I just died, and it was amazing.

[musashi]

But you can play a city elf ranger.

[rpgguy2000]

But you can play a city elf ranger.

[Maso]

I think I might roll a city-elf ranger next.

[Lutagar]

Na, broski, you can't roll city elf rangers.

[InsertCleverNameHere]

Na, broski, you can't roll city elf rangers.

[Maso]

Oh. Hrm...Welllll....

What about a city-elf ranger then?

[Gunnerblaster]

Guys. New player perception.

This is totally not the place to start stupid derails.

[James de Monet]

Guys. New player perception.

This is totally not the place to start stupid derails.

+1 -- But I give you guys credit for the most motivated, team-oriented attempt at a derail that I have ever seen.

[Kismetic]

But I give you guys credit for the most motivated, team-oriented attempt at a derail that I have ever seen.

You must've missed the quote pyramiding.

[rpgguy2000]

On the topic of dying, COMBAT EMOTING!

So does anyone try to work emotes into their combat?

• Do you emote when fighting, not sparring but actually fighting for your life?
• Do you emote during combat only when there are other PCs around to see it?
• Does the level of danger affect the frequency of your emoting?
• Are you more likely to do tons of emotes when you're fighting something you are guaranteed to kill?
• Do you prepare emotes ahead of time and create common ones to use?
• Do you build emotes on the fly during combat to spice things up or are you too worried about surviving to adlib some combat RP?

I was thinking of what I can do to spice up my combat's RP so why not emote during your battles, right?

I was thinking of compiling a list of aliases for things I would do in combats. Different ways/methods/directions I would swing my weapon(s). Battle cries. Foot movement and charges that can even be combined with the coded skills. Stuff like that.

It feels like, for me as a new player, my safest bet is to make a bunch of aliases and use those then as I get more comfortable with the game and combat itself then I can try out more frequent unique emoting during fights.


Share with us noobs: How do YOU handle RP during coded combat?

[Fredd]

I usualy wait for a few blows to go back and fourth, and type out a fast emote. Or if I'm going to use a skill, like kick, I might describe how I snap up my kick, or go for the disarm, or try to knock them to the ground before. Sometimes I'll do it afterwards so I can add the resault into my emote.

[rpgguy2000]

I usualy wait for a few blows to go back and fourth, and type out a fast emote. Or if I'm going to use a skill, like kick, I might describe how I snap up my kick, or go for the disarm, or try to knock them to the ground before. Sometimes I'll do it afterwards so I can add the resault into my emote.

I just started trying that and I leave the emote vague or open ended in description. Like swinging my sword in a wide arc before an auto-attack fires or a charging emote before bashing and the bash finishes the description with me either hitting or falling over. Usually falling over. 

[Kismetic]

rpguy, it depends on you.  No one is going to fault you if you're keeping up with combat scroll, or wanting to be ready to enter a command.  Oftentimes, typing a long emote out in a combat scenario where you're outmatched is going to get you killed.  I would say lean towards shorter emotes that convey how the combat is happening, and if you have to focus on entering commands, so be it.  I once saw two pages of combat text go by in less than a second, and I didn't even bother to read it.  My hit points went from 108 to 8.  Instead of emoting, I typed 'flee e'.  Nothing wrong with that, man!

[Fredd]

rpguy, it depends on you.  No one is going to fault you if you're keeping up with combat scroll, or wanting to be ready to enter a command.  Oftentimes, typing a long emote out in a combat scenario where you're outmatched is going to get you killed.  I would say lean towards shorter emotes that convey how the combat is happening, and if you have to focus on entering commands, so be it.  I once saw two pages of combat text go by in less than a second, and I didn't even bother to read it.  My hit points went from 108 to 8.  Instead of emoting, I typed 'flee e'.  Nothing wrong with that, man!

Agreed. I tend to not emote when I'm fighting for my life, and emote when sparring.

[Maso]

Agreed. I tend to not emote when I'm fighting for my life, and emote when sparring.

This.

[Hitsuchi]

I tend to avoid emotes during combat RPTs and such - mostly because it would just add to the screen scroll that's already hard to keep up with. From a semi-noobie's perspective, emotes during sparring is a given, as well as emotes just before and after danger, or when you feel somewhat equally matched. Ctrl+A-Ctrl+X is your friend if you're halfway through an emote. I'd also rather be alive with short and few emotes, than dead with a half-written one.

[Marauder Moe]

On the topic of dying, COMBAT EMOTING!
So does anyone try to work emotes into their combat?

Yes.*

Do you emote when fighting, not sparring but actually fighting for your life?

Yes.*  (Also sometimes I won't emote during sparring if my PC is much more skilled than the other one and I want to be able to stop before hurting/killing them.)

Do you emote during combat only when there are other PCs around to see it?

You never know when someone might be watching.

Does the level of danger affect the frequency of your emoting?

Yes, adversely.

Are you more likely to do tons of emotes when you're fighting something you are guaranteed to kill?

Yes.

Do you prepare emotes ahead of time and create common ones to use?

Sometimes a few minutes/seconds ahead of time, then I'll ctrl-x them off the text bar, handle coded stuff, and paste it back in to finish writing and/or send.

Do you build emotes on the fly during combat to spice things up or are you too worried about surviving to adlib some combat RP?

I also do them on the fly sometimes, yes.

I was thinking of what I can do to spice up my combat's RP so why not emote during your battles, right?

I was thinking of compiling a list of aliases for things I would do in combats. Different ways/methods/directions I would swing my weapon(s). Battle cries. Foot movement and charges that can even be combined with the coded skills. Stuff like that.

It feels like, for me as a new player, my safest bet is to make a bunch of aliases and use those then as I get more comfortable with the game and combat itself then I can try out more frequent unique emoting during fights.

Preparing battle emotes ahead of time is OK. 

Using those emotes/aliases repeatedly is a bit of a gray area.  I don't think it's against any rules, but people will notice when you re-use an emote like that.

I'd suggest you can go ahead and make a list of cool battle/sparring emotes, but delete them from the list once you use them.  Keep things fresh and new. 

Also, realize that over time your character's combat ability is going to change.  Your early emotes might be reckless and crude, then gradually start emoting actions that are more skilled and impressive as your character's coded skills increase.  Starting off emoting like you're Jet Li is not a good idea.


*Survivability is my primary concern, though.  A combat emote is not worth my character's life.

[rpgguy2000]

rpguy, it depends on you.  No one is going to fault you if you're keeping up with combat scroll, or wanting to be ready to enter a command.  Oftentimes, typing a long emote out in a combat scenario where you're outmatched is going to get you killed.  I would say lean towards shorter emotes that convey how the combat is happening, and if you have to focus on entering commands, so be it.  I once saw two pages of combat text go by in less than a second, and I didn't even bother to read it.  My hit points went from 108 to 8.  Instead of emoting, I typed 'flee e'.  Nothing wrong with that, man!

I guess I need to ask these questions because there's so much I haven't experienced yet, such as what you described. Most combat an 11 day old player will see moves pretty slow so far from what I've seen...

[Kismetic]

Get thee to a combat clan, and you're bound to find a combat-related RPT.

[rpgguy2000]

Thanks for the detailed reply Moe.

Using those emotes/aliases repeatedly is a bit of a gray area.  I don't think it's against any rules, but people will notice when you re-use an emote like that.

I'd suggest you can go ahead and make a list of cool battle/sparring emotes, but delete them from the list once you use them.  Keep things fresh and new.  

Also, realize that over time your character's combat ability is going to change.  Your early emotes might be reckless and crude, then gradually start emoting actions that are more skilled and impressive as your character's coded skills increase.  Starting off emoting like you're Jet Li is not a good idea.

*Survivability is my primary concern, though.  A combat emote is not worth my character's life.

What about making certain emotes staples for skills? What I mean by this is take bash for example. What if I make an alias called bbash and basically is this:

emote holds up ~sword to his side before charging headlong at full speed.
bash

All this does is add a bit more description to the bash then what's in the coded description. I look at it like a "coded emote" - I won't ALWAYS use "bbash" and I can certainly use "bash" with another emote before or after it uniquely as I choose, but there's a good chance I'm going to use "bbash" more than a few times. I think that's a gray area... do you think it's acceptable to re-use this "type" of emote? Where all it does is add a tiny bit of flavor to the coded text of a skill but that flavor is re-used?

EDIT:
That got me thinking... there should be certain things that people, out of habit especially and just general mannerisms, do the same way every time and should be fine for emote re-use as long as it is worded properly. Like the way a person limps when they walk, or the way they lower the hood of their cloak... hrmmm... 

[Kismetic]

Personally, I think that's fine, rpguy.  Part of playing the game is idealizing how we want to portray the game's different actions.  There's nothing wrong with doing something exactly the same, especially when your character is skilled enough to go through the motion, and believes their way is correct.

Things to consider:

You won't always be able to do it your signature way, so be mindful of the details.
Take into account what happens when you fail before you design such an alias.
Some skills impose a command lag that are already suitable for short emotes.

[musashi]

Guys. New player perception.

This is totally not the place to start stupid derails.

Right. Of course. We have to make the new players think we're serious. If they thought we had a sense of humor ... ... no. No let's even contemplate.

[Maso]

Guys. New player perception.

This is totally not the place to start stupid derails.

Right. Of course. We have to make the new players think we're serious. If they thought we had a sense of humor ... ... no. No let's even contemplate.

I was thinking the exact same thing.  Who would want to be part of a community that actually joked around. Arm is serious business. 

[musashi]

I can tell you who wouldn't ... Gunnerblaster and James de Monet 

[Maso]

I can tell you who wouldn't ... Gunnerblaster and James de Monet 

Shhhhh. Stop joking around. You're going to scare off the new players with your sense of humor.