Roleplay, ftw!

[Tarax the Terrible]

That and a primer for each area..

For example most of us have no idea what an SU is talking about the first time we meet them.
What did that mean hello?
WTF is Khave?
Who the hell are they talking about? etc etc

Learning it in the game IS part of the fun.
But I am sure having a series of RP Primer on the website for different areas and guilds would be helpfull for those stepping into an alien world giving them an idea what to expect.

I have witness the alternative is sometimes a character taking the interested party to the side and quickly explaining a few things out of character. Or more often people are over awed by the Rp'er in front of them and afraid to ask a dumb question.

What say the supremo RPers out there, Useful? Would you enjoy writing it?

[Strider]

Rather than waiting for or expecting a polished product, such primers could be fleshed out in individual threads in this otherwise under-utilized forum.

I should also get around to adding that I believe that is actually impossible to have a system that rewards roleplay, because the reward itself redefines the activity into the realm of gameplay, by definition. Sure, there are always skills like acting or character development, and expertise one can display in setting lore, but roleplaying itself is most alive when the character demands something that actually limits your ability to "win" the game.

[Tarax the Terrible]

Reminded me of this "Goblins" Comic




In that case I've met a number of hardcore RP'ing Grunts..

[Targun]

My 2cc's.

For once I do not think roleplay should be rewarded in other way than roleplay itself. One of my previous chars used to be an actor and I've got to say- I hated the club. Most people would get so full of themselves with the whole 'eliteness' and would argue all the time on the board. It used to make me feel sick. I loved the opportunity to free emote however, and it was by far my favourite part of the game. Majority of players always made attempts to justify being 'elite' with roleplay. In fact, 'roleplaying' often served and still serves as an excuse for wielding ridiculous powers in terms of balance. As a result, it was never about roleplay, but all about who gets better perks.

For me roleplaying/socializing is the most interesting part of the game. I just get utterly bored with grinding, when I have noone to talk to and I hardly see a point to it at all, other than, to be able to play the game comfortably. Of course it's important for me to have the game well balanced and be provided with game mechacnis that are capable of creating interesting PvP environment. This is not the most essenctial part though.

What I'd like to say here is, there is no 'eliteness' in roleplaying whatsoever. Nothing that makes one who roleplays special, in any way. Not to mention, it's really no big deal to strut around proudly with 'ya better look at me- the roleplayer' look on your face, when you've got potentially deadly arsenal one bind away and your roleplays is mainly teasing others or just being 'the boss'. It's way more interesting when there is nothing that would make you stand out. Above all else though, roleplaying is just fun, and no rewards in my opinion are needed. And from my experience, people tend to roleplay back, when they see you do.

One last thing. I had a brief experience with Ultima Online 2d few years back. It was a pleasant server, which I played with a bunch of my friends, mostly met through muds. We had some great fun out there for a time. There were however, 'rewards' for roleplay, or should I rather say 'roleplay'. Of course, it turned out to be rather corrupted and people who got the stats/skills from GMs for 'roleplaying' were either their rl friends or girls who were cyber-se... flirting with them. Ongoing accuaation and so on, so on. An absolutely sick atmosphere. Not to mention their roleplay was really terrible and infantile all focused on- perhaps a GM is watching and I might score a stat point for being graphomaniac *shudders*.

[Tarax the Terrible]

Targun brings up a point I also wanted to talk about.

What is our characters typical roleplay?
I would say a lot of it in our fantasy game is confrontational.

Is roleplay easier when you have the big guns to back it up?
Or another way to phrase that, is it essential to first gather the power to your character to make it credible?

For me I've commonly enjoyed playing my char in a menacing, savagely dangerous type role.
That's is not to say I have enjoyed the many other types, flirting, socializing, diplomacy etc

You don't necessarily need to be big but to play a confrontational sort of role you do need a certain amount of power behind you or you are laughable.
This could be your own strength/cunning, allies in guild or otherwise, guild position. Whatever.
When Tarax was smaller he relied heavily on the threat of his BDA allies when bullying and harassing people in Flotsam etc.
It was also easy enough to start fights he couldn't finish because I knew I would have a very good chance to escape anyway.

I include in confrontational roles the likes of the honourable hero, champion, defender of the weak. Even the pacifist, since others will deliberately strain that principle.
I think that is even harder because it has more constraints.
EG I've heard people mock KoS before because they don't always stand and fight to the death.
Or they ignore a fight they cannot possibly win.

SU and MM are two of the guilds with the best RP reputation.
I have seen many characters from both in action and yes nearly every single one has been in impressive RP mode the whole time.
But these are also two of the guilds with the strongest powers individually but more crucially the backup behind them (MM moreso).
So even if a puny MM is being all superior and demanding to you the thought in the back of your mind is if I kill this punk I'm prolly gonna die later.

What comes first the chicken or the egg?

[Makfly]

Targun has it all right.

And Tarax, it's not a chicken and egg situation. Roleplay can exist without (imbalanced) power, and power can exist without roleplay.
It just so happens that the previous Admin have thought it was a good idea to dole out imbalanced power, because of a perceived higher level of roleplay from said guilds.
Which ofcourse had the effect that players was lured to the guilds, and roleplayed their way to get the power they wanted.
That unfortunately led to quite a few cases of:
I put in so much hard work to get this power, so I deserve it. You didn't do all the work I did, so you do not deserve getting similar powers.
When you hear people equate roleplay with (hard) work and as a justification of why they should have (imbalanced) power, then I think the whole idea of tying power & roleplay shows it's fatal flaws.

Another big reason why there are also more roleplayers in one guild compared to the other, is also the fact that roleplayers congregate where other roleplayers are. You can't roleplay alone, and having guildmates who roleplay gives you the an easy access to an environment where you can play out your role.
I think the Rangers have had some excellent roleplaying environment, and that is regardless of their level of power. So I would still argue that power and roleplay are not naturally connected.

[Celephias]

I agree with Makfly in that good roleplayers attract other good roleplayers. This is how the MM guild started. It was populated with good roleplayers when it started, and this standard (while perhaps wavering over time) is still a big basis as to whether or not an applicant will get in and governs the behavior of the guild members.

I also agree with Tarax that it is difficult to roleplay a menacing being when you can be wimpied from the room with ease. No one will fear a player they can easily chase from the room.

As to whether or not people feel entitled to power because of the time they put in roleplaying, I've never heard anyone say that. Makfly, who have you heard say this? It seems to be a fundamental assertion in your argument.

Perhaps you're confusing the ability to just buy skills with other kinds of work to advance in a guild?

[Makfly]

As to whether or not people feel entitled to power because of the time they put in roleplaying, I've never heard anyone say that. Makfly, who have you heard say this?

It's not necessarily the time put into it, it's the "work" put into it. If you search on this forum, you should find examples.
Also it's not like it's a new argument, it's been put forth over many years, perhaps more so under the previous Administration. Of course back then imbalance was conscience part of the design of the game.