ÿþ<html> <body> </space> <p>Responding back& </p> <p>In my humble opinion, a very lazy way of role-playing. I know, I know, that s quite a statement that s sure to hit a lot of people hard& so I guess I better explain myself.</p> <p>It s a rather easy concept to explain, for responding back RP s are exactly that, you write up a response to something that your opponent has already posted, a retort if you will. But each time I see this I just roll my eyes. Why? Because of the sheer uncreativity of it all.</p> <p>In role-playing it takes a lot of thought and effort to come out with the basic elements of a standard post. You have to decide upon a theme, a scene, additional characters, motivation and of course your ultimate message. That s a ton of creative juices flowing to type out a decent role-play. So wouldn t it piss you right off to have some scab leach off your efforts and type up a similar RP where many of your well planned out thoughts and clever observations were merely rebuffed. Now sure they may also have added a few jabs in themselves but the fact remains, their RP wouldn t exist if it wasn t for your original creativity.</p> <p>To me, no matter how logical and persuasive the argument against what I have posted, what it all boils down to is that all my opponent has done& is respond.</p> <p> I ve been original&  I ve went out on a limb&  I ve set the framework for the backstage banter& All they ve done is answer back&  am not! </p> <p>I chuckle to myself each time (because it happens a whole heck of a lot) I read on some e-fed s forums where a player complains that his/her opponent always posts too close to the deadline leaving them nothing to  work with. What kind of complaint is that? After all reverse the statement and you ll find that these complainers have also not posted anything either, since they were waiting for their opponent to post first. What if both players were the type that liked to make responsive RP s. Who s going to go first? </p> <p>I ve written it before, I ll write it again& all role-plays should be stand-alone pieces of work. The material you need to  work with, is your own creative ideas, not some back-talking responses you need to address fro your opponent. If your character was truly worth something, nothing your opponent says, types or posts should effect you in any way. Your role is to be a fantasy wrestler, living in a fantasy world, doing fantasy stuff. Your role is not to be a wrestler that sits in front of a TV screen responding to promo work done by others. Role-playing is about taking the e-world by the horns and hashing out RP s that enhance your character and bring him/her to life. It s not a debate about who has the coolest character or whom makes the most logical reason for winning.</p> <p>If you absolutely need to respond to something your opponent has posted the indirect approach is always the best route. Indirect responding is when you mention what your opponent has written and rebuff their notions and ideas without giving them credit for saying it. For example& if your opponent says something like  Dr. Doom hasn t beaten anyone of quality since he s been here in the XWX. Even his win over The Amazing Erik was a fluke. To respond indirectly you d merely have to mention&  I ve taken my bumps, absorbed my loses and have come back strong each time. Finally, after learning what it takes to win in an XWX ring I put my well-earned battle scars to good use and over-came one of the XWX s finest wrestlers, The Amazing Erik! NO longer am I the fresh face that others can push around& I am DOOM& both in name and in ability! You see, although you have responded you have made the idea your own, for the benefit of your character& which is what you could have done even if your opponent had not mentioned your past losing streak and latest win over Erik. Which only cements my point about making role-play elements completely stand-alone.</p> <p>In conclusion, do not wait for others to role-play first& you re being lazy and uncreative. In the long run you will not be doing yourself any good or bettering your RP ability. The chance to role-play is the chance to tell a story about your character and to attract as many readers as possible. I think that s a lot better reading material, than reading a point by point  am-not ,  are-so debate.</p> </space> </body> </html>