All on our lonesome

[Adhira]

I thought I'd take the opportunity to give praise to all those people playing late in the off peak hours.  As it's a habit of mine to prowl around when only ten, eight, sometimes four people are around, I often end up watching everyone.

Recently I've noticed a greater effort from most people to immerse themselves in roleplay. My monitor has been scrolling with emotes, thinks and conversations, whether done solo, to npcs or to other pcs.  It's great to see people getting out there and interacting with the world instead of idling their time away in a corner somewhere, or hidden in a room.

For all those folk who log on, do a 'who' then log off, if you've got the time stick around a little, perhaps you'll find that interaction you were hoping for is just a few more minutes wait away.

- Kudos to all of you.  

Adhira

[wizturbo]

I hope you don't watch too closely!  Eek!  *runs off covering his private parts*

:-p

[Adhira]

Addendum:   Except for Wizturbo - I never watch him.   :twisted:

[wizturbo]

Addendum:   Except for Wizturbo - I never watch him.   :twisted:

Somehow I don't believe you.... *squints*

[Praetorian]

Least it wasn't me, I'm just a bump on a log.

I have an auto-trigger set up to just log in, type who, and log out.  WHAM! Blink of an eye, I'm there and gone...who was that!  Nobody knows!  Just a figment of your imagination...

[Revanael the Kank]

Hasn't seemed at all busy at any time I logged in yesterday - but then, I suppose UK times aren't the best times to be on...

Someone tell a poor newbie when things get busy?

[Akaramu]

I must be pretty boring to watch, I dont enioy solo RP and I doubt I ever will.

Revanael, things start getting busy from about 7 PM GMT onwards, and on weekends, GMT mornings are often bustling with activity as well.  

[Anael]

Yea, I guess I've been pretty boring too... Thanks for reminding me I should dust my crappy soloing skills, Adhira.

[Anonymous]

There's a lot of you "A"'s...

Mornings would work, if I wasn't such a lazy student... Ah well, evenings it is.

[pot_of_stew]

You know I used to hate solo rping. It kills my brainjuice cuz I need to think of so much wonderous emotes. But recently I seem to be getting more and more addicted to it....I"M A FREAK! *cries*

[Ghost]

I don't play off peak anymore.  I stay late (like from my 00:00 to 5:30 Am in the morning) to catch the peak hours.  I would be boring and confusing to watch anyway.

[amoeba]

I've had some of my best moments on arm when there were very few people on.  All you need is one or two good roleplayers at the right time, and the right situation and it can be a  blast. One shouldn't let the user count determine if you are going to play.  You may miss that great arm moment.  As for solo roleplay, there I times I love doing it, other times I hate it with a passion, depends on my mood, and how tired I am.

[Adhira]

As an aside - I totally understand that solo RP isn't everyone's cup of tea. There are times when I just can't bear to do it myself.

What I've noticed is that those few folk that are on are out there doing things, meeting other people, getting involved. Great to see, I just wanted to give you all props as, from experience, I know what playing with an empty 'who' count can be like.

When I do see people sipping mint tea in the Ghaati, or cursing about the long wait at the Salarri tailors, those are the times I like to jump right in and play along.

[Swordsman]

You know, there are always those who complain about solo role-playing being dead boring and those who complain about clans being too restrictive ... I was just thinking that maybe the mark of a 'true' role-player is that he/she can have fun role-playing regardless of the circumstances (number of other players logged in, number of other PCs in immediate vicinity, presence or absence of imm attention, etc.). I use 'true' hesitantly because it usually suggests that everything else is false or inferior in some way, which is not what I'm meaning here.

Let me put it another way: I enjoy RP much more when other people are around, but over the years I've learned to have fun with solo RP, too. In fact, nowadays, sometimes I prefer it because it gives you a lot more freedom to role-play (still realistically within the game context) but without having that worry of wanting to help entertain others, too. Hmmm, maybe a better analogy is this: you can play a musical instrument to entertain other people, but sometimes it's more enjoyable to just play it with only yourself listening ... you don't have to worry about making mistakes because you're caught up more in the emotion of the music than in technical issues like not making a mistake.

What I'm trying to say is that, for anyone out there who automatically scoffs at the idea of solo RP ever being fun, please don't ... you might find, later on, that you were missing out on some great moments of immersive imagination on our beloved desert world.

Swordsman

[lazycritic]

I was just thinking that maybe the mark of a 'true' role-player is that he/she can have fun role-playing regardless of the circumstances (number of other players logged in, number of other PCs in immediate vicinity, presence or absence of imm attention, etc.)

Hi, I'm True Roleplayer. I always have fun playing with myself. :wink:

[Zharal]

Sands, thats when I do all my dirty work..

[The Dude]

Hmmm, maybe a better analogy is this: you can play a musical instrument to entertain other people, but sometimes it's more enjoyable to just play it with only yourself listening ... you don't have to worry about making mistakes because you're caught up more in the emotion of the music than in technical issues like not making a mistake.

I like the idea behind this thought, Swordsman. But I can't entirely agree with it.

Wouldn't it really be something for you to be playing your instrument alone only to realize that you have a record executive or the frontman from your favorite band standing right outside your window? How about if they're always - or could always be - walking right by it?

The presence or the possibility of the all-knowing, all-seeing Immortal staff being present kinda removes this element for me. Truth be told, I'm insecure by nature (something I rarely admit), and Arm can be stressful some days because I'm trying so hard to play my characters well. When I -know- an Immortal is there I even feel a bit jarred sometimes. It kinda bothers me just thinking about it - that I could always be being watched and caught in a bad moment.

But I, like others I'm sure, reach certain levels of comfortability with our given characters. The further I manage to sink into place with my character, the more these feelings of insecurity disappear and the more they're replaced with the feeling behind whatever my fingers are busily hammering out - no matter who's there to see it or not.

[Faded_Grace]

Personally I find solo roleplaying to be a valuable tool in forming your character's conclusions about the world. It is often in those "non-peak hours" that I can really jump into the mind of my character and form their perceptions about life. In this way, without interference from other roleplayers, it gives me the chance to really flesh out a character concept that enables me to more aptly adapt to the world when there -are- other people on. Making sense?

Eh, I've always loved solo rp. Call me a xenophobe if you will, but it can be just as fun and entertaining as a mad powergaming session during peak hours.

That might just be me too.

[Larrath]

"Solo rp" doesn't make anyone any better or worse a roleplayer.
That's it.  You can emote and describe how your dull, one-dimensional character is picking his nose as much as you like, that still won't make you better than the involving three-dimensional character that's currently idling only to spring to life as soon as anyone was to contact or enter the room he's in.

Roleplaying is about playing a role.  A good roleplayer plays a role well, regardless of whether they seem to freeze as soon as they're left alone.

Solo roleplay is an excellent thing to do, but don't get elitist about it.  It's more important to me that you roleplay well when I can see you.

[Revelations]

Well, would the immortal who might be watching really care if you're sitting there idling?  :wink:  
(Not a retorical question.   )

And if you don't care what the immortals think, what do you think about doing nothing? Is it fun for you to idle in a tavern?

Personally, I don't think there's a reason why people shouldn't solo rp unless it's not fun for them, and I also believe that idling isn't taking advantage of the fact that Armageddon is a game, and should be spent having fun doing things that you would like to do. If you're bored, or like twinking (not playing IC), then Armageddon isn't the right game for you at the moment.  

Shouldn't you solo rp because your having fun, and not because of karma or what an immortal might think of you? (although it's a good motivator)

(I forget the reason for posting this.   )

[Larrath]

If solo rp isn't fun for someone, then there is no need for them to solo rp.  It doesn't make anyone any more or less fit for playing Armageddon.
The staff forms its own opinions.  They might care about you solo rping, or they might not.  If you really want to see what the staff thinks, you can send an email and ask to see your account notes.

Finally, solo rping or doing anything at all for karma is very silly.  Having mul karma doesn't mean that you are going to play any role better than that guy without any karma at all.  Having sorcerer karma doesn't mean you've beat the game, either.


Down with the stupid elitism.  You can fill screens over screens of scroll with your thinks or emotes if that's what makes you happy.  Others can sit and wait for people to come in.  As long as both characters are equally fleshed out and interesting and realistic, I don't think that the difference is all that big.

[Angela Christine]

Eh, I've always loved solo rp. Call me a xenophobe if you will,

Solo players aren't called xenophobes, they're called masturbators.    Personally I was disapointed to hear that "mastubary roleplay" doesn't actually mean roleplaying masturbation.


Anyway, I'm glad to see non-peak players are having fun.


AC

[The Anonymousness]

I am. ^_^ I've become completely infatuated with Arm (even though I've pnly been playing tow days), and have spent those two nights running around the off-peak hours like I owns them bitches.

Which, if I don't know, I'll make sure to stop off at the pens later and finalise the purchase.  :twisted:

[Maybe42or54]

I like to people watch.

[Anonymous]

When did anyone say that solo rp in and of itself made you a better roleplayer, or an elitist? I certainly don't think so, but I have been wrong before. You can be an elitist and a roleplayer and still not make use of sole rp at all. It's just a preference for most people.

I still stand by my opinion, though. Solo rp -does- help flesh your characters out, just as rp at peak hours helps flesh your characters out. Let me explain. From an OOC standpoint, players have more of a chance to interact with the world and play to the beat of the their own drum, so to speak, because other people aren't around to fuss about the beat. I don't mean this is a viable alternative to roleplaying with others - it certainly isn't - but it gives you more opportunity to show your character's colors when you really know how they'll react to any given situation. Solo rp helps hone that sense of knowing how your character will react because you've been spending hours doing nothing but solo rping their thoughts out in their head, and emoting as an extension of that. (As a sidenote, I don't consider spam emoting 'em picks his nose' to be anything remotely bordering solo rp except in the very loosest sense of the word.) That said, I don't believe in going idle at the helm except for very good reasons. To me it's like just suddenly phasing out of existence in the middle of a crowded bar - now wouldn't it be freaky if someone sitting next to you just suddenly went still and quiet and didn't move again for two-and-a-half hours? Yeah, thought so.

This is not to say that people -have- to solo rp in order to have a firm grasp on their their characters. I'm sure there are people out there who hardly solo rp if ever and have a much firmer grasp on their character concept than I do on mine. But it works for me, so I do it in conjunction with "regular rp", and that's that. My point (yes, I have one... sorta) is that solo rp, when it presents itself, should be a valuable tool in learning how your character copes with the world, just as "regular rp" is a valuable tool in doing much the same.

(And don't you dare bash on mastubatory roleplaying - it's all the fire!)

[Faded_Grace]

Crap! I forgot to log in again. That's me right up there... Any idea why after checking that silly "log me in automatically" boy, I still post as Anonymous Kank until I manually log into my account? Blah.

[skeetdaddle]

Nicely put, Faded_Grace as Anon Kank.....I agree. I personally feel that if you can't solo-rp 'cause it bores you to tears, then you -aren't- a great rp-er. In the real world people don't just stop thinking, touching, moving, feeling, playing, acting, when no one else is around. Even if it's role-playing out settling down for a nap, so you can go idle for a while, rp it, damn it! But hey, that's just me....but I do agree with you Grace, 100% that it can be an awesome tool for fleshing out a character. I think anyone who -can't- see that will never be as good a rp-er as someone who makes the effort to explore the depths of their character on their own.

[Larrath]

I personally feel that if you can't solo-rp 'cause it bores you to tears, then you -aren't- a great rp-er.
...
I think anyone who -can't- see that will never be as good a rp-er as someone who makes the effort to explore the depths of their character on their own.

This is exactly the notion that I'm speaking against.

"Solo roleplay", and by this I refer strictly to emoting with the environment when you are completely alone in a room somewhere, is a good option that everyone should make an effort to do simply because it's cool.  It's good practice for emoting and interacting and reacting with others, it can help the character plan something more realistically or purely better, or just think things over.  Or they could invent a loose relationship with an NPC or VNPC (inner jokes, for instance), or some bored staffer might decide to jump into someone nearby and start animating, which is cool.

Solo roleplay is also ungodly dull if it gets too repetitive.  It's a lot of fun to just emote carving that first ring with your jeweler, but give it 50 days of playtime later and crafting the same ring just won't be as much fun.  Same goes for House Guards/Bynners and training drills.  It's fun the first five times, and then it usually gets boring.

The biggest misconception here is that a player that doesn't/rarely play solo doesn't care about fleshing out their PCs as much.  I can see how people might think this, but it's actually quite baseless.  There are plenty of players out there who do not do solo play but still make interesting, deep and realistic characters.

Finally, I'm not saying that all solo-roleplayers are elitist.  I'm simply saying that skeetdaddle's position, which is essentially "if you don't solo-rp then you can't possibly be a very good roleplayer", is elitist as well as wrong.

[skeetdaddle]

Few things here:

Firstly: I never said you couldn't be good without solo-rp. I said you couldn't be -great-. I made the distinct clarification in my post, because there is a difference. (imo, at least.) Lots of people are good. Few are great. Solo-rp will help you get there. It's not a garauntee, however, of greatness by any means. I solo-rp plenty, but consider myself to be only a reasonably decent rp-er. I know I've seen better.

I guess I'm more irked that some people won't even give it a try, or won't do it ever. I don't blame anyone for gettin' bored eventually from solo-rping. It can be dull. However I think it says something about the desire of the player to be a good rp-er if they're willing to do it every now and then. It shows they can react to their environment IC and maintain a personality at the same time. That they have a desire to explore the character's thoughts a bit more. Sometimes when we're all alone is when we make stunning realizations that couldn't have been made with others around. It just seems like something you should be okay with doing if you -truly- want to be a great rp-er.

Also. Please remember that this is just my opinion. Nothing more or less.

I would also place a bet that some of the greatest rp-ers on Arm -do- solo-rp occasionally. Let the facts speak the truth of this matter, not me, or Larrath.

[Faded_Grace]

While I think both skeetdaddle and Larrath bring interesting arguments to the table here in terms of what comprises a good roleplayer, I must say that I am somewhat partial. I myself am not impressed by anyone who powergames like a trekkie on a gallon-and-a-half of super-caffeinated coffee when the playerbase is loaded (i.e., during peak times) and then suddenly lapses off into a standing-up coma while contributing neither thinks nor emotes when no one's looking. Look up one of the standards of Armageddon: roleplaying is crucial. Should it matter that no one's looking to actually -see- you emoting or thinking? Fuck no.

My credo is simply this, at least in terms of MUDding: if you don't feel like contributing anything to the virtual environment, then don't bother logging on at that particular time. I can understand it from the perspective of someone who does do these things, but every so often just feels like sitting back and being lazy. But -no- solo rp? Ever? C'mon...

From an IC perspective (which I neglected to include in my prior post), solo rp allows your character to keep his thoughts fresh, his motives up-to-date, and his mental reasoning skills in peak condition. If you, as a person, don't have time to sit back when no one is around and reflect on the past few days of your life and that really bad fight you just had with your boyfriend, then chances are good that you're just narcoleptic and don't have time for such things, or dead. People do these things. And so should characters - they are people too, and they think and breathe and move,  even when no one's around. Shocker there.

Now, does solo rp make a you a "great" or even marginally better roleplayer? Probably not, since you can do exactly the same thing with a roomful of PCs and still succeed without ever being by yourself and thinking, "Heh, I should think about the last few days." But it is more  realistic.

Anywho, I'm pretty much out of steam now. But on one last sidenote, I don't think it should matter whether players are "great" roleplayers, "good" roleplayers, or totally lame-ass "bad" roleplayers. Let's just be roleplayers, and play fucking roles. All the time. Even when no one's looking. Even IMMs who, as everyone knows, just like to eat gray matter.

[amoeba]

I never said you couldn't be good without solo-rp. I said you couldn't be -great-.

The problem I have with a statement such as this is that is -highly- subjective.  Exactlly what -is- great? And don't use a circular arguement such as one who solo roleplays.  While it is true that people who are "great" roleplayers solo roleplay at some point, I would venture that -most- people solo roleplay at some point or another.  This type of argument can easily go around in circles and prove nothing.   You would also have a very hard time telling if  a person's solo roplaying really does help them out or not because, well it's solo and you are not there.  To leap to the conclusion that a person couldn't be "great", whatever that is, without solo rolplaying is a bit of a stretch.

[Akaramu]

I guess I'm more irked that some people won't even give it a try, or won't do it ever. I don't blame anyone for gettin' bored eventually from solo-rping. It can be dull. However I think it says something about the desire of the player to be a good rp-er if they're willing to do it every now and then. It shows they can react to their environment IC and maintain a personality at the same time. That they have a desire to explore the character's thoughts a bit more.

Whoa. Here we go.

Firstly, why does it 'irk' you that there are people who dont like solo rp? It does not affect you or your game in any way. How can it possibly bother you if it does not affect you, and chances are you wontnt see it either way because it is solo rp?

Secondly, I dont understand how solo RP says something about a player's desire to be anything, such as a good roleplayer.

Perhaps there are players who are not native english speakers, and solo RP feels like work, or like writing an essay at school to them? Maybe they dont want to feel they are working, or that they are at school when they log in to play a game.

Perhaps there are players who only have 2 hours of free time a day and would rather invest it in something that is more entertaining to them than playing out something they already know about their character where no one sees it.

Why do you think someone who does not enjoy solo RP is less able to react to their environment and maintain a personality than those who do? Perhaps some players prefer to develop their characters through interaction with others, or by thinking about them in RL rather than typing it out.

As for exploring a character's thoughts, again, some players might prefer to use thinks while interacting with NPCs or other PCs. Or they think it out in RL and implement it into play later.

I fail to see the difference in quality of roleplay.

[Adhira]

The thread has gone off on a tangent.

For myself, I meant this as a commentary to the off-peakers who were out there playing.

Not all of it was solo-rp, and not constant, yes, people do idle. However, solo-rp is a choice, there are many reasons to do this, many reasons not to do this.

It's all up to the individual.