MYCHAR

06:01 PMCategory Role-Playing (4)
Topic Thoughts on Role-Playing (4)
By SIMU-MELISSA from PLAY.NET
On Mar 1, 2002 at 17:27
Subject Quiet Roleplaying (Solution?) (18733)

I've spent a lot of time in the last few months reviewing these boards and listening to opinions about roleplaying events, large and small. One thing that struck me was the plight of the quiet roleplayer (or the loud roleplayer who has a quiet rp moment, for that matter.)

When GMs are in the middle of events, they tend to spend a lot of time with the noisy folks. They NEED reactions to work from, and so if someone walks out of the room, they assume that the person is not interested, and they go look for someone else.

Of course, the problem is that this person may very well be roleplaying their character perfectly by turning a cold shoulder. But the GM has had little chance of understanding this in the past.

There are so many elements of roleplaying that we can't really express because they are quiet. Personal thoughts, personal feelings ... the simple act of being still is a roleplaying action. But how to tell the difference between actively being silent, and disinterest?

In a tabletop roleplaying situation, a lot of this is communicated with subtext. ("Uh, Mike, my gnome, Pooble, isn't interested in the lute, but he's very absorbed in the wooden button the kobold has sewn to his jacket. WHile the others take their loot he's going to try and think of a way to get that button.")

Additionally, sometimes it would be nice to have your character think a though to him or herself, without having to talk out loud and have everyone think he or she was a nutcase.

So, we created a new verb. It's called MYCHAR. Here's the usage information:

============

The MYCHAR verb will allow you to express to GameMasters details about your character. This information will be seen by GMs only. It works just like the ACTION verb. Some examples are:

MYCHAR is terrified of snakes and would not willingly enter this snakepit.
MYCHAR would never put an axe to a tree.
MYCHAR 's lust for battle interferes with the need for calm thinking at this time.

There is also a THINKS option which will let the GMs see what your character is thinking. Some examples are:

MYCHAR THINKS Why in the world did I join this loony sorcerer?
MYCHAR THINKS I wonder if that moving company clerk is single...
MYCHAR THINKS Dwarves are such dunderheads!

===========

Give MYCHAR a try. It could be useful both in major event situations, and when you're alone ... providing more texture and depth to your rp experience ... in a quiet and subtle way.

... and let me know what you think.

Melissa

* I think THEY would throw me in the nearest padded cell if they could "read" MY thoughts!

Summer reg

11:06 AMWow! I think this is a great idea. My only concern is that they will need to train the GMS on speed reading courses to handle the large group situations...

But I think this will add a lot to the RPing with a GM situation, and perhaps let some of us quiet folk who don't play rampant extroverts or the more unique characters stand out a bit.

Nice move in the right direction, Melissa.

Aerienne, who will be glad not to hear Summer's thoughts since she isn't a GM...hehe reg

01:49 PMFunny, Aerie!

The first thing I thought of when I read this announcement was that MAYBE it would cut down on some of the "brown nosing" that goes on at merchant events. Maybe certain merchant hounds will be concentrating on their "thoughts" and not be quite as annoying.

Summer reg

01:57 PMI'm thinking it will let some of the true RPers who have more normal characters stand out.

And you are dreaming if you think that the brownnosers will stop...hehe

I think this is too quiet and subtle for them....

Aerienne reg

03:30 PMGMs are speed readers! You should see the volume of stuff that goes by on a GM screen sometimes.

Well, more precisely, they are speed scanners... its impossible to play these games without putting your eyes in scan mode rather than read mode.

-- David
reg

03:57 PMThat gave me a flashback of the old days back on AOL when I was on a Mac, and there were no highlight texts and Aerie was standing in TSC waiting for massies....My eyeballs were peeled for names I knew, my own included, and trying to figure out who to join in the 2 seconds that a line would remain on my screen.

::shudders::

It's amazing how much has been accomplished since those days.

Aerienne

reg

10:21 AMI'm curious as to whether anyone has implemented this verb into their roleplaying.

After thinking about the verb a bit, I was starting to wonder what the excitement was all about. You're letting GMs hear your thoughts? Isn't that a bit odd? GMs are telepathic now? Psychic that they can see what your character's motives are? I don't see how this promotes roleplaying because you're allowing yourself to be dormant to the other characters and only active to the GM's. Doesn't compute.

I've love to hear feedback on this. I just find it curious as to how you can "test" this verb out when only GMs can see the statements and thoughts.

------------------
Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. reg

02:22 PMThey arn't GM's in gemstone, they are GODS in gemstone. Of course they can hear our thoughts. In real life God can hear our thoughts, so how is this any different.

<mutter> reg

07:26 AMActually..In Gemstone gm's don't exist. I never heard of anyone warshiping <insert gm name here> or a god named <insert gm name>

If you do mention their name in game and they catch it I heard that bad things happened..I seen a log of someone mentioning the name to his friend and he got struck by a bolt of lightning.

Too get back on topic..I think the Mychar will help out alot. Not really with me..Perhaps with my pale dark elf but we'll see.

[This message has been edited by Zentoph (edited 04-03-2002).] reg

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