Sigrogana Legend 2 is a roleplay mandatory game, meaning it's expected that you partake in roleplaying. Interacting with others is a key part of the game, you won't get far nor will you have as much fun if you just play by yourself.
What is Roleplaying?[]
Simply put, it's like acting, in this case, you play the role of your character in the world of Sigrogana instead of just being you, the player. You can think of it almost like writing a character in a book!
How do you Roleplay?[]
Well, the basics are pretty simple, you find someone else in the game and then interact with them with following verbs:
- Say - Your character says something, pretty simple. You type in the command bar below say (spacebar) [what you want to write]. When people are typing something, a chat bubble will appear so you'll know if someone is typing something up.
- Whisper - Just like say, but only characters within a very short distance will be able to hear it.
- Shout - Also like say, but it'll be heard from much further away, even by characters that aren't in your view. It can also be heard through walls unlike Say and Whisper.
- Emote - Your character does an action. You type in emote "waves to Steve and it'll show up as Alex waves to Steve.
- Lemote - Short for Loud Emote, like Shout, it can heard from further away and through walls.
- Wemote - Short for Whisper Emote, like whisper, it can only be heard from a very short distance.
- Examine - You can double click or right click and click examine on a character to see their profile which is helpful if you want to learn more about another character.
How do you make a Character?[]
Well, first, you need to make your character by doing the tutorial. Talk to Professor Pink, they'll give you the basics on what you need for your character but if you're stuck, keep reading.
Start with what race you want to play as, please do read the information that comes with that race! If you're stuck, you can click the various icons representing each race to learn more. You must be one of these races, you can't make your own up.
If you still don't know what to pick, I'd recommend playing one of the human races for newcomers because you're less likely to mess something up lore-wise, humans can generally fill any class role and thanks to Legend Extension, you can eventually choose to change into another race (such as the Corrupted or Vampires) if you desire.
Next, pick some classes that you want to play. You can pick a main class and a sub-class. If you don't like the classes you picked, you can change them freely outside of dungeons but don't switch around too much or you'll end being good at nothing.
It's a good idea to pick classes that make sense for the character you want to make and don't simply be a 'master of everything', not only is it nearly impossible to be good at everything but it's considered to be bad roleplay.
Then you should pick out a look for your character with the Vanity Mirror. Don't forget to put some clothes on at the Mirror, you don't want to be running around naked.
Next, a name. Now before you just put anything in there, please be aware of a few naming rules:
- First, no names of characters or obviously similar ones from other games, anime, manga, etc. Create something at least mostly original. (E.g. Don't name your character Cloud Strife or Claude Stripe.)
- Second, don't use symbols, HTML or numbers in your name. (Unless you are a Mechanation, then using numbers is fine.)
- Third, don't put words like Shadow or Sexy in your name, don't use titles like 'Mr.' or honorifics like '-kun' either.
If you're having trouble coming up with a name, you can use a random name generator, this is one I normally use: http://www.behindthename.com/random/
You'll also be asked to pick an alias. This can be a fake name, a nick name or just a simple description of your character (e.g. Brown Haired Teenager) but they follow similar naming rules above, excluding the third one. Of course, if you don't want one, you don't have to put anything in it and just continue.
Once you're done, take a look in your appearance in your character's information screen (it's the first button on the HUD), you can type in the big blue box to add details to the profile.
Here you can add the details of your character's appearance, you can put things such as:
- How old they look.
- How tall they are.
- Apparent racial features. (e.g. Zerans have horns so it'd be a good idea to mention them.)
- The possessions that players can see on them. (e.g. What their clothes look like, whether they have a weapon on them, any jewelry, etc.)
- And so on!
You shouldn't add things like their backstory, their family relationships or other such things you can't tell at a first glance. While it's good to know about that, that's really something that should come up while you roleplay, not something you can see just by looking at someone.
You can hit Preview and it'll show you how your profile will look when other people examine you then when you're happy, click Save Changes. If you want to learn about how to set up more visually appealing profile with HTML, you can go here: http://www.neus-projects.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=45
How should / shouldn't you Roleplay?[]
While there isn't a certain way you should absolutely roleplay as people have different desires for who and what they want to roleplay, there are most certainly wrong ways that should be avoided.
Let's start with examples of someone roleplaying, first, a bad example.
Alex says "*walks up his bro steve and gives a hi 5*" Alex says "hey steve can u help me pls im new to dis game :D".
So allow me to explain what's wrong with this situation.
Firstly, using * *s for emotes is not at all necessary, there's an emote command for a good reason.
The next problem is things like 'pls', 'u', 'dis' and ':D'. That's all fine for out-of-character (OOC) speak but this is in-character (IC), you shouldn't be using chatspeak or emoticons in IC because it breaks immersion easily.
Now there's a problem with immediately calling someone by their name, your character shouldn't know their name even though it's being displayed. This is something called metagaming in which you use information the player knows but the character wouldn't. (In this case, Steve's name.)
Then there's the problem with calling it a game in character, because for the characters, it isn't a game, it's reality.
Ideally, you should also be using good grammar. For one, it looks nicer and two, makes your character easier to not only understand but feel like they're actually a person that lives in the game's world.
Now let's look at the same scenario but done right.
Alex looks around in confusion before spotting a man over by the fountain and walking over towards him. Alex says "Hey there, I'm new in town and I think I'm lost, can you help me out?"
Roleplay Tips[]
Be open to criticism (especially for newcomers)[]
Nobody's perfect, it's okay to make mistakes but please listen to your peers because they're apart of the game too. If someone says you're doing something wrong, try not to get worked up, just ask them what you can do better and accommodate.
That said, other players should not be too hostile to players doing something wrong. For one, they are most likely not even aware that they're doing anything wrong and two, getting pissed at them probably won't get you what you want and will just result in both of you having a bad time.
Learn to differentiate your character's feelings from your own[]
There's a good chance you'll end up interacting with someone your character ends up getting into a verbal or physical fight with, but it's important that you, the player, don't take that personally.
Likewise if there's someone you don't like outside of their character, you shouldn't carry that grudge in roleplay with their character.
Learn to differentiate Gameplay from Roleplay[]
It's important to know that SL2 isn't solely a roleplaying experience but a game and that the way some things are is due to it being a game.
For example: Moving in a L-shape as a Level 20 Soldier allows you to be a Black Knight.
But that's not how you become a Black Knight in roleplay terms. You'd require someone or something to teach you and training to become skilled at it, but if a more immersive system were made for this... well, it'd be slow and boring which is not what you want in a game.
Don't take the game mechanics too literally when it comes to roleplay because you'll end up sounding fake.
Avoid things like this:
Alex says "i learned how to be a monk just by meditating"
Using Meditate at full HP is the unlock condition for Monk in terms of the gameplay, it'd take much more than just 'meditation' in roleplay to become a Monk.
Alex says "if I make 25 more iron brawlers gloves ill be a level 3 smith"
Levels are purely a gameplay thing. There's no such thing in the world of Sigrogana as a 'Level 3 Smith' and you'd have no idea how much 'work' you'd need to put in to notably improve.
Alex says "thanks to this legend ink i have become a vampire"
Legend Extension is very much a gameplay mechanic that can give various benefits, such as allow some races to change into other races, as long as it's acceptable within roleplay, but that's not how you would become one in roleplay.
Steve channels his elemental magic through his sword, then he stabs it into the ground, causing the area around him to erupt in flame! Alex says "i know that spell it's sear you must be an evoker"
This is a problem because it goes against what Steve just roleplayed. While mechanically, yes, Steve used Sear so he's an Evoker but there's nothing in his roleplay to say that he is one. It's okay to change up the way a classes' skills act in roleplay to better suit your character so please don't be rigid when it comes to this.
Try to avoid being cliché[]
We've heard the stories about teenagers having their villages burned down by bandits/vague evil/themselves hundreds of times over, it's been done to death. The more experienced players are likely to mock you for this and try to avoid you.
If you really want to do something that's been done to death, you can but I recommend in the very least putting a spin on it so it isn't just the same old story.
E.g. Your character being some sort of hero in a prophecy that claims he'll bring peace to the world, instead of it just ending there... Maybe the prophecy is fake? Could it be a made-up tale to encourage the kids of your home to become brave and strong warriors? Maybe the prophecy isn't referring to your character at all?
The little twists for your character's story do help make them more interesting than simply "a hero destined to save the world from evil."
Some other examples of clichés found here are:
- Kaelensia that act too much like their animal counterpart. e.g. A Felidae or Grimalkin making cat noises ('nya', 'meow' or purring), acting like someone else's pet, etc.
- Vampires that were children before they became a Vampire, retaining their child-like appearance.
- People that were force fed Vampire blood to become a Vampire.
- Edgy characters (e.g. An ex-assassin with black hair and red eyes who hates everyone and enjoys killing people would be considered edgy.)
- Memory loss.
Don't just make everything up![]
Don't expect everything you make up to fly just because Sigrogana is a fantasy world. Even magic has it's limitations and works in certain ways.
Just a quick list of some of the things that aren't possible:
- You can't be from other dimensions or travel through time, that's not possible here.
- You can't be directly related to any gods or display godly power.
- You can't cast spells forever, you'll find yourself running out of focus quickly.
- You can't teleport willy-nilly, teleportation can only travel so far and repeated use has it's issues.
- You can't grow new body parts, magically or otherwise, only reattach existing ones (Vampires are an exception and regain their limbs upon death but cannot regrow).
- You can't be a cyborg, turn into a Mechanation or make fully functioning artifical limbs for a person.
A good way to avoid this is to fact-check the way things work in Lore, check the Wiki and Lore Question Threads on the forums. If it's not covered, you should ask on the latest Lore Questions Thread about how something works.
Alternatively, you can ask a GM whether something you want to roleplay is acceptable. Or attempt to make an application for whatever fancy IC ideas you come up with in this following link, if you're so hellbent on having your own lore approved by the staff.
What does X mean?[]
Here's a list of some of the terms you'll probably end up hearing used by other players:
IC - Short for in-character, it refers to things that happen in the context of the game's world. I.e. When a character says something, does an action, etc.
OOC - Short for out-of-character, it refers to things that happen outside the context of the game's world. I.e. Talking to the players themselves, talking about the gameplay, etc.
( ), (( )), [ ], etc. - When a character says something in brackets, it means it's out of character. Don't use these too often, it can be seen as a nuisance to other players trying to roleplay.
Alex says "(i'll be back in a few minutes)"
< > - These are used by some players when a character is thinking something. Personally I would avoid using these because people aren't mind readers, they can't know what you're thinking. Instead I would use emote to describe your character's feelings.
E.g. Instead of saying Alex says "<Wow, that guy sure is rude.>", you can emote Alex stares disapprovingly at Steve and shakes his head.
Omit, * - This is often used when players make a mistake or a silly joke and undo an action or correct it with a follow up ending with *.
Alex says "I'm 16 years old!" Alex says "(17*)."
re, repost, oir (omit if repost) - This is used when players don't think their message got through so they post their old message again.
Alex says "Hey there." Alex says "Hey there. (oir)"
Metagaming - When you use knowledge that you as a player have but your character shouldn't have and thus shouldn't be able to act on it.
The example earlier in the guide is a case of metagaming due to Alex not being introduced to Steve so he wouldn't know his name. Other examples could be things like:
Black Beasts are attacking Dormeho! Alex says "dormeho is under attack, ill save them"
Another example is your friend is being attacked by another player and OOCly asks you to come rescue them. You cannot suddenly show up to save them because your character wouldn't know they're being attacked.
OOC Alex: someone help me this guy is trying to kill me Steve says "dont worry alex ive got your back"
It's okay to ask on the OOC to meet up with someone for roleplay but otherwise, don't metagame!
Godmodding - When your character does something completely unreasonable (e.g. being invincible, having powers they cannot possibly possess) or forces an action on a character or forces them to react a certain way, for example:
Alex cuts off Steve's head, killing him instantly.
Alex flashes a smile at Hikari, making her fall madly in love with him.
This is very much against the rules, you should allow people the chance to react to situations but by the same token, don't simply shrug everything off without a good reason because that's also bad roleplay.
Playby - This is often used when describing a player who's using the appearance of a character from anime, games, etc. E.g. If you're using a portrait of Cloud, people would say your character is a Cloud playby.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing but be careful about taking too much from something else because copying characters is against the rules, try to make your own character and not just a shameless copy!