The Anti Munch Project

Well then. The following is a list of guidelines, or rather, definitions of people you want to avoid being. Not only have I found some of my own traits in here, but I've also improved myself form this list. Also known as godmodders/cheapsakes/bitches/ect. I'm posting it, mainly since it's a very good way to realize your own errors and shortcomings in RP, and correct them. A guide to get better, overall.

-All Credit and Work go to oxymoron_02.

Anti Munch Project



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What AMP is all about
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The Anti Munch Project is all about roleplay awareness. With newcomers to roleplay appearing on the scene all the time, often with little idea of how it's done, we need this thread to show them where they are going wrong.

I am a prime example of a new roleplayer who is by no means doing everything wrong on purpose, but simply doesn't know better. I started roleplaying on November 15th 2003, when I joined Gaia first. I immediately joined a "guild" in Organisation/Military entitled The Gaia Mafia, which was undergoing an attack at the time by The Dark Church. I waltzed into the middle of this with a ludicrously overpowered character, although it was essentially just me with god-like powers. I did wonder why no one else was as powerful, and promptly set about slaughtering the attackers.

Only when Pax Ethenica told me that I was godmoding (a term which meant nothing to me) and threatened to ignore me, did I try to find out what I should be doing. I sent Pax a PM, since he seemed to know what he was talking about, and after explaining that I had joined literally that night, he gave me a brief rundown of what he meant by godmoding, and he gave me a link to the AMP, something I have taken religiously ever since.

In just a few short weeks I was roleplaying on a par with Pax Ethenica himself, and other greats such as Edymion, Gelmax, Boxah etc These are names you may or may not know.

The only reason I tell you this is because it demonstrates that not everyone is a "n00b" (a term which I have hated for a while now), and also to show you that some people genuinely have no idea what is happening when they enter a roleplay for what might be their first time.

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So what is in this thread?
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This AMP thread lists first the types of roleplayer (all the largely agreed upon definitions, any corrections just PM me), and then the various types of Muncher/Godmoder/Godmodder.

In light of previous whining I have decided to kill all user input, including my own added terms. Apparently the concept of an AMP open to suggestion was not a popular idea.

The types of munching have now been ordered alphabetically. I tried to go for 'seriousness of offence', but it was too difficult. Alphabetical order is generally easier to navigate and simpler to flick to find the definition of a certain term, anyway.

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Types of Roleplayer
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Despite the definitions below, individuals tend to have their own definitions of the major terms for types of roleplayer. The definitions given here are sort of a "mean" or "average" of those opinions. No individual's opinion is incorrect, so long as they explain what they mean when using a certain term, if others ask.

Oldbies: Are veterans of roleplaying. They generally know best after years of experience. Becoming an oldbie, however, is not necessarily the ultimate goal; many people are fine just settling down as Literate.

Elites: A tricky area, the term Elite is often taken to mean someone who is superb at roleplaying, however this is usually reserved for the term Oldbie. Following now is a description of an Elite as typically seen.

Elites are on their way to becoming Oldbies, but somehow veer off-course and become asshats instead. Elites can be recognised by their "Elites only" policy, with no lee-way whatsoever. They are generally quite cocky, think they are better, and insist on using reams and reams of detail. This can be particularly true for magic users, who are convinced that their descriptions of the traits and limits of magic are unquestionable.
Thankfully their numbers are few and far between, and I can think of only one in recent memory.

Literates: Literate roleplayers are just that. Literate. They use correct punctuation and grammar, and roleplay fairly. Literates often refer to, and follow the AMP (Anti-Munch Project). A common flaw in being Literate is that you can be too fair, but that is by no means a totally end of the world drama oh the horror bad thing.

Newbie/Newb: A Newbie can at first seem to be a n00b, they can though, learn to correctly roleplay fairly and adequately. Newbies are to be encouraged and treated well, and will often grow into skilled Literates.

ne0 n00b: ne0s (never use a capital 'n' for them!) at first appear to be Literates. This falsehood becomes apparent after a few posts however, as they tend to break the AMP a lot, and are actually just n00bs who can spell.

n00b: (Don't use a capital 'n' for these either!) n00bs are the worst roleplayer available. A sad and terribly derogatory approach to take, but the simple fact of the matter is that they just cannot and will not roleplay fairly, even when outnumbered, outgunned, and obviously dead in character.

They will often resort to flaming, leading to eventual bans, new accounts, and new bans.


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Anti Munch Project Terms
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Aimbotter: Especially annoying when using NPCs, as NPCs don't get to argue about munch.
A: Three hundred seventy of my trained assassin gymnasts crest the hill, sight you, and rush toward you.
B: Luckily, I have three hundred sixty-nine bullets in my chain gun! I quickly mow them all down, each taking a single bullet to the head, and peg the last one with a rock in the sternum.

Augustine: Far, far too prevalent. They try to carry something from one RP into another, just because they're in the same sub-forum.
A: Given that this RP's technology base is medieval, I happily drive my cart to the market to buy some maggot-ridden meat.
B: Too late! I already got there in my Gundam and blew up everything with my insanely overpowered weapons! And don't start whining, because my Gundam's already pre-approved in the "This Is Not a Medieval Technology Base RP" thread.

Baghdad Bobbit: An advanced (or is that "degraded"?) form of Puppetmaster and Aimbotter combined. These people soon become bored of anybody with a lick of skill, and wander off in a huff because the RP will take too long for their precious, precious time.
A: I fire at the stationary target, hitting twice but missing with my remaining four rounds.
B: I get tired of your realistic RPing style and poke you in the neck, collapsing your trachea. You die writhing in torment.

Boa Constrictor: Threads that have a long list of rules that prevent any characters except their own from roleplaying in that thread. No example will be given here, since that would be suggesting rules that shouldn't be used at all, and used separately these rules would be fine.
Boa Constrictors most commonly like to ban most forms of magic, guns, NPCs, technology, 'special' abilities etc. The result is, as I said, a thread in which very few characters can venture.
I do emphasise that threads should have whichever rules they want, within fairness to other roleplayers. Lists of rules which prevent too much are too, let's face it, n00bish.

Daydreamer: Not exactly munch, per se, but it does get annoying. They manage to turn seemingly coherent RP into a mad ramble about totally unrelated things. Which is not to say that adding a little insight in the middle of an RP is bad; but try to make it only a few lines, three at the most, as anything else just distracts from the current events taking place.
A: In the middle of the intense shootout, I dash across the narrow alley, ducking and weaving in hopes to avoid getting hit. I'm unsuccessful; two bullets peg me in the shoulder, throwing me back into a Dumpster.
B: The bullets make me think back to my days as a youth, when I had to melt down tin soldiers to use as musket balls against the Redcoats... or was it redskins? I can't remember. Anyway, I had to walk uphill all three ways to school and back, running from glaciers all the while. It was torture, lemme tell ya. And then there's the story of how I met my first wife...

Gaseous Snake: A combination of McFly and Lucky Irishmen. They will often attempt to alter the RP right after the fairly playing RPer has made a post that will see the Snake's demise. They are not, however, as desperate as McFlys in what they change.
A: I walk to the door and open it.
B: Being a fellow with a bit of foresight, I hooked that doorknob to a car battery an hour ago. You're thrown across the room.

Godmoder: A rather broad term, basically covering a character/roleplayer who can overcome any situation. They will often have flashy powers, ignore just about anything you say and do, and somehow manage to be completely unaware of their own unfairness (otherwise known as stupidity).
A: Now that you're strapped to the end of a naval cannon, I fire it.
B: Whoosh! I nimbly dodge, somehow forgetting the fact that I'm restrained by three-hundred-pound chain!

Hi-jacker: These are intensely annoying for thread creators. They are often members of that thread, also. These are the people that take over a thread they are roleplaying in, and either add things in, or perform actions that affect everyone roleplaying in the thread.
(Real example)
A: Ok! Our base is under attack and we have to defend it!
B: *Goes and activates the base's self destruct* Everybody run you have three minutes!

Hiver: So named after such things as the xenomorphs from Aliens, the Klendathu bugs from Starship Troopers (which both use hives), and the teeming hoardes they generally are. These hoardes are always fearless, tireless, will battle until dead, and quite often have some excessive weapons and/or armour. Alternate names are Beehivers or Ants.
Basically, it's the guys who have too many NPCs.
A: *He silently approached the enemy position, knowing himself to be outnumbered yet confident enough in his ability*
B: *The camp was over ten thousand strong and each man was alert and ready, watching the perimeter for intruders*

IDKFA: Most likely people attempting to emulate Solid Snake or some other cheesy spy-novel hero. They never run out of weapons or ammo, or anything else that leads to them being victorious.
A: You're all out of ammo for all five of your Ingram submachine guns. Since you're buck-naked, I know I can now safely step into the open and begin returning fire.
B: Ha! Little did you know, I have twelve shuriken hidden within my pubic hair!

McFly: Declining in numbers now, these will alter situations (and usually first posts) drastically to give them an advantage in roleplay.
A: Ha! Now that the force field is down, I run inside your evil lair!
B: Um... um... there's also a super-secret second force field which causes you to die instantly! I just didn't say anything about it because... um... I had to do my laundry! Not because I just thought of it now! Honestly!

Min-maxer: Not a lot of those running around here, thank goodness... that's more of a DnD-style paper game issue. Their own strength:weakness ratio is off the charts.
A: I've successfully broken into the facility which gave you your incredibly 1337 power armor. Now I pull up the file on it. What does it say about weak points?
B: The metal of my armor is... um... allergic to praying mantis urine.

Miss Cleo: They use Out of Character knowledge to their own advantage.
A: ((OOC: There's a secret switch hidden in the lamp.))
B: I suddenly think to myself-- why not check the lamp for hidden switches? Call me now for your free reading!

NIMBY: The people who quite readily attack others' threads, but then stop all attacks on their own thread.
A: They attacked us! Let's go and get them!
B: *Deletes any posts related to an attack and/or bitches to a moderator*

Oblivious Oaf: People who don't explain how what they are using, works. Now this is fine to an extent; you're not expected to know the exact functioning procedure for a gravity-spewing railgun, but at least give a vague idea behind the mechanism because at times it can help your opponent to formulate an adequate response.
A: Haha my ultra shield deflects any projectile weapon
B: ((Dude, how does that work? I need some info))
A: ((Ahhhhh uhhhhhh.......it....uses......some... weird substance... that like... does something... and then it like... just deflects all projectiles! ))

Oxymoron: Luckily rare. (And no relation to me. I think) They manage, somehow, to be completely contradictory in their posts.
A: I'm a farmer with a shotgun.
B: I'm a black hole which emits blinding pulses of visible light!

Puppetmaster: Another overly common occurrence. They basically take control of others' characters, often to extremes. It is usually ok to make tiny little changes to another person's character; for example if your own character launches a fireball at a tree, it is safe to assume that other characters will probably watch the tree get hit, and thus you can comment on that.
Depending upon the extent to which they puppetmaster, this is not necessarily a form of munching.
A: I step carefully into the room, peering around for occupants.
B: Suddenly a dragon pokes you in the eye. You run screaming from the room, whereafter you go home, make a pickle sandwich, and call your mother to cry about how she ruined your life.

[i]Quaker: They can magically 'spawn' anything. Having a character which can retreive things from pocket dimensions is not an excuse, unless said pocket dimension has a previously listed inventory which can be checked.
A: My character is wearing a form of armour only vulnerable to a drop of water from a holy well in South Dakota.
B: *He pulls out the vial of water from a holy well in South Dakota* "I don't know why I always carried this, but I knew it would come in useful one day."

Revisionist: Another prevalent problem. They are akin to a McFly, but rather than trying to be an asshole OOC, they try to be one IC instead. Their characters change their mind, thus causing an annoyance, but not necessarily munching.
A: You chose the blue pill? Ooh, tough luck.
B: Red! I said red!
Don't go pulling that "I can read your previous post" mind game crap, either!

Shoe elf: Pretty obvious.
A: ((OOC: Well, gotta go to bed. Big neurosurgery test tomorrow.))
B: Ho, ho, ho! Now that the loser's gone to bed, I can strap his character to a cross and peg him with rotten fruit!

Speedhacker: One of the worst we have to deal with.
A: I walk to the door and step outside.
B: Suddenly, twelve men grab you, carry you off to my secret lair in Tibet, and torture you for weeks. When you finally die from the agony, we bury you in the frozen wastes. Hundreds of years later, arhcaeologists discover your frozen body and try to determine if you're another Lucy.

Trinity: The knowledge downloaders, the omniscient Billy Joe-Bobs. [Also known as Zoicites]
A: My character was raised by a gang leader in the harsh conditions of a slum. From this, he learned to wield small firearms fairly effectively and has limited driving abilities.
B: My character was born on a remote jungle island and can fly or drive anything and use any gun with perfect aim.

Twink: Sometimes allowed in certain RPs. If the RP isn't specifically about invincible deities and such, a simple rule is that if the strengths aren't counterbalanced with relatively equivalent weaknesses (or if the reasoning behind the phenomenal cosmic powers isn't eloquently and appropriately explained), you're dealing with a twink.
A: A punch coming, eh? Well, seeing as you're a seven-year-old child and I'm riding in a twenty-meter mecha, I won't bother dodging.
B: Fooled you! I have the power to DESTROY EVERYTHING when I punch it! I'm just like an X-Man, and therefore require you to suspend all logic when RPing with me! Oh, and I have the power to steal your girlfriend, too.