Solo RP

[Me]

I don't really solo rp all the time. As in, I wont throw out a three paragraphed emote about speckles of sands glistening under the harsh rays of Suk-Krath in every single room I go to. I'd move move move, throw in an emote..then carry on. Sometimes, I don't even emote - but instead I just use thinks and feels.

I'm not sure whether that's classified as solo rp, however I am enjoying it. I agree that solo rp is there to help us flesh out the surroundings and our characters, but at the same time if you're doing it for the sake of having a gawdawesome defiler-bender-mul-undead mantis breed, well in my opinion that's when solo rp becomes a chore.

[brytta.leofa]

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.

Oh, shoot--

[Whiran Luck]

Ah. Solo RP.

It's like masturbation. It can be an enjoyable past-time, but it's a lot more fun with someone else.

That being said, it's also like it in that it's best when it's natural and flowing, not forced because you think/hope/fear someone's watching. It's not about entertaining someone else, it's about getting into a groove, or just knowing your character so well that what they do when no one's around is like second nature. The best solo-rp, for me, is the rp I don't even have to think about as a player. I may be typing, but it's my character controlling their reactions and actions. When it becomes a chore, it's when I know I've lost 'it' with the character, and it's a good idea to try to find 'it' again; it being that elusive quality of harmonizing perfectly with the ideal of your character concept, sort of like being in the roleplaying 'zone'.

Anyways, to reiterate what some have said: solo-rp can be fun. It shouldn't be a chore, or a way to score ++ points with the watchers above, and if you find yourself gritting your teeth every time you have to do it, it might be good to question why that is, and what might be done to make your gameplay experience more fun.

[jmordetsky]

Fuck solo RP in it's little ass.

In my mind, I am my character. I will think to let Imms know what/why I'm doing something, but the person who said it's homework has it pegged.

Necessary evil.

[FantasyWriter]

I like solo role play when I am playing a solo character.
It drives me nuts when I am playing a social or clanned character.

[SMuz]

I like solo role play when I am playing a solo character.
It drives me nuts when I am playing a social or clanned character.

Heh, yeah. I don't even like people seeing me solo RP. Players can be so judgemental. Even more of a morale hit when everyone else doesn't do it.

[Versu]

 

Are you guys serious?

My comment is. If you don't solo RP all the time, you run serious risk of character loss from staff and players you don't see who'll think you're a twink.

Unless you run a very legitimate, law-abiding citizen.

[FantasyWriter]

Let me rephrase... When I am playing a social PC, I don't like sitting around using coded skill such as crafting and magick, roplaying one spell or craft out for an IC hour when I am alone... I am more like likely to "emote starting" "craft component into object" "emote finishing it up" then get back to being a character.  The deeper into a character I get, the less I rely or at least try to rely on coded skills.

[Lizzie]

Are you guys serious?

My comment is. If you don't solo RP all the time, you run serious risk of character loss from staff and players you don't see who'll think you're a twink.

Unless you run a very legitimate, law-abiding citizen.

Solo RP does NOT equal emoting every 5 minutes when you're alone.

It means doing things your character -would- do, for the duration, and using emotes, thinks, feels, changing your ldesc, or whatever other RP TOOLS you have at your disposal, to help build the story of what you're character is currently doing, and why.

If that means you should think "Gee whillikers am I hungry!" when the code says you're starving, reaching into a box and grabbing 3 mek steaks and spam-sucking them down, that's fine!

If you're planning on a RL hour's worth of crafting, it means you should -probably- toss in an emote here and there to show what kinds of efforts you're making, because most of the time, if someone IS watching, all they'll see is:

"The green guy lays out a length of fabric and begins to sew."

We observers won't know what you're TRYING to sew...we won't know what efforts your character is making in accomplishing the task. Often times, you'll run into people who aren't using ANY tools at all to sew..no scissors, no needle, not even a sword to cut the cloth with. And yet..the end result is an expertly crafted, intricately designed and embroidered doodad. And we observers might think..How the hell did he do that?

A single sentence, and a single tool..

pemote hand grasps ~shears firmly as he cuts into the cloth, then grabs a needle from a small box, threads it, and gets jiggy embroidering the shit out of the silk.

And then let the code do all the work. When you're done..you could even..

think Oh this is nice. I'll make three more!

and then let the code do all the work.

Just toss observers a bone. Not because we'll get you in trouble if you don't, but because it's the *courteous* thing to do, it's the ROLEPLAYING thing to do.

[SMuz]

OK, a thought on solo RP. How many of you really mind if I re-use the same emotes over and over for solo RP? Maybe, even, if I was lazy and uncreative enough, copying the same ones.

em shovels shit.
em continues to shovel shit.
em shovels more shit.

[Adieren]

I... uh... emote alone from time to time... but when crafting it depends on my creativity level, but I almost always emote my actions when people are watching me. I ALWAYS emote when beating up something. Like a training dummy. I screamed at it once.

[solera]

How many of you really mind...

I don't mind anything really.
If I come across you, its nice to get something other than the usual echo, and I always feel good when someone's emotes add a bit of colour to what I see.
If I'm sitting watching you, again I enjoy seeing a paragraph to set the scene.
But in the end, its your world you're colouring, and I'll just take what drops.

[Comrade Canadia]

OK, a thought on solo RP. How many of you really mind if I re-use the same emotes over and over for solo RP? Maybe, even, if I was lazy and uncreative enough, copying the same ones.

I never copy/paste, but it depends on how inspired I'm feeling. Sometimes I get out of my way to construct little narratives for myself, and ideally would do that every time I have to solo RP. However, when just going through the motions my emotes tend to become pretty damn samey.

[Fathi]

OK, a thought on solo RP. How many of you really mind if I re-use the same emotes over and over for solo RP? Maybe, even, if I was lazy and uncreative enough, copying the same ones.

em shovels shit.
em continues to shovel shit.
em shovels more shit.

I tend to use a lot of similar emotes when I'm solo-RPing things like crafting. There's only so many realistic ways to describe splitting a log into planks or stringing beads on a leather cord, y'know?

A solution to that is to not just emote about whatever it is you're doing. Emoting about other stuff--checking out your v-tribemate's ass, scratching your own ass, cleaning up the remnants of your old failed crafting attempts, etc.

I admit, I get pretty lazy when there's nobody around, but it's not hard to keep things interesting if you focus on things other than the direct task your PC is doing.

[Medena]

I hate doing crafting emotes. Anything else, even foraging, and I quite enjoy breaking up the commands with lots of solo RP.

I agree with Fathi's wise comments and would just add on -- another thing to break up the monotony of crafting is to use the think command a lot to review plans, to remember something that happened yesterday, random thoughts etc. then let these colour your emotes. Maybe you're pissed off about something that happened that you're remembering so now instead of carefully threading those beads onto a leather cord you are snatching them up, spilling some, jamming the cord through them.

[FantasyWriter]

I hate doing crafting emotes. Anything else, even foraging, and I quite enjoy breaking up the commands with lots of solo RP.

I agree, and merchants are even my favorite class next to rangers.

[Versu]

Solo RP helps consistency. Its great practice. Fer sure.

I don't think there's enough methods of communication between everyone and makes this game a pretty rad creation.

I'm glad to see peope meeting and talking in person.

It's weird.

Don't forget to email staff between emotes, because just solo-emoting isn't enough.

[spawnloser]

I emote when crafting, more about my characters reaction to the finished product than the creation of the product itself.  Think is a wonderful tool when you're crafting, or doing any solo activity.

[evil_erdlu]

I won't solo-RP my whole foraging session indeed. I won't bother. I'm sweeping my hands in the sands and checking things that I can grope. I can RP nearly grasping a poisonous bug accidentally, I can RP finding bleached bones/broken shell pieces/broken arrow pieces, I can emote about the weather and time and... I drain my imagination. How many emotes may I produce from that? But my pet peeve is different.

Let's assume your character has a unique beard/moustache shape. You need a razor for shaving and trimming. Good luck finding one. Because it seems razors are specific weapons and they are rare. Then soap? That's easy. A small beaker for hot water? It's gonna be hard. A suitable brush? You'll settle for one used for painting. Mirror? Now you're asking for impossible in most settlements.

Or cooking? Good luck finding a good set of cutlery. 90% of my characters have the subguild 'stonecarver' for the single reason that I'm a chubby person and I love cooking IRL, so whenever I want to carry that habit over to the MUD I'm lucky if I can even find spoons and plates, sometimes even a grill in some starting locations.

Red Storm is known for its seamstresses. Every red stormer tailor is forced to pay a visit to Allanak to complete his/her tailoring tools. There are rich deposits of ordinary and precious/semi-precious stones around Luir's Outpost and good luck to stonecarvers/jewellers starting out there. You won't find your tools if someone luckily didn't sell them already.

The examples are many. We _do_ require the RP props for hobbies, so solo-RP won't be a bother.

[Blackisback]

I think the best way to look at it is if you find solo-RP fun, do it. If you don't find solo-RP fun, don't do it. There is no right or wrong. As long as you're maintaining an acceptable level of RP with other players, you should have the freedom to do what you want when you play alone.

I'm very much on the fence when it comes to solo-RP. I do it, not because I like it, but because it's courteous to people who actually -are- watching you play. I want other players to have a good show, and if that means extra emotes, so be it. It doesn't add -that- much time to what you're doing anyway, and most people aren't asking to have every little twitch and movement detailed. Just give a general idea of what you're doing, how you're going about a craft, etc.

[jcljules]

I enjoy Solo-RP sometimes. But I always throw out at least one or two emotes to explain what I'm doing. And I try to pause every few steps when I walk. Because I've been a hiding/sneaking PC before and I realize how annoying it is to be trying to spy on someone who just spamwalks around and never emotes.

[musashi]

I solo RP a lot when my character is just exploring. But when I'm doing a rather dull task, like foraging, mining, or anything else that requires the same command to be entered about 200 times over the course of an hour, I tend to keep the emotes sparse (because you can only word it so many ways) and instead start having my PC think about things while he's grebbing away.

[Xagon]

If I have a mount while I'm doing something repetitive (Grebbing), I usually emote as many times as the mount does. It balances out.

[FantasyWriter]

If I have a mount while I'm doing something repetitive (Grebbing), I usually emote as many times as the mount does. It balances out.

Good strategy... Thanks for that.

[spawnloser]

I solo RP a lot when my character is just exploring. But when I'm doing a rather dull task, like foraging, mining, or anything else that requires the same command to be entered about 200 times over the course of an hour, I tend to keep the emotes sparse (because you can only word it so many ways) and instead start having my PC think about things while he's grebbing away.

So don't emote about the grebbing.  Emote about your pausing to look around.  Think about something and then emote your facial expressions as you think.