Hello, I am currently playing a character named Grrahh who is a deaf mute warrior. This is an incredibly difficult RP task as you might imagine. Last evening I was in the landing drawing on the ground, which is my normal method of communicating questions to people.

Questions like:
Can you tell me your life story?
Have you ever been enslaved? (This is asked because Grrahh is an escaped slave, which he conveys through his drawings quite affectively.)

I ask if anyone can open a box by gazing, growling, peering through the keyhole, shaking and gnawing on my boxes - this seems to get the result I want. I tend to hum off key (I guess I like the vibration in my head as I can't hear the sounds).

For Grrahh I extensively use the Act command as I have for years when RPing, usually to good affect - however not always. Sometimes I have trouble typing, primarily because I have a form of muscular dystrophy that affects my hand's
strength and dexterity - none the less I try to keep errors to a minimum. On days when I find it impossible to type I play characters that are less typing dependent.

Last night I was RPing with a group of people and I thought we were all enjoying it, but apparently I was wrong - for out of the blue I got an OOC comment. A very short OOC discussion ensued. Here it is in a nutshell.

(OOC) I*a's player whispers, "Just in case no one told you - you SUCK at acts. Take that shit to a room."
This line was repeated 4 times and after some thought and annoyance I responded:
(OOC) You quietly whisper to I*a, "GM's don't think so - have many RP awards for my efforts."
To which I received the following comment:
(OOC) I*a's player whispers, "Thats like saying... losers with no life like my textual flubs. Seriously."

Grrahh feeling discouraged stood up and promptly logged off - the last thing in the log was this:
I*a adopts an agreeable expression.

I wish to say - I was hurt and Ticked Off, but I
handled it poorly as well - I left my RPing companions so abruptly and without waving goodbye. As for textual flubs - I am sorry - I do my very best - please try to ignore them and know that not everyone has the skills you possess.

I hesitated posting this - but I can't get it out of my head till I tell someone that understands my love of RP. Many of you share that love - so I tell you here.

As to the person who Grrahh apparently offended with my manual stumbling, I apologize, but may I make a suggestion? Why not suggest alternative RP methods to improve the RP experience for everyone?

Thank you, Doug.

Just posting it made me feel better - it's hard to believe the degree to which these characters become a part of us, the player. Or perhaps they are just an extension of us? Either way, thanks for your comment.

For myself, I can only say, mad props for taking on the project of portraying a deaf-mute. I have neither the stones nor the chops for that sort of thing, and I can't fathom many do. Haters gonna hate, RPers gonna appreciate the challenge you're taking on and respect the hell out of you for it.

Laelithonel: Mari is like getting a giant wheel of smoked gouda with a cute pink bow on it
Laelithonel: it's exciting. i'd love the wheel. i know eating it will kill me

Let me be another one that will encourage you to continue to rp. Very interesting idea and one i the player will enjoy watching. I do know there was a chalk board someone playing a mute used to communicate. Maybe that will help with the rp. As for those that put rp down...ignore them. Enjoy the rp and here is hoping that you find a good place for him

I have seen more than one poorly RP-ed deaf mute character in my time playing, so I'm always a little on-edge when I meet another one. You do a good job, even if the character who ran into you treated yours with annoyance and disdain. (Roleplaying!)

Someone is always going to hate your RP.

That's something I've just come to accept. Not just some character, but some player is going to HATE what you're doing..and that's ok. It happens to us all, I do believe. I've had characters that grated on ME personally and as a result I just have to remove Stormy from those situations (though I would never OOC whisper with such disregard for the other person involved. That's just rude).

I'm sorry you dealt with that level of non-constructive criticism. I find your character to be a blast and I have enjoyed our interactions --even if Stormy is making up her own stories in her head regardless of what he's ACTUALLY trying to convey (or what his ACTUAL name is..)

Keep doing what you're doing--it's great to see deaf/mute characters around. Mnute is one of my all time favorite characters and not long ago there was a "mute" character named Allerrin running around who was also fun.

I'm glad there are those of you willing to take on (torture yourselves with?) that type of a difficult situation.

~Nichoel, the Muse.

Nature of rebellion, means to an end. Sometimes men are tempted by money and power and they forget what end they're serving. ~Brendan Roarke, SOA Irish King

AIM: LdyStrmyRn

You (or, your character's behavior) were brought to my attention by some of the mentors who told me you were doing a fantastic job handling the portrayal of a deaf-mute.

Don't let haters get you down. Keep up the RP - I commend you for playing your character passionately. It can be very discouraging when others feel the need to whisper such abrupt things, but I can tell you that your efforts at roleplaying your character have been noticed -- and are appreciated by many.

~ Haliste ~
The Forest Gnome of Silverwood Manor
ASGM, World Development

>>(OOC) I*a's player whispers, "Thats like saying... losers with no life like my textual flubs. Seriously."

That should have told you all you needed to know about the person posting it. No respect for the GMs or the game. Just keep doing what you are doing. I have not run into you in game so far, but the people who have posted compliments here would carry a lot more weight with me than the type of person who would post that line above. You are obviously doing a good job. Stay with it.

--David

"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"

I wanted to start this comment with a simple thank you to all that have responded - I have read every post and they have all made me feel more comfortable in Grrahh's skin.

Yesterday Chamorr taught Grrahh to use the amulet to communicate and if absolutely necessary will use that method. He understands the basics of what is happening with the Amunet, but finds the process unappealing and somewhat frightening. He is used to hearing his own alter-egos arguing in his head over the merits of this decision and that, but finds it rather alarming hearing other peoples voices in there co-mingled with his own. (plus using the amunet takes the fun out of the RP. I understand the need for a quick thought here and there at times, but don't wish it to become an alternative standard for communication. I love the challenge and the frustration of trying to convey a complex thought in picture and sometimes failing immensely. Sometimes failure can be more fun than success.) (I also have gained a new respect for the GMs that create quests and try to guide them in specific directions - I am finding my best laid plans can go horribly awry when interacting with other people.)

As for your daughter, I don't think you should worry - it sounds as if she is grasping the RP world better than most newbies. (After all she has a great instructor and guide. And a built in hero in times of trouble.) Some time set her down with Grrahh, I learn through interactions of all sorts - but warn her, communicating even small things can be a time consuming challenge with Grrahh.

OOC hint: If I ever draw a map with a child of your race at one end and a fully grown person of your race at the other end - I may be asking you to tell me your life story in drawings. Especially true if I hand you the dagger I draw in the dirt with. :)

To the player behind Grrahh,

A night or two ago, someone REPORTed that it seemed you were having problems understanding the Adventurer's Guild, and hoped someone could help.

I peeked in, and immediately saw what you were RPing. Please know that several of us "up above" were tickled to see your efforts, and that RPA was from me.

I rarely, if ever, tell people when I give RPAs, but your post touched me. Keep it up, and don't feed the trolls.



~Liia
APM, Events & World Development

Dear My Favoritest Liia,
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my barbie-loving soul can reach... (even when you set me on fire)
~Issalya

Bit late to responding, but one thing that comes to mind; if you are having days where it is harder to type and having issues with typos and the like, perhaps on a good day make a word document and populate it with a number of ACTs and SMILEs that you use more frequently. I do this for certain tasks that I feel are of particular importance to make sure I avoid errors. I have an initiation ceremony, for example, where I just add the new persons name in and C/P. Back when Gwen was still playing she actually wrote a few scripts to completely automate a staged interaction. I doubt most would go to that length, but it's something to consider. Or create some aliases or macros that require you to just input the intended target. Things like that.

Also, someone above mentioned a chalkboard option. If you haven't found one, but would like to consider that route, I have an extra slate with chalk if you'd like it. Just contact Japhrimel IG and remind me and I'll dig it up.

I've been around TSC on guild nights most weeks with my sorcerer and ran into you once or twice.

It's definitely nice to see much of any RP there, but keep in mind it's a bit of a happening place that people often come for mass spells, healing, etc, and not necessarily RP.

That's not at all to discourage the effort, but honestly it's one of the hardest places for me to seriously get into RP. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, though. Find somewhere quieter and there won't be nearly as many people to interact with. On the other hand, you're extremely unlikely to get the kind of OOC whisper somewhere other than TSC I imagine (am I right assuming that is where it happened?)

---

The deathbot will come back eventually.

>Daid: Pretty sure you have a whole big bucket as your penny jar. You never have only two cents. :p

To me TSC is a wonderful place to rp. I like the noise and the big groups. To me its just as the name implies...the center of town. When ever rp was deligated to a less crowded room i always hear about the stigma of it being for "elitist rpers" and not as welcoming to outsiders. Not saying i agree or disagree but its comments i have heard before. At least in TSC you get the attention of a large number of people including those that dont normally realize something is going on or where the "rp room" is at.

Just adding my voice to those who love having Grrahh (or however you spell it) in the game. You're - IMHO - doing a great job with a challenging role. Keep up the good work.

-Player of Noldi