"How to Cook a Burkito" or Tad's Roleplay Discussion

This lecture took place on September 3rd, 1996.

The LegendMUD Lecture Series is about to begin! Join us tonight with Tad in the Auditorium in the OOC.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Sabella clears her throat!

'We're ready to start,' Sabella says.

'First of all, we'd like to ask for quiet during the questions and answers,' Sabella says.

Sabella says, 'Tonight's Lecture is 'How to Cook a Burkito: A Discussion of Roleplaying" will be given by Tad's player Rick.'

Sabella says, 'The lecture is in 3 parts, and Rick will take 3 or 4 audience questions, on-topic in between each one.'

'And more at the end, so hold your questions, comments, socials etc, til then, please :),' Sabella says.

Tad stands up.

Tad peers around, and finds a zipper under his chin

Tad zips it down his chest, and steps out of his Tad suit.

Tad picks up a Tad suit and shakes it vigorously.

Tad folds it neatly, and sets it on the desk

Tad drops a Tad suit.

Tad says, 'Hi everyone.'

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad says, 'Most of you don't know me... but my name's Rick :).'

Tad says, 'Some how 'Bella here convinced me into doing this lecture.'

Tad bonks Sabella on the head!

Sabella giggles.

'But I conscripted her help... Since I don't know where most people have problems... she's gonna be asking me questions, and I'll try to answer them as best i can,' Tad says.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad sits down behind a desk.

Tad looks around for a mic, and decides he'll just have to talk loud instead

Sabella says, 'The questions are pre-made, but the answers naturally aren't, so a little patience for typing speed may be needed.'

Sabella says to Tad, 'Ready?'

Tad nods his agreement with Sabella.

'The first section is RP basics and character creation,' Sabella says.

'What is role-play and why do you do it?' Sabella says.

Ptah thinks, 'sure, lob an easy one at him first :)'

Sabella smiles at Tad.

'Role-Playing, obviously, is the playing of a role... Taking on the personality of someone/something you normally aren't,' Tad says.

Sabella thinks, 'giggle'

'I like to think of it as "impromptu acting"... at least thats what I tell everyone who has no clue what role-playing is,' Tad says.

'Why do i do it?' Tad says. ''cuz its fun, of course!'

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad says, 'There'd be no point to it if it weren't fun.'

'Is there a difference between role-playing and playing a role-playing game?' Sabella says.

Tad nods his agreement with Sabella.

Tad says, 'One would hope, that playing a role-playing game would require role-playing.'

'Thats not always the case, though,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Alot of people play "role-playing games" without really role-playing...'

'Its fairly easy to roll-play instead or role-play,' Tad says.

'Even I fall into that trap sometimes...' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Their names should be self-explanatory, but...'

Sabella says, 'Could you explain the difference?'

Tad says, 'Role-playing is the playing of a character, dtermining his actions, reactions, emotions... etc.'

Sabella was wanted to make sure everyone understood "roll-play"

'Roll-playing is the playing of a game,' Tad says. 'Dealing with numbers, dice... I guess you could call it "hack-n-slash" if you wanted to.'

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

'Like a fighter that makes a point of eating icecream and drinking beer at the same time,' Dominic says to Tad.

Tad says, 'Where the numbers, stats, and rolls are more important than the character.'

Sabella nods solemnly.

'Thats where the difference is,' Tad says.

Sabella says, 'So the first thing is to make a character...'

Sabella says, 'Where do you get your character ideas?'

'When the character becomes more important than the stats, you're role-playing,' Tad says.

'Character ideas?' Tad says. 'I get them from all over the place.'

Tad says, 'Sometimes just from my head.'

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad says, 'Sometimes I pattern them closely after a charcter in a book, tvshow, or movie.'

'Can you give us an example?' Sabella says. 'How did you think of Tad?'

'Other times, like Tad, I get the spark from something (usually a book) and modify it, and the character grows,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Have any of you read a book titled "Jackaroo" (feel free to raise your hands).'

'Heh... guess not,' Tad says.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

'In any case... it was about a young girl's adventures... she had a little brother though,' Tad says.

'He was about 8, and his name was Tad,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Thats where this char got started.'

'How detailed do you try to make the background/ideas?' Sabella says.

Tad says, 'He was an annoying little brat... I tried to tone that down a bit though :P.'

'From there I embelished him... threw out the sister, of course... ,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'And tried to make him fit into the world of LegendMud.'

Tad says, 'A lot of what tad became wasn't planned from the start.'

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

Tad says, 'I think his father being Sidhe came rather early, but I'm not sure I even knew that when i started tad.'

Sabella says, 'How does making a character for Legend compare with making a character for a table-top or live-action game?'

Tad pouts at Sabella.

Tad wasn't done yet

Sabella says, 'Sorry, ignore it, and i'll ask it in a minute.'

Tad will cut it short... he tends to ramble

Sabella giggles.

'Its fairly important to develop your history fairly quickly, though,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Your history will determine almost as much of what you do and say as your personality.'

Tad forgot what the question was... he started rambling

Tad scuffles his feet around in the dirt.

Sabella hugs Tad.

'Let's go on and get into that one in a little more detail in a minute,' Sabella says.

'I guess you can ask the next one then,' Tad says.

Tad giggles.

'How does making a character for Legend compare with making a character for a table-top or live-action game?' Sabella says.

'It doesn't differ much,' Tad says.

'Except you've got more time to develop your character on legendmud,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'In tabletop, I need to know more about a character when he starts than I do a character on legendmud, because advancement happens much quicker, and character interaction starts from the moment you start playing.'

Tad says, 'Whereas on legendmud, it takes a while to make friends.'

'Other than that, though, theres little difference,' Tad says.

'The system doesn't really matter as much as the character does,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Its fairly important to make sure your character fits the world you'll be playing in, though...'

Tad says, 'Tad as a half-sidhe wouldn't work in any other system.'

Tad says, 'Similarly, tad as a hobbit, or drow elf would not work well in Legendmud.'

Sabella says, 'What do you look for in someone/something to play off of?'

Tad giggles.

'Most anything works,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'What exactly are you talking about by "play off of"'

'We'll take a few questions now,' Sabella says.

Karyn raises her hand.

Sabella nods her agreement with Karyn.

Karyn clears her thoroat.

Tad ducks and hides behind the desk.

'I have never done anything like playing games like this, neither table nor data..' Karyn says.

Tad comforts Karyn.

Karyn says, 'So when I started this char...( my one and only one) I started out being me...'

'But it seems people think I am RP'ing, why do you think?' Karyn says.

'Because they don't know who you are?' Tad says.

Karyn looks up into the sky and ponders.

'And possibly because you've chosen an unusual "profession"' Tad says.

'Well, nothing that I "chose" really, just is that way..' Karyn says.

Sabella says, 'Other questions on creating characters, ideas for rp?'

Karyn has one more question

Dominic quietly raises his hand.

'Karyn first, then dom,' Sabella says.

Sabella smiles happily.

Karyn says to Tad, 'How can I get people to "know "Who I am?'

'How "you" being Karyn's player are?' Tad says to Karyn.

Karyn nods her agreement with Tad.

Ptah says to Karyn, 'Come OOC and talk to people there :).'

Tad giggles at Ptah.

Karyn smiles at Ptah.

Karyn thanks Tad heartily.

Sabella says, 'Dom :).'

'I believe Ptah answered it nicely,' Tad says to Karyn.

Tad is usually working in the opposite direction

Dominic says to Tad, 'I'm sure everyone is dying to know, so...'

Tad ducks to the ground.

Dominic says to Tad, 'Do you speak/type that way, or just run it thru a filter?'

Dominic chuckles politely.

'Heh... I speak/type that way,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Thered be no point in using a filter.'

Dominic nods solemnly.

Dominic smiles happily.

'I couldn't get into the character... I_ wouldn't be roleplaying, my filter would,' Tad says.

'And personally, i really don't care if my filter has fun,' Tad says.

'Ok..you must have split personalities..typing like that would drive me crazy,' Dominic says to Tad.

' _I_ want to be having fun,' Tad says.

Sabella giggles at Tad.

Tad grins evilly at Dominic.. wonder what he's thinking...

'It's not that hard to get into,' Ptah says to Dominic.

'At first it took effort,' Tad says.

Dominic says to Ptah, 'For YOU, maybe.'

Tad says, 'But once I became accustomed to it...'

'It really helps me slip into character...' Tad says.

McDougan says, 'The hard part is getting OUT of things like that =).'

Tad says, 'If I "talk" (i.e type) like tad, I think like Tad0.'

Dominic thanks Tad heartily.

Tad nods his agreement with McDougan.

'Next question,' Dominic says.

Sabella says, 'Let's move on to the next section.. these are more Legend-specific.'

Sabella says, 'What are the biggest disadvantages and advantages to creating an RP character with the Legend character creation system?'

Sabella says, 'To you, of course.'

'Well... the advantage is that you have loads more fun,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'If you make a RP character.'

Tad says, 'When I started mudding alot, it was mostly a search for a new RP environment.'

'My RP group from highschool had broken up when we all went off in different directions... some to Athens (Georgia) some to New York, and myself to downtown atlanta,' Tad says.

'Personally i would be very bored with LegendMud now if it weren't for the RP,' Tad says.

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

'I've been playing for over a year now, probably two... and I know the system for the most part inside out,' Tad says.

'Not like alot of people, i'm sure, but enough to make the "game" not so much of a challenge any more,' Tad says.

'The disadvantage of playing a RP character is that suddenly the game can become MUCH more challenging, almost overwhelmingly so,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'If there are certain things you won't do... certain things you always do... equipment you won't wear, etc., they can get in the way of the "ideal" way to handle things.'

'Like if you decide your character can't abide magic and won't have anything to do with it...' you say.

Tad says, 'But thats part of the fun.'

Ptah says, 'Certain ways you always die...'

Tad nods solemnly.

'Or won't kill animals... or won't kill people...' Tad says.

'Or won't wear a black silk robe because I'm a little kid and it would look stupid *halo*,' Tad says.

'Really, there are no disadvantages outside of self-imposed ones,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'But self-imposed disadvantages can be lotsa fun...'

Tad has had a greate deal of fun trying to avoid surgery... even (or is that especially?) during Pkill.

'You'll probably die more if you're trying to RP,' Tad says.

'That might be a disadvantage,' Tad says.

McDougan says, 'Would it be interesting, do you think, to have a character so egotistic that he will attack anything, certain he can beat it?'

'Personally I think deaths because of RP reasons can be great fun,' Tad says.

Somar pokes a tendril.

Karyn raises her hand.

Ptah asks that questions be saved until the q&a period at the end of the section

Sabella says, 'Hold the questions til the end of the section, please :).'

Sabella smiles at Ptah.

Tad grins evilly at Somar.. wonder what he's thinking...

Karyn blushes as she sees Ptah here.

Tad says, 'A few of you probably know that I've died a great many times on "purpose" out of character... if you can get over the fear of death, the game becomes much more fun.'

'How do you reconcile your rp characters with the Legend universe?' Sabella says.

Tad says, 'Mostly I design them to fit.'

'How do you do that?' Sabella says. 'What do you take into account?'

Tad says, 'Well... obviously, your character comes from a given home-town.'

Sabella nods solemnly.

'Thats not quite as restricting as it may seem, though... your character can be "from" anywhere you want him... it helps if that somewhere exists in this world though,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Its not impossible to play a character who isn't "from" somewhere in legendmud, but it becomes more difficult.'

Tad says, 'With Tad, it was easy... a small village northeast of the moors, a day and a half's walk from tara.'

Tad says, '(un?)fortunately, Legendmud's world restricts you for the most part to human characters...'

Tad says, 'Or at least human-appearing.'

Tad says, 'I, obviously, found a way around that, being half-sidhe.'

'I've had a few characters that just didn't work, though, because they didn't fit within the world of legendmud,' Tad says.

'Or within the rules given by the imm's,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'I made Loupe with the hope that he could be a "wolf"... get a nifty desc of a feral grey wolf... turn it on at night, off during the day... he didn't work out, though, because he didn't fit within the framework of legendmud.'

Kaige says to Tad, 'Only for description, it sure didnt' stop Warrl, he had a full set of gear strung into fur and such.'

Tad says to Kaige, '*nod* he was cool... i didn't have time and/or inclination to collect the strings tho :/'

Kaige says to Tad, 'So non-human chars can be done we have people who play cats... it's just for descriptions we don't allow non-human ones.'

Tad says, 'In any case... where was I?'

'What do you consider the important things in character differentiation?' Sabella says. 'How do you make each character unique?'

Tad says, 'Well, generally I try to keep my characters within a given system as different as possible.'

'The two characters that I play at the moment have _completely_ different personalities,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'It helps me from slipping from one to the other.'

'How to you make them unique?' Sabella says.

'When i play a character that doesn't have an "established" personality, i find myself slipping into one of my others,' Tad says.

Tad always has to stifle his "tadspeak" when he's playing a blah character with no personality.

'Well, little quirks help alot in making a character unique,' Tad says.

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

'What makes Tad different from all the other children on the mud?' Tad says.

Tad is looking for answers from the audience here... he'd like to know.

'_am_ I any different?' Tad says.

Kelvin says, 'Tad doesn't like pants.'

Tad grins evilly at Kelvin.. wonder what he's thinking...

Tad hugs a forest green kilt.

Diamanda says, 'He was one of the first...and still manage to do it better than any others.'

McDougan says, 'His way of talking, his... provincialness???'

Diamanda nods her agreement with McDougan.

'You are dirty... at least behind your ears:9,' Karyn says to Tad.

Tad cackles gleefully at Karyn - whatever he's going to do to her, glad it's not you!

Ptah says, 'Actually, he was far from one of the first.'

Tad nods his agreement with Ptah.

Tad says, 'I must give MUCH credit to Alex.'

Diamanda says, 'Well, one of the first i remember...'

'He was one of the more convincing; the accent was much better done overall; and he stuck with it longer,' Ptah says.

Tad says, 'She was a hoot.'

Bead nods her agreement with Ptah.

Sabella nods solemnly.

Ptah says, 'Alex did a great job :).'

Diamanda says, 'I think the best thing is that this is the FIRST time i've seen him step out of character.'

Diamanda nods her agreement with Ptah.

'Alex was fun,' Sabella says.

Karyn says, 'Alex, being Alexandra?'

'Its little things like that,' Tad says.

Diamanda nods her agreement with Karyn.

Somar likes to watch Tad run from scalpels.

'Alot of them were just spur-of-the-moment,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'I was sitting there, with a buncha fish one day, and thought...'

Tad thinks .oO(little kids have picky tastes.... fish smell kinda funny... I be they're OOKY!)

Tad says, 'And thus the hatred of "Ooky fishies" was born.'

'Similarly with scalpels,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'I was looking at the message.'

Tad says, 'And said ugh, that looks like it hurts.'

Tad says, 'And threw it in as another quirk of Tad's.'

'Which leads to the next question...' Sabella says.

'Little things like that add alot to a character, and they can be developed as you go along,' Tad says.

'How much do you try to keep your Legend characters' actions within character?' Sabella says. 'How do you deal with automatic system messages that are out-of-character or seem anachronistic?'

Tad says, 'Well... I guess the obvious answer is that I don't do things that the character would do...'

Tad says, 'Wouldn't do, rather.'

Tad says, 'Its hard sometimes though.'

'Alot of times I have to let myself be "convinced" to do things that I would never do were this a table-top game,' Tad says.

McDougan says, 'Example?'

Sabella is thinking specifically of fighting msgs, or fighting mobs, how to make the "game" aspects in character, if that helps explain the question

Tad says, 'You have to use the world thats there... Ideally, Tad would never go through any of the time trans except maybe nazca to south seas, and sherwood to britain.'

Tad says, 'Because they all get you killed... or hurt... like scalpels.'

Tad says, 'But I do them anyhow, because its necesary.'

'Its not all that hard to get around the killing of mobs, though... there are usually alot to choose from, you don't _have_ to kill little kids in Eire,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'One of my first characters, Markus, refused to kill people.'

Tad says, 'Eventually he ended up killing the children in Tara, but only after getting a reasonable reason to do so...'

'Someone convinced him that they were "changelings"... and they do judge as evil, after all,' Tad says.

'I started off alot more zealous about little things like that than I am now, though,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Back when i didn't have friends to role-play with, i had to use the environ as much as possible to display my characters personality.'

'On muds with unlimited pkill, this can get real interesting... it did on ArcticMud (the first one I found that I liked) when Markus (I played him there too) started rescuing the townsfolks of his "hometown" from the other players,' Tad says.

Tad has rambled on and forgotten the question again

Tad bonks himself on the head and looks sheepish.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

'That was the last question in that section.. wanna take a few from the audience now?' Sabella says.

Ptah raises his hand.

Sabella nods her agreement with Ptah.

'How do you feel about the use of roleplaying on chat, or chat as a venue for playing off of things not right by you?' Ptah says quizzically to Tad.

'At first I thought chat was a silly concept,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'I used to run around with it off.'

Tad says, 'Eventually i succumbed, though.'

Ptah chuckles politely.

Tad says, 'Its not very "realistic", but its alot of fun to use chat in role-play.'

'And its the only way to draw people in... role-play isn't very fun without an "audience", whether that be the people in your group, the room, or the whole mud if you're using chat,' Tad says.

Sabella says, 'Other questions?'

Tad says to Ptah, 'Its kinda like resurections.'

Karyn raises her hand.

'Chat is part of the game... you modify you fit it,' Tad says.

Sabella nods her agreement with Karyn. Tad nods his agreement with Karyn.

'Who else know about all your backgroud info on Tad?' Karyn says to Tad. 'I mean where he's from, his family and so on?'

'Lets see,' Tad says.

'Most of Tad's friends are dead now,' Tad says.

'Or immorts,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'So most of the people that "know the whole story" are no longer playing the same character.'

'I took a long time in bringing his whole history out,' Tad says.

'Because even Tad didn't know it all at first,' Tad says.

'I tried real hard to get people to ask about it,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Dropping hints here and there.'

'But the rl people are still here?' Karyn says to Tad.

Tad nods his agreement with Karyn.

'But I don't know what chars they play,' Tad says.

'And e'en the ones I do, they don't hang out with Tad,' Tad says.

'So the characters don't know,' Tad says.

'Anyone who has read back issues of the LT would know his history, though,' Tad says.

Karyn raises her hand

Sabella nods her agreement with Karyn.

'Rus transcribed it for him and published it,' Tad says.

'Is it common to keep secret eachother chars?' Karyn says. 'I mean what other chars you have?'

Tad grins evilly at Karyn.. wonder what he's thinking...

'The lt said not to tell,' McDougan says.

Karyn looks up into the sky and ponders.

McDougan just wants to remind y'all

'Well, to me it's not a problem since I only have one:),' Karyn says.

'Yes,' Tad says to Karyn. 'I've played Markus Bobbin Wesley Frederic Loupe Tad, and another whom I won't tell, because I play him currently.'

Ptah says, 'It is generally common because it avoids crossplay; we discourage revealing your other characters for several reasons; but it is not illegal.'

Ptah says, 'It *IS* very very bad to give away other people's identities--they may not wish them known.'

Karyn asks Ptah 'Crossplay?'

Ptah says, 'Crossplay=playing multiple characters as if they were the same person--settling arguments or grudges with a different character from the one involved, for example.'

'As a general rule, i try to keep my "identity" unknown of a character I plan to play alot,' Tad says.

'Oh, and much,' Tad says.

Somar has seen a LOT of revealing of own identity.

Tad says, 'Sometimes the people i end up hanging out with as a different character guess... because its hard to stifle certain tendancies.'

'Ok, let's move on to the last section which deals more with further character development,' Sabella says.

'Now that you've played Tad a long time, has it changed your ideas on how to RP on Legend?' Sabella says. 'What would you do differently?'

'Well... I wouldn't run around with chat off like I did at first,' Tad says.

'Not really, though,' Tad says.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

'I almost wish I didn't know as much about the system as I do now,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'It becomes more and more tempting to roll-play.'

Diamanda nods her agreement with Tad.

Tad says, 'Its possible to combine both game mechanics and role-playing, but role-playing is lots easier when you don't know alot about the mechanics.'

Sabella nods solemnly.

Tad says, 'When i created tad, his stats were very un-ideal for pkill, or even mob killing.'

'But I had alot of fun, because I was _different_,' Tad says.

Somar felt the same way as the old somar

Tad says, 'When I recreated tad, I used the same "stupid" stat orders.'

Tad says, 'Because Tad is Tad... he's a little kid thats real strong, pretty tough, with not-bad dexterity, and a mind like a rock.'

'The _character_ is more important than the stats, though,' Tad says.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad says, 'It just helped me not to change him at all.'

'But it's hard to resist that temptation when making new characters?' Sabella says.

Tad nods his agreement with Sabella.

Tad points to the character he was planning on making his "new clanned character"

Tad says, 'He should turn out to be a fairly powerful pkiller.'

'Certainly alot better than Tad ever was,' Tad says.

'But he's got no personality,' Tad says.

'He's got no history,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'All he's got is a class.'

Tad says, 'It finally hit me that there was no point in playing him... because there was nothing to play except numbers.'

Tad says, 'I still play him on occasion, when i don't feel like role-playing, and just want to bash some stuff.' Kaige has a question when you get to a stopping point.

Sabella nods her agreement with you.

Tad says, 'But I've since decided that theres no point in pursuing him as a character, because he won't be near as much fun to play as either of my other 2 characters.'

'Do you play multiple characters at the same time?' Sabella says. 'What are the advantages, disads, and difficulties in doing this? Does one character tend to become primary?'

'Uhm...' Tad says. 'No. Really! I don't!'

Tad says, 'Even if i did, you can't prove it!'

Sabella giggles at Tad.

McDougan chortles with amusement.

Tad says, 'Oh... you mean do I have more than one character that I play on a regular basis?'

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

Tad says, 'Yes.'

Tad has always had characters besides tad that he played when he wasn't in the mood for tad

'Does that keep Tad fresh for you?' Sabella says to Tad.

Tad says, 'I tend to get real discouraged when I'm trying to level (yes, even I try to level every now and then) and die repeatedly...'

Tad says, 'So I go play a different character for a while.'

Sabella nods solemnly.

'Other times I'm just not in a happy-bouncy mood and can't bring myself to play one,' Tad says.

Tad nods his agreement with Sabella.

Tad says, 'I think so.'

Tad says, 'I can't really say though, because I've always had other chars floating around.'

'How do you deal with non-role-players?' Sabella says. 'In chat, in tells, in talk? Newbies and others? Game-mechanics questions?'

Tad will finish the first question first

Tad sticks his tongue out at Sabella. =P

Sabella blushes bright red. Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

'I usually keep two characters, Tad(the happy bouncy good-guy) and a darker, notsonice, perhaps even rude *halo* character,' Tad says.think *gro    

'The second has varied, since I haven't found a good character that I like enough to keep laying yet,' Tad says.

'Loupe was one attempt,' Tad says.

'Wesley was, at first, but he was too nice,' Tad says.

'Ask the other again?' Sabella says.

Tad nods his agreement with Sabella.

'How do you deal with non-role-players?' Sabella says. 'In chat, in tells, in talk? Newbies and others? Game-mechanics questions?'

'Well, newbies I usually just answer their questions in tad-speak,' Tad says.

Gho says, 'When i saw Tad's RL piccy i thought i'd never be able to picture him how i originally did but he just RP's too good.'

Somar remembers hearing about sinking in the well of moonlight with meteorites.

Tad says, 'It keeps up the illusion, helps me stay in character, and still gets their questions answered.'

Somar pokes Tad in the ribs.

Tad smiles at Gho.

Tad thanks Gho heartily.

Kaige says to Tad, 'What about when they ask you were you're from and stuff like that?'

Tad says, 'Well... lets see.'

Tad says, 'Mostly I just answer them in character.'

Kaige nods solemnly.

You say, 'What if they force the issue of RL?'

Tad says, 'I was out with a newbie the other day.'

'He asked me where I was from,' Tad says.

'So, of course, I said "Eire"' Tad says.

'And acted confused when he mentioned america, and the USa,' Tad says.

'Said that I liked can'da, that the injuns were fun to play wif,' Tad says.

Luminus chuckles politely.

McDougan chortles with amusement.

Sabella giggles.

Tad says, 'He finally said " OH, you mean in the game! I meant in RL"'

Luminus raises his hand.

Tad says, 'So I answered, "Atlanta"'

'Then he asked me another out of game question... and I anwered in character,' Tad says.

'And we went through the whole thing again, until he specifically said "In Real life, "' Tad says.

Tad says, 'I think he eventually got the picture.'

Luminus chuckles politely.

Luminus waves his hand vigorously.

Tad tends to be a little hard on newbies sometimes. Tad scuffles his feet around in the dirt.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad says, 'Every now and then, though.'

Sabella says, 'Two more questions, and then we'll have open session.'

Tad says, 'It pays off.'

'Do you find it difficult to separate real-life from characterization?' Sabella says. 'The person from the character, real-life emotion from RP emotion and how do you deal with this?'

Tad cringes away from Sabella in mortal terror.

Tad says, 'Only once.'

Sabella smiles at Tad.

'Maybe twice,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'It helps that my two characters will generally have completely different views of a given person.'

Tad says, 'I try to keep the character separate from the player, but sometimes its hard.'

Tad coughsAgyarcough

Tad coughsKretchcough

Somar coughs loudly.

'But other than isolated instances, i've managed it for the most part,' Tad says.

An aura of heavenly light appears above Tad's head.

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

Tad says, 'And the few that I haven't, I'm sure is my loss and not theirs.'

Diamanda rolls around on the ground with laughter.

Sabella giggles at Tad.

Tad says, 'Well, I'm not sure.'

'I'm pretty certain its not my loss, but I'm biased,' Tad says.

Sabella says, 'Ok, last question and i cringe myself over asking it, so be nice.'

'What can be done by players, by the PR Dept, and by Coders to improve role-play on Legend?' Sabella says.

Tad throws his head back and cackles with insane glee!

'Well, lets do it bit by bit,' Tad says.

'Players,' Tad says.

'Force everyone to rp =),' Luminus says.

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

Tad says, 'The obvious answer there, is ROLE PLAY!!!'

'Yeah!!!' McDougan says.

'I doubt it'll happen, but if all the players want to role play, its gonna happen,' Tad says.

'In SPITE of what PR and coders do, not because of it,' Tad says.

Tad grins evilly.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

'Perhaps rp'rs only clans?' McDougan says.

Tad says, 'Thats the hardest part.'

'Thats why I spent a year mud-hopping,' Tad says.

'I rejoiced when I found ArcticMud,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'Took me a while after it went down before I found Legendmud.'

Tad says, 'Unfortunately, if the players don't want to roleplay, theres little the PR admins and coders can do.'

Somar points Tad to Genocide and watches him writhe in agony.

Tad shudders.

Tad bonks Somar on the head!

'Don't make me hit you with my head,' Tad says to Somar.

Tad brandishes the devil's trident menacingly.

Somar cringes away from Tad in mortal terror.

'Maybe u could make it a requirement for clans,' Luminus says.

'Well,' Tad says.

'Its not my mud,' Tad says.

Luminus says, 'Each clan should have n rp purpose.'

Tad grins evilly.

'If it were MY mud, things would be different,' Tad says.

Luminus says, '=).'

Ptah notes that it can't be forced, and it also can't easily be supervised.

McDougan grins evilly.

Tad says, 'But then again, if it were MY mud, i prolly wouldn't have any players.'

Sabella giggles at Tad.

'Well encourage each clan to have a good rp purpose?' Luminus says. 'Or stated at least.'

'Sure you would!' McDougan says. '(points self).'

Tad grins evilly at McDougan.. wonder what he's thinking...

Tad thanks McDougan heartily.

'Unfortunately, its hard to judge RP,' Tad says.

'So its hard to reward RP,' Tad says.

'And undoubtably, when you start rewarding RP, alot of peoles RP is gonna go unnoticed, and they'll get upset and whatnot,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'So its real hard for the imm's to "make" people roleplay.'

'What about extra coupons for those going into char?' McDougan says.

Bead rolls around on the ground with laughter.

Somar would rp for coupons.

'Its an idea, but its hard to judge...' Tad says to McDougan.

'You know, what you wear is...' McDougan says.

Tad says to McDougan, 'What about those who have been RPing all along, but nobody notices.'

'Well, then, perhaps more easy to get coupons?' McDougan says.

'I played a character with a very strong personality, and a history all worked out, but nobody ever noticed him,' Tad says to McDougan.

'Because he didn't talk much,' Tad says to McDougan.

'Still think once u join a clan your clan members should watch over each other-and each clan could have a stated purpose,' Luminus says.

Tad says, 'Coupons certainly help RP, but they're not required for it.' em would be more willing to give out more coupons if they got

McDougan says, 'Hmmm.... what true.... true...'

'Back when Tad was first emerging, I refused to wear things that he wouldn't wear,' Tad says.

'Still do to some extent,' Tad says.

'I wanted a black silk robe, but wouldn't wear one till i got it strung as a sash,' Tad says.

Kaige would be more willing to give out more coupons if they got used for strings more often.

McDougan says, 'I'll use em!'

Somar uses them right away all the time,.

Tad says, 'I think, unfortunately, alot of people use their coupons on silly OOc things.'

Tad wishes there were a way to give every character a string...

Somar isn't... ask parri..

'Just one makes alot of difference,' Tad says.

Tad says, 'The problem is making sure they don't give it away.'

Diamanda pokes a tiny silver harpy - It's dead, Diamanda.

Somar says, 'Make it a cursed item ;).'

Tad says to Somar, 'You can drop cursed items.'

'Its called quit y,' Tad says to Somar.

Tad says, 'Perhaps this should be put on the discussion on the web... but would it be possible to:'

Tad says, 'Give everyone a "used their string" flag, and make the item they use it on rentable ONLY by them.'

Tad says, 'It would require major recoding then.'

'What about that Idea about restringing from a strung item?' McDougan says.

Tad says, 'But in anycase, i don't want this to degenerate into a coupon discussion.'

Tad says, 'That can come after we're finished with RP questions.'

Tad apologizes for going off on a tangent.

'Ok, audience rp questions, and i'll let tad decide who's next,' Sabella says.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

McDougan raises his hand.

'Uhm, like get my attention if you've got a question,' Tad says.

'And when I poke you, ask it,' Tad says.

Bead raises her hand

Tad pokes McDougan in the ribs.

Luminus chuckles politely.

'What do you think is the best way to move from not-really-'ing to RPing?' McDougan says.

'Create a new character,' Tad says.

'That was what I said when we discussed allowing new people into clan MacLaren,' Tad says.

'Its real hard to "suddenly" start role-playing,' Tad says.

'If you've spent the last 20 or 30 or 50 hours of your characters life being "you" its real hard to change,' Tad says.

Tad appreciates the difficulty of coming up with a good new name though.

Tad spends forever trying to find names for his new characters.

McDougan says, 'I suppose you're right... Any one have a good scottish name for me?'

Tad comforts McDougan.

Tad says, 'And no offense to arcose and pheasent, but I find the "2" at the end of a name utterly apalling and have reall difficulty role-playing with them.'

Somar nods his agreement with Tad.

'Hey Ptah,' Tad says.

Ptah looks at Tad questioningly.

'Is there any way to give players priority over mobs in name selection?' Tad says to Ptah.

Ptah says, 'Everywhere?'

Tad says, 'Alot of good names are illegal, because they're the "main" name of a mob.'

Ptah says, 'Ah.'

Tad shudders at the thought of Markus18

'We could do the following: disallow tells to mobs, and permit players to make names the same as mobs,' Ptah says.

Somar chuckles politely at Tad's feeble witticism.

McDougan says, 'How's MacRoberts?'

Gho says, 'Just don't tell to their full name.'

'I might mention that we are planning to do the former under skill trees anyway,' Ptah says.

Somar never drops tells to mobs anyway

'No...' McDougan says.

Somar uses whois ;)

Tad grins evilly at Ptah.. wonder what he's thinking...

'In any case, don't tell us who he is,' Tad says to McDougan.

Tad sticks his tongue out at McDougan. =P

'I been playing another MUD lately, there's lotsa RP there cos it's class based, like the Trolls RP as dimwits etc.. makes it easier i guess,' Gho says.

Ptah says, 'Players will have to be careful clanning if they have the same name as a mob though :).'

'And your first name doesn't have to be "scottish" your last name could...' Tad says to McDougan.

McDougan says, 'Actually, bork, one of the best rp'rs I've seen on this mud, has been deleted or something since that sweedish chef!'

Kaige says, 'Actually, Players with names existing before a mob is made with the same keywords can still use that character. It's only new characters trying to create a character with the same name as a mob's keyword that are barred.'

Tad pokes Bead in the ribs.

'How would suggest starting role playing?' Bead says. 'How do you make people play with you?'

Tad says, 'Well.'

Tad says, 'Thats the hard part.'

Ptah says to Bead, 'Play in spite of them.'

Ptah grins evilly.

Tad says, 'As you can see, i went thorugh about 5 or 6 players until I found one that I kept.'

Bead grins evilly at Ptah.. wonder what she's thinking...

'AT them even,' Ptah says.

'I guess mostly thats because Tad was the first character that got past level 10,' Tad says.

'And so he got to the point at which grouping actually helps,' Tad says.

Gho says, 'I never RP yet it doesn't seem to worry Tad, he doesn't stop RP'ing cos i don't.'

Tad says, 'Its also easier to get a group of people together to start chars that know each other.'

Tad grins evilly at Gho.. wonder what he's thinking...

'Thats the case with my current "second"' Tad says.

'Its alot of fun, you bounce off of each other, and draw other people in,' Tad says.

Tad sighs... he's having difficulty talking about this without revealing his second.

Tad pouts at Sabella.

Sabella comforts Tad.

Gail says to Tad, 'Make something up.'

'Use a fake name,' Somar says.

Somar says, 'John doe, your second char ;).'

Tad says, 'Suffice it to say, though, that 2 of us playing our "RP characters" one of us first, and the other 5th, brought in about 5 or 6 other people into our RP situation... ranging from level 15 to 50.'

'Yah, but describing the situation would kinda give him away,' Tad says to Somar.

Tad sticks his tongue out at Somar. =P

Somar nods solemnly.

Somar comforts Tad.

Tad says, 'In any case, a group that wants to roleplay helps.'

'But its not required,' Tad says.

'As gho pointed out... Tad just roleplays with whomever is there,' Tad says.

Luminus raises his hand.

'Would you suggest trying to get in with a group who's already roleplaying?' Bead says.

Bead rudely talks out of turn.

'Well, it helps if your character "fits" with theirs... is the kind of person they'd hang out with,' Tad says.

'What if you are roleplaying a unique character that may not blend in with others easily?' Luminus says.

'Then you're Dusty,' Ptah says. ':P.'

Bead rolls around on the ground with laughter.

Luminus says, 'Hmm.'

Ptah says, 'Or Mercenary.'

'Or, if you have a sufficiently interesting character, you don't need to fit in,' Tad says.

'Like its a little hard to rp an archiac character vs tad's char,' Luminus says.

Tad says, 'Tad always tagged along with high level characters, not caring what they were doing.'

'Backgrounds are too diff,' Luminus says.

Tad says, 'Trying to get them into some RP.'

Luminus nods solemnly.

'Mm, Mercenary was good but then you gotta know the lingo to play that kinda character,' Gho says.

'But I had it easy, since my char is very odd, and also kinda cute (or so I think),' Tad says.

Gail nods her agreement with Tad.

Bead grins evilly.

Tad says, 'It helped that I got all the women to ooh and ahh and coo over him.'

Somar ruffles Tad's hair playfully.

Tad says, 'So they didn't mind me tagging along.'

Luminus chuckles politely.

'And thus I made friends,' Tad says.

Aermid smirks.

Sabella smiles at Tad.

Tad says, 'And drug them into my RP whether they liked it or not.'

'And xp!' Gho says.

'Sometimes,' Tad says to Gho.

Gho grins evilly.

'When you're 4th level though, you don't get much out of a group of 30 through 50ths,' Tad says to Gho.

Gho nods his agreement with Tad.

Gail says, 'Some people just got Tad killed.'

Tad remembers visiting the rhino... and the lion...

Tad grins evilly at Gail.. wonder what he's thinking...

'Over... and over...' Tad says to Gail.

Sabella snickers at Gail nastily.

'And over... and over...' Tad says to Gail.

Gho whistles innocently to himself.

'And Tad had a hand in helping others get in over there head now and than too ;),' Mirage says to Gail.

'And poisoned him...' Tad says to Gho.

Tad sticks his tongue out at Gho. =P

An aura of heavenly light appears above Tad's head.

Tad never got his newbies killed... really, he didn't!

'Hero was the master of getting people killed,' Somar says.

Tad says, 'Well, maybe a few.'

'Ohkay, maybe alot of them,' Tad says.

'But they had fun doing it!' Tad says.

'I am talking 50s too,' Mirage says to Tad.

Mirage tickles Tad.

Gho nods his agreement with Tad.

'Or maybe it was me that had fun doing it?' Tad says.

Sabella says to Tad, 'Yeah, don't attack Tad, now just don't attack.'

Tad scuffles his feet around in the dirt.

Bead rolls around on the ground with laughter.

Tad lunges at

Tad throws his head back and cackles with insane glee!

Tad says, 'It didn't help that I didn't know that being full aggro meant they turned to attack me.'

An aura of heavenly light appears above Tad's head.

Tad happens to LIKE aggro 3

Somar bonks Tad on the head!

Somar remembers helping tad level only to have him run at jim southland screaming his head off.

Somar holds his head down and mourns the dead.

Tad giggles at Somar.

Tad says to Somar, 'He shoulda died.'

Tad pouts.

Bead chuckles politely.

'He cheated,' Tad says to Somar.

'Shot at me _twice_ each round, not just once,' Tad says to Somar.

Sabella says, 'Were there other questions, btw?'

Tad sticks his tongue out at Somar. =P

Tad nods solemnly.

Somar has a comment.

Tad looks about for a hand, foot, or other appendage waved in the air

Tad pokes Somar in the ribs.

Somar says, 'I'd like to mention that as tad said, it is hard for people to start over chars with the same weenie stats when they realize it's gone.'

Somar says, 'I mean, recreating an old char.'

Somar says, 'I tried to make the new somar like the old one, but i was talked out of it (too easy to happen nowadays.)'

Somar sighs loudly.

Somar reports: 185/426 hp 318/412 mana 336/493 mv.

Somar sniffs sadly.

Luminus waves his hand.

Tad scuffles his feet around in the dirt.

Tad must admit that even he has fallen into that trap

Tad reports: 195/301 hp 202/202 mana 259/377 mv.

Bead is completely boggled.

Sabella personally suggests not remaking characters, actually...

Gail is personally of the opinion that the dead should stay that way..

Somar feels unloved.

Tad rationalized it by sayin "I'm preparin for the skill trees... cuz I prolly won get bash nor kick cuz I's from Eire, so I GOTS to be tuff so i cans learn to hit stuffs wif me head"

Tad nods his agreement with Gail.

Tad is too.

Somar chuckles politely at Tad's feeble witticism.

Tad did not, contrary to popular opinion, perma :P

Tad sticks his tongue out at everyone! =P

Somar grumbles to Tad.

Tad sticks his tongue out at Somar. =P

Tad just... unclanned... yeah, thats is...

Tad pokes Luminus in the ribs.

'Escuse me, kind sirs, but ye must help me!' McGilvervy says. 'From some odd fluke of a spell, not only hev I lost meself far from me home, in fair scotland, but I hev forgotton all me spells!'

Somar peers at McGilvervy, looking him up and down.

Aragorn grins evilly.

Sabella smiles at McGilvervy.

McGilvervy says, 'Now I am trapped in a dry land evidently named "Agrabah"...'

Somar shows McGilvervy the way back to his home.. ic

Somar ducks to the ground.

Aermid says, 'Sirs??????'

Aragorn pats Aermid on the head.

Aermid raises her eyebrow at McGilvervy.

'Btw,' Sabella says.

Sabella cheers for Tad - huzzah!

Sabella applauds Tad's quick thinking and good judgment.

Somar cheers for Tad - huzzah!

'Sorry, me fair lady,' McGilvervy says.

'Thank you,' Sabella says to Tad.

'Did you have a question?' Tad says to Luminus.

Tad smiles at Sabella.

Tad gives Sabella a huge bearhug - your ribs ache in sympathy.

Sabella gives Tad a huge bearhug - your ribs ache in sympathy.

'Well, if none of ye will help, i will hev to find me way meself!' McGilvervy says. 'I wibe off, then!'

McGilvervy returns to being In Character.

'Did anyone else have any questions?' Tad says.

'Yeah, did tadspeak get easier to understyand, or did the mud get used to it,' Gail says to Tad.

'A little of both,' Tad says to Gail.

'When I get tired, it deteriorates,' Tad says to Gail.

Bead never had a problem with it.

Tad says to Gail, 'When Tad learned to write, it improved slightly.'

Tad says to Gail, 'Mostly I think people got used to it.'

'And I stopped misspelling things that would be pronounced the same either way,' Tad says.

Gail nods her agreement with Tad.

'Its hard to type a slight mispronunciation,' Tad says.

'Aks an tink an stuffs like tha is easy,' Tad says.

'But other things are a bit more difficult,' Tad says.

Mirage nods solemnly.

Tad eeks... he's being assaulted from the IC world without his Tad suit!

Sabella giggles at Tad.

Aermid grins evilly at Tad.. wonder what she's thinking...

Tad phews as he neatly dodges the tells without the aid of his suit.

Somar comforts Tad.

Tad says, 'Any more questions?'

Tad says, 'Comments?'

'Accusations?' Tad says.

Tad grins evilly at Somar.. wonder what he's thinking...

Tad giggles.

'Oh, i do have something to suggest,' Tad says to Ptah.

Tad says to Sabella, 'I thought of an answer to your last question.'

Sabella nods her agreement with Tad.

Tad says, 'When good RP chars apply for immorthood, suggest that they imm with a different character, so that their characters don't disappear from Legend.'

Somar nods his agreement with Tad.

Somar pokes Northstar in the ribs.

Tad says, 'It seems kinda silly to me to claim to "support RP" while taking all the good RP characters out of circulation.'

Tad bonks Sabella on the head!

Tad bonks Sandra on the head!

Sabella says, 'It's a fine line, between making sure the immorts are well-known and players feel comfortable with them, and keeping good characters in the game.'

Sandra says, 'I had a hard time trying to decide which of my chars would immort actually.'

Tad plans on immorting eventually... but he'll prolly make a character called "Rick" and say hey 'Bella... hey sandra! Hey somar! Hey anybody who wants to see me Imm.... help me level "Rick" to 45th!

Sandra had 2 level 50's at the time.

Sabella nods her agreement with Sandra.

Tad suddenly found himself without friends or family... they all immorted

Somar comforts Tad.

'Or perma'd,' Tad says to Sandra.

'And Frodo permad:(,' Pyre says.

'It was a had-to-do thing,' Sandra says to Tad.

Somar yells, 'you can't prove it was me!'

Tad says, 'Who ran off with my tad suit?'

Somar says, 'Pyre.'

Sabella pokes Pyre in the ribs.

Somar whaps Pyre across the back of the head - your ears ring in sympathy.

'Give rick his tad suit back!' Somar says.

Tad nods his agreement with Somar.

Pyre drops a Tad suit.

Pyre giggles.

Tad gets a Tad suit.

Pyre bonks himself on the head and looks sheepish.

Tad hugs a Tad suit.

Pyre reads message #39 on the welcome board.

'Is that all?' Tad says.

Tad hasn't seen comments or appendages in a while.

Somar nods his agreement with Tad.

'Looks like,' Sabella says to Tad.

'Wow,' Tad says.

Tad is still alive.

Sabella says to Tad, 'Thank you very much!!!'

Tad peers at himself myopically.

Tad is e'en in the same number of pieces he started in.

Tad wears a Tad suit.

Tad returns to being in character.