Welcome to Esmie's Guides and Advice Part 3.
~ How to 'Emote' ~
(Part 1 - How to build an AO - is here. Part 2 - How to be a Neko is here.)
*WARNING - Most emotes are used in a sexual or roleplay context, so that's my excuse for making my examples full of sexy stuff. If you don't like it, don't read it!*
*WARNING - Most emotes are used in a sexual or roleplay context, so that's my excuse for making my examples full of sexy stuff. If you don't like it, don't read it!*
No animation in SL can convey as much detail, action, or indeed, emotion as even the most basic of emotes. I don't claim to know everything about this mysterious, powerful force. In fact, even I had to learn the most basic stuff at some point, and it was Nicholai who taught me, and I have taught a few others since, but I am always learning and adapting, trying to improve my emoting... it can never be perfect. I tried to include as much in this guide as possible, so that even the most novice of SLer's can take something from it, as well as those guys my SL age who just want to hear my thoughts on it. I do not presume to tell you that you need help with your emoting, so don't get upset if it seems like I am telling you everything you already know - take as much or as little advice from this as you like - its there for you if needed. But I hope this will be an enjoyable read whether you know how to emote or not.
Good emoting is the difference between:
Esmiel Posthorn: *sucks your cock*
and...
Esmiel Posthorn slowly drops to his knees, looking up at you as he unzips your fly. He trembles slightly in anticipation as you lower your pants around your ankles. He takes your growing cock in his hands and strokes it gently with his fingers and lips, kissing the tip softly. He wraps his lips around the head, before opening his mouth wide and taking your full length, and he gags slightly as the tip hits the back of his throat...
I was showing off a bit there. I wouldn't be that creative in that situation - let alone able to type it all out before my partner assumed I had crashed. But you get the point - its not difficult to determine which one is more enjoyable or erotic.
The whole sex in SL thing falls into three or four categories for me.
Firstly - the kind where you put on your Xcite bits, jump on a Sexgen bed and pose n click your way to climax. Kinda like virtual porn, no thinking required. I grew out of that a long, long time ago... its just not for me. But if it's you, then its all good :)
Secondly - 100% emotes. Often all you need is a sitting or basic cuddle pose and all the rest is text based - cybering. No nudity, no poses, no clicking. This is a nice way to do it, allowing you to concentrate entirely on the emotes and situation. Although its not very pornographic, if thats what you want.
Thirdly - just clicking. I have seen people do this and I have no idea how they can bring themselves to say 'that was good, thanks' afterwards. I did this once as a newb. I will never forget how freaking lame it was. All you do is click a couple of buttons and that's sex? Puh-lease. Oh, and if that is you, I hope to God you take some notes from this guide.
Fourthly - a combination of emotes, Xcite and poses. (I assume you use Xcite, just cos pretty much everyone does... if you dont, then I love you and you are awesome). This is the way I like it. We start on a Resolution (the greatest make-out set of animations ever, from Bits n Bobs) or something, then basically emote kissing 'n' de-clothing each other, clicking Xcite parts to go along with our emotes, just to give it a slightly more sexy, visual element. Of course, doing all this at once can lead to you forgetting things like removing your pants. Its not a problem, just take them off and blame the lag later ;)
I find using type 4 is more akin to 'making love' than any other form of sex in SL. You form a deeper, more explorable, exciting and open-ended experience with your partner, a real, true bond that can get you off enough to not need Xcite or Sexgen.
Of course, typing usually requires two hands, and that leaves me with a little problem, in that I spend all my time typing and not as much on 'getting off'. Although I have only ... once maybe twice had a RL climax from participating in sex in SL, those were the only times in 11 months. I know the majority of people out there are jacking away while they have sex in SL - (even whilst creating the most amazing, sensual and very long emotes) and thats cool, cos I would too if I could. But I use my hands and my mind to concentrate on something deeper than that - the experience - of both partners - is more important to me than the outcome, so I focus on that.
Although saying that, knowing my emotes, appearance and actions in SL can give my partners *that much* pleasure in RL is a fantastic feeling! :D
The greatest thing about emoting is the freedom that it gives to your roleplaying. You can sneer, smirk, smile, laugh, grin, giggle, chuckle, blow a damn raspberry - and thats only some of the things you can do with just your mouth! If you did that stuff with a simple animation, the others involved in your RP might miss it, and there is no way to discern between a smile and a grin from an animation - but they are distinctly different things. Essentially, RP and emote-type sex are the same thing. You tell a story along with your fellow RP'er(s), and its up to both of you exactly where it goes and for how long, who you are, why you're there and so on... for Nicholai and myself, RP forms a big part of our sex life.
I've broken the main 'How to *actually* emote' section of my guide down into 4 bite-sized chunks. Here goes...
1. Basics - How do you actually emote?
Many people have asked me 'how do you do actions like that?' or whatever...
The classic *, denoting an action, is fine if adding a little something to a line of chat.
For example:
Esmiel Posthorn: Chesty, I think dirt magazine needs more nude shots *grins*
Chester Howley: *nods* Esi, you are so right, as always!
Esmiel Posthorn: I know *blush*
However, for longer, mostly 'action' lines, you need a proper emote. /me is how to do it.
Example... type in
/me kicks Chester's ass at everything, including emoting, shopping and being hawt.
and you get:
Esmiel Posthorn kicks Chester's ass at everything, including emoting, shopping and being hawt.
Easy.
2. Tenses, Point of View, Etc.
Emotes are present-tense, third person. Mixing this up can have disastrous consequences, ranging from making you look a little bit silly to totally ruining an amazing RP session.
How NOT to do it:
Esmiel Posthorn smiled warmly as I remove your shirt, pressing my soft lips against Nicholai's chest.
There are 4 mistakes in the above emote;
'smiled' should be 'smiles'
'I' should be 'he'
'my' should be 'his'
'Nicholai's' should be 'your'
It should appear thus;
Esmiel Posthorn smiles warmly as he removes your shirt, pressing his soft lips against your chest.
I'd reccomend not referring to your partner by name in your emotes (unless you're in a big group), you wont want to type out their name repeatedly, and the whole 'puts his (my) hands on his (not mine, yours) chest' gets annoying and confusing. I know we all make mistakes, and this is where good language skills really come into play - if you're not too sharp on that, no worries, just practice and speaking in third-person will become like a second language to you.
3. Repetition
BAD:
Esmiel Posthorn gently runs his fingers up your spine, his fingertips caressing your skin gently.
GOOD:
Esmiel Posthorn gently runs his fingers up your spine, fingertips softly caressing your skin.
Much better huh? Nothing I hate more than seeing a wonderful emote being ruined by over-use of a descriptive term. Unfortunately I only know a few words for softly, gently, delicately, and I do tend to really over-use them - what with Nicholai being the sensitive type 'n' all :)
I guess you could cut down on this by varying your actions a little... or your RP style/characters each time... so that softly becomes firmly, stroke becomes grab etc.. depends what your partner likes. Speaking of which, the final part...
4. Reciprocation (- noun, a mutual giving and receiving)
When you emote, you generally expect your partner/friend/snuggle buddy to do emote back. Sometimes, you find someone with who you just seem to gel naturally. Spend alot of time with them and you can predict what they will answer with to certain actions towards them. If they are expecting you to do a certain thing, mess them up by turning the whole situation on it's head. See what happens. A stubborn individual will steer it their own way, expecting their partner to tag along. What can be quite good is to consciously reverse this role each time, keeping the RP fresh and exciting as each of you will probably end up taking the same situation on a completely different path to wildly fantastic endings - hopefully your partner will be willing to go along with your idea and not pull you back into their own perfect fantasy. It's good if you both enjoy it, but you have to allow for some experimenting by either partner sometimes. If they cant do it with you then who else can they do it with?
Some people emote better than others, or do it in a more suitable, matching style to your own. Sometimes it just works, sometimes it just doesn't. If you want to try RP/making love using emotes with your partner, and they seem uninterested, I'd suggest at least asking them to try it once... If they say no, then they obviously don't care enough about you, and if they hate it then they are lazy and boring and just want porn. Thats just my own personal opinion, because if they're willing to ignore your desires and just focus on their own, then why are you there? It had better be a good reason, like money or something *lol*
Of course, the most important thing to do when learning to emote is practice and experiment. You can tell amazing stories, play impossibly cool, cute, fantastic characters - it may say Esmiel above my av, but I decide what Esmiel is like, how he acts and how he speaks during any one RP session - and you can do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, make love in any position. All using emotes.
For Part 4 of my Guides and Advice series I will be covering and explaining taking snapshots in SL.
Esmie xXx
Esmiel Posthorn: *sucks your cock*
and...
Esmiel Posthorn slowly drops to his knees, looking up at you as he unzips your fly. He trembles slightly in anticipation as you lower your pants around your ankles. He takes your growing cock in his hands and strokes it gently with his fingers and lips, kissing the tip softly. He wraps his lips around the head, before opening his mouth wide and taking your full length, and he gags slightly as the tip hits the back of his throat...
I was showing off a bit there. I wouldn't be that creative in that situation - let alone able to type it all out before my partner assumed I had crashed. But you get the point - its not difficult to determine which one is more enjoyable or erotic.
The whole sex in SL thing falls into three or four categories for me.
Firstly - the kind where you put on your Xcite bits, jump on a Sexgen bed and pose n click your way to climax. Kinda like virtual porn, no thinking required. I grew out of that a long, long time ago... its just not for me. But if it's you, then its all good :)
Secondly - 100% emotes. Often all you need is a sitting or basic cuddle pose and all the rest is text based - cybering. No nudity, no poses, no clicking. This is a nice way to do it, allowing you to concentrate entirely on the emotes and situation. Although its not very pornographic, if thats what you want.
Thirdly - just clicking. I have seen people do this and I have no idea how they can bring themselves to say 'that was good, thanks' afterwards. I did this once as a newb. I will never forget how freaking lame it was. All you do is click a couple of buttons and that's sex? Puh-lease. Oh, and if that is you, I hope to God you take some notes from this guide.
Fourthly - a combination of emotes, Xcite and poses. (I assume you use Xcite, just cos pretty much everyone does... if you dont, then I love you and you are awesome). This is the way I like it. We start on a Resolution (the greatest make-out set of animations ever, from Bits n Bobs) or something, then basically emote kissing 'n' de-clothing each other, clicking Xcite parts to go along with our emotes, just to give it a slightly more sexy, visual element. Of course, doing all this at once can lead to you forgetting things like removing your pants. Its not a problem, just take them off and blame the lag later ;)
I find using type 4 is more akin to 'making love' than any other form of sex in SL. You form a deeper, more explorable, exciting and open-ended experience with your partner, a real, true bond that can get you off enough to not need Xcite or Sexgen.
Of course, typing usually requires two hands, and that leaves me with a little problem, in that I spend all my time typing and not as much on 'getting off'. Although I have only ... once maybe twice had a RL climax from participating in sex in SL, those were the only times in 11 months. I know the majority of people out there are jacking away while they have sex in SL - (even whilst creating the most amazing, sensual and very long emotes) and thats cool, cos I would too if I could. But I use my hands and my mind to concentrate on something deeper than that - the experience - of both partners - is more important to me than the outcome, so I focus on that.
Although saying that, knowing my emotes, appearance and actions in SL can give my partners *that much* pleasure in RL is a fantastic feeling! :D
The greatest thing about emoting is the freedom that it gives to your roleplaying. You can sneer, smirk, smile, laugh, grin, giggle, chuckle, blow a damn raspberry - and thats only some of the things you can do with just your mouth! If you did that stuff with a simple animation, the others involved in your RP might miss it, and there is no way to discern between a smile and a grin from an animation - but they are distinctly different things. Essentially, RP and emote-type sex are the same thing. You tell a story along with your fellow RP'er(s), and its up to both of you exactly where it goes and for how long, who you are, why you're there and so on... for Nicholai and myself, RP forms a big part of our sex life.
I've broken the main 'How to *actually* emote' section of my guide down into 4 bite-sized chunks. Here goes...
1. Basics - How do you actually emote?
Many people have asked me 'how do you do actions like that?' or whatever...
The classic *, denoting an action, is fine if adding a little something to a line of chat.
For example:
Esmiel Posthorn: Chesty, I think dirt magazine needs more nude shots *grins*
Chester Howley: *nods* Esi, you are so right, as always!
Esmiel Posthorn: I know *blush*
However, for longer, mostly 'action' lines, you need a proper emote. /me is how to do it.
Example... type in
/me kicks Chester's ass at everything, including emoting, shopping and being hawt.
and you get:
Esmiel Posthorn kicks Chester's ass at everything, including emoting, shopping and being hawt.
Easy.
2. Tenses, Point of View, Etc.
Emotes are present-tense, third person. Mixing this up can have disastrous consequences, ranging from making you look a little bit silly to totally ruining an amazing RP session.
How NOT to do it:
Esmiel Posthorn smiled warmly as I remove your shirt, pressing my soft lips against Nicholai's chest.
There are 4 mistakes in the above emote;
'smiled' should be 'smiles'
'I' should be 'he'
'my' should be 'his'
'Nicholai's' should be 'your'
It should appear thus;
Esmiel Posthorn smiles warmly as he removes your shirt, pressing his soft lips against your chest.
I'd reccomend not referring to your partner by name in your emotes (unless you're in a big group), you wont want to type out their name repeatedly, and the whole 'puts his (my) hands on his (not mine, yours) chest' gets annoying and confusing. I know we all make mistakes, and this is where good language skills really come into play - if you're not too sharp on that, no worries, just practice and speaking in third-person will become like a second language to you.
3. Repetition
BAD:
Esmiel Posthorn gently runs his fingers up your spine, his fingertips caressing your skin gently.
GOOD:
Esmiel Posthorn gently runs his fingers up your spine, fingertips softly caressing your skin.
Much better huh? Nothing I hate more than seeing a wonderful emote being ruined by over-use of a descriptive term. Unfortunately I only know a few words for softly, gently, delicately, and I do tend to really over-use them - what with Nicholai being the sensitive type 'n' all :)
I guess you could cut down on this by varying your actions a little... or your RP style/characters each time... so that softly becomes firmly, stroke becomes grab etc.. depends what your partner likes. Speaking of which, the final part...
4. Reciprocation (- noun, a mutual giving and receiving)
When you emote, you generally expect your partner/friend/snuggle buddy to do emote back. Sometimes, you find someone with who you just seem to gel naturally. Spend alot of time with them and you can predict what they will answer with to certain actions towards them. If they are expecting you to do a certain thing, mess them up by turning the whole situation on it's head. See what happens. A stubborn individual will steer it their own way, expecting their partner to tag along. What can be quite good is to consciously reverse this role each time, keeping the RP fresh and exciting as each of you will probably end up taking the same situation on a completely different path to wildly fantastic endings - hopefully your partner will be willing to go along with your idea and not pull you back into their own perfect fantasy. It's good if you both enjoy it, but you have to allow for some experimenting by either partner sometimes. If they cant do it with you then who else can they do it with?
Some people emote better than others, or do it in a more suitable, matching style to your own. Sometimes it just works, sometimes it just doesn't. If you want to try RP/making love using emotes with your partner, and they seem uninterested, I'd suggest at least asking them to try it once... If they say no, then they obviously don't care enough about you, and if they hate it then they are lazy and boring and just want porn. Thats just my own personal opinion, because if they're willing to ignore your desires and just focus on their own, then why are you there? It had better be a good reason, like money or something *lol*
Of course, the most important thing to do when learning to emote is practice and experiment. You can tell amazing stories, play impossibly cool, cute, fantastic characters - it may say Esmiel above my av, but I decide what Esmiel is like, how he acts and how he speaks during any one RP session - and you can do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, make love in any position. All using emotes.
For Part 4 of my Guides and Advice series I will be covering and explaining taking snapshots in SL.
Esmie xXx
3 comments:
Whoa nice job Esmi! :)
Where were you when I was a noobie? *grins*
Very informative and well written. I found the bit about repetition to be personally helpful as I am guilty of that one.
I'm guilty at a few as well *lowers his head in shame*
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