The following guide is required knowledge for participation. It’s a quick read and will help you get started in the unpredictable and exciting world of role-play in Dead End City.
What is role-play?
Role-play (RP) is a social activity in which players assume roles of their own fictional characters and interact with one another. There are specific community rules, player guidelines, and the city background to consider while participating.
General Sim Rules
- CHILD AVATARS RESTRICTED – All role-play characters must be aged 18+.
- FIREARMS RESTRICTED – Guns are not allowed to be attached and used in role-play scenes but may be referenced to as part of a story arc.
- KEVLAR/ARMOR/MILITARY-GRADE WEAPONS RESTRICTED to admin approved scenes or on-duty police officer characters.
- COMBAT IN HOSPITAL IS RESTRICTED. It is considered a safe-zone; there are security cameras, NPC personnel and guards on staff at all times.
- DRIVING VEHICLES RESTRICTED to permit-holding members only. Learn more about vehicle permits and their availability.
- NON-HUMAN AVATARS RESTRICTED (furry avatars only temporarily allowed as humans in costumes), exception being animal avatars for 100% animal/pet characters. Non-domestic animals must have admin approval.
- UNOFFICIAL "DE" GROUPS AND TITLES RESTRICTED – No personal gangs or groups which have “DE” preceding in the titles are allowed unless approved by admins. Factions will not be recognized until a group proposal has been submitted and approved.
In-character (IC) vs. Out-of-Character (OOC)
This is the most important concept to understand for role-play:
In-character (IC) describes the state of acting through the eyes, ears, and body of your fictional character. Basically, all physical actions and conversations would be based as if you are really the character, through the emoting and writing guidelines detailed below.
Out-of-character (OOC) describes responses and interactions with others as your real-self, in out-of-story context. Basically, being OOC means you are not role-playing and are restricted to communicating in IMs and group chats. If you need to break character temporarily, you may do so by surrounding your text in brackets, for example: (( I need to use the restroom, I’ll brb ))
Consent
As spontaneous and unpredictable role-play situations can be, all players are entitled to personal limits. Since forced fantasy is a prevelant theme, consent may already be established. If you are uncomfortable with certain actions being imposed on your character, IM the other player and inform them immediately.
If you are in the middle of a scene and find yourself unable to continue playing, you should IM the other player and indicate you want to “void” (never happened) the scene or “fade to black” (agree to skip details and jump to conclusion). Voiding a scene is generally bad practice, especially if there are multiple players involved and time spent is wasted.
Emote ( /me )
To communicate and interact with other players in role-play, you should emote. In Second Life, this means to use the /me command as you portray yourself in the third person, followed by the physical actions, thoughts, feelings, and/or speech (in quotations) of your character. The following examples are responses you could type if you were playing this female character:
Remember, gestures and chat abbreviations (ie. lol, omg, etc.) are not allowed in role-play. Always emote and be descriptive in your posts.
Take Turns
Role-play is a turn-based activity. When someone posts, you should respond with a single post, then wait for your turn to respond again. If there are multiple players involved, take your turn in order. This allows everyone a fair chance to respond to a situation before it is your turn to post again.
Busy locations such as restaurants and bars may have a more lax posting order to allow workers to better serve and private conversations to ensue.
As emphasized above, role-play is consensual. If your character is interacting physically with another, every action you post must always be an attempt, or what you are trying to do to the other player. This gives the other player flexibility and chances to either accept or deflect what you are trying to do to them. Combat and forced fantasy scenes are especially handled this way.
Powergaming
If one attacks without any social interaction, uses excessive force, or post the result of an attack on another character, then they are powergaming. Besides losing respect from other players, if reported, the offenders may find themselves ejected from groups and banned.
Metagaming
Metagaming occurs when a player uses knowledge their character would not be privy to (obtained through OOC means) and uses it during in-character role-play to alter outcomes in a scene or storyline in their favor. A common example of this violation is to read an avatar name and use that name in-character to address someone. Unless your character actually met this other character or had knowledge of them through role-play, there is no possible way your character would have known their name (the same goes for character background, history, and any other life detail that has not been role-played out).
Creating Your Character
Establishing a backstory is the foundation to your character’s appearance, mindset, and history. Think about where he/she grew up, any traumatic or major events that help define character, and the events that lead to their arrival in the city. Create a profile pick of Dead End City and put a summary of your character’s backstory in the description.