roleplaying pregnant women

[Xcalibur]

There was a debat on the amunet concerning that...
Point was, and it's so true, NO DAMN WOMEN THAT HAS MORE THAN 10 OF IQ WOULD HUNT BEING PREGNANT!
A slash, puncture or smash on the belly, back and it's over!

"False" pregnant women should not be allowed, period
an other good exemple how glorious gs is

[SpunGirl]

I know a few characters that have role-played pregnancies. Both did it for the entire nine months. One send her child away for fostering and the other "lost" the babies after a tragic accident. I've seen a lot of people do really well with it - dressing differently, different behaviors, not hunting or traveling, et cetera.

Roleplaying pregnancies makes perfect sense. Roleplaying children does NOT. I even saw someone RP with a bundle in her arms, it was her "baby," although there was no "child" character there.

-K

[edge]

Sorry to say. But getting that involved into RP seems really RL unhealthy. That is only my opinion. Worth about how much? Ya. That much.

[Edited on 7-7-2003 by edge]

[Bobmuhthol]

The amount of money you owe me is worth 3mil. Heh.

[Sweets]

A pregnancy, if done with maturity and a storyline, can be pulled off. As said above, if the character changes their habits to conform to a pregnant ladies habits and maybe "send the child away", I see nothing wrong with it.

Just don't roleplay a child. Normally that tends to lead to many words ending in ie....grrrr.
And please...no same day deliveries. Ick.


Here's alittle something that I thought may amuse you all. I know several rpers of this calibre.:tumble:


http://elfonlyinn.keenspace.com/d/20030106.html

[Taernath]

Haha... I'm going to have to start reading that comic. :)

[Bobmuhthol]

Wasn't very funny, but the woman looked good. Heh.

[Morbid Fascination]

ElanthianSiren

Anyway though, I think if you can RP pregnancy convincingly, go for it. Be prepared to spend all your time at tables, sitting around with your feet up bewailing the growing girth of your body. Also, prepare your sig other, who should be running to Hearthstone or some other place regularly to get you goodies. Make sure he knows that you CRAVE salt and milk! Now! Now! Now! heheh.... if that's not enough to turn him and you off, then start thinking about child delivery. Picture the beginning of the movie Willow. There you go. -Melissa

Just out of curiosity, have you ever been pregnant? If you have, you know that women are perfectly capable of doing lots of things during pregnancy, rather than sitting around complaining about being fat and ordering their partners around. Sure, that's fun sometimes :P but it's not all they do.

As for delivery, I think that would make for a great roleplay experience. In fact, the whole thing sounds like fun RP, from finding out you're pregnant to delivering the child to giving it up for adoption or whatever you plan to do. The only turnoff for me would be the nine months it takes to play out. I'm sure it's hard to keep all the necessary players interested and involved for long enough.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Morbid Fascination

ElanthianSiren

Anyway though, I think if you can RP pregnancy convincingly, go for it. Be prepared to spend all your time at tables, sitting around with your feet up bewailing the growing girth of your body. Also, prepare your sig other, who should be running to Hearthstone or some other place regularly to get you goodies. Make sure he knows that you CRAVE salt and milk! Now! Now! Now! heheh.... if that's not enough to turn him and you off, then start thinking about child delivery. Picture the beginning of the movie Willow. There you go. -Melissa

Just out of curiosity, have you ever been pregnant? If you have, you know that women are perfectly capable of doing lots of things during pregnancy, rather than sitting around complaining about being fat and ordering their partners around. Sure, that's fun sometimes :P but it's not all they do.

As for delivery, I think that would make for a great roleplay experience. In fact, the whole thing sounds like fun RP, from finding out you're pregnant to delivering the child to giving it up for adoption or whatever you plan to do. The only turnoff for me would be the nine months it takes to play out. I'm sure it's hard to keep all the necessary players interested and involved for long enough.


i have no problem with roleplaying...
it's the fact that between 2 months and 9 months, you should NO AT ALL hunt... any wound on the belly is a death on the baby, which no sane women would do...

Sometimes rp goes too far (cyber sexe anyone?)

[Morbid Fascination]

Darn it! I'm not used to posting with HTML.


ElanthianSiren

I can't say I've ever been pregnant, thank every God above, but there are several traditional standards of pregnancy: you gain weight, have mood swings, and crave weird combinations of foods. I've yet to see these things demonstrated consistantly by people who roleplay pregnancy.

That's what I think would be the fun part about roleplaying pregnancy...but that doesn't mean I have to do it all sitting down whining.

I also think if the feature pavilions are allowed to remain, it will enable those who wish to RP pregnancy gain weight accordingly.


Further, while sex I understand is allright all the way up through the second tri-mester, I don't think strenuous activities like hunting, healing, raising etc would even be conceivable after the first four months.

Sex is okay throughout pregnancy unless you feel too exhausted/nauseated/whatever to do so, or if your doctor advises against it. It's actually one of the most popular methods for a woman to try when she's tired of being pregnant and trying to induce labor.


Also, since Elanthia lacks E.P.T. I wouldn't imagine a woman would know right off "Hey, I'm pregnant."

That's true, although most of my friends and I have been pretty sure of it before we took the test. You don't go blow ten bucks on a test unless you think you're pregnant, do you?

That said, we could always devise something like the "rabbit test" for GS if we felt the need.


All of these things aside, I'd like to see some tables on gestation periods for elves, halflings, giants, and half-elves versus humans. Perhaps 9 month pregnancies aren't the limiting factor after-all.

Hear, hear! Maybe you should bring it up on the official boards. People are already lobbying for a "which races can breed with which others" table.

[Edited on 7-8-2003 by Morbid Fascination]

[Bobmuhthol]

Wow, thanks, Morbid Fascination! You really proved a point!

<<Further, while sex I understand is allright all the way up through the second tri-mester>>

Third. Jay said so in Dogma.

[Skaster]

Empaths are better than E.P.Ts.

[Morstanya]

This is really just an excuse to talk about sex, isn't it ?

[Bestatte]

This is an interesting topic, and I'll preface my response with a disclaimer:

In no way do I support the notion of a female getting pregnant in-game for the purpose of introducing another character who shows up from the character generator as an adult. In no way do I support the notion of a female getting pregnant for the purpose of giving birth to a baby of a different species or sub-species (human/halfling or giant/elf, for example).

Now on to a couple of factoids:

Women in Russia who worked the fields gave birth up by the wall of the field house, and returned to work as soon as the baby was pronounced healthy. The infant was handed over to a wetnurse so the mother could return to her duties. Immediately.

Elanthian Siren is taking into consideration only the spoiled women of the USA who do so little physical work in their lives that their bodies are incapable of this kind of strain. Working out in a gym doesn't cut it. That's only an hour or two, every other day or every day.

Women in third-world countries, if they are lucky enough to make it through pregnancy given the various diseases and lack of medical care, have -no- problem working HARD labor for 8-10 hours a day and delivering their babies and returning to work. Their bodies are in the kind of shape that would make Mr. America ashamed.

In addition, because of the kind of workout their bodies get during their pregnancy, they are FAR LESS prone to the mood swings and cravings that American women undergo. In addition, they're way too busy working their asses off to give much thought to how they're "feeling" today.

Further, to address the "every sane woman would know not to hunt while pregnant" issue: that applies only to real life. What makes you think technology and medicine has advanced far enough in Elanthia that people would make this assumption? We're talking about a world that doesn't have electricity or even seige engines, or guns, or paved streets, or penicillin, or polyester.

It's my guess that the general population would -not- equate hunting with risk, because if a pregnant woman is hit hard enough in the belly, SHE is gonna die too and won't be alive to tell anyone that her baby died from the blow, not because her baby died because it no longer had the oxygen or food of a live incubator.

[Sweets]

Quoted from Bestatte

"Women in Russia who worked the fields gave birth up by the wall of the field house, and returned to work as soon as the baby was pronounced healthy. The infant was handed over to a wetnurse so the mother could return to her duties. Immediately.

Elanthian Siren is taking into consideration only the spoiled women of the USA who do so little physical work in their lives that their bodies are incapable of this kind of strain. Working out in a gym doesn't cut it. That's only an hour or two, every other day or every day.

Women in third-world countries, if they are lucky enough to make it through pregnancy given the various diseases and lack of medical care, have -no- problem working HARD labor for 8-10 hours a day and delivering their babies and returning to work. Their bodies are in the kind of shape that would make Mr. America ashamed.

In addition, because of the kind of workout their bodies get during their pregnancy, they are FAR LESS prone to the mood swings and cravings that American women undergo. In addition, they're way too busy working their asses off to give much thought to how they're "feeling" today. "


I can't help but feel just a tad offended. I am pregnant now (five months along) and I have been restricted in my actions for the .....HEALTH...of the baby. My early pregnancy was a nightmare of vomiting, bleeding and a constant concern on losing my child. I am happy to say things are going much better but even a brisk walk can bring on cramps and dizziness.

And guess what? I used to be a very physical person. Ever try waitressesing in a crowded bar 12 hours on your feet? I had to give it up. For the health of my baby.

I do have great sympathy for women who work under such conditions while pregnant. I wonder what the stats are on miscarriages? Got those?

Ever been pregnant yourself?

[Taernath]

Roberta, technology in GS is a pretty grey area. Though we're supposed to be living in a pseudo-medieval society, most of the things you've offered as an example do exist somewhere in game, or at least have their equivalents.

[Bestatte]

Sweets, you're derailing by introducing your own personal situation, which doesn't apply to the arguement on either side of the coin.

The fact is, there ARE women in real life who are little more than work horses to their employers/masters (depending on the country and culture). THESE women, of these particular cultures, cultures which are NOT american, are physically different from women whose idea of hard labor is 12 hours being a waitress.

Chopping trees with an axe for 10 hours a day, leading a bull down a field with reins attached to a hand-plow for up to 16 hours a day, picking rice for 12 hours a day, digging trenches for potato fields for 10 hours a day - all these things make whoever is doing them COMPLETELY different from a waitress and can't possibly be compared.

Their hormones are different, their muscular systems are different, their cardio-vascular systems are different.

My comparison with these women has to do with the fact that fantasy chacracters in Gemstone spend most of their day hunting. Hard, grueling physical labor for hours and hours and hours. My proposed assumption is that THESE fantasy characters would be in much better physical condition than the average waitress, or lawyer, or librarian, or gardener, or even printing press operator for that matter.

Compare apples to apples, not apples to styrofoam cups.

[vigilante]

The amount of misogynists in GS is truly amazing. Pity. Mhzentul, in particular, has been parading around as the latest woman-hater.

[Sweets]

Bestatte, you can't say we American women are spoiled and soft and not get an emotional response. Sorry. I have feelings. That's why I said my situation.

Yes those women are different. Physically etc. but they also have a significantly smaller chance of becoming pregnant. As for it equating into the game...well..you are assuming a bit much. Alot of people spend alot of time hunting but there are other past times gemstone players persue. Healers, locksmiths, and general roleplay rather than hunt/smash all the time. To stay true to the genre and remain realistic...I don't see why anything other than use your head and imagination would apply. Sometimes too strict a boundry will discourage the fun.

Then again if I recall, you prefer a harsher rp game environment than gemstone. Do you still play gemstone? (Just curious)

[Tsa`ah]

Bestatte, would you care to post infant mortality rates under those circumstances? While you're at it, post the fatality rates of pregnant mothers as well as the fatality rates of mothers in labor.

This is the gap between the "spoiled" women in the states and the field worker in Russia and the mother to be in a third world country. They do what they do because there is no other choice.

The glaring imperfection in your comparison statements would be the lack of magic in the real world. Gemstone is indeed a fantasy world that offers a specific comfort/benefit that does not exist in the third world. Thus there is not the need for an expecting mother to be out fighting the savage hoards of Elanth. Mere mana expenditures can produce food and medicine. Hell, mere mana expenditures replace medicine.

The result is that the Elanthian mother to be is increasingly spoiled by one hundred fold.

[Captain Amby]

ehh.. I havent seen one person, RP being pregnant very well or convincingly. And I agree that she shouldnt be out hunting if she's pregnant. the first 3 months is when most miscarriages occur and doctors who percieve you might have problems ask that ya dun participate in many strenous activities. I cant think of much more than hunting
Also, when hunting. You might even *die* out there. So what happens to the baby in utero? I would imagine you'd miscarry since the baby doesnt have any deeds. hehehe. I just havent seen a pregnancy RP'd very well and think its pretty lame when I have seen it done.

[Bobmuhthol]

I remember someone was at the boulder and was reluctant to duel me because she was 'pregnant'. She threatened a fate worse than death if I hit her abdomen if we fought. Of course, I managed to hit everything but her abdomen. I almost expected to hear, "My baby! It's still alive after that long, exhausting, and painful duel! Thank God you never hurt it while you were stabbing me with your sword and I was fighting back!!!!'

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
I remember someone was at the boulder and was reluctant to duel me because she was 'pregnant'. She threatened a fate worse than death if I hit her abdomen if we fought. Of course, I managed to hit everything but her abdomen. I almost expected to hear, "My baby! It's still alive after that long, exhausting, and painful duel! Thank God you never hurt it while you were stabbing me with your sword and I was fighting back!!!!'

I'm gonna RP Klaive pregnant I think.

- --[ Klaive ]-- -

[Whatever]

I have thought in the past that if I were to ever roleplay any of my characters as pregnant, I would subscribe to a newsletter at one of the big baby sites that details the baby's development. I knew someone that got that newsletter while pregnant, and it was very cool and informative.

I figure that since I've never been pregnant myself, knowing what stage my character would be in, as far as being able to tell she's pregnant, when she'd begin to show, etc. would be quite helpful.

Just a random thought here, but a suggestion in case no one else had thought of it. ;)

[Betheny]

I have limited experience with people RPing pregnancy.
The only ones I've had to deal with were the ones that said "If I wasn't pregnant I'd kill you."

Lame excuse!

[Bevan]

God in heaven. I'm not sure where even to start.

1) My characters have fathered a lot of children, some of the pregnancies taking place in game. In all cases, the players of the mothers have gone through at least nine month, real time, pregnancies.

2) They either hunt or not, depending on their preferences. Two of the mothers stopped hunting at once, immediately; a third never cared much for hunting at all. Another hunted into the seventh month, and the pregnant one of Bevan's two current wives is just now in her fifth month and will likely hunt two more months anyway.

3) In each case, the mothers were elves. The general presumption is that slight elves just don't show all that much. None wear / have worn breastplates, and armor can be let out.

4) Can we give the OMIGAWD THE BABEE CAN GET HURRRRRRTT!!! nonsense a rest? We routinely get ourselves killed out there, sometimes several times a night during invasions. This no more bothers your average Elanthian adventurer than turning an ankle bothers a high school football player; you get taped up, a pat on the back, and are sent back in the game. Now have a world where we can even set off an incineration trap, get charred to ash other than our bootheels, and be walking around fit as a fiddle twenty minutes later. We would absolutely NOT have a paradigm that holds that pregnant women are porcelain dolls, every bump of which will surely cause the baby to vaporize. Gee, so the mother took an abdominal wound. Get the healer, patch up the tummy, all better, finest kind.

5) That being said, I'm quite aware an ongoing fad is stark disapproval of styles of RP that one doesn't find personally appealling ... WHY this is I have no idea. Each and every one of us does at least one thing in RP that SOMEone thinks is stupid and ludicrous, but I'm neither submitting my RP to others for their approval any more than I expect people will stop RPing some way just because I think it's dumb. Live and bloody let live.

[Betheny]

I think if the parties involved are mature enough to handle it, then fine.

What gets me is when I see these chicks hanging out in public places and making huge deals about it. Kind of reminds me of watching one of those Maury Povich episodes with the 14 year olds... "I'm going to have a baby and there's nothing you can do about it!"

[Bobmuhthol]

I was watching the Cosby Show earlier and all the men were pregnant. I didn't see the beginning, so I didn't understand about 99% of it. They delivered a sports car, a two-litre of soda and a 5-foot submarine sandwich, a model sailboat, and either something they never showed or I wasn't paying attention. It turned out to be Cliff's dream.

[Bevan]

Maybe, but there are a great many players in GS who 1) RP something definite and declamatory, and 2) want other people to notice. Pregnancy falls into their purview.

[Caiylania]

I have a good friend RPing being pregnant, and she does an amazing job. She doesn't shove it in peoples faces but puts in little things like:

(****** slowly leans back and using one arm to support herself and resting her other on her protruding belly, lowers herself down onto the bench.)

and thats it unless a good moment happens or someone inquires. I think shes great at it.

and the girl carrying the bundle around as her baby I think is creative, I have seen women carrying bundles that until I got upclose I didn't realize was a baby. Swaddling or whatever.

Of course, thats just my two silvers.

[StrayRogue]

Is this the person who stole food from my pack? I was thinking of throwing a dagger into her belly. Lets see her RP that ;)

[Caiylania]

Thats the way to make an impression on the ladies. ... watching you kill a pregnant woman and baby. Oh yeah.

[Jolena]

Um.. if you are speaking of Jolena..she didn't steal food from your pack.. she glanced over at your container and looked it over for food then smiled sweetly at you. There is a difference. And yes, Jolena has died while being pregnant.. we rp'd it out where we sought out a high level cleric who we didnt' know and asked him if he would check to see if our baby was still alive.. we didnt' encourage him in any way to decide one way or the other and there were no whispers.. he just went with it and it turned out great. If he had decided that she no longer was pregnant we would have accepted it as part of our RP and moved on.. but he turned out with a positive response and it was awesome. I am sure that there are folks who don't like women in Gem rping a pregnancy however I have to point out that relationships, children and sex are all part of life.. if you personally don't choose to rp it out that's fine.. but if you do.. well more power to you. Just try to be understanding that in any 'world' you have people you don't care for and others you do.. it's just part of it. You deal with it accordingly for your personality and move on. I like to think that most people I rp around with the pregnancy enjoy it or at the very least tolerate it. Both myself and Stunseed have worked incredibly hard to make this RP as believable as possible and have put a lot of thought into it. We have had lots of help from friends and family and are having a great time.

[StrayRogue]

Oh no theres nothing wrong. I thought it was pretty cool. I just cringed when you did the Jolena smiles at you. Especially since the room was packed. Being the insular character he is, Stay would find looking through his things as an invasion of his privacy. But yeah, I agree with it, if its pulled off well. And so far I think you have done it well Jolena. Just lose the "smiles at you" ;)

[Latrinsorm]

I don't have any beef with roleplaying. The problem is, the biology of Elanthia is vastly different from the biology of Earth.

Example:

On earth, a species is a group of individuals that can reproduce and create fertile offspring. Any fertile male horse can reproduce with any fertile female horse and make a new fertile baby horse. If you breed a horse with a donkey, however, you get an infertile mule. Therefore, horses and donkeys are not the same species.

This does not apply in elanthia. Humans and elves can reproduce fertile offspring, and humans and krolvin can do the same. However, elves and krolvin cannot (according to some documentation I read). This in effect means that every effect and tradition involved in human reproduction is null and void for Elanthia. Which leads to problems, because if a human on Elanthia says "I just found out I was pregnant last week" one day and the next day is carrying around a baby (in whatever fashion you find agreeable), you really can't say IC that this is wrong.

It's analagous to someone naming their character Gemstone. Is it OOG? No. We've all seen ludicrously OOG names. Gemstone could be nice for, say, a female dwarf. However, it is distinctly OOC because the game we're in is called Gemstone. The illusion of IG reality is shattered. Which is no fun. And isn't that what it's all about?

[Jolena]

Well..I'm sure some folks are going to disagree with what I do.. but here's the breakdown on my RP with Jolena.. she found out she was pregnant around 3 months ago.. she was at that time.. almost 3 months. She found out because she missed her menstrual cycle for a few months and was feeling rather fatigued and sick.. she went to the local empath and had herself checked and sure enough she was pregnant. Since then..she has picked up quite a lot of weight..we rp'd the sickness.. the mood swings..the fatigue..the changing of clothing (I actually managed to be lucky enough to have maternity clothes which are rare in Gem), her actions have changed.. she stopped hunting.. and mainly does guild and picking boxes. Her fiance is very supportive but it's not all glory and love.. there have been some pretty tense times where she was mean to him for no reason.. burst into tears suddenly.. was ravenously hungry.. vomited on his shoes.. things like that.. it has all been taken into account. And as for the "jolena smiles at you' I did that because I only use that action when I am in a crowded room.. it is on purpose simply to see what the reaction would be. So far I get negative ones but mostly positive reactions. In fact.. Jo gets more free food from people at events or in crowded places then anything hehe it's kind of neat. I will RP her as pregnant the entire 9 months. As for when the child is born.. there will be a wetnurse hired which Stun and Jolena have already saved money for.. who will take care of their baby at home while they do what they have to do to support their newly acquired family. Jolena and Stun will tell stories to friends and family of their baby's antics at home with them and the wetnurse and as the baby grows older..tales of her antics with the neighbors' children etc. She will be shipped off to school after she turns an appropriate age and then stories will be told to friends/family of her letters home to her parents.. things she is doing etc. During that time, we 'might' have the child make an appearance or so.. at say ages 6, then 10, then maybe 13 and finally entering society at 16 with a weapon and shield and ready to begin training to hunt and whatever skills she chooses to do in her profession. I have a good friend who will play our child as well.. she will have features that are a combination of both of her parents.. and hopefully all of this will work out. I have done the best I can in my mind of RPing this in the most believable form.

[Dighn Darkbeam]

Blah Blah Blah.. shut the hell up.




....Sorry.

[Jolena]

Hehe yes well.. :pppp

[Dighn Darkbeam]

I know, my comment was without worth. I just saw that BLOCK-O-TEXT, scanned down, and read that part of your Sig. At the time it just seemed like the only possible course of action I could take.

[Caiylania]

You know, just don't post if your going to be an ass darkbeam.

[Myrianna]

Now, if you're going to RP the 9 month pregnancy, are you going to RP the kid having a wetnurse until it's "old enough" to eat, are you going to RP having a child for the next 16 years?? Just random question...

[Jolena]

Nope, the child will have a wetnurse until she is around 5 or so.. then she will be shipped off to school. At the age of 16 she will return home to begin her training in whatever profession she chooses to be in and hunting skills.

[Xcalibur]

So in 16 years someone will take that baby as a character (2019)

yeah right

[Edited on 30-10-03 by Xcalibur]

[CrystalTears]

Originally posted by Jolena
During that time, we 'might' have the child make an appearance or so.. at say ages 6, then 10, then maybe 13 and finally entering society at 16 with a weapon and shield and ready to begin training to hunt and whatever skills she chooses to do in her profession.

I don't recommend this simply because no one is 6 or 10 or 13 in the lands. They're all at least 16 if i'm not mistaken is the youngest. Perhaps you'll have the features correct and can change them as they get older, but they won't age. Remember that now we age one year per calender year, not per level anymore. So you may choose to have someone young and spritley and all but most people will know that you can't be that young adventuring in the lands. ::shrugs:: I wish you luck though. Roleplaying children is rough since we can't roll up one.

[Jolena]

Um no.. not in 16 years.. time in Elanthia is not the same as time in RL. I mean.. yes I am rping the pregnancy for 9 months.. however to try to wait 16 years of real time to show up with a child is a bit ridiculous and can't be done in my opinion. So.. yes it's bending the frame a little.. but I don't see that I have a choice.. I will most likely wait around 4 months before introducing the child into public as a 16 year old. Sorry folks..I know it's a stretch..but I have a limited amount to work with here as far as age goes.

[CrystalTears]

And that's why I'm against roleplaying pregnancies. Not because of the actual pregnancy, but because of the child afterwards. And yes time in Elanthia is the same as real life. Ask any GM, which is why we now have birthdays and only age on that day.

I was just offering a different perspective before you make a decision about bringing a teenager into the lands, I'm guessing a year or so after the birth, which won't be as easy to pull as the pregnancy.

[Edited on 10/30/2003 by CrystalTears]

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Jolena
Um no.. not in 16 years.. time in Elanthia is not the same as time in RL. I mean.. yes I am rping the pregnancy for 9 months.. however to try to wait 16 years of real time to show up with a child is a bit ridiculous and can't be done in my opinion. So.. yes it's bending the frame a little.. but I don't see that I have a choice.. I will most likely wait around 4 months before introducing the child into public as a 16 year old. Sorry folks..I know it's a stretch..but I have a limited amount to work with here as far as age goes.

ridiculous

[Jolena]

Well.. ya know..different strokes for different folks. So far.. the majority of our responses from others has been good. I realize we won't please everyone in the lands with the way we do this however it makes us happy and it seems to be enjoyed by our family and friends as well. *smiles*

Oh and thank you for the suggestions Crystaltears.. I am open to most anything because I'd like to make this as interesting and believable as I can.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Jolena
Well.. ya know..different strokes for different folks. So far.. the majority of our responses from others has been good. I realize we won't please everyone in the lands with the way we do this however it makes us happy and it seems to be enjoyed by our family and friends as well. *smiles*

Oh and thank you for the suggestions Crystaltears.. I am open to most anything because I'd like to make this as interesting and believable as I can.

people are hypocrite

they see you "having fun", so they won't scrap that fun by saying it's so ridiculous.

Personnaly, if someone come and say he's a natural born person from XXX, i'll ignore him, as sorry, but the way gemstone works it's impossible.

Just wait when we'll have the same family name and pretend you already had em.

Don't forget to look younger than your son to put it more "serious":lol:

[Latrinsorm]

Originally posted by Xcalibur
Personnaly, if someone come and say he's a natural born person from XXX, i'll ignore him, as sorry, but the way gemstone works it's impossible.


I don't understand, if I came up to you (IG) and said I was born in, for instance, Lolle (an IG town), you would think that was impossible? I mean, sure, mechanically speaking, our characters are spawned from nothingness, but in the context of the game, they have to be born somewhere.

[StrayRogue]

I'm totally against the child coming back in four months as fully grown. Time works the same here as it does there.

[GSLeloo]

I'm not aiming this at anyone but.. like I think a lot of people that RP the child birth do amazing jobs, just like people that use the act commands to RP (and do it well) do amazing jobs. Just most of the time it's sort of annoying just because it feels like it's thrown in front of you and you have to see it.. I know that doesn't make much sense but usually I respect it and am annoyed by it.

[Dighn Darkbeam]

This is obviously a very vague area of roleplaying. If anyone is interested I could ask on the official boards and see if I can get a GM of the appropriate jurisdiction to discuss his view of the debate.

Personally, if I had agreed to let another claim to be impregnated with our child, I would first write to Simu or a specific GM and ask for clarification. Normally, if mechanics do not allow for something, I am against roleplaying it. This goes for character features such as tails or any other animalistic qualities, assuming to have magical powers that a player is not capable of possessing, claiming to be of a race not supported by the character manager, ect.

[DCSL]

I'm alright with Jolena's RP of the baby. It's that whole "Jolena searches through your container and finding no food, smiles at you deceptively sweetly" or whatever thing that REALLY gets to me. You did NOT look through my container. What if I have no container on me? Lysistrata is often dressed quite formally, with no pockets on her.

I'll accept/ignore the rest of the RP, but I hope you get rid of that one bit, Jolena. You cannot honestly tell me she looks through the containers of 100+ people in an instant and smiles at us ALL. And really, if you'd done that in the room with one of my more anti-social and violent characters, you would have gotten quite the reaction, pregnant woman or no. Pregnancy is not an excuse for violating personal space and belongings. And what if the characters did have food in their containers? Would Jolena have stolen it? Really, it's just an enormously ass thing to do, and it's asking for trouble.

[Zir]

If you're annoyed, it's an easy enough problem to remedy. Squelch "(whoever" and you'll never have to be subjected to their annoying acts again.

[StrayRogue]

Duck and cover and it will all go away right? Nah, I find squelch as a cowards and OOC way out. Besides how am I to know Jolena will never have anything interesting to say?

[DCSL]

That's such a glib and apathetic response, Zir, I'm tempted to ignore it.

I've never 'squelched' anyone, EVER, in the game. In fact, I don't even know how to do it. There are very few instances that would cause me to completely ignore someone... I can't think of any examples now, but I'm sure there are a couple... just not many.

Besides, the rest of Jolena's actions and RP are quite acceptable, well-done in fact. Ignoring all of it for one annoying and OOC (in my opinion) action would make me like the assholes in Seinfeld (the show) that dump perfectly nice and attractive people for one itty bitty slightly irritating quality.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Latrinsorm

Originally posted by Xcalibur
Personnaly, if someone come and say he's a natural born person from XXX, i'll ignore him, as sorry, but the way gemstone works it's impossible.


I don't understand, if I came up to you (IG) and said I was born in, for instance, Lolle (an IG town), you would think that was impossible? I mean, sure, mechanically speaking, our characters are spawned from nothingness, but in the context of the game, they have to be born somewhere.

No, not that, i would treat you as a normal person.

If someone come and tell me he is the natural son or daughter of Lady XXX, and she gave him birth 4 months ago (or 16 years ago), ahh it doesn't work

If the guy is born 16 years ago, why is my character not 16 years older?

I mean, that way, you can have 5000 children, totaly stupid

Roleplay birth, but children CANNOT be players, unless you wait 16 years

[Zir]

Originally posted by StrayRogue
Duck and cover and it will all go away right? Nah, I find squelch as a cowards and OOC way out. Besides how am I to know Jolena will never have anything interesting to say?

So perhaps I should have "thrown a dagger at her belly" instead of just ignoring her actions. Would that make me less of a coward?

[Xcalibur]

If someone hurts the belly (deeply) of a roleplaying pregnant woman, please post the log..

I bet 50 bucks she'll remain pregnant because of a miraculous spell.

[StrayRogue]

No. It would be an rped response from a particularily nasty person who is already known as a woman slayer.

[CrystalTears]

Okay guys, let's get back on track here. We can start a different thread about squelching vs. ignoring if you'd like instead.

Edit: I took them from here and started another thread, in case you wonder where the responses went. ;)

[Edited on 10/31/2003 by CrystalTears]

[Jolena]

Well.. after thinking about it in depth I have decided to go ahead and change the container action to include one person only so that I am not offending anyone else. I am sorry if you feel, DCSL, that I was being an ass to you by doing such. My intention is never to make someone else's experience negative.
Aside from that.. I really don't have much else to say on the matter as I will continue to RP Jolena's pregnancy and the birth/raising of the child as I see it's best to do. If a GM tells me it's not acceptable then I'll change it. Otherwise.. most everyone else I have involved in this RP is fine with it and that's all that really matters anyhow to me. Thanks everyone for your opinions however.

[Xcalibur]

What's bad about your pregnancy stuff is the fact your "child" become adult in an impossible way

Beside that, it's all your fantasy

[Jolena]

There will be some that care but for those of you that don't I guess ignore this hehe. Jolena gave birth last night to a very beautiful and premature baby girl named Auraline. Due to the baby's prematurity she had breathing problems and was immediately taken care of by a family friend who infused his life energy into her small body by means of his wizardly skills. She has been taken to a remote village (that really exists but shall not be named for in game reasons) to be taken care of medically and for her own safetly (also the safety part is for in game reasons that won't be mentioned). Both myself and Stunseed would like to thank all the people involved in the pregnancy RP and especially the birth. They all did incredible jobs of rping things with us and made it most memorable.

[CrystalTears]

How cute. Congrats!

However. <coughs> Gotta ask a question, I just gotta. So does this mean that you'll hardly see your child since he's in another town? Maybe I just can't fathom having a child and then letting another family in another town care for him, especially after a difficult birth, and not be with them. Are you incorporating that into your relationship, or taking scheduled "breaks" from the town you hunt/live in to visit?

Now I'm not questioning your roleplaying choices so don't think I'm saying you're roleplaying a bad parent or something, because I'm not. I'm genuinely curious of how a loving couple would go through the hardships of a pregnancy to not spend it with their child. Know what I mean? I guess this is the problem I have with roleplayed pregnancies. I'm only willing to go through that kind of ordeal if I can roleplay with my actual child, and not have to resort to some fairy tale of the child at home with a nanny, or in some boarding school or whatnot. I would like to know your perspective.

[Edited on 11/10/2003 by CrystalTears]

[Betheny]

DID YOU EAT THE PLACENTA?!?!?!

An Andelas follower would!

[Edited on 11-11-2003 by Maimara]

[Latrinsorm]

Originally posted by Maimara
DID YOU EAT THE PLACENTA?!?!?!

An Andelas follower would!

[Edited on 11-11-2003 by Maimara]

Dare I ask why?

[Kurili]

Do cats not eat the placenta? Do Andelas followers not emulate cats? Therefore, Maimara is right. A devout Andelas follower would eat the placenta.

I cracked up laughing when I read that.

Acolyte Kurili

[CrystalTears]

I've heard of people eating the placenta. Why, the reason eludes me, but I've heard of it. Placenta pate is a popular recipe. :?:

Maimara why did you bring this up?! Gah!

[Jolena]

Yes we will be visiting her on a regular basis in her new residence. There are a few reasons why she is in another town rather than being with her parents. I can't really go into those reasons because of the in game RP that is going on. However, both Stun and myself will be more than able to visit her in her new home and I might add that her new home is only temporary. She is not there permanently at all. She is being taken care of by the sister of the family friend who saved Auraline's life last night.

[Betheny]

Originally posted by CrystalTears
Maimara why did you bring this up?! Gah!

Because, I have to have SOME fun in life! :smilegrin:

[Caiylania]

Congradulations Jolena and Stunseed! How are you RPing the after affects of pregnancy? How soon are you going to hunt?

Glad your little angel is healthy!

[Jolena]

Well.. as annoying to me as it is.. because I miss hunting SO damned much I am waiting a week before Jolena is hunting again. She was seen by an empath obviously and her body healed but there is still the soreness and the tiredness from the ordeal. So..for now she is picking boxes a little and merchanting and basically taking it easy. She went with Stun last night to go visit their baby as well. Hopefully by this weekend she will be hunting again. *prays so because she's getting bored*