by 1. Make your character believable.
Everquest gives us a rich world in which to play out the lives of our characters. This gives us much we can do with our characters. Such as what kind of abilities they have, their backgrounds, etc. That being said, remember to keep it within the realm of possibility. If you aren't sure if your character concept is one that fit, ask us and we'll let you know what we think and possibly brain storm with you to create a truly unique and wonderful Character. We don't ask to keep a character within the realm of possibility to impede or stifle anyone's creativity, but to ensure that we don't run into characters that have no fit in the world of Norrath, such as Ascended Bahmi's or Sith.
2. Keep IC/OOC separate.
This one is important enough that it's highlighted in red. IC = In character and OOC = Out of Character. These are two separate entities and they should be kept that way. AT ALL TIMES! While a character may be a complete creep to you while you are role playing, that doesn't mean that the player is. That is just their character's personality. If you aren't sure whether the player is attacking you personally or not, ASK! Never assume. Just ask. If you don't want to ask them, ask an officer to help you out. That's what they are there for after all.
Remember, just because your character is madly in love with William's character, that does not mean that you and William have a relationship with all your toons or in real life.
Also, while you, the player, may know that John-character is going to try to assassinate Jill-character tonight, that doesn't mean that your character, Walter, knows it. As far as the role play is concerned, Walter is blissfully unaware that his wife, Jill, may die tonight. This is actually another form of metagaming and a big NO-NO.
3. No meta-gaming. No godding/godmoding. No auto-hitting.
This is really three rules in one, but one of great importance. It boils down to this: You are not all powerful. If you were, you would single handedly take out all the dragons, become a God, tear a hole in the fabric of time and space, and invite the Klingons to invade Norrath. Since you can't do that, guess what.
~~You are not all powerful. You are not a god.~~
Some things should be understood, but we'll say them anyway. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES can you EVER control another player's character without their EXPRESS permission. A good example of don't/do's for this is:
"Joe hits Jane over the head with a club and drags her to his cave." - This is known as godmoding and auto-hitting. How it *should* be is:
"Joe attempts to hit Jane over the head with a club." - This gives Jane a chance to say if her character will take the hit over the head or not. Let's say that she does:
"Jane gets knocked unconscious by Joe nearly clubbing her to death." - Now, Joe can continue on:
"Joe looks down at Jane's body and grins widely. He bends down, picks up her arms, and begins to drag her towards his cave."
This also pertains to story-lines. If a character is growing a crystal garden, your character cannot come in and dictate when that garden will be finished or affect the garden's growth without the express permission of the player you are Role Playing with. Remember to always ask permission before your character tries to change or dictate anything.
This also pertains to telepathy, aura reading, empathic readings, etc. Unless you have the other players express permission and it has been discussed what your character can and cannot know, it's usually (not always, but usually) better off to just leave this alone. There is so much information you can portray about your character and gather about another character with simple body language.
And remember, we want to keep all of this within the realm of possibility. If you're playing a caster, most likely, your little cloth robe isn't going to do much to protect you from a dagger being thrust into your heart. (unless enchanted to do so) If you play a fighter, you may be good with daggers, but if you get hit with a fireball, you will burn. Your skin isn't made out of flame retardant materials you know. (unless warded for such a thing) Another thing to keep in mind with this, is just like in real life, your character's actions will have consequences -in character-. (Please see the below post for more on IC Consequences)
Also, if you're role playing a duel or a fight, don't dodge everything. You may be great at rolling around or jumping out of the way, but you aren't Chuck Norris. And honestly, even he took a punch now and then.
4. Using NPC's.
Using NPC's is fine for your character development and personal storyline. Just don't go crazy with it. For instance, talking to the bartender and ordering a drink is perfectly fine. However, going up to Queen Bayle and role playing that she is your best friend and she's giving you hugs before kissing your feet, or that the Overlord hates you because he's jealous of your hair and sends armies after you is not. While some stories may need to involve this or that faction, we do wish to keep that faction's involvement to a minimum when possible. If you have a question about this or using a NPC, just ask us. We'll be more than happy to help you out. In some cases, we may even help create an NPC for you!
5. The "LOOK AT ME" disease.
This is a dreadful disease that afflicts many. It's a sad but very real fact in any role playing community and just as many don't even realize that they're afflicted with it.
We all love to get our little guys/gals attention as well as get them into the spotlight even if they fight us tooth and nail. One thing we must keep in mind is that there are many, many others out there who wish the same thing. So, look around your fellow guildmates and use something called common sense. If you see a character getting a lot of attention because they've suddenly gone insane, don't jump in and say that you are insane as well. If you planned on your character going completely wacko, but someone else is currently getting helped, wait a bit, bring it out only in degrees at first and when the other character is out of trouble, then let your own character go as batty as you want.
We want all our players to get the spotlight, just remember to wait your turn. If you feel like someone in particular is getting the light shined on them more than anyone else, then please, bring that to the attention of an officer and we will take care of it.
6. Have fun with it!
Seriously, don't stress about things in the game. It's a GAME. If it's not fun, then what's the point? So go out and have a blast!
Everquest gives us a rich world in which to play out the lives of our characters. This gives us much we can do with our characters. Such as what kind of abilities they have, their backgrounds, etc. That being said, remember to keep it within the realm of possibility. If you aren't sure if your character concept is one that fit, ask us and we'll let you know what we think and possibly brain storm with you to create a truly unique and wonderful Character. We don't ask to keep a character within the realm of possibility to impede or stifle anyone's creativity, but to ensure that we don't run into characters that have no fit in the world of Norrath, such as Ascended Bahmi's or Sith.
2. Keep IC/OOC separate.
This one is important enough that it's highlighted in red. IC = In character and OOC = Out of Character. These are two separate entities and they should be kept that way. AT ALL TIMES! While a character may be a complete creep to you while you are role playing, that doesn't mean that the player is. That is just their character's personality. If you aren't sure whether the player is attacking you personally or not, ASK! Never assume. Just ask. If you don't want to ask them, ask an officer to help you out. That's what they are there for after all.
Remember, just because your character is madly in love with William's character, that does not mean that you and William have a relationship with all your toons or in real life.
Also, while you, the player, may know that John-character is going to try to assassinate Jill-character tonight, that doesn't mean that your character, Walter, knows it. As far as the role play is concerned, Walter is blissfully unaware that his wife, Jill, may die tonight. This is actually another form of metagaming and a big NO-NO.
3. No meta-gaming. No godding/godmoding. No auto-hitting.
This is really three rules in one, but one of great importance. It boils down to this: You are not all powerful. If you were, you would single handedly take out all the dragons, become a God, tear a hole in the fabric of time and space, and invite the Klingons to invade Norrath. Since you can't do that, guess what.
~~You are not all powerful. You are not a god.~~
Some things should be understood, but we'll say them anyway. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES can you EVER control another player's character without their EXPRESS permission. A good example of don't/do's for this is:
"Joe hits Jane over the head with a club and drags her to his cave." - This is known as godmoding and auto-hitting. How it *should* be is:
"Joe attempts to hit Jane over the head with a club." - This gives Jane a chance to say if her character will take the hit over the head or not. Let's say that she does:
"Jane gets knocked unconscious by Joe nearly clubbing her to death." - Now, Joe can continue on:
"Joe looks down at Jane's body and grins widely. He bends down, picks up her arms, and begins to drag her towards his cave."
This also pertains to story-lines. If a character is growing a crystal garden, your character cannot come in and dictate when that garden will be finished or affect the garden's growth without the express permission of the player you are Role Playing with. Remember to always ask permission before your character tries to change or dictate anything.
This also pertains to telepathy, aura reading, empathic readings, etc. Unless you have the other players express permission and it has been discussed what your character can and cannot know, it's usually (not always, but usually) better off to just leave this alone. There is so much information you can portray about your character and gather about another character with simple body language.
And remember, we want to keep all of this within the realm of possibility. If you're playing a caster, most likely, your little cloth robe isn't going to do much to protect you from a dagger being thrust into your heart. (unless enchanted to do so) If you play a fighter, you may be good with daggers, but if you get hit with a fireball, you will burn. Your skin isn't made out of flame retardant materials you know. (unless warded for such a thing) Another thing to keep in mind with this, is just like in real life, your character's actions will have consequences -in character-. (Please see the below post for more on IC Consequences)
Also, if you're role playing a duel or a fight, don't dodge everything. You may be great at rolling around or jumping out of the way, but you aren't Chuck Norris. And honestly, even he took a punch now and then.
4. Using NPC's.
Using NPC's is fine for your character development and personal storyline. Just don't go crazy with it. For instance, talking to the bartender and ordering a drink is perfectly fine. However, going up to Queen Bayle and role playing that she is your best friend and she's giving you hugs before kissing your feet, or that the Overlord hates you because he's jealous of your hair and sends armies after you is not. While some stories may need to involve this or that faction, we do wish to keep that faction's involvement to a minimum when possible. If you have a question about this or using a NPC, just ask us. We'll be more than happy to help you out. In some cases, we may even help create an NPC for you!
5. The "LOOK AT ME" disease.
This is a dreadful disease that afflicts many. It's a sad but very real fact in any role playing community and just as many don't even realize that they're afflicted with it.
We all love to get our little guys/gals attention as well as get them into the spotlight even if they fight us tooth and nail. One thing we must keep in mind is that there are many, many others out there who wish the same thing. So, look around your fellow guildmates and use something called common sense. If you see a character getting a lot of attention because they've suddenly gone insane, don't jump in and say that you are insane as well. If you planned on your character going completely wacko, but someone else is currently getting helped, wait a bit, bring it out only in degrees at first and when the other character is out of trouble, then let your own character go as batty as you want.
We want all our players to get the spotlight, just remember to wait your turn. If you feel like someone in particular is getting the light shined on them more than anyone else, then please, bring that to the attention of an officer and we will take care of it.
6. Have fun with it!
Seriously, don't stress about things in the game. It's a GAME. If it's not fun, then what's the point? So go out and have a blast!
