staying allive!!!!

[adrien]

what advice dose high karma players have on staying alive in armageddon or to gain karma?

[mansa]

Gain Karma?

1)  Don't play to Gain Karma.  If all you're doing in this 'Game' is playing untill you have Karma, then you've got the wrong idea.

I went 4 years without having Karma.

I still play, and I am still highly addicted to this game.

[Vositus]

I second what Mansa said.

[mansa]

Maybe I should add more stuff.



This game is supposed to be based on the same things that apply in Real Life.   Weapons hurt you.  People are mean.  People are more richer than you and they control your actions...at least... in the real world I can choose where I want to shat.


Use common sense.  You are this character you created in the world.  When I'm playing whatever character... I'm not my nerd self, playing in this world.  I'm this sturdy, strong warrior, or I'm that seductive kadian merchant.  I'm this character.  Everything I choose to do has a reaction.  If I choose to attack that rat, or if I choose to cheat at cards, something will happen.

Use common sense.  That's what I really have to say.  The world is HARSH,   DEADLY,  UNFORGIVING.   There are things outside that can kill you in one combat round.  That's the way it is.

It takes TIME and EFFORT to get good.  I mean, Real Time.  It'll take you at least 4 solid real life months to become a 'Good' warrior.  I'm not talking about that piddley Byn warrior.  I mean a solid character should be considered 'Good' after 4 real life months.

This game is an Investment, too.  It's more of a Book than anything.  Hmm.  I got to go shovel my driveway.  It's march and there's -STILL- snow.

Later Folks.

[Carnage]

I'm that seductive kadian merchant.

Heh, too easy.

[Olafson]

What?  Mansa has Karma?  Someone was drunk?

[Angela Christine]

What?  Mansa has Karma?  Someone was drunk?

I think it was the only way to get him to stop playing "seductive" Kadian merchants.  

AC

[creeper386]

If unused delf karma is considered high, I'm answering! Whoot... Oh well, I'm answering anyways.

Basically, play your character as your character. If you get bored, feel you want some excitement, QUIT playing, log out. Honestly, it well most likely get you killed if you get bored because most likely you aren't playing your character, you are trying to entertain yourself.

If you do play your character, yes you might still die, but it's unlikely that it's going to be a stupid death that you really regret. You might still have an accident and get killed by a mob in the middle of no where, but your not going to say later on, "Well, my character really wouldn't have done that, this sucks." You might still get chipped out of RP by some crazy killer PC, but that can happen anyways. Most likely if you stay in character the deaths are going to be more memorable.

I acctually am abit knowledgable on this, because a good amount of my PCs have died because I did something stupid when I was bored not because they did something stupid. So, don't do it is my advice.

Creeper

[crymerci]

Don't worry about dying so much...staying alive just makes you get attached to your characters and then it's worse when they do die.  Figure that each new character teaches you a little more about the game.

Oh, and all karma does is give you new ways to die.

[Swordsman]

Staying alive: play your PC as your PC, not as you. Play your PC as if his/her actions had real consequences instead of you just having to start a new PC because your last one died. Of course it's just a game. But it's the type of game where you'll actually enjoy it more if you don't treat it as a game. Make sense? Think about a chess tournament. It's just a game: no one is going to die if they lose a game in that tournament. But if you take a casual attitude and don't play the game seriously, you will lose, and lose quickly. If you enjoy that, sure, go ahead and play that way. No one else is really going to suffer, at the end of the day, because of that choice. The same thing with Arm IMO. People who join a clan and then die the next day because they didn't have the self-discipline to stay in the city, or who just couldn't care less ... they don't look brave or smart to me. At best, they were complete newbies and didn't know better. *shrug* When I started playing Arm, I lost my fair share of PCs to stupid OOC decisions. Here's a tip: if you're going to do something risky, stop and ask yourself seriously whether your PC, in that situation, would realistically do that thing or not. Doing this, I've probably saved myself a lot of PC deaths.

Gaining karma: it's been said before and it probably sounds cheesy to most people, but I'd say just don't think about it. It's kind of like the new martial arts student who goes around telling everyone (or maybe not, but still thinking about it to him/herself) about getting a black belt. A black belt indicates that you've reached a certain minimum level of achievement. It isn't an entitlement to have people suck up to you or look at you in awe. And joining a martial arts school is in no way a practical guarantee that you will one day earn the right to wear a black belt. (It will depend mostly on you, IMO.) If you're asking a martial arts instructor about how long it'll take you to get your black belt, you're probably asking the wrong question. The point about learning martial arts isn't just so you can wear a black belt, it's so you can defend yourself if need be. A lot of people probably want the recognition and respect that goes with a black belt and miss the point of what that black belt, and the right to wear it, actually means. (BTW: yes, I know there are a lot of technicalities about black belts, degrees within black belt, and that not every martial arts system has black denoting the highest rank, I'm just putting it simply to make the point.) The same thing with karma IMO. Karma isn't a right. Karma is an 'extra' that you may or may not get. If you get it, cool. If you don't, also cool IMO. You should be able to enjoy the game without karma. If you can't enjoy the game without karma, you're probably missing the point of the game, which IMO is to enjoy RPI in a certain game setting and with a certain minimum number of options (the starting races/guilds). Anything on top of that is a bonus, not a default or a right. *shrug*

OK, that aside, how to gain karma? Well, I've heard it said a few times that karma is more about trust than about RP ability or anything else. That doesn't mean RP ability counts for nothing, it just means trust is probably more important to the imms. How do you be a trustworthy person? Act with integrity. Ask yourself whether you'd do what you're doing if you knew that an imm was watching you right then. This means: follow the rules of the game. Play realistically ... always. Don't abuse bugs ... ever. Cooperate with the imms. Be polite OOCly. Help make the game better for everyone, not just better for you alone. Don't spread IC-sensitive info OOCly. Don't gossip or verbally backstab people OOCly. etc. etc. Pretty much common sense IMO. But you'd really have to ask an imm. Fortunately, they've posted a fair amount on karma AFAIK.

BTW, all the "you"s above are generic "you"s. Also, if it sounds like I'm anti-newbie (which I have been accused of), don't get me wrong. I made my fair share of stupid newbie mistakes, but a lot of those could've been prevented if I'd been taught or if I'd read tips for newbies on a board like this. Maybe this'll help, maybe it won't. YMMV.

Swordsman

[My 2 sids]

Id say add a few good think commands (this may assist you in finding out more about your character...) Chalange yourself to RP a few alone times or daily stuff (clean your house, do the laundry, have a workout) A lot of times this will help get your creativity flowing.

Many story writers talk about not planning a character, but discovering it.  I think once you "discover" more about your charater it will help you round out your charater, providing you with more and more indepth ways of RPing him/her.

[marko]

How to stay alive:  Join up with a clan in a role that isn't combat oriented.  You can live for years this way.

How to gain karma:  Play consistently within the theme of the world.  Clearly state your character's personality in its background and then play to that personality in every situation.  This will show that you are willing to stick to a specific role and keep to it in all situations (even if it means dying).  Consistency is the key.

The next thing to do is to keep changing your character type (personality) each time you eventually die.  This will show you can play a wide variety of different roles (and once again, stick to the concept under all circumstances).

Always play how your character would react and you will gain karma (eventually).

[Cenghiz]

I play only one type of characters... I like them... Then; this sorrily means that I'll never have karma. Of course having desert elves would be fine, and mantises. (I don't feel like playing other karma classes). But still I think karma isn't so important.
So what Marko tells about karma is true. I recieved fine reviews about my RP but I have no karma, so this means only RP isn't the main thing for karma. You need to show that you're able to play different roles.
And to live long... Yes do not play curious characters and don't be curious. I died so much because of IC and OOC curiousity. "Curiousity kills the cat." And we're all little purring cats of the Highlord...

>emote bows before the statuette.

>say -whispering Great Highlord! Please help my desting and gimme.... steel katana...

[Anonymous]

I play only one type of characters... I like them... Then; this sorrily means that I'll never have karma

I don't understand that comment at all.

I've never understood karma to mean that you will play a karma race well, just that you'll play it in a trustworthy manner.

I'd also add that a lot of roles never looked like fun until I tried them.  And a lot of roles that sounded like a blast *cough*gemmed magicker*cough* were incredibly boring.

[Rindan]

You need to show that you're able to play different roles.
And to live long... Yes do not play curious characters and don't be curious. I died so much because of IC and OOC curiousity. "Curiousity kills the cat." And we're all little purring cats of the Highlord...

No offense, but I believe you are flat out wrong.  If there is a reason for you not having karma (besides perhaps you have not played very long), I would guess it to be that you are doing things that are silly and OOC.  

Think about it.  You play characters that must have been alive for at least 13 years and probably more before you take control of them.  If you always die quickly, then that means that all of your characters after living a nice long healthy life suddenly go insane once you get behind the controls and die.

Part of the trust that comes with karma is that you will play your character realistically.  No one takes more shit then the imms when a karma race/class goes insane and starts doing silly things.  They need to trust that if you are given such a race/class, you are going to play realistically with it.  So, don't blame it on curiosity.  OOC curiosity perhaps, but ICly all your characters manage to live long lives before you get in control of them.

As for playing different roles, I have never heard that being any sort of requirement.  If you are flat our reusing your last character, that might be an issue, but if you just like playing mercenaries with varied personalities and styles, I don't see how that would be a problem.

[Cenghiz]

You're right. I used to become insane. But I'm not doing it now. Some evil in me still tells me to do something stupid, but I just ignore it. I'm becoming more and more oldbie, but it takes time. I'm planning to have this character for at least 15 days.