[SnowTroll]

I readily admit that opinions vary, and there's not really a bright line that can be drawn (plus, any bright line would vary from mud to mud). In some muds, entering a crowded room yelling at an invisible barmaid or prostitute not actually being played by a player, controlled by an admin, or represented by a mob would break rules or at the very least, divert from the normal style the players there use. In others, while not technically against rules or convention, that sort of thing would be seen as a newbie begging for attention when there are real roleplay issues going on among the rest of the players that don't require artificially trying to draw the spotlight to themselves. A lot of players would see that newbie as ignorant of the "real" rp issues going on, an annoying distraction from the "real" roleplaying, and a shameless attention seeker trying to draw the spotlight from actual issues to his own self-promoting rp as he makes up invisible characters just so he can show off his poses and speech.

I'm not saying newbies should relegate themselves to staring with interest from the corner, clearing their throat, and fidgeting with their clothes trying to get attention in subtle ways. There's no harm in walking up to someone and saying hi like a normal person who doesn't pick fights with invisible barmaids, or slowly building up your status by making friends in small groups and one on one encounters between the larger scenes, and getting yourself seen by the general playerbase over the course of a few weeks so people come to recognize and accept you as a presence.