RP101 Seminar Log

["Kathie Care" <kathie@availablelight.net>]

Thank you, everyone!! It was a great seminar with some great input and
questions!!!!


8/19/2001
Logfile from DuneIII-Ophelia
Martin sees O walking in and hides the spit balls. :)

Ophelia starts her log. "Looks like we're all just about ready..."

Announcement: Sargon shouts, "Ophelia's RP seminar is beginning in the OOC
auditorium. Please make your way there if you plan to attend."

ender walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

ender has arrived.

Ophelia smiles. "Hello hello hello! Welcome to RP 101! Glad to see you could
make it. We've got a lot of ground to cover in this presentation, and we
certainly don't want to drag things out to the point that people become
bored. We all know that a bored player is a bad thing, eh?"

You say, "Also, to, I'd like to warn you in advance, we're going to keep
things to a pretty high level here. I promise, later classes will go into
much more depth than we have here. Please DO feel free to ask questions when
we open up the floor for 'em!"

Guest has disconnected.

Rosetta walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Rosetta has arrived.

You say, "But before we begin, some acknowledgments need to happen here."

You say, "Tonight's presentation wouldn't be happening, first of all,
without the help of your friendly admin staff. And secondly, the
contribution and support of all the Fac-heads here should also be noted.
Special thanks also go to Pers, Erich, Sargon, Margot, Petra, and Rhedek,
for helping so much."

Ophelia winks. "Tonight's session is also brought to you by the letters O
and N, and the number 12."

Rosetta laughs.

The number 12 bows politely and steps back into the shadows.

Ophelia gets serious again. "We'll pause for questions at various points
along the way. So that we can keep things moving in an orderly way, I'd like
to ask that if you've got a question, please page Petra to get in the queue.
We'll be fielding things in the order they're received. Please also keep
commentary and chatter to a minimum - we don't want to spam folks too much."

Martin laughs.

You say, "Alrighty then! Looks like the fine print is dealt with. We're
off!"

You say, "Let's get started with some pretty basic things to get warmed up.
Many of you have probably heard people going on with these 2- or 3- letter
acronyms and thought 'what the heck?'. Here's a quick list:"

Ophelia wiggles her eyebrows. "RP: Role-play. It's why we're here."

You say, "RL: Real Life. This would be the 3-dimensional world."

You say, "VR: Virtual Reality. That's this world here, online."

You say, "IC: In-Character. This refers to any action your Character would
do -- not necessarily you. This is also the flag you have on the +who list
when you're RPing."

You say, "OOC: Out-Of-Character. In some circles, the term 'out-of-game' is
also used. This is kind of like a time-out from the RP and IC world, where
things you say are your own and not your character's."

You say, "TP: Tiny-plot. A series of IC events (sometimes planned, sometimes
not) leading up to a (usually) stated goal or objective. You can also think
of this in terms of a story line."

You say, "NPC: Stands for Non-Player Character. These are the various
atmospheric type of characters who can round out a scene and give it more
depth. Servants, passersby, couriers and various other un-named sorts, for
example."

You say, "Character: The persona you step into in VR, during IC interaction.
This is not your RL self, although you may borrow aspects of your RL self to
flesh out the character to make him/her seem more real."

Ophelia smiles. "Player: That's you, the living, breathing person sitting at
the keys. You're the one who pulls the puppetstrings of the character, so to
speak. You're in the driver's seat, kiddo. But being that you live, breathe,
eat, sleep, and socialize with other 3-dimensional people, it means you're
sometimes not going to be logged on here. And that's ok. But we do miss you
when you're gone."

Martin has disconnected.

Ophelia cracks her knuckles. "Anyone have anything else they'd like to bring
up or get a definition for? Don't forget to page Petra to get into the
queue. You'll be called on when your turn comes up... and please have your
questions handy!"

Martin has connected.

Ophelia stage-whispers, "This is where I pause to let you all ask
questions."

You say, "Alrighty, Mintor, you're on deck. What's on your mind?"

Aleikum walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Aleikum has arrived.

Mintor says, "Just basically wanted to make a comment or question, however
you want to take it.. All these acronyms should be considered out of
character, since You shouldn't be using any of these in rp.."

ender is testing some commands

Ophelia nods. "Right. These are just the basics of the game, actually. We've
not gotten into actual RP stuff yet. Acronyms and abbreviations, as a
general rule, though, are not quite good for RP anyways."

ender says, "sorry for the interruption"

Mintor says, "Alright.. just wanted to make the differentiation.."

Ophelia nods. "A good differentiation to make. Thanks so much, Mintor."

You say, "Any other questions? If not, we'll be moving right along..."

You say, "Next on the agenda: IC vs. OOC..."

You say, "We know what IC and OOC are, but how do they differ, really? This
can be one of the hardest concepts to fully understand, without a doubt.
Let's again look at what IC is, and what OOC is."

You say, "IC: In-Character. This refers to any action your Character would
do -- not necessarily you. This is also the flag you have on the +who list
when you're RPing."

You say, "OOC: Out-Of-Character. In some circles, the term 'out-of-game' is
also used. This is kind of like a time-out from the RP and IC world, where
things you say are your own and not your character's."

You say, "That being said, there is a fine line between IC and OOC. And
sometimes, it can be easy, or very tempting, to cross that line. The only
thing I can do is caution you to think very carefully before you do --
considering your options and alternatives, and the possible consequences to
yourself and others affected. Here are some things to think about:"

You say, "What you may know OOC, your character might not actually know.
Before you use information, make sure your i's are crossed and your t's are
dotted!"

You say, "For example: You check +where, and you see that Bob is in the
Imperial Lounge. You want to RP with Bob, so you go there. And you say to
Bob, ICly, "I knew you were here!""

You say, "Is this appropriate use of information? It might not be. What if
Bob had sent GuildMail earlier, saying he'd be in the Lounge?"

You say, "Good IC actions need good OOC communications. A well-placed emit
of a non-player character (NPC) going to communicate something to someone,
followed by a page to that person making them aware of the element is
certainly appropriate. Pages can be a big help, but overall, they are not
themselves considered IC."

You say, "Other examples of OOC knowledge are: +who/where, chans, +sooc, the
boards, +sheet (to an extent), puppets (since we don't theoretically have a
psychic link to those puppets) and things you hear/see when you are +set
OOC."

You say, "OOC info CAN be used to facilitate RP, work out a TP in advance,
figure out a good place to set up a "chance" encounter, and the like. But
all of this does bring up the question of ethics. Really, the real issue
here is that OOC info should not be used to bring about an unfair IC
advantage. Using it to arrange RP is perfectly fine. That's the real bottom
line, folks."

You say, "This is also perhaps a good spot for me to mention ICA=ICC. That
is, IC Actions equate to IC Consequences. While DuneIII *IS* indeed a
consent-based mush, we all still need to be aware of what our IC actions
could bring down on our heads. A good example comes from 'OOCInfo Consent
Abuse': (hang onto your hats, folks, this is gonna be spammy)"

Say, for example, Feyd Rautha waltzes into the bar and insults Gurney
Halleck multiple times. A fight ensues, and Feyd's player agrees that Gurney
will win the conflict. They RP the outcome, but afterward Feyd continues
with insults. ICly, Gurney would want to kill him outright, and talks to
Feyd's player about it. Feyd's player decides he would not like his
character to die, and refuses, but continues with the insults. Gurney is
left in a position of not responding appropriately to IC actions against
him, and Feyd then boasts about how he insulted Gurney and came away clean.

You say, "Ok... that's a lot of stuff. Anyone have any questions so far?"

Ophelia feels like Ben Stein. "Buehler.... Buehler..."

Martin shakes his head. "No questions here."

Ophelia smiles. "..And... moving right along!"

Ophelia halts. "We have a question from the audience..."

Sargon is a little nervous in front of the cameras. "Ophelia, can you
elaborate on the ICA=ICC concept a little more? it's important to understand
in detail. What Feyd is a sword expert, and he challenges Gurney and ten
other Atreides soldiers to a fight? And Feyd refuses to give his consent to
die in the duel?"

<Connection dropped, re-connected>

Ophelia kicks her connection.

Ophelia nods. "Good point, Sarg. By refusing to consent to what consequences
might happen as a result of his insults, Feyd is abusing the consent system
here. It's also.. *cough* what some call 'twinking'. Sometimes, when you do
IC things, you should accept that bad things might happen as a result. It
can't be all roses. Not all the time. And hey... it's ok to lose. Makes
things more interesting. (yes, more on that later). Did I cover everything
there that you were wondering about?"

<Connection dropped, re-connected>

Ophelia looks around for her stapler for her connection. And a hammer to
beat her cable modem with. "Sorry, folks."

Rosetta tosses O a nail gun.

Ophelia flips through her notes. "Where was I.. oh, yes. Here. I call this
section of the class 'Do's and Don't's and RP Etiquette'. This is the
meat-n-potatoes of it all, really. So hang on to your seats, folks. Please
keep appendages inside the vehicle. Seatbelts must remain fastened at all
times. Here we go!"

You say, "DON'T: pose doing something to another character directly without
their prior express consent. And don't... include their actions or reactions
in your pose."

You say, "For example..."

Bob stops just in front of Ed, blocking his path. His face is red, fists
clenched tightly and raised to just about his own chin. Without further
warning, he lashes out with one of those fists, connecting squarely with
Ed's nose. And as his opponent topples to the ground with a bloodied and
broken nose, Bob looks around with a smirk.

You say, "Bob didn't have Ed's consent. And.. he included Ed's reaction in
his pose. Ed should be the one to respond with what happened to him, and
what he himself did. Bad Bob..."

You say, "DON'T: Power-pose."

You say, "As I've seen this term used, it is similar in concept to the above
example, except that it more refers to doing a sequential series of actions
without giving your RP partner a chance to react. It may or may not involve
doing something to them, or it could just be you doing action(s) that span a
significant span of time. Let's see one in action here..."

Bob crosses the floor of the vast arena at a swift pace, hand to the hilt of
his sword as he runs. He arrives quickly, teeth clenched in a fierce
grimace. His sword is freed of its scabbard, and in one fell swoop he
beheads his opponent. As the crowd cheers, he stalks out through the gates,
arms raised in victory.

You say, "This was all one pose! Wow! What if the opponent wanted to get
something in there? What if someone from the crowd wanted to get in some
environmental type poses, such as cheering or booing during the approach?
Bob just removed those options, as well as made what could have been an
intense scene down to one pose. Bad Bob! No soup for you!"

You say, "DO: Ask, don't assume."

You say, "...if someone is available for RP, or wishes to RP. It's entirely
possible they forgot their IC flag is still set, and are idle. Conversely,
it's also possible they're bored out of their skull and just privately
hoping for that one invitation to RP. So, page your fellow players, ask if
they're interested in RP, strike up a group, perhaps, to get together."

You say, "And this leads us into the next point..."

You say, "DON'T: just walk into a room and blindly pose. Wait for a scene to
be set by the other player(s) already in the room. Or, if you're being
joined for RP by other folks, please set the scene for them. This gives
someone the IC information they need to react to, as far as observable
environment is concerned."

You say, "It also can greatly help set the mode, or tone, of the scene.
Here's another good reason why you should wait for a scene, by example:"

A hushed voice explains, "Anna and Ed are mid-scene, when Bob enters."

Bob enters through the open ironwood doors.

Bob has arrived.

Bob strides into the room, a cheerful whistle upon his lips. He immediately
spots Anna and Ed, and bows deeply to them. "My Lord, My Lady, such a
beautiful day, isn't it?" he exclaims brightly.

Ed looks up from where he kneels, next to Anna's lifeless body. Tracks of
tears are evident on the man's face, his bottom lip continuing to quiver in
suppressed sobs. "But... I loved her! And now she's gone! How can you say
it's a beautiful day?!"

Ophelia rolls her eyes. "Ok, so I've a penchant for a bit of drama. But it
gets the point across. Seems a little silly, doesn't it?"

Hermenegildo walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Hermenegildo has arrived.

You say, "And putting the shoe on the other foot, don't acknowledge someone
else's IC presence until they have posed their entrance. There's another
very good reason for this. Suppose they were angry, or upset in some way?
Would your character give them a cheerful, happy greeting if this were the
case? Or would he/she leer away somewhat?"

You say, "It gives you, your character, a chance to react as you would want
to."

You say, "Since we're on the topic of expressions and such..."

You say, "DO: Show thoughts and emotions, rather than tell them. Since no
one can actually 'hear' your thoughts (well, except Bene Gesserit), they
really are considered OOC knowledge and cannot be used against you, even in
a court of law. Oops, where did that come from?! You've probably heard this
phrase before, and you'll hear it again: Show, don't tell. Examine these two
poses:"

Pose 1: Bob is angry.

Pose 2: Bob's teeth clench tightly, as do his fists, as bright spots of
color rise into his cheeks, then spread down his neck and up to his
forehead. A rapid pulse can be seen ticking away at his forehead, faster and
faster.

Petra reminds everyone -- and tells the new entrants -- that any questions
or comments should be paged her way, and they will be queued up in the order
they're received.

Ophelia smiles. "Thanks, Petra!"

You say, "See the difference? Emotions can be implied through body language,
words, and actions. This topic, I promise, will be covered more in-depth in
later classes! Stay tuned!"

You say, "DO: Know your environment."

You say, "Check descs -- room, people, etc. These can give you vital clues
to situations and identities! This also includes time of day and weather.
Environmental variables often are supplied in the scene-setting pose. This
is a good way to get this knowledge disseminated to others in an IC way."

You say, "And also, even though your character might not be so involved in a
scene, keep an eye out for other poses and things going on. Sometimes,
things said in a scene can come back to bite you (or help you!) later on..."

Fahahd walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Fahahd has arrived.

You say, "DO: Minimize distractions."

You say, "There's nothing more frustrating to some people than sitting and
waiting... and waiting... and waiting. Channel chatter, multi-RPing or
multi-mu*ing can contribute to this. I also have noticed, in my own RP, that
when I am most distracted my poses lack depth and clarity."

ender has disconnected.

Ophelia smiles. "Something to think on, folks. Some people, though, thrive
on doing many things at once and don't suffer for it. Everyone's different."

You say, "DO: Keep IC and OOC separate."

You say, "We've already covered using OOC info ICly. But something else to
consider don't take someone else's IC actions personal. If you find yourself
getting upset over something, it's time to take a deep breath, say to
yourself, 'it's just a game', and walk away for a while if possible. Take a
breather and relax. It IS just a game, and we're all here to have fun!"

You say, "DON'T: Don't be afraid to lose!"

You say, "Sometimes, being the underdog can be the most fun (funnest? is
that a word?) role... Winning, after all, isn't everything. And besides...
winning all the time can get terribly boring. Some of the most interesting
scenarios revolve around strife and tragedy."

You say, "DON'T: Let alts interact."

You say, "This is a policy here, folks. It also creates unfair advantages.
For those unsure of the alt policy, take a quick gander some time at
'oocinfo multiple characters'. You're allowed up to 2 alts, with both
maintaining different positions in different houses. Your alts also cannot
affect each other's lives in any way. If you've questions on this you can
always speak to an admin!"

You say, "DON'T: Excessively pad poses with social or OOC commentary"

You say, "What does this mean? Well, when you write a stunning two-paragraph
pose, but it's entirely composed of your character's thoughts from an
omniscient narrator point of view about a social situation or institution,
or opinions/thoughts on that other lady's gown, how much do you think that
contributes to the scene? From past experience, I can honestly say...
*yawn*"

You say, "If you want to write long poses, focus your detail work on
expressions, gestures, body language and the like. This adds so much more
depth to a scene. It gives those of us who are RPing with you something to
react to."

You say, "DO: Remember the "rule of the sandbox." I'm gonna have this
engraved on something sometime, I think."

You say, "Basically, it is: "If you play in a way that is not consistent
with the theme or mood of the MU*, or if you play in a way that offends or
disrupts others, no one will play with you.""

You say, "I'm going to sneak in one final 'DO' before turning things over to
the floor for questions, and that is:"

You say, "Log! Log! Log! Not only do logs provide GREAT historical
documentation of events, but it also gives you a record of your own RP.
Later, you can review logs to see your own progress. You can also spot
phrases and gestures you might be repeating too often, and find ways to
freshen up your scenes."

Ophelia adds a shameless plug: Logs can be sent out for your fellow players
to review by email to dune3-readers@fremen.org.

Scaitan has disconnected.

You say, "And, too, by reading logs you can learn from others, and emulate
RP you find interesting. You can see what works, and what doesn't."

You say, "And now... remember how I promised questions? Bear with me, I'm
tossing in a very appropriate quote I happen to agree with. This is from a
fellow I know on Elendor, from an RP class he contributed to there:"

"Interaction with your RP partner(s) has been compared to a complicated
dance, where everyone takes turns leading and following. I think that is a
pretty good metaphor. You MUST listen to your partner and be flexible enough
to go where they lead you, yet be smart enough to steer the RP to where you
want it to go, particularly if you have an agenda for the RP session, which
I highly recommend. Just like all actors have a motivation (an "I Want") for
each scene, so should you have something you'd like to accomplish in each
session (I'm talking ICly here). Perhaps it is to get information from
someone. Perhaps it is to give information r a story. Perhaps it is to get
really drunk. Perhaps it is to make someone look bad. The possibilities are
endless and depend on what type of character you are playing..."

Ophelia whews, grabs a drink of water, and smiles. "Nikki has the first
question... Go ahead, and thanks for waiting!"

Nikki nods, and grins. "My question is this: Does the 'wait for the scene to
be set' rule always go into effect? Couldn't you just use a neutral (okay,
sort of) type pose, such as, "Bob walks in, heading for the tulip garden"?"

Ophelia nods. "Good question... I leave that up to your discretion, however,
suppose you walked into the tulip garden to find it full of Sardaukar, guns
blazing? Scene poses, by the way, don't have to be novels. For new players
entering the room, they can be as short as a couple lines, giving a brief
run-down of who's where and what the mood is."

You say, "Does that satisfy your question, Nikki? Or do you have another
question, or comment, while you've got the floor?"

Nikki nods. "Sure does. No other questions."

Ophelia smiles, and passes the mic to Anatole. "Thanks, Nikki!"

Anatole smiles and just had a comment, about 'wining and losing' "the point
of RP here is for all of us to have fun, that doesn't mean your char has to
always succeed. Sometimes failing, or looking foolish, can be even better
for RP and better for you. Its always been a favorite of mine to lose a
little bit, or make a mistake or two, to grab people you wouldn't normally
play with, into your RP. You'd be surprised what neat scenes can come of a
mistake, or a faus paux, or something like that. Just becuase ICA=ICC
doesn't mean that something dumb=death.

Sargon walks to the south and passes through the Double Doors.

Sargon has left.

Ophelia nodnods. "Excellent observation.."

You say, "I know a lot of my examples tended to the extreme, but this is a
very true statement. Were there any other questions or comments?"

You say, "Going once..."

Fahahd has a suggestion, but I came in very late, so I don't know if it's
been covered? Who might I ask?

You say, "Go right ahead, Fah."

Ophelia also notes... I've logged, and will be emailing this out to the
dune-readers list when we're all done.

Fahahd , will, at the risk of being redundant, suggest that people actually
look at the descs of a room fairly closely, and use those details in their
poses. It's too easy to forget precisely what the IC environment is like,
and sort of RP in white space, if that makes any sense?

Ophelia nodnods. "Makes perfect sense, Fah. And it does add more depth to
poses, and the scene in general..."

You say, "Ok, we can dispense with the queue now. Feel free to talk amongst
yourselves, I'll stick around a few minutes more before shutting off my log
and emailing it out."

Hermenegildo has a rather unimportant question, "Whose quote is that about
RP being like a dance?"

You say, "Thank you ALL for coming tonight!"

Petra says, "Thank YOU, Ophelia, for a great seminar!"

Nikki applauds.

You say, "He currently plays Strider... but he's also been known to play the
roles of Dughblas, Grimbeorn, Indur (a Nazgul), and Gandalf."

The number 12 claps as well.

You say, "er, not Dughblas. I meant Dubhglas."

Hermenegildo aaahs.

Ophelia takes a bow.

Rosetta wonders why all those names are so familiar...

Nikki waves... thanks again, O for this great seminar.. Very helpful! She
then poofs.

Nikki has disconnected.

Hermenegildo says, "Thanks O :)"

You say, "Gandalf and Strider are actual characters in Tolkien's books. On
Elendor, they're considered Book Features. Like here, Feyd and Thufir are
Book Features."

Martin stands and gives polite applause. "Well, done."

Ophelia smiles, "And if there are no more questions, I'll be closing the log
now.."


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