By Care

While our chatters are the heart and soul of roleplay, rooms are what give their characters a place to become incarnate. Managing rooms can be a difficult but ultimately rewarding task, and each leader has taken their own road to the “top”. In this issue, Care introduces us to one of the many variations on comic-based roleplay!

Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of the Featured Room interview. I’ve scrounged the whochat and looked all over for a room that I haven’t featured yet. This time, I came up with Marvel/DC Infiniverse. This room is run and operated by Diabolus, who has been around ReVo for a couple of years now, so for this quarter, I’m going to sit down with him and get to the bottom of Marvel/DC Infiniverse.

Since you know it’s me, thank you for doing this for us.

First off, I would like to ask, where did the idea of Marvel/DC Infiniverse come from?

Diabolus: Well, first I would very much like to say that I am quite humbled at the interview for the room. So thank you, ReVo, for that. The idea actually came from my love of comics, along another room that I used to help run with neo2681. He ran the Marvel Apocalypse Room, and we are actually good friends from being older roleplayers, back in the late ’90s-early 2000s. In that room, we had come up with the idea to allow people to play any character they wanted that was a Marvel character. So, really, it came from that.

I have seen some many rooms that split the two continuums over the years, and I agree, but I figured that I would also take some of the debates in the comicverse online – a Marvel vs DC kind of deal. So instead of just saying, “Okay, we are in the same universe,” and so on, I created the Infiniverse, a place where the characters from both Marvel and DC are interacting on our world, again able to be played any way that a person wants. Good, bad, whatever. It’s basically a combination of ideas from the old room and my own vision of giving the player as much choice as they want – to a degree, that is, but as much choice as they want within the boundaries of the room. And, besides, who doesn’t want to see what would happen if Captain America took on Batman, or The Justice League and the Avengers teamed up.

One room, both comics, and lots of fun. How would you describe a typical roleplay within the room? Any moments where you have to stop yourself from saying, “No, Batman would not do that to Wolverine”?

Diabolus: Well, what we try to do here as much as possible is give creative freedom within our roleplays. Actually, two of our biggest roleplays right now, “Prisoner No More” and “Fallen Knight”, are slowly beginning to mix the characters. When the room first started out, the natural idea that was gravitated towards was a modicum of seperation. I have an excellent team of people that are constantly, and I mean constantly, coming up with ideas for the room in general. And then there are the players themselves – wow. What can I say about the individual players, other than that there are some great thinkers out there.

I digress, though. The bigger roleplays are more or less – not planned, that is not the right word, but do have a very general overall idea. From there, it is a matter of having the players having the players inside those storylines pick up on things themselves through their characters and interactions. For instance, ” Fallen Knight” started very slowly, with the Joker doing his usual routine with Batman – taking his unpredictable plan and starting to move it forward, which brought in Zatanna. Zatanna, usually, is looked at like one of the – if not the – most powerful magic users in the DC universe, and she has a long friendship with the Batman. The person that plays Zatanna here, though, decided that she would depict her as becoming unhinged since the death of her father, which really changed the dynamic of the character. She and Constantine used to be lovers, but now she blames him for the death of her father (or at least, blames him for being a big part of it). That’s how the Joker got his hooks in her. Meanwhile, since the other villains of Gotham do not really work well with the Joker, or vice versa, most of them have been drawn into taking this as a time to strike while Batman is busy. Basically, it is very much like a “Second Knightfall”, only without the idea of one overall supreme villain and just the Batman. To top it all off, the other roleplays that we have going in the room weave in and out of that main story. Black Adam and Supergirl (who’s currently possessed by Isis) are trying to find her body and amulet and put it back together.

Anyway, I am rambling. A typical roleplay in the room is very much like the comics, a fundamental part of the story. A hero can only be as good as the villain. Villains are what drive storylines. They are the ones that leave breadcrumbs, clues, or otherwise plant narratives for the hero to gather and follow. So, really, it starts with whatever idea a person may have – whether it be a room-wide storyline from the start, or a small idea that turns into something huge. There is no true typical roleplay. It’s all what a person can muster in their mind. You do not have to be a fan of comics or know comics well to be able to play in the room. Vampire, SoA, or any other type of roleplay requires someone coming up with a storyline and putting it into action, which others can then jump in on. There are no outcomes planned, nor every detail thought out. We want the players to let their imaginations run with the characters as much as possible.

That is the great thing about both comics and roleplay right? That it is all fantasy. There are times that we have had to say, “What is my motivation?” Those times are really more about trying to make sure that nothing, well, godly is done, or something that a character would do everything in their power not to do. Make sense? A good example being the idea that Batman does not kill, when in fact, he has. He merely tries his hardest to make sure that he doesn’t have to. So if there is a situation that arises where someone might want to claim that a character wouldn’t do that, we kind of just put it out there that if there are any questions about what’s going on, then ask. If a player is stuck, we have no problem thinking of how a character would react or what they would do. Like I said, I have a great bunch of people helping me. Usually, though, we never police roleplay. Provide help, as much as we can. But never police.

What would you say to someone that wasn’t familiar with the comic characters and had a big issue playing canon characters (like, say, a “Batman” or “Superman”)? How could someone like that get involved in the roleplay you have going on in the room?

Kara: I think at first, I would ask what the reason (if any) there would be for having an issue with playing canon characters – not that it’s a big issue; more so just as a starting point.

Diabolus: Actually, that is a question that I hoped you would ask. We have created characters as well, with which we help players with that are not familiar with, or just not into, the canon idea. I wanted to make sure that there was an avenue for players that fell into that category. So there is the ability to create your own, which we are more then happy to sit down and discuss with a person, even if they have no idea what they want or can possibly do. We want everyone here to be able to enjoy what they are playing.

I personally take it as a responsibility to the players in the room that want to get involved, but are unfamilar with canon characters, to do my very best to provide them with statistics and an origin. Nothing to pen a player into a corner, no; just crucial information that sticks with the main idea of the room. We do not care how you play characters. We only ask you stick with the name, powers, and origin, and that is it. In fact, we have already helped a player that wished to play a particular character but wanted to change the gender. Still the same character, just the opposite gender.

I do, however, ask potential players who or what they are interested in, what makes them feel comfortable, and so on. Just to get a basic idea of possible characters. Barring any situations where the character might be taken, or are a little too powerful (and even then, we might be willing to make an exception on to get people to play), I try to use that to help people pick out a canon character. I usually do up, like I said, a very short powers and origins sheet for the person and send it to them in PM. It is kind of a cheat sheet, really.

Beyond that, as far as how anyone plays their character, it is up to them, really. Almost all of us have seen the movies and/or read comics, so most mainstream characters are pretty easy to get a grasp on. But if a player comes along that knows nothing about comics, then we go out of our way to help them get a character that may be suited to a comfortable style of play – an example being someone from vampire roleplay who enjoys a dark, creepy type of character. It is what they have been playing for years. Well, I, along with my team, am on it to help as much as possible to make the transition that much smoother. So what I would say to someone that has an issue with canon characters or comics in general: How can the room help you?

Kara, for your question, there are some like myself that do not feel comfortable playing a character that was someone else’s brain child.

Now, Diabolus, how does Marvel/DC Infiniverse differ from the other comic rooms around the sites?

Kara: I can understand that.

Diabolus: How do we differ from other rooms? Well, it is all under one room, which keeps all the storylines and players in one area, so it is easier to help, communicate, and otherwise handle issues that may arise. I cannot and will not speak on anyone else’s team or rooms as far as providing asisstance to players. I honestly believe that we all do the best job that we can. I like to think, though, that we perhaps go in more of a helpful direction with our players. I have spent the better part of the time the room has been open working with players to help get ideas and characters generated. Also, we go out of our way to bring into the room everyone that shows interest (or even potential interest). We have a personal info topic on our thread to make sure that any possible real time complications (being away or sick, things like that) are handled. We have a policy for recycling characters that is more then fair. We try our hardest to work with the players and intergrate everyone into the roleplays that are going on, even going so far as to help with actual introduction roleplays into the room. So, I guess I would have to say that the difference is both in the cohesion of my team and the room, and the freedom to not have any real expectations on characters – just letting the imagination and ideas flow from one and all.

Oh, no, I wasn’t trying to compare your room to the others! I know each works slightly differently.

Tell the readers if you have had any moments yet that are just like “WTF” type things?

Diabolus: I know, I know, we are kind of all alike. A vamp room is a vamp room, really, and a comic room is a comic room. I guess to add on to that, Care, around here we are more interested in playing with our players then letting our players play with themselves. (And let the puns roll in!)

Honestly, everyone in the room seems to be gravitating to the guy that plays Green Arrow. I don’t understand it. The guy is great – he really is. I met him a couple of months ago, and he is a good roleplayer, actually very humble and shy. But somehow, and we have no idea how, he is in the middle of everything. His character is mixed up in so many plots, without him even trying, that is the thing. It kind of started as a joke, and then – bang! Now it is like a spiderweb. Which is rather cool.

“WTF” moments. I can’t speak for anyone else, but some of the stuff that Kara has done with her characters – completely out of left field. The two big room-wide roleplays are actually her brain children. And I have to say that character choices can be, as well. The one that surprised me was Caedam and Spiderman, I know Caedam, so it was interesting to see him take the character, since he and I are mostly talking about bad guys or evil plans all the time. Not to mention a lot of people that I thought would never come into a comic room have dropped in to play. I have been doing this a very long time and still get surprised every night.

Are there any plans or ideas for any events in the future? We see many rooms hosting Trivia Nights and Paint Nights. Anything of that nature, or is it all just going to be storyline based events?

Diabolus: I want to have a good room and good community, period. I want to have a place where people can come hang out, and those that are of the “old school” mentality can adapt to the new form of roleplay as I had to, but also have a little bit of the old back as well. Yes, though, to all of those. I would love to have trivia nights, paint nights; heck, we have had DJ Caedam in twice to DJ. Stuff like that. I am completely down for it. I was even thinking of trying a roleplay marathon, actually, once we had a few more players and so on. Halloween ideas, Christmas as well. I am more then open to doing that and have already kind of thought about something.

That’s great to hear. I know we have bounced around a little bit, with the subject being Marvel/DC Infiniverse, so tell me something you want to share with the readers and possible new roleplayers?

Diabolus: Something to share? Well, I have been roleplaying online almost since the dawn of the net. Since 1997 (goes to get my cane), and I have never slowed down. I have seen the rise and sheer dominance of old World of Darkness/free-form, and I have seen the decline of it. The rise and plateau of LKH roleplay. I’m not saying I have seen it all, nor am I saying that I know it all. Far, far from it. I can say, though, that if I were to pass anything on – knowledge, advice, what have you – don’t be like me. Learn to type. And also – well, look. Things are different then they were then, we (meaning us older roleplayers) are never going to get what we had then, and newer players are never going to experience it. So somewhere you have to meet in the middle. Pass on knowledge, facts, or helpful hints. Learn to accept them. Think, be creative, and don’t let anyone else tell you how to think or how something or someone should be played. It is your idea. As long as boundaries in the rooms are respected, then be creative as you can.

I once had a seperate and very long discussion with several dear friends (Masi and Fury), and in those conversations, I bring possibly the best advice I can. Learn to solo. It sucks, yeah, but learn to do it. It is the heart of roleplay. It helps flesh out characters, it helps with your thoughts, and so much more. It helps to describe and detail. (The who? what? when? where? and why? And most importantly, how?) Not that every post has to be a mammoth one. But I have been asked over the years how to write so well (minus the grammar and spelling), and my response has always been the same: Passion. And my favourite quote from any TV show is, “Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we’d know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we’d truly be dead.”

Learn to love the hobby or lifestyle (whichever), not think of it as a chore or just something to do. It is so much more. It is like reading. The human mind is so powerful. Live your character when you play. See what they see, smell what they smell, taste, and so on. Be them. Method. Make that other person squirm, melt, twitch, flinch, or whatever. The object of the game is not there can be only one. The object of the game is to have fun. So do that. Remember it is a game.

Well, I have to thank you for taking the time out to do this interview with me, and look forward to seeing the growth of the room.

Diabolus: Well, once again, Care, thank you for interviewing me. I find it very honouring, really.

Thank you and have a good night!