Yay for newbies

[Selie]

...and I say that because I am one. A little intimidated because the emote system is complicated and I don't want to just get by - I insist on trying to do cool things with my emotes, which makes me a slow player. I've had conversations slip by me because I'm slow, which is sad, but I'll get used to it. In the meantime, this is a blanket-statement apology to any of you who might encounter my character while I'm still slow.

I keep reading the helpfiles and BBS posts to try to get up my courage to actually play the game again. It's a cool world but it's extraordinarily different from the sort of thing I usually go for (I'm one of those "here for the gamestyle, not the setting" people, I guess) and I'm afraid I'm going to piss people off somehow. I already had problems with mistaken identities, but I think I can figure out who's a gemmer, who's an elf, and who's a noble/templar now. Wow, I'm good. *flex*

Now, my real problem is how to come up with a unique character voice. If I start my character off sounding kind of generic, and eventually settle into a sort of "groove", is that okay? I'm notoriously bad with accents but I'd kind of like to give one a try; I just feel like I need to get to know my character better before I can know how my character speaks. Is a little flexibility allowed so I can shift my character's mannerisms until I'm satisfied? I do this with tabletop roleplaying, but MUDs are generally more particular with the rules.

I also have to state that I LOVE the think command SO MUCH. I've played on RP-optional MUDs and I actually had my character talk out loud, to herself, to establish what she was thinking. I'm sure you can tell by now that I'm quite verbose. I talk too much. My characters tend to talk too much, too. The think feature lets me put some of that talking into a nice, neat little package that WON'T bother my fellow players! Huzzah!

Anyway, hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Here's hoping I don't die in a week. I intentionally designed a character that would allow me to learn as much about the world as I can manage, so I'm hoping to keep this one around at LEAST long enough to learn.

[Marauder Moe]

A little intimidated because the emote system is complicated and I don't want to just get by - I insist on trying to do cool things with my emotes, which makes me a slow player.

Learn this  page in the help files and write down the little table on a sticky note to paste on your monitor.  I have one stuck to the corner of mine.

I already had problems with mistaken identities, but I think I can figure out who's a gemmer, who's an elf, and who's a noble/templar now. Wow, I'm good. *flex*

Believe me, this happens to just about EVERYBODY.  First time one of my characters met a templar he almost ended up as arena fodder.  First time one met a merchant family member, he bowed.  First time one met a noble, he had half a conversation before being told what she was.

Now, my real problem is how to come up with a unique character voice. If I start my character off sounding kind of generic, and eventually settle into a sort of "groove", is that okay? I'm notoriously bad with accents but I'd kind of like to give one a try; I just feel like I need to get to know my character better before I can know how my character speaks. Is a little flexibility allowed so I can shift my character's mannerisms until I'm satisfied? I do this with tabletop roleplaying, but MUDs are generally more particular with the rules.

That all sounds perfectly fine to me.  There's nothing wrong with having your first few characters fluctuate a bit as you get used to the game.  Even with later characters, there's nothing wrong with change and development.  In fact, it's encouraged as it makes characters dynamic and more realistic.

Seems like you're off to a good start.  Welcome to Armageddon!

[amoeba]

...and I say that because I am one. A little intimidated because the emote system is complicated and I don't want to just get by - I insist on trying to do cool things with my emotes, which makes me a slow player. I've had conversations slip by me because I'm slow, which is sad, but I'll get used to it. In the meantime, this is a blanket-statement apology to any of you who might encounter my character while I'm still slow.

There is nothing wrong with keeping emotes simple. For the first few months of playing I rarely used the ! and ^ commands. I still to date almost never use the # command. As you work with the system it becomes more second nature.  Don't feel like you have to compete with the uber emoters.

Now, my real problem is how to come up with a unique character voice. If I start my character off sounding kind of generic, and eventually settle into a sort of "groove", is that okay? I'm notoriously bad with accents but I'd kind of like to give one a try; I just feel like I need to get to know my character better before I can know how my character speaks. Is a little flexibility allowed so I can shift my character's mannerisms until I'm satisfied? I do this with tabletop roleplaying, but MUDs are generally more particular with the rules.

I find I try to create one little hook in my background, something that I work thier view of the world around.  After that I let the character speak to me. I try to incoperate thier views, a base feeling for the mood of character I want, and I also let thier coded skills quide me somewhat. On the last note some people ignore thier stats, but for me, it feels more natural to have that character aware at least on some level of thier strengths and weaknesses. I usually find that after about five days of playtime, I know that character pretty well.  I also don't think that being unique is as importaint as being interesting. Oh and please be careful about accents, they can be more irritating than interesting, if not executed well..

[Selie]

Yeah, I can see how accents could be annoying. I tend to sound somewhat textbook-like, though, and I'd like a much more casual tone. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to go about doing that, but I guess practice and patience will come up with something. I have my character's personality and backstory pretty clearly in my head; it's just executing the interaction with the world that is a little difficult for me. I'll figure it out eventually. Hopefully. Thanks for the encouragement, and for reassuring me that I will not be roasted alive and have my soul destroyed for taking a little while to get used to things. It's such an unusual MUD that it seems to require an adjustment period.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who reacted completely incorrectly to people of various social castes. There's nothing like mistaking a gemmer for a noble and realizing your mistake several screens away... oops! Kind of embarassing. His player probably got a laugh, but IC I bet he was confused. I feel better knowing that it's an easy mistake for a newbie to make, and not just that I'm stupid.

On the subject of emoting - it's not so much that I want to compete as that I know what I want to say and I don't know exactly how to say it. I have the same problem trying to learn other languages. I think the sticky-note idea is a great one. I'll definitely make some sort of a "cheat sheet" to stick to my monitor, and put some other useful-to-know info so it's readily on hand.

Thanks for being so welcoming!  

[Cuusardo]

Hey, don't sweat it if you get behind at first.  Once you get the hang of emoting, it's a breeze and you'll be keeping up like nobody's business.

As far as for practicing, I would recommend spending a bit of time doing some solo RP.  That way you'll be somewhere off by yourself without a bunch of extraneous hubub to distract you, and no one will notice if you make a little flub.  

[JollyGreenGiant]

# is hard to use in a way that makes sense to everyone because of the way that verbs decline.  Lazloth posted some good examples of how to use it correctly a while back, but I don't remember where the thread is.  Annoying thing, normally, I'd pester Lazloth to find it, but I haven't seen any evidence of him lately... anyone else happen to remember where that thread is?

[Seeker]

Delirium has taken on most of Lazloth's link duties, and she is due for a good pestering just on principle.

But in this case, it seems that that old post has been evaporated.

:dashes from the doorway, leaving only a suspicious damp spot in the chair where #me was sitting only moments ago.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Yeah, I couldn't find it at all, it may have been a thread that got cleaned up.  More's the pity, because once again, I find myself unable to think of a good way to use #.

[Marauder Moe]

I think it was determined that the only good use for # was with past-tense verbs.

>talk (nodding to ~person and leaning over to examine the sword #person just purchased) Nice choice, looks like a fine blade.

*too lazy to think of more good examples*

[The Lonely Hunter]

Stick in there and good luck. =)

[Moofassa]

And, of course, if you feel you need a bit more help, feel extremely free. In fact, feel encouraged to bug any of the helpers. A list of the helpers can be found at http://www.armageddon.org/intro/helpers.html

Welcome, hope you have a great time Don't give up!

[Halaster]

I often feel out my characters as I play them.  I come up with "accents" and stuff like that on the fly as I get into them.  So, that's perfectly fine.  If you can come up with before you start, great, but it's OK if you can't, too.

I hope you enjoy the game.  We've been going for over ten years now, so it's pretty darn detailed, involved, and mysterious.

I affectionately call it:

CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON CRACKAGEDDON

[moab]

I like to start the game with a general idea of how a character will be but usually end up changing or coloring it on the fly as well.

As far as being true to a character's voice - I think that's a constant struggle.  No one is perfect - it is one of the great challanges of roleplaying.  :-D

[Eniriah]

Tips:

Walking up to a templar and emoting the mackerina is BAD.

Remember that Halaster is HALASTURD - THE SHROUD OF DEATH. As such, remember this during any of his RPTs.

Walking to an inn and shouting "I HATE YOU LOZERS LOLOL~' is BAD.

Wishing up to the staff: Um, can someone help me? is bad. Wishing up 30 seconds later and saying "HELLO? Is someone there?' is worse. Wishing up  10 seconds after that and saying "WHAT A BUNCH OF LAZY JERKS' will probably result in serious disciplinary action.

If you have questions, email the mud or me or someone on staff or a helper.

Have fun and welcome aboard!  :wink:

[Tamarin]

I talk too much. My characters tend to talk too much, too.

I suggest you attempt to play a mute.  Then you'll really learn the emote command, and the psionic system well.

Just remember - when people ask you your name, get down on the ground and use the emote command to spell it out.  Especially for the templars and the kuracis.  They love that.

[EvilRoeSlade]

Just remember - when people ask you your name, get down on the ground and use the emote command to spell it out.  Especially for the templars and the kuracis.  They love that.

Lying to newbies isn't funny.

[Tamarin]

Lying to newbies isn't funny.

Tektolnes is a pimp, not a sorceror king.  And all the templars are his whoores.  And Muk Utep was a king who started aging backwards until he turned into a baby.  But he craps so much, that it started overflowing out of the pyramid.  That's why we have Lirathans and Jihaens.  The Lirathans change Muk Utep's diapers and the Jihaens shovel the crap out and send it to Allanak.

[Tamarin]

d'oh.  the gdb made me double post.

[Cuusardo]

It's not very encouraging to newbies when they post something sincerely looking for help, and people post a bunch of insipid derailments.

[mansa]

Just remember - when people ask you your name, get down on the ground and use the emote command to spell it out.  Especially for the templars and the kuracis.  They love that.

Lying to newbies isn't funny.

Do you see?

It's a joke.  Writing is Illegal.  If you do that, you'll be killed on the spot.

Because it's well known that Templars and Kuracis kill people on the spot for the smallest infraction.

But don't get me started about Kuracis.  Or Tuluki Bards.  I have lots of things to say about that.

And speaking about Bards.  How come nobody has the sdesc, 'jester' anymore?  I remember when people used to, and they used to wiggle their eyebrows all the time.  Oh, those were the days.

[Tamarin]

You're insipid.

[Nidhogg]

Further thoughts on wishing up. The reason that wishing "Help." is not good is that it does not convey sufficient information. We cannot anticipate whether the help you need is in the purview of a storyteller or if a highlord will be required. We cannot deterime if the staff of a particular clan is the correct person to assist or if anyone will do. The best way to get results is to wish up with a succinct explanation of the issue and the desired actions in response to the issue.

So:
Wish all Help! = Bad

Wish all Can someone assist me, please? I am being held hostage by the Sath npcs who don't realize that Lord Sath hired me, but has not codedly clanned me yet. Can someone let me out or animate an npc for me? = Much easier to respond to.

[Nidhogg]

I'm about to start censoring this thread if we cannot stay on track and polite.

[Tamarin]

I have an idea.

*THWACK*

Ok now for some serious advice.  Don't feel like you have to master everything right away.  It's perfectly ok to play a bunch of different characters, trying out different techniques each time (like accents) and seeing what works best for you.  In my experience, it takes players months, if not years, to work themselves into a good zone where they can RP without having to really think about it.  It's like riding a bike: hard at first, impossible to forget once you've got it.

[Selie]

I've RPed before, in other games and other situations, often enough that I know I'm pretty slow to warm to it. Thanks for letting me know that I'm not going to get skinned alive for it. I've been interacting a bit with other people now, and completely overusing the think feature, and I'm beginning to get a handle on things, I think. Trying to figure things out on my own as much as possible before I start harassing one of the "help" people... but I could really use some water. I found where you get it, but I don't know where you get something to put it in, and as funny as it would be to put my water in a mini-barrel, it really wouldn't help much...

(and I read the FAQ enough to get the joke about writing things out in the sand - instadeath is fun!)

[Larrath]

Trying to figure things out on my own as much as possible before I start harassing one of the "help" people...

Why?  You don't have to break your head before you talk to us.  Helpers aren't a last resort that you should use only if you have no other choice.  Helpers are people you can and should talk to when you have difficulties.
I know some people like to be able to say that they've learned the whole game on their own, but it's really silly.
No non-staffer knows everything about Arm and nobody will ever tell you even half of what they do know.
Spending your first month learning how to make travel cakes and where to get your water is nice and satisfying, but you'll have a lot more fun if you were able to use that same month to join a clan and get involved in some cool schemes.