Thread: Sabo's Guide to Effective Role-Playing

Greetings! Since you clicked on this topic, I will assume that you're interested in (or at least curious about) role-playing your characters. Since many folks have never RP'd (role-played) before, I thought that now would be an opportune time to put together a mini-guide to help both the neophyte and the experienced RPer.

What is Role-Playing?
--------------------

Basically, RPing is simply another way of saying "acting". For a normal non-RP character, you use your character to navigate the game world. However, you interact with others as yourself. If someone asks you what your favorite meal is, you probably answer "beer and pizza". If they ask if you have any pets, you say "no, but my mom has a chihuahua".

However, when you're role-playing your character, you're "acting" your character, just like a stage or television actor. If someone were to ask about your favorite meal, you might say "ale and roast suckling pig". Basically, RPing is simply speaking as your character instead of as yourself.

Why Role-Play?
---------------

For many people, RP adds an extra layer of depth and immersion to the game. It's a way to give your character personality, to flesh him (or her) out and make him more real. It also adds player-made content to the game, which helps keep the game fresh and interesting. For example, you might come up with a back story for your character in which her husband was killed by rampaging orcs. Whenever she sees an orc, she flies into a blind rage and begins slaughtering them, overcome with anger and grief. In doing so, you've added some extra depth to your character, and you can have a lot of fun RPing encounters with orcs.

How to Get Started RPing
------------------------

RPing is surprisingly easy, though it takes practice to become good at it and to avoid cliches. The first step is to come up with a good name for your character. "Pwnswithbows" obviously isn't an RP name, since nobody would ACTUALLY name their child that. Luckily, Middle-Earth is rich with naming possibilities and the internet has lots of resources available to help you here. The following is one such tool; don't feel obligated to use it if you have a good name in mind, but if you have trouble coming up with anything it can be really helpful. You can also generate a name and use that as a base for your character's name, customizing it to make it sound better or more unique. For my name, I used the name generator below for an elf male name and came up with Lathriel. I liked it, but I also wanted to integrate the name I use for EVERY MMO, Saboruto. So I took the first part of Saboruto and the last part of Lathriel, combined the two and came up with Sabariel.

http://www.elvenrunes.com/mume/namegen.html - A nifty name generator that can help you with names for each of the races.

Once you have a name for your chosen character, begin thinking of a back story. Where in Middle-Earth was your character born? How old is she? What kinds of things does she like and dislike? Is she a serious person or a light-hearted jokester? Why is she adventuring? What are her goals?

Using the rich lore of Middle-Earth, try to come up with a back story for your character. However, try to avoid directly connecting your character with the archetypical heroes. You don't have to be Legolas's brother or Gimli's ex-wife or Pippin's thrid-cousin-twice-removed to be an interesting person, and if you DO try to connect yourself to an archetypical hero people (especially the lore-junkies) are going to pick you apart. I myself am not related in any way to Nepoleon or Albert Einstein, and neither are most people out there, yet I still like to think of myself as an interesting person even though I'm not related to any celebrities. In a world as large as Middle-Earth, chances are very good that YOUR character won't have ever met any of the iconic characters either, so try to keep that in mind.

Also, it's important to keep to your chosen race's lore. Meaning, if you're an elf you have to remember that elves tend to be distant and aloof and seldom involve themselves in the affairs of the mortal races. If you're a dwarf, you've probably spent the vast majority of your life underground. If you're a hobbit, you're probably rather simple and cautious and you appreciate the little things in life (bad pun, I know!). If you're a human, you're probably naturally inquisitive or quite possibly power-hungry. So, don't try to RP an elf who grew up underground with the dwarves; it's far-fetched and difficult to believe. You can certainly have interesting little things in your background that set you apart, but if you make your character TOO unique and unusual it tends to result in an unbelievable character.

Interacting with Others
----------------------

As a general rule, in most MMORPGs there are certain standards that RPers tend to use. First of all, it's generally considered understood that in "public chat channels" you'll be speaking out of character (OOC). In these situations, it's perfectly fine to say that you like pizza or that you have a chihuahua. In most MMOs, the main times you'll be RPing your character are in your guild's chat channel and in local-area chat.

If you join a RP guild, your guild may have specific rules on when you need to stay in character (IC) and when you can safely go OOC. Groups that classify themselves as "medium" or "heavy" RP generally expect their members to stay in character as much as possible, but "light" RP groups are usually much more flexible. In most games, it's considered polite to avoid interrupting others' ongoing RP chat with OOC stuff, though most people don't mind as long as you ((surround your out-of-character talk with double parentheses)). Double parentheses lets the readers know that you're speaking out of character, and makes it much easier to keep the IC and OOC talk separate, avoiding confusion.

When you meet another RPer in person, it's usually considered polite to stay in character and to respect their RP. Even if the person is RPing that he's the True King reborn, be polite and respectful. But hopefully his RP will be a little more down-to-earth. =D

When you're RPing, try to denote actions with *asterisks around the action part*. This lets the readers know that you're not actually saying that part but rather that your character is DOING it. For example:

Ready your arms, the foe is upon us! *Sabariel lifts his bow swiftly, taking aim at the nearest monster* ((Get ready guys!))

The first part is typed normally, and that's the IC speech part. My character just shouted that to his allies. The second part in asterisks is an action, so the readers picture my character raising his bow and pointing it at the closest nasty. The last part, in double parentheses, is the OOC part, where I (the player, not the character) am speaking to the people behind the keyboards instead of to the other characters.

Also, please keep in mind that abusing a certain way of speaking is considered newbish. In other words, don't run around saying "Thou hast come unto these demesnes for what reasons, yon wayfarer?" And don't go around talking like a pirate, or trying to give your character a Cockney or Australian or Spanish or French accent, either. That's not actually RPing, and it makes it difficult to read what you're saying. Certainly it's fine to have an accent (especially if you're a dwarf!!), but try to keep what you're saying readable, and don't go outside of Middle-Earth for inspiration.

Meta-Gaming and Meta-Playing
------------------------------

Thanks to EveChaos for reminding me about this part. Meta-gaming and meta-playing are two common pitfalls you'll want to avoid at all costs. I'll explain what these two terms mean and why they're considered bad form by roleplayers.

Meta-gaming is the act of presenting information YOU (the player) know as if your character knows it, when your character has no way of doing so. For example, say you're doing a quest and you have to slay some foul beast. You go online and look at one of the LOTRO fansites available (on that matter, http://lotro.allakhazam.com is by far my favourite, so please be sure to check it out sometime!) to find out exactly what the quest entails, and you see that the beast always drops 55 silver. You alt-tab back into the game and rejoin your fellowship who's been waiting on you.

"Let us be off to slay the beast and divide up its 55 silver as spoils of battle!" you cry. That's metagaming. YOU know that the creature drops 55 silver, but how would your character ever know something like that?

Or suppose you're playing on an alt character and you're grouped with members of your kinship. You're doing a quest that you've done before on your main character. When RPing, it's important to remember that you know things your character doesn't. So in this case, even though you've DONE the quest before, you have to act as if it's the first time you've ever ventured into that dark, deep cavern to recover the lost relic. To do otherwise would bring outside information into the game.

The best example I can give is this: pretend you're an actor on stage. YOU (the actor) have read the script cover to cover, but your character obviously hasn't. If you were to suddenly blurt out in the middle of a scene, "Check Mrs. MacDougal's purse, she has a handgun inside it!" you'd ruin the scene, because your CHARACTER doesn't know that information. It's an easy thing to slip up on, but after a while you'll get the hang of avoiding meta-gaming.

Meta-playing is a similar pitfall, but it differs in that it only happens when you're interacting with others. Just as you have free control over what your character says and does, so too do other RPers. Never force another player's character into an action without talking to them OOC first to make sure it's ok. For example, this is fine:

*Sabariel whips his dagger out of its sheath and takes a quick, thrusting stab at Tretheril.*

There, I took an action at another player, but I left it open-ended so that Tretheril could decide what to do from there. However, this next example is NOT ok:

*Sabariel whips out his dagger and stabs Tretheril in the stomach, smiling at the sight of his blade coated in Tretheril's blood.*

In that example, not only did I act out MY character's action (taking out the knife and stabbing), but I also took control of Tretheril away from his player when I made HIS character take the stab in the stomach. I doubt very highly that Tretheril's player would much appreciate having his character RP-killed randomly, and I left him no room to RP after my statement except to collapse to the ground and moan in agony. ALWAYS leave the character's reaction up to the player who controls that character. In the first example, if Tretheril's player wanted him to take the stab, he could easily have emoted the stab landing. However, if he chose to sidestep it, he could. Or he could fall to his knees and cower and beg for mercy. Or he could deftly whip out his own weapon and block my attack. There's lots of options that leave the outcome (and the effect on Tretheril) up to the player himself. That's ALWAYS the better way of handling things.

Lore and How to Use It
----------------------

The lore is a crucial part of RPing, because if you don't know much about Middle-Earth and its inhabitants, how are you going to pretend to be one? Thank God there's lots of resources all over the place for you to refer. Of course, the best source is Tolkien himself. If you haven't, read "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" and "The Silmarillion" if possible, or at least read "The Hobbit" and watch Peter Jackson's movie trillogy. If you do so, you'll get a much better feel for the rich, detailed world of Middle-Earth. There's also lots and lots... and lots... of LotR websites out there that you can peruse.

However, don't stress out too much if you bend the lore a bit without meaning to. Most RPers are very forgiving, and you'll probably even have someone let you know of your mistake. If you mention that you're one of the Rohirrim and that you grew up in Rohan to the south of Gondor, someone might point out that Rohan is actually NORTH of Gondor. Thank the person for catching your error, but don't stress over it. Your character isn't suddenly ruined and you're not a bad RPer just because you got a minor detail mixed up. Though there are certainly folks in the world who know Middle-Earth better than the real world (where is Luxembourg again?), not everyone is a lore-junkie and you aren't expected to be. As long as you're trying to stick to the precedents set in the books, nobody's going to hold anything against you.

Secret Aliases
--------------
At the urging of a few wise posters, I've decided to include information of creating aliases, "macro"-like commands you can use in LOTRO to enhance your RP experience. The following was posted by Adder, and he did so well explaining it that I decided to just copy and paste. Thanks Adder!

Suppose you created an alias named 'back' which emotes "Back to the darkness from which you came vile creature!" (yeah I know it's cliche ) After you have created your /alias, type:

/shortcut <1-72> <alias name>

where <1-72> is the number of a corresponding quickslot space and <alias name> is the name that you assigned to your previously created /alias.


Using the example above and assigning it to the first slot on the fifth quickslot bar, you would type:

/shortcut 61 back

Your button will appear as a black button with the first few letters of the name you had given the alias in the designated slot. This button's name will begin with a semi-colon though, so to clean it up (again using the above example), take one more step and type:

/shortcut 61 Back /back

Your button's text will now read Back instead of ;back.

Once you have your button, you can move it to any slot you wish and use it like any other quickslot by clicking on it.

You can use this method of creating an alias and a quickslot button for standard emotes too, and by customizing the emotes with your own text (done by typing /emote <your text> ), you can add a valuable tool to your roleplaying.

There and Back Again
---------------------

That's really all there is to RPing. The idea behind RPing is that your character is fully fleshed out and has his own back story, his own motivations, needs, desires, goals, characteristics, physical features, etc. Once you have all that, RPing can be a lot of fun. You can come up with your own story lines (My dying father has summoned me to Bree-Town to say his final farewell, then I must track down the assassin that poisoned him and exact my revenge!), and you can begin weaving your story into that of other RPers (I'll help you find this assassin, for I suspect that he is the same man who killed my wife all those years ago!) Just, don't be surprised if you become an RP addict and start thinking up story lines and plot twists in your sleep!

Anyway, I hope this little guide has been useful, and I hope it's given you a better understanding of what role-playing is all about and how to go about doing it. You've learned about coming up with a back story, about integrating the lore into your character's personal history, about avoiding common cliches ("Oh come on, EVERYONE says they're Saruman's nephew-by-marriage!"), and you now understand why RPers do what they do. Sorry for the Wall o' Text, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible, and I hope you've been able to take something from this guide. Best wishes, and I hope to RP with you soon!

~Sabariel

Oh! And I forgot to mention, if anyone has any questions or comments or needs advice on an RP-related issue, feel free to post. I'll keep checking this thread for a while and I'll do anything I can to help. =D

I think you read my mind! lol

I was just sitting here debating on which mode i want to play this game in,as a singular character,or as an RPGer where i can interact with others of like mind before i set my character up in Open Beta.
Then this post popped up,and voila,i read all i needed to read!

Thank you for posting this. Im still not sure of my decision (im much too shy,and im not really a people person) but i have done a little RPGing in other fandoms,and am an avid fiction writer,so im wondering if it is for me.

But i babble (no wonder as is is 2.50am here) so thank you for this guide!

If you like writing, you HAVE to RP some! Luckily (depending on how you look at it), since there aren't going to be designated RP servers, you're free to drop in and out of RP whenever you want, so you can RP a little bit and get you feet wet, then go back to a normal mode of playing when you want a break from it. Without designated RP servers, you never HAVE to RP, which means it's always an option.

Hope to see you in-game!

~Sabo

[QUOTE=Sabo;375051 I myself am not related in any way to Nepoleon or Albert Einstein, and neither are most people out there, yet I still like to think of myself as an interesting person even though I'm not related to any celebrities. [/QUOTE]

Richard Nixon is like my 3rd cousin on my mother side! For real. so you can have a little connection also.. Just for flavor

I am seriously thinking about giving it a good enough turn anyway lol But its nice that there arent designated RPG servers,so we dont have to be in character all the time either
Was over in the RPG section before actually,wondering about the server they were mentioning in there that seemed like the RPG capital one of the moment.
Having it as an option is nice though,doesnt feel like i have to start off doing it and keep doing it...
Oh and BTW,i absolutely love that name generator! I have a couple of names picked out for registration anyway,but in the case that they are taken (one of them being my forum name here lol) i will definitely find the 12 odd names i picked out of over there handy!
The only problem i am going to have is a character background without it being Cliched or Mary Janed. I tend to put a lot of myself into my characters in fictions (i think all writers do) and i imagine i would be the same with an RPG character. And unfortunately everything i think of,is pretty much cliched and already done lol
I think i just need to come up with some new ideas!
I hope to catch up with you in Play too. Are you under the name you mentioned in the above message?

Nixon, huh? Sure you wanna just throw that out there like that?

You can certainly have a connection to an iconic character, as long as you make it plausible and make it work. For example, when I was playing "City of Heroes", I had a character whose arms had been surgically removed and replaced by robotic arms. He escaped from the villains that did that to him but was wandering the streets of the city leaking radiation. In my back story, it was "Positron", one of the iconic heroes, that found him and rescued him, training him to use his abilities.

That's considered a safe way of connecting your character to an iconic. In no way was that unbelievable, because Positron often patrols the city and could have easily come upon my poor, confused hero. And after our interaction, Positron himself was unchanged, meaning that our interaction had no impact on the lore.

Now, however, if I made a female character and ran around telling everyone that I was Positron's ex-girlfriend, that would certainly be altering the lore to fit my character. That's a big no-no, since it would directly affect the history of an iconic character in a way that isn't already established by lore.

Sorry for the confusion there. There definitely ARE times when it's ok to connect your character to one of the big icons, you just have to be very careful in how you go about it. Thanks for correcting me. =D

And yes, so long as I can get it I'll be playing under Sabariel, and if not it'll be some derivative name.

~Sabo

Well written guide, my compliments! You forgot the tip to use punctuation while roleplaying, bad grammar can be immersive breaking and can make you look stupid.

Another tip for new people, roleplaying your character as an orphan is also not original.

Can this thread be stickied?

RP'ing seems fun to me, and I just finished The Fellowship of the Ring and im reading the Two Towers now, plus i've watched the movies alot. But, i probably wont remember all the lore very well, so I might not be that good at RP'ing.

And I'm kinda young(13) and like to talk a lot usually in mmo's, so i'll def. not stay in character all the time, and i doubt i would make a very good background story cause i don't really like writing stuff, lol.
"You move me, Sabariel! Almost i regret that I have not done this before.
But alas! Onward we go to slay the Orcs!"
LOL, thats my rp'ing!
Fwish
BTW Great guide!

Bump for the afternoon folks!

Absolutely wonderful post!

5 Stars!

Originally Posted by Maegfaer

Well written guide, my compliments! You forgot the tip to use punctuation while roleplaying, bad grammar can be immersive breaking and can make you look stupid.

Another tip for new people, roleplaying your character as an orphan is also not original.

Can this thread be stickied?

I've heard that quite often, about the whole orphan thing not being original...would a slightly different approach, say that of being an older dwarf who's mother and father had passed on from old age be a better approach to a backstory?

Trying to work up the story for the dwarf I want to RP with, and trying to keep it simple but interesting, and not too cliche.

My character, the Hunter Dyrnwynn, was inspired to dedicate himself to becoming an expert archer by the elderly King Bard of Dale.

Of course, that would likely make my character around 41 or older, but I like the background.

Excellent thread. I'm new to the mmo world and it's nice to get some abbreviations explained. I've been in closed beta and seen that these types of games already take up alot of time just running around killing things and completing quests. If you throw all the extra time it seems like it would take to rp your character and fully interact with the people of Middle Earth, the time commitment seems mind blowing to me.

Berethos: I think that's a great idea. You don't often see "older" characters, everyone's usually 16 (or that equivalent age for their race) and itching to get out into the world. A crusty old dwarf (OLD, not just Gimli-old) could be a lot of fun!

Pusher: I wouldn't worry too much. As a RPer, it's up to you how much time you want to spend RPing, how much you want to spend actually playing, and how much you want to spend away from your computer. There aren't really very many hard and fast rules for RPing, ultimately it's about having fun and extending the shelf-life of your game and your character.

Everyone: Thanks for all the positive comments!

wow, ingenious guide! thanks so much *two thumbs up*

Nice guide Sabo! ::Smiles::

Edit: I wish a mod would sticky ALL the guides so that new roleplayers would be able to easily access the various views and ideas on roleplaying.

Originally Posted by Sabo

Berethos: I think that's a great idea. You don't often see "older" characters, everyone's usually 16 (or that equivalent age for their race) and itching to get out into the world. A crusty old dwarf (OLD, not just Gimli-old) could be a lot of fun!

Thanks for the encouragement! I had been talking it over with a friend, bouncing ideas around, and had kinda settled on the old dwarf, who while not having lived a heroic famous life had seen his humble share of adventures in his life, and now wants to devote his time to his trade (probably smithing or jeweler, since those are identified as something they have an inclination towards, given their maker Aule's role in shaping Middle Earth). Good to know I'm not being cliche :-).

Now...to pick that suitable name for a crusty old dwarf.....*starts clicking the links the OP provided*

Great guide, but I thought I might add something if no one minds.

Please whatever you do don't meta-play other peoples characters. What this means is, don't control another persons characters in your posts... such as "Eve eyes the whiley Sabo as he smiles at her." if Sabo didn't smile in his last post he might not have meant to smile in his next post... maybe he was going to grimace in pain, or whatever... this one is kind of a minor discresion, but it can lead to much worse things such as "Eve shoots Sado in the heart and he keels over and dies". Never ever do this to someone elses character, it is a mistake I see a lot of new role players make, but please people let other play their own characters.

On a similar note... if someone's character is not around you, or not playing... or anything... please don't add them to your storyline without prior permission.


Thank you and have a wonderful time in Middle Earth!

Originally Posted by EveChaos

Great guide, but I thought I might add something if no one minds.

Please whatever you do don't meta-play other peoples characters. What this means is, don't control another persons characters in your posts... such as "Eve eyes the whiley Sabo as he smiles at her." if Sabo didn't smile in his last post he might not have meant to smile in his next post... maybe he was going to grimace in pain, or whatever... this one is kind of a minor discresion, but it can lead to much worse things such as "Eve shoots Sado in the heart and he keels over and dies". Never ever do this to someone elses character, it is a mistake I see a lot of new role players make, but please people let other play their own characters.

On a similar note... if someone's character is not around you, or not playing... or anything... please don't add them to your storyline without prior permission.


Thank you and have a wonderful time in Middle Earth!

Excellent point! I was just about to add a bit on meta-gaming, and meta-control was something I had originally meant to touch on but forgot, so thanks for reminding me!

Hehe no problem... its a big issue though, and it seems that there is little said about it.

Originally Posted by EveChaos

Hehe no problem... its a big issue though, and it seems that there is little said about it.

Exactly. And everyone hates having control of their character taken away by someone else's emote. I hate that as much as I hate when someone says "Let's slay this monster, he drops a great sword I can use!" Meta-gaming and meta-play are no-nos, so I updated the guide (and credited you for reminding me about those). =D

Awesome! And I am honored at being credited... you said it so much better then I. Hehe I always come off a little angry for some reason, don't wonder why... cause you just might find out. LoL

Bump, for great justice.

A simple request from one who doesn't RP...

(***note***:small disclaimer before you read my post. Most all RPers I have come across are very respectful. The below problems I have written about are only from a very small number out there. So I don't want people reading my post to think that all RP'ers are rude. As a matter of fact, I would venture to state, a very large number of regular players have a total disregard for others around them. RP'ers, in general, pay more attention to their surroundings and others they come across. I hope this post will not be taken in a negative light.)

Although I find RP'ing very interesting and enjoy reading what is going on in the world directly around me, I have been "put off" by some who RP.

It was stated in the OP, those who do not RP should respect those that do and a non-role player should just go along with it when they come across it. My request is that RP'ers respect those that don't wish to RP and not try to drag them into "RP" conversation only to publically talk down to the non-RPer when they choose not to RP themselves. Having had some one in RP mode do the public flaming thing, I have also had one send me a private tell instructing me to find a new hobby if I did not wish to take part in RPing. This only subtracts from the game experience of the person that just plays the game to play. After all...no one else, outside of myself, is responsible for paying my subscription fee making it possible for me to play.

Please spread the word to the RP'ing community. Most of us non-role playing folks enjoy reading the on going stories that evolve from RPing folks but don't find it amusing when respect is given but not returned.

Again, I am not against RPing. I really like hearing & watching those stories evolve and have even thought about doing some of it myself. I have just had some of the above examples of bad behavior happen to me and it turns people off to it in general.

Again, I post this response with respect and my intent was not to cause argument. I will do my part to encourage those that don't RP to do the same when I come across one who is disrespectful.

Nice post. A few comments:

In LotRO, you can type "/me stares into the sunset" and the game automatically turns it into "WornTraveler stares into the sunset" on the chat bar. It doesn't give a speech bubble, but I always thought the *WornTraveler stares into the sunset* version wasn't very cool.

Also, this is something I would not give to casual RP'ers. Only attempt if you're either a very good roleplayer or know how not to annoy people; it's a cool RP tool but it can be a little annoying. Still, helps you RP on the move.

To all those roleplayers out there who like to RP during quests. It is obviously very difficult to RP while in combat, but there is a little trick that, while it won't substitute for true roleplaying, can add some extra flavor to the atmosphere. I used it back in SWG and people loved it, and I think your fellowship friends will enjoy it as well.

First, you need to come up with a lot of cool phrases to use in battle. For example, a few things my dwarf Orinarr shouts out from time to time are:

Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai menu!
Taste the steel of the Iron Hills, beast!
Alas, my axe is notched.
This will be the death of the hobbits!
Behind my shield, lads. I'll take this one.
Back, beast! You'll not slay this dwarf so easily.

Some are more for comical effect (the movie quotes can be very funny, nothing better than standing in front of an accidental pull of a dozen mobs and shouting "You cannot pass!" and watching the fellowship get slaughtered lol), but they all look really cool when you're battling. My brother Narli ( a minstrel) has some pretty funny ones as well- "Come to me creature, I'll sing you a lullaby", is probably my favorite.

Ok, you've got your ideas. Now, figure out short typed commands to substitute for the long commands. For instance, I use "cry" for the Baruk Khazad command.

Then, you create an alias using this information. This is very simple. You type /alias, then the short command you wish to use to activate the long command behind a semi colon. Then you put a space and immediately type out the entire command. So for me to create the Baruk Khazad alias, I would type this into my chat bar:

/alias ;cry Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai menu!

and hit enter. Then, to activate the alias, I would enter ;cry into my chatbar, and my character would say the long sentence. There is also supposedly a way to bind these to keys as well, which I have not figured out yet, but stay tuned.

Also, if you ever need to see all your aliases, just type /alias list and it will give you the complete list. These are GREAT to make while waiting on a friend or fellowship when you have some downtime to kill, or while riding between travel stops. Make sure to make a lot so they don't get repetitive, and don't spam to the point of annoyance, just enough to add flavor. Enjoy!

Bump, for the non-beta folks.

Great guide, and well done on explaining meta-gaming/playing. Those two things are HUGE peeves for me and they go for ANY RP, so it's good for others to be aware. I've had the misfortune of dealing with people who do both, and it's absolutely infuriating. That aside, well done. I hope new RP'ers find this useful.

Necro bump! I hope this guide is of help to some of you folks!

Originally Posted by Sabo

Necro bump! I hope this guide is of help to some of you folks!

Help, like which this guide offers, never dies...

A truly immortal guide,

Couple questions I guess, for the hunter class what titles would be acceptable in lotr lore?

I don't mean the titles your given in the game I mean RP titles reguarding class I.E Ranger of the North ,Rohrovian archer, Skirmisher of Gondor?

I have a man hunter from Dale who basicly plays a "hunter" for the food stocks of dale but decides to cross the high pass apon hearing rumors of an eastern army, rather than take the chance of them coming true he fled into the west.

So would people in say bree consider him a "ranger of the North"? or just some shlub with a bow? obviously they wouldnt know much about him.

Well written and thought-out guide. This should most definitely be stickied (should have been a LONG time ago!).

After reading your guide, I was going to suggest the use of /alias & emotes to enhance your RPing, but Worntraveler beat me to it. I will add though, that his reference to binding an alias to a key is very simple...


Suppose you created an alias named 'back' which emotes "Back to the darkness from which you came vile creature!" (yeah I know it's cliche ) After you have created your /alias, type:

/shortcut <1-72> <alias name>

where <1-72> is the number of a corresponding quickslot space and <alias name> is the name that you assigned to your previously created /alias.


Using the example above and assigning it to the first slot on the fifth quickslot bar, you would type:

/shortcut 61 back

Your button will appear as a black button with the first few letters of the name you had given the alias in the designated slot. This button's name will begin with a semi-colon though, so to clean it up (again using the above example), take one more step and type:

/shortcut 61 Back /back

Your button's text will now read Back instead of ;back.

Once you have your button, you can move it to any slot you wish and use it like any other quickslot by clicking on it.

You can use this method of creating an alias and a quickslot button for standard emotes too, and by customizing the emotes with your own text (done by typing /emote <your text> ), you can add a valuable tool to your roleplaying.

Hope this helps, and again, great guide Sabo.

Originally Posted by Linos

A truly immortal guide,

Couple questions I guess, for the hunter class what titles would be acceptable in lotr lore?

I don't mean the titles your given in the game I mean RP titles reguarding class I.E Ranger of the North ,Rohrovian archer, Skirmisher of Gondor?

I have a man hunter from Dale who basicly plays a "hunter" for the food stocks of dale but decides to cross the high pass apon hearing rumors of an eastern army, rather than take the chance of them coming true he fled into the west.

So would people in say bree consider him a "ranger of the North"? or just some shlub with a bow? obviously they wouldnt know much about him.

Alas, I'm no good with lore questions, I'd be scared of advising you wrongly. I will say that "ranger" may be an off-limits term due to the Rangers, a faction of stealthy scouts and hunter-types. "Archer" and "hunter" are certainly safe, as would be "bowman" or "woodsman".

Here's the important q for titleage. Are you talking about the notary's 10s appendage? If you're from Dale then I'd suggest something short by way of an appelation. Bard Bowman? Well, he was an archer. If you're a hunter, then perhaps something like Featherwood. (ie to represent arrows) Or any other word association. The notary doesn't like things with spaces.

Fictionally, I'd stay clear of anything with 'ranger' in it. Specifically, Ranger of the North, refers to Arnorians who are followers of Aragorn and an elite cadre of them at that. That's something I wouldn't touch. At least not until you're lvl 50 and LOTRO puts in some happy quest that gives you the title. Its always a near thing giving yourself a title out of 'lore'. Besides, being from Dale, you wouldn't be a ranger of the north anyway.

If you're not talking about a title in game so much as just something to refer to yourself as in roleplay, that opens things up considerably. I'd still avoid making specific mention of points in the lore. Instead, just say what you do. In ME that's pretty much the same thing as your title anyway. Just shorten it to make it sound good. I'm an Archer of Dale as opposed to saying I'm from Dale and I'm good with the bow. Or perhaps, call yourself the Surefooted if you're a wilderness man who gets by without spraining an ankle running through the woods. Creativity is the key. Avoid using the lore as a crutch so much as a starting block.

I want everyone to know that I linked this thread to my event--good stuff.

Concerning last names, I go with a second title. Something that describes them-- "Flamesword", "War Leader", "Beastmaster", etc.... and then I translate it into Sindarin to make it sound cooler.

Creepside, I just give them nasty-sounding names such as "Shadowshaft" and "Plaugebearer"... I could give them Orcish names, but I reason that a mangled form of the Common Speech makes more sense, as the different tribes don't all know the Black Speech.

Great guide to roleplaying. It is in the LoreBook, but it should remain here too.

Great guide indeed!

My only issue with it is the asteriks around actions thing. It just doesn't feel right for emote based rping. It's fine when its in a different channel, like say fellowship, but it doesn't look right in an emote. Besides I find it very clear if folks remember to us proper gramar and quotation marks.

ex. Lucillia sprang over the stone barrier shouting," 'Ello mate!"
As you can see you can tell she didn't say 'Lucillia sprang over the stone barrier shouting' but did it. And she did say 'Ello mate!' because it was in quotation marks.
*Lucillia sprang over the stone barrier shouting*,"'Ello mate!"
Now using the asterisks around the actions within the emote. To me that just doesn't look or flow right. While it can show clearly the different between action and statment, I think its better to stick to the basic rules of gramar instead.

Originally Posted by Greqo

A simple request from one who doesn't RP...

(***note***:small disclaimer before you read my post. Most all RPers I have come across are very respectful. The below problems I have written about are only from a very small number out there. So I don't want people reading my post to think that all RP'ers are rude. As a matter of fact, I would venture to state, a very large number of regular players have a total disregard for others around them. RP'ers, in general, pay more attention to their surroundings and others they come across. I hope this post will not be taken in a negative light.)
Having had some one in RP mode do the public flaming thing, I have also had one send me a private tell instructing me to find a new hobby if I did not wish to take part in RPing. This only subtracts from the game experience of the person that just plays the game to play. After all...no one else, outside of myself, is responsible for paying my subscription fee making it possible for me to play.

Please spread the word to the RP'ing community. Most of us non-role playing folks enjoy reading the on going stories that evolve from RPing folks but don't find it amusing when respect is given but not returned.

That's a shame you were treated so distrespectfully. It's one thing to role play an arrogant character, but, a private tell like that is just garden variety rudeness. I'm glad to hear that most of the RPers you meet are better than that!

Aerhinn

Aerhinn Pathfinder
Caun & Membership Director, Marchwardens of Ennoarth
http://www.ennorath.org
http://my.lotro.com/aerhinn/

Here's a rookie RP question from an RP rookie. While playing I've noticed that when I place my cursor over other players they actually have "Roleplaying" in their little description (along with race, class, etc...). I assume this is one way to let people know you are RPing. My question is how do you add that to your description?

I've decided I wanna take a crack at RP and I just want to make sure I'm doing what needs to be done so that people can see that I want to join in.

Originally Posted by Deadlyrose6

Here's a rookie RP question from an RP rookie. While playing I've noticed that when I place my cursor over other players they actually have "Roleplaying" in their little description (along with race, class, etc...). I assume this is one way to let people know you are RPing. My question is how do you add that to your description?

I've decided I wanna take a crack at RP and I just want to make sure I'm doing what needs to be done so that people can see that I want to join in.

Type: /rp on