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Understanding Roleplay: Metagaming & its Importance


Treshure
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PRELUDE

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One of the most bewildering experiences I’ve ever had on LotC was my interactions with the Marked Men (a monster hunting guild). In earlier days, I had admired their extraordinary detail to attention and commitment to roleplay. Their quality was undeniably higher than the average of the server. Thus, I was determined to get in.

However, I had come from a nation roleplaying perspective. The way I asked to get into groups was through Discord. I fashioned characters OOCly by observing the group I intended to get into through IC means. I thought I was clever by playing right up their alley; rather, they saw straight through me. I was constantly dumbfounded why my requests were postponed and eventually denied. 

 

Wasn’t I good enough? Had I what it took to be an eloquent enough role-player for the Marked? Maybe. But I never understood the dynamic that I’m about to teach. It was the fatal flaw, or perhaps one of several, that made me ineligible for such a group. It took me a lot of time to finally figure it out and realize. Hopefully, you all can avoid the mistakes I’ve made and skip through this process all throughout.

 

What the Marked valued in my perspective was the ultimate separation of out of character and in character. And they were very persistent about it, too. Out of character, the people I interacted with were incredibly friendly and polite. The moment I started asking to join and what character to make, however, and suddenly their responses turned cold and calculated. Perhaps for good reason.

 

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When we join the server, we are taught that meta gaming is more or less using OOC information and applying it ICly; blending two realms that should not intersect. Fair enough, right? Don’t meta-game people’s locations or names, add a few more trivial things and that fairly covers the rule.

 

But thats just it: it only covers the bare necessary rule to keep you unbanned on this server. The principle of meta-gaming falls much deeper. If you are going to play a truly meaningful and special character, your out of character ambitions must be entirely barred from the equation. As you make a character, you quite truly must immerse yourself entirely. Here is why.


 

PLAYING FOR YOURSELF

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One time or another, we’ve played for ourselves. My most recent character was a manifestation of this desire. Perhaps you fancy a particular position in a nation. You want to strike a role-play deal with another player, but the restrictions of the medium make it difficult; you take the conversation to Discord. For me, it was the desire to see a fully functional elven military.

So, I cut every corner possible. I intentionally made my character a veteran of the Malinorian crusades to harden his heart. I powered through every single role-play interaction, ignoring the realistic consequences of the situation so that my character could remain one dimensionally tunnel visioned on a strong army. I negotiated with nation leaders and other players through Discord because I reasoned much more efficiently than being constrained in character.

 

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All of these things were the means to a goal that I determined long before my elf, all done out of character. And while my elf was undeniably successful, I was fully robbed of the pleasure that exclusive role-play brings. My beloved character was just a thin veil on my face; a puppet barely masking the ambitions and intents of his controller. 
We often hear that roleplaying is cooperative. Learn to lose a little bit. Roll with the punches. The idea behind this is that if we are to truly role-play and engage in a cooperative and fun story, we can’t be rigid and solely driven by our out of character ambitions.

Am I saying that if you want to be a wizard, for example, don’t try and aim for that whatsoever? No. Instead, model your character to have the intention ICly. Then, as your character, let the situation play out. Let role-play take it’s course, the interactions said character endures shaping his desires and outcome. He may indeed become a wizard, or something else more beautiful and intriguing can occur.

 

AN ACTOR’S INTENT

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If you are setting out to play a meaningful and unique character, cut yourself out of the equation. 
A permanent wall should be set between you and your character; an intentional bipolarism, if you will. Discord should only be for rallies and keeping touch with the friends that you make. This shouldn’t be burdensome and a chore. Rather, just be aware of what is said in the Discord that could influence your choices or outright decide them.

 

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By removing yourself from the situation, you allow the character you have created to interact with the world alone. This gives you a much deeper immersion than you would have otherwise. As players of LotC, we all secretly delight in living a made up fantasy. Don’t cripple that fantasy! 

Much like an actor removes himself to become another, so should you in role-play. The actor disregards his or her ambitions or intent, instead fully assuming the identity of the creation.

 

CHARACTER CREATION: WHAT DO I DO NOW?

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When an actor removes his fully developed real personality, he jumps into another extremely developed character (ideally). This character was conceptualized, drawn, written, and thoroughly inserted to a realized plot. This character’s actions are defined and justified. He has a personality and a cause for action. The actor cannot fully remove himself if the role he is stepping into is not clearly defined.

 

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All too similarly, I see people creating characters in about thirty seconds. No thought is really put into it. I too am a victim to this line of thought. I have this idea for a character, and bam! There he is. I start playing him immediately instead of taking the time to map and flesh out the character.

If you want to really take a shot at this, you need to either define your current character or take your sweet time with a new one. If your character is not defined enough, you run the risk of playing a satirical version of yourself. I see it plenty on the forums: people replying to role-play threads as the bare minimum veil of themselves. 
That isn’t why we’re here. Isn’t why you’re here: you cannot say the fantasy you imagined while applying for this server was that so you can make edgy “in roleplay” comments that thinly mask your own out of character venom.

We came here ultimately for an attractive escape. So, take heed to this guide and fully indulge yourself on that vision. I hope this guide can help new players and veterans alike. In writing this, I admit some guilty participation in the vices I’ve described. These are very common things I’ve noticed in the community. Hopefully you can take a little bit from this post and apply it in your own role-play. 

Edited by Treshure
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