Prostitution - Expectations?

[Praetorian]

I've noticed what seems to be an increase in players choosing to play prostitutes in game recently.  That has -got- to be a challenging role to maintain especially since there is likely a bit of RL stigma that enters peoples mindsets when dealing with something that in the context of Armageddon is commonplace and accepted.

Personally, I have always found overtly romantic scenarios in an online environment to be awkward and uncomfortable beyond the flirting/teasing stage.  For those of you who play or have played prostitutes do you find most of your 'clients' Fade to Black, or is going through the whole gambit of sweaty thrusting and bodily fluids spraying everywhere the typical expectation? 

[Lizzie]

If I'm gonna spend some coded coins for sexy entertainment, then I want that to be coded sexy entertainment. If my sexy entertainer insists on virtual entertainment, they'll have to accept virtual coins.

Good thing for all involved, that my characters do not, and will not, have any interest in buying sex from a PC.

[spicemustflow]

I wouldn't mind paying for a bit of FTB action. I played a whore once (a female), and it's a good thing I got Jack the Ripper as my third customer. Enduring an hour of mudsex every time would be a torture.

[Akaramu]

I have noticed the same increase in trend. I believe it might be influenced by economy changes, with more intependant PCs struggling to make a living and be able to buy food. At least, the one recent whore I played was simply desperate and did not see any other way to make coins that would not likely get her killed. She never saw herself as a whore, just a girl trying to survive until she could pursue other opportunities, which happened quickly. For that reason, I don't really know if most clients like to fade or not. The one I experienced didn't. It might be safe to assume that the majority prefers not to fade if they're spending coins.

Besides, with fading, you can't really get the point across that the character is mind-blastingly awesome at what they do.   People could spread word that the whore is boring, and there would be no way to correct the impression, which is bad for business.

[Barzalene]

The time I paid for a whore I faded to black.

anecdote
My pc said, can we fade to black.
Their pc said, yes, but can you stay a couple of minutes so people think I did my job?
We idled
I thought the idea of rping someone buying a whore then pretending to be mudsexing them was delightfully meta. I felt like Italo Calvino of the mud world.
/anecdote

[Delstro]

I don't mind paying for some FTB action at all. As long as it doesn't cost 200+ coins to do so. Unless of course, that whore is a luxury item, and then 200+ is a-okay.

For the standard, run of the mill hookers, I draw the line at 200, max.

[Ampere]

When my toon decides they'd like to buy a whore, they buy a whore.  FTB.

[Ampere]

Besides, with fading, you can't really get the point across that the character is mind-blastingly awesome at what they do.   People could spread word that the whore is boring, and there would be no way to correct the impression, which is bad for business.

I always discuss specifics when ftbing: tats, preferences, performance.

[WWYD]

What Ampere said. Nothing against people who love teh mad mudsexx0rz, but I'm just not into that sort of roleplay, while if my character is interested in it - they are.

[janeshephard]

You shouldn't react differently to FTB. I would FTB personally.

[Akoto]

To answer the original question, it varies a lot from person to person. When it starts to get toward the act itself, one just inquires OOC, 'Do you want to fade, or do you consent to continue?' If they fade to black, they fade. If they do not, then it's described to the tolerance of the players. Either one is fine.

Really a very common trade in the game world, and not one the average person should feel awkward about interacting with, whether or not on a FTB basis. In a setting where we welcome everything from coarse language to hard torture, sexuality hardly troubles me, personally. One thing I can say is that, for all the people on the boards left aghast by the idea of playing such scenes out, folks in-game tend to take a rather different view.

[Akaramu]

I've mudsexed without fading maybe 7 times total since 2004. Sometimes, it just has a roleplay value that cannot be expressed in OOC or with fade emotes. For instance, I had a rogue mage whose element would stir in hemotes during an orgasm - but only if her partner knew what he was doing. One person figured her out that way.

I usually prefer sex to take place virtually, during offline time. It just takes way too freaking long to play out, if there isn't a good reason to play it out.

[Cutthroat]

You are curious about the typical expectation that a player has when hiring a prostitute IG? I think a lot of people will come here and tell you that they will fade, that their PC ICly wanted/needed the service and they just did what was IC. Most of them are telling you the truth. I also think that there are players who enjoy playing sex scenes out and expect a prostitute to do the same. I think a lot of these people will hire a fading-to-black prostitute once, find that they FTB, and move on. I think there are several players (like me) who don't care either way and will swing whichever way the other player decides when it comes to playing out sex scenes or fading.

I should note I haven't played a full-time prostitute, but this theory applies to all aspects of sexual relationships in Arm. I have observed characters inexplicably lose interest in other characters romantically and sexually after a fade, which is just dumb and against the spirit of the game when it really is because of what it looks like, but whatever. I think that if you play a prostitute, you should expect to cater to faders and scene-players alike, but kudos to you if you can FTB 100% of the time as a prostitute and not lose half of your clientele.

Also, Akoto is right. Many players on the GDB say they always FTB, but the numbers don't match IG. I chalk it up to the demonization of sex and prostitution in many parts of Earth. Keep that in mind when collecting your data.

[Qzzrbl]

I've honestly had mudsex only once without fading.....

Mostly because I don't want to put the person on the other end through my emotes..... I can emote -alot- of stuff. But sex ain't one of 'em.

Though a couple of players lately have been giving me the rundown of the basics and whatnot. x]

Also had a few of PCs that would buy any whore available.

One of 'em even wound up being quite a Casanova despite his freak-ass mutations.

FTBing aaaalllll the way.

And just OOCing the basics of went down.

Even passed on a couple of crotch fleas....

Awesome.

[boog]

As long as the person you're with doesn't whip out a crow-bar long and hard weiner ...

Most of my times on Arm have been FTB. I've had one instance where it wasn't, and that's not to say I wouldn't do more. I agree with Aka; some things just can't be expressed through FTB. I would feel jipped if someone relayed through OOC, "My char stared at urs luvingly while bonkin her real hard and makin' her sore." (Er, I blame heat stroke on my poor OOC example.)

If you're worried about performance, all you have to do is read some romance novel excerpts beforehand to copy and paste. *nod*

[KankWhisperer]

These threads are pointless.

You'll get all the prudes posting about how they fade to black and how mudsex is icky and they are morally superior and what not.

The mudsexers don't post or pretend to be a prude.

I do what I feel like at the moment. The problem really is that mudsex takes too damn long. I don't have that many hours .

Whores, I salute you.

[X-D]

I don't think many of the people posting that they FTB are prudes.

I FTB, not because of prudishness, I have played out a full scene before and it was fun. But it takes a long time. and from what I've seen with others, if you have done it once you have done it 100 times, in that nothing much changes.

So, FTB, go eat a sammich, come back, emote being all sweaty and go on with business.

[AmandaGreathouse]

I've played more than one whore, and I will in the future as well. It's a valid and viable trade. One with, I think, a lot of room for RP. Not just the sex, but the mental and physical and/or emotional affects on the person doing it, diseases, horrible accidents, pillow talk.

That said: If you expect to ply a trade IG, I think you should be willing to put in the work as a player. Much as you have to grind up combat skills, or actually craft things with a merchant. If you choose to play a sexually-based character, the choice to Fade ought to be that of the other player, because most of the time they spent their RL time helping their character to acquire the sid to pay for the services of your pc.

[janeshephard]

How can this even be up for discussion? It's not anyone's decision to FTB other than the player and FTBing shouldn't make the RP any less enjoyable.

ooc: "Consent for mudsex"

ooc: "No. Let's just change ldesc for half an hour. thanks"

There, it's done. There shouldn't be any penalties for this like being paid less. You don't like it? Download some porn.

[RogueGunslinger]

If I'm gonna spend some coded coins for sexy entertainment, then I want that to be coded sexy entertainment. If my sexy entertainer insists on virtual entertainment, they'll have to accept virtual coins.

Good thing for all involved, that my characters do not, and will not, have any interest in buying sex from a PC.

There, it's done. There shouldn't be any penalties for this like being paid less. You don't like it? Download some porn.

If you don't pay my whore after fading to black, then expect some very real IC consequences. Your character may end up a eunuch otherwise. Just because it's happening in a fade doesn't mean it's not happening.

[Armaddict]

Well.

My thought is this:  Don't let the fact that you don't mudsex, or that you disapprove of prostitution in RL, or whatever it may be, get in the way in this game.  Sure, it can be an insult to some, but not much of one.  Whoring is a pretty legitimate practice, something a lot of people participate in, so on and so forth.

So.  If you see someone who went out of their way to make a prostitute that isn't an exorbitant amount of money to use...think about using it to fade.  Don't let the compunctions stand in the way of something that may otherwise bring more reality and blending to the character.

I'm not saying -everyone- should.  But I am saying I think some people are scared away from it without even realizing it.

[Akoto]

I'm not saying -everyone- should.  But I am saying I think some people are scared away from it without even realizing it.

I think this may, in some cases, be the result of people fearing how they'll be perceived. They worry that being seen dealing with a whore PC will lead other players to think they're a dirty MUDsexer, even though they might intend to fade (and even though there's nothing wrong with RPing it out). Kind of why I made the point earlier that, in a game where miscellaneous forms of torture and violence are regularly played out, sexuality really isn't that big a deal.

[RogueGunslinger]

It is if you were born in the U.S.

[Akoto]

It is if you were born in the U.S.

I was, and for a while, I was even concerned for the above stated reason of perception. When I realized that the people RPing it far outnumber the people denouncing it on the boards, I got over it.

You're right, though. There's a really peculiar imbalance when it comes to what offends us Americans. Let the limbs fly, but by God, there better not be any kankin' depicted!

[netflix]

Well, I think there's some other factors involved.

A lot of times there's some gender switching going on between player and PC, and while some people don't care about the gender behind the PC they're getting ready to sex up, I can certainly see how that would make others quite uncomfortable.

And then there's the simple fact that... you have absolutely no idea how old the other player is. Are they a college student, or a middle school student?