Emoting Classes

Yer shitting me! People can't figure that part out???

It can be OK the switch 3rd to 1st person when emoting, but you have to be clear you're switching from actions to speech.

/me pauses for a moment, thinking of an example... "I'd put my speech inside quotes, like so."

Objects can also "/me", but they seem to require a space.

llSay(0, "/me sits quietly");

(cool thing is, you can combine that with the name-changing element of LSL, and if you're crafty, you can actually do some really neat tricks... it works in llInstantMessage and llOwnerSay too).

yes...

I've hit some of the free sex places on alts just for a chuckle now and then...

usual emote is: m's, h's, and the random vowel followed by enter

At best they are canned emotes from their bits..

That could actually be a good sideline for the shakespear company now that I think of it, emoting classes...

There are two places with classes that I know: Capture Roleplay (CARP) and Bonanza at Waterview. Forceme Silverspar does the classes at the latter, she also gives private consultations. Both of these places have classes from a very wide range of topics from roleplay basics to BDSM, but emoting is there, too. Recommended.

emoting classes....

What are we talking about here? the mechanics? manual of style? sex-based emotes? or how to generally spice up emoting?

mechanics are pretty much covered with "/me", you can use "/me's" as well, but a comma doesn't work. So don't try "/me,"

As far as style, using quotes to separate prose from speech is considered good form:
/me greets you with an enthusiastic wave, "Hey! Long time no see!"

Most people consider it bad form to force action on who you are emoting with.

/me tosses a glove at your feet, which you then pick up.

And 'thought emotes' are a matter of debate. I lean toward not doing it, since who can read minds?

/me thinks he should keep his thoughts to himself.

But really, emoting (IMHO) comes down to being creative.

/me grins at you

is much less memorable than

/me flashes you a rakish grin
or
/me breaks out in a lopsided grin

I'd say for emoting, try to let go and unleash your inner writer/poet.

/me doffs his artist's cap, flicks his ears proudly, smooths his whiskers, and scampers off with a regal gait.

Jerboa, they are the *best* sort! eg

/me wonders if the Gorean Master knows he has forgotten to do up his pants (and smiles since he knows that, to respect rp, the Master can't say or do anything in response)

Pep (Of course the Master *can* do something, but the insult has already been made in public for everyone to see)

Of course it's probably a very..erm...small...insult.

Hi Bagushii, i've contacted Forceme too see if her classes might help, thanks for the tip

Jerboa - I'm looking too evolve my skills. I believe i am pretty good at emoting i'm just trying too evolve a little more. This is how i emote at the moment.

/me hands slowly slip along her silky mocca coloured skin... feeling her supple curves under her soft fingers... sooty lashes lifting over emerald eyes... soft lips parting as her teeth gently nibble along her pouty bottom lip

I didn't want too make it too mmmm naughty lol incase you can't do that in hear but that is how i emote at the moment. I'm wanting to find ways too use better words too describe my actions and body. I hope that explains it better.

Try Roget's Thesaurus as your bedtime reading.

Pep (And get "to" and "too" right - it's very distracting)

Those are the very very basics, the classes go more into depth than that. I'd advice to stay away from the purple prose though, the last example from Jerboa was already leaning towards that direction, if you just had added something about "his adamantium discs" when referring to your character's eyes, it would have been perfectly horrible.

As for the inner dialogue within the emotes.. it's a wonderful device for storytelling and aiding the drama, since although we can't read minds IRL, sometimes the drama requires the right things happening at the right time in just the right way, seemingly inexplicably. A good roleplayer isn't just a good actor, but a good author and a good drama writer as well.

And we all know that petty insults, especially OOC ones, hidden inside emotes are very sad..

. . . because emotes are always nice, happy, shiny things.

Pep (Just like real life!)

Hi Pserendipity i'll find a copy of a thesaurus too help me look up words.

Baguishii, the classes sound very interesting then. I'll try anything too work on my skills. The class i attended about 1 year ago was more for Gorean RP but it was great, she talked about using different words too describe your body. Like eyes, not too just say eyes but too use certain words too describe them aswell and not too use just one word either. I can't remember alot of the class anymore cause it was so long ago, i really wish i'd kept them notes *sigh*

No Pep, but because mixing up IC and OOC in an emote effectively kills the RP. It's better to take up the problem in IM's and talk about it straight up than be a chicken shit who insults people without giving them a way to react to it ICly. But you already knew that.

awww...you didn't like my regal gait?

/me's beady little eyes well up with tears.

It's a balance. You seem to be focused on erotic or exotic dancing emotes?

Too "purple" and you start to sound like a dime-store bodice ripper. Too crude, and you sound like Letters to Hustler.

The best thing, IMO is to mix up your sentence structures some. If you aren't careful, it is easy to fall into a repetitive pattern.



/me's hands glide over her dark silky skin, pausing to accentuate each tantalizing curve.
(pause)
/me draws you in with her emerald glance, sultry and mysterious, through lashes heavily lidded with a promise offered. For a moment, the world is reduced to the song...her dance...and you.
/me returns to the center stage, her spell broken. Over her shoulder she wistfully glances at you, her features sharpen into an irresistible pout leaving the question floating between us, 'was my offer not accepted?'...

(and yes...that slipped into bodice-ripper territory...my apologies to those who dislike that style)

I view emotes as a way to tell a story, and as a way to match the SL experience with my imagination. With any luck, it comes across as intended.

This emote /me is it for use in Chat box only?
Can it be done in the IM box?
Love June

I don't know- I think it all comes down to preference. I use emotes in short bits I suppose and maybe that makes me boring- but too much of it comes across as RP. If I wanted RP I would RP. The whole sultry eyes thing would have made me excuse myself from the convo really. I do understand it was based on a Gor class, but keep in mind also, too much flowery speech can be over the top. Depends on the context and surrounds.

It's entirely IC! In the example I have given, why would a kajira who is internally sniggering at a Master en deshabille be OOC? She is merely adding to the colour of the rp environment. You have already said that emoting is a way to move a story along. How many books do you know that ignore the thoughts and expression of beliefs of the characters? A world in which the only communication is via the actual words spoken is a pretty sterile world, bereft of irony and sarcasm apart from anything else. Emoting thoughts represents an honest method of showing what is going on in your character's head, even if it doesn't happen to concur with the way that some of the characters believe other characters *should* think.

Pep (Or do you believe in thought control even if you don't believe in telepathy?)

That's exactly it though, Amara.

The tone and language should match the situation.

OP (and my last post) were from the point of view of a dancer in a club working, I assume, for tips.

In a different situation, that language would be completely out of place.

And ultimately, regardless of language, I think emotes *are* RP. You are describing what the avatar is doing. That sounds RP-ish to me.

Most emotes are short, to the point.

But even then, I prefer to try to not just /me grins, /me smiles all the time.

/me notes the similarity of apparent deliberate misuse by the OP of "too" to a prior forum participant's use of "teh"

Pep (and wonders . . . )

This above emote isn't entirely IC - your character (in a conventional RP setting) doesn't know he is a character in a roleplay and that the rules of the roleplay state that the other person can't blatantly read your thougts, which is exactly where the sting of the insult is. I'm assuming you meant that the part in parenthesis was also a part of the emote you actually wrote. If it wasn't, well, then you are doing a bit of powergaming, which isn't in good form, either.

You really can't cope with the ambiguity implicit in RP, can you Bagushi? Emoting, *by definition*, should be all about description of a character's feelings - if that character wanted to say or do something without embellishment then they could without emoting, but augmenting action with thought should enhance the interaction.

Pep (Powergaming? Bad form? Surely not. I'm trying to keep this simple so that even a Gorean rper would understand it)

To be, or not 'too be'? That is the question.

Careful... you're getting to be as paranoid as I am.

--
Aes

(ok...I'll bite today. )

...unless you ascribe to a less conventional, and more mmo-friendly, definition of "emoting".

"Emote", I believe, is a word that has mutated in its move to the common internet-gaming vernacular.



The "/me" mechanic is labeled as "emoting". But in a technical sense, it is merely another method of displaying free form text to others with a slightly different visual result.

Therefore within the context of a virtual world, "emoting" (the use of the /me mechanic) can be appropriate for saying or doing something without embellishment.

/me wanders off to go all emo on someone.