Post by Shale ♠ on Jul 20, 2013 23:07:06 GMT -5
Now, it's come to my attention that some of you people don't know what the term god-modding means. Or maybe some of you think you know but don't really know so you're completely unaware of how to avoid it. So gather around, children of the morning, and let your dear Weird Non-Binary Older Relative Loulou teach you aaaaall about the horrible thing known as god-modding.
WHAT IS GOD-MODDING?!
Taking too much control of a situation. RP is a multi-person thing. Believe it or not, there are real people behind the keyboard and these people have thoughts and emotions! They aren't just posting machines! And because of that, god-modding is considered one of the most rude things to do when it comes to role playing.
Now, god-modding can happen in several different ways. Below are common god-modding symptoms, and you should do well to avoid these!
#1: THE SUPERMAN
This is basically giving your character abilities that normal humans would not have, despite not being a psychic or an aura guardian. They can go toe-to-toe with Pokemon, cut bullets in half with swords, and they never come out worse-for-wear because of it.
How do you avoid being a superman? Simple: you do your research. If you want to play someone who has the strength of a professional MMA fighter, make sure you remember that humans have limitations. We also would prefer it if you kept such characters within a reasonable age range and gave them a playby that fits the character type. A 16-year-old female will not be able to wring a Garchomp's neck. Actually, no human could. Pokemon are stronger than humans in almost every case.
Also, don't dodge bullets or (heaven forbid) cut them in half with a sword. If you don't want your character be killed by a bullet, say the bullet missed, not that your character dodged it. Or, better yet, get hit once in a while! It's possible to take a bullet without dying!
#2: THE MYSTERIOUS VANISHING ATTACK
It's easier to explain this with an example:
"Proton got hit by Platinum's pillow. He hissed, slid back, and then responded by aiming his squirt gun at her face and then firing."
"Platinum hit Proton with her pillow again."
What happened to the Squirt Gun?! Dude, that's not cool. How do you fix this? Simple: just react to it. Dodge it, take the attack, hit the attack with your own counter attack.
Here's a fixed example:
"Proton got hit by Platinum's pillow. He hissed, slid back, and then responded by aiming his squirt gun at her face and then firing."
"Platinum swung her pillow down; his squirt gun hit her pillow's case and got the surface wet as she tried to hit him again."
Or, if you want to take the attack like a man:
"Proton got hit by Platinum's pillow. He hissed, slid back, and then responded by aiming his squirt gun at her face and then firing."
"Platinum sputtered angrily as the water hit her face 'You jerk!' she cried, and then swung her leg at Proton's shin."
#3: THE RAPID-FIRE
This is more of a dick move than god-modding, unless you're using only one Pokemon. So it's turn one and you want to make an impression. So what do you do? You send out your entire team, have them all make multiple attacks at your opponent, then shoot your gun at them a few times for extra measure. Oftentimes your opponent is caught off-guard and can't properly fight back. Yay, you win!
Except this is often a rude thing to do! If you want to do this, ask your partner first, because no one likes getting caught between 20 attacks before they've even started! Now, if you and your opponent both have all six of your pokemon out, that's fine, but this is mostly on the first post.
Another thing to remember is that you should only use so many moves per turn. Some moves can form combos. Allow me to explain.
For this metaphor, your Altaria knows Roost, Perish Song, Peck, Double Team, and Dragon Pulse. It's your turn, and we're going to pretend that your opponent is doing nothing. You can:
1) Attack with Dragon Pulse/Peck
2) Boost with Double Team, then Attack with either peck or Dragon Pulse
3) Use Roost (or any healing move)
4) Use Perish Song (or any other major support move)
5) Boost with Double Team and wait
You cannot:
1) Use Roost then Dragon Pulse/Peck
2) Use Dragon Pulse then Peck
3) Use Roost then Perish Song
4) Use Perish song then Dragon Pulse/Peck
Notice that major support moves should get their own turn. The only exception: Light Screen and Reflect are usually fine to have up in one turn. Moves that heal should be used in one post; moves that boost stats can be used with an attack or used separately.
#4: INFOMODDING
Okay, so let's say that your character is thinking about stealing something and isn't quite showing it. Suddenly, the Imperial Guard comes up and yells "STOP! YOU'VE VIOLATED THE LAW!" because he automatically knows you're going to steal things and you've stolen things before despite not being open about it.
What do we call this? Infomodding. And it is the most annoying thing in the world.
Now, some things are obvious. Someone in a Police uniform is almost always a cop. Some people are famous; Alyssa Akiyama is a cornerstone of Lux propaganda, Platinum is a hero in Sinnoh for stopping Team Galactic, and most people know that Professer Juniper is a Pokemon Researcher in Unova. But things that aren't so obvious? Instantly knowing someone's backstory, or that someone who doesn't appear dangerous is a dangerous person, or something like that? That is not cool.
Remember that your character is not a mind-reader, nor is your character all-knowing. Also, remember that even if your character has a psychic type that can "read minds," human minds aren't concrete things and can't be read like a book. You can't pull out magical bits of info from them.
If you don't know if your character should know something, ask! Otherwise, go with the ignorant option, which is always the safer bet. It's better to get the "oh so this person doesn't know this" reaction than to piss someone off for infomodding!
#5: THE PUPPET MASTER
A puppet master uses either auto-hit or controls a character, often both. Auto-hit is basically hitting something in your post, without letting the other person react. Allow me to explain:
"Thorton swung at Palmer."
"Palmer kicked Thorton in the stomach, unleashed a hadouken, and then chewed off Thorton's face. Thorton screamed like a baby and died."
You see how not-cool this is? Yeah, that's really not cool. Don't control other people's characters, especially in battle. And don't ever say your attack hit. Use words like "aimed" or "fired at" or "tried to".
"But I've seen a thread where Merope's Liepard auto-murdered a Deino!!!"
Yes, I am using a real thread as an example, because this is not a case of god-modding. You see, Merope's player had permission from Elliot's player to do this.
"Wait, I can do that if I ask first and the other person is OK with it?!"
Yeah. So how do you do that? Ask first. Whenever this happens in RP and the mods don't jump on the thread, it's because the action was necessary for story advancement. It'd slow down the thread otherwise.
SO SOME CLOSING NOTES...
In general, asking first is the first step to preventing god-modding. And no, it's not a bad thing if you mess up and another RP'er confronts you about it. We all make mistakes. The important thing is to fix them. Just try to learn from your mistakes, too, and use this guide to help!
OH, AND SOME OTHER THINGS!!
• Realism is a factor in god-modding. Want to charge a dragon head-first armed only with a knife? Go right ahead! But understand that the dragon is going to hit you back hard, as Pokemon are naturally stronger than humans. Likewise, a child with one NFE pokemon is going to lose. Every. Single. Time.
• If you intend to win battles, don't ever play a character that uses only weapons and no Pokemon. Lots of characters carry weapons, but if you rely only on human strength, you are going to fail. Rotoms can cause guns to misfire, destroy gadgets, and shock you from the ground. Anything with Extremespeed can outrun humans. Steel and rock types can eat bullets and blades for breakfast, and most characters aren't given access to top-tier explosives that would actually do damage to most Pokemon, which move too fast and hit too hard to make them of any use.
• If you don't want your character or your character's Pokemon getting hurt, DON'T ENTER BATTLES. It's ok to complain about getting randomly shot in a quiet thread. It's NOT OK to ignore attacks or godmod in your battles because you don't want your precious baby getting hurt.
• Also, don't think that taking hits means you will lose! Characters have lost Pokemon and gotten hurt and still managed to pass through to the next round!
Guide courtesy of: Lou