Roleplaying Preferences
Jan. 31st, 2013 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
surprising_teagueTo make this easier to read, I will present it in an FAQ format.
How would you briefly describe your roleplaying style?
I use a variety of different techniques to create emphasis and highlight certain details, but I am very detail-oriented and typically most included details are important to some degree.
What are some of the different techiques that you use?
Among the most common is self-depreciation. I also tend to use the occassional bit of situational humor, being selective of what details I present (or don't) and how I present them, and rarely plan things out far out in advance.
Why is self-depreciation one of your most common techniques?
Part of it stems from knowing that there's always a higher standard. For some reason, no matter what I am doing at the time, I end up aiming for professional-quality performance even if I am not very skilled in what I am doing at that time.
Then there's the educated theory of mine that this self-depreciation allows me to see what I could do better and allows me to be a more humble person. (Maybe not completely humble, but still!) It is likely one of the reasons that I understand others can be better than I am in certain areas.
Interesting. Going back to your commonly used techniques, why would you use humor occassionally?
I'll admit that I am not the most humorous person. But I have developed a good sense of situational humor, and if the situation permits, I will make a joke about it, either in or out of character. (The latter is usually done by a mun comment.) However, I also recognize that humor can be used to convey messages that would normally not be accepted by society, and understand quite a bit more about the practicality of using humor in my writing. Humor is not always JUST about making one laugh--there can be another reason behind why humor was used, and with me there usually is.
.... Next Question: Why do you consider your use of detail to be one of your most commonly used writing techniques?
Because unlike most people, I understand that including specific details can help others understand what I am telling them, as well as giving emphasis to a specific detail or event. Along the same lines, I have many different ways I can create emphasis, from just putting it in italics to bolding it. Or by having it be a sentence fragment intentionally. All of those are examples, and I have more examples too.
It would seem you have a varied skillset as far as roleplaying goes. How do you choose which skill to use?
It depends on the situation. Really. But largely, my intuition determines which skills I will and won't use. I know I can trust it too, as it is correct about 90% of the time. I know I'm not infalliable, but I am confident with relying on my intuition to solve problems, particularly those that I am skilled in. And my intuition is also typically correct when I end up telling myself I don't know something.
You mentioned how you rarely plan things out beforehand. Would you care to elaborate on that?
Most of the time when roleplaying, I just use my intuition to figure out what would happen. It may not be the most accurate way of doing things, but it works most of the time. However, I may also make a basic plan for a situation I am roleplaying in, which is typically minimalistic, but describes what I want to happen very well.
Then there's the occassional long-term plan I come up with. I will usually pull these off, sometimes even having them from the start (or close to it) of the character's creation! It is hard to upset these plans, as they are well defined up to the point of including unforseen events, and are defined generally enough to adapt to those events. Typically, these are either kept secret from most other roleplayers or all of them.
Keeping secrets, eh? What kind of secrets?
Secrets that aid the storytelling by being kept. I know this may be dodging the question, but I wouldn't just TELL you the secrets I have without a good reason. Because I keep the secrets I do have FOR a good reason first. And that is typically for advancing the story.
Does that mean you are deceptive?
Sometimes. Most of the time, you do not have to worry about me decieving you, as I focus on why I should use deception rather than what I should use it for. This means that I have to have a reason that outweighs the potential loss of trust to do such a thing. In most cases here, it's for the sake of the story (and can be logically argued that they are.)
Even when I am being deceptive, usually it's either small bits of deception to steer you away from finding out a secret, or it's in-character deception through a character more inclined to try these things. Only rarely, with prior planning and hint-dropping involved, will I ever try to pull off an impressive deceptive trick. I'm not going to define that as I do not want you knowing what I may try to pull off.
You mentioned hint-dropping in that answer. If you intend to keep your secrets secret, why would you drop hints?
I am actually both a competitive and helpful roleplayer. Competitive in-character, while helpful regarding the plot. I've learned the hard way that fighting in-character requires creative use of what tools a character does have, rather than trying to get more tools for that character. (Well, most of the time.) That being said, if I feel I am derailing a plot or something, I will usually inform the other person via a mun comment of what may happen, and may even end up asking via PM how the other person intends for this fight to turn out, and whether it's okay to do it my way.
I am also perfectly fine with helping you out before or after a confrontation in-character, but don't expect me to be offering advice for your character DURING a confrontation. This includes when I try to pull off large deceptive tricks, as I will usually PM you beforehand and ask if it's okay to try and pull said trick off, with me giving you the option to not be fooled. Don't expect me to remind you that you have that option while I'm doing it.
And additionally, I will usually explain what happened with whatever deceptive tricks I pulled off after the confrontation is over. With the largest ones, I may explain them as it is going on, after it has been revealed.
So you may use deception in-character to reach a goal?
Yes. Large, semi-pre-planned tricks will be discussed beforehand, but smaller ones (like telling a character you definitely didn't do some specific thing to make them think you did (which you never did)) will typically be done as a spur-of-the-moment thing.
As for the goal, it's almost always to tell a better story.
More questions to be added later! Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will reply!
How would you briefly describe your roleplaying style?
I use a variety of different techniques to create emphasis and highlight certain details, but I am very detail-oriented and typically most included details are important to some degree.
What are some of the different techiques that you use?
Among the most common is self-depreciation. I also tend to use the occassional bit of situational humor, being selective of what details I present (or don't) and how I present them, and rarely plan things out far out in advance.
Why is self-depreciation one of your most common techniques?
Part of it stems from knowing that there's always a higher standard. For some reason, no matter what I am doing at the time, I end up aiming for professional-quality performance even if I am not very skilled in what I am doing at that time.
Then there's the educated theory of mine that this self-depreciation allows me to see what I could do better and allows me to be a more humble person. (Maybe not completely humble, but still!) It is likely one of the reasons that I understand others can be better than I am in certain areas.
Interesting. Going back to your commonly used techniques, why would you use humor occassionally?
I'll admit that I am not the most humorous person. But I have developed a good sense of situational humor, and if the situation permits, I will make a joke about it, either in or out of character. (The latter is usually done by a mun comment.) However, I also recognize that humor can be used to convey messages that would normally not be accepted by society, and understand quite a bit more about the practicality of using humor in my writing. Humor is not always JUST about making one laugh--there can be another reason behind why humor was used, and with me there usually is.
.... Next Question: Why do you consider your use of detail to be one of your most commonly used writing techniques?
Because unlike most people, I understand that including specific details can help others understand what I am telling them, as well as giving emphasis to a specific detail or event. Along the same lines, I have many different ways I can create emphasis, from just putting it in italics to bolding it. Or by having it be a sentence fragment intentionally. All of those are examples, and I have more examples too.
It would seem you have a varied skillset as far as roleplaying goes. How do you choose which skill to use?
It depends on the situation. Really. But largely, my intuition determines which skills I will and won't use. I know I can trust it too, as it is correct about 90% of the time. I know I'm not infalliable, but I am confident with relying on my intuition to solve problems, particularly those that I am skilled in. And my intuition is also typically correct when I end up telling myself I don't know something.
You mentioned how you rarely plan things out beforehand. Would you care to elaborate on that?
Most of the time when roleplaying, I just use my intuition to figure out what would happen. It may not be the most accurate way of doing things, but it works most of the time. However, I may also make a basic plan for a situation I am roleplaying in, which is typically minimalistic, but describes what I want to happen very well.
Then there's the occassional long-term plan I come up with. I will usually pull these off, sometimes even having them from the start (or close to it) of the character's creation! It is hard to upset these plans, as they are well defined up to the point of including unforseen events, and are defined generally enough to adapt to those events. Typically, these are either kept secret from most other roleplayers or all of them.
Keeping secrets, eh? What kind of secrets?
Secrets that aid the storytelling by being kept. I know this may be dodging the question, but I wouldn't just TELL you the secrets I have without a good reason. Because I keep the secrets I do have FOR a good reason first. And that is typically for advancing the story.
Does that mean you are deceptive?
Sometimes. Most of the time, you do not have to worry about me decieving you, as I focus on why I should use deception rather than what I should use it for. This means that I have to have a reason that outweighs the potential loss of trust to do such a thing. In most cases here, it's for the sake of the story (and can be logically argued that they are.)
Even when I am being deceptive, usually it's either small bits of deception to steer you away from finding out a secret, or it's in-character deception through a character more inclined to try these things. Only rarely, with prior planning and hint-dropping involved, will I ever try to pull off an impressive deceptive trick. I'm not going to define that as I do not want you knowing what I may try to pull off.
You mentioned hint-dropping in that answer. If you intend to keep your secrets secret, why would you drop hints?
I am actually both a competitive and helpful roleplayer. Competitive in-character, while helpful regarding the plot. I've learned the hard way that fighting in-character requires creative use of what tools a character does have, rather than trying to get more tools for that character. (Well, most of the time.) That being said, if I feel I am derailing a plot or something, I will usually inform the other person via a mun comment of what may happen, and may even end up asking via PM how the other person intends for this fight to turn out, and whether it's okay to do it my way.
I am also perfectly fine with helping you out before or after a confrontation in-character, but don't expect me to be offering advice for your character DURING a confrontation. This includes when I try to pull off large deceptive tricks, as I will usually PM you beforehand and ask if it's okay to try and pull said trick off, with me giving you the option to not be fooled. Don't expect me to remind you that you have that option while I'm doing it.
And additionally, I will usually explain what happened with whatever deceptive tricks I pulled off after the confrontation is over. With the largest ones, I may explain them as it is going on, after it has been revealed.
So you may use deception in-character to reach a goal?
Yes. Large, semi-pre-planned tricks will be discussed beforehand, but smaller ones (like telling a character you definitely didn't do some specific thing to make them think you did (which you never did)) will typically be done as a spur-of-the-moment thing.
As for the goal, it's almost always to tell a better story.
More questions to be added later! Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will reply!
