Zydrate Knight bids you Greetings!
Tiide and I found each other because we're interested in more than paragraph text-based roleplay. We're interested in physical, in-game roleplay. Personal interaction. To that effect, we have recognized that the game does not give us a lot to work with in regards to the games lore, logistics, physics, and general world rules. We hope that by clearing up some of it, we can encourage people to subscribe to some more properly set logistics and begin to roleplay in a more "Live" manner.
As a result, a lot of this is theoretical. Given the vagueness, it's up to us to set a few rules. (Might as well!)
Much of this can be agreed upon by consensus.
Our goal is to gain a small group willing to do in-game RP. 4-8 is ideal, and build up from there.
Tiide and I have compiled this list of notes via observation. If you'd like to help us with the roleplaying community here, contact either of us.
There's a lot of writers here, we hope by understanding the world better, we can draw them out of single-story based "roleplay" and hope they all come to us in-game.
Anyone is welcome to add to, take away, discuss and inquire into any of this, of course. We're trying to build a community here. Tiide and I are not the lawmakers. More akin to... law-starters :)
Spiral Knights
Race Name: Possibly "Spiralians"
- Evidence suggests that Spiralians are probably internally organic. The extent of their tech is another topic for consensus
- We have fingers. Varied possibilites can exist.
- High emphasis on Militaristic Structure. Albeit a bit more laid back.
- Not a very high probability of betrayal or negative emotion. (This is mere observation)
- Possibility to use magic (Magitek, even)
- --Addendum: Consider that forms of undead exist on this planet. Perhaps magic use was discovered here? (Again, theoretical)
- Personal coloration a source of discussion. Possible 'skin' color. Possible chosen color via personal Knight.
- Shields seem to produce forcefields. Interal tech very probable.
Ranks are as follows, these can be utilized in RP:
- Rank 1: Recruit
- Rank 2: Apprentice
- Rank 3: Squire
- Rank 4: Soldier
- Rank 5: Knight
- Rank 6: Knight Elite
- Rank 7: Defender
- Rank 8: Defender Elite
- Rank 9: Champion
- Rank 10: Vanguard
Lore
Ship: Skylark (Crashed)
- Power source is currently destroyed, race is mining the planet for a new one. (IE: The core)
- May spark a debate that this may destroy the planet
Planet: "Cradle"
Species: "The Strangers"
- Familiar with electricity and energy, and have reasonable intelligence.
- Language barrier possibly averted via translators.
- Runs by clockwork, powered by a powerful central core.
- -An NPC in Haven states that the world is unnatural, that it's a combination of technology from elsewhere. Another idea is that gremlins have been working on it. However, even he states that some of this is theoretical.
- Seems close to the sun (Can be seen with the graphics turned up). Knights and most indigenous species possibly unaffected.
- Minerals manipulate how the clockwork functions.
- Wildlife: Wolvers, Snipes, etc.
- Constructs are built denizens of Cradle. Probably by Gremlins.
- Krogmo bribes Knights into fighting each other. Equivilant to sparring.
- Not every 'monster' is hostile. There are friendlies of each type scattered about.
- --Devilishs that are pink or orange seem to be friendly.
- A variant of computer tech exists. Can be best seen right above the Auction House. (One can presume that such things like automobiles and other tech exists, so one need not worry about accidentally dropping some more modern terms.)
- --Addendum: Another note on Tech: Given that there's plenty of cloth and such, one can assume the planet has factores that produce various necessities and so on.
RP locations
- Haven, lowly populated instance
- Mission Lobby
- -My idea is it could be used as a Command Center or ship
- -Haven Arcade could serve a similar purpose
Roleplaying Repeat Levels
For those who begin roleplaying in the clockworks, you might find yourself in previously played missions: Places your character may have already been to before. This can be justified in a number of ways such as;
- The clockworks are ever-changing. Perhaps you just tripped over a previously explored area?
- Make snide and clever remarks how "This place looks familiar".
Whatever you do, try not to comment ICly something like "Oh psh, I've been through this place a hundred times over." For one, it's not very creative. Secondly, it doesn't give other players much to go with. Without the sense of discovery, what's the point of exploring the clockworks?
Things to Consider
Most of this should be known be veteran roleplayers, but for simply interested writers of the forums, these kinds of things may be less obvious.
I've written (Or rather, copy/pasted) an entire guide if you're not sure how to go about roleplaying. Be sure to check it out. But before you do, here's a very quick rundown of RP tips:
- You don't know a character's name ICly. Unless you're roleplaying some kind of Commanding Officer (And you better have the rank to show for it), you can't know a characters name upon meeting them for the first time. For example, that laughable "xXdarkKnightxX" might be a decent typist willing to learn, but they've put far too much time into the character just to reroll them. By extension, my OWN name, The "Academy" part has little to do with the character.
- You cannot control another character's actions. This may be difficult to comprehend, considering this forums style of "rolecasting", where you hand your character off to a writer and just let them go nuts. It's different in-game. Any action for or against another character needs to be "attempted" or asked OOCly first.
- Speaking of OOC; If there's a problem, communicate! Whisper it to someone and don't let an issue build up.
- What happens in game, stays in game. People who do not know you may make assumptions about your personality based off the type of character that you play, or vice versa, but don't allow this to color your view of someone, or let it prevent you from making friendships. People are not their character.
- Try your best to type as well as you can, and omit smilie faces when speaking in-character. And if your posts are ridden with typos, my character will likely make fun of you. ("What's a 'lol?' Can I eat it?")
Other rules to live by. I did not include them all from the source, just the most relevant ones. So be sure to click that link, and even google "Roleplaying Etiquette" if you'd like some more information.
Interrupting Active RP
Like in conversation, it is considered rude to interrupt a RP conversation that is going on. Though often role players are more open to others joining in, it is usually wise to try to determine if others are welcome before jumping in.
The simplest and usually fastest way to do this is to send an OOC whisper. Something along the lines of “(( I see you are engaged in role play conversation. Is this a private conversation or may others join in? ))” Quite often you’ll find that role players are seeking others to join them. But be prepared for the times when it is a private conversation not open to others.
There is also the technique of simply listening in to see what is going on with the conversation. Don’t worry! Mom won’t scold you for eavesdropping this time. In life, you can catch a few lines of conversation quickly and determine if it is something you can join or if it is a private matter you should step away from. In WoW RP, because typing takes longer to accomplish than speaking, it takes a bit longer to determine this.
God-moding
This is by far the singlemost irritating rp behavior out there. God-moding is when you do something that affects another character without giving them leave to decide their own actions or opinions. An extreme form of god-moding would be emoting that you stab the other character, killing them instantly. It can take other, more subtle, forms though.
If you emote something along the lines of another person’s character noticing that your character has eyes red from crying, that is god-moding. A better choice would be to emote that your character rubs at eyes red from crying and leave it up to the other player as to whether they notice it or not. Sometimes characters have reasons for not noticing things.
Many role players won’t come flat out and tell someone they are god-moding. That is, perhaps, a fault many share. Generally they will ignore the god-moded behavior and continue on with whatever they were doing or simply ignore the character guilty of it. If you find yourself being ignored or legitimately snubbed and you truly do want to improve, don’t get angry, ask the person about it in whispers. Usually others are quite open to helping eager role players improve their rp skill.
Zydrate's extra note to above:
Sometimes another player may not necessarily be aware they are godmoding. This may be chalked up to naïvety, that they are new to roleplaying. This goes back to "don't let problems build". If they are legitimately unaware, tell them! Chances are they may apologize and try to improve.
And if they get angry and hostile... Then they are probably not the ideal member of the community anyway. (Assuming you worded things nicely)
Interesting.
I'd help out, but I pretty much quit this game due to many reasons and tbh, I've tried RPing with a friend out of game, and I got bored after the first 2 paragraphs. Looks like the lack of entertainment extends past online status!