How to remain a big bad mean Zalanthian person

[FamousAmos]

Every so often I bump into a PC IG who's so well played that they pull my OOC heart strings, and its so difficult to stay mean IG to them. How do you maintain your mean streak in cases like that?

[valeria]

I think sometimes I go out of the way to be extra mean to people like that, just so that I don't feel like I'm breaking character.  It helps me to brainstorm about how I would treat them if they were anyone else, in advance, so I have something to fall back on.

On the other hand, I remind myself that mean people sometimes like people too, if there seems to be an IC reason for why my mean character would hate that one person less than the rest of personkind.

[sleepyhead]

Make sure you send them a kudos, too, whether or not you decide to be mean to them IG!

[Dahlia]

Make sure you send them a kudos, too, whether or not you decide to be mean to them IG!

Thanks for reminding me that you could do that!  I totally forgot about kudos altogether. 

[evilcabbage]

ooc for consent for sex, then promptly -murder- them before sex happens.




that's pretty mean. it's like, your characters were about to do it, then you pulled a knife and went "i get off so hard on this".

[Armaddict]

Implant distrust in your interactions with said overly nice or heartstring-puller character.  Fear of manipulation and being deceived, and thus a wariness.  They had to have survived the dregs of Allanaki somehow, and you can have doubts about whether it was by being innocent or trustworthy.

It won't change how you have to treat them, but it will force an interesting inner dialogue of questioning motives and goals, which will filter over into your interactions into a more realistic sort of acceptance of them and how they are.  A tempered acceptance of it, with built in sinkholes they could fall into.

That's one way you could do it, that I use a lot.

[Patuk]

Git gud, scrub. RP hard.

[Akaramu]

PK the weird wackos who berate you for being racist or for being 'disrespectful' to tribals. Racism should be the norm, not the exception, so it's a good opportunity for dickish RP that fits any character.

I don't PK (or play the game atm), but I hope I inspired some of you who do. 

[Hauwke]

Maye you dont have to be mean back, if the person is an amazing person IG despite being a total douche-bag, it might be ICly possibly to just stick yourself to them and be part of their RP even more. Evem though your guy is a 'nice' guy.

[Delirium]

On the other hand, I remind myself that mean people sometimes like people too, if there seems to be an IC reason for why my mean character would hate that one person less than the rest of personkind.

Oh hey, Val wrote my post for me.

Mean people are people too!

[Miradus]

Every so often I bump into a PC IG who's so well played that they pull my OOC heart strings, and its so difficult to stay mean IG to them. How do you maintain your mean streak in cases like that?

I maim them. Cut their face into a gruesome Rinther Grin, or cut off a finger, or scalp them. Rather than PK them, it keeps their story going and makes me and my actions a permanent part of their character (as far as permanence goes).

Most of the PK's I committed I ended up regretting because they were generally decent characters I wished were still around to interact with. At the peak I was committing 1.67 PK's every day, over a two week period. That was just too much. So it was recommended that I tried maiming the good ones instead and so I did. It turned out pretty well, except a lot of the ones I gruesomely scarred up ended their lives in other ways before too much longer.

Not that PK isn't still on the table for me, because sometimes that's the absolute best way to end a character arc and everyone involved knows it. But it's much better when it happens normally instead of an accidental sap death or stun fail that ends up incapping them when nobody has bandage. I really dislike those.

[Grapes]

Every so often I bump into a PC IG who's so well played that they pull my OOC heart strings, and its so difficult to stay mean IG to them. How do you maintain your mean streak in cases like that?

I maim them. Cut their face into a gruesome Rinther Grin, or cut off a finger, or scalp them. Rather than PK them, it keeps their story going and makes me and my actions a permanent part of their character (as far as permanence goes).

Most of the PK's I committed I ended up regretting because they were generally decent characters I wished were still around to interact with. At the peak I was committing 1.67 PK's every day, over a two week period. That was just too much. So it was recommended that I tried maiming the good ones instead and so I did. It turned out pretty well, except a lot of the ones I gruesomely scarred up ended their lives in other ways before too much longer.

Not that PK isn't still on the table for me, because sometimes that's the absolute best way to end a character arc and everyone involved knows it. But it's much better when it happens normally instead of an accidental sap death or stun fail that ends up incapping them when nobody has bandage. I really dislike those.

Is a good point, you don't have to KILL everyone. Just be sure to OOC for consent/maiming first. This can be some very, very intriguing RP.

That said, it's true, there's some character's you are just going to like so much that you have to consider you're not being "fair", but this is a very rare occasion where I'd point to MCB, Murder, Corruption, Betrayal, especially the corruption part. It's ok to not be fair, it's pretty much expected... but, it's like, you find yourself OOCly liking a PC you ICly shouldn't like, that's rough, but you have to stay true to IC. I've been an asshole to people I OOCly like before, but it sort of backfired and ICly my PC ended up being better friends with them than they would have because of how they reacted ICly to it, and simply because I was willing to put a good deal of my chips on being a dick. Nothing says you can't be a prick, then feel bad about it later. Try shoving them around some, if they still tug your strings after you've been a jerk, then maybe it was simply meant to be.

EDIT: I once tried to convince a newb I OOCly liked (I OOCly like them all), to try to eat their own boots to keep from starving to death. I was in luck, after someone recovered from laughing at the event, they gave the new player some money to get some food. I was OOCly just, snickering that they took off their boots and emoted trying to take a bite, the code didn't support it though, and I ICly told them, "Maybe if your feet didn't smell like a billion buttholes, those boots would taste better.". Welcome to Zalanthas.

[Vex]

So, be nice, if you want to be nice?

I've gone from, having just brutally killed someone over minor pride infractions, to being perfectly nice and even generous with some stranger, who seems like they might be fun to be friends with. I think that, it's more charming, and interesting, when even the worst of people, end up having a soft spot for the least likely of people, because it gives everyone else something to wonder over, and often leads to embarrassingly cute scenes.

I'd even say, the worse a person your character is, the more likely they're going to want to have someone around to brighten up their life. If not, you may be playing a Disney villain, and that's real bad, because I play nothing but Disney princesses, and if I find you, I'll kill you dead.

[Grapes]

Yeah, Vex, you sort of have to be three dimensional, no one  hates everyone all the time, and even the biggest scumbag will have moments of doubt and question their course. I, as a player, dislike having to kill someone out of pride, so, as the one submitting the character application, I accept a certain responsibility to keep my playing experience enjoyable by not painting them into a corner with my background, knowing what sorts of situations may be thrown at me in advance.

I mean, I could get kudos by playing a wounded psychopath who never really thinks there's anything wrong with them, but I know I'll be playing for keeps, and, wrecking the plots of countless others, doesn't appeal to me. Don't get me wrong, I could DO it... and even the nicest person in the world will be forced to do some mean things in Zalanthas. For me to play such, I'd question my inclination to indulge my own preferred playstyle of "killer" according to Bartle tests, at the expense of the experiences of others who want completely different things, and OOCly I'd feel really bad about being overly selfish in a collaborative roleplay setting.

None of that really matters, however. Play long enough and potential victims will find YOU.

[Armaddict]

Huh.

Was this asking for how to find a way to kill someone who was likeable?  Because I read it as needing to find a way to keep the player's like for a character from automatically having their generally mean-spirited character from liking it too, 'just because'.  I don't think anyone really plays with the 'I'm going to have no friends and just hate everyone!' mentality.

Not that you really need a reason to wanna kill someone, but...player courtesy, I guess?

[FamousAmos]

Huh.

Was this asking for how to find a way to kill someone who was likeable?  Because I read it as needing to find a way to keep the player's like for a character from automatically having their generally mean-spirited character from liking it too, 'just because'.  I don't think anyone really plays with the 'I'm going to have no friends and just hate everyone!' mentality.

Not that you really need a reason to wanna kill someone, but...player courtesy, I guess?

Yeah no. I wasn't referring to killing everyone my PC dislikes. But I generally like to play racism and city hierarchy accordingly, which at times is hard on me OOCly.

[Riev]

Its hard to be overtly racist against the most populous race around. Like standing in the middle of a Mexican neighborhood refusing to talk to a bunch of [insert racist colloquialisms here].

I find in Arm, its easier to be racist against non-humans because the PC representation is often really low. We like to pretend that there are a dozen elves around the corner ready to correct your beliefs, but simply speaking we know that's not true. Which for SOME, makes it really easy to be racist, knowing there aren't many repercussions. However, with such a small playerbase in each sphere, pissing off that one half-elf PC that other people like may get you ostracized worse than the breed should be.

I think you can be a racist, without throwing out racist terms and being mean. Think of it this way: You're a nerd. You like DnD. Jocks used to always pick on you for being a nerd and not being brawny and cool. Flashforward 20 years, and even jocks and gym-rats are playing DnD. Do you accept them into your game, or do you purposefully target them and try to make their life hell for trying to be in YOUR DnD game?

If you want to be racist, calling him a "dumb jock" in public probably won't do much. But if you refuse to trade with him, or only trade for wildly one-sided deals, or steal his mount or pay to have a raider target him... well. Damn that's good racism.

[nauta]

Here are my two thoughts:

1. Be mean!  (In line with the cultural documentation).  It is highly rewarding to both the bully and the bullied.  If I see someone being mean to me, and it is well RP'd, I'd be inclined to kudos them and/or roll up my next PC in their sphere to RP with them.  If I'm playing at tribal, I want cityslickers to call me a dirty lizardfucker.  If I'm a breed, I want to get punched in the mouth.  If I'm a HG, I want people to treat me like a stupid child.

2. Be mean with an eye towards including those you are mean to in a plot of some sort.  For instance: make mistakes and allow them a chance for revenge; hire the breed and send it first into the cave; be openly racist to the desert elf but still way them to trade; or just cultivate a lasting enmity.  I've had plenty of cases where I was IC enemies with a character I hated, but a player who I really respected.

The converse is kind of true too: if I see someone whiteknighting or befriending me for OOC reasons, I will avoid them.

[Feco]

On the other hand, I remind myself that mean people sometimes like people too, if there seems to be an IC reason for why my mean character would hate that one person less than the rest of personkind.

Oh hey, Val wrote my post for me.

Mean people are people too!

I often play really, really mean characters, and this is something important to keep in mind.  There's no reason an asshole can't make friends.

Particularly with other assholes.

Somehow, I'd be willing to bet it makes being mean easier.  Being super mean all the time can be tiring.

[Dahlia]

The converse is kind of true too: if I see someone whiteknighting or befriending me for OOC reasons, I will avoid them.

How do you know they're ooc reasons if you can't see their thoughts, feelings, and background?

[Delirium]

Rule #1, take everything IC. Always assume good roleplay. Even when you have to do mental gymnastics. If it's egregious, report it to staff and move on, trust that they will look I to it. In general you will be much happier assuming the best of other players.

[Grapes]

Honestly, being mean, or having someone be mean to you, can be a great RP opportunity, provided the whole prisoner's dilemma thing doesn't shift on you. It's when things escalate far higher than they need to go that it becomes an issue. I enjoy playing mean-spirited, nasty characters most of all, but I expect to get it dished right back out to me in kind, which, it usually does. Some of my best interactions have been trading insults and starting brawls.