be seen at all most often because it's forbidden to draw them in guarded towns, besides it's simply lack of manners to go around waving them in people's faces. The only way to really let people know what's your weapon of choice in such places is describing them or the sheathes.
Armor isn't the only thing somebody can wear. In fact, I still never saw nobody in armor at the supermarket yet. So the description works dandy to tell what is for instance your character's casual outfit.
Your character can as well wear rings (even mechanics-wise ;), pendants, belts, backpacks, earrings, hats... it can have tattoos that make it easy to be recognized, it can have certain scars, it can have long, short hair, beard or not. It can have a cold or warm look in its eyes, can walk in a certain fashion, can be missing an arm or a hand, can speak slow or quick, can have a manly or a girly voice, can be muscled, fat or slim, can carry something in its hands for a while, can be clean or dirty, can smell good or bad, can look after itself or not, can have a hump or not, can have short or long nails, can have short or long nose, can.... ;)
Poke if you need more ideas for a description without a background story.
As for the main reason why I don't even read a description that has a story in it; it simply spoils my fun.
I don't want to read whatever somebody has done in the past, I'd rather interact with that character and have my own character find out before I know what do I have to ask for to get it out of him/her/kra. It's taking chances of RP from me, thus I dismiss whatever says there and go ahead with my ignorance.
If the concept of background stories in description was to take over other areas of the game we'd probably stop roleplaying at all and come to the forums to write. In the end, why play the character at all if you can just explain people whatever you want to? There is no need for interaction, and is much easier to grind IG while you write here than to stop grinding to roleplay. ;)
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Indeed, none of my 10 characters has a backstory in their description.
Order I use:
*Recent changes section (if present)*
*Basics (race, gender, age, overall build)*
*Facial features*
*Clothing, going from top down*
*Jewelry/accessories/any weapons they may have on*
*Hidden things*
*Any personality traits that I wish to include*
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I would like to file a complaint about other female chars' descs having a ridiculous amount of attention paid to their breasts, legs, butt, etc. it's nauseating. and disappointing to see that most of the other women playing this game feel like their chars have to look like skanks
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I would like to file a complaint about other female chars' descs having a ridiculous amount of attention paid to their breasts, legs, butt, etc. it's nauseating. and disappointing to see that most of the other women playing this game feel like their chars have to look like skanks
But to say that any woman with large breasts/shapely legs/tight butt is a skank is unfair and offensive. Can't women playing at home have a character with a deep, well rounded personality, interesting traits, useful skills and an attractive physique?
You might not like it, Sarras, but you make your choices - let other people make theirs
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I would like to file a complaint about other female chars' descs having a ridiculous amount of attention paid to their breasts, legs, butt, etc. it's nauseating. and disappointing to see that most of the other women playing this game feel like their chars have to look like skanks
But to say that any woman with large breasts/shapely legs/tight butt is a skank is unfair and offensive. Can't women playing at home have a character with a deep, well rounded personality, interesting traits, useful skills and an attractive physique?
You might not like it, Sarras, but you make your choices - let other people make theirs
lmao! either you're one of these self-conscious women or you have no clue what i'm talking about.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNyg1ftMIU
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Thanks for the replies, and it is interesting to see people justify their enjoyment of enamouring their physical descriptions. Over the years I have seen numerous such descriptions, often very eloquent and well written. However after a while I observed that often they contributed little to the character’s role play if indeed they bothered to use it at all. During this same period I have seen a core of players become increasingly objectionable to characters backgrounds being included, insisting theirs is the only correct form of role play. The 20 question format may well be the style of role play they enjoy however it is not the only style of role play.
I did not disagree there are elements in physical descriptions that can assist role play. However, even these can contain flaws if we wish to be purist as per the following examples.
I think there are supermarkets in RL where armour would be useful :whistling:, though none in Yliakum, unless you include the ‘market’ at Oja where the rogues may justify the wearing of armour. However equally unusual is finding people wearing the same clothes and adornments, day in and day out, no matter what their environment. I guess we should not always point at the nearest dwarf for the strange odours :D.
Whilst it is correct that I should not see you brandishing your weapon in public, the only people who will know your favoured weapon are people who already know you or have seen you fight. Unless I am put into a situation or intend seeing your weapon in action I have no real interest in knowing about it in any detail. This can be easily catered for with a simple shortcut whenever you brandish the weapon, rather than in the description.
The expected reaction to scars is interesting but I feel a little unnatural. In RL the reaction will vary from wariness of a potential troublemaker through to to sympathy, with most people being discrete to ascertain the cause usually from a 3rd party. Few would enquire of the recipient directly. In Yliakum the scar may be less interesting (most seem to have one or two) as plenty use the arena where such scarring could probably be considered an everyday occurrence.
However it is not my intention to criticise anyone in particular for employing such descriptions though be aware that any long and over-elaborate description can be equally as tedious and irrelevant to read for others as you may find character backgrounds. In particular I do find Lhaa to be one of the better rpers around, so though I have used some of her examples the criticisms are necessarily directed at her usage and I hope haven’t been taken personally.
Personally it is not my preference to play 20 questions to find out about your character through enquiries about your scars or adornments, particularly if I then find out yours is not the type of character mine would hang out with. I wouldn’t do this in RL so why do it here? It is more natural to start a conversation with someone you are familiar with, a friend of a friend or if you have something in common (i.e. a common background) than someone carrying weapons and covered in scars who many of my characters would shy away from. You recognise these people because you grew up in the same area or village, went to the same school or college, worked or socialised in the same areas, belonged to the same club or guild etc. If there is no commonality then a good rper would ignore the information. However this more natural aspect of role play is conspicuously absent from PS if not even frowned upon in some quarters. It is not my intention to advocate people writing elaborate background histories, but feel that no background introduces many weaknesses into the roleplay envronment.
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Well, Sarras, I wouldn't say I was a self-conscious women, but I am prepared to admit when I'm clueless ::|
I thought you were showing your dislike of female characters physical descriptions which could be summed up as 'cleavage on legs'
Please, re-educate me if I'm wrong though! :D
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Can't women playing at home have a character with a deep, well rounded personality, interesting traits, useful skills and an attractive physique?
You might not like it, Sarras, but you make your choices - let other people make theirs
The thing is there, that's not a choice. Choice implies taking something at the expense of something else, what you're suggesting is people take everything and make the god-character with no flaws.
The prime example of this is Kaerli (yes, I'm going to blatently state a character. No point skirting around it). She's basically the strongest character in all of Yliakum, even stronger than the gods, a master of magic. Wears full armor, carries over 9000 weapons and still "looks surprisingly pretty"? No, she doesn't. She looks like this:
http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs17/f/2007/195/3/2/angry_muscle_women_by_xbgmusf.jpg
RP is only fun IMHO if you give your character some flaws. You can't have everything, that's no challenge to yourself, and also not fun.
But meh, I simply don't RP with Kaerli, because it's flat-out boring. If people find it fun to, it's their own prerogative.
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ROFL Timmothy...
@ Ceraline: I'm not really sure I do understand what do you mean, but I will try to reply none the less (and make my point clear ;) mostly using my main character as an example (which doesn't mean it's an example to follow, just how do I deal with it and an easy way for me to put it down).
However equally unusual is finding people wearing the same clothes and adornments, day in and day out, no matter what their environment. I guess we should not always point at the nearest dwarf for the strange odours :D.
That's why I don't describe blouse and skirt in detail and remark she usually wears them, nobody said they are the same blouse and the same skirt every day. ;)
Besides that, it's usually handy to have a "Current status" bit in a description to include things that are happening at the time other chars see yours. If you check in events or any other parties, Lhaa is almost always wearing a gown instead of her usual garments (forget now what mechanics allow you to do now, this will likely change in the future and maybe we will no longer need to write it down).
You can also use this to explain that your character is carrying a heavy bag, or has a bruised eye, whatever.
Whilst it is correct that I should not see you brandishing your weapon in public, the only people who will know your favoured weapon are people who already know you or have seen you fight. Unless I am put into a situation or intend seeing your weapon in action I have no real interest in knowing about it in any detail. This can be easily catered for with a simple shortcut whenever you brandish the weapon, rather than in the description.
Not really. Any character should easily be able to tell Lhaa carries a couple of galkards (unless it's a blind one ;), but you could be next to my char for days, weeks, maybe months, and you would never see her unsheath them. So unless I include her belt and sheathes in the description there is no way you would know she carries them so obviously.
However it is not my intention to criticise anyone in particular for employing such descriptions though be aware that any long and over-elaborate description can be equally as tedious and irrelevant to read for others as you may find character backgrounds.
That's a good point, and I'm probably guilty of making a too long description for some of my characters. I sometimes find myself skimming through a long description myself and trying to find where the relevant things are. But that mostly happens when I'm too busy typing to read it. Sometimes I have nothing better to do to go around checking people's descriptions and I enjoy reading them no matter how long they are.
But it's not that I find character backgrounds tedious to read. I just think the description is not the place to put them in. First, because there is no way my character will know any of this thus yes, for me it's irrelevant when it comes to playing. Second, it's much better to read one here or in a guild forum, where it can be expanded far better than in the small description window and made a good read. See this thread for a good example: Zephan and Calluna's tale (http://www.hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=35858.0).
I still don't understand why a lifestory is better for you but let me go back to the bruise example above to try to explain why I (we?) don't think it is.
Let's say your character got in a bar brawl the last night because somebody spilt his/her/kras drink. He/she/kra was smacked and got that bruised eye and you include it in your "current status" bit of the description.
Now, why would you want to tell people there that the bruise came from a tavern brawl when a drink was spilt? There is no way any character would know where's it come from (unless they were witnessing it) and they could think it's because of any other reason like I don't know, having falled down a staircase, having a very possessive husband (or wife :p), a brothers fight, a fight for a man/woman, etc. What's good of cutting down people's imagination (thus almost unavoidably narrowing the character's one) telling them where did the bruise come from?
You can try to do this and see how do other characters react to it. The ones who care for your character will ask what happened. Some others (like your character sounded like) will shy away, some others will simply ignore it. You can get plenty of different reactions from this other than the "Who split your drink last night?" you expect or nothing at all.
About the 20 questions thing, there is no need of that. You can talk to somebody for hours and get to know nothing about their past or their lives other than their superficial personality. You aren't forced to have a curious character, shying away from people is just as legit as running to them eagerly as long as that fits your character. But to find out if a character is the type of person your char would hang out with, your char needs to interact with it first, be it by watching him/her/kra or by talking. And I'm sure you can tell what kind of person is it after the first 10 lines, even if there is none of the 20 questions involved or a long background story that tells nothing to your character about the person it is in front of.
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On female characters something similiar to this is common, "Her features are perfect" or "without flaws".
I await the "her body is curvacious" followed by "whilst her rump booty-licious".
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As for the main reason why I don't even read a description that has a story in it; it simply spoils my fun.
I don't want to read whatever somebody has done in the past, I'd rather interact with that character and have my own character find out before I know what do I have to ask for to get it out of him/her/kra. It's taking chances of RP from me, thus I dismiss whatever says there and go ahead with my ignorance.
If the concept of background stories in description was to take over other areas of the game we'd probably stop roleplaying at all and come to the forums to write. In the end, why play the character at all if you can just explain people whatever you want to? There is no need for interaction, and is much easier to grind IG while you write here than to stop grinding to roleplay. ;)
i disagree with this personally but well to anyone his choice so just put the story on the end making it visible and the problem is solved. plus next release will have two additional tabs ooc and cc. one is for ooc info so we can remove them from the main description and one is specifically for the char creation data, additional events you want to add about your life and description based on factions. note this last tab appears only with nature intuition
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Nice, Weltall. Good job on that. It will be interesting on how that plays out.
At one time there was talk about having a limited character count "Physical Description" tab and then an unlimited background tab. Was this the method they went with? If the first is not limited, then people will just toss everything in there anyways.
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Well, Sarras, I wouldn't say I was a self-conscious women, but I am prepared to admit when I'm clueless ::|
I thought you were showing your dislike of female characters physical descriptions which could be summed up as 'cleavage on legs'
Please, re-educate me if I'm wrong though! :D
well, like Timmothy said, there are the god-characters.
there are also those female characters with painfully long descriptions all about their "see-through tops", "firm perky breasts," "tight round butt" and etc. paragraphs and paragraphs I can't be bothered to read. and I know their excuses are "just being creative" when really it's quite obvious what they want. X-/
it's all right if they just give a short, sentence long description of how attractive their characters are.... because then I don't have to scroll through a bunch of pointless text. I'm not interested in your bewbies, I'm interested in whether you're capable of robbing me or something more important
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it's all right if they just give a short, sentence long description of how attractive their characters are....
I'm reminded of the characters from the "House of Lust". Their descriptions were solely, "Wearing just panties and a sexy bra only!!!"
Ah, they were fun.
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As an example of a decent description, I will post my own.
"This Kran's eyes are a deep green, contrasting with the sandstone red skin. A horned helmet covers the boulder-like head. The Kran's torso and legs are covered in plate, while the arms are uncovered. The arms are engraved with two crossed swords each. Kra is smiling, while looking wary of the surroundings."
I give specific details of features, armaments and markings.
The engravings or tattoos on the arms signify his membership to a guild, but I dont reveal that as that would be impossible to know unless the person previously knew two crossed swords was that guild's insignia.
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there are also those female characters with painfully long descriptions all about their "see-through tops", "firm perky breasts," "tight round butt" and etc. paragraphs and paragraphs I can't be bothered to read. and I know their excuses are "just being creative" when really it's quite obvious what they want. X-/
it's all right if they just give a short, sentence long description of how attractive their characters are.... because then I don't have to scroll through a bunch of pointless text. I'm not interested in your bewbies, I'm interested in whether you're capable of robbing me or something more important
Well consider me re-educated! :)
These wanton women trick me into reading paragraphs about their physique so that my character is 'staring' at their well rounded bodies. You're right! They may well be skanks. :innocent:
My personal gripe is the descriptions which include their mothers profession, religion, childhood events and so on. I'm fairly sure my character couldn't tell any of this from meeting them in the tavern for two minutes.
Hmmm.......Maybe they get T-shirts made up : "My parents were eaten by ulbernauts and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" ;D
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Nice, Weltall. Good job on that. It will be interesting on how that plays out.
At one time there was talk about having a limited character count "Physical Description" tab and then an unlimited background tab. Was this the method they went with? If the first is not limited, then people will just toss everything in there anyways.
a possibility could be enforcing it but don't consider this as a commitment or w/e just an idea thrown there. in any case i can't ask a computer to understand that one is a physical description and one is a background :)
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I meant limited as in the number of characters they can put in. Like a limit of 1000 characters or some such. Even if they do put in OOC and background stuff, then it will not be a ton of reading.
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I’m afraid Lhaa and others clearly did miss my point. I was questioning why people thought that their physical descriptions alone made for good role play. In truth, I should know better on these forums than to use examples to demonstrate how even such descriptions can be weak I did, as people tend to react subjectively on each item rather than see the more general issue… making the items themselves the focus of discussion.
I will try to put the point more subtly. There are numerous versions of enacting role plays and numerous ways to perform them, and I’m sure many here have participated in other variations than just PS. All depend on good character definition at the start, but how much other people know about that character depends on how you wish to develop the roleplay. This can vary between 2 extremes of scene setting, open and closed, though most fall somewhere in between.
In the open environment everyone will know something about each other. An example would be a close knit community where you have grown up and hence know something about most people, from your peers to your teachers, traders etc. In the closed you will know nothing, such as for a complete stranger entering a large sprawling city on their first day.
The medieval world would have tended toward the more open environment as most people stayed within their communities, knowing much of neighbouring communities, regular visitors etc. Even strangers would have been quickly assimilated, if friendly enough, and soon become part of the gossip and rumour chain. If I took Lhaa’s example of the bar brawl the knowledge and details of such an occurrence would spread very quickly. I know that in my own environment I find out about any such disturbance very quickly the next day from neighbours or people at the shops, long before I see someone covered with bruises.
By restricting descriptions to only what you see pushes this game toward the more closed scene of the stranger lost in the cold sprawling city. This is fine for those already established as they can go about their role plays with their existing acquaintances occasionally inviting others they feel safe about. Even introducing new characters they will target those they already know. What about the newcomer? How many of you in RL would walk up to a stranger in a dark corner of a bar clearly carrying weapons and who is covered in bruises, scars and strange adornments or markings? Or are you more likely to walk up to someone and say “ Don’t I recognise you from XXX?” (only to be rudely told that information is OOC!). I’ll let you decide which is the more realistic.
The choice to adopt the more closed approach of no character background is precisely that, a choice, it is not because it is the only or better way of role play. Nor does the more open scenario make the role play any less imaginative though it can allow it to develop more quickly (e.g. as you are not slowed down by the detective work) and be more inviting to others (by increasing the opportunity for conversation). There is no reason that both approaches cannot be used with those preferring to be open using some background (but not too verbose), while those wishing to be more secretive having none. Good role players are able to discern what information they should and should not know without ignoring it completely if there is relevance (and yes, people will be rude and say read my description, just as others can be rude when telling you you’re OOC).
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@ Ceraline:
I was surprised to have put specific, settings related details into a description of one of my chars, and hardly ever been contacted by anyone else about them. I even started acting strange with him to make people curious, lead them to look at my description, and hardly got any reaction... (e.g. noone ever told my char not to run around so publicly with that kind of tattoo; at least a few I asked in tells recognised it OOC).
And now I read here that people discuss so much about rather unimportant details (like body part sizes) regarding the (mental) characters of the characters (avatars).
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Are you saying having boobs the size of exercise balls is unimportant?
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Are you saying having boobs the size of exercise balls is unimportant?
I'd just like to say that, no matter their importance, I think it would be very painful. X-/
But uh, as for descriptions.. I usually stick purely to what ones senses would tell you. As in sight, sound... etc.
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@ Timmeh:
You as "teh macho" will surely know why women can't be both attractive and intelligent... but well, a match to your level of maturity will exist. ;)
Remember that PlaneShift, the forum and the IRC channels, are publicly accessible - even to minors. It may be advisable to talk about physical traits in a not as obvious and obscene style as you may prefer...
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Are you saying having boobs the size of exercise balls is unimportant?
Kran "women" (as they are played at times) dont have breasts, they have steel pecs from benching a house :thumbdown:. Since you enjoy this kind of thing, head over to gurgontid Timmy.
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Oh yay, another thread telling people how they must play PlaneShift.
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Oh yay, another thread telling people how they must play PlaneShift.
This is a guideline, based off the rules of Planeshift on descriptions. Its posted here for other players to see. Get over yourself :'(. Noyone is handing down self-imposed truths they are simply the rules.
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So why the re-posting in your own words? I'm pretty sure that all players of PlaneShift are intelligent enough to read the news section, and in the event that they aren't, a GM can direct them to it.
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@ Akkaido:
There are a few mandatory rules set up by the project leaders which are enforced by the GMs. They are the rules which tell people how PlaneShift must be played or a player may be banned if ignoring them on purpose.
1) They are similar to an EULA and related to common rules of behaviour (like the Netiquette).
2) They had to be defined due to reasons...
3) They should be no burden to all people who were raised to be polite and cooperative.
If players are intelligent enough to be able to read such rules and agree to them, is one question. Another question is if they decide to do so. Unfortunately, not all do.
Pessimists may tell us now how senseless it is to post another thread about a topic, because those few would not be willing to read this one as well.
I don't care about those few pessimists and those few nuisances. I do it for all the others.
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My point is that the players know all this already, and I see no point in yet another discussion thread.
It's the GMs problem to sort, not ours. Most of the players who have long annoying descriptions probably don't read the forums.
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My point is that the players know all this already, and I see no point in yet another discussion thread.
It's the GMs problem to sort, not ours. Most of the players who have long annoying descriptions probably don't read the forums.
Not all players do know this, and I believe the topic is helpful for some who have read it.
I know that the topic has had positive impact, several of my friends changed their descriptions to be more fitting to the IC rules and their respective roleplays.
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bump