All on our lonesome

[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.