Rules. Period.

[HayanTsu]

Okay. Maybe it's a bit me who's slightly rebellious against rules and sets of rules, but i would like to know your advices about this.

Rules.

I mean, GS rules regarding mainly roleplaying. How much do you tend to abide by them? What good, or wrong, do they bring to roleplaying and, in your opinion, what distance or proximity to these rules should people keep? Do they keep from roleplaying, or do they rather makes it only better?

Fill in, please.

Here's my own opinion.



Rules are good, but sometimes they can be a hinderance to roleplaying. Of course, rules keeps (most of times, i think) some players from using verbs like ACT or SMILE to make them "flie about the roow, glow in power and everyone bows to him and pee their pants".

But, really, i do think that sometimes there are exaggerations to this respect of rules. Lemme explain. Or show, rather.

>Bob Does something.
>Bable gets tired and tosses some spell to Bob.
>Bob retaliates with an ACT while still in roundtime and under the spell's effects.
>Bable doesn't thinks it's acceptable.

I know that, in some cases, some actions are to be restrained due to normal mechanics, but sincerely, if mechanics prevents someone from having a fun time, what good is it?

Of course, i understand the underlaying problem here. If people starts defying rules too much, sometimes it's those who follow them who eats dirt. So there's a problem.

My advice about this is simply this: Know who you're roleplaying with. I make very extensive use of ACT with some of my friends, and sometimes these acts will plainly ignore some mechanics. But out in public, it's sometimes a bit risky.

Conclusion: I am aware of the risks, yet i won't keep myself from having a good time, and giving others a good times, if a mechanic prevents me from doing something potentially great.



What about yours, now?

[K e e p]
[Frozen]

[DCSL]

I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv ACT. ACT is my friend. I know some people complain about it, but I even use it in place of a regular verb sometimes. The regular verbs just don't give enough information. Say I want to curtsy. If I just use the curtsy verb, it's plain, with no adjectives or descriptions.

Lysistrata curtsies.

As opposed to this!

Lysistrata curtsies smoothly with a soft rustle of skirts, dipping to the exact degree required to honor a human baron.

Some people will argue that others watching might not know that that's the exact degree to curtsy when honoring a human baron, but it's easily ignored if they want to.

However, I do think some people abuse SMILE and ACT, intentionally and not. A couple of months ago, Klaive was parading his Dhe'nar honey around the small park and Landing and he used a SMILE to make everyone bow down to her. Hiss! What nonsense.

Just last night, Jolena was using the ACT verb very well to portray her pregnancy.... but made a few off-putting mistakes (at least, to me.) I think she was directing this at Michiko, who was with her, which would make the mistake less horrible than if she was genuinely trying to effect the whole room. She did an ACT that had her peering into my container for food, and smiling and pouting at me when I had none. Something like that. Using 'you' in an ACT in a room with more than fifty people in it is a serious faux pas. Are you really looking in EVERYONE's containers and smiling and pouting at EVERYONE? I hope not.

So... while I love SMILE and ACT, I think they can be horribly abused. I don't think we need more rules for roleplaying, I think we need to enforce the ones we have already. Well, some of them.

Or... wait. Hmm. We need SOME rules. Like the 'no forcing actions and emotions on others' thing. But other than that, I'd like to see some guidelines out. Just guides on how to use it. In Jolena's case, all she needed was a guide, I think, because otherwise it was going very well.

So, no more rules. But help with knowing what crosses boundaries. Rules in GS are ill-defined and rarely enforced, anyway.

[Latrinsorm]

Freedom is indirectly proportional to security. Meaning, if you want the freedom to dodge around mechanical limitations, you have to be willing to open yourself up to other people doing the same thing in a manner you would find unpleasant.

Simu seems to think that most people do not want this, therefore they can get uppity in those kinds of situations. Let's all cancel our accounts ;)

poL

[Jolena]

Actually.. hehe.. I only use that 'your' container in a full room because I like to see the various reactions. Its' the only time I do that and so far I get mixed reactions. The majority of which is pleasant and quite humerous. I know that logically it is probably not possible to look into everyones containers at once.. but it is fun to see the various peoples' reactions without having to repeat the same action over and over directed at each and every individual. I apologize if that bothered you however, hon. *smiles* it wasnt' intended to do so.

[Dighn Darkbeam]

Any time I feel someone has used the act or smile verb to do something to my character or his possessions not possible with normal mechanics,I report it. It has only happened a handful of times, and in all but one instance I was told I was correct in my stance and I am guessing the person received a warning.

The one time I was in the wrong was when someone poked AT an item of mine, never actually touching said item. I misread her ACT, so the fault was mine. I would never have commited the act in the way this person did, but I still believe it to be within acceptable limits.

[Kestrel]

Rules exist for the benefit of both the actors and the audience. They provide a template for all individuals present to work from to create an enjoyable and plausible storyline, be it as simple as seeking out a locksmith who knows how to open boxes left by the shan or as complex as a half-year family epic full of the usual murder, mystery, politics, religion, and obligatory intrigue.

By following the rules to the benefit of those present in a manner that is enjoyable and plausible, a player can develop a form of roleplay integrity. He can also begin to discern that the lines drawn so surely around what is and what is not permissable are more transitory than they first seem.

Through both this developing judgement and the integrity behind past actions, he is much more successful at pushing the bounderies of the imposed rules -- to the point where what would typically be considered "illegal" to any individual fresh out of the Dark Alley is not only an accepted action on his part but an *embraced* action.

Generally speaking, those individuals with a roleplay integrity built up push the boundaries only so far as needed -- AND only so far as those others participating in a given event are comfortable with.

It takes time to build up a roleplay relationship with another player's character; in that time, those involved can learn the limits of one another and, if need be, even push those limits.

But not without prior buildup. Not without the developed integrity that is integral to the individual and vital for the group's participants as a whole.