I was reading a thread on a gaming forum today, and I came across the following quotes:
"Girls only game because they want to attract guys"
"they're always 'hit too many branches on the way down from the tree of life' types. Either that or they're the 'younger generation' i.e. twelve year olds"
"They only play 'final fantasy' or 'kingdom hearts'."
"Playing one game does not a gamer make."
Um... excuse me?
Ok, perhaps I'm a little defensive. Of all the girl gamers I know... which is.... five, four of them only play final fantasy, kingdom hearts, and occasionally games with 'hot anime guys' in them. (I.e. Soul Calibur because of *swoon* Sigfried). Or at least, those are the only games they talk about, and more to the point they're the only games they seem to think exist.
Oh... they play the Sims I guess.
Trying to strike up a conversation with them about any games always results in them drifting off into swathes of
'ooooh Cloud! oooh Sephiroth'
And people can't understand why I hate final fantasy...
Anyway, I'm drifting off topic a little. I also want to make the point that I continued reading that thread, hoping that someone would come to our defence and put forward that there are some of us who aren't complete ogers... but nobody did.
I began thinking - am I the only girl who plays stuff like AoE?
Alright, I'm not great at many 'boy games' such as FPS's, Finn laughs at me when I play because I spend ages hiding around corners, then freak out when my sneaky plan is ruined and some dude chucks a grenade down at me. But I have good aim... I play a good Stranger's Wrath ... perhaps it's because I'm not very experienced at playing the sorts of games Finn does... idk D: FPS's are fun, but they scare me.
Racing games are... boring for me. I can get quite good with practice, but pretty soon the track just becomes a series of knowing the little shortcuts and knowing where to get the boost/powerup or slide this way etc etc... very tedious when the competition's not very good.
Ok, I absolutely love Age of Empires and games like it. I always have; games like that (the acronym doesn't spring to mind right now) are really satisfying to play.
I love building little towns ok? :c
I also love Platformers, Beat 'em ups and of course, RPG's (excluding anything remotely 'anime' urgh...). Ok well I was sort of a fan of Phantasy Star... Phan? :V
So am I an anomaly to the general consensus? I certainly don't play games to 'attract guys'. I've been gaming all my life, I don't tell people I game because they might shun me, and ok... I have my 'ugly' days as any girl would, but I'm not a complete troll... am I?
Monday, January 28, 2008
House
No, not of the M.D. sort.
So we've been trying to get ourselves somewhere to live next week. It's been a week so far and things aren't going too well.
Viewing 1
Houses booked for viewing: 6
Houses viewed: 3
Combination of some houses having been already taken, some houses being unavailable. Alright, that wasn't their fault. Well... ¬¬ I want to think it was.
Viewing 2
Houses booked for viewing: 2
Houses viewed: 0
After viewing the first lot, we saw one we really, really loved. But we probably couldn't get it because there was a family viewing who were ready to move in yada yada... we couldn't have it for September. So, we found houses on the same street to look at. In fact we got recommended two more that were identical.
We'd viewed number 2, and we had booked more viewings for houses 5 and 7
... we ended up being shown round number 17. An absolutely lovely house, roomy, well furnished, newly refurbished, safe area, clean, good rent...
5 bedrooms?
There's 4 of us. We'd specifically said we were looking for a four bedroomed house. The woman who came to show us round was equally unimpressed, as she put it 'this had been a complete waste of everyone's time'. So, while we were on the right street, we phoned them.
"Oh yes, sorry about the mistake, we'll send someone straight out - they will be there in 15 minutes."
30 minutes came and went. We phoned again.
"Oh yes, we're trying to get hold of the woman we're sending out, we'll ring you back when we get hold of her."
50 minutes later
"Sorry, we couldn't get hold of her."
So why did they not have the courtesy to ring us back? We were standing outside in the freezing cold for an hour.
Needless to say we're going back tomorrow and opening a can of whoopass.
So we've been trying to get ourselves somewhere to live next week. It's been a week so far and things aren't going too well.
Viewing 1
Houses booked for viewing: 6
Houses viewed: 3
Combination of some houses having been already taken, some houses being unavailable. Alright, that wasn't their fault. Well... ¬¬ I want to think it was.
Viewing 2
Houses booked for viewing: 2
Houses viewed: 0
After viewing the first lot, we saw one we really, really loved. But we probably couldn't get it because there was a family viewing who were ready to move in yada yada... we couldn't have it for September. So, we found houses on the same street to look at. In fact we got recommended two more that were identical.
We'd viewed number 2, and we had booked more viewings for houses 5 and 7
... we ended up being shown round number 17. An absolutely lovely house, roomy, well furnished, newly refurbished, safe area, clean, good rent...
5 bedrooms?
There's 4 of us. We'd specifically said we were looking for a four bedroomed house. The woman who came to show us round was equally unimpressed, as she put it 'this had been a complete waste of everyone's time'. So, while we were on the right street, we phoned them.
"Oh yes, sorry about the mistake, we'll send someone straight out - they will be there in 15 minutes."
30 minutes came and went. We phoned again.
"Oh yes, we're trying to get hold of the woman we're sending out, we'll ring you back when we get hold of her."
50 minutes later
"Sorry, we couldn't get hold of her."
So why did they not have the courtesy to ring us back? We were standing outside in the freezing cold for an hour.
Needless to say we're going back tomorrow and opening a can of whoopass.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Sale Shark
Earlier this week, my friend Cat was talking to me about her Rugby training. She signed up for it in Fresher's week, and has stuck with it even though she's been through two broken fingers and two awful trainers since that time. This weekend would herald her return to the field since her hand is fixed enough so she can play. Anyway, the main point of this anecdote is to highlight how weirdly my brain works sometimes. Obviously she was very excited about going back, particularly since she informed me she would be recieving coaching from sale sharks.
Now, at this point, I stopped listening to her momentarily and frowned inside my head. What was a sale shark and why were they, as she so eloquently put it, fit? More to the point why was a man from retail coaching a bunch of girls in rugby? I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that a sale shark was something a little like a loan shark; I didn't really know what one of those was either, but I made a sale shark out to be something a little like a man who's really pushy when he's trying to sell you something.
"Alright, now everyone do five laps around the pitch, oh, Miss Jones, would you be interested in purchasing our new fragrance..."
Now, at this point, I bet everyone's understood what Cat meant by sale shark. It's pretty obvious that she meant members of the Sale Sharks - i.e. a local rugby team. Why didn't I twig? I have no idea. Perhaps it was because of the way she said it. Since then it's been decided that if we ever get round to designing the zoo crew hoodies, my nickname will be ... well. I think you can guess.
Now, at this point, I stopped listening to her momentarily and frowned inside my head. What was a sale shark and why were they, as she so eloquently put it, fit? More to the point why was a man from retail coaching a bunch of girls in rugby? I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that a sale shark was something a little like a loan shark; I didn't really know what one of those was either, but I made a sale shark out to be something a little like a man who's really pushy when he's trying to sell you something.
"Alright, now everyone do five laps around the pitch, oh, Miss Jones, would you be interested in purchasing our new fragrance..."
Now, at this point, I bet everyone's understood what Cat meant by sale shark. It's pretty obvious that she meant members of the Sale Sharks - i.e. a local rugby team. Why didn't I twig? I have no idea. Perhaps it was because of the way she said it. Since then it's been decided that if we ever get round to designing the zoo crew hoodies, my nickname will be ... well. I think you can guess.
Fraturday Five
1. What do you need?
More hours in the day if I could choose something. But of everything I could give up or live without, (emotionally, not physically) I don't think I could give up the special people in my life, 'cos y'know. That's why they're special.
2. What won't you share?
Other people's secrets. If someone's told me something in confidence, I think it's the worst thing to go blabbing to other people.
3. What do you hurry through?
My educational work. Perhaps I should rephrase that and say 'I do my work as quickly yet efficiently as possible'.
4. Who is worth waiting for?
It depends how good their reason for being late is. Generally speaking, the people who I'm closest to I'm more likely to forgive if something goes awry. Not always though, some people let me down time and time again.
5. Friday fill-in: I can't bear to ______.
Hurt someone's feelings.
More hours in the day if I could choose something. But of everything I could give up or live without, (emotionally, not physically) I don't think I could give up the special people in my life, 'cos y'know. That's why they're special.
2. What won't you share?
Other people's secrets. If someone's told me something in confidence, I think it's the worst thing to go blabbing to other people.
3. What do you hurry through?
My educational work. Perhaps I should rephrase that and say 'I do my work as quickly yet efficiently as possible'.
4. Who is worth waiting for?
It depends how good their reason for being late is. Generally speaking, the people who I'm closest to I'm more likely to forgive if something goes awry. Not always though, some people let me down time and time again.
5. Friday fill-in: I can't bear to ______.
Hurt someone's feelings.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Roleplaying slang dictionary
Sounds like some weird sexual fetish when you talk to someone and they ask you if you roleplay. Sometimes, unfortunately, it can be 0_o. But most of the time it is a perfectly good past time (i.e. no sexual lol). I find it a good way to exercise my writing skills, relax, have fun, socialise etc. Let me explain;
Roleplay is where two or more people pick a character from movie, tv, book etc, or make up your own, and then... make them interact. It's like a story I guess, but you can only control your character (i.e. not other people's) and you take it in turns to tell the story from your character's point of view, each time progressing the story further. Can either be done in pairs or in groups, and it usually has a genre and plot.
genre - the genre of the roleplay. Can either be something totally made up 'Medieval Fantasy, Egyptian' etc, or from popular culture 'Harry Potter, Dragon Riders of Pern'
plot - a line of events that the roleplay should follow for it to remain interesting and avoid rambling off in no particular direction. The plot is usually discussed before people start the roleplay, but it can be added to and embellished as the story progresses.
a reply/line/post - Your side of the story, i.e your contribution. People praise replies on their length, quality, and inclusion of the/a plot.
a 'one liner' - a reply that is one line long. In roleplaying terms, you would usually apologise for only writing one line of reply because it's unusual that you can include detail that would move the plot forward. It's hard to reply to a one liner, but if your previous post was so bad that was all the person could write in response, it's your fault.
powerplay - making you character all powerful is generally frowned upon in roleplaying circles, this is because it isn't realistic. Nobody on this planet was ever a ninja at ten years old, or could negate the effects of a nuclear missile. If physical fights are involved in roleplay, it's expected that you can avoid getting hurt to some degree, but you can't dodge everything.
Writers block - aah writer's block. Usually the excuse used when your reply isn't very good, but can genuinely be a source of 'being unable to write'. Mental block, incapacity to think in which direction the roleplay should be taken
Typos - Spelling mistake. Shouldn't be made if you have a spell checker, but we all make the odd one from time to time.
"Apologies for typos!"
Godmoding/Godmodelling - two names, mean the same thing. Controlling other people's characters; not allowed, and it's easier done than you might think. Of course we go from obvious examples such as (where player 1 is Mrs.X and player 2 is Mr.Y) ;
Player 1: Mrs. X walked into a room and pulled Mr.Y into a tight hug. Mr Y scrambled out of her grasp.
Player 2: wtf mate? I'm playing Mr.Y!
To subtle things like:
Player 1: Mrs. X slapped Mr Y around the face. A red mark appeared there.
This is assuming that Mr.Y got hit - which should never happen. The person who is playing Mr.Y gets to decide if he got hit by that hand or not, not the person who initiated the slap. Godmoding is a tricky thing to get right; in response to the above example, you should write something like;
Player 1: Mrs.X aimed to slap Mr.Y
So that it gives poor Mr.Y some choice over what happens. Godmoding is often hard to avoid, even intentionally, because you have to assume some things if you want to have a good storyline, and you want the roleplay to progress. In which case you might often find someone asking if it's ok if Mrs. X tackles Mr.Y to the ground to avoid the arrows. Or... something like that.
Mary Sue/Gary Stu - where powerplay is frowned upon because you shouldn't make your character all powerful, nor should you make your character perfect in terms of personality and looks. Mainly because, instead of everyone supposedly loving the character, you will often find everyone hates them. 'Perfect' characters aren't realistic, and they're boring to roleplay, the name Mary Sue/Gary Stu (female/male respectively) is a humourous name for such characters. They're not always called Mary Sue lol :D
eg;
"She had perfect long golden ringlets that just fell past her shoulders, and baby blue eyes that reflected the sky's brilliance. Riding up to them on her pet tame unicorn, Mary Sue beamed happily-"
It's often more subtle than this, here is a real example of your every day Mary Sue;
"patronus »» - animal; unicorn- reason; impossible to tame, very rare, fierce, magnificent, selfless, brave and mysterious. beautiful and elegant, a symbol of peace, purity, and pride."
Introduction/Intro - I rarely see this called anything other than 'intro'. The start of the roleplay, the very first 'post' if you like. Usually it's expected that it should be longer than a regular post, because you have to introduce the plot, set the scene and set the stone rolling, so to speak. Some people hate writing the intro, other's adore it, but it all boils down to one person and they have to do a good job. Sometimes you might hear people talking about 'their intro' i.e.
"You write your intro first, and then I'll do mine ok?"
But their intro's purpose is only to introduce their character. The first post is always the most important, and this is the thing which we refer to when we say 'intro'.
OOC - "Out of Character." Pronounced, 'ooo-ck' 'oh oh see' or simply read out aloud, out of character. Sometimes annoyingly/humourously exchanged for other mnemonics such as 'out of cookies, old octopus crinkles'. All roleplayers know what ooc means, so we understand this little joke, but I bet some people sit there and think 'wtf?'
OOC is used when you want to say something outside the roleplay, i.e. to discuss the plot;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
But people usually have their own personal way in which they show ooc. The one above is what I use. Below I will list some of the more common forms, as not all ooc will be clearly labelled with 'ooc'. Eg;
((Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?))
{Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?}
[Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?]
-Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?-
ooc; Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Ooc - Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Double brackets is probably the most obvious way to show ooc writing without actually writing "ooc." Generally, as long as you make it clear that it's seperate from the main body of your post, roleplayers will understand that what you wrote was out of character.
IC/BIC - "In character/Back in character." Where brackets are not used, it's usually what you would use to show that you are indeed, continuing the roleplay -
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
bic Simon looked around him... etc
obvious I know, but some people need telling. Sometimes I even show I'm bic by adding in an extra break;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
-----
bic Simon looked around him... etc
Chatspeak - should never be used in roleplay. Ever. Ok.. there are exceptions to the rules, say for example, in ooc. But never never never use chatspeak when making your characters talk, no roleplayer appreciates this;
bic Simon looked around him and smiled. "Lol guys, look, I can c a bomb droppin from de sky lol"
ooc it's just barbaric. :D
--
The next few terms are roleplaying 'labels' people use when describing someone's ability. On one hand, it's very elitist, and I don't agree with it. On the other hand, it is useful to allow you to avoid people who wouldn't create a very 'fun' roleplay. If you write out a page of introduction to set the scene and introduce your character, and recieve one line in return, it's hardly an incentive to continue roleplaying with someone. Usually you are asked for a personal evaluation of your own standard before beginning a roleplay, and people are fairly (I use that word loosely) accurate about themselves. I have explained the terms using language your average roleplayer would use to describe them, it is not my personal view.
Illiterate - In normal terms this is someone who can neither read nor write. But in roleplaying terms it's a cruel name for someone who writes 'one liners' constantly, makes frequent 'typos' and cannot for the life in them, advance the plot. Usually this person shouldn't roleplay at all, but they can have a great deal of fun with people of their 'standard'
(See what I mean? This is genuinely the view that roleplayers carry around with them, elitist, horrible...)
my view; people usually don't call themselves 'illiterate', so my personal opinion will have to wait until the next description.
Semi-lit - This term is very, very dangerous to use. According to most, you are either literate, or you are not. Semi-lit is what illiterates call themselves to make themselves sound better than they really are. It makes me sad, and usually if someone comes to me saying they are Semi-lit, I will point them in the direction of another 'Semi-lit'. Some people never improve beyond this point, but semi-lit is often the case with new roleplayers who haven't got the hang of what they should be doing. In this case they turn out to be great roleplayers, you can normally tell this by their short, but wonderfully snappy posts. So, the majority of Semi-lits end up roleplaying together and having a lovely time of it, while staying well away from our next point of conversation. On rare occasion I have had engaging and fun roleplays with these people - they're good for a break, and I love seeing someone improve their writing as a result.
Literate - There are two breeds of literate. The snobbish, and the 'power to the semi-lits!'. I'm sad to say I'm a sort of mongrel between them both. I dislike roleplaying with semi-literates because they don't give me what I'm looking for in post length, but I know this is a horrible view to take, and thus I always try to help them, either by gently pointing out a mistake and suggesting an improvement, or by showing them someone else they can roleplay with. Sometimes I'm bad and just ignore them. =/ I know, I'm horrible like that. Literate people can write long, detailed posts, move a plot along, and understand the nuances of roleplay society. Yet some people claim to be literate because they can write five paragraphs describing what outfit their character is wearing. Don't be drawn in by these people - they're usually the snobbish ones, and can sometimes go by the title in our next description.
Advanced - literates who think they're above everyone else. Usually write a page on their characters outfit and can't actually advance a plot. Poison.
Oh yeah, and they have this weird little thing where they always bolden their speech. I.e.
"Are we going to the chip shop?" Said Fred.
Wierd.
Literate/Advanced - literally (lol) pronounced 'Literate Advanced'. For some reason it's written 'literate/advanced' but that's how you say it. Anyway. These are the roleplaying elite, the people who know how to roleplay and can roleplay well. My kind of people, and generally a term used to let people know what they're letting themselves in for. Sometimes, this term is misused to ensure that roleplayers of 'lower standard' don't blunder in and spoil something, and that is wrong. Literate/Advanced roleplayers are the sort of people you want to mix with if you strive to improve, usually the friendliest faces on the planet. Usually.
--
Limits - sometimes, usually among teenagers, roleplays can take on a decidedly 'sexual' flavour. Raging hormones and all that, but before a roleplay begins you will usually get asked what your 'limits are'.
"I'll also need to know your limits"
Literally this means 'how far into a sexual relationship are our characters allowed to go?'. All the more reason to firmly state you wish to keep the roleplay G (:D I do this to annoy them) because they will not hesitate to try to 'get into your pants'.
Of course, it's not all about sex. Roleplaying limits also include language (making swears) and violence (blood, gore, excessive fighting). They're sometimes fun to include, but they don't make a good roleplay. To set a limit, a roleplayer would use a film certificate rating, i.e.
PG - 13
G
R/18
Sometimes to bypass word filters, people ask for these types of things in a roleplay by using the following.
Romance - Roman ants, Ro-to-the-mance
Violence - Violet lent, Viola lance
Don't ask. S:
Contacts - This is the umberella term used for your email address, instant messaging names etc. Or, in other words 'how you can be contacted if the person wants to roleplay with you'. Again to bypass word filters on some sites which don't allow offsite advertising, people use the following;
Email - Liam E, Fast mail, the other mail, non-letter mail, Mr Liam E
AIM - yellow running man, any mnemonic which uses the words A, I, M in that order
MSN - little butterfly, any mnemonic which uses the words M, S, N in that order
YIM - ... actually this might be the yellow running man. D: I can't remember. I don't use AIM or YIM to roleplay.
everyone has their preference when roleplaying - some people refuse to roleplay 'over' msn. Personally, I like roleplaying on a forum, or over email but that's personal taste.
"//" /Slash/mm, ff/Yaoi, Yuri - same sex relationship roleplays. Nuff said. // is used to bypass word filters, mm means male male, ff means female female. Sometimes also written m x m - literally male times male. Yaoi or Yuri are japanese terms used in anime, but have also shifted into roleplaying slang. This is often discussed in roleplay because people aren't into doing that kind of thing. Kind of like me :D
"Do you do //?"
"No, I 'support it' but I don't do it."
That's right guys, if you don't want to be branded as a homophobe, you have to 'support it' otherwise you're evil.
The word Slash comes from literally 'slashing two characters together'. I.e Bill/Bob would mean that Bill is indeed, romantically involved with Bob. The order that you put said characters in is also very important, never -ever- put the least dominant first, that would mean they were 'topping' in the relationship. Haha, endless amusement when I discovered this I can tell you - slash roleplayers are so fun to talk with. :D
*action* /-action- - sometimes in roleplay ooc, people make their characters do humorous activities. These actions are always denoted with stars, or little dashes around the words. These actions are always in the present tense. Usually, the name of the character is not included within said action, because people assume that your character is the one you are referring to. Sometimes, the name of your character is included before you write the action. I think the use of stars comes from old MIRC or IRC forums... I'm not sure - I have a vague memory of having to use that syntax to do an action...
*jumps up and down like a spaz*
Sometimes
Barbara: *Jumps up and down like a spaz*
I think that just about sums up all the terms roleplayers use on a regular basis. There might be more newer ones, but these are the terms which have been around for ages and you pick up while you learn. There are many nuances involved in roleplay and out, but on the whole those should just about cover it. It's hard to realise when you're using roleplay slang and when you're not :D so I might have missed something out.
Roleplay is where two or more people pick a character from movie, tv, book etc, or make up your own, and then... make them interact. It's like a story I guess, but you can only control your character (i.e. not other people's) and you take it in turns to tell the story from your character's point of view, each time progressing the story further. Can either be done in pairs or in groups, and it usually has a genre and plot.
genre - the genre of the roleplay. Can either be something totally made up 'Medieval Fantasy, Egyptian' etc, or from popular culture 'Harry Potter, Dragon Riders of Pern'
plot - a line of events that the roleplay should follow for it to remain interesting and avoid rambling off in no particular direction. The plot is usually discussed before people start the roleplay, but it can be added to and embellished as the story progresses.
a reply/line/post - Your side of the story, i.e your contribution. People praise replies on their length, quality, and inclusion of the/a plot.
a 'one liner' - a reply that is one line long. In roleplaying terms, you would usually apologise for only writing one line of reply because it's unusual that you can include detail that would move the plot forward. It's hard to reply to a one liner, but if your previous post was so bad that was all the person could write in response, it's your fault.
powerplay - making you character all powerful is generally frowned upon in roleplaying circles, this is because it isn't realistic. Nobody on this planet was ever a ninja at ten years old, or could negate the effects of a nuclear missile. If physical fights are involved in roleplay, it's expected that you can avoid getting hurt to some degree, but you can't dodge everything.
Writers block - aah writer's block. Usually the excuse used when your reply isn't very good, but can genuinely be a source of 'being unable to write'. Mental block, incapacity to think in which direction the roleplay should be taken
Typos - Spelling mistake. Shouldn't be made if you have a spell checker, but we all make the odd one from time to time.
"Apologies for typos!"
Godmoding/Godmodelling - two names, mean the same thing. Controlling other people's characters; not allowed, and it's easier done than you might think. Of course we go from obvious examples such as (where player 1 is Mrs.X and player 2 is Mr.Y) ;
Player 1: Mrs. X walked into a room and pulled Mr.Y into a tight hug. Mr Y scrambled out of her grasp.
Player 2: wtf mate? I'm playing Mr.Y!
To subtle things like:
Player 1: Mrs. X slapped Mr Y around the face. A red mark appeared there.
This is assuming that Mr.Y got hit - which should never happen. The person who is playing Mr.Y gets to decide if he got hit by that hand or not, not the person who initiated the slap. Godmoding is a tricky thing to get right; in response to the above example, you should write something like;
Player 1: Mrs.X aimed to slap Mr.Y
So that it gives poor Mr.Y some choice over what happens. Godmoding is often hard to avoid, even intentionally, because you have to assume some things if you want to have a good storyline, and you want the roleplay to progress. In which case you might often find someone asking if it's ok if Mrs. X tackles Mr.Y to the ground to avoid the arrows. Or... something like that.
Mary Sue/Gary Stu - where powerplay is frowned upon because you shouldn't make your character all powerful, nor should you make your character perfect in terms of personality and looks. Mainly because, instead of everyone supposedly loving the character, you will often find everyone hates them. 'Perfect' characters aren't realistic, and they're boring to roleplay, the name Mary Sue/Gary Stu (female/male respectively) is a humourous name for such characters. They're not always called Mary Sue lol :D
eg;
"She had perfect long golden ringlets that just fell past her shoulders, and baby blue eyes that reflected the sky's brilliance. Riding up to them on her pet tame unicorn, Mary Sue beamed happily-"
It's often more subtle than this, here is a real example of your every day Mary Sue;
"patronus »» - animal; unicorn- reason; impossible to tame, very rare, fierce, magnificent, selfless, brave and mysterious. beautiful and elegant, a symbol of peace, purity, and pride."
Introduction/Intro - I rarely see this called anything other than 'intro'. The start of the roleplay, the very first 'post' if you like. Usually it's expected that it should be longer than a regular post, because you have to introduce the plot, set the scene and set the stone rolling, so to speak. Some people hate writing the intro, other's adore it, but it all boils down to one person and they have to do a good job. Sometimes you might hear people talking about 'their intro' i.e.
"You write your intro first, and then I'll do mine ok?"
But their intro's purpose is only to introduce their character. The first post is always the most important, and this is the thing which we refer to when we say 'intro'.
OOC - "Out of Character." Pronounced, 'ooo-ck' 'oh oh see' or simply read out aloud, out of character. Sometimes annoyingly/humourously exchanged for other mnemonics such as 'out of cookies, old octopus crinkles'. All roleplayers know what ooc means, so we understand this little joke, but I bet some people sit there and think 'wtf?'
OOC is used when you want to say something outside the roleplay, i.e. to discuss the plot;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
But people usually have their own personal way in which they show ooc. The one above is what I use. Below I will list some of the more common forms, as not all ooc will be clearly labelled with 'ooc'. Eg;
((Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?))
{Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?}
[Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?]
-Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?-
ooc; Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Ooc - Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Double brackets is probably the most obvious way to show ooc writing without actually writing "ooc." Generally, as long as you make it clear that it's seperate from the main body of your post, roleplayers will understand that what you wrote was out of character.
IC/BIC - "In character/Back in character." Where brackets are not used, it's usually what you would use to show that you are indeed, continuing the roleplay -
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
bic Simon looked around him... etc
obvious I know, but some people need telling. Sometimes I even show I'm bic by adding in an extra break;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
-----
bic Simon looked around him... etc
Chatspeak - should never be used in roleplay. Ever. Ok.. there are exceptions to the rules, say for example, in ooc. But never never never use chatspeak when making your characters talk, no roleplayer appreciates this;
bic Simon looked around him and smiled. "Lol guys, look, I can c a bomb droppin from de sky lol"
ooc it's just barbaric. :D
--
The next few terms are roleplaying 'labels' people use when describing someone's ability. On one hand, it's very elitist, and I don't agree with it. On the other hand, it is useful to allow you to avoid people who wouldn't create a very 'fun' roleplay. If you write out a page of introduction to set the scene and introduce your character, and recieve one line in return, it's hardly an incentive to continue roleplaying with someone. Usually you are asked for a personal evaluation of your own standard before beginning a roleplay, and people are fairly (I use that word loosely) accurate about themselves. I have explained the terms using language your average roleplayer would use to describe them, it is not my personal view.
Illiterate - In normal terms this is someone who can neither read nor write. But in roleplaying terms it's a cruel name for someone who writes 'one liners' constantly, makes frequent 'typos' and cannot for the life in them, advance the plot. Usually this person shouldn't roleplay at all, but they can have a great deal of fun with people of their 'standard'
(See what I mean? This is genuinely the view that roleplayers carry around with them, elitist, horrible...)
my view; people usually don't call themselves 'illiterate', so my personal opinion will have to wait until the next description.
Semi-lit - This term is very, very dangerous to use. According to most, you are either literate, or you are not. Semi-lit is what illiterates call themselves to make themselves sound better than they really are. It makes me sad, and usually if someone comes to me saying they are Semi-lit, I will point them in the direction of another 'Semi-lit'. Some people never improve beyond this point, but semi-lit is often the case with new roleplayers who haven't got the hang of what they should be doing. In this case they turn out to be great roleplayers, you can normally tell this by their short, but wonderfully snappy posts. So, the majority of Semi-lits end up roleplaying together and having a lovely time of it, while staying well away from our next point of conversation. On rare occasion I have had engaging and fun roleplays with these people - they're good for a break, and I love seeing someone improve their writing as a result.
Literate - There are two breeds of literate. The snobbish, and the 'power to the semi-lits!'. I'm sad to say I'm a sort of mongrel between them both. I dislike roleplaying with semi-literates because they don't give me what I'm looking for in post length, but I know this is a horrible view to take, and thus I always try to help them, either by gently pointing out a mistake and suggesting an improvement, or by showing them someone else they can roleplay with. Sometimes I'm bad and just ignore them. =/ I know, I'm horrible like that. Literate people can write long, detailed posts, move a plot along, and understand the nuances of roleplay society. Yet some people claim to be literate because they can write five paragraphs describing what outfit their character is wearing. Don't be drawn in by these people - they're usually the snobbish ones, and can sometimes go by the title in our next description.
Advanced - literates who think they're above everyone else. Usually write a page on their characters outfit and can't actually advance a plot. Poison.
Oh yeah, and they have this weird little thing where they always bolden their speech. I.e.
"Are we going to the chip shop?" Said Fred.
Wierd.
Literate/Advanced - literally (lol) pronounced 'Literate Advanced'. For some reason it's written 'literate/advanced' but that's how you say it. Anyway. These are the roleplaying elite, the people who know how to roleplay and can roleplay well. My kind of people, and generally a term used to let people know what they're letting themselves in for. Sometimes, this term is misused to ensure that roleplayers of 'lower standard' don't blunder in and spoil something, and that is wrong. Literate/Advanced roleplayers are the sort of people you want to mix with if you strive to improve, usually the friendliest faces on the planet. Usually.
--
Limits - sometimes, usually among teenagers, roleplays can take on a decidedly 'sexual' flavour. Raging hormones and all that, but before a roleplay begins you will usually get asked what your 'limits are'.
"I'll also need to know your limits"
Literally this means 'how far into a sexual relationship are our characters allowed to go?'. All the more reason to firmly state you wish to keep the roleplay G (:D I do this to annoy them) because they will not hesitate to try to 'get into your pants'.
Of course, it's not all about sex. Roleplaying limits also include language (making swears) and violence (blood, gore, excessive fighting). They're sometimes fun to include, but they don't make a good roleplay. To set a limit, a roleplayer would use a film certificate rating, i.e.
PG - 13
G
R/18
Sometimes to bypass word filters, people ask for these types of things in a roleplay by using the following.
Romance - Roman ants, Ro-to-the-mance
Violence - Violet lent, Viola lance
Don't ask. S:
Contacts - This is the umberella term used for your email address, instant messaging names etc. Or, in other words 'how you can be contacted if the person wants to roleplay with you'. Again to bypass word filters on some sites which don't allow offsite advertising, people use the following;
Email - Liam E, Fast mail, the other mail, non-letter mail, Mr Liam E
AIM - yellow running man, any mnemonic which uses the words A, I, M in that order
MSN - little butterfly, any mnemonic which uses the words M, S, N in that order
YIM - ... actually this might be the yellow running man. D: I can't remember. I don't use AIM or YIM to roleplay.
everyone has their preference when roleplaying - some people refuse to roleplay 'over' msn. Personally, I like roleplaying on a forum, or over email but that's personal taste.
"//" /Slash/mm, ff/Yaoi, Yuri - same sex relationship roleplays. Nuff said. // is used to bypass word filters, mm means male male, ff means female female. Sometimes also written m x m - literally male times male. Yaoi or Yuri are japanese terms used in anime, but have also shifted into roleplaying slang. This is often discussed in roleplay because people aren't into doing that kind of thing. Kind of like me :D
"Do you do //?"
"No, I 'support it' but I don't do it."
That's right guys, if you don't want to be branded as a homophobe, you have to 'support it' otherwise you're evil.
The word Slash comes from literally 'slashing two characters together'. I.e Bill/Bob would mean that Bill is indeed, romantically involved with Bob. The order that you put said characters in is also very important, never -ever- put the least dominant first, that would mean they were 'topping' in the relationship. Haha, endless amusement when I discovered this I can tell you - slash roleplayers are so fun to talk with. :D
*action* /-action- - sometimes in roleplay ooc, people make their characters do humorous activities. These actions are always denoted with stars, or little dashes around the words. These actions are always in the present tense. Usually, the name of the character is not included within said action, because people assume that your character is the one you are referring to. Sometimes, the name of your character is included before you write the action. I think the use of stars comes from old MIRC or IRC forums... I'm not sure - I have a vague memory of having to use that syntax to do an action...
*jumps up and down like a spaz*
Sometimes
Barbara: *Jumps up and down like a spaz*
I think that just about sums up all the terms roleplayers use on a regular basis. There might be more newer ones, but these are the terms which have been around for ages and you pick up while you learn. There are many nuances involved in roleplay and out, but on the whole those should just about cover it. It's hard to realise when you're using roleplay slang and when you're not :D so I might have missed something out.
Roleplaying peeves
I felt I had to rant about this, because, well... it both annoys me and is a source of amusement for me. At the same time, I notice things which are always the same no matter which site you're asked to join, and clichés within each genre. In short, I wanted to note them down. I guess it's sort of mean poking fun at people, but >D I'm in a vindictive mood today. I'm not normally this mean.
General -
1.) People use an excessive amount of • {{ ;; xx Xx xX [[ and _ in their topic titles, and in their relationship threads. Random words will be in CAPS and sometimes they will r a n d o m l y seperated by a s p a c e, sometimes names, and words at the beginning of sentances won't be capitalised For example;
[a•WALK•to•REMEMBER]
oh yeah, and most titles of the topics/relationship threads contain Panic!at the disco lyrics. Or some other song lyrics. Which barely hold a tie to the subject of the thread in the first place.
And they'll always write something like this;
"She has long blonde hair && blue eyes;;"
I mean, what the hell is with the two &'s? Why do we get treated to a double semi-colon? What has happened to the word 'and' ? I always end up reading things like that as
"She has long blonde hair and and blue eyes semi-colon semi-colon."
I don't usually read punctuation out loud in my head, but the presence of unnecessary things like that draw my attention to it. Also, having 'and and' in the middle of something always makes me read it in this timid, unsure voice... or it sounds like a five year old;
"And then I went on the firetruck and and it was red!"
Lets not forget using >> as bullet points. WTF.
Here I have compiled a list of topic titles, just to show you what I mean. No, they're not made up. They're courtesy of {b u r n i n g} bridges; {b r e a k i n g} hearts.
.dying to live {again,
[BORN] to be [WILD]
{__ s u n d a y morning
etc.
2.) Hair. I'm tired of seeing people apply to sites having;
red hair
black hair
blonde hair
wtf - what happened to brown? =(
The best was 'blonde with brown highlights'. Um... how can a darker colour be called a highlight? And it's never 'ginger', it's red. Cherry red mostly, never 'gingery ginger'. Haha black... only asian people have naturally black hair. And for some reason, witches and wizards. Oh yes, and it's always long and straight and perfect. xD
oh yeah and people are either always
Blonde/blue eyed
Red/green eyed. (like Lily Potter?)
Black/ green eyed. (like Harry Potter?)
Brown eyes? Grey eyes? Hazel eyes? =(
Harry Potter -
I thought I'd start with arguably the largest topic, since it was the topic of the first site I ever joined. (R.I.P X_Hog). There are things you see time and time again on Harry Potter sites, be they set in the Marauders Era, or Present... or even *shudder* Future.
1.) The admin of the site will almost always be playing Hermione Granger (Present) or Lily Evans (Marauders Era).
2.) The person who applies as Snape with almost always pick a 'play by' (person who represents their character on avatars/signature banners etc), who is far too good looking. (I'm rather guilty of this myself ... ¬¬). But I mean... they pick people like this;
http://www.gala.fr/var/gal/storage/images/les_stars/leurs_bio/ulliel_gaspard/images/gaspard_ulliel/188401-1-fre-FR/gaspard_ulliel_reference.jpg
I mean... how the chuff does that even look remotely like Snape? 0_o
3.) People who set their patronus to a 'black wolf'. Ok, wolf... cliché, but if you haven't got a better imagination fine. But how can a patronus be black? Patroni are silver, ghostly apparitions? Same goes for 'large cats'. Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs... boring, overused. I once had someone able to produce a flamingo patronus. :D
4.) Setting their mirror of erised vision to 'seeing the whole world at peace and their family standing around them'... when their family is still alive, I fail to see how this can be their characters deepest desire. Also, why is the mirror always showing something -nice-, like... why can't the person be dreaming they were filthy rich, or... something like that.
5.) Remus applications are the most boring things on the planet to read. In fact, Lupin in general, in roleplay has like... lol, no personality.
6.) HP sites always have a ridiculous amount of text formatting in their application forms and rules. I.E. you MUST set the title of your application to like
SURNAME, forename
register with surname forename (no capitals, otherwise you die.)
DO NOT CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE FORM OTHERWISE YOU DIE. and don't get accepted. Lol and they always have gay headings like;
THE ICING
name
gender (why isn't the name indicative of the gender? We all know Harry Potter is male : )
etc
THE INGREDIENTS
etc you get the idea... and all the little scene kids are like 'lololol so clever you made it like a cake lololol!' oh yeah, I wrote that out wrong;
The• I N G R E D I E N T S;;
perhaps it's trying to make it pretty, I don't know. To me it just looks stupid.
Because of the above, these sorts of sites spend about a month creating them, only to have them last about two weeks. Nobody joins because their application gets turned down for the fact that 'they didn't make it look pretty'. So... they don't care that the person was a seriously good writer.
7.) Urgh. When admins can't be bothered to fill in an application form for themselves, it's so unfair to the people who want to join. Or they don't do a good job of it and can't even be bothered to shove in a sample of their roleplay. I mean, how can you claim your site is 'literate/advanced' when you can't do that?
eh. I'm going to make another post explaining what roleplaying is
General -
1.) People use an excessive amount of • {{ ;; xx Xx xX [[ and _ in their topic titles, and in their relationship threads. Random words will be in CAPS and sometimes they will r a n d o m l y seperated by a s p a c e, sometimes names, and words at the beginning of sentances won't be capitalised For example;
[a•WALK•to•REMEMBER]
oh yeah, and most titles of the topics/relationship threads contain Panic!at the disco lyrics. Or some other song lyrics. Which barely hold a tie to the subject of the thread in the first place.
And they'll always write something like this;
"She has long blonde hair && blue eyes;;"
I mean, what the hell is with the two &'s? Why do we get treated to a double semi-colon? What has happened to the word 'and' ? I always end up reading things like that as
"She has long blonde hair and and blue eyes semi-colon semi-colon."
I don't usually read punctuation out loud in my head, but the presence of unnecessary things like that draw my attention to it. Also, having 'and and' in the middle of something always makes me read it in this timid, unsure voice... or it sounds like a five year old;
"And then I went on the firetruck and and it was red!"
Lets not forget using >> as bullet points. WTF.
Here I have compiled a list of topic titles, just to show you what I mean. No, they're not made up. They're courtesy of {b u r n i n g} bridges; {b r e a k i n g} hearts.
.dying to live {again,
[BORN] to be [WILD]
{__ s u n d a y morning
etc.
2.) Hair. I'm tired of seeing people apply to sites having;
red hair
black hair
blonde hair
wtf - what happened to brown? =(
The best was 'blonde with brown highlights'. Um... how can a darker colour be called a highlight? And it's never 'ginger', it's red. Cherry red mostly, never 'gingery ginger'. Haha black... only asian people have naturally black hair. And for some reason, witches and wizards. Oh yes, and it's always long and straight and perfect. xD
oh yeah and people are either always
Blonde/blue eyed
Red/green eyed. (like Lily Potter?)
Black/ green eyed. (like Harry Potter?)
Brown eyes? Grey eyes? Hazel eyes? =(
Harry Potter -
I thought I'd start with arguably the largest topic, since it was the topic of the first site I ever joined. (R.I.P X_Hog). There are things you see time and time again on Harry Potter sites, be they set in the Marauders Era, or Present... or even *shudder* Future.
1.) The admin of the site will almost always be playing Hermione Granger (Present) or Lily Evans (Marauders Era).
2.) The person who applies as Snape with almost always pick a 'play by' (person who represents their character on avatars/signature banners etc), who is far too good looking. (I'm rather guilty of this myself ... ¬¬). But I mean... they pick people like this;
http://www.gala.fr/var/gal/storage/images/les_stars/leurs_bio/ulliel_gaspard/images/gaspard_ulliel/188401-1-fre-FR/gaspard_ulliel_reference.jpg
I mean... how the chuff does that even look remotely like Snape? 0_o
3.) People who set their patronus to a 'black wolf'. Ok, wolf... cliché, but if you haven't got a better imagination fine. But how can a patronus be black? Patroni are silver, ghostly apparitions? Same goes for 'large cats'. Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs... boring, overused. I once had someone able to produce a flamingo patronus. :D
4.) Setting their mirror of erised vision to 'seeing the whole world at peace and their family standing around them'... when their family is still alive, I fail to see how this can be their characters deepest desire. Also, why is the mirror always showing something -nice-, like... why can't the person be dreaming they were filthy rich, or... something like that.
5.) Remus applications are the most boring things on the planet to read. In fact, Lupin in general, in roleplay has like... lol, no personality.
6.) HP sites always have a ridiculous amount of text formatting in their application forms and rules. I.E. you MUST set the title of your application to like
SURNAME, forename
register with surname forename (no capitals, otherwise you die.)
DO NOT CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE FORM OTHERWISE YOU DIE. and don't get accepted. Lol and they always have gay headings like;
THE ICING
name
gender (why isn't the name indicative of the gender? We all know Harry Potter is male : )
etc
THE INGREDIENTS
etc you get the idea... and all the little scene kids are like 'lololol so clever you made it like a cake lololol!' oh yeah, I wrote that out wrong;
The• I N G R E D I E N T S;;
perhaps it's trying to make it pretty, I don't know. To me it just looks stupid.
Because of the above, these sorts of sites spend about a month creating them, only to have them last about two weeks. Nobody joins because their application gets turned down for the fact that 'they didn't make it look pretty'. So... they don't care that the person was a seriously good writer.
7.) Urgh. When admins can't be bothered to fill in an application form for themselves, it's so unfair to the people who want to join. Or they don't do a good job of it and can't even be bothered to shove in a sample of their roleplay. I mean, how can you claim your site is 'literate/advanced' when you can't do that?
eh. I'm going to make another post explaining what roleplaying is
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