Roleplay-anxiety

[acaiberry]

Arrrgh. I don't know what to do about this. Why can't I just DIVE into the MUD? What can I do?

I:

1. feel like I have to brush up on Everything before I log in. I'm still "brushing up", and there is a taste of procrastination there.
2. am wary of fully engaging in RP. I'm acutely afraid of failing by being One Boring, lackluster Roleplayer.
3. feel like I have emote as fast as possible, as floridly as possible, to prevent other players from getting bored and thus not wanting to engage in RP with my character in the future.
4. get exhausted because everything above feels like a chore.
5. resort to playing loner-type of characters, to minimize rp-anxiety and the ensuing discomfort.

Roleplay on an RPI MUD is supposed to be an enjoyable activity, a dessert of pleasurable adrenaline. It frustrates me that I can't relax on a freakin' mud.

Some reassurance or tips highly appreciated! I need an Arm shrink!!  

[musashi]

[acaiberry]

Ahahah I love that, musashi. How I'd love a joint... I'm on a job hunt though, so it will have to wait. ((

[musashi]

Seriously, just relax and enjoy the game man.

You don't have to emote out everything you do if you feel like it's a chore. It's been said time and time again, emoting != role playing.

Just try to play a convincing character with weaknesses as well as strengths. That would be my advice.

And smoke weed.

EDIT to add: As an example, this was basically how I played my first "real" Arm character that I got into.

He was a hunter born and bred on the Gol Krathu. Not in the city itself per say, but rather moving with his family around the scrubs and grasslands, following game and going into the city to trade the pelts and what have you.

Not a tribal ... more like a ... frontiersman if you will.

I RP'd him as being knowledgeable about the wilds, a good grasp on tribal culture and that sort of thing as well as being comfortable with being in Tuluk as well, but I wanted to add in a few quirks and some disadvantages too.

So he had this erdlu ... had it since he was barely a teenager. He was there when the egg hatched and the thing thought he was its parent. I refused to ride anything else other than that erdlu. No matter how much shit other PC's gave me about it, and no matter how much it sucked having to deal with its weak stamina, I just wouldn't give it up.

Sometimes I would junk important things like my pack or something, and RP waking up to find the bird rooting through it looking for food. This was before the poop code went in but you can bet I would have had fun with that too  

This bird ... this weakness I insisted on having ... got me pulled into my first really big plot. A delf rolled me in the scrubs and stole the erdlu. I tracked the elf on foot all the way back to the Pah, and waited around for her to show up again to demand my bird back.

She was so impressed that I would go to such lengths for my mount that she actually did give the erdlu back, and a friendship developed between the two where he would help out with some of the plot stuff she and her tribe were doing. (It helped that he was subguild linguist too).

My point is ... weaknesses are awesome. People LOVE weaknesses. They are the part of a character that is most interesting. Ham them up  

[Mooney]

I absolutely understand the feeling that my roleplay would be the awkward tag-a-long cousin to someone else's roleplay. The worry that I'll slip up, typo, bore someone, or mess up something that is 'common' knowledge, ruining the immersion of those around me and being looked down upon, is definitely there.

But quite simply, nobody will care as long as your character is interesting. They won't care if you emote slow (as long as you're within reason, otherwise people will think you afk), they won't care if you don't have a mental thesaurus, they won't care if you slip up on basic things or even typo. As long as your character is interesting, they will want to be around you. It's not about what, but WHO.

And here's the best part, it's not about the where either. You don't need to know anything about ARMs (except oh, hey, desert, sand, Allanak, Tuluk, life hard, grunt grunt) to make an interesting character. The things that draw us are relatively universal, and the easiest way to naturally put together a character that 'everyone' will like is to make a character -you- love. If you love the character,  there will be this authenticity, this consistency that allows those flaws, quirks, and strengths that you love to show through even the plainest emote. Play for yourself, and people are going to check in and see what's making you so happy.

Also, don't treat this character-design as work to make the most interesting character ever. Just let your imagination run along, slap things together with whimsy, and refine it a little before throwing your character into the fray. Maybe you just wanted a dwarf with a peg-leg. Cool, why not have his Focus be to find and reclaim his lost leg, even if it's just the brittle bones. Sounds like a good idea to me, I wouldn't bother thinking much more and would just start playing.

I actually find that the best of my character's quirks are added as an afterthought when I'm already playing, like "oh man, it'd be funny if char X reacted to C with Y". Don't make a rigid history and as you play, you'll be able to add details to the past to explain the parts of your character that you're discovering along the way.

And also, despite how critical people may seem on the GDB, in the game, everyone is super supportive, so don't worry so much. I've screwed up a lot and I never felt judged. People genuinely want you to build a great relationship between you and your pokemon character.

[jstorrie]

Seriously, though, smoke up. Immerse.

[chrisdcoulombe]

This will help with the job.

[Cind]

i hated roleplay anxiety back when i had it. now it just feels like i'm helping to write a story, but with quick reflexes required, so that i'm not really in a trance.

try meditating. i can't think of a better free way to relax that i could state openly on the GDB.

play regularly with the same people? the shield wall pretty much keeps people from jumping all over the place, and some people are obligated to stay near their, uh, area. so you saw amos yesterday, the rp was fun, talk to him again. for me, i find that being able to rp with people i've rped with several times before is easier for some reason.

i totally don't care if your weed is slowing your typing speed; that's awesome, take a drag. i'd feel antsy about that if a gith were killing us with each other as weapons to beat each other up in turns in an alternative dimension where Malifaxis was a staff member and was fucking with us, but really, take your time.

[Erythil]

try meditating. i can't think of a better free way to relax that i could state openly on the GDB.

...I find that surprising, given all the other suggestions towards drug use.

How DOES cindy relax?

[Gunnerblaster]

Don't think about it.

Drop yourself into the game world - Assess the "situation" - and go from there.

If you find something that interests you, you stay logged in. If not - there isn't any shame in logging out 10 - 15 minutes later.

In the end, you play to have fun and enjoy yourself.

[Riev]

I am probably in the top 10 Worst RPers on this game. Seriously. Most of my characters don't have really noticeable "faults" (they should) and they always have a problem skirting people to get their own way (they shouldn't). I've even been known to "em actually, @ did <x> thing, not <misspelled thing>" sort of stuff. I think I even said "Boom, Headshot!" in game before.

But have an interesting character. Sitting around and doing nothing but asking "Anyone seen a Templar around" at a bar because you want to work for the Militia is fine and dandy, but striking up conversations, buying someone a beer, getting into a bar fight because they pissed you off, having a one-sided conversation with yourself.... Do something interesting. Something that, if you were walking down the street, and you saw some dude totally rocking out to music that isn't playing, you'd be like "I want to talk to that guy". In arm, just do "east (head-banging to an unheard rhythm)" and proceed to Winner's Circle.

[Samoa]

I used to screw stuff up ALL THE TIME. Eventually, one day, I went along with a really, really common trope. It's right up there with "my village was burnt down by orcs (note: we don't have orcs) so I trained to become a warrior and I hate all orcs, raaaar!!"

I.. played someone who was stupid and an amnesiac. Is it cliche? Oh, yeah. Totally cliche. But.. you know? I never felt bad about not knowing something. Yes, I TRIED to know everything, but... I could only remember so much, or know to have looked so many things up. I played her like she was an idiot (she was an idiot), and... everyone went with it. They would painstakingly explain things to her, and, honestly, a lot of the time it was fun to purposefully screw things up when I _DID_ know what was going on.

Just a thought.

[Cind]

try meditating. i can't think of a better free way to relax that i could state openly on the GDB.

...I find that surprising, given all the other suggestions towards drug use.

How DOES cindy relax?

i sort of forgot about tai chi a while ago, and i haven't had a sea salt bath in some time. walking the dogs is great, too, but mostly because we have beautiful thick wilderness. i've had a few cigarettes, but they scratch my throat, make me dizzy and taste weird. i'll never smoke a cigarette again, but i'd roll a tea smoke if given the chance, because smoking without the tobacco sounds relaxing. i would say drinking hot tea, but for some reason its relaxing to my friends and not me. its just something i do. so what relaxes cindy probably will not relax someone else. this one cross between hypnotism and a meditation is the gem of my relaxation tactics, but its too long to post. here's a buddhist meditation instead.

close your eyes: imagine each of your bones, in turn, beginning to glow with a white light, and keep doing that until your whole skeleton is shining with white light, and continue until you want to stop.

or you could do what gunnerblaster says. if nothing else, the players are understanding OOCly, and the ones who aren't are what we call "Wish up practice."

are you new, not new or veteran? our advice would have varied widely based on what you say about that.

I think playing an amnesiac can be extremely interesting and rewarding. it also saves times on making a background--- because you don't have one!

Riev does not think he is a bad rper in the land of my imagination where all my shit is real and awesome.

[Nao]

Weed just makes me feel -more- self-conscious about my RP. Gah.

[Lizzie]

Don't worry about flowery emotes. You're not playing Arm just so you can impress other geeks on the intrawebs. You're playing to enjoy a game. Only things, really, you need to remember when interacting, is that the emote command exists and you're encouraged to use it, and when you want to talk to someone, while standing up, use the "tell" command instead of the "say" command.

Everything else is gravy, honestly.

[Barzalene]

Create all three dimensions of your pc in your mind. Now, just emote enough to give the world a look at that full person in your head. Relax. Have fun. Try not to worry.

[Semper]

Play for your own enjoyment first, then take into account others once you feel comfortable. Some people roleplay better under pressure, but it's different with each player so don't worry. Also, if you avoid RP because you think you're bad at it, you aren't giving yourself the opportunities to really improve by being around others. Don't care so much about what other people think about your RP. When you are enjoying your character, others will do so naturally.

[Marauder Moe]

My 2 'sids, along with everyone else's: don't think about it.

The blunt truth is that yes, we can tell you're a newbie and yes, your RP is below average.  However, we don't care.  We like newbies and, despite what you may read on the GDB, the vast majority of us don't go out of our way to unfairly haze or exclude them in game or anything.

You want to know what a new player can do to impress us most?  It's not having knowledge from the docs, mastery of the code, or amazing emoting skills.  The thing that impresses us most is when you stick with it long-term.  Just keep playing.  The rest will come naturally.

[Kalai]

I play half-elves to relax. But probably different issues there. 

[SandMiser]

Man, it's all good.  I'm king of typos, forget syntax, miss direct emotes all the time.  Even run out of things to say and have no clue what other players are talking about when they refer to various commonly known things (and I've been playing for like a decade.  Just be the character and relax.  It's a game - and fun.  =)

At the same time, I totally get what you're saying.

Just find my dood and we'll chill. 

[Bacon]

My advice: Shut up and play. 

[boog]

Seeing as I can't currently 'smoke up', I've found that sometimes, sure, I do get a little anxious, especially about my writing. I get mad, or criticize myself when I type something and I feel it's not up to par with what others around me are/might be doing or expressing. I feel like I'm too slow (which is weird, since in most other RPIs, I'm one of the fastest typers and RPers) or that people lose interest because I might have to wait a moment to think of a new way in which to express what my character is doing, physically, and how they're doing it, all while tossing in thinks/feels/etc. This game is the first in which I've actually felt vastly inferior to a majority of other peoples' RP, but y'know what? Fuck it. Seriously!

You can't view this game as a job. I've sort of come to the realization that there are some players I just can't keep up with and RP to the hilt because they want to go, go, go, and I respect that. I'll toss an emote in from time to time, and if that's all I can do, so be it. And then, there are other players/characters, where I can emote and describe and go all out, to my heart's content, and I respect that, too.

Also, don't listen to Riev. He is so full of shit (!), as are most of the people on the GDB who say they're bad RPers. I've rarely, if ever (because I can't really recall one right now) run into -anyone- on this game that hasn't been a joy (per interaction, not necessarily their character) to interact with. You are probably one of these people, too. Use your experiences and grow from them. If someone uses an emote you like, recycle it to fit your own needs, or how you think your character should be viewed.

And another thing I've found that's helped me ... If you want to, write emotes ahead of time, or practice with them in notepad. Use specific words with your character. This usually helps me prepare and gets me into the groove a lot faster and much more easily, too.

[Barzalene]

Also, if it's any help, I often suspect my RP sucks. People seem perfectly happy to play with me anyway.
The moral of the story is these people are easy.

[RogueGunslinger]

When your average interaction is with the use of the discuss command, a couple nods and chuckles go a long, long way.

[valeria]

When I first started playing I'm sure I was absolutely awful.  What I do remember though is that with my total noob, looking like a total noob, with my little emote cheat sheet taped to the side of my monitor, I wandered into a bar, started chatting people up like a noob (I'm positive, POSITIVE I didn't know what the 'talk' command was), and got hired anyway.  Right away.  I mean, less than two hours played and I'm getting inducted into a prestigious military group.  And I can't begin to tell you how slow I was at everything, because every two seconds I was switching to search the webpage/helpfiles frantically to cross reference something.

And eventually I stored that character out of boredom, because I kind of went out of my way with her background to make her an ignorant and uncomplicated yokel just to get into the game and explain some of the stupid away, but my second character really got me hooked.

Also, I don't know what this obsession is with being afraid to have your character die, or being afraid to store your character, but I really don't think either is all that bad.  It's okay to lose characters.  Just get into the game!  Make mistakes!  You can try out a couple of things, and if you really like a concept that gets killed to stupid noob mistake #3, you can always redo that concept a few characters later, but better.  My... fourth character was pretty much a rehash of my first, but in a different setting and with more personality, and she was awesome.  Even though she died to a stupid noob mistake herself 

[Marauder Moe]

Nine years and I still have an emote cheat sheet taped to the side of my monitor.

[Incognito]

A very good topic for discussion!

If you're good at acting, elocution or plain lying, then you'll be a natural at role playing.

If you're not, you can still excel at role-playing - its not rocket science.

All you need to do is :
1) Have a character concept in your mind, and stick with it. (It doesnt matter if your PC is dumb, or hates talking, or wants to avoid being the center of attention).
2) Adhere to the RP guidelines. (Don't break out into OOC chatter unnecessarily, and have *some* basic knowledge about Zalanthas, the city you're in, and the job you're doing, so you appear as someone who is atleast versed with a basic knowledge of the World around him).

That's all there is to it - good RP does not necessarily entail a verdant vocabulary or mad emote skills. The world has all kinds of people - yours can be whatever/however you imagine your PC to be. Once you stick with your concept, the other players will pick it up, and work with you (or around you), in their own fashion. That's the magick of RP.

I agree with whoever responded to your post - and said - "just enjoy yourself".....with your character, and don't worry about elaborate RP - just to make others around you like your PC.

[Zoan]

Nine years and I still have an emote cheat sheet taped to the side of my monitor.

You still use a CRT monitor?

[Rhyden]

This entire thread is moot except for musashi's post.

[Cind]

A mystical pot dragon is here.
--- He is carrying several solidly-packed tubes.

[Riev]

A mystical pot dragon is here.
--- He is carrying several halves of solidly-packed tubes.

FTFY.

[Rhyden]

You shouldn't have any roleplay anxiety. Arm is something you should do to have fun and relax.

The only time I've had roleplay anxiety is whenever something insane happens to your character, or you're plotting to kill someone. That's normal. Otherwise, toke up and immerse, yo.

[AreteX]

Don't sweat the small stuff, really.

I think you feel people judge more than they really do.

If they are judging you won't really ever know about it.


I have a recommendation though.  For your next character play someone who has a very severe personality towards being DIRECT and TO THE POINT.  Even to the point of being offensive to other people.  I think if you open yourself up to playing someone who doesnt just sit and watch and really tells that gemmer to go FECK himself you'll slowly break out of your mold, and see some good reaction RP from other people.

Curse that elf out and beat his face in at the Gaj.  Get yourself into trouble.  Talk shit about some guys cloak, thinkin' hes all feckin' fancy walking around with silk-trim.  Feck him.


Really, get into an angry, angsty character and let yourself GO man.  Thrust yourself into another role and just ROLL WITH IT!

[Cind]

A mystical pot dragon is here.
--- He is carrying several halves of solidly-packed tubes.

FTFY.

Yeauh!

[spicemustflow]

The last PC I stored was exactly because of a bad case of roleplay anxiety.