((The RP XP with MJ #20))

 

 

The ruddy-skinned Twi’lek looked up at the Jedi temple and squinted against the bright sunlight. When she looked back down she noticed she was the center of attention.

The young Jedi Zabrak with her said, “There’s a Twi’lek village near here, but we don’t get many your color, Yulel.”

Yulel ignored him and started down the steps toward the taxi launch.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“I’m not staying here, Tarik. I hate you guys.”

Tarik stopped momentarily and glanced around. Some Padawans were practicing against droid dummies nearby, building their skills with practice blades before commencing the trials that would give them their lightsabers. Beyond that, no one else was nearby. When he saw Yulel was getting ahead of him, he jogged to catch up. “Who do you hate?”

Yulel held her pace, chin up, eyes straight ahead. “You. All of you. You kreffing Jedi.”

Tarik gasped and glanced around again. A passing consular frowned in Yulel’s direction. “Yulie, stop talking like that. I’m a Jedi.”

She stopped and turned to face him. “Exactly. You’re a Jedi. Then why didn’t you stop them when they took the rock away from me?”

“Because it’s dangerous, Yulel. The Jen’Hutis can be a powerful weapon in the wrong hands.”

She pointed back at the temple. “Eehhhhh!”

“The Jedi are not the wrong hands in this case.”

“How do you know? You can’t even trust yourself!” She turned and continued toward the taxi stand.

Tarik raised his arms and let them fall. “Now what does that mean?”

She stopped and faced him again. She stepped close until they were almost nose to nose. In a low voice she said, “Do you love me?”

“You know I do,” he whispered, glancing around sheepishly to make sure they were out of earshot.

Yulel pointed at him. “Eehhhhh!”

“What!?”

“You’re breaking your own stupid Jedi Code!”

Then she turned and ran the rest of the way to the taxi stand, her lekku swinging behind her.

_______

It’s that time again! It’s time for another Q&A about R&P!

As promised, every 10^th ((The RP XP with MJ)) will feature your questions about RolePlaying and RP in SWTOR. If you’d like to send in some questions for number 30, feel free. My address is at the bottom of every post.

Let’s get to it, shall we? I promised to not be so long-winded in 2012.

Pfft. Like that’s going to happen.

 

IF I RP WITH A FEMALE CHARACTER AREN’T GUYS GOING TO HIT ON ME?

Let me answer that question with a question. Are you afraid they’re going to hit on YOU or your CHARACTER? If you’re afraid it’s you, I’d advise you to stick with a gender you’re more comfortable with. Bottom line, if RPing off-gender makes you uncomfortable, don’t do it. Some people are like that playing Sith. RP or not, it’s just not within their comfort zone to torture prisoners into confession, virtually or otherwise.

If you’re talking about your character, the answer to that question is (hopefully) yes. Why hopefully? Well, if we’re talking about RolePlay here wouldn’t you want to face the challenge of having someone approach your character and start flirting with her? If she’s the headstrong type, independent, or if you create her with a background that includes marriage, you’ll have an opportunity to rebuff his advances. That could make for some interesting dialog exchange or “/e throws her drink in his face” emoting. Granted, that’s not nearly as much of a challenge as it would be to have her appreciate and accept those advances if you’re playing her that way.

Just remember that a smartass female smuggler is no different than a smartass male smuggler. You’re in it for the money. Play your female character the same way you’d play your male character to their class and it won’t be an issue. Changing gender doesn’t change how your class should operate unless you want it to.

 

WHAT’S THE RULE ABOUT ENDING AN RP SESSION IN-PROGRESS IF I HAVE TO RUN?

Good question. There are a couple of approaches based on the level of emergency if you have to break an RP and log out of the game quickly:

1) EXTREME EMERGENCY – Your house is on fire. Log out without a word. Explain later if you can and work out a resolution to the RP via email or on the forums if, that is, you didn’t lose your computer in the fire.

2) LIGHT EMERGENCY – You’re going to be late for work if you don’t move NOW. Throw out a quick OOC (Out Of Character) heads up: “((Shoot! Gotta run! Didn’t notice the time!))” Don’t forget the double parentheses to indicate you’re speaking as yourself and not the character.

3) IRRITATED RUSH – Your husband/wife is yelling at you to “get off the damn computer.” If it’s me, I throw out an extended #2 with an added OOC about the scene we were RPing: “((Can we pick this up tomorrow, or can I quickly RP out now?))” If you were just finishing up anyway, go ahead. If not, you can opt to continue where you left off or have your character make a quick in-character exit.

2) RELATIVE HURRY – You just “really gotta go.” Make an in-character exit as you would in real life. Emote it with “/e glances at the time” or “/e starts edging toward the door.” The easiest way out of an RP in a hurry while in-character is to use your class as an excuse. “If I don’t get back to the Academy, Baras is going to kill me,” or “The squad is forming up to attack the separatists on the far side of the island. Sorry. I gotta hoof it now!”

 

MY FRP IS WAY BEHIND MY GAME RP. WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO BRING THEM BOTH UP TO SPEED WITHOUT STOPPING THE GAME?

Oh, if I had a credit for every time I had this problem I’d buy VIP bracelets for everyone. This is probably true of a lot of RPers who were excitedly starting their Star Wars stories prior to game launch and now that they’re in-game, the FRP (Forum RolePlay) has been forgotten. There are really only a couple solutions to this problem that don’t involve simply ignoring the FRP and letting it die.

 

First, if the time difference isn’t too bad, you can agree that you’re RPing “slightly in the future” in-game and you and your partner(s) in the story can agree to step up the FRP to catch up. Don’t be shy about establishing a schedule. Have an OOC chat in-game and encourage everyone to meet a certain deadline or expectation of completion. The same holds true if you and your partner(s) agree that the FRP is extremely important to your story and needs to be resolved. If it’s that important, you all have to agree to spend more time on it to bring it up to speed. You can still spend time in-game. Just do it leveling, grinding or crafting. Save the RP for when the story in-forum catches up.

You can also agree to simply let the FRP fade out, especially if the intention was to build background up to an in-game event. If that in-game event is happening, you no longer need the FRP. If a disparity of time is the issue, simply talk out with your RP partners an agreed-upon resolution to your forum story and move on without actually having to write it all out.

 

I WANT TO RP WITH MY BOYFRIEND WHO JUST GOT THE GAME, BUT HE THINKS IT’S GAY. HOW DO I CONVINCE HIM IT’S COOL?

RP is like any other hobby or pastime. It’s not everyone’s cup of caf. If your boyfriend is really into hockey, for example, but you’re not, what would be the best way for him to get you on the ice? Not gonna happen? If he feels the same way about RP in the game, don’t push it, especially if you have other online friends who like to RP with you and you’ve already established a community.

Typically, if he sees you doing it, he might become interested. If you’re both in the game and on the same server and planet, he might take an interest if he eavesdrops and sees how it works. Some people tend to shy away from RP because they just don’t “get it” or know how it works. They’re probably more grind-minded and not creative enough for RolePlay. Those are the people who typically throw slurs at it and call it “gay.” Just sayin’.

 

I RP WITH A FRIEND FROM ANOTHER GUILD WHO IS ALSO FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY. WE RARELY GET TO BE IN-GAME AT THE SAME TIME. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

I suggest MRP. Back in the day — back before computers when people actually saw the sun and played things like “Frisbee” and “baseball” — pen pals (people who wrote letters back and forth and actually sent them through the mail. Yes, the “snail mail”) used to play games across great distances by setting up game boards in their own homes and mailing their moves to each other. This was typically done with chess. Player A would make his move, then write out “Pawn to Rook 7” and mail it (maybe along with a letter or picture) to their friend half-way around the world. Player B with an identical set-up would make that move, then mail back a counter-move. It made for some looooooong matches, but it was one way to ensure contact and gave you something to do with your long-distance friend.

You can do the same thing with RolePlay. In the case of SWTOR, you each have the same game, so you can establish your locations, character appearance and activities with screenshots and description. The great thing about MRP (Mail RP) is that you can expand the universe outside the game just like you can with Forum RP. No longer relegated to the same emotes and actions, you and your long-distance partner can generate a story about discovering a rancor cave on Korriban, an old rusted speeder half buried in a swamp on Tython, or duel each other on the neon-lit balconies of Nar Shadaa.

 

YOU MENTIONED “SRP” BEFORE (ROLEPLAYING BY YOURSELF). COULD YOU TALK MORE ABOUT THAT? I’M NOT REALLY A “GROUP PERSON.”

Well, if you’re a creative-minded person, a writer, storyteller or long to create your own Star Wars legacy, but you’d rather go solo, there are ways you can get the RP feel without a partner.

One of the things I do is have my characters interact with each other through the in-game mail system. It’s a great way to build characterization as well as prep for The Legacy once you reach that coveted 30. For example, my smuggler has been crafting stims which they sell to my trooper at an exorbitant rate. My trooper has a “drug problem.” It’s an integral part of the trooper character’s background and affects how they interact with PCs as well as NPCs. As the smuggler gets richer, the trooper gets poorer and more “dependent.” It’s an interesting dynamic playing both parts.

If you’re like the person several questions back who’s concerned about playing an “available female,” you can have your female character married to your male character. They can send gifts back and forth through the in-game mail system (a great cover story for establishing a personal crafting network or reimbursing yourself). In this case, your sad married couple never get to see each other because of their ties to work or duty. That doesn’t mean you can’t explore their characters by using in-game mail.

Thank you, Swotorians, for another great set of questions! Remember, you can email me directly at swtorliferp(at)gmail.com. I answer every email I get. You can also follow me on Twitter at @MJswtor. I usually save up a batch of questions for every 10th edition of the RP XP, but if you’ve got a good question, I may just dedicate an entire column to it.
Until then, log in and create a story!

 

By the way, if you happen to see a trooper continually injecting themselves while hanging out in a cantina… it’s probably me. Just back away slowly unless you want a Deathstick shoved up your nose. 😉

 

Q&A INDEX

Issue #1 RPXP #10

Tags: roleplayers, roleplaying, RP, RP XP with MJ