ten-commandments

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  • All the World's a Stage: The inside layer

    by 
    David Bowers
    David Bowers
    06.06.2009

    This installment of All the World's a Stage continues the discussion about the layers of roleplaying, still taking a break from the series of roleplaying guides about how to roleplay your race, class, and professions. Last week, we looked at how to interact with strangers in roleplaying environments, on "the surface layer."So there you are -- you've got a character who is gregarious and gets into roleplaying groups relatively easily. Your character's way of interacting with others makes it easy for other people to recognize you as a roleplayer, and even encourages them to come out and roleplay with you, even if they're not that much into roleplaying themselves. You've followed some good advice about finding roleplayers -- maybe even joined an RP guild -- and you're meeting characters you think are interesting, and you really hope they think your character is interesting too.But then something goes wrong and you feel that special RP feeling start slipping away. The people in your guild stop talking to you as much -- sometimes the whole guild atmosphere seems to go quiet and dull, and no matter what you say, nothing seems to get the actual spirit of roleplaying flowing again. You start to think maybe your interesting character quirks aren't all that good after all. You keep trying to think of new ones, but no matter how funny your accent or entertaining your antics, people just aren't getting into it like they used to. The problem here isn't actually you -- it's an assumption that many roleplayers, even experienced ones, sometimes have when they are in new roleplaying situations. We take the burden of creating a roleplaying atmosphere too heavily upon ourselves, when actually what we need to do is not create the atmosphere, but nurture it. Questions are the key here -- if your character has a genuine interest in other people then he or she will be able to draw out the spirit of roleplaying in them, get them talking about themselves, and start having interesting interactions together.

  • The 10 Commandments of EVE

    by 
    James Egan
    James Egan
    08.28.2008

    EVE Online tends to appeal to MMO players who like the depth and complexity of a sci-fi game where players have the freedom to act as they wish in a vast galaxy. But that freedom comes with a price; EVE can be a harsh setting, particularly for newer players trying to get a handle on the game. For the newer player who's recently completed the tutorial, EVE largely remains a mystery... one which only reading, learning from other players, and just 'going for it' can solve. Still, it's always good when someone passes on advice to newer players as many of us learned our lessons the hard way. To that end, we bring you The 10 Commandments of EVE. Truth be told, there are a lot more than ten essential things to know about the game, but this is a good start. Feel free to add your own "commandments" or lessons learned in the comments below. Behold The 10 Commandments of EVE >> %Gallery-30634%

  • All the World's a Stage: Ten Commandments of Roleplaying

    by 
    David Bowers
    David Bowers
    03.16.2008

    All the World's a Stage is a source for roleplaying ideas, commentary, and discussions. It is published every Sunday evening.WoW Insider is not Mount Sinai, and I am certainly not the Burning Bush, but there is a need for a clear, concise list of "do's and don'ts" which new and experienced roleplayers can refer to in times of need. I therefore submit the following commandments as a guide and a reference to roleplayers throughout the World of Warcraft.Obviously the list of essential rules I lay out here will be different from a list you might make, but hopefully the basic ideas remain the same. In addition, being as I am hardly a prophet of the Almighty, I reserve the right to edit these commandments over time as times change and new insights emerge.1. Thou shalt not play God.You only have control over the actions of your own character. When roleplaying with others, you must never ever use an emote or action which denies others the right to choose their own actions in response to yours. For example: "Moosis glares with white hot anger at Faro" is acceptable; "Moosis glares so intensely that Faro's face melts" is not. Whether or not two people's characters are fighting with each other, their act of roleplaying itself is essentially cooperative -- even in a battle of emotes, both players must work together to tell the story in an interesting way, neither one presuming what the other will do.