Okay, so I’ve had a few people who’ve come up to me, both in game and on the forums asking about roleplaying.
The general consensus from them is that they want to roleplay, but find the idea of starting it a little intimidating. The purpose of this post is to give players who’re interest in roleplaying a little insight into it.
Before you start
The first, and most important thing to remember is that every player is entitled to play in his or her own way. If you want to roleplay, then that’s your right. Don’t bother listening to the L337 kiddies who want to poke fun at you for adding depth at the game, if they think roleplaying is a waste of time then that’s their loss. I’ve had particular problems with certain people who have gone out of their way to be abusive just because I’m a roleplayer – and at the end of the day, when I’ve spoken to other people about it, they’ve ALL said that those particular people are wankers.
At the same time, don’t try and force others to roleplay either. I’ve found that simply by standing in Plaza 1 and being ALICE, people join in. On the first night of bringing ALICE back, I had 10 people roleplaying with me. You might say ‘yeah, so what?’ but if you think about it, 10 people is around 10% of the entire server, and that’s a damned good number. If you look at that in perspective, if you’re in Plaza 1 during peak times, that means that by law of averages, at least one person stood around you is either a roleplayer, or is interested in joining in.
Getting started
So, to confront of common problem, how do you start to roleplay a character? Well, it’s actually quite easy. Firstly, take a look at your character and his or her class. For this example, we’ll take a male gen-tank as our case study.
It's worth noting at this point that if you want to start as a roleplayer, it's a good idea to have a decent roleplaying name. It's hard to be taken seriously as a roleplayer if your name is POPPASMURF or IPWNU
Personality
According to Neocron, the gen-tanks are a group of biologically engineered warriors, built for the Ceres war. It states that gen-tanks “were left to themselves for ‘humanitarian reasons’ rather than being destroyed” which could hint at the gen-tanks being bitter for being considered hardware that can just be destroyed. It also states “the original genetic blueprint did not call for any particular emotional or intellectual prowess” which basically means that the tank isn’t very bright, nor is it capable of complicated emotions.
Now, this can be interpreted in different ways. I have a gen-tank named J.D. Gheist, who is a jaded old soldier, now earning a living as a free-lancer, sweeping the under-city of mutants to pay the bills. He’s something of a loner after his clutch (the batch of soldiers created at the same time as Gheist) was destroyed, and he’s used to being treated as a meat shield. He has quite a long fuse for a tank since he’s learnt to keep his head down instead of causing trouble – after all, all he wants is to live his life.
Now, another interpretation is that J.D. Gheist could have been a violent outcast. Embittered by his treatment after the war, being cast aside to become another nobody, he has decided that he will do what he can to gain recognition, legal or not. This type of tank would be suited for a DoY character, especially such as Twilight Guardian or Black Dragons - where a violent outcast would be useful; City Admin would be unlikely to promote a violent criminal walking the streets after-all.
Back-story and personality
Think up a story for your character. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Above, I’ve already hinted at two different stories for characters. Gheist could be an ex-soldier eking a living, or he could be a violent member of the Black Dragons. Those are both very simple stories, but they work very well. A good roleplayer doesn’t need a deep and elaborate storyline – a good roleplayer just needs to be able to think like their character. The purpose of the story is to help you, as a player, start connecting with the character you’re trying to play. If you think of it like acting, if you don’t understand a characters motives or background, how can you act that role convincingly?
From this story, you can start to look at your character with a little more depth. How does he feel about the city he lives in? What is his relationship with the Corporation he’s apart of? How does he treat other people when they’re being nice to him, or when they’re being wankers? Just give a little thought to his general attitude.
Extended personalities
If you want to take things a little further, you could also add quirks to his personality. Perhaps he’s scared of spiders? Perhaps if he’s a tank ‘ee talks like ‘ee’s a bit dumb or even a research scientist with a n-n-nervous s-s-stutter. Adding a quirk or two to a character can make them much more interesting to play. Currently ALICE is a cyborg who was created by Phoenix enterprises, but never completed. Due to this, and being left on the scrap heap for a while, her systems don’t work properly. She walks only in straight lines, and stops when she needs to turn. Sometimes her speech is garbled and sometimes she crashes out completely and needs to reset. It’s little quirks like this that let other people know that there’s something wrong with her, and means I don’t have to explain myself all the time.
Further notes
Remember, a good roleplayer doesn’t need to have the most intricate or lifelike story line or character. They just need to have a character they can play as. As I said earlier, there’s no point in being an actor if you play roles you can’t do. If you’re nervous, keep it simple to start off with, and as you get more experienced, then add more scope to your character. Very often, as you roleplay with others, you open up new aspects of your character. For example, if you get involved in a storyline to kidnap an executive of a rival corporation, then perhaps your character becomes a little nervous, in fear of a reprisal.
Recap
Write a story for your character, make it as simple or complex as you want it
Use that story to determine your character’s personality
Add a couple of quirks to your character to make him fun to play
Ignore people who want to stop you from roleplaying
And most importantly: HAVE FUN!
Anyway, that’s enough to get you started! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reply, or send me a PM.
