- Staff
- #1
Roleplay - Why you can do just about anything*
*As long as it's realistic
Hello everybody, welcome to another classic perpheads thread. Today's topic is roleplay, what it actually means, and how you can use it to enhance your experience. I see a lot of talk about "passive rp," people tying roleplay strictly to passive situations where you open a shop selling burgers that you hope some people may appreciate. I contest that roleplay is not limited to such a small scope, instead, it can be incorporated into everything that you do. I hope to use my experiences on the server to try and convey this idea.
It's in the name
Consider the word roleplay. It's exactly what it says it is, you are playing a role. You're pretending to be something, in essence. This can be anything, from a nameless stormtrooper to a hardened criminal, and everything inbetween and otherwise. You first choose what it is you wish to be, this is your foundation to build upon. A character, motivations, etc, all stem from this core identity. On our humble server, we choose to play as normal people. Cops, robbers, medics, insane homeless men. We are normal people in a normal world. But, importantly, you are not playing yourself. You are playing somebody a character that you have the freedom to design. You don't have to limit yourself to your own personality (although in most cases it will inspire your character.)
This comes with it it's own burdens. Considering how your character would react, seperate to you, how they would feel, or act in any given situation. This is perhaps daunting, but it's easily to slip into the flow of. You are not playing a game where winning/losing is what matters. You are your character, a normal, realistic person who should have realistic motivations and feelings. Considering your character, and the world they exist in, is crucial in realising the power that this kind of thinking can have.
Unlimited Power!
The roleplay side is the pathway to abilities some may consider unnatural. To understand what powers await you, please first consider the limitations of the game. There are things you can do, and things you can't. For example, you can collect evidence from a murder by DNA'ing a body, but you cannot tell for certain that the suspect is hiding in a particular property. You can search suspects for items, but you cannot search chests or vehicle trunks. With roleplay, you can do all of these things, and many more. You are not limtied by code, only your own imagination.
/me and /desc: underworked, overfucked
The most important tools in your arsenal are the /me and /desc functions. They let you do practically anything, as long as it is a realistic action you would be able to take. The /desc function, and it's enforced accuracy within the rules, ensure that you recieve accurate feedback based on your actions. You need to be comfortable with relaying information detrimental to your current situation, and appreciate that it's part of the process.
An example, for instance, would be a situation earlier where we were inside the front room of a slums apartment. We suspected the presence of a warranted suspect behind one of the locked doors inside, but all we had to go off was phonig the suspect, which gave uncertain results. Instead of giving up, here's what I did:
/me puts ear to door
Realistically, if I had my ear to the door, I would be able to tell if the ringing was coming from inside the room, instead of in another apartment. Upon recieving audio confirmation that the phone rang, I made a /desc:
/desc Did the ringing come from within the room?
And it did, which gave me probable cause to breach, in a situation where perhaps otherwise we would've been powerless to act.
This is just one example. If you consider not just what you can do with the tools the game gives you, but instead what realistic actions you could take out of the set of literally all of them, you can achieve more advantageous outcomes.
Conclusion
I didn't really plan this post out very well, but I just wanted to make everyone aware that thinking outside the box and understanding a basic roleplay framework can be a very rewarding experience (providing the cooperation of all involved.) I have nothing else to say.
*As long as it's realistic
Hello everybody, welcome to another classic perpheads thread. Today's topic is roleplay, what it actually means, and how you can use it to enhance your experience. I see a lot of talk about "passive rp," people tying roleplay strictly to passive situations where you open a shop selling burgers that you hope some people may appreciate. I contest that roleplay is not limited to such a small scope, instead, it can be incorporated into everything that you do. I hope to use my experiences on the server to try and convey this idea.
It's in the name
Consider the word roleplay. It's exactly what it says it is, you are playing a role. You're pretending to be something, in essence. This can be anything, from a nameless stormtrooper to a hardened criminal, and everything inbetween and otherwise. You first choose what it is you wish to be, this is your foundation to build upon. A character, motivations, etc, all stem from this core identity. On our humble server, we choose to play as normal people. Cops, robbers, medics, insane homeless men. We are normal people in a normal world. But, importantly, you are not playing yourself. You are playing somebody a character that you have the freedom to design. You don't have to limit yourself to your own personality (although in most cases it will inspire your character.)
This comes with it it's own burdens. Considering how your character would react, seperate to you, how they would feel, or act in any given situation. This is perhaps daunting, but it's easily to slip into the flow of. You are not playing a game where winning/losing is what matters. You are your character, a normal, realistic person who should have realistic motivations and feelings. Considering your character, and the world they exist in, is crucial in realising the power that this kind of thinking can have.
Unlimited Power!
The roleplay side is the pathway to abilities some may consider unnatural. To understand what powers await you, please first consider the limitations of the game. There are things you can do, and things you can't. For example, you can collect evidence from a murder by DNA'ing a body, but you cannot tell for certain that the suspect is hiding in a particular property. You can search suspects for items, but you cannot search chests or vehicle trunks. With roleplay, you can do all of these things, and many more. You are not limtied by code, only your own imagination.
/me and /desc: underworked, overfucked
The most important tools in your arsenal are the /me and /desc functions. They let you do practically anything, as long as it is a realistic action you would be able to take. The /desc function, and it's enforced accuracy within the rules, ensure that you recieve accurate feedback based on your actions. You need to be comfortable with relaying information detrimental to your current situation, and appreciate that it's part of the process.
An example, for instance, would be a situation earlier where we were inside the front room of a slums apartment. We suspected the presence of a warranted suspect behind one of the locked doors inside, but all we had to go off was phonig the suspect, which gave uncertain results. Instead of giving up, here's what I did:
/me puts ear to door
Realistically, if I had my ear to the door, I would be able to tell if the ringing was coming from inside the room, instead of in another apartment. Upon recieving audio confirmation that the phone rang, I made a /desc:
/desc Did the ringing come from within the room?
And it did, which gave me probable cause to breach, in a situation where perhaps otherwise we would've been powerless to act.
This is just one example. If you consider not just what you can do with the tools the game gives you, but instead what realistic actions you could take out of the set of literally all of them, you can achieve more advantageous outcomes.
Conclusion
I didn't really plan this post out very well, but I just wanted to make everyone aware that thinking outside the box and understanding a basic roleplay framework can be a very rewarding experience (providing the cooperation of all involved.) I have nothing else to say.
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