From: Avalon Asturias
We would like to learn about the different possibilities of rp on various sims, and how to get started rping.
I tend to do my role-playing on the hoof and without rules. This takes time and it involves getting to know what other people are about through interaction with them. In fact role-playing is a corollary of typical RL social interaction for me. If rules had to be listed for every new situation I engaged with in RL, with folks specifying their limits on their sleeve before even having the civility of an introduction, then I dare say that I would not set foot outside my door.
I have visited quite a number of role-playing sims in a variety of genres on SL and I have come to the conclusion that the majority of players are sadly taking time to get clued-in to the concept of role-playing as a *creative* activity, as opposed to a variation of gaming.
The majority of role-playing scenarios that I have attempted to engage with tend to be so bogged down with rules and tags and CCS hud controls that it is no surprise to me that avatars tend to stand around like extras from a George A Romero film - apparently locked in IM but looking for all the world like nothing more than a gang of lethargic zombies.
Nothing happening that wouldn't go down just as well in a Facebook chat-room.
In my opinion IM actually works against role-playing although it is an undeniably useful feature of SL in general. However, it is important to be able to follow the role-playing of others in open chat so that one might get an idea of what is going on and how to get involved. This is one area where role-playing gets very short shrift. I suppose that a certain etiquette is also required: many resort to IM out of embarrassment that their risqué blandishments or even inexpert chat might be vilified by callous comment, which happens all too often.
Furthermore, alarm bells immediately start ringing when I am presented with an exhaustive list of *do*s and *don't*s on arrival at a role-playing sim.
I will never forget the experience of being politely chastised by a moderator on a vampire sim for not wearing a 'vampire' tag - this despite the fact that I was wearing a beautifully cut opera cloak, my eyes bloat with blood when I express anger, distaste or any other strong emotion, foul breath pours from my mouth when I bare my teeth and I have a distinctly anti-social propensity to vomit arterial blood from time to time (an onrez issue with the particle emitter that occurs every time I teleport - I don't travel well).
As for pyramid schemes such as Bloodlines: these point-systems actually work against role-playing because of the emphasis on head counts. The requirement to notch up another bite on the tally means that Bloodlines vamps are far too quick off the mark to bite casual passers-by. The result is that most avatars in SL have been spammed at one time or another with the tiresome request that 'so-and-so' would like to bite them. Not so much as a scratch at the window or a grim smile in a dark alley to warn them what is afoot!
Well bite me!
Perhaps I'm missing something here but for me the excitement of role-play is about engaging with the unknown quantity of another individual or individuals. Rules and standards kill that and dedicated sims all to often miss this vital point.