This is the first forum/chat/whatever site that I have joined and I remember when mudcatters, the people on the other side of the screen, were not quite real to me, as though I made them up daily. (The only reason that might explain it is that not only do I read extensively but I also write. So in that sense, I 'make up people'.)

However, it didn't take long before that all changed. The emotions- the laughter, the tears, the fears, the grief, the very sharing of each one's essence- come across the ether so clearly there is no way I could have continued to feel that way. Speaking of essence, maybe that's why phantom lurker, et al, is so dismaying to me. Where is his/her essence? For the record, I have never used any name but Ebbie, unless I gave my real name in PMs.

I agree that role playing can be fun- it is what acting is, no doubt. But it belongs on the stage or in a clearly labeled face to face parlor game. Where's the fun in misleading people by the written word? It is only fun, IMO, when one is able to stay flawlessly in character- when everyone present knows that you are not really an alien or an angel or a butterfly magically brought to human life but after awhile you are able to make them begin to wonder!

Phantom Lurker, maybe you're a frustrated thespian, so I won't say to you: Get a life. Instead I'll say: Go play. Here is not the right place. IMO.

Ebbie