Roleplaying

[Makfly]

A whole page worth of comments on a small side note in the post, but not a single comment on the post itself..?
So based off of Kiaras 'Scale of forum praise (tm)'* I presume that must mean that everyone agreed with my post. Gorboth are you taking notes here?!


*

People NOT commenting is perhaps the best praise an idea can get around here. Or on any forum really. Most people feel an urge to say something when they DONT agree.

[Amorana]

When people say "hard work" and "investment" about their grinding, I find it a bit strange as it often comes from players who seem to enjoy grinding. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Where people that enjoy grinding but hate roleplaying, call roleplaying hard work?
Regardless I think both activities could be called "hard work" or "investments" depending on the view of the person. Both are certainly time spent being logged in to the game.

So anyways lets look at a comparison between the two activities:

HARD WORK A

• Can not be automated
• Requires creativity
• Requires attention
• Will benefit others - It is a social interaction that creates an experience for and with another player or players
• Game does not reward this activity

HARD WORK B

• Can easily be automated via scripts and bots.
• The majority of experienced players have automated it to one degree or another
• Requires little to no attention
• Requires no creativity
• May benefit others - it can be a social activity, although most of the times it probably isn't.
• Game provides multiple rewards for this activity (stats, titles, coins and equipment)

Currently HARD WORK B is rewarded greatly by the game, while HARD WORK A is not rewarded by the game.
Should it be differently?
I think it's worth considering, because it is probably not a coincident that roleplaying and social interactions have dwindled in the last years.

For instance - One of the guilds that had a reputation for putting much focus on roleplaying is populated by some of the biggest players in the game, recruit self-professed grinders (Ydred) and have a gnome Nazgul called Fluffy.
Now that is all perfectly okay and I do not mention this to single out just 1 guild, but it is a clear sign that times have changed in Genesis, and not towards an increased focus on roleplaying.

To comment on your post, I swapped A and B (underlined) because in your original post you had them swapped.

I totally agree. But do you have any idea how to make it so that Hard Work A is rewarded more?

One thought that I had was that years ago we had an event that was based on writing plays and the best play was voted by the players and the winner of that got a special title and an experience reward. Why don't we have more RP events like this? I think this type of event gives an excellent way for people to RP, and for there to be legitimate rewards that help to lessen the gap between "RPers" and "non-RPers".

[Laurel]

writing plays and the best play was voted by the players and the winner of that got a special title and an experience reward

I need to start creating hordes of my alts to be ready to exp Laurel up the ez way and not be outvoted by others' hordes of alts already existing in the game.

[Kiara]

A whole page worth of comments on a small side note in the post, but not a single comment on the post itself..?
So based off of Kiaras 'Scale of forum praise (tm)'* I presume that must mean that everyone agreed with my post. Gorboth are you taking notes here?!

Yup. My scale is never wrong. I did several minutes of research to come up with it!

[Makfly]

writing plays and the best play was voted by the players and the winner of that got a special title and an experience reward

I need to start creating hordes of my alts to be ready to exp Laurel up the ez way and not be outvoted by others' hordes of alts already existing in the game.

Well, at least it'll take more effort than turning on your bot

[Laurel]

I have a bot? Hmm ...

[Celephias]

Let me preface by saying I don't have a solution, but the rewarding RP thing is super hard. Game mechanics are under the purview of the technology and as such can be implemented in code. But roleplay? Very, very subjective. Subjective is hard for code.

I think the world of Amorana's perspective and posts on the boards here, but the "compose a play for votes" thing seems like it misses the mark as a reward for RP. We do not all (any?) RP bards or playwrights. We do however, assume roles in the donut. I think its super hard to know how to reward that in the scope of game mechanics. For example, anyone who has been inducted into MM by Etanukar gets a full on RP experience that is among the best of anything I've ever experienced in game. There is no question the mood set by the Tower plays a role, but he brings it all alive. Truly exceptional stuff. I don't know how that could (would) ever be rewarded in the realm of game mechanics. Exp for every induction done well? Seems like a reach (to me anyway).

In some ways, for me, RP is its own reward. When I have a good RP session its really motivating and fulfilling. That being said, I have always understood the importance of the mechanics side of the game and as such invested to make sure my char could cash the checks my RP'ing self was writing. But if I was a pesky kender, I could probably RP the hell out of that without being huge (nudge Kiara).

I guess I am getting back to the position that RP and game mechanics matter for different reasons. Both are viable, but differently. If you want to be a full-on, in people's face badass, I guess you have to eat your Wheaties.

[Kiara]

But if I was a pesky kender, I could probably RP the hell out of that without being huge (nudge Kiara).

I dont think I said anything about that? There's really no problem in RPing a kender without being huge. Its one of the things you can RP will without needing stats to back it up.

Or maybe that nudge meant something else?? I am not sure I understood.

[Jhael]

But if I was a pesky kender, I could probably RP the hell out of that without being huge (nudge Kiara).

I dont think I said anything about that? There's really no problem in RPing a kender without being huge. Its one of the things you can RP will without needing stats to back it up.

I think that's what he was trying to say. Some characters need stats to back up their RP. If Celephias was a rising hero and tried to act tough ... he'd probably just get killed. In some scenarios, like that, the lack of stats really limits your ability to RP the way you might like.

[Kiara]

Jhael: Definitely.