OOC: Beginner at AO-RP

[Meister]

OOC:

Let me fill you in on what to expect if you play a villain.

1.Your ignore list will have half the population of Rubi-Ka on it.
2.You'll have people walk up to you and type "pisses on you".
3.You'll have people do /tell "Your such an *******. You really hurt people with what you do. So STFU". - even when it's all done IC.
4.You'll be castrated in the extent of how you can backup your 'villainous' actions. I.E. lvl 1 characters can and WILL walk up to you and /me spits/punches/hits/shoots etc etc etc on you.
5.God forbid your -not- IC and at a social gathering, you'll have people come up to you and, even when you tell them your -not- IC, they'll continue to barate you and insult you as if you were...then get angry and send you insulting tells.
5.People -will- make alts just for the sole purpose of spying on you, causing you grief, and plainly being *******s.
6.People -will- use OOC information IC to further make you look bad any chance they get.
7.I can go on, but i wont.

I like playing the villain. But just remember, not everyone realistically knows how to roleplay -to- a villain. A lot of great people you'll find, msg boards and some in game. But remember, the majority of the people will hear you rping as a 'villain' to someone and walk up and say "Soldier? Pfft, i'd drain you and pwonz you. You are teh suck. I could kick your butt. Let me get my main. Pfft, social clothing? haha...you gimp.

Like i said, play a villain, just get to know your best friend.../ignore.

[UwensBack]

Originally posted by Neboja
OOC:

Let me fill you in on what to expect if you play a villain.

1.Your ignore list will have half the population of Rubi-Ka on it.
2.You'll have people walk up to you and type "pisses on you".
3.You'll have people do /tell "Your such an *******. You really hurt people with what you do. So STFU". - even when it's all done IC.
4.You'll be castrated in the extent of how you can backup your 'villainous' actions. I.E. lvl 1 characters can and WILL walk up to you and /me spits/punches/hits/shoots etc etc etc on you.
5.God forbid your -not- IC and at a social gathering, you'll have people come up to you and, even when you tell them your -not- IC, they'll continue to barate you and insult you as if you were...then get angry and send you insulting tells.
5.People -will- make alts just for the sole purpose of spying on you, causing you grief, and plainly being *******s.
6.People -will- use OOC information IC to further make you look bad any chance they get.
7.I can go on, but i wont.

I like playing the villain. But just remember, not everyone realistically knows how to roleplay -to- a villain. A lot of great people you'll find, msg boards and some in game. But remember, the majority of the people will hear you rping as a 'villain' to someone and walk up and say "Soldier? Pfft, i'd drain you and pwonz you. You are teh suck. I could kick your butt. Let me get my main. Pfft, social clothing? haha...you gimp.

Like i said, play a villain, just get to know your best friend.../ignore.

((Actually, have to agree with Nebo here. In the Hawks and Doves story I was RPing a villain with Sez and Braedon in The Cup and multiple people walked up, OOC started insulting me and the other villain (played by Em/Alam). When I finally got tired of it, I left and my parting message was "***** you ho" without the *'s. So yeah, ignore will be your best friend. Just ignore everyone who doesn't RP ))

[Aimes]

(OOC)

Neboja and Uwen have a really valid point. RPing a villan on the boards is one thing, but ingame you'll get a lot of flak for it. Like in any massive roleplaying situation you will inevitably run across people who don't understand that a good RP is not one where the impecable "good guys" flatten the souless "bad guys" with no resistance, but rather a game of give and take in which both sides win some and loose some, and the "good guys" aren't totally angelic, and likewise the "bad guys" aren't totally evil. I've found that in any good RP that I've participated in this moral ambiguity with both sides adds an interesting (and very real) aspect to the RP and makes it much more enjoyable to RP either a hero or a villan. On the boards this is not typically a problem as you'll find many really great folks (and great RPr's to boot!) that are more than willing to participate in one of your storylines, or integrate you into one of theirs. However, ingame you will get /flipped and /mooned a considerable amount by greifers if you choose to RP a villanous sort. I find it best to /tell them that what is happening is RP and both you and whoever else you are RPing with would greatly appreciate it if they stopped. If they have no shred of courtesy (Many do, but there are the few that are just really mean) and continue with their antics just remember what Neboja and Uwen said, /ignore <greifer> will be your friend, learn it, and love it .

(/OOC)

[Meister]

OOC:

And also remember, in any great roleplaying setting, you have the be in the proper mind set to do it. When both parties are in that mind set, the rp is fantastic. But when someone interupts it with bs, and yes, you /ignore them, they can still annoy you. "sit' on you, run and jump on you. And yes, you can be forced to 'move' or ignore them. But you'll be thrown out of that mind set you were in, and the rp sours.

One thing you can do to avoid this, is team with the people you rp, and send tells in team chat. That way no one sees it but your intended rp partners. Or RP in places that most of the 12yrs old cronic masturbators dont hang out at.

[UwensBack]

Originally posted by Neboja
OOC:

And also remember, in any great roleplaying setting, you have the be in the proper mind set to do it. When both parties are in that mind set, the rp is fantastic. But when someone interupts it with bs, and yes, you /ignore them, they can still annoy you. "sit' on you, run and jump on you. And yes, you can be forced to 'move' or ignore them. But you'll be thrown out of that mind set you were in, and the rp sours.

One thing you can do to avoid this, is team with the people you rp, and send tells in team chat. That way no one sees it but your intended rp partners. Or RP in places that most of the 12yrs old cronic masturbators dont hang out at.

((yep, I jsut wish there was a compelte ignore command where you could make the other person invisble Don't see how that could be exploited as its only invisible to you ))

[Meister]

OOC:

Ummm...no. In pvp you wouldn't see them as they **** you. *L* No invisibility ignore otpion.

[UwensBack]

Originally posted by Neboja
OOC:

Ummm...no. In pvp you wouldn't see them as they **** you. *L* No invisibility ignore otpion.

((
A) Its still not an exploit as you chose to completely ignore them
B) Most of the people that were griefing me were too low to hurt me anyway so I wouldn't be worried /shrug. plus I wouldn't leave them on complete ignore, just until I left their area))

[didymus]

I must be something of a mystery.

I've managed to RP *and* avoid the community here for some time now.

Well, haven't avoided all of you, but most of you at least.
Makes me kinda shady, huh?

Nah, the reason is that I RP mostly with RL friends I have in the game,
( I have a lot of those ) and a variety of other people ..
most are not very active on these forums.
Well, and I came back from a long break just around after last christmas or so.

Anyways, there is some RP community beyond these boards as well.

Buuut .. I'm really looking forward to meeting some of you the coming sunday.

[Exalt]

OOC

Sorry I havent been on to respond to the villainy since my computer had a but of a *** up on Saturday morning =/. Thats fixed now so I will be catching up on my AO backlog of things to do.

I am a villain, and very happy with the results. The first question is to determine who is the villain in this story. If your characters background is firmly established in your mind, or even if only a crude outline that you are adhering to until you find your character's voice, then you are off to a better start than most.

Being a villain requires a lot of work. You have to accept the jeers and insults, and have to be very quick with a few initial OOC tells to people, at least until your reputation to the RP community you meet is solidified as a RPer, not a RP Griefer. Just like it takes time to build your reputation by meeting and greeting people, it takes the same amount of time as a villain.

In this world, Omni Tek is generally regarded as the "Black Hats" and the clans are regarded as the "White Hats". Your characters viewpoint will of course widely vary, since very few villains see their actions and their consequnces as a "bad" thing, only the means to a necessary end. The thing is to vind your viewpoint, the filter you see your actions through, and hold them true to yourself that you (in a warped way) are doing the "Right Thing".

As far as a fun factor goes, I DO have a lot of fun. At GSP events, for example, I don't dance, don't drink, am clearly exasperated when I get "huggled" by clanners. Remember this is a game and to take no actions that would actually harm or spoil the fun of others. This one is tricky to execute, and copious /tells are usually involved OOC to clarify this is NOT a personal attack. The point of being a villain is to actally ADD to the fun, to add the third dimension to otherwise two dimensional interactions. In a way, being a villain requires you to work twice as hard at proving you are a productive member of the game... again something that is easily covered by helping out your fellow Rubi-Kan under the table while cussing them out publically for their (insert rhetoric here).

For reference, I offer my character "outline" of sorts as a reference point, that up and coming villains may refer to. I think of this as a checklist of character traits I am attempting to convey. Existing villans feel free to add modify or dispute below:

1) Remf is evil. He is an Omni Tek fanatic.
2) Remf does not see his actions as evil. He is doing his job and living well because of it. He sees his work as improving the standard of living for other OT employees. Clanners and Neutrals who live less well are living under those conditions by their own choice and are too lazy/unqualified/undeserving to change that lot in life to make them hireable by OT.
3) Remf is cold.
4) Remf is extremely formal at all times to all Rubi-Kans. He speaks to Clan as often as he does to Omni Tek employees, but is known to show favoritism in his associations and choices based entirely on faction.
5) Remf works to see complete dominance of the RK economy by OT and its CEO Phillip Ross. He refers to any OT attacks as "Agressive Marketing Strategy". He refers to any actioons by the Clans as "Unprovoked acts of vandalism by terrorists who shall be dealt with under the fullest extent of Hypercorporate law."
6) Remf is a lawyer. Then his background made him a tax collector. Yeah, really likeable guy lol.
7) Remf is ambitious and seeks to get ahead in the Corporation by any means necessary.

However there are few one sided villains who are all bad. Even Darth Vader had his good side. Here is a checklist of his better traits.

1) Remf is a Nanomage of his word, largely due to conditioning. A bargain once struck is a bargain held.
2) Remf is very friendly to OT and Neutrals, in the effort of embodying "Customer Service", and will assist in any way possible that would further the agenda of Omni Tek.
3) Remf is generous. He is a "rich executive" and does his best to live up to that standard as the in game credits will allow.

Yes its a short list, but it is a consistent one. At the end of the day, if you choose to be a villain, were you a villain (A scourge across the face of rubi ka) or just a **** (a player intent on pissing off his RP friends, especially friends who chose to play good guys).

I see ALL RP orgs, regardless of faction as my friends. RP=good. Story=good. So although I stand against 2/3 of that population and everything they stand for, I do NOT try to piss off their players.

As a wise man once said, a story is only as strong as its villains. Stay far away from Snidely Whiplash cartoon villainy, or psychopathic misanthropy, and you can probably pull it off and have fun.