Greetings from your newest newbie

[Elitegamer7539]

Yeah, reading through, this place looks pretty cool. I haven't been involved in a message board RP site in a rather long time, and never one as large as this one. I think I'll join, it no one has any protests.

So, yeah. Read through the FAQ and such, and I think I know what I'm doing. At least, I think I will once I get started. At the moment, I'm looking at the current threads and thinking "Damn, they look pretty full."

So, yeah, for now I'll just put this thread here and allow the welcomes, hellos, flames, and buttsex pop up as it will until I see something that catches my interest. I already have something in mind that will allow me to learn the history, geography, and other good stuff of Gaera as I go in character.

Two questions:

1. What times do people usually start showing up in the chat room? I just checked, and it's more-or-less deserted...

2. What are the rules (official or otherwise) on foul language and general vulgarity here? I didn't see anything in the FAQ about it, but I don't want to overstep my bounds. I frequent some pretty f***ing foul mouthed forums, and I'd rather not offend first thing, ya know?

[NamagomiMk0]

A breath of fresh air compared to some, you are. Anyway, welcome to RPGWW. I assume you have a good idea about things already.

Anyway, about the two questions. First: Chat tends to be rather spontaneous in its activity, however, there tends to be a higher concentration of human input around the later hours of the day. Try evening or later. Sometimes you'll get lucky and find it very active in the afternoon.

Second: It's pretty safe to say that we're mature enough to handle vulgarities. It's not like we're going to march up to your house with torches and pitchforks just because you typed in a few choice expletives, you know? In all seriousness, though, you should be fine on the language part. <p>ChibiUrusai: *chomps* I am underage. ^-^
Arch mage144: This means nothing to me. =P
T3chn0Namagomi: *motherly voice* Brian! What would Kate think if she heard you say that?!

---Dirtiness in a chat. Blame my mind for being in the gutter.

-Namagomi, who lives up to his name in this case.</p>

[Besyanteo]

I'd like to supplement 2 by sayying that, while we can handle 'foul language', using it to excess isn't welcome. It's like spicing meat... a little adds flavor, alot turns stomaches.

[Elitegamer7539]

All right, duely noted. You might see me in the chat tonight, depends on whether or not a few of my other games have anything going on.

Also... I rather like a lot of meat. Those whose stomachs turn at too much meat are weak of constitution and need to be shot. *Nods*

[Spleen]

No, dude. Spicing meat. It's too much spices that's the problem, not too much meat. If there's anything Kingdom of Loathing has taught us, it's that you can never have too much meat. <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and this magic..."
-Sokka, Avatar

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>

[Besyanteo]

Well obviously. Otherwise there would be no fun in meat day.

And we damn sure likes our meat day.

[Spleen]

Fuckin' right. <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and this magic..."
-Sokka, Avatar

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>

[pd Rydia]

Meat makes for good nachos.

Mmm, meat nachos.

Hi, dude!

Chat's used to be busy from around 14/16ish (EST) until midnight/2ish, but it seems to be more dead since I've gotten dialup and been unable to keep up on things. Fucking dialup.

Doug's got the right idea, though, keep an eye somewhere in the afternoon. Also, see about grabbing some screennames--you can always ask if chat's going strong or whatnot, or even go into chat and invite people. I do the latter quite a bit these days, as people seem to sometimes avoid chat due to it being dead, rather than because they don't want to chat. :[ Frowny.

The screenname I'm using a lot these days is Female Pretense (AIM).

Anyhow, cursing, vulgarities and the whatnot are no big deal. Creativity in their use is always groovy, but not necessary unless you go overboard in quantity. ***s aren't necessary on the board unless you're making footnotes, really.*

Just about the only thing we censor here--by unspoken rule/good taste rather than actual enforcement--is keeping cybering and the like off the board and out of the chats.**

'Tany rate, if you do anything "wrong," like as not, someone will correct you, or at worst, get snippy with you/exert their mighty e-penis. You've got to do some pretty bad things to get run off from here if you've a lick of intelligence, and a lot more if you've ability (and a lot more on top of it all if you've read the FAQ, which it appears you have! OSHIT!) :0 No big worries, I think you're pretty well-prepared against stuff. Dive in!


*I think I'm almost the only person who makes these, sometimes.

**I'd make a reference to Ayenee here, but I'm still kinda mehed over Yahoo closing down all the A&E chats. :( <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center">"Pants are bad!!! We should wear pants only on our head you conformist bastard!!! Pants are the devils work!! Run freee!! And pantless!!!" -- Vulture</div></p>

[Elitegamer7539]

Cool. AIM SN: Proven Paradox. If I had my way, that'd be my account name as well. I haven't used this EZBoard account in at least 3 years, imagine my surprize when it hadn't been deleted. I'm too lazy to register under a fake e-mail address, so I'mma just stick with this for now.*

Yay for larger avatar limits, I usually have to deal with a limit of 60x60.

*Astericks are your friends, dammit! Use them anyway!

[PriamNevhausten]

There are ways to bypass the size restrictions for your avatar and personal icon. Just add 'width=x' and 'height=y' parameters to the end of the image url.

Please, PLEASE do not abuse this. We've had people with, like, 400 pixel wide personal icons before. We have a testing forum for this purpose--make sure it works there before you go about posting your new threads in the other spots, if'n you please.

Also, regarding vulgarities? Fuck piss shit ass McGee. I believe that settles that.

Okay, so I just wanted to swear a lot. Sue me. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Spleen]

I've reread that line a couple of times, and I still don't know why Priam included "McGee" as an expletive. <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and this magic..."
-Sokka, Avatar

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>

[Seethe347]

Hallo there, Mr. Gamer.

I come to offer advice. I noticed that you were concerned about being unfamiliar with the setting used here. I once had the same concerns myself. In fact, I still do fairly often. Taking measures to explain why your character doesn't know the history of the world does seem like a reasonable idea for a cautious person who wishes to avoid committing canon-rape. But I can tell you that, with a little effort, you actually can still create a character that did not skip World History 101. Actually, letting your character possess the same level of knowledge that an average inhabitant of Gaera would possess will probably help you get caught up faster yourself. In fact, I would imagine that the more knowledge your character is meant to possess, the faster you will learn your way around, although I wouldn't suggest having him or her know anything that he or she wouldn't have a reason to know. But anyway, to find the information you need, just click the "Gaera Main" link in the description of the "Gaera Main RPs" forum. For reference, this is where the link should take you.

Now, here's a suggestion for getting that first idea. As you look over the information, ask yourself "What kind of person would live in this world?" Given that there are probably an indefinite number of unique answers to that one question, once you have answered it, you will likely have found the basis of your own unique character. At that point, all that you will have left to do is put together a biography. It isn't too hard to keep the biography of a previously uninvolved individual from conflicting with canon as long as you research the places where he/she has traveled and avoid making up new places. If something does happen to conflict, somebody will probably tell you and you can fix it.

Anyway, that's my advice. By doing it this way, you'll not only absorb a good deal of knowledge, but you'll also find yourself in possession of a character entirely of your own creation, which is more rewarding. This is a dramatic concluding sentence.

[Spleen]

Shit. Seethe wins. <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and this magic..."
-Sokka, Avatar

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>

[Elitegamer7539]

I've been to several differen RP situations. I also play on a RP Enforced MUD, and I think most of the people there would tell you that my RP is usually up to snuff. Reading around here, I haven't found anything particullarly intimidating; I don't think I'll have much trouble RPing here.

A message board and a MUD offer very different experiences. Typically, a MUD is much faster paced and more exciting, especially when combat is involved. A Message Board, however, allows for more detail, more thinking, and fewer typoes.

As far as character creation, I've had several lessons on the subject, and given a few out in more recent times. I'm a newbie helper on my MUD, so I have to know how to help people with character concepts to do my job there.

Now, another question that comes to mind... How are multiple characters handled here? Typically, I work in rotations of two characters at a time, starting with two staple characters that I've grown very familiar with and would fit into just about any medieval fantasy world. From there, I usually get charactersd more tailored to specifics of the world they're in.

This time, I'm going to start with one character to test the waters, so-to-speak, then switch to my standard rotations.

To the point, how would that work here? I would imagine I'm not supposed to have two of the same characters in the same RP at the same time, but am I even supposed to have two characters at a time period here? <p><span style="color:fuchsia;font-family:helvetica;font-size:x-large;">t(</span><span style="color:black;font-family:helvetica;font-size:x-large;">'.'</span><span style="color:fuchsia;font-family:helvetica;font-size:x-large;">t)</span>
Kirby is not amused.</p>

[Idran1701]

Sure. I've got three, most people have at least a half-dozen, and when she still played here, I think Fern had the record of around 50 or so. <p>

---

"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>

[Besyanteo]

... She what? *shudders*

Anyway! I think two characters will be fine. Four would be fine! ... I don't encourage numbers like the one Idran mentioned, but we wouldn't stop you either. Just so long as you have fun with them!

[Idran1701]

Nor do I. Merely commenting that it's possible, and that we don't really have quantity-based restrictions on characters. <p>

---

"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=idran1701>Idran1701</A] at: 7/1/05 23:48

[Besyanteo]

Indeed! Likewise! ... Learning about Fern just made me need to post. ... And then I needed pertinent continent. And then I ended up kind of repeating your sentiments in my own way of thinking.

And stuff.

[Idran1701]

Well, to be fair, I might be thinking overall, not Gaera Main only. But she was still able to keep them all straight, either way. She even had specific AIM fonts for all of them that she remembered. That really blew my mind when she ran through all of them once in IM. <p>

---

"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=idran1701>Idran1701</A] at: 7/2/05 0:22

[pd Rydia]

I've had at least as many different characters, or more, as Fern's famous record. I stick to a few basics these days, due to being online not nearly so often. There's no character cap, as mentioned.

In chats, we differentiate between characters with font colors and bolding and the like. It's not uncommon for someone to roleplay two characters in one chat, sometimes three. Rarely more.

On the board, rarely do GMs allow someone to RP more than one character in an RP. Though I often bring a Cute And/Or Fuzzy Critter along with one of my staple characters. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center">"Pants are bad!!! We should wear pants only on our head you conformist bastard!!! Pants are the devils work!! Run freee!! And pantless!!!" -- Vulture</div></p>

[Spleen]

When I was on Yahoo RP groups a couple years ago (actually, more like five years ago), I used to have a ton of characters. However, my roleplaying back then was so bad that they all wound up with nearly the exact same personality. Over the past couple of years, I've pared my character list down hugely - in Gaera Main, I only have four or five characters that I use, none of which are old standbys from Yahoo days. Just remember not to give yourself more characters than you can develop easily. <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and this magic..."
-Sokka, Avatar

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>

[Seethe347]

I would say that it's best to have whatever number of characters you can use well and would have a reason to have. If you're going to participate in more than one RP at a time, it's probably best to have more than one character between them. If two RPs are happening at the same point in time in the setting, then it would mess up the logical cohesion if the same character participated in both of them. But at the same time, making up a ton of characters for no reason wouldn't be advisable, but I wouldn't expect an experienced RPer to do that.

Basically, if you want to bring in a new character, only do it when you actually have a use for it.

[PriamNevhausten]

Normally, I'd recommend you hang out in chat for a bit, and wait for a CI (character-interaction) rp to show up, if you're used to RPing on MUDs. It's not all that different, and very very rarely do CIs have any world-shaking impact at all; usually it's just people 'randomly' meeting in the square or the inn or whatever, and chatting about anything or nothing. It's a good way to get into the groove, get people to know your character's name, and get a feel for the way others of us roleplay.

Problem with this is that chat seems to be much dead lately. If you're on at that point, I think I may kick up a session of that when I get back from work at like midnight (EDT).

You hear that, everyone? Be in chat at midnight, god dammit! <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[deathcyth]

hello everyone! I wanted to introduce myself as a new roleplayer and this seems the perfect opportunity. So hi I have frequented some roleplayer boards but not for a long time now, but this place looks fun so I think I am going to stay. Anyway thats all I wanted to say really.