Sierra's RP Guide

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

WORK IN PROGRESS!

Introduction

Welcome to Sierra Six Echo's City of Heroes roleplaying guide! This guide is designed to help you understand and then jump in to an amazing world inside of the fantastic City of Heroes/City of Villains (here on out referred to as City Of) MMORPG. If you're curious about how to jump in and get roleplaying or you're an established veteran, this guide is loaded with information and insight to help you craft your characters, learn the lingo and get a better understanding of what roleplaying is all about.

What is Roleplaying?

Simply put, roleplaying (or RPing) is creating and acting as a character inside an established world. In this instance, the world is City Of. The game itself is filled with factions, groups and characters of all kind; whether or not you choose to create a character that follows the established history and mythos of the game or you choose to craft a unique character all your own, the goal is the same: to act as that character within the game world, interacting with other (hopefully) like-minded players. The goal? To experience adventure outside of the game's established missions framework and to hone your character's personality, background and mannerism. And, of course, to have fun.

Roleplaying itself isn't simply creating a character and saying "Hi, I am Sir Super Guy." It's establishing a look and feel to Sir Super Guy; everything from the costumes and looks of the character itself to their background, their history, emotions, character traits and flaws and anything else that defines the character as more than a simple game avatar. If this is your first time dipping your toes in to RP waters, don't worry too much about how deep your character is: it is far more important to craft a general character and giving them a simple, established framework from which you can build. But before we get in to the character itself, let's go over a few things about roleplaying in general.

Kinds of Roleplaying

There are several kinds of roleplaying, all of which differ in various ways but generally contribute to the general idea of being a character. For the sake of completeness, I will list the types I know of that can be easily identified and defined. This is of course not a complete list and the definitions are not set in stone: they can change and intermingle with each other based on how a person prefers to play their character in the game.

Most often, a character's bio will state the kind of RPer they are. Again, this isn't concrete and it's up to you to determine how the character is played not only on what the bio says but how the character acts. It's tricky at first but you'll soon learn how to identify these different RP subsets easily as you get more in to the game.

- RP

RolePlay. The most common type; if you're an RPer, you RP. This is a boilerplate for other kinds of RP or can simply mean "I roleplay."

- MRP

Mature Roleplay. "Mature" doesn't necessarily mean "adult," it just means that the character will be more mature. They might cuss or act violent or simply RP themes that are not necessarily "safe."

Sierra's Take: MRP basically means that I'm open to all kinds of meaningful RP short of ERP (which will be defined next).

- ERP

Erotic Roleplay. Basically, this is cybersex. ERP is very very contentious and should be approached with caution, or not at all depending on your preference. Some characters openly advertise that they ERP or prefer ERP while others are vehemently against it. Again, this is based on preference. ERP is typically kept private (either in tells, team chat or some other closed chat) so as not to embarass or advertise the participants. Considering the tenuous nature of ERP, if you choose to engage in it, it is best to keep it off of public channels not only to protect yourself and anyone else involved but more importantly to keep the game as PG-friendly as possible. Remember, there are a lot of other people who play this game and most are not RPers! They might not appreciate seeing ERP in a public chat. Sierra's Take: Take from this what you will. ERP all you want, just don't do it out loud. And always make sure the people you're ERPing with consent to it. - All RP Self-explanatory. This could encompass all of the above. - Other (?) There are other kinds of RP like "light RP" or "non-serious RP" which are self-explanatory.

Creating your first character - Meet Raoul Player Form Meets Function: When Design And Storyline Work - Crafting a backstory

RP: Where Words Make Worlds - Chat mechanics - (()), [[]] and :::: - Whispers/tells - /me actions - Grammar And Words Is Good, Yus! - Editorial: "Speak up, damnit!" - The world around you - Putting it all together - Example: Simple RP chat (standard dialogue) - Example: Complex RP chat (dialogue and actions, tells) - Where do I go from here? - Pocket D - Editorial: "Interactive RP"

Glossary (list) RP - Roleplay. Derivations include RPer, RPing and such. MRP - Mature Roleplay. ERP - Erotic Roleplay. IC - In Character. Chat that takes place as the character. OOC - Out Of Character. Chat that takes place out of character. AFK - Away From Keyboard. PVE - Player Versus Enemy. Fighting monsters and mobs in the game itself, as opposed to other players. PVP - Player Versus Player. Fighting other people in the game. Typically restricted to the designated PVP zones or in Arenas. Metagaming - RPing or gaming your character beyond the bounds and restrictions of the game. Generally frowned upon. See also Godmoding. Godmoding - RPing or playing a character as infinitely strong, undefeatable or generally godlike. Like metagaming, this is frowned upon because it not only breaks the logical bounds of the game world, it also ruins the game for others since you're playing a character with absolutely no flaws or appreciable weaknesses. Text-fighting - Fighting in-game via chat. This can be used instead of PVP for resolving conflicts, but Godmoding can creep in during text-fighting. Text-fight with common sense. Remember, no one is invincible. Griefing - Deliberately messing with other players. This mostly happens in PVP but griefing can also occur during RP in the form of spamming annoying powers, spamming someone with private messages or generally being annoying. If you're dealing with a persistent griefer, your best bet is to simply put them in ignore. If that doesn't help, petition a GM to help.