Quote from: CRKrueger;1041239First person roleplaying =/= Theatrical acting or voice-acting.  Those are separate things that can get added in to first person roleplaying, or not.

It does kind of blend in when you have done voice acting and public speaking. Also handy for amusing or disturbing coworkers, especially my Pennywise. Both of him. But I do agree with you, it is not necessary to alter your pitch or try and do an impression. Talking in the first person works just fine when you speak in your normal voice, though perhaps with a different inflection. Audio books are a good example of this.

Quote from: Omega;1040944...players will say things like "I swing my sword at the orc." or "I cast detect magic on the treasure." and either talking directly to the NPC like "How much is this sword worth?" or indirectly but still in character like "I ask the farmer for directions to the local tavern." Many even alternate between those two approaches depending on the situation. And often an interaction will start with "I talk to the NPC" and thereafter rolls into direct conversation with the NPC.

In general this is what I've experienced.

A few players are able to create a clear voice for one or more of their characters. By voice I don't mean funny voices or accents, but a character who acts and speaks in a way that is recognizably different from the player themself and from the other players and their characters at the table and also different from other characters that the creator plays. I like when that happens.

I am as happy with "I attack the orc" as "My character attacks the orc" or even "I swing at the misshapen spawn of chaos". Simialrly, I am good if someone does everything in first person, or third person, or a mixture of the two.

As a GM, I have to do a certain amount of acting, but nothing over the top. When playing two NPCs, it is easier to say "Ralzakark tells you to go away but Harrek tells you to stay" that "Ralzakark: Go away and never come back! Harrek: No, stay".

As a player, if I am roleplaying a scene then there is a certain amount of acting, if I am in character and in dialogue. But, if my PC is going berserk, I don't jump up and flip the table over.

One DM I play with does it pretty well whereby everything is just "I attack, hit and do X damage."  But whenever we kill an opponent he asks us how we "want to do it" and then we proceed to describe our attack.  Sweet and simple.  At the other end was pretty much every Exalted game I ever played or ran in college.  

We have one player who does really good accents.

But for us, role playing is more about making choices the way your character makes them, rather than how you make them.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1041409There's a reason rpg snacks are made of CHEESE.

That explains why I've never seen Australian chocolate!

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1041409What a bunch of communists.

You don't fool me, you AmDram luvie!
[video=youtube;pFIDvc01VK8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFIDvc01VK8[/youtube]

I don't know exactly what the quoted fragment from the OP is getting to, probably not what I'm saying here, but technically speaking he's right. Roleplaying and acting are slightly different things. You can roleplay without being a truly great actor.

However, the problem is that some assholes think that RPGs do not require Roleplaying, and that's utterly wrong.

I like in character first person roleplay. That is what makes the game flow smoothly and quickly. It greatly helps to keep things from bogging down. I tell players up front to make decisions quickly and keep discussions short because random encounters happen when there is indecisive deer in the headlights breaking of character. I don't like acting as it is non-immersive and completely separate from roleplay IMO. I don't like funny voices unless they are spontaneous and really fit the character. Under no circumstances is anyone to break out in a falsetto, unless the character is a eunuch. (it has happened)

@Prometianvigel

QuoteDon't just "break out" an African accent. You'll just sound racist.

Black people (esp. Nigerians/Ghanains) know I am half-Black when I'm able to say "Jollof" or "Egu" or "Maate" or "Afuwete" in just that right way that they know I grew up around West Africans. And if you wanna go African-American, don't go all "Ebonics minor", it's about the swagger and it's about know how certain phrases, modes of speech are linked that make it sound authentic.  

Yeah.  I get that.  Problem is you can't get any better unless you practice.  I practice the african accent a bit to my self.  I also really want to put a Chinese lady in my game.  She is really sweet we really like her and she has a very distinct way of speaking, both in the typical chinese immigrant accent and specific mannerisms and phrases she uses which would make her a really cool and memorable NPC.  

So here's the thing.  Trigger warning this might be going deep into SJW territory.  If I do non-white accents I don't have as much practice they may not sound good and may sound like a chaciture and racist.  

If I don't do them I have completely white washed my campaign.  There are no asian accents of african accents.  When I listened to critical role I noticed everyone was european, No asians, No africans, there weren't even any Americans, and there are some really cool american accents, Texas, Tennessee, New York, Montana.  Very different, cool, you can hang a personality on a couple words, and you can do them with out sounding racist.  Instead we get every fantasy world populated entirely from the British Isles.  


(I really wamt to make my ogres Norwegian.  With a nit of practice I could have my players pissing themselves.)

Quote from: RPGPundit;1042632However, the problem is that some assholes think that RPGs do not require Roleplaying, and that's utterly wrong.

The bigger problem is those who think role-playing themselves and not their character are the real problem.

Quote from: Headless;1043176(I really wamt to make my ogres Norwegian.  With a nit of practice I could have my players pissing themselves.)

Make them Swedish.  As in "The Swedish Chef."

I dare you.  I double dare you.

I double-dog dare you!

Quote from: Headless;1043176So here's the thing.  Trigger warning this might be going deep into SJW territory.  If I do non-white accents I don't have as much practice they may not sound good and may sound like a chaciture and racist.  

If I don't do them I have completely white washed my campaign.

As somebody who would probably qualify as SJW to many of the posters around here, I have to agree with you.  There are times I feel damned if I do and damned if I don't.

And don't forget, if your fantasy book is only white characters it's racist, but if it includes nonwhite characters you're guilty of cultural appropriation.

On topic -- I don't try accents.  Not even a little.  Except for comic ones.  My bugbears talk like Mongo from "Blazing Saddles."  "Necross the (Ha Ha Ha!) Mad" talks like Exidore from "Mork and Mindy."  The Patriarch of St. Cuthbert talks like the Godfather ("Some day.. and this day may never come... the Temple of Cuthboit will need a favor...").

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1043220Make them Swedish.  As in "The Swedish Chef."

I dare you.  I double dare you.

I double-dog dare you!

"Bork bork, Bork bork!"

Despite having a lousy ear for accents in general, I will unconsciously mimic the accents of people in the room.  I do this all the time, not just gaming.  Most people do that to some extent, but with me it's rapid.

It's something that I need to watch constantly around people that don't know me well.  When I catch myself doing it in casual conversation, I'll just stop talking.  That's the worst of both worlds when it comes to accents in games--not only miss the accent I'm aiming for, but speak such that someone thinks I am mocking them.  My sister, who isn't a gamer, has it worse than I do.  She does the same mimic thing and has a good ear for accents.  It's probably a good thing mine is so bad.