Playing a good elf

[Cindy42]

GIVE ME MY ARMS BACK YOU DAMMIT PHONE COMPANSIES!!!

yeah so... what is playing a good elf psychologically?

CULTURALLY prone to stealing....

so an elf raised by non-elves would potentially be different?

Could honest elves born within their kind's culture exist, and find nothing wrong with stealing.

I love elves.

I've seen elves who wouldn't steal but at least admired a skilled and brave thief.

I've seen elves who try to steal the sun off your body by looking at you. In Zalanthas. No way, you ask? THEY'RE ELVES BABY

and what is playing a bad elf?

I love elves.

Not IG obviously but hey.

Because no one likes a badly-played elf, and may, for the sake of roleplay, sack bad elves for being such... or maybe not... I would.

[Kalai]

I don't think playing an elf well will always encourage characters to like you. 

[Barsook]

...

What the heck is this topic about.

[Cindy42]

I don't think playing an elf well will always encourage characters to like you. 

that's why i love elves <3 <3 <3

and why i am determined to see elves played properly!

want a necklace of elf ears IG

[Cindy42]

...

What the heck is this topic about.

what a good elf being played should be and what a bad elf being played is.

because i seen some pretty non-elfy elves and it sorts of shakes my immersion.

[Marshmellow]

I would challenge that those elves you saw that were acting unlike you would expect elves to act like... means they could easily have been acting even elfier than you expected.

[Case]

I think you can answer whatever addled mess the topic question is with "It depends what the elf considers stealing"

[Kalai]

...

What the heck is this topic about.

what a good elf being played should be and what a bad elf being played is.

because i seen some pretty non-elfy elves and it sorts of shakes my immersion.

Also remember half-breeds can appear to be elves, and they ... are ... not elves.  

[Barsook]

Deleted, was being rude.

[Cindy42]

Deleted, was being rude.

aw now i wanna know. and if you're not meaning to be rude than you're not rude! you have cupcake now!

[Barsook]

I ain't telling you.

[Anaiah]

Remembering that elves tend toward tribing as well as thievery. Even if your tribe is a tribe of one due to losing them earlier in life, you will tend toward tribing and xenophobia towards those outside whatever you deem your tribe to be. People overlook elven tests of trust all too much, but on the other hand, those trust tests are intelligent, and sometimes nonelves take them up as well. Usually when there's a player who makes their first character as an elf with no sneaky guild/sub and no mention of a tribe, I change them to human and advise them to read up on the elven documentation before making an elf (and link them to it). While badly played humans are bad, elves are so finite and specific in their outlined racial documentation, a badly played one leaves a very sour taste in the mouth, much more so than humans. (Any race with documentation, really, but half-elves are sort of like humans in emotional overdrive with bipolar disorder, so they are probably the most similar to humans racially, and thus the hardest to mess up on accident.)

[This is all personal opinion, mind. Not specifically as staff, but as a fellow part-time citizen of Zalanthas.]

[Majikal]

I would challenge that those elves you saw that were acting unlike you would expect elves to act like... means they could easily have been acting even elfier than you expected.

Also, so often I see elves neglect such things as trust trials. Tends to be even more important in the desert-elf environment. I always put a heavy emphasis on all of my elven pc's with even biography entries dedicated to single characters and the trust trials of that character. Don't forget your trust trials folks, they could be fun.

[Marauder Moe]

Now that I think about it, I had a non-elf character that would more or less perform the elven trust trials on people.  A few of them even passed the final test.

I'll have to keep that experience in mind should I ever end up playing an elf.

[FantasyWriter]

This would be a good time to reread the elf documentation.  IF I COULD!!!!

[Malifaxis]

This would be a good time to reread the elf documentation.  IF I COULD!!!!

Hey man... hey, FW.

                                                                            Psssssst.  Over here, man.

You, ah... you need some?  Huh?

I got the elf documentation right here, man.  You want a couple pages?  Here, man.

                                      Yeah man, that's the first page.

Pretty good shit, huh?  Yeah, no shit it even has the typos in it.  You think I cut?

I'll fucking cut you.

                                                            Yeah man, six bucks a page.

That's it.

Six.

You want some?

[Clavis]

damn elf stole what I was writing

[Celest]

Everyone knows that the only good elf is a dead elf.

[Erythil]

All the elves I've tried to befriend ended up dying before I could finish their tests.

[najdorf]

For me, opportunism should be the main drive in an elf's entire actions. (outside his/her tribe)
Playing an elf with such a mindset usually brings good RP along.

[Potaje]

Elves are not loyal to other elves, only their tribe.

[ianmartin]

Can we also keep in mind that not every West Indian speaks with an accent OR not every irishman likes potatoes???

Thusly, not ALL elves need to ACT out a specific archtype ALL the time.  If this was the case, why bother playing an elf?

[Anaiah]

Can we also keep in mind that not every West Indian speaks with an accent OR not every irishman likes potatoes???

Thusly, not ALL elves need to ACT out a specific archtype ALL the time.  If this was the case, why bother playing an elf?

Elf is not exactly a nationality. It is a completely different thing than a human. It has its own specific mindset which works within foreign and set parameters. As with all nonhuman races. Which is the reason why racial documentation is posted and egregious violation of such results in storage. There is a reason kank-riding elves are stored.

[lordcooper]

Can we also keep in mind that not every West Indian speaks with an accent OR not every irishman likes potatoes???

Thusly, not ALL elves need to ACT out a specific archtype ALL the time.  If this was the case, why bother playing an elf?

I've spent a good few years of my life in Ireland.  They all like potatoes.  Every...single...meal...has...potato...in...it!

There is a reason kank-riding elves are stored.

Because they haxxored the game to get a kank?

[X-D]

Three things on elf mindset that is hard wired.

Elves are tribal, even if it is only a tribe of one. And goes hand in hand with the next part.

Elves are Xenophobic paranoid types.

Elves are Thieves.

Because this is hard wired they are not capable of "truly" understanding that other races are not the above.
So, they know that Anybody outside the tribe is out to get them, they are sure everybody is trying to steal from them, because they are out to steal (in some way) from everybody else. Eves will steal from each other inside tribes, because theft is not a bad thing, It is fun it is art it is what they do. Though they will not steal from each other in a damaging manner. IE, he might take the hunters boots, but not his bow, arrows or skinning knife.

Noting all of the above makes trust trials one of the great joys of playing an elf, sadly I have found it to be mostly neglected by elf players. Specially celf players, often even those of the very highest karma levels, which amazes me.

Noting above makes elf always looking out for some way to steal the second great fun in playing an elf, sadly many people have a hard time with all the mentality that goes with it, specialy on delves which when you are playing in most tribes tends to feel more like you are playing humans because they almost never steal from each other and I think tend to get far too upset if stolen from.

Lastly, noting all of the above again, Elves should be, for the most part GREAT cowards, this is something that is more fun to play then you might think, a desire to live no matter the means because dying damages the tribe. And remember, the smaller the tribe, the more important each elf is to the tribe, something to think about for you celf tribes of one.