"Advanced" use of virtual worlds? (Re: [MUD-Dev] MMORP Gs & MUDs)

[Matt Mihaly]

On Tue, 5 Feb 2002, Christopher Allen wrote:

> The brechtian style roleplayers have more skills -- they can
> mimic, do accents, and even have a physical presence that fit the
> part. These roleplayers tend to make better GMs, and as players
> seem to be willing to 'loose' or do things that serve the group or
> the plot the best, not just themselves -- they also make good
> group leaders. However, I think that these are the type that
> Mihaly refers to as 'faked' or ultimately 'emotionally cold'. This
> type of roleplayer, BTW, is the type that we value and like to
> recruit in the Skotos game Castle Marrach to be StoryPlotters --
> people who can run a character to serve a goal of the game, rather
> then their own personal goals. So they too are 'good roleplayers'.

Faked in the sense that all acting is fake. You aren't the character
you're pretending to be, and you can never be the character you're
pretending to be, regardless of how good a method actor you are.

> The last type, the method roleplayers, are very interesting and
> unpredictable -- they will do what their characters want them to
> do, even if it is in detriment to the plot, or to themselves.

I think I have to disagree. Characters can't do things. The players
do things. The player makes the decisions. His decision could be
heavily influenced or even completely dominated by what he thinks
the character he is playing would do, but it's still the player that
is in control. It could hardly be otherwise. That may seem
nit-picky, but it's illustrative of the barrier that I maintain
roleplaying inserts between environment and emotion.

--matt

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