Solo RP

[SMuz]

Solo RP is a bit like homework. The imms enjoy it. I enjoy it more than I care to admit.. certainly brings out the depth in my character. But when it feels like I'm the only one enjoying it, I feel like everyone else is laughing at me.

[deviant storm]

I will admit it. I suck at the solo rp. I do much better when I have another character around to interact with.

That isn't to say I won't solo rp. It all depends on my rl mood, whatever's happening in game, and sometimes, on what happened previously. I've used solo rp sessions as periods to think over something that happened recently in my character's life. The way you might think about something bothering you while doing chores, perhaps. It's when I'm in the middle of working my character through some thoughts and feelings about something that happened previously that I find myself throwing in emotes and the whole rp comes alive.

And it isn't for the imms. Or for anyone who could be watching. I'm doing it because that's what works for me. It makes the RP fun.

Otherwise? I hate having to throw in the occasional emote while I'm sitting doing X alone. Sometimes I do it, and sometimes? I need to improve on that, I suppose.

[Rhyden]

Solo RP is like the icing on the cake. Mmm, icing.

[deviant storm]

Solo RP is like the icing on the cake. Mmm, icing.

Icing is alright, but it can be too sweet on its own, or if there's too much of it. I like plenty of cake with my icing.


In other words, build the character first. Let that character react icly to events around him, to make the solo rp 'icing'. Or maybe I've extended things a bit too far here.

[staggerlee]

I rp better when I'm alone sometimes. I think that the core of my character development happens during solo rp, and my most colorful and creative emotes happen when I'm alone.

I do like to imagine that there are staff and hidden pcs watching me for some portion of that. But who knows. It doesn't really matter, I get enjoyment out of it.

[Rhyden]

Solo RP is like the icing on the cake. Mmm, icing.

Icing is alright, but it can be too sweet on its own, or if there's too much of it. I like plenty of cake with my icing.


In other words, build the character first. Let that character react icly to events around him, to make the solo rp 'icing'. Or maybe I've extended things a bit too far here.

You can have cake without icing, darlin', but it ain't as sweet.

[Maso]

Ew icing. Yucky.

I'm all for solo RP though. But only when I'm in the mood. Sometimes I feel like it, sometimes I don't. When I don't feel like it - I don't cut myself up about not being in the mood for it. If I'm all alone and I want to spam walk across the city quickly because I really can't be arsed that day then I will. But I'm the same as lee, some of best emotes come out when I'm solo'ing. I'm less self-conscious and often more creatively daring.

[RogueGunslinger]

I rp better when I'm alone sometimes. I think that the core of my character development happens during solo rp, and my most colorful and creative emotes happen when I'm alone.

I do like to imagine that there are staff and hidden pcs watching me for some portion of that. But who knows. It doesn't really matter, I get enjoyment out of it.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Sometimes I emote, sometimes I don't. I hardly ever emote during every mundane action. Most of the time it's just something quick I belt out without even thinking about it, like:

skin body
You ineptly hack the body to pieces.
:frowns as he looks over the unusable, mangled corpse.
think Damn. If only I weren't so buff there might be some meat on this thing.

It's more habit than thought, mostly.

That being said: What's the rules on trigger or macro setting on Arm? Sometimes when I'm doing something like foraging salt, I'll set a macro that repeats 'forage salt', and just sit back and toss in an "emote separates some color-flecked crystals from some plain white ones." Every 3 to 5 hits.
But that's me.

Also, yes, people watch your thoughts, emotions, actions. Anything, really. Other PCs are such vouyers. I've had PC's that did this often for various reasons.


As far as karma? The majority of mine came from writing a special app one point above my own current level, and never seeming to get taken back down afterwards. Heh. But as it was said, concentrating on playing an interesting character, interacting and involving other PCs, is the way to get karma. I played a militia character who earned me a karma bump because he helped everyone, and employed everyone to help him at a very dead point in that city's history.

If you want to earn karma to try something new / more dangerous I'd suggest one of two things: 1) Join a clan, and be active OR 2) Just app the damned character. As long as you're not 0 karma, asking for a sorceror with the word "pimp" in his sdesc, a background of being the king of his own VNPC city, two Absolutely Incredible attributes, and several "maxed" skills (LITERALLY have seen this done folks. Everything except the pimp part. Didn't have the heart to laugh in this guys face when he asked me to proof read his app) chances are you'll get approved. Just keep the character concept and description simple and you'll be all set.

Oh, and sometimes you can actually get positive or negative comments by the way you solo RP. I've got both of these in my account notes: 
"Emoted getting bucked off his kank, as a result of beating the thing from frustration." +
and a
"Went to low health several times, slept it off in between each, then went and suicided against a ____" - 


There are other times that imms will mess with you while you THINK you're solo RPing by possessing the thing you're hunting, or by sending you echoes of how miserable kank-flies are making you.

Fuck I'm tired. I think I've completely failed to make a decisive point here.

[rishenko]

My last character spent an ungodly amount of time alone.  Luckily, I enjoy solo rp.  I didn't always put a huge amount of effort into it, but I would like to think that I was pretty damn consistent about emoting, thinking, feeling and the like during his many solitary adventures. 

If my character saw something interesting...or just had a thought, I tried to put a think to it.  If he got annoyed or had a passing train of emotion, I tried to have him feel it.  If I found myself mumbling as him about some animal in the distance, I tried to give him a murmur of a statement.  Doing such things helped me connect to both the character and the world around him.

I've stated this several times before, and others have mentioned it as well, your character is in a living, breathing world.  Take a moment and think about it.  A living, breathing world.  There's wind, there's dust, sand... raptors, critters, people, bustling crowds, hawkers, sellers, homeless...  If you're walking down a street, pause to notice that scrawny ass orphan girl skittering through the crowd.  If in the wild, watch that raptor on top of the dune turn its head this way and that before lunging in at some helpless prey.  Or, hell, just sit and watch Krath set, the endless plains and deserts giving way to darkness with silver and blood red hues coating the lands.

It's all there for you to explore and play with.  It's there to interact with, it's there to help with introspection.  When your character is alone, they have plenty of time to ponder things, to go over their lives, their dramas, issues...everything.

Don't make your solo rp revolve around the hope of being noticed.  That last character I referenced?  Sure, there were a few times where some imm added to my enjoyment or a rare character popped out of the shadows to go "OH HAI!" but nearly all of my solo rp was spent entirely alone.  Sure, at first I hoped and cared, but considering how little that happened (on this or any previous character), I quickly realized that the more I hoped I was being watched, the more I forced things and the less I enjoyed solo rp.

Do it for yourself.  Is it required?  No, obviously not.  Does it help you better understand your character?  Yeah, yeah, it really does.  It's worth the effort, even if only on occasion.

In essence, if you find yourself alone, there's no rhythm to have to keep up with anybody else - just take your time, use emotes/feels/thinks/says and further develop your character.

[FantasyWriter]

I look forward to my next PC being a solo character.

[anotherhippie]

I am new here and just learning but I smile down at ~child or :strolls slowly down the street, I just do little things to make -MY- experience more enjoyable..Call it solo RP or just call it..why i came to a RP mud,  to: RP.....

[Archbaron]

My last character spent an ungodly amount of time alone.  Luckily, I enjoy solo rp.  I didn't always put a huge amount of effort into it, but I would like to think that I was pretty damn consistent about emoting, thinking, feeling and the like during his many solitary adventures. 

If my character saw something interesting...or just had a thought, I tried to put a think to it.  If he got annoyed or had a passing train of emotion, I tried to have him feel it.  If I found myself mumbling as him about some animal in the distance, I tried to give him a murmur of a statement.  Doing such things helped me connect to both the character and the world around him.

I've stated this several times before, and others have mentioned it as well, your character is in a living, breathing world.  Take a moment and think about it.  A living, breathing world.  There's wind, there's dust, sand... raptors, critters, people, bustling crowds, hawkers, sellers, homeless...  If you're walking down a street, pause to notice that scrawny ass orphan girl skittering through the crowd.  If in the wild, watch that raptor on top of the dune turn its head this way and that before lunging in at some helpless prey.  Or, hell, just sit and watch Krath set, the endless plains and deserts giving way to darkness with silver and blood red hues coating the lands.

It's all there for you to explore and play with.  It's there to interact with, it's there to help with introspection.  When your character is alone, they have plenty of time to ponder things, to go over their lives, their dramas, issues...everything.

Don't make your solo rp revolve around the hope of being noticed.  That last character I referenced?  Sure, there were a few times where some imm added to my enjoyment or a rare character popped out of the shadows to go "OH HAI!" but nearly all of my solo rp was spent entirely alone.  Sure, at first I hoped and cared, but considering how little that happened (on this or any previous character), I quickly realized that the more I hoped I was being watched, the more I forced things and the less I enjoyed solo rp.

Do it for yourself.  Is it required?  No, obviously not.  Does it help you better understand your character?  Yeah, yeah, it really does.  It's worth the effort, even if only on occasion.

In essence, if you find yourself alone, there's no rhythm to have to keep up with anybody else - just take your time, use emotes/feels/thinks/says and further develop your character.

Very well said.

[WarriorPoet]

I have to force myself to solo RP.

So, I set limits and goals. Every two or three forages, emote or talk to the mount. Every other glasshacker swing, bitch about the heat or emote. I try to make myself transfer my own inner monologue to character Thinks. I rarely use feel or mood, but I'm trying to improve on it. I do my best to keep up some sort of activity aside from coded skills and all but I find it hard to do when there's no one around to appreciate it but me.

[Is Friday]

I have many, many negative notes on my account because I have gone entire play sessions playing alone and not doing anything other than coded commands.

[Anael]

For me, it usually depends on my mood. I play a lot off-peaks, so solo rp is sometimes the only way to find amusement.
Sometimes I solo rp a lot, sometimes I just toss in an odd emote or think every now and then. I've found solo'ing made it easier for me to get into the character, but sometimes I just can't be bothered. Even when I don't do anything deep, I try to remember to use at least some emotes and thinks, because I believe it is helpful for Imms watching. How else can they know what my character is up to?

[a strange shadow]

Hunting, grebbing, crafting, and thieving are a hell of a lot more entertaining when you describe how you character is doing it, and take into account the world around them and their position in it. It isn't really about "Solo RP" - it's about entertaining myself, and telling a story. If I just wanted to mash commands into my keyboard, there's a lot of other games I could play.

That said, there are days when I have a lot going on in RL or I'm feeling uninspired. If that's the case, screw all that extensive solo-emoting/thinking/feeling. Usually I log out if I'm feeling that distracted, but sometimes there are reasons I want my character to be available IC, so - lackluster solo scenes you get, until I can really bring myself to focus on the game.

Who cares. As long as I'm sticking to character, it all evens out.

[Tuannon]

I'm resigned to my next character being a solo character.

I need to survive a mugging or the like for my 'start' for most roles I play.

[Potaje]

First I want to preface this with I enjoy Solo Rp, do quiet a bit of it myself, its kind of a training for Interactions with others, or when they are around and I am going to teach them the techniques and process of this or that... but what I have to say is that I find it hard, and I try, to emote while fighting and get it to make sense, like when one is gored by a horn, or split open with a pinch... by the time I get around to the reaction to said attack damage, it has past long by and we have struck each other many times since.... what to do...
not to mention if you are not so good at the fighting you are trying to emote as you are trying to get your flee off.... and another thing when Rping with others it seems that I need a moment to put thought into the appropriate expressions or reactions and the scene is just rolling by and i find my emote to an action there reactions behind.

[Zoltan]

My most intense moments on the mud (for the most part) were solo RP'd moments. I always try to make time with any character to get into their head and see just how fucked up they can be.

That said, I'm definitely more of a social player.

[HTX]

Usually I'm not much of a solo RPer, but with my last character I spammed the hell out of the think/feel commands, ever since I discovered how useful a tool think/feel is for fleshing out your character's likes/dislikes/opinions/quirks and getting into their personality and their head.

Look at solo RP as a great tool for making a well-rounded character, not just a way to get karma and keep any watching imms entertained.

[zealus]

i just want to add that, me playing at a time that there are almost no players around in my character's city, i like to solo rp my character, when he is inside for some reason (i.e. in jail). I find it entertaining to interact with the surroundings, but i dont think that all movement should be emoted. However, when a npc hits my character, i wont hesitate to give a reaction in line with his anger issue.
that being said, i can understand that it can be tedious to rp mudane tasks, and i have to admit that i dont emote them either, but if something out of ordinary happens, ill allways react to that.

[jcljules]

I solo RP whenever there is the slightest chance I am being watched, and my actions might not be clear to them otherwise.

[AmandaGreathouse]

I like to RP with myself amidst other players.

You know, make my pc be oblivious and lost in thought as things happen around them.

Fun.

emote A gigantic and obese figure in a dun-colored dustcloak arrives from the west, passing @ by on his way to ~bar.

[Lord of Charas]

Solo RP is the coffee that warms me to 'real' RP . . .

It's what gets me primed and ready for action.

If I don't feel up for some Solo RP, then how in the hell could I feel up to any other form of RP . . . ?


-Jak