Story
Complete
How To Not Be A GodModing Asshat
by
Categories
EducationalMusings & MumblingsRated - MatureSITE ADMINSoloTutorialWriting - General
I know you've seen it. People throw it out in their rules, make surprisingly passive aggressive statuses about it, flat out come into your inbox ranting about how either you or some other member of the rp community has done it, but, really, what is godmoding?
In a nutshell, it is taking control of someone else's character. Writing what another person's character thinks, does, feels, smells, etc, or moving them are all considered acts of godmoding. Now, it is important to note that some people have differing tolerances for this sort of thing, so this is just a guideline and not the Holy Grail.
Let's get started.
Basic GodModing
Most writers want to be in control of their own characters. Shocking, I know, but there it is. What this means is, you drive your character, and they drive theirs and you both conduct yourselves accordingly. It means that you should curtail your responses so that the person you're writing with has a chance to react to what you've done, and to give you their reaction and counter action for you to work with.
Example of what not to do: Mathew was walking in the park when he noticed the woman in the red dress standing by the hot dog vendor. He had never seen such a beautiful woman in all of his life and he simply had to meet her. Approaching her, he takes her hand, pulling her along the river. He knew that she found him attractive by the way her eyes kept flitting to his face, and he put his arm around her, chatting as they walked.
This is wrong for several reasons. First, the writer moved the woman in the red dress. If this were an actual rp, the person writing the woman could be bashful and just go along, or she could shove him bodily in the river. More likely, the admin will become upset and simply stop writing with you. Also, he doesn't know that she finds him attractive. She might be completely creeped out that he dragged her away from hot dogs. Your job is to have the faceclaim that you want and to put it in your bio that you're an attractive character. The person you're writing with gets to decide their level of attraction.
Another example of what not to do:
Writer 1: I was driving to the apartment, as quickly as I could. Based on the phone call, I wasn't expecting a warm reception from the brother, but, still. I had to try. Parking at the apartment complex that he shared with his brother was atrocious, and I was left circling the block, hoping that a spot would open up so that I could try to fix the rift that I had caused.
Writer 2: I was incensed. How DARE that asshole upset my brother like this? There's a knock on the door, and when I open it Frank is standing in the doorway. He DARED to come here? When my brother was a wreck in his bedroom?? My rage grows as I look at my brother's former lover. "What are you doing here?"
Why is this wrong? Writer one had their character in a car. Driving. Writer 2 took Writer 1's character out of the car and put him at the front door. God modding at it's finest, and a good way to get people complaining in your inbox or to stop writing with you completely.
Okay, so do we have basic godmoding down? Yes? Good. Don't do it.
Now, there are other aspects to godmoding that some people hate and others don't really care about one way or the other.
Metagaming: This is where you take information that you, the admin, knows and you use it OOC to pilot your character's actions. Using my own character as an example, this would be like Tony dropping Smurfs off on Loki's desk, or making comments about Frost Giants or liking the color blue. Tony doesn't know that Loki is a Frost Giant. I, the admin, do. Letting Tony know about things that I know is OOC and considered metagaming.
Another form of metagaming is mind reading. Unless that is in your character's listed skills set, don't do it. No one likes it.
Example of mind reading:
Writer 1: Sue just wouldn't shut up. Her voice was grating, annoying, and it was getting on my very last nerve. I smile, winningly, never letting on that she was bothering me. "Of course I can fix your watch. Give it to me."
Writer 2: I knew that he thought I was annoying. That I was getting on his nerves. "You can think that I'm as annoying as you want, but you did break it, so you should fix it."
Wrong, wrong, wrong. If it isn't expressly stated as a spoken phrase, you don't get to know about it. A character's thoughts are a way for one writer to let their partner know where their character's head is at, and to give the readers insight as well. It is not for you to take and run, rough-shod, all over their character with. People will drop your rp for this. Most writers know that mistakes happen, and will be willing to forgive or overlook this type of metagaming once or twice, but if it becomes habit, you will lose writing partners.
Autohit: This one is a little touchy. Personally, I feel like if you could do it to me in real life, I'm okay with you doing it to my character. Grabbing, pushing, slapping, for me, is all okay. For others, it isn't. Autohitting is when your character attacks another character and describes the damage done.
Example of autohit: Hulk slams Tony into the wall, cracking the casing of his suit. Tony, inside, is bruised, battered, his face bleeding from the force of the impact.
This is wrong because it tells the person driving Tony the extent of Tony's injuries. That isn't the person writing Hulk's place. It's the person writing Tony's place. The only time that you should write the damage to another player is if you and that player have plotted it out and they have given you express permission to do so.
To sum up, autohit is something that needs to be discussed with the person you're writing with. Some people are okay with people throwing a punch and saying that it landed. Others only want you to write that the punch was thrown and then leave it hanging in the air for them to decide if it lands or not. Writing the damage is almost always a big turn off for other writers, though.
Passive Godmoding
Let's talk about some of the more passive forms of godmoding. Not every action is so obstinately in your face. Sometimes a starter or a reply forces you to make your character OOC or sets you up so that you have to react in a way that is at odds with how you see your character's behavior. For me, this is the most egregious form of godmoding, because of the passivity of it. It is manipulative and controlling, and you should avoid it at all costs.
Again, I am going to use my character for the example. (For those that are unfamiliar with Tony Stark, he's a billionaire genius, and that's all that is really needed to be known for this example.)
Example of a starter: The book was ancient, old. It was a technical manual from a bygone era; from a culture long dead. Of course Tony was too simple to understand the language or the mathematics hidden within the tome. It was much kinder for me to take it from him before his stupidity caused ruin.
Why is this wrong? It puts the admin of Tony in a position where he has to dumb down Tony to fit into this scenario, or to keep his character as it is, and look like an unmitigated asshole for refusing to follow the perceived plot. Here's the thing, even if the plot was to make the book something that Tony couldn't understand? This starter doesn't do that. All this starter does is take advantage of the fact that the admin is starting so that he/she can get make a point of painting her writing partner as an idiot. This could have been done differently, and avoided any sense of forcing the other writer into an OOC situation.
Example of the same starter, edited: The book was ancient, old. It was a technical manual from a bygone era; from a culture long dead. It was questionable if Tony was going to be able to decipher the language or the mathematics hidden within the tome. It was much kinder, in my opinion, to take it from him, but I was willing to afford him the chance to prove me wrong. It wasn't as if I couldn't use an ally in this endeavor.
This is better because it gets across the same feel. There is some sort of ancient book, written in a language that is long dead. Is Tony smart enough to figure it out? Jury's out, but this starter gives him leeway to try, and to be marginally successful, depending on the plot the two writers have agreed upon.
Another example of passive aggressive godmoding is when you reply in such a way that the other person can only reply OOC because their in character reply will be an rp ender, or make them an asshole.
In this example, the plot is that Happy and Tony have gone to some sort of function. The second writer's character is on the run from a botched bank robbery, and runs into them. It is a first meeting.
Example of what not to do: The man in the suit was well dressed, obviously the boss. I could ignore him. The larger man, also in a suit, but not of as high a quality. He was obviously the muscle. It was quiet in the corner that we were in, I was sure that I could make them do what I wanted them to do. the shorter one was clearly too soft and stupid to be a threat. I dismiss him and focus on the other one, drawing my gun. "You're going to take me where I need to go."
Do you see the problem here? If you were writing with a Happy Hogan, this might not be so bad, but if you're writing with Tony, it's horrible. Putting aside that you've called him stupid, which is valid if your character truly feels like Tony's stupid, you've completely ignored the character that you're writing with, giving them very little recourse but to play the victim. If you are familiar enough with Tony Stark to want to write this, then you should know that playing the victim is fairly OOC for him. If he replies in character, he is going to pull a piece of hidden tech out of his pocket and blast your character through a wall, and then he and Happy are going to go for coffee. For his admin to not end the rp, he has to now do something else, something that his driver might feel is OOC. People don't like this. It makes them angry. As a matter of fact, I have unfriended people for this sort of thing. To remedy this particular response, all the writer had to do was focus on the person they were actually writing with instead of simply dismissing them.
In a nutshell, communication with your writing partner is key. If you have a plot, stay with the plot and don't try to alter it so that your character comes out on top. Don't try to control your writing partner's thoughts, actions, or emotions. Don't beat the shit out them and then tell them what their injuries are. Basically, don't do to other people things that would piss you right off. This way, you're happy and writing, your partner is happy and writing, and you get to make wonderful stories instead of watching your rp crash and burn, never to be completed.
Happy writing.
In a nutshell, it is taking control of someone else's character. Writing what another person's character thinks, does, feels, smells, etc, or moving them are all considered acts of godmoding. Now, it is important to note that some people have differing tolerances for this sort of thing, so this is just a guideline and not the Holy Grail.
Let's get started.
Basic GodModing
Most writers want to be in control of their own characters. Shocking, I know, but there it is. What this means is, you drive your character, and they drive theirs and you both conduct yourselves accordingly. It means that you should curtail your responses so that the person you're writing with has a chance to react to what you've done, and to give you their reaction and counter action for you to work with.
Example of what not to do: Mathew was walking in the park when he noticed the woman in the red dress standing by the hot dog vendor. He had never seen such a beautiful woman in all of his life and he simply had to meet her. Approaching her, he takes her hand, pulling her along the river. He knew that she found him attractive by the way her eyes kept flitting to his face, and he put his arm around her, chatting as they walked.
This is wrong for several reasons. First, the writer moved the woman in the red dress. If this were an actual rp, the person writing the woman could be bashful and just go along, or she could shove him bodily in the river. More likely, the admin will become upset and simply stop writing with you. Also, he doesn't know that she finds him attractive. She might be completely creeped out that he dragged her away from hot dogs. Your job is to have the faceclaim that you want and to put it in your bio that you're an attractive character. The person you're writing with gets to decide their level of attraction.
Another example of what not to do:
Writer 1: I was driving to the apartment, as quickly as I could. Based on the phone call, I wasn't expecting a warm reception from the brother, but, still. I had to try. Parking at the apartment complex that he shared with his brother was atrocious, and I was left circling the block, hoping that a spot would open up so that I could try to fix the rift that I had caused.
Writer 2: I was incensed. How DARE that asshole upset my brother like this? There's a knock on the door, and when I open it Frank is standing in the doorway. He DARED to come here? When my brother was a wreck in his bedroom?? My rage grows as I look at my brother's former lover. "What are you doing here?"
Why is this wrong? Writer one had their character in a car. Driving. Writer 2 took Writer 1's character out of the car and put him at the front door. God modding at it's finest, and a good way to get people complaining in your inbox or to stop writing with you completely.
Okay, so do we have basic godmoding down? Yes? Good. Don't do it.
Now, there are other aspects to godmoding that some people hate and others don't really care about one way or the other.
Metagaming: This is where you take information that you, the admin, knows and you use it OOC to pilot your character's actions. Using my own character as an example, this would be like Tony dropping Smurfs off on Loki's desk, or making comments about Frost Giants or liking the color blue. Tony doesn't know that Loki is a Frost Giant. I, the admin, do. Letting Tony know about things that I know is OOC and considered metagaming.
Another form of metagaming is mind reading. Unless that is in your character's listed skills set, don't do it. No one likes it.
Example of mind reading:
Writer 1: Sue just wouldn't shut up. Her voice was grating, annoying, and it was getting on my very last nerve. I smile, winningly, never letting on that she was bothering me. "Of course I can fix your watch. Give it to me."
Writer 2: I knew that he thought I was annoying. That I was getting on his nerves. "You can think that I'm as annoying as you want, but you did break it, so you should fix it."
Wrong, wrong, wrong. If it isn't expressly stated as a spoken phrase, you don't get to know about it. A character's thoughts are a way for one writer to let their partner know where their character's head is at, and to give the readers insight as well. It is not for you to take and run, rough-shod, all over their character with. People will drop your rp for this. Most writers know that mistakes happen, and will be willing to forgive or overlook this type of metagaming once or twice, but if it becomes habit, you will lose writing partners.
Autohit: This one is a little touchy. Personally, I feel like if you could do it to me in real life, I'm okay with you doing it to my character. Grabbing, pushing, slapping, for me, is all okay. For others, it isn't. Autohitting is when your character attacks another character and describes the damage done.
Example of autohit: Hulk slams Tony into the wall, cracking the casing of his suit. Tony, inside, is bruised, battered, his face bleeding from the force of the impact.
This is wrong because it tells the person driving Tony the extent of Tony's injuries. That isn't the person writing Hulk's place. It's the person writing Tony's place. The only time that you should write the damage to another player is if you and that player have plotted it out and they have given you express permission to do so.
To sum up, autohit is something that needs to be discussed with the person you're writing with. Some people are okay with people throwing a punch and saying that it landed. Others only want you to write that the punch was thrown and then leave it hanging in the air for them to decide if it lands or not. Writing the damage is almost always a big turn off for other writers, though.
Passive Godmoding
Let's talk about some of the more passive forms of godmoding. Not every action is so obstinately in your face. Sometimes a starter or a reply forces you to make your character OOC or sets you up so that you have to react in a way that is at odds with how you see your character's behavior. For me, this is the most egregious form of godmoding, because of the passivity of it. It is manipulative and controlling, and you should avoid it at all costs.
Again, I am going to use my character for the example. (For those that are unfamiliar with Tony Stark, he's a billionaire genius, and that's all that is really needed to be known for this example.)
Example of a starter: The book was ancient, old. It was a technical manual from a bygone era; from a culture long dead. Of course Tony was too simple to understand the language or the mathematics hidden within the tome. It was much kinder for me to take it from him before his stupidity caused ruin.
Why is this wrong? It puts the admin of Tony in a position where he has to dumb down Tony to fit into this scenario, or to keep his character as it is, and look like an unmitigated asshole for refusing to follow the perceived plot. Here's the thing, even if the plot was to make the book something that Tony couldn't understand? This starter doesn't do that. All this starter does is take advantage of the fact that the admin is starting so that he/she can get make a point of painting her writing partner as an idiot. This could have been done differently, and avoided any sense of forcing the other writer into an OOC situation.
Example of the same starter, edited: The book was ancient, old. It was a technical manual from a bygone era; from a culture long dead. It was questionable if Tony was going to be able to decipher the language or the mathematics hidden within the tome. It was much kinder, in my opinion, to take it from him, but I was willing to afford him the chance to prove me wrong. It wasn't as if I couldn't use an ally in this endeavor.
This is better because it gets across the same feel. There is some sort of ancient book, written in a language that is long dead. Is Tony smart enough to figure it out? Jury's out, but this starter gives him leeway to try, and to be marginally successful, depending on the plot the two writers have agreed upon.
Another example of passive aggressive godmoding is when you reply in such a way that the other person can only reply OOC because their in character reply will be an rp ender, or make them an asshole.
In this example, the plot is that Happy and Tony have gone to some sort of function. The second writer's character is on the run from a botched bank robbery, and runs into them. It is a first meeting.
Example of what not to do: The man in the suit was well dressed, obviously the boss. I could ignore him. The larger man, also in a suit, but not of as high a quality. He was obviously the muscle. It was quiet in the corner that we were in, I was sure that I could make them do what I wanted them to do. the shorter one was clearly too soft and stupid to be a threat. I dismiss him and focus on the other one, drawing my gun. "You're going to take me where I need to go."
Do you see the problem here? If you were writing with a Happy Hogan, this might not be so bad, but if you're writing with Tony, it's horrible. Putting aside that you've called him stupid, which is valid if your character truly feels like Tony's stupid, you've completely ignored the character that you're writing with, giving them very little recourse but to play the victim. If you are familiar enough with Tony Stark to want to write this, then you should know that playing the victim is fairly OOC for him. If he replies in character, he is going to pull a piece of hidden tech out of his pocket and blast your character through a wall, and then he and Happy are going to go for coffee. For his admin to not end the rp, he has to now do something else, something that his driver might feel is OOC. People don't like this. It makes them angry. As a matter of fact, I have unfriended people for this sort of thing. To remedy this particular response, all the writer had to do was focus on the person they were actually writing with instead of simply dismissing them.
In a nutshell, communication with your writing partner is key. If you have a plot, stay with the plot and don't try to alter it so that your character comes out on top. Don't try to control your writing partner's thoughts, actions, or emotions. Don't beat the shit out them and then tell them what their injuries are. Basically, don't do to other people things that would piss you right off. This way, you're happy and writing, your partner is happy and writing, and you get to make wonderful stories instead of watching your rp crash and burn, never to be completed.
Happy writing.
