How not to: Powergaming Guide
#1
Information 
*Because flaming doesn't work, i have decided to put together a bunch of guides covering a few aspects of roleplay that need to be worked on
*All guides have been collected from NecropolisRP


Powergaming

Understanding and Avoiding Powergaming.
Powergaming is when a player forces an action, or takes an action which would affect another character, without giving them a chance to respond. It is usually a result of the role-player playing to win and takes on many forms, for example:

1) /me draws his pistol and shoots his antagonist in the face.

This is powergaming both because it shortens the time frame of role-play, assuming the target character is close to interfere with the unholstering, or far enough to run away (although it's possible that the target would take neither of these actions), and because it doesn't provide room for the other character to respond in any other manner than /me is shot in the face, or some extension of that.

The best way to remedy this is to split it up into several emotes (these are barebones to simply convey the character's actions, without going into the trivialities of strong, immersive writing):

* redhotpengy unholsters his pistol.

* redhotpengy levels the weapon.

* redhotpengy fires off a shot, aiming for the antagonist's face.

Be sure to keep in mind that these actions are assumed to have transpired unhindered, that is to say, the situational antagonist took no actions to counter them.

2) /me hits the antagonist in the face with his shovel.

In close combat it's always safe to assume that every action will have a response on the part of the other party. This emote could be made correct by saying something like:

* redhotpengy swings his shovel at the antagonist's face.

as long as the character is in a perfectly acceptable situation to actually swing the shovel without being hindered, i.e. standing and already on guard. Or, if the character is being held at gunpoint, or is in a situation in which the actual swing itself could be halted by a reaction on the part of the antagonist:

* redhotpengy attempts to swing the shovel at the antagonist's face.

By not assuming that the attack automatically hits, or that the attack itself was able to happen, the element of powergaming is nullified. The only time the original emote would be acceptable is if the antagonist is incapacitated or unconscious.

3) /me runs away from the fight.

Remember in Pokemon, or any other RPG, where you could choose the option to run, but it had a chance to fail and you would be forced to continue the battle? Rhetorical question, nerd. Of course you do. This is the same sort of concept. In any fight, always attempt to run, unless your opponent is incapacitated or unconscious. Doing so will allow them to emote an attempt to stop your character's cowardice, follow along, or simply let them go, and only then should you actually move away from the fight using the game engine.

God modding:

God modding is when a player makes his or her character impervious to damage, or to have a strange, uncanny control over the surrounding environment, for example:

**Player 1 fires his gun, which (as emoted earlier) is aimed point blank at the back of Player 2's head.

**Player 2 moves his head suddenly, dodging.

Or, in a more situational example: a character continues to function as normally, despite being severely injured: shot in the chest, having a broken leg, or another grievance of that sort.

God modding can also manifest itself in other ways, like a character who wouldn't conceivably be able to preform an action doing so without considering the fact that it might not work properly:

* redhotpengy raises her leg and kicks open the door.

Said door being made of thick wood and deadbolted, and said character being an adolescent female; the archetype of physical weakness (not to condone misogyny).

God modding can also be more subtle, like having a character dodge or block every blow in a physical fight, or fail to take damage from his or her opponent.

Powergaming comes about when a player fails to understand the role-play process as one of a collaborative story telling, and treats it like a conventional video game where the only goal is to win. Don't fall prey to this trap.

Nerd....
#2
Lol You played on Infusion gaming? :p
HL2 Rp? :p
Angry Your guide makes me want to play serious Roleplay Angry
#3
(12-30-2010, 09:42 PM)Elmo Wrote: Lol You played on Infusion gaming? :p
HL2 Rp? :p
Angry Your guide makes me want to play serious Roleplay Angry
Uh, thanks? No, ive never played infusion, unless thats the Epidemic/Necropolis RP server, i often play with TnB.
#4
Thanks for the first part of the post,
mind if I edit the bullet part out and rename it, How not to: Powergaming Guide?

The entire "Guide to Medical Roleplay" is out of place in a Semi-Serious RP.
Ok maybe you can RP the fact that you've been shot, thereby not sprint and not really be able to yell.
In Fearless tho, the killing happens everywhere, AK's are used in raids and people are sniping on the streets with AWPS.
While it's still lethal in the sense you die instantly, the weapons are too common to carry any Serious RP them.
#5
(12-30-2010, 10:58 PM)[FL:RP]Shark Wrote: Thanks for the first part of the post,
mind if I edit the bullet part out and rename it, How not to: Powergaming Guide?

The entire "Guide to Medical Roleplay" is out of place in a Semi-Serious RP.
Ok maybe you can RP the fact that you've been shot, thereby not sprint and not really be able to yell.
In Fearless tho, the killing happens everywhere, AK's are used in raids and people are sniping on the streets with AWPS.
While it's still lethal in the sense you die instantly, the weapons are too common to carry any Serious RP them.
Go ahead, i didn't think the medical part would really be used anyway.
#6
Or, we could play on the SEMI serious RP server - and rather than write every action we do - just do them? Like actually draw a pistol from the inventory .. and the other person can do that thing ... what's it called? oh yeah 'look' and see they did it.
#7
(01-01-2011, 03:53 PM)Sniperwolf Wrote: Or, we could play on the SEMI serious RP server - and rather than write every action we do - just do them? Like actually draw a pistol from the inventory .. and the other person can do that thing ... what's it called? oh yeah 'look' and see they did it.
thats the thing though, drawing a weapon from your inventory is instant, and if they were to instant take it out and fire, that would be considered powergaming because it doesnt give the other player to retaliate. Since the /me is automatic when you take out a gun, the other /mes are unneccesary.
#8
(01-01-2011, 04:00 PM)redhotpengy Wrote: it doesnt give the other player to retaliate.

I'm closing this thread now because it's stupid.

You can SEE when people draw guns. Like in real life you don't go:

"Woah woah woah - you can't draw that gun! You need to give me many advance warnings."

The act of drawing a concealed gun from your pocket, i.e a pistol, and firing should take no more than 2 seconds. You DON'T need long, drawn out warnings about it.


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)