What are some suggestions to prepare for the new Seattle?

I have already purchased the new SR4 manual. I am reading it.

I have had limited MUSH experience. I am an old tabletop player looking for a place to play. And, finally I type like a drunk squid.
I am sure being an accurate and fast typist helps to play in a text-based environment.? I will try and work on that.

<sits back and listens.>

Don't worry, most people on Seattle seem to type like drunk mollusks of some sort. (Waffle being a tree-octopus.)

The biggest difference between TT and online is that you have to internalize that the game runs 24x7, stuff happens while you're not a around (or 'available') stuff like NPCs live and die, PCs as well, etc. It's also good to think about stuff your character might be doing while you're not at the keyboard. Like exercising, doing drugs, smacking bitches up, etc.

As for actual 'play' styles, try to determine what kind of 'poser' you are to begin with and work towards that. One liner? Not so good but situations do call for it, pose bomb (paragraph of text) also not so hot. Getting a good style and descriptive interactions is more important than typing 'fast' (but try not to make people wait five minutes)

Well, some people play for years and their typing never improves...  I think that's because they don't care about it at all though.  I type ~70 wpm, and I learned (with some foundations from Mavis Beacon) entirely from playing Gemstone III, a kickass MUD they used to have for free on AOL.  Like...  14 years ago, or so.  Practice really does help your typing, as long as you're working on improving, so a MUX will be good for you

You may wish to try making some characters.  The chargen in SR4 is a very delicate process.  You have to perfectly balance your points to get a character that does all of what you want them to do without being bad at everything.  A word to the wise: if you're making a character designed to be the "best" at just one thing, you are wasting a LOT of points.  Maxing out attributes and taking qualities like aptitude and exceptional attribute make you pay through the nose for very few dice.  It's always best to have 5's (or 1 below whatever the max is, if it isn't 6 for your race) in your most important attributes, and raise them by ware or magic if you want.  That last point to max out your stat is NOT worth it.

Yeah, MUXs aren't so bad for the ol' typing skills. Well, unless you're mudding. I played on a PK mud for quite some time and after a while I started finding /scan and /who commands littering my normal correspondence. Took my typing skills a good month to recover, but luckily I've always been moderately quick at the keyboard.

I learned to type quickly by typing quickly.

I hope that helps!

Oh, for great Roleplay experience check out all the cyber sex MU*s out there, and don't do what they do.

Oh, and for great Roleplay experience check outall the cyber sex MU*s out there, and do what they do.

Oh, and for great... er, don't let me dissuade you... I'm too senile for this anymore.

I type around 105 words per minute, and I often times watch tv/movies/anime in the background while IMing and surfing the web just to keep myself entertained while I wait for people to pose.

Bah.

You too?

(Well, I don't really watch THAT much Anime, unless it's a movie by Miyazakai, or Cowboy Bebop. Which really I don't watch that much anymore since I've seen most of the episodes like 3 times each. Oh, were we talking? Sorry.)

Sometimes I have the misfortune to have more than one game full of people want my attention or RP, though, and though some people can somehow manage this, I most certainly cannot.

One Scene per game per me.

I suggest you try not to get overenthused and bite off more then you can chew. Scene or RP or plot-wise, and don't go sleeping with everything on grid.

I reccomend you get some dermal plating because the mu* world, the Shadowrun mu* world in general can be pretty harsh, there are some pretty grumpy old goats out there who hate everyone new and everything about them as well as hating the staff and everything they do who really can't wait to tear into some fresh meat.

They'll be hostile.

I reccomend you try and watch some cyberpunky stuff, or read it if you are capable of such. (Not everyone is, these days, unless it's an e-book.) Umm...what else.

Stay frosty?

Actually, don't get dermal plating. It just encourages people to pull out the APDS.

Figurative dermal plating. I was trying to find a cute way to say 'thick skin'.

Sorry. I'm a zealous orthoskin advocate and dermal plating makes me see red.


Plus, it was sort of a joke.

Stay frosty.  That's a much better way of putting my own Cardinal Rule: "Chill the F*ck Out."

Not to be confused with "Be chill."  Chill is a goddamn verb, to chill, to make cold.  I hate when people use it as an adjective so much 

Slot it, stay frosty, or I'll split you crotch to crown with my SMG. In other words, hold on.