Amazon Basic Role-Play Guide
What is Role-Play?
Most of you have probably role-played at some time in your life, though you probably didn't think of it as Role-playing.
Kids pretend to be cowboys, cowgirls, Indians, soldiers, super heroes, monsters etc. They create great adventures, fantastical worlds of their own or with their friends. Yes, these days computer gaming has taken over from running around the yard, with your fingers in the shape of a gun and making "Pow Pow" sounds, but, very often, those who play on a computer are imagining themselves as the person they play as. All of these things are, in reality playing a role, see where I'm going with this?
We could use the example of an actor in a movie. The actor acts, or 'pretends' to be his/her movie character. Everything they do is within the context of a script, they 'immerse' themselves in the character.
So, you come to the Amazon; 12 Jungle themed Sims of adventure, exploration, danger and mystery. What will you be? A native? A Settler? An Animal? You get to choose, you get to pick what part you will play, your adventure has begun...
How do I get started in the Amazon?
Everyone who arrives at the Amazon tends to explore a little first. In that time you will meet other people. They might be naked natives, aggressive gang members, kind healers, religious Shamans, rude and insulting Monks, cheeky troublesome Seekers. But no matter who they are, they are all Role-Playing and are acting as they have decided their Role-Play 'character' would act. Everything in local in the Amazon is Role-Play, everyone that surrounds you are being who they have chosen to be.
So, the very first thing to remember is that nothing they say or do is aimed at you personally, but at your 'character'. They are just playing their part, building the adventure.
You will perhaps see two people who are sworn enemies in the jungle fighting or arguing. They hate each other, they try to hurt each other. But, in an hours time, when they leave the jungle, they are going to go to a SL club, and have a laugh about their fun Amazon River adventures. Because nothing you see in local is real, it is all Role-Play.
Your Character
So there you are, standing somewhere in the Jungle. An 'Explorer', with no idea what to do, where to go, or what the hell this is all about. Where do you start? Well first, walk around and explore some, is what we recommend. Get the feel for the place, the longer you are there, the more your imagination starts working on possibilities. After that a visit to our Wisdom Cave, off of the Landing, is a good idea.
Your first decision will be your character. What are you going to be? Native, Settler, Lost, Rogue, Wildlife, Amazon Pet? So many choices, so many possibilities!
We all have a reason for what we choose. Once you decide you may want to change your Avatar appearance to match, and find yourself something to wear (or not for natives!). This is the basics of starting to build your 'Character'.
Please note, any wild animals in the Amazon must Role-Play as wild and not domesticated. This means, they aren't friendly, can't be tamed, won't allow people to stroke them etc. Wild means WILD! Other players must also treat them as wild, unfriendly animals. We do allow people to Role-Play as such things as cats, dogs, horses, rabbits etc which can be domesticated, friendly and perhaps pets, and can have the tag of Amazon Pet.
After a while, you will start to fill that character out a little. Who is he/she? What is he/she like? Nice? Nasty? Respectful? Dishonest? Rude? Peaceful? Aggressive? So very many possibilities...
These choices effect how you Role-Play. If you choose to be a dishonest thief, your character will start to Role-Play stealing, breaking into buildings etc.
You have begun the adventure of 'becoming' your Amazon character!
Later, you might feel like adding more to your character, a little more depth. For example, some history, of just why they are a pacifist, or so angry with life? All of these things give you more possibilities and/or fun stories to tell around a camp fire. This is the start of your Back-Story...
Back-Story
As you explore, you will meet other players, all playing their chosen character. Some may well invite you to their fire and ask where you are from. This is Role-Play, so they aren't asking about your RL, they are asking your CHARACTER when they are from. This is when you might suddenly panic, realising that you have no idea where your character is from or his history.
This was your introduction to building your character's background story. In Role-Play, we call it your 'Back-Story'. Some people will sit down and write it all out in fine detail, some will make it up as they go along. Most of us 'tweaked' ours as our character grew and developed.
It is a good idea to put down at least the basics, for those moments you do meet someone who asks where you are from. Eventually, you will want to find a Seeker or a Monk, when you do this, they will want to see your Back-Story in your Profile, as they are mandatory for all Amazon Locals, so it isn't a bad idea to start writing one soon.
Role-Play Limits
Although we don't insist on new players including their Role-Play limits in their profiles immediately, it is good practice to add them as soon as you can. Your limits are things that you would be uncomfortable to Role-Play, they help other players to keep their Role-Play with you in a place that you will feel comfortable. You will have to have Limits to be a Local and before you go to find a Seeker or Monk, as RP Limits are mandatory for all Amazon Locals.
Please keep them reasonable, a long list of impossible limits will very possibly just make people avoid you, or worse still just not read.
We have a system built into our Amazon Life HUD to give you different levels of the Amazon Experience. This is explained elsewhere on the Amazon HUD page.
Please ensure that your Role-Play Limits match your choice of Role-play. For example, if you are playing as a PvP player (you wish to take part in metered combat and capture), you cannot have a limit which says "No Aggression" or "No Combat".
Also, please note, things such as the Role-Play of stealing, breaking in to houses, lock-picking, insulting other characters, occupying someones camp and refusing to move etc. are all seen as aggressive acts, and players using the "No Aggression" Limit, cannot RP them.
Please take time to familiarise yourself about just who can and can't RP aggressively and/or use metred weapons on the Amazon HUD page.
What is all this IC, OOC stuff?
So, we have talked about your 'character' and your 'back-story'. As already mentioned, everything in local is Role-Play, so everyone you meet in the jungle is Role-Playing as their 'character'. For the time they are in the Amazon Sims, they live within their character. Acting as they feel their character would, 'living' within their character. We call this 'In Character', or 'IC' for short.
Think of IC as an actor in a movie. In the movie 'Die Hard', Bruce Willis is John McClane. For the whole movie, he acts or Role-Plays as a hard assed New York detective. Everything he does or says is within that character. He never goes outside of that character and talks about his acting, or his RL home life, his acting contract, his weekend plans. All of those things are Outside of Bruce Willis's character, they do not exist for John McClane. In Role-Play well call these things 'Out Of Character', or 'OOC'.
Let's look at an Amazon jungle character called Maccus. In character he is a really rather unpleasant person at times. He has some good points, but mostly he is a rather foul mouthed, insulting man, who likes to push peoples buttons to illicit a response. But all of those things are his Role-Play persona, they should not be seen to be his 'RL' personality. OOC, most of how he acts is pretty foreign to the person on the other side of the screen, so in the beginning, it was a challenge to decide what this unpleasant character would do or how he would react to things, since his IC actions are so different from his creator's OOC ones.
Because in the Amazon, everything in Local is In Character (IC), you are asked not to put anything Out Of Character (OOC) in local chat. Anything in your IM or Group chat is OOC, so we ask you to please keep it in there.
Occasionally you might have to use some OOC in local. Perhaps you are in a group Role-Play, where you can't IM everyone and you need to leave suddenly. In those cases, we write the OOC comment in a certain way, so everyone can see it is not part of the Role-Play. We do this with ((double brackets)), like that. So you might say ((Sorry door bell)) or ((Really sorry, need to go to RL)). If is always double brackets, not single ones.
But please, minimise the amount of OOC you use in local.
Emoting
Now, the best bit!
When we speak in Role-Play, what we type in local is called a 'post'. There is an etiquette to Role-Play that we all follow. One of the basic rules of etiquette is that we all take turns to post. You post, then wait for your Role-Play partner/s to post, before making another. So, if you are new to Role-Play, it is a really great habit to get straight into. Post your line, or paragraph, then sit back, and wait for the others involved to have their 'turn'.
When we 'post', we could just speak, a bit like how most of you do in SL, perhaps like this: "Hello", "How are you", "Put away your knife" etc. But that is very limiting and doesn't convey your mood, your intent, your movements. So, in Role-Play, we use 'Emotes', and this is where the magic of Role-Play starts.
So, what is an emote? An emote is something that you include in your post, to describe to your fellow Role-Players, your movements, sounds etc. In the Amazon we ask that you do not emote your thoughts, since no one can 'see' a thought.
What difference does and emote make? Let’s look at this:
"Hello"
It is one word, it doesn't tell you a lot and doesn’t give the other players much to work with or tell them how to to react to you.
Now, look at these…
Stares at the man and frowns. His hand hovers over the handle of his knife “Hello”
Smiles warmly and extends his hand to the man “Hello”
Looks at the woman, his eyes slowly running over her naked body and then focusing on her brown eyes and smiling “Hello”
The same one word, but with a pretty simple emote, it shows people your intent and adds so much more to your post.
If you are new, start simply:
Smiles "Hi mister"
Nods at the man "Hello"
Looks around "Is this your camp?"
You will notice how we are writing these posts, putting the spoken words in " " speech marks. But, that is a personal preference. It doesn't matter how you write them, so long as they are easy to read.
Smiles at the man hello looks around is this your camp? ❌
See how hard that ↑ is to read? Pretty impossible really, and not a fair post to use, makes it difficult for everyone else.
*Smiles at the man* hello *looks around* is this your camp? ✔
Smiles at the man "hello" looks around "is this your camp?" ✔
Now, can you see how much easier it is to read that post?
Everyone has their way of writing posts:
*Smiles warmly at the woman* Hello miss, it is good to meet you, I’m Maccus
Smiles warmly at the woman “Hello miss, it is good to meet you, I’m Maccus”
Hello miss, it is good to meet you, I’m Maccus - Smiles warmly at the woman -
Smiles warmly at the woman “Hello miss, it is good to meet you, I’m Maccus”
No one style is more correct than the other, but in all of these, you can plainly see what part is an emote, and what part is speech. So, pick a style that works for you and stick to it.
Don't get too hung up on spelling mistakes, typos, bad grammar, getting the perfect, or the longest posts. Just start simple and have fun, after a while you will want to add more and more.
Some people write a sentence, some write a paragraph. Neither one is better than the other, so don't feel intimidated. We mentioned everyone taking turns earlier. Bear in mind, some folks type slow, some type fast, some type a sentence, some a paragraph; so, be patient while waiting for the other people to post.
Things To Avoid
Metagaming
- Your character can only 'know' what he has learned IC. You can't use information that you have learned OOC to your advantage. This is referred to as Metagaming.
- An example might be that you read in a persons profile that their secret base is in a certain location, and then launch an attack on that base. Your character didn't learn this himself or wasn't told IC, then you can't use that to give you an advantage. If the information wasn't obtained through correct IC means, then you cannot use it IC.
God Modding & Powerplay
- Do not manipulate your character's abilities, powers or skills so that you always has an advantage in a situation. This could be as simple as always having the strength to snap your bindings, or suddenly finding a 'hidden' knife to free yourself. Or the worse form is totally ignoring any emotes that might hurt or damage you and being impervious to pain and wounding. No one enjoys Role-Play with someone who has to win and totally refuses to 'lose'!
- When someone emotes tying your hands, then they are tied! The use of the 'Bind' feature on the Amazon Life HUD is nothing more that a prop. If your captor has bound you and leashed you with an emote, then you cannot simply jump up when the Life HUD allows as if nothing has happened.
- In Role-Play, you can't 'see' something on another player that they haven't emoted or told me about. So as a healer, unless the man has Role-Played that he has a red face and it is sweaty, you cannot say:
- *Looks at the sweat on the mans red face* ❌
Even if he tells you that he has a fever, and that realistically he probably would be sweating, you can't emote seeing it unless he has already Role-Played it.
- This also cannot be done:
*Walks up to Melissa and hugs her* ❌
You cannot use your emote to force Melissa to hug you, that is her choice to make. So, try doing this:
*Moves towards Melissa, reaching to hug her* ✔
Now Melissa can decide what her reaction will be.
- You also can only decide on your own actions and reactions. You cannot decide on someone else's. So, this is wrong:
You cannot decide IF you hit him and/or what damage is done, that is for John to decide. So, better would be:
He grunts loudly as he swings his arm in a wide arc, his fist moving quickly towards Johns nose ✔
Now, you have emoted your movement, it is up to John to make his.
Note: If you have someone captured, the rules on Power-Play change a
little, and you have to ask what is realistic. For example, if John is
tied up at your feet, you can swing your foot in a kick, but he still
might be able to roll away, so you wouldn't emote kicking him, just
taking the kick. However, if poor old John is staked out on the floor
and unable to move, then you could do this:
Swings his foot hard at John, kicking him in the side
However... you still cannot decide what damage you do to him, that is still for him to decide on. When captured your Role-Play choices get fewer, but you still have some, if you use imagination.
Chain Posting
As mentioned earlier, in Role-Play we take turns to post. One form of posting to avoid at all costs is what we call 'Chain Posting'. This is when you post several times, not giving others a chance to respond.
So please don't do this:
Smiles and waves
"Hello!"
Offers her a rose
Leans to kiss her
"So good to see you again" ❌
Take your time, type a full sentence, hit the enter key, then wait.
Emoting Thoughts
We ask that you do not emote thoughts in the Amazon. No one can react to them and they are just wasted.
So, please don't do things like this:
Find a way to vocalise what you were going to 'think'.
Now you have given the other player something they can use.
Emoting Insults
It is really poor to include insults or even compliments in an emote. Since they cannot be 'heard' by the other characters, they cannot respond to them.
You may think it is okay to emote 'nice' things, but you are still forcing your opinion on another character without giving them a chance to react to them, so stick to vocalising insults or compliments, so all involved are free to respond to them, in whatever way they wish to.
Reading tags or using information from peoples profiles
The information in peoples profiles and the tags above their head is all OOC and you cannot use it in Role-Play. Sure, you can read a profile to try and get some understanding of a persons character, but that is to improve the experience between the two of you and not to use it in the Role-Play.
You can't know someone's name, tribe, role unless you are told IC. So get used to ignoring tags!
Refusing to Role-Play
The Amazon is a Role-Play sim. As such everyone is expected to Role-Play within reasonable limits.
Attacking without Role-Play is not allowed, there must be Role-Play. You do not have to Role-Play before an attack (that would be unrealistic, in RL ambushes happen). But if there is none before the attack, you must Role-Play after it.
Don't be a poor looser. If you are wounded or captured, you are expected to Role-Play realistically. So please don't just laugh and ignore what others emote, or what they are doing to you. Show your Role-Play skills and display your pain, your anger, your begging, whatever floats your boat, but don't be childish and refuse to give your captors good Role-Play.
It is not acceptable to ignore valid RP and leave; so please play fair, honour the Role-Play and give it your best in return. TP out of valid RP is considered a dick-head move.
Even if you decide to pass out or faint, then you need to emote this. Going silent, fading to black or going AFK is not acceptable.
Rudeness in Role-Play
You are going to find people who are not so nice in the jungle. It is a dangerous nasty place. Hard to imagine that you will find everyone smiling, hugging and singing Kumbaya in such an environment.
First, remember it is Role-Play, it is one character speaking to your character, not to you behind the keyboard.
You can respond however you wish IC to such things with your Role-Play. Swear at them, insult them, attack them, laugh at them, turn and walk away. BUT... It must be done with Role-Play. Walking away without a post, is not considered Role-Play. Going silent and not posting, is not Role-Play. Sure you can choose to say nothing, but you have to emote saying nothing! This person, is only an IC enemy, not someone out to 'get' you RL.
Text speak and Emojis
Gestures, spankers, huggers, tummy talkers etc
We ask that you don't use gestures (especially those with sound effects), or anything that puts sounds or 'spams' local such as spankers or tummy talkers. Please set them to silent or so that only you can hear them.
Things like huggers are a perfectly good to 'pose' your Avatar, but they need to be accompanied by an emote in local first.
Interrupting ongoing Role-Play
Avoid using your viewers shout function
Good Habits
When ill, act ill!
You should always Role-Play the symptoms of your illness, and not just tell people what your HUD tells you that you have. Remember, the information the Life HUD gives you is OOC. It is meant to help you know how best you should Role-Play your symptoms, not to tell you what it wrong with you.
Post-Order - Take turns to post, be patient waiting for others to post
Some people write more than others, some write slower, so be patient, sit back and wait to read their post.
Always read their post before you post again, don't pre-write a post that takes no account of what they have posted
Keep your posts IC
Don't use information from a persons tag or profile. You can only 'know' what you have been told in Role-Play.
Don't use information from your Life HUD or someone else's in Role-Play. So, for example, don't speak of your HP, it is of course OOC. Instead speak of being hungry, feeling weak etc. Obviously, you can't 'know' someone else is hungry unless they have mentioned it, so don't check their HUD and say "You look hungry", 'cause really, you can't know in RL whether someone is hungry or just had a huge meal!
Write your posts so they are easy to read and people can tell which is an emote and which is speech
Take your time writing your post, it isn't a race, people should be waiting for you
If someone crosses one of your Role-Play limits, don't assume they did it on purpose, open an IM to them and politely point it out and ask can they change the direction of the Role-Play a little.
Accidents happen, people forget or misread. If someone appears to be crossing a limit of yours, ask them nicely in IM.
Note: Threats are not the same as actions. In RL we often threaten things in our speech that we would never really do, Role-Play is the same. Someone threatening to kill you, shoot you, rape you, doesn't mean they are planning to actually Role-Play it. So please don't immediately jump in their IM for a threat, wait to see where the Role-Play goes.
If you don't understand someone's post, IM them and ask them to explain it
Remember, your Role-Play partner might be your IC adversary or enemy, but OOC they are just a player who wants to have enjoyable Role-Play. Don't let yourself get angry OOC at a characters IC anger
Be accepting of others
W.A.F.U.
We All Fuck Up, all of us, yes, even you! So don't assume someone is cheating, or trying to cross your limits, or trying to piss you off RL. Be patient and see where the Role-Play is going, if in doubt, ask in IM nicely. Give the other person a chance to put errors right and change the direction of their play.
Text is not the easiest medium to get across what you are saying and the meaning of it, so give someone a chance to explain or to correct an error before you get upset.
Be patient and understanding with those you do not know, give them the same amount of lee-way as you would a friend.
HAVE FUN!
Did we mention - HAVE FUN?
More Help
We also publish Role-Play Tips on this website, so please take a look at those for some useful facts and ideas..All members of the Amazon Leader team are happy to help you with your Role-Play questions. We also have the Amazon Mentors who are specifically there to help and guide you. You can contact them from the Mentor Contact Board, in the Guarani Camp in 'Deep Drop' overlooking the swamp (look for the signal fires) or, failing that, you can use the 'Mentor' button on your Life HUD to contact us.
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