We would first like to say that on DF, each color is what you make it. IC power does not equal OOC power, and we don't believe that any color is better than any other. The only limits are that which common sense (and/or Anne McCaffrey) dictate - nobody but golds can lay eggs, and only bronzes and browns can be Weyrleaders. Other than that, we encourage you to take your color and make of it what you will!
That being said, we've put up some takes on the different colors from various DF players. Some of these are from Ista's last color seminar, some of them are from Fort's old color deposition vault, and some of them are from your very own Search Co.
B'roughs / Inigoth
Blue… Probably the single most ignored color, and there by the most flexible. All the books say about them is 'they make good search dragons'. Now this can be both a blessing and a curse depending on how you like to play. A blue can do anything except catch gold. You can hold any rank from wingrider to weyrsecond, which means if something happens to the weyrleader you could, conceivably be acting weyrleader. Has it happened while I play? Not with blue. But Jill's acting weyrleader at Fort at the moment (as I mentioned earlier), so there are precedents for weyrseconds stepping up and we HAVE had blue weyrseconds on the game. You can be anything, and you don't have to worry about flights if you don't want to. You also don't have to worry about deciding the outcome of said flights (though a good set of dice can help with that problem). Now for the downsides. Each of the other colors has something to go off of, something to either conform to. Bronzes and golds have all the main characters out of the books. The greens are consistently referenced, the browns have Canth as a prominant character to model off of or against. With a blue you're on your own. It's you and your dragon's personality and what you do with it is entirely in YOUR hands. There's not that much in the books, especially the traditional ones to go from or go against. Some people flounder with that kind of freedom. Some people thrive. It remains the chief reason why Blue is and likely always will be, my favorite color to play. There is so little concept of 'but so and so in the book did THIS!' to interfere with my concept of my character and my dragon.
Sissi / Klimth
WHAT'S HOT:
Blues don't get much of a mention in the books, which as far as I'm concerned is just great; they've less of a stereotype — or even a defined role — than any other colour. Which means, riding blue, you're free to do pretty much whatever you want, do the 'be all you can be' thingy (and about the only thing you can't be is Weyrleader). Or alternatively, do the 'as little as you can get away with being' nothing is expected of you; you've got just that extra little bit of leeway. And that makes it lots of fun, be you mad or sane. Aside from that colour starts to matter very little; it's the personality that makes the dragon, and how you choose to play the personality of that dragon. As a bluerider, I've got nothing to prove and all to play for. Just bring along your imagination, tie it to a blue, and go develop every little (or big) quirk you can possibly think of. In my view blue is the best colour, especially if you want your dragon to be what you make it, and not have to worry about conforming to — or fighting against — anybody else's ideas of what dragonriding entails.
WHAT'S NOT:
Maybe I'm incredibly asleep, but I haven't noticed much of the 'blues are boring' attitude — at least, not directed towards me. More of the 'blueriders are crazy' attitude, and hey, that's a compliment! Some people think that the lack of definition by AM of blueriders doesn't help the blue cause; maybe it doesn't excite interest, maybe some people feel it puts blues bottom of the pile and there's some sort of stigma attached to 'only' getting a blue. No only about it — the only thing a blue doesn't do that all the other dragons do is chase goldflights (err, greens don't either, but you get my drift!) No, they're not the biggest, they're not the smallest, they're not the central characters in every story Anne McCaffrey ever wrote, but that doesn't mean they can't be twice as much fun as all the other colours put together. (Yes, I am biased. Yes, I am unrepentant. I love it!)
FAMOUS LAST WORDS:
Strangely enough all those players don't suddenly sort themselves into five well-defined groups on the day of impression: there's lots of overlap! There're no huge differences between the colours when all's said and done — I was reasonably ambivalent about which colour I wanted — but I did want a dragon that was going to be fun. And riding blue is very definitely fun!
Kessaly / Imbrith
WHAT'S HOT:
The ability to play the unexpected! Playing a Blue opens the door to many opportunities. Other colors have stipulations upon them - Greens and Golds must fly in mating flights, metallics are expected to take on Leadership positions, browns are expected to fly both Green and Gold flights, etc. With a Blue, nothing is expected. Are you interested in your character's political advancement? With the exception of the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader positions, the sky is your limit as far as IC positions of power go. And if are not interested in any sort of IC position but a humble sweeps rider, then that is perfectly acceptable. In my experience, Blue dragons have some of the best and most well-developed personalities around. If you love characterization and want to consider your dragon another alt rather than just another overgrown firelizard puppet, a Blue can really open the door for you. Your character and dragon are remarkably free to grow and become whomever you wish them to be - your imagination and creativity are your only limits!
WHAT'S NOT:
Stereotypes! Anne's books have not, unfortunately, done Blue dragons any favors. Every time I read Search applications I cringe - "Blues are the workhorses of the Weyr…their riders are prissy…blues are boring…I'll take any color BUT a Blue…Blue dragons are scatterbrained…All Blue riders are homosexual…" and so on. (I've been known to vote against applicants who have made extremely derogatory remarks about Blues.) Many people feel that Blue dragons are a type of punishment, or that they have Impressed Blue because their RP skills are in doubt or because they weren't "good enough" for any other color dragon. Not so! If you aren't "good enough" for a dragon , then you wouldn't have been Searched in the first place, plain and simple.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS:
Blues allow you as a player the complete and total freedom to develop your character as well as your dragon in whichever way you choose - more freedom with less pressure than any other color can lay claim to.
Your character - whether male or female - does not have to be homosexual if they ride a Blue unless YOU play them that way.
Blue Dragons are not workhorses, boring, or anything else unless YOU play them that way.
Your character will not suddenly become prissy (or have any other sudden character changes) unless YOU play him or her that way.
Blues are not a punishment or any indication of "good" or "bad" RP abilities - unless YOU choose to think of them that way.
Rh'iad / Atsuth
So you're a guy and you wanna have a female in your head? Welcome to the start of some ridiculous fun. A male character seated upon a female dragon can have an endless amount of possibility. First off, you've gotten yourself connected to a female, heart and mind and soul. Sure, she's a reptile, but she is a FEMALE reptile with all of the quirks and excitement and difference of opinion which that can entail. She can be your compliment or your arch nemesis, your partner in so many things.
For Rhik, his Atsuth is a soulmate. I asked for a dragon that Rhik could bond with deeply and on a level to which that what one feels, the other feels, and it often reflects upon each other. While at some points yin and yang, at others they are a perfect melding. Rhik falls into her female mind as easily as anything, while still retaining his sense of maleness (clinging really at times).
What's a greenrider? Obviously, there is the flights. I'm not one who is really into holding flights, but I imagine this is something of a draw, and the awkwardness of a male playing the 'catch me if you can flirt' is certainly something that is fun to be explored. You get to take a ride with a sexy sportscar, a sprinter with agility and speed, but not a hell of a lot of endurance.
There are a lot of stereotypes here, and those who like to buck the trend. Your dragon and what you do with her is completely up to you to define.
Tia / Kyraceth
I'm of the mind that your dragon is what you make it. It doesn't matter what color you choose in the end, because *you* are the one roleplaying it. There are far fewer constraints in the online games then in the books and I really want to emphasize that for anyone considering green but having some OOC ambition for their characters. Tia and Kyraceth are no pushovers. Neither are soft and simpering. Neither are 'teehee girly' or overly flirtatious or always moody or flighty or any of the things that people seem to ascribe to greens and their riders. In fact, as Q'luin so eloquently put it, Kyraceth is … 'about as masculine as you can get without becoming totally dude'. She's loud and brash, loves to eat, drink, 'smoke', and gamble; and don't forget mocking all the guys cause she can fly circles around 'em.
Why? Because that's what I asked for! I specifically asked for a green based on my favorite sci-fi character and that's exactly what I got. (*swwon*!) So please, please, please, do not ever feel constrained to stereotypes. You get the fun of being proddy and holding flights and all that fawning attention without the worry of clutching or roleplaying in a fishbowl. And you can hold any position except for Weyrwoman or Weyrleader. There's plenty of leadership roles to be had if you're so inclined, and there's also plenty of room for the eccentric but loveable 'not so average' wingrider.
Mara / Nafanth
Greens are the dragons that keep everyone guessing in the weyr. Greens, the ladies that can often drive goldriders insane (Notes I did nothing to chip away at Kabs sanity should she show signs of insanity in the future). When it comes right down to it greens are just as much fun and are as versitile as any other dragon in the weyr, but they have perks such as never being sands bound, never loosing their sexy shapes due to being stretched by eggs. They get to have all the fun of flights, proddiness and all that without having to worry about consequences. These lovely ladies are what you put into them, My Nafanth is based off Buttercup from The Princess Bride. She's sweet, loving, and has an utter wicked side when she's proddy. We can be wingleader, wingseconds, WLMs, and or AWLMs. Greens will never go out of style, never suffer from the 'Fishbowl Syndrome', you'll never have to be stressed out over leading a search cycle (Trust me, I have lead them over on PW and they can be overly stressful) but you can have all the fun of leaving your mark by being part of SCO and creating new generations of dragons.
Male and female greenriders will always keep the weyr hopping, will always make people stop and wonder just what is going to happen next (points to all the havoc a greenrider caused alongside a bronzerider over at Fort). If you want to have fun and have just started playing Pern games and want a female dragon, I seriously suggest you start out with greens, get used to playing them then go for a metallic. Don't jump in and go for gold until you know what your getting into. Watch, listen, and learn first.
Kh'rys / Ysaleth
WHAT'S HOT:
IC:
- You get to decide the outcome of flights.
- You get to play proddy! (IE, you can create mayhem and be completely innocent.)
- They're small, agile, and the really fancy fliers.
- Nobody expects you to be consistent in your moods.
- Your IC position isn't as limited as it is in the books.
- You're not the 'least of the riders' as in the books. You're who you are, and your dragon has a personality, too!
OOC:
- You can do anything 'cept Weyrwoman and Weyrleader, though you can essentially have those spots under another title. (Kh'rys was weyrsecond for a figurehead WL.)
- You don't have responsibility expectations attached to the color of your dragon, yet can have the responsibility if you want it.
- You have opportunities for talking to people—flights, proddiness, and such things can be tickets into roleplay and OOC chat.
- You don't have the pressure to participate in every flight; rather, you schedule your own when you want/have time.
- The dragon is what you make her, not a personality-less bundle of hormones. It's the combination of character and dragon personalities that make you the unique team. Each green(rider) is different. Dorianth is nothing like Ysaleth, and likewise K'lora is nothing like Kh'rys, though both clutchmates may be the closest of friends.
WHAT'S NOT:
IC:
- Legitimate concerns can be read as hormone-driven; or any deviant action is proddiness.
- You get weyr-restricted every now and then for proddiness.
- Male greenriders are often seen as automatically homosexual, while female greenriders are seen as heterosexual.
OOC:
- Your character (and player) can be ascribed attributes of instability, unreliability, etc.
- Bigger == better, so you didn't 'deserve' the better. (This can sometimes have book overtones, too.)
- Assumed sexual orientation of the character can be read onto the player, particularly if the character goes against the assumed.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS:
What you think you want isn't always what you're happy with in the end. I wanted brown. I got Ysaleth. I've never been happier to get something I didn't want.
Th'ea / Selketh
Riding green allows me the anonymity of a wingrider, the notoriety of proddiness, and, should I choose to pursue it, the respect of authority. I am one of the crowd. I perform my duties, I complain about them, I laugh, I live, and I fade into the woodwork. I can be at the heart of the gossip or completely out of the loop, without having to choose one or the other. My dragon is as capable as any other, but has no expectations placed on her other than those that come with being a responsible member of a team. /That/ is my favorite thing about riding green: being able to claim membership in a group that is respected (/earned/ respect) worldwide, but not being required to distinguish ourselves apart from that.
Velura / Glissiereth
Not looking to run a Weyr or deal with sitting on hot sands? I'll admit to not being sure when I went green where I was going with it all, but that was the best part of having green as an option. Greenriders can blend in, stand out or do both depending on how things go. I've personally been a wingsecond, helped with weyrlings and then just played wingrider. I get to hold flights and decide who wins, decide how being proddy goes and don't have to sit on hot sands afterwards ;).
I like that greens can be considered stereotyped depending on the person and i can choose to fit that stereotype and play with it or to rebel against it. A dragon is a big turning point for a character and any impression/non-impression will provide catalyst but I for one found the differences of a green to be a massive catalyst and it's been wonderful to work out what all of it means.
T'jano / Mrrth
Mrrth is my second green, and was the only dragon I wanted for Tjano. Greens are the best, in terms of absolute flexibility. What they cannot do, is to fly all day; their endurance simply will not, cannot, match the dragons of any other color. But, what they lack in talent at the boring and mundane, they make up for in creativity, agility and a sheer brilliance all their own. Yes, the Weyr is built around the bronzes and golds and the browns as backbone, but its blues and greens especially greens that fill all the blanks, that dot the Is, that cross the ts. And its the greens alone who are the glue of female touch with all those males! Fully fifty percent of the population, each green is none-the-less herself, her own person, and never dull.
Subject to moods, and less domineering than the larger colors (as a rule), the greens seem more of a mind-meld, a partner in crime, an extension of the life-force of their riders than the more power-hungry metallics, who /definitely/ tend to have their own agenda. The greens that I have played with are, with no exception, an absolute delight. Elsveth is probably my second-favorite dragon (besides Xanth, and with Mrrth a darn-close second), and green. Dorianth, delightful. I could go on and on And more likely, it was the players, but the greens have all been unique, yet united in being purely dragon, with that distinctive stamp of /green dragon/.
The riders of the female dragons may be far more subject to their dragons moods, than the others, but those moods are great fun to play. Proddy, pre-proddy, post-proddy, no-I-really-dont-favor-him And as Tjano used to say, a green wins every flight. A player of a greenrider has a plethora of directions to pick for his or her character; a goldrider gets to go up when staff dictates, or must get permission. A greenrider has the Flight and life can return to whatever insanity is branded as normal; a goldrider gets stuck in the Weyr for Clutching and Hatching, NPC or not. Greens can go up six times a turn or none at all. Its /all/ canon for a green. They can Search, and Flame and fly Thread, and go on Flights, and their riders can be present for other folks flights without flipping out (Tjano often acts as bouncer in flights, because hes totally unaffected by other female dragons flights), and and and
Greens can hold positions, if their players want to annoy themselves with OOC politics, but they, along with blues and maybe browns, really are the best situated for pure RP. They can be anywhere, do anything, justify almost any action (like, say, trying to murder the Lord-Elect of Southern Boll in a fit of proddy temper), that other dragonriders just cant manage. A creative player can do a great deal with any dragon, but I think theres more pure freedom, less overall restriction, on the player of a greenrider, than any other color, except maybe blue. I wanted Teej to be greenrider, but theres no canon to justify her being able to hold any other dragon, so I got around that; Mrrth mesmerizes. She creates mental illusions to distract another dragon from his or her pain, while Tjano does his work. As a RP device, green is the best in terms of mobility, lack of rules and the best, along with blue, to push a player to his or her imaginative best.
Go green and good luck!
Zerra and Minalth
I have ridden all colours on various Pern games, cept gold. But why is brown my favourite? Is it because the brownrider characters I have had were the best of all the rider characters I've played? Nawww. Is it coz the brown dragons had the best Inspirations? Not particularly (tho Minalth's inspiration was excellent) So the ONLY answer I can come up with, is that its the COLOUR that has made a difference to me as a player. Ahhh Brown. Brown. BROOOOWWWN.
Yes, all colours come with stereotypes and you dont have to play to any of them. So really, you could make fun with any colour. But brown for me, is special. Browns are big and bulky. Browns allow you to be leadership ICly. And if your a chick riding a brown dragon, you can actually be a clutch parent. And you can still hit threadfall hard without being stuck on the sands like gold -mummy!).
Browns also tend not to translate any stereotype about their rider's sexuality (as much as greens and blues do- gay boys on green, gay girls on blue), so leaving that open to how You want your character to be is a bit easier.
I honestly dont have any 'cons' about brown. They can be muscley and brawny, they can be cuddley and bear like, they can be librarians, regimented soldiers or even gromet turtles.
Brown is best!!
N'lon / Rhyolith
Brownriders are among those more free to play what they want. No one knows just what to expect from them and I love that it keeps people guessing. N'lon's been a Wingleader, AWLM, Wingsecond and Weyrleader. It's that flexibility that I liked, I wasn't expected to be Weyrleader or even asked. Do I think a bronzerider would have? Maybe. At least more so than brown. Browns can sneak under the radar and surface when people least expect it. Quite frankly, you're really your own boss. A number one rebel.
In my opinion I feel less obligated to "step up to the plate" if I ride brown, kind of more of a safety. But that's not like I listened! The man makes the dragon, not the other way around. Or woman as it were too.
Ryka / Riallath
WHAT'S HOT:
Neat things are having a BIG dragon. ;) Browns are actually pretty spiff to ride. You can rise to absolutely /any/ position from wingrider to weyrleader, though browns seldom catch golds. In mating flights, browns are rather less than maneuverable(Kinda like flying a very big bus as opposed to a Corvette) , but they have a great deal of stamina. You don't /have/ to take on a leadership position with this color, which can most definitely be a plus. Browns aren't expected to be totally one way or another, so it leaves a lot of leeway in the way you play your dragon. You can be twisted and strange on any color dragon, but browns do it best. ;) A brown dragon /can/ have steadying effects on a character that is less than stable or has little confidence.
WHAT'S NOT:
Browns do not fly well in green flights compared to blues for the simple reason that it takes browns much longer to make the twists and turns. Stereotypes include: stable, boring, leadership material, stolid, steady. Not true, I say! Big pet peeve is the stereotype of a brown rider. Don't like greenriders playing up to my brown only for mating flights. Phooey. He's more than just a stud!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS:
It depends on the way /you/ play the dragon. Stereotypes are just hot air, make your own choices for personality. characteristics.
J'bal / Kwaith
Want to be a tired wingrider, a steadfast leader, run a Weyr, be lazy? I'll admit browns are one of the most varied colors out there, they're somewhat without stereotype and allow a range of freedom that can be tougher to find in other colors though is still there. I've loved pushing for power and grumping about how brownriders aren't considered as special as bronzeriders, I've enjoyed holding some power as a wingleader and just grumping about the weyr as a plain old wingrider that's tired of his talents being ignored. I've chased greens and golds with equal glee and get to complain about washing all that hide.
There is something open-ended about being a brownrider, a feeling of being on a choose your own adventure where you're only limited by your choices and imagination. It's been one of the toughest characters to play because of that but easiest to love since however I feel I can move with that idea and it's still part of the characters realm of possibility. If you're not sure what you want to do or want to play being lost in a world of choices or just love chocolate ;) brown can be a sweet reward.
N'lon / Rholith (who isn't a bronze, but the player has ridden bronze before!)
In the world of Pern boys who Impressed bronze had innate or obvious leadership abilities. On game it's a bit more open to interpretation. Now this is from my belief, but anyone who goes for bronze (and brown though to a much lesser degree) should be open to the idea of at least holding IC rank. DF struggled early this year to find leaders for the game. There were no active bronzeriders willing to be Weyrleaders. I'm not saying if you put bronze you'd better step up to bat when your team calls or else, but that's something I remember when bronze is on my color choice(s).
Like we said IC rank does not automatically equal OOC rank here. Someone could be Weyrleader, the ultimate position a bronzerider can achieve, and not have to worry about staff, maintanence, building, coding, etc. Of course you /can/ do any or all of those if you'd like - you'll be put to good use ;)
Bronzeriders, in my opinion, aren't any different from brownriders. Each can lead a Weyr, a game, be on staff, or not be anything but average riders. The only thing bronzeriders can yield is a gold egg and as you can see a brownrider got around that fact. Mostly the distiction, for me, was based on the character, not the prestige or abilities of bronze.
Q'luin / Zhoreth
This is always difficult for me because I don't believe in the old cliches of colors. Everyone says Q'luin is a "typical" bronzerider, but to be quite frank, I picked bronze because it fit with the "whole" story of his past and future. It just worked out he fit into that little bronze box that people stuff dragons and riders into.
OOCly they are no different than any other color, as is well known. ICly obviously they have the Weyrleader shtick, along with brownriders, they can buy into, but otherwise, it's just an ego-party-favor.
The one thing I've always felt, and honestly I don't know where it came from, is that if you impress bronze you should somehow be more vigilant to flights of all sorts. I rarely miss a flight because I feel it's a way to support the players who dare to hassle with the female gender of the species. I'd say the same of any male color, really, but yea, I feel it's a responsibility of a bronzerider, even if it makes no sense.
On search we treat bronze like any other color. No special attention, and this is how it should be viewed all around. Go with what color best goes with your eyecolor; it's always a good tool of choice.
S'tao / Sephiroth
The greatest distinction of a bronze rider is the ability of one's dragon to sire a gold egg.
That's pretty much it in a nut shell. Everything else is really just gravy. On DF your IC rank doesn't equate to being on Staff. So really the doors are open to whatever you wish to do with your character.
Just like not every bronzerider in the book was the same, how one plays a bronzerider is really a matter of personal preference. You have your good guys and your bad guys, those that are natural born leaders and others that shouldn't be allowed near the council chambers at all.
I personally dislike the old cliches, but I didn't set out to go challenge convention on purpose. Originally Tiago was not meant to Impress at all. But as roleplay went on and the character developed, circumstances changed as the character changed. Then of course OOC factors had to be considered, there just aren't a great many active bronzeriders who actually want to be Weyrleader. So if you do say that you want to be a bronzerider, be prepared that it's possible that the big heavy ugly knot might end up on YOUR shoulders when you least expect it.
In the past I've had other bronzerider characters. No two were the same, just as no two dragons were exactly the same. I'd just have to say for the record, be very very careful of what you ask for, in case Searchco has a sense of humor and decides to give it to you, no matter how insane the idea may be.
Th'deus / Xanth
Xanth is, without a doubt, my most favorite dragon of all time, and Ive played every color but brown. However, this is more due to Liettes writing a brilliant dragon inspiration, than the color itself. At the time, Thdeus love interest was a greenrider, and Xanth was created to be one of the smallest bronzes on record, probably so he could have some cannon success in catching green.
Not to sound like broken record, but the color is what you make it. Myself, I have a set of rules about bronzes, to keep them from being super-dragons (though Xanths already about as broken as you can get, and still be at least remotely canon). I know that bronzes went Searching in the first Pern book, and found Lessa, but in the rest of the books, blues and greens excelled at Search and took pride in that; I will never have Xanth Search, because I dont want to steal the thunder of a green or blue or even the multipurpose brown.
But, they COULD! —If you want. They can Weyrlead, they are canon for the leadership positions. They can be total tail-chasers, or not (Xanth has been restricted by Sidijith, that he only chases /her/, but he did chase some greens in his time). They can fulfill any position. They can fly all day and partway into the night, endurance being their strength, but what they absolutely cannot do is match the blues and greens in agility, sheer grace, and the show-stopping aerial acrobatics. At the same time, their riders probably do not suffer as much upper back and neck injuries, with the exception of Ikaroths rider, because Ikaroth is a delightful bronze daredevil. With bronze, all things can happen, but they dont have to, either.
Ive heard of the fishbowl effect that everyone would be watching you, if you were on bronze. Great! Im looking for RP, if Im logged on, and its easier if Im visible. I personally hate logging on to a M* full of ledge-sitters, so I tend to always try to park my bronzerider in a public place, available for anyone to RP with. Like Qluin feels a bronze should attend flights, I feel that a bronzerider has a responsibility to be very available for RP, particularly with newbies, and to routinely try to generate RP in public areas.
But Its what you want. Its a game. Roleplay on.
E'th / Colchith
Easily, in a million years of roleplaying, I don't think I've ever loved a dragon as much as I've loved Colchith. For being a Bronze I can't say that I've ever experienced the fishbowl effect, nor was I cornered into playing a certain subset of personalities with the pair. E'th is not your typical bronze rider, he's not well spoke, definitely not well-written, yet Colchith, a Bronze, found him and considered him worthy. Colchith is one of the larger bronzes, yet he has an affinity for green and is just as quirky as his lifemate, E'th.
Colchith picks and chooses his flights based on what he thinks is best for his rider. He will stay away from certain flights if there are people he finds distasteful for his rider riding a particular green or gold, and will go full out on the ones he feels best for his rider. Bronze, for me, hasn't really affected my roleplay in so much as Colchith is a personality all his own and is just so bloody fun to play. I really do think the inspiration and the inspired player are what make a color. Bronze, Brown, Blue, Gold, Green. I don't think, as a player, that I have any more responsibility than any other color to make or break RP. I think we should be involved no matter our colors.
Just remember: The fact that you were Impressed at all means you have an amazing RPing ability, don't waste it regardless of the color. Color is color, make the dragon yours and integrate him/her into your RP. You wouldn't believe the opportunities you have as a rider and the limitations ALL colors have. I have never had more fun than when I'm RPing a scene with Colchith, playing off him against E'th and those around him.
The fact he's bronze? Well. I'm sure he could have been a pretty burly Green Studette, too. ;) But being bronze only means certain positions are there for there for the taking, and the gold egg thing. None of which ever really mattered to me, RP being the main thing that drives me as a rider. You want to ride Bronze? Take it, eat it, and make it your own. There are no limitations.
Soteria / Lilyth
Now for the record, I am an instarider here on DF. However I have impressed gold on other games a number of times and played them on and off for a number of years. I chose not to port over my other gold because she would just not fit into DF's theme as well as the one I tailored for Soteria.
Riding gold was a pain in the neck sometimes. I'd have to say that the important thing was to keep things in perspective. This is a game and your dragon is a piece of code. Now beyond that, I think it's really vital that your character have a sense of self beyond being 'a gold rider'. Getting that shiny dragon doesn't magically make you better, prettier, smarter, or better liked. Popularity on a game, like with real life, is often merely illusion.
In the old days, the gold rider was expected to be a leader, assume the major responsibilities OOCly as well as ICly. I think it's honestly a great deal easier these days when the OOC staff is actually running the show. But a gold rider still remains a largely public figure as the books did emphasize their importance and consequently players new and old tend to look towards you in some way.
That's the fishbowl effect. Always having your actions and opinions scrutinized and sometimes blown out of proportion. Being thick skinned helps as well as knowing when to listen to advice as well as when not to take matters too seriously. If you know you're sensitive to how others perceive you or can't stand the limelight? Then perhaps gold is not for you.
There are good points of course. Being a weyrwoman tends to open doors, makes you hard to ignore in crowds, and yes there is that sense of living out one's fantasies, otherwise why are you role-playing about Pern right? You have a better chance at making a significant impact in the history of the game and if you get to have a clutch, you get your name scribbled down on a hatching log somewhere.
Decisions regarding your character might not always be wholly yours to make however. Sounds invasive doesn't it? But sometimes you have to consider what's best for your Weyr before yourself. Maybe you really want to have the next clutch, but your real life is too busy during Search time, then sometimes you might have to sacrifice that chance for everyone else's benefit. Or maybe you have to give permissions for others to powerplay you while you're away. Or maybe you don't get to pick out who gets to win your flight.
In the end, a gold rider is more constrained and limited than other characters. There is only job you really can have. You're a weyrwoman and that's it till the end. So one should really stop and think before you make that final decision, if it's really right for you as a player and right for your character.
Abby (who doesn't ride a dragon at all, but has ridden gold on DF in a past life!)
Ah, gold! The much sought after, much fought over, much bemoaned gold. Gold is the only color that is limited, not because gold is super special, but because there can be only one (or two, in a double clutch). Please know that Impressing gold will not fix your character if you don't already like her, and it doesn't change you as a player. It won't make people like you, and it won't make you popular. The only thing it will do is guarantee that you feel watched pretty much all of the time. It's that dreaded fishbowl. I went for gold for entirely IC reasons, and there were still times after I Impressed that I wished I had gone for green instead. It brings some lovely RP opportunities with it — nobody else gets to play clutchmother! — but it will try you as a player.
So please, if you're gold only, give some thought to if this is what you'd really like. There are always a lot of gold candidates, and so a lot of people who don't Impress at all because we can only give out one. Trust me, if it were up to me I'd give the whole lot of you golds and call it a day!
Also, being gold only doesn't increase your chances of getting a gold. If you'd be happy with another color, please say so. If you wouldn't, then stick to gold only. But above all, tell us what would make you happy, and have fun with your character! Dragons are, after all, only big lumps of shiny code. They are what you make them!
Lastly, I'd like to stress what Arien says below about a sense of proportion. Bookmarking this website, and looking at it often, could be key to keeping this! (I totally stole this from Asher's profile. Thanks, Asher!)
Arien / Katrineth
WHAT'S HOT:
- Books feature golds. It's nice seeing a 'slice of life', to not be 'invisible'. And such an exciting slice of life, too! (Of course, all these world-changing events are far, far rarer in gaming, but still it's stirring.)
- Your character has a built-in role. Talk about job security! Not to mention some of the best tithe. None of that smelly firestone, either!
- Attention. Good to a point. It's difficult to be ignored, but it's also unclear how much of this is due to being a rider as opposed to a goldrider, not to mention DF folks' general coolness and tendency to pay attention to everyone.
- Flights. They're a whole lot of fun! There are certainly more constraints than with green, but you still get to go up, up and away, and guide the flow of roleplay within the scene. If you're active, there can develop a special connection between you and the candidates/weyrlings Searched for your queen's clutches, which helps to make up for not being able to Search them.
You may notice that the 'What's Hot' parallels the 'What's Not' but is a lot shorter. There are two (and three-quarters?) reasons for that. First, gold fever appears to be more common than not, so attraction isn't my focus; some degree of reality-checking is. Second, I should note that I believe all dragons are nifty, so it's hard to pick out the best about gold. Also, Arien was my first character and Katrineth was my first dragon; I had only been rp'ing for less than three months when I Impressed her back in '92. (Times have changed; I would not recommend, now, that someone try to do so outside of very, very special circumstances.)
Since I have lots and lots of fun roleplaying her as she is, which happens to be gold, it's hard to distinguish the fun I have because she's gold and which the fun I'd like to think I'd have no matter which color Kat turned out to be (or for that matter, the fun I'd have if Ari hadn't Impressed at all). I also tend to feel very self-conscious talking about her, due to all the attention golds already get.
WHAT'S NOT:
- Books feature golds. Unfortunately, many of the weyrwomen appear to live to be shaken around. Even more unfortunately, many people feel compelled to play a would-be Lessa, who wouldn't be very fun to play with; still others distrust a character who isn't played that way, whether it's the feisty version or the calm, cool, collected version. Ari used to be the CCC version, back when there weren't really any other gaming examples; it took far too long to get her out of it. (Many thanks to friends who've helped!)
- Your character has a built-in role. You can't ride Search, you can't flame, you can't join a fighting wing, you can't be a weyrlingmaster. Most of a weyrwoman's IC role relates to hides and maintenance and more maintenance, plus some going around to Holds and Halls of the protectorate to make the Weyr look good and caring (aka deserving of more tithe), and then there's breeding.
Breeding is rare, and most of the non-breeding part is off-camera. Luckily, DF is set in an Interval which gives more time for hobbies and secondary occupations (though if you want another primary occupation, like dragonhealer, try another color instead). That said, the person playing a weyrwoman character really needs to enjoy finding her own fun instead of relying on 'what the others do,' since there's not that rich background that the fighting wings have.
Also, once a weyrwoman, always a weyrwoman; to change from junior to senior to retired, someone's character has to be incapacitated. If you apply for gold, be prepared to never ever be senior weyrwoman, or to be senior right after graduation from wings (it happened to me!).
- Attention. Otherwise known as 'the fishbowl': especially from new players who don't realize we're just like anyone else (and who drop all their nifty former rp to get all formal when your character comes in), but it's certainly not just them. While most people don't treat you differently, there can be some people want the shiny dragon and wonder why you impressed and they didn't, other people idle out because they wanted the gold and weren't straightforward and now aren't happy. The question can come up: are people being nice to you because they like you (most of the time), or because they want something from you (it can happen)? The key here is to not lord it over people in any way, shape or form OOC, and be very, very careful about any of it ICly: page is crucial. Awareness of the need for caution has led to a certain self-consciousness that I don't enjoy.
- Flights. Flights: you have to consider the Weyr's needs in scheduling and for who catches, particularly for Weyrleadership flights. Unlike a green who can just go up on a whim, you'll need to schedule it around the other golds, especially given that you're sandsbound with clutching; you may need a bronze to sire a gold egg, or to counteract if there've been a lot of golds caught by browns recently. If you don't want to deal with this, a gold isn't for you.
People pay attention to flights (to the point that the night of my Impression, I was paged by one otherwise-cool person who asked who I thought would catch Katrineth in her first flight, and angled to be considered…) and usually there's a lot of gossip surrounding them. Some people have problems collecting enough males for goldflights, although I've been lucky thus far—though part of that is scheduling, and part of that is lots of paging. PC clutches are few and far between (and a timesuck when they do occur), and sandsbound sometimes is fun for roleplay and sometimes is just a limitation. Come to think of it, that holds true for most things. :)
FAMOUS LAST WORDS:
As with any dragon, make sure you enjoy playing your character before you seek Impression; if there are any problems, Impression won't fix them (and may well make them worse). Keep your sense of humor, your sense of proportion, and your support system — and remember, this is a game!