Roleplay Pet Peeves

[Starforge]

I don’t see why anyone would have an issue with that.

[Grindingsucks]

@TheCorvus I think it's fine.  Almost everything in comics or comics-related material is a trope of a trope, by now.  DC and Marvel have ripped off each other for years.  Look at nearly any character from one publisher and you'll see a similar character created by the other publisher in response.  Mashup characters can be a fun, new take on old character concepts that might be feeling a trifle stale.

 

There are legions of sex demons and anime cat people on CoH.  Why should anyone feel embarrassed about taking inspiration from existing super heroes?  

 

I'll put it another way:  Show me something you think is an original idea, and I'll show you how it (or something like it) has already been done in the comics.  

[TheCorvus]

14 minutes ago, Grindingsucks said:

I'll put it another way:  Show me something you think is an original idea, and I'll show you how it (or something like it) has already been done in the comics.  

Not original, but what about folklore and cryptids? Stuff inspired by tales of things like the Mothman or Bigfoot?

[TwoDee]

On 3/8/2021 at 8:25 AM, Tyrannical said:

Yeah, and it always ends up revolving around whoever plays the Superman of the group...

As a belated, quippy response to this, there's a reason why as soon as Jack Emmert left Cryptic Studios, they dropped a bridge on Statesman with extreme prejudice and had Posi step into his shoes.  The dev team wasn't any more immune to 'who gets to be Superman' drama than we are.

[Arctique]

On 3/8/2021 at 12:25 PM, Tyrannical said:

Yeah, and it always ends up revolving around whoever plays the Superman of the group...

 

SG idea: A super team where every member is some form of Superman expy and the leadership changes daily from all the petty internal squabbles over which one gets to be the Superman of the group.

[Davy]

31 minutes ago, TwoDee said:

As a belated, quippy response to this, there's a reason why as soon as Jack Emmert left Cryptic Studios, they dropped a bridge on Statesman with extreme prejudice and had Posi step into his shoes.  The dev team wasn't any more immune to 'who gets to be Superman' drama than we are.

And then they planned to bring him back as Tyrant pulling a sneaky on us.

 

Glad we dodged that bullet... For now.

[Grindingsucks]

1 hour ago, TheCorvus said:

Not original, but what about folklore and cryptids? Stuff inspired by tales of things like the Mothman or Bigfoot?

[Moka]

1 hour ago, TwoDee said:

As a belated, quippy response to this, there's a reason why as soon as Jack Emmert left Cryptic Studios, they dropped a bridge on Statesman with extreme prejudice and had Posi step into his shoes.  The dev team wasn't any more immune to 'who gets to be Superman' drama than we are.

An unpopular opinion is that Positron is more of a Mary Sue than Statesman ever was. Statesman's thing was he was very strong, Positron was not only a powerful radioactive mutant but a master engineer and also the wielder of the flames of Prometheus? Kind of a bloated concept.

[Starforge]

To be honest, Statesman wasn’t even that present in the game before they erased him.

 

You rescue him from the Praetorians back in Issue 2, then he becomes a contact for the STF in Issue 9 and then you don’t really see him do anything until around Issue 22/23 and then he’s gone.

[Darmian]

13 minutes ago, Starforge said:

To be honest, Statesman wasn’t even that present in the game before they erased him.

 

You rescue him from the Praetorians back in Issue 2, then he becomes a contact for the STF in Issue 9 and then you don’t really see him do anything until around Issue 22/23 and then he’s gone.

An absolute waste of a decent character.  If you check out "The Web of Arachnos" (especially) and "The Freedom Phalanx" you can see what COULD have been done with him.

[Haijinx]

4 hours ago, TheCorvus said:

What do you guys think about character mashups?

 

I have a Superman/Captain America mashup. He's not named Steve or Clark. The words "Kryptonian" and "Super Soldier Serum" have nothing to do with him. He's not even Causasian.

 

That said, he's very strongly influenced by Superman and Captain America (or Statesman and Blue Steel) in terms of costume and powers.

 

Does that pass the smell test, or too copy-cat?

Thats kind of a Expie or Captain Ersatz situation.  And its been in comics for as long as there have been superhero comics.  So I'd say its fine.

 

Green Arrow was specifically influenced by Batman (different companies then)

 

Dr Manhattan is was an Expie of Captain Atom who was that other companies version of a Superman expie I believe.  At the same time their whole line up were basically copies of the characters recently acquired from that company.  Rosarch was based on the Question and so on. 

[Seed22]

5 hours ago, TheCorvus said:

What do you guys think about character mashups?

 

I have a Superman/Captain America mashup. He's not named Steve or Clark. The words "Kryptonian" and "Super Soldier Serum" have nothing to do with him. He's not even Causasian.

 

That said, he's very strongly influenced by Superman and Captain America (or Statesman and Blue Steel) in terms of costume and powers.

 

Does that pass the smell test, or too copy-cat?

Not an issue at all. I like to think like this: If it's inspired by the Tropes portrayed by that character, it's fine! Of course I am just one person so not gonna make any waves in what I think passes as good. Like take for instance, I have a Warlock character (well, two, but the other is not inspired by anything.). I feel his personality is based on the tropes that were portrayed by the likes of Constantine. So, basically willing to save his own ass at the end of the day above almost all else. However, my take on this is he's simply trying to get himself a slice of 'the good life' pie for him and his family; no more, no less. (Naturally, he's a rogue).

[twozerofoxtrot]

Hardly a pet peeve but something I've noticed before that always elicits a chuckle: When players at the Pocket D upstairs bar just suddenly "nope out" over the rails and jump to the floor below.

 

Like they're walking around, looking for a conversation or maybe they just finished one, or something, and then with walk on and everything just fling themselves 5 meters to the floor below. I mean we're all supers and probably everyone could shrug off that fall, so IC I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But  something about how the player will spend 45 seconds to strut up the stairs, but the exit has to be quick and in a hurry.

[TheCorvus]

1 minute ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

Hardly a pet peeve but something I've noticed before that always elicits a chuckle: When players at the Pocket D upstairs bar just suddenly "nope out" over the rails and jump to the floor below.

 

Like they're walking around, looking for a conversation or maybe they just finished one, or something, and then with walk on and everything just fling themselves 5 meters to the floor below. I mean we're all supers and probably everyone could shrug off that fall, so IC I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But  something about how the player will spend 45 seconds to strut up the stairs, but the exit has to be quick and in a hurry.

I'm guilty.

 

When I'm zipping around accomplishing stuff, I don't really "have" (or take) the time. I've got my mission and I've got no time for distractions.

 

Much like I ma in real life, much to my wife's amusement and consternation.

[TheCorvus]

8 hours ago, Arctique said:

SG idea: A super team where every member is some form of Superman expy and the leadership changes daily from all the petty internal squabbles over which one gets to be the Superman of the group.

[TemporalVileTerror]

Wait . . . do you mean you don't just fling yourself off of two-to-three story tall balconies in real life, @twozerofoxtrot?

 

Doesn't everyone?

[Arctique]

3 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

Hardly a pet peeve but something I've noticed before that always elicits a chuckle: When players at the Pocket D upstairs bar just suddenly "nope out" over the rails and jump to the floor below.

 

Like they're walking around, looking for a conversation or maybe they just finished one, or something, and then with walk on and everything just fling themselves 5 meters to the floor below. I mean we're all supers and probably everyone could shrug off that fall, so IC I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But  something about how the player will spend 45 seconds to strut up the stairs, but the exit has to be quick and in a hurry.

It's fun to play it up when doing this, by actually RPing it with an emote and/or parting quip.

 

Though it can also sometimes provide a character with more personality, playing into the different ways they may exit a scene. Some of my characters do just walk away normally, others would and do just launch over the railing with a comedic quip, some just vanish from sight with a stealth or TP power, etc.

[Sovera]

On 3/3/2021 at 4:27 AM, Arctique said:

Bit of a lighter pet peeve here that's honestly 90% of the time just more amusing than actually annoying when it happens, but:

People giving IC reactions to what is clearly just some OOC goofing off.

What I mean by this is typically something like, when just bumming around somewhere like Pocket D with some friends but not actively RPing, just exchanging dumb OOC banter and/or goofing around with emotes (for example, one friend flopped on the floor with /e collapse or /e swoon, and others doing the jackhammer or shovel emotes on top of them), usually a bit out of the way from the actual busy RP areas. Typically stuff that's pretty easy to tell at a glance isn't remotely in character for anyone.

Then somebody just wandering past it stops, takes one look at the clearly OOC buffoonery, and reacts to it completely IC. Typically ends up being their character reacting with confusion at what they're seeing, or dropping some snarky comment about it in passing.

Again, it usually ends up being amusing and harmless rather than legitimately irritating in any way. Usually a simple response of "Don't mind us, we're just goofing around not in character" is enough for anyone making those passing IC reactions to understand and laugh along with the goofing. It just tends to also leave you just wondering "in what possible context would this interaction make sense from an in character perspective" and that can end up painting some funny pictures.

Well, that is my own pet peeve. Why do that stuff in the RP area? So many places to goof off, why make that effort to remind everyone we are playing at theater? I know I could do without it, even if I don't gnash my teeth and tear my hair at the sight of such happenings.

 

On 3/3/2021 at 10:24 PM, Andreah said:

If a person chooses to play a thoroughly unpleasant character, one should not be surprised if others don't want to interact. No matter how technically correct, true to the characterization, or cleverly played, that kind of character is going to have limited appeal, especially to those who don't know the player OOC'ly very well, or at all.

 

And I could see and understand if some of those people who don't want to interact just go straight for the global ignore, to cut their losses, so to speak.

The trope of the loner/rude/anto-social protagonist is embedded in comic and movie culture. I'm currently reading the Witcher and Geralt does not strike me as a likeable fellow with a ready joke and social manners. But he is an appealing protagonist.

 

The thing that RPers miss (and I did it too many years ago until realizing this) is that the movie/comic/books force interaction. Geralt may not be a genial character but people need him and thus interact with him. The rude ass who snarks off and tries to avoid people is still chased after because he knows some secret technique, or is really good at hacking/breaking and entering/stealth and because needed he is chased after. The loner who never hangs around populated areas is also a pretty poor trope to follow since that means the character is never around people to begin with, so they never get to roleplay.

 

I have met several characters trying for the above and my reaction is the same as someone said a bit higher up: without a plot need for said characters we just avoid them. Who forces themselves to interact with a rude stranger?

 

This is not the fault of the crowd but just the lack of understanding of why it works in other mediums and why it does not in RP.

 

16 hours ago, TheCorvus said:

What do you guys think about character mashups?

 

I have a Superman/Captain America mashup. He's not named Steve or Clark. The words "Kryptonian" and "Super Soldier Serum" have nothing to do with him. He's not even Causasian.

 

That said, he's very strongly influenced by Superman and Captain America (or Statesman and Blue Steel) in terms of costume and powers.

 

Does that pass the smell test, or too copy-cat?

 

Listen, I'm going to be honest here. Take a bit from this thread if you want, try to accommodate others if you'd like. But don't overexert yourself. As Hajynx showed a few posts ago you will never please everyone all the time. If you are going to take a step back each time disapproves you will more quickly run out of room than you will run out of people disapproving.

 

Play your homages, play your lifted character, play your original concepts. Just have fun. Despite what this thread says there is far less RP police out there than there are people refusing to RP because concept.

[TheCorvus]

2 hours ago, Sovera said:

Listen, I'm going to be honest here. Take a bit from this thread if you want, try to accommodate others if you'd like. But don't overexert yourself. As Hajynx showed a few posts ago you will never please everyone all the time. If you are going to take a step back each time disapproves you will more quickly run out of room than you will run out of people disapproving.

 

Play your homages, play your lifted character, play your original concepts. Just have fun. Despite what this thread says there is far less RP police out there than there are people refusing to RP because concept.

I hear you. I'm not "worried" about it. It's always good to know what the reaction of the crowd will be, if you can manage it. I've got characters that are fun to play but might irritate other people. 

 

I still have those characters and love to play them. But if the reaction had been "Oh. God. Ew. Yuck", I'd know not to stroll in Pocket D and expect a warm welcome.

[Coyotedancer]

14 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

Hardly a pet peeve but something I've noticed before that always elicits a chuckle: When players at the Pocket D upstairs bar just suddenly "nope out" over the rails and jump to the floor below.

 

Like they're walking around, looking for a conversation or maybe they just finished one, or something, and then with walk on and everything just fling themselves 5 meters to the floor below. I mean we're all supers and probably everyone could shrug off that fall, so IC I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But  something about how the player will spend 45 seconds to strut up the stairs, but the exit has to be quick and in a hurry.

 

*laughing* The last time I did that it was completely an IC desperation move...

 

My poor PsiMelee Stalker (Who was both fairly young and already a little paranoid about being in "The D"-) was unexpectedly ditched by the older brother and his friends that she had gone there with. True to the place's reputation, half a minute after they left, she found herself backed into the corner by a perv. 

 

Slipping into Hide and nope-ing out in the only direction she could... Which was right over the rail... seemed perfectly reasonable given the situation and other alternatives. 😝 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Coyotedancer

[Arctique]

8 hours ago, Sovera said:

Well, that is my own pet peeve. Why do that stuff in the RP area? So many places to goof off, why make that effort to remind everyone we are playing at theater? I know I could do without it, even if I don't gnash my teeth and tear my hair at the sight of such happenings.

I did say it's typically somewhere away from the actual busy RP areas. There are parts of Pocket D that aren't typically used for RP after all. Do we look at the people gathering near War Witch for instance (before or after they moved her downstairs) or the seemstress and assume they're all standing there silently gawking at her ICly? Or all the fire farmers hanging around Pocket D's AE?

 

If it's people goofing around in an actual busy RP area like the bars everyone typically gathers at, that's another story entirely. Nobody likes the guy that spams powers and disruptive emotes in the middle of the bar full of people trying to RP.

 

When it's just a small group of friends off at some unused corner of the dance floor just having a laugh amongst themselves, I wouldn't call that "making the effort to remind everyone we are playing at theater." That's the point of goofing around somewhere more out of the way, to not disturb people that are actively RPing.

[TheCorvus]

29 minutes ago, Arctique said:

If it's people goofing around in an actual busy RP area like the bars everyone typically gathers at, that's another story entirely. Nobody likes the guy that spams powers and disruptive emotes in the middle of the bar full of people trying to RP.

Even when I'm not in "RP Mode", I turn off my spammy powers like Shadow Fall, because I can see how annoying that would be. Imagine you're just having a conversation with someone. Then they disappear from view. Then you notice everyone, including yourself...yep. Invis. That'd be distracting.

[Alchemystic]

On 3/10/2021 at 4:05 AM, twozerofoxtrot said:

Hardly a pet peeve but something I've noticed before that always elicits a chuckle: When players at the Pocket D upstairs bar just suddenly "nope out" over the rails and jump to the floor below.

 

Like they're walking around, looking for a conversation or maybe they just finished one, or something, and then with walk on and everything just fling themselves 5 meters to the floor below. I mean we're all supers and probably everyone could shrug off that fall, so IC I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But  something about how the player will spend 45 seconds to strut up the stairs, but the exit has to be quick and in a hurry.

 

45 seconds is valuable time when you're scurrying off to the base portal for... reasons. 😗

[rookery.]

4 minutes ago, Tyrannical said:

 

45 seconds is valuable time when you're scurrying off to the base portal for... reasons. 😗

/e asks innocently, "Super group meetings?"

[Davy]

32 minutes ago, Tyrannical said:

45 seconds is valuable time when you're scurrying off to the base portal for... reasons. 😗

Nacho creation contests?