Geas

Inspired by the thread on ooc commands, I thought it might be fun/useful to brainstorm ways to roleplay ooc information, or say things that would otherwise be reserved for @commands. I know sometimes it can be tough to think of this stuff in a pinch.

Here are some I can think of:

mana loss --> "I have a bit of a headache" (I guess "vegetable state" would be akin to the worst imaginable migraine. )

combat delay --> "I need a moment to recover." (<-- seems obvious, but I've seen some people struggle)

lag --> "I must be getting drowsy. Everything is a bit fuzzy." "I'm caught up in my thoughts."

disconnects --> "I'm sorry. It seems I blacked out for a minute there." "I just had the most terrific daydream..."

forgetting to stop hunting all --> "I was so worked up that I couldn't control myself." "Instincts always get the best of me."

stats loss due to death --> "I'm still adapting to my new body."

Here's some I always have trouble with:

1. Roleplaying the statue business (upon disconnect)

2. Roleplaying the going-into-the-shadow (ooc room) stuff. I've seen characters say they were peeing, but ... yuck.

3. Handling other afk characters. Is it fair to say "She seems a bit vacant." or something like that, or is it best to explain oocly?

4. Asking someone to re-train icly because I missed the message. (most folks do this oocly)

5. Talking about skills naturally while remaining in-character. (the skilldesc descriptions are someone bewildering to me)

6. Discussing stats... "I feel very far from weak." can be ... odd, to say the least.

Ideas for these and any others?

mana loss --> "I have a bit of a headache" (I guess "vegetable state" would be akin to the worst imaginable migraine.

This would atleast explain why most mages are depicted as irritable

I think most of those things which are completely OOC related can be resolved with an @say, and ignored in-character wise. Trying to adapt your character to something that is happening OOCly almost never works and nearly always leads to confusion, as the people around you simply don't have the same OOC experiences you have. If you make an @say note of something like "lag" or "sorry, disconnected" you can simply ignore the hiccup and get on with playing.

It is much better to handle such things IC whenever possible than to simply rely on @say. This gives you more room for character development and maintains the IC atmosphere. No one needs to know that you're on the phone or you need to feed your baby - they only need to know what your character is doing IC. It's better to say, "I'm really tired, I need a rest" than to @say - "BRB, getting a drink."

If you miss the training message, you could say, "Sorry, I didn't hear you, could you repeat that?" And I do say that other characters are vacant or absent-minded or deep in thought when they are afk.

I simply interpret skills and stats - "I'm not very good at that" or "I'm very confident in my ability to blah." The exact descriptions aren't needed. In the real world, you don't know exactly how far you are from being a great painter or rock climber, you only know how good you feel and how much of a challenge you can take on.

If you make a typo, then treat it as if you misspoke. That happens in RL, too. My mother doesn't turn to @say when she calls me by my sister's name, and I don't have @say when I mispronounce a word in German. I just say, "Oh, I meant..." when the typo makes what I typed confusing.

I just ignore statues and say that the person has gone to sleep.

I just ignore statues and say that the person has gone to sleep.

Would it be possible to change or remove the statue business? It seems very out of place.

I have been thinking on this lately. Don't ask, I have nothing better to do.

I think I will handle it as if the character left. If I see a statue, that character is simply not there. This makes more sense than sleeping, as most would not sleep in the random public places I have seen statues in.

Just my take on it

Yes, I also think that just completely ignoring the statues is the way to go.