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An idea for roleplaying conflict.

This out of character forum is for discussion of roleplaying, how to roleplay and roleplay coordination.
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Joandaltha
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An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Joandaltha »

A lot of things have been happening in the dream and there have definitely been some arguments over in-game events affecting people OOC. I have played a lot of MMOs and participated heavily in the role-playing communities and here is an idea that some people may actually enjoy trying.

If you want to play an antagonist, try and reach out to other players who you want to receive your ire and try and set up events and roleplaying situations together. Think of it as a mini-GM team where the events can be planned by both the protagonist and antagonist and let the audience be the participants and drivers of how things play out in the future. I am not saying that all conflicts need to be done this way, but it may be a unique way to have people interact that will not have negative consequences for the actual players.
Ceyllynn
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Ceyllynn »

i rarely do that myself, more of an rp on the fly style, but there have been character affecting rps i have done like death's etc(long before strike was in), ones that would affect their house statuses etc... contacting and setting up before hand is a good idea.
Noidea
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Noidea »

That sounds a good idea, for people who are intending something like that. Contacting someone and saying "D'you want a good villain?" would definitely take some of the sting out of when some character starts waling on your character and you don't know whether they're intending to annoy you or not!
Efforts yield rewards, not words alone.
Joandaltha
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Joandaltha »

Yeah, I really see this as a tool for a more organized series of events or for people who do have a hard time separating in character and out of character, which is ok by the way because a lot of players interact outside of the game.

Also, if someone is trying to start role-playing and antagonist with someone and the recipient is uncomfortable with it or are unwilling, just talk it out ooc and see if you can do it this way. Just because a character is bad guy doesn't mean they are in real life, they are just eager to have drama and conflict in game, which is needed.
Uthanatos
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Uthanatos »

It's also a good opportunity to give conflicting controllers insight into the situation and help mold it for the 'audience' involved, but it is something I would reserve for major events or fueds, just to insure there isn't a bunch of emotional bleed. It can sometimes be hard to separate yourself from your character when you spend hours a day despising someone as your character, it can be difficult to take that step back when you log out. So, I definately see it as a valuable tool
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Noidea
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Noidea »

It's not always only a question of "stepping back", either, though that does come into it; it can be a question of quite simply not knowing, not knowing whether somebody is friendly towards you OOC but is playing a bad guy and waiting for someone to foil them, or whether they know they're driving you crazy but simply don't care.
Efforts yield rewards, not words alone.
Joandaltha
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Joandaltha »

Noidea wrote:It's not always only a question of "stepping back", either, though that does come into it; it can be a question of quite simply not knowing, not knowing whether somebody is friendly towards you OOC but is playing a bad guy and waiting for someone to foil them, or whether they know they're driving you crazy but simply don't care.
You are absolutely right and that is why communicating is important. Reaching out to people ooc is ok, as long as it is done in a mature and rational fashion. Sometimes you can find that common ground by doing so , be able to set rules for the conflict so that the separation of ic and ooc can happen.
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Malarky
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Re: An idea for roleplaying conflict.

Post by Malarky »

My two pesos

I've never found a single RP of villainy that did not have planning with the victims in mind but there are ways to do the planning IC that doesn't involve cross-over.

When developing a notorious villainous character, do not become "evil" until you are at least 4th sphere. You're going to be taking a lot of heat and you need a backbone in case it does not work. The higher your sphere when you start, the fewer consequences when you stop. I've noticed people are much more forgiving of powerful villains than they are of ones that don't have any power. Once they stop, they become powerful allies.

Create different stages of villainy. Some people you can not convince to play a part in your RP so you need a stage of villainy to RP with them that appeals to you both. Never play a lower stage of villainy in the presence of someone willing to play a higher stage of villainy with you, though or you'll appear weak to them. You don't gain notoriety by RPing with lower stage participants. You gain notoriety by letting the higher stage participants propagate your villainy. Take your time. Let the villainy stew.

You can hint at people when the scene is progressing to one of more villainy that urges them to respond accordingly. I like to do this actually when others are RPing to help shape the impact of a scene. It has less impact when the main villain has to create the scene as well as play in it. How does this conflict effect your character? Are they nervous or do they feel betrayed?

Your commitment to supporting a Role-Play shapes the integrity of villains even when you're not the villain. Not a lot of people enjoy playing villains and I imagine a part of the reasons for that include how people choose not to interact with them.

My favorite villain of all time was Bandaret. He had a way with words and was an organic role-player.

Every role-player needs to have a character flaw for people to exploit and inject themselves into. The easier it is to identify, the easier it will be for people to relate or to choose not to relate to your character.
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