Open vs. Closed Emotes

Let's start this by explaining what exactly open and closed emotes are. A closed emote is an action done by one character that does not give the victim of the emote any choice in the role-play. Open emotes, the preferred form of emoting in a role-play environment, leaves the action open so the victim has a chance to counter, or accept the first emote. Following is an example of both the closed emotes (bad) and the open emotes (good).

In this example of closed emoting, a kender thief is role-playing an attack on a white dragon:

(kender)Emote jumps up and chops your head off.

As you can see, the dragon has no choice there. He just had his head chopped off. End of role-play. This is unacceptable for many reasons. First of all, it is a physical impossibility for a kender to behead a dragon. Second, this ruins the role-play by not allowing the victim to participate.

Now for a more appropriate open emote version of this historic battle:

kender-Emote draws his sword and swings it high aiming for your neck.
dragon-Emote pulls back his head to avoid the blade and swings his tail around in an attempt to knock you from your feet.
kender-Emote flips over backwards, barely escaping your tail.
kender-Emote runs up to you and tries to climb up your tail.
dragon-Emote roars in anger as you climb upon his back.
kender-Emote attempts to pluck loose one of your scales using his dagger.
dragon-Emote takes to flight, roaring in pain as you peel off one of his scales.
kender-Emote looks down in awe at the shrinking earth beneath him.
dragon-Emote flips upside down in midair.
kender-Emote squeals with delight as he loses his grip upon your back and begins to plummet to the ground.
kender-Emote makes a horrendous crunching noise as he crashes through the trees and lands with a thud on the moist ground below.
dragon-Emote turns right side up and flies off into the distance.

You will notice that the last emote was a closed one. The reason this is acceptable, is because, in this instance, the victim of the emote is also the emoter. The dragon's emote only affects himself. But when it effects anyone other than the emoter, you should always use open emotes. This does not only apply to RP battles, but to every facet of RP interaction, be it haggling with other characters, greetings other characters, or even more intimate encounters with other characters. You should never dictate what the other characters are doing or how they are reacting to what you are doing. Leave it open for their inputs and you will find the entire experience will be more enjoyed by all involved.