Emote

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An emote is an expanded representation as an expression of moods ( emotions ), appearance and actions, both directly and indirectly, of a character in chats , often a character in role-playing games , and can be done in the following ways:

• by text form in chat and / or on the game screen
• through engine emotes or taunts, which are separate, otherwise mostly functionless animations

Use in role play

Emotes got their usual form mainly through older role-playing games, as they could compensate for inadequate representations such as the lack of sound, animation, facial expressions, etc. Depending on the size of the game, up to a few thousand emotes can be used.

In The Lord of the Rings Online or Guild Wars there are some quests that require the use of emotes at a specific location or time in order to be able to progress in completing the task.

They are also used in World of Warcraft , EverQuest , Dark Age of Camelot and various MUDs . Even Ultima Online has the ability to display emotes: By entering ": x", "* x *" (x = any word) appears in a different color than normal text messages above the character.

The origin is likely to be found in the Internet Relay Chat "/ me" command . The "asterisk" spelling, which is still often used today, was spread primarily through Ultima Online in the early days of online MMORPGs .

Text form

The further origin of the spelling of emotes probably lies in the different representations of noises and actions in comics, which are a supplement to drawn effects there. Such words were soon to be found in the medium "game" as well, but changed there differently depending on the game form.

While in table top or pen & paper games you can describe the appearance, actions and reactions of the character in more detail in addition to your moves, you had to use another way of doing this in online role-playing games.

In online role-playing games such as "Ultima Online", emotes are used because the animations are strictly limited and there is no representation of faces or effects at all. Above all, for the role-play itself, i.e. for playing the characters in their action world, players need additional information among themselves that can better convey a situation.

The medium for emotes within such games are usually chats , while the content entered there can then be read in the game world window and in the chat log.

Emotes are to be classified as neutral from a narrative point of view, because they neither reflect the player's information, nor do they come directly from the game character or the game world. They describe an action or the appearance without judgment and thus convey the possible mood - both of the situation and the character. Usually they are written in the 3rd person, singular, present tense.

An emote that is not carried out by the game management superordinate to the player takes place exclusively within the "haze" of a game figure, thus includes the spectrum of action of this figure, as well as its range in terms of perception. It is neither desired nor allowed to use emotes to dictate or restrict the actions of other characters (see "Poweremote" below). However, emotes that describe the weather or inanimate objects are conceivable, provided that this is done to a small extent and has been agreed beforehand.

Emotes whose content can already be displayed by the engine are unnecessary, such as:
*setzt sich*
*läuft geradeaus*
*bleibt stehen*

This only makes sense if such actions are described in more detail and embellished with emotes:
*lässt sich erschöpft auf die Bank fallen*
*läuft schlurfenden Schrittes los*
*bleibt ruckhaft wie erstarrt stehen*

Emotes that describe thoughts and feelings are completely taboo:
*denk sich, dass das auch schneller ginge*
*hasst ihn wie die Pest*

However, it is possible to make it indirectly tangible, for example through the way in which someone performs an action or what facial expression or voice pitch he currently has:
*mit skeptischem Gesichtsausdruck tippelt er nervös mit der Fußspitze herum*
*blickt ihn nur hasserfüllt an*

Bad style includes emotes that contain evaluations of the player or character or even foreign languages:
*blickt dem elenden Feigling angewidert nach*
*wendet sich seinem mellon zu*

Chat emote

A special feature of the text form are chat emotes:

• they usually take place from the outset on a different immersion level, namely from player to player
• In addition to possible descriptions of actions or moods, they often also reproduce noises
• they have a different grammatical form

The chat emotes are thus more closely related to the representation of expressions and sounds from comics.

Chat emotes are usually in Inflektiv used, so an uninflected verb form derived from the infinitive is formed:
*gähn*, *auslach*, *schnell wieder auslogg*, ...

Even onomatopoeic descriptions are not uncommon: *bäm*, *puff*, *chch*etc.

When writing emotes in role play or in chat, this often incorrectly results in the intermediate form, because one cannot distinguish between the two forms:
*hinsetzt*instead of *(er/sie/es) setzt sich hin*(in the game world) or *hinsetz*(in chat).

Power emote

A power emote describes an action that is usually unavoidable or does not allow the other player to react. The best-known form results in the immediate death of the person opposite and is therefore not permitted:
*sticht ihm ins Herz*

Even if two characters fight each other and one of them has more experience, better equipment and better skills due to the role, the opportunity should still be given in such a situation to escape from a fight or at least "only" suffer injuries.
*versucht, an seiner Deckung vorbei mit einem schnellen Hieb auf die Brust einzuschlagen*
Here the teammate can now decide whether and how hard he will be hit.

Since role-playing gives you the opportunity to simulate non-existent conditions and to receive information that would otherwise not be experienced through emotes, every participant must also be concerned with maintaining their circle of players and not anticipating actions, but waiting for a reaction and then again to react to the changed situation again.

"like" emote

Another form are so-called "like" emotes, which basically represent a kind of possibility form, which, however, relates exclusively to the perception of the game character. The reader or fellow player is shown that something can be determined in principle for the respective game figure, but the player has the choice of whether he lets his figure determine this and then goes into it.

A kind of suggestion, then, to let your character perceive something and react accordingly. Often used for situations in which a teammate no longer knows what to do or has overlooked something.

A common introduction would be *man mag erkennen, dass ...*.

So this corresponds to formulations like *man könnte erkennen, dass ...*or *es dürfte zu erkennen sein, dass ...*, is only a touch more neutral.

Examples:
*man mag seinem Gesicht ansehen, dass ihn die Situation wohl bereits zu nerven beginnt*
*in der Ferne mag der flackernde Schimmer eines kleinen Feuers zwischen den Bäumen zu erkennen sein*
*man mag hören, wie der Stuhl unter ihm leise zu Ächzen anfängt*

Its use proves to be delicate in that it requires a little sensitivity as to whether and to what extent a perception should be suggested in this way.

Out of the misunderstanding that "likes" should be viewed politely or chosen, the wrong application has often developed, namely to use this form as often as possible:
*sie mag durch die Tür kommen*
*er mag nach seinem Schwert greifen*

This form should also not be confused with an expression of a possible preference for something ( *er mag Trauben*), which would never be used in emotes.

Engine Taunt

In numerous games there is the option of having a character perform animations that are intended to provide information about the mood. These animations are also known as emotes and in addition to this, a descriptive emote is executed in text form at the same time in the chat, which can at least be read by players whose characters are in the immediate vicinity of the executing character.

Whether and which emotes can be executed via button or text command varies greatly from game to game.

presentation

In contrast to emoticons , which can express stylized emotions using individual letters, emotes are implemented and output using internal methods . Emotes are mostly triggered by special commands that the player enters in the chat , or called up via a separate menu. The chat commands for the most common emotes are identical across many different games and usually begin with a slash (“/”), followed by the basic English form of the action to be performed (sit, dance, etc.).

Some examples of frequently recurring emotes and their chat commands:

• Dance ("/ dance")
• Waving ("/ wave")
• Bow ("/ bow")
• Summon ("/ beckon")
• Jump ("/ jump")
• Set ("/ sit")

On many platforms, however, the "asterisk"
*(Emote)*
notation is used in addition to this, which represents an emote as follows: This notation can be traced back to the usual output in Ultima Online , a veteran of "emotes in role-playing games".

Emotes are also helpful when shooting short videos about a game. This is shown more vividly and with emotions.

See also

• Inflective
• Emoticon