ROMANVM

In order to have a fun realistic roleplay experience in Romanum, we are providing these basic guidelines and rules to follow while in Romanum.

 

Experienced roleplayers will be fine with these guidelines and rules while inexperienced roleplayers or those who have doubt about roleplaying may not be fine or feel concerned. Don't be.

 

Roleplaying is not as difficult as it might seem at first and like anything just takes practice. The more you make an effort to roleplay, the more fun it can become. Challenge yourself. Use your imagination.

 

Out of Character Areas of Romanum

 

The only areas of Romanum one can be "out of character" (OOC) are: 

Romanum Marketplace
Various Dance Clubs

 

This does not mean you HAVE to be OOC, but if you do not wish to wear Roman period clothing or play a Roman period character, you may do that in these areas of Romanum. 

 

We also do not enforce roleplay within the private residences of those who own property in Romanum. However, even within those private properties, OOC clothing or OOC open chatting (local chat) should not be seen or heard by those nearby in public areas of Romanum.

 

All of the rest of Romanum, you are expected to be "in character" (IC)

Roleplay Group

 

In Romanum, to signify you are participating in roleplay, as required, you will be invited to belong to Romanum's roleplay group: Empire of Romanum

 

Being a member of this group is by invitation only. To be invited to this group, you will be asked to fill out a brief application signifying your interest in roleplaying in Romanum.

 

Roleplay Communication Conventions

 

In roleplay there are standard conventions used when communicating with each roleplayer.

 

IC (In Character) - Standard local chat where your name is followed by a colon and what you are saying. This communication is used when you are playing your roleplay character, so you will be talking as your character would talk. 

 

OOC (Out Of Character) - Sometimes it is necessary to communicate as your real self and not your character. Such communication should be kept to a minimum and preferably using IM. If you must speak OOC, the convention is to enclose your comment in double parentheses e.g., ((I am speaking OOC)). 

 

Emote - Emoting is a way to let roleplayers know what you are thinking, feeling or doing.  The information provided adds to the sense of what is going on, but not necessarily information that can be actively used. For example, if it is what the character is thinking, you cannot read his mind. You emote by preceding your comment with a "/me ".  

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Here is information on the roleplay tools Romanum uses.

Basic Guidelines and Rules for Roleplay

 

1. A roleplayer should use their imagination and develop a background for their character, a history. They can put that in their Second Life profile in the About section or in your Picks for Romanum. But this is optional. Some will prefer to share this information one on one as they meet new people. But DO take the time to develop this background and history.

2. Keeping in mind roleplay is about a character one is playing with a story, people IC often use titles to signify what type of character they are playing. Some titles will be provided in the Romanum roleplay group "Empire of Romanum". Most roleplayers can use any titler, including the one provided free in the Welcome Center. Do not use a character's title as knowledge of that character the first time you meet him. Find out about that person like you would in real life - talk to him, get to know him.

3. When roleplaying IC, do not mix knowledge from OOC of the person you are roleplaying with with your IC knowledge of that person. Your IC world and characters in it are to be treated as though they are truly separate people from the OCC world and the people in it. This also means when roleplaying any emotional feelings or reactions between you and other roleplayers, positive or negative, should be kept in the context of the roleplay environment. Keep your emotions IC and OOC separate. That is not to discourage positive OCC relationships, but rather to keep the two worlds distinct.

4. Be careful if a non-roleplaying person stumbles upon your roleplay and takes it seriously. If they are acting like they believe what is happening is real, especially negative actions, IM them and let them know you are roleplaying.

5. In serious roleplay, one's words and actions should have realistic reactions and consequences. Roleplay is not about a single encounter and then the next encounter is as though the previous encounter never occurred. If you wronged someone in a previous encounter, that character will likely have ill feelings toward you in the next encounter even if you are the best of friends OOC. 

6. Sometimes roleplay can go in directions a person is not prepared for for whatever reason. Although it is preferred people let roleplay flow naturally, letting natural reactions rule, if a roleplay "goes too far", a roleplayer has a right to "opt out". That roleplayer informs, via an IM, he does not wish to continue with the roleplay or he believes the roleplay is going too far and he is opting out. The roleplayer he is telling this to could choose to work with the opting out roleplayer and modify the roleplay, via an IM, or simply accept the opting out roleplayer's wish and not continue that specific roleplay with that specific roleplayer. All roleplayers must honor any opt out request, if no acceptable alternative is agreed to and if roleplayers refuse to honor an opt out request, they face consequences up to and including being banned from Romanum.

7. NO flying.

8. Please do not teleport out of Romanum in front of others. Walk to a place out of view of others before you teleport out of Romanum.

9. Death - Character death will be permitted in Romanum and is most likely with those engaging in roleplay such as Legion raids and battles and Gladiator fights. In that particular roleplay the character remains dead until the end of the raid, battle or fight. In other circumstances where death may occur, it is suggested the character remain dead for a period of time, perhaps a day or two. Ideally, one might invent a new character name and role (NOT a new avatar) to continue roleplaying, but this is optional. In other scenarios of roleplay, the person being killed must agree to such beforehand, or the death is void.

10. Most importantly, have fun, enjoy.