What does RP mean to you?

[Shinto]

Despite having played MMO games for a few years now, this is the first time for me to play on an RP server. I thought to myself, "Sure, sounds fun, and I will know a few people there." Admittedly, I don't know how RPers act compared to other players, but that didn't really seem like an issue.

So I log in on day 1, and ask if there are any groups up. The only response I got was someone telling me that I'm not role playing, so I shouldn't use the shout channel. So I ask how I'm supposed to ask for a group "in character." The response is to use the ooc channels instead.

Now, as I said, this is new to me, so I somewhat wrote it off and went on. It went downhill from there, though. I listened both in ooc and in shout. People were saying in ooc that they were filtering everyone who is out of character in the shout channel. I even heard people complaining because someone used shout to ask if a quest was broken. This was followed by an argument over whether (()) should be used for ooc.

Surely everyone isn't so uptight about this? I mean, I understand that it is an RP server, and if you are sitting around chatting, or really getting into a raid, you can use all the "aye"s you want, and I'll join you. But does it really break your immersion more to hear someone shout "Is Quest X broken?" than to have the ooc channel open and hear it there?

[Ysharros]

Originally Posted by Shinto

But does it really break your immersion more to hear someone shout "Is Quest X broken?" than to have the ooc channel open and hear it there?

What follows is IMO, YMMV, yadda yadda. Insert whatever disclaimer you want.

For some people, yes, it does break immersion to use any channel other than the /ooc one(s) for that kind of question.

I don't roleplay in online games because I just can't get my head into it, despite 20-odd years of tabletop gaming. (It's the visual thing, I think. I'd rather see it in my head than on a screen.) That said, many people find exactly the opposite and for them, RP in an MMO is a vibrant and magical experience. So to some extent, they don't want said experience sullied by the equivalent of some kid's zillion-decibel car stereo suddenly blasting into your room at 3AM.

There's also a certain element of defensiveness in the (often rabid, IMO, and intolerant) way the RP rules are enforced. This is because roleplayers still get persecuted far more than anyone deserves in games. Really - there's nothing perverted about roleplaying and it's *not* all cyber (I'd contend most RP has nothing at ALL to do with that, in fact) - and yet, there's that image that an online gamer who's also a roleplayer is just geekness squared and thus fair to pick on by all the kids with personal issues to take out on others.

I've seen the griefing some people get up to on RP servers just because they know it annoys the people who play there - and since there's not much that can be done to stop them, the RP community can get pretty heated at the slightest hint that someone isn't following the rules.

Add to that (again, imo, you know the drill) that some roleplayers, as in any other group, just like to tell people what to do and how to do it. What you can name your char, what actions your can take when you roleplay, what is and isn't acceptable use - the kind (if you've ever played tabletop) that you just want to stare at and say "Hey, how about you just play this char for me, huh?" To me they're the equivalent of the people who endlessly relate what phat items they just acquired in regional chat, and how wonderfully cool they are - I avoid both if I can. Personally, I find the whole (( )) in a *marked* /ooc channel to be just plain silly - I also don't usually do it in tells because I have problems with the whole "I'm roleplaying, but I sure can whisper in your ear 5000 miles away;" that breaks character for me by definition, but it doesn't for lots of other people. There are as many different types of roleplayers, even online, as there are people. It's not all just one homogenous mass.

I'm rambling and I'm not sure I'm making my point - which is, if you're trying an RP server, give it a bit of time. The RP community can be defensive and insular, but it's also equally welcoming, helpful and mature (though not always on first acquaintance), and you might find you have some really great experiences there. A good idea would be to let people know in /ooc that you're new to the whole thing, and see if people don't cut you a bit of slack - I can guarantee that they will if they know you're willing and that your intentions are good.

RP online is a fragile thing to create and maintain, and someone next to you loudly discussing the football scores while you're trying to be Sir ReallySerious The Solemn Paladin isn't easy. Hence, a few unwritten rules, many of which are designed to make it clear who is doing/saying what to whom (it's not always obvious if, for instance, you walk into a tavern and there's something already going on). Hence, occasional scrappiness when people don't seem to follow those rules or know them by osmosis.

[Krieghund]

Shout and say are a spatial channels. It is bad manners to be out of character in the spatial channels.

You can ask for a group in character very easily.
Are you a noble Paladin?
Would anyone join me in slaying the foul undead?
Are you a savage Orc?
Gnonk need buddies for bashen

Now, if you're too shy to do it like that in shout, then the /ooc channel will get the job done too.

The whole point of shout being in character and /ooc being out of character is that people can turn /ooc off and still have a global chat channel.

Originally Posted by Shinto

Surely everyone isn't so uptight about this? I mean, I understand that it is an RP server, and if you are sitting around chatting, or really getting into a raid, you can use all the "aye"s you want, and I'll join you. But does it really break your immersion more to hear someone shout "Is Quest X broken?" than to have the ooc channel open and hear it there?

After reading this gem, my advice is to reroll on a non-RP server. If you do it tonight, you'll still have a head start on the people who didn't preorder.

[Shinto]

Originally Posted by Krieghund

After reading this gem, my advice is to reroll on a non-RP server. If you do it tonight, you'll still have a head start on the people who didn't preorder.

I don't see any point in restarting. I plan to role-play as much as I can; I just haven't done it before, so don't really know how. That said, I don't plan to flame people for going ooc in the shout channel.

[SwordMage]

Originally Posted by Krieghund

Shout and say are a spatial channels. It is bad manners to be out of character in the spatial channels.

...

The whole point of shout being in character and /ooc being out of character is that people can turn /ooc off and still have a global chat channel.
...

One of the problems VG right now is that /ooc and /shout have different ranges: /ooc is "region wide" and /shout seems to be chunk wide. With chunks going down all the time in beta a whole bunch of people have gotten used to using /shout for stability issues and that mind set is still with us.

I would really like to see (and this may be something the RP community sets up) a set of region wide in-character channels other than shout (which gets terribly over-used). Of course, some would argue that any region-wide communication is inherently OOC since even the /shout range is unrealistically big (shouting from the back of the Tursh dorms across hills, a 40 acre farm, and Tursh village might be a tad difficult in RL).

/start ramble

I guess the trick is to find a "least obtrusive" way to allow long range, in-character communication. Without some communication across adventuring parties, you don't really have the kind of community building tool that makes an MMO thrive; you just have (as in real life) a bunch of 3 to 6 characters enjoying a quiet stroll through the countryside (punctuated by the roar of attacking beasties).

I should say that I am at best in the RP-lite school and realize that there are a whole number of different and conflicting needs that need to be addressed in-game (this is inherently incomplete):

• There's the hard-core group of role-players who really want to have that real world isolation from the wider community in order to immerse themselves in a "scene" whether it be in town or while out adventuring. It's acceptable for someone to walk into the scene but not for characters in the next county to butt in.
• Then there's people who like to role-play their characters in the context of the wider community. They may still be hard-core about separation of IC and OOC but are willing to forgo total immersion for the community aspects of the game (they are willing to accept the notion of "magic" communication across huge distances but still want to be talking to other characters, not other players).
• Then there are the RP-lite crowd, who (like me) enjoy a bit of role-play when they trip over it and don't want to interfere with other's enjoyment of role-play; however, the rest of the time they are ok with non-immerse game mechanisms.

I would actually say that the last two may be closer to the pen/paper crowd who see the scene in their heads and use the paper maps and figurines as a tool to help everyone coordinate the pictures in their heads.

[Ysharros]

Originally Posted by Krieghund

After reading this gem, my advice is to reroll on a non-RP server. If you do it tonight, you'll still have a head start on the people who didn't preorder.

And there's an example of the RP community being insular and unwelcoming, and making as many assumptions about non-RPers as the other way round.

Doesn't anyone get a second chance, rather than being immediately told to go away and "play with the other kiddies"? RPers get griefed a lot, but they also have one of the biggest damn chips on their collective shoulder that I've ever seen. (Edit - I should know. *brushes shoulder* )

Eh well. Just like real life - nobody's perfect.

[Krescendo]

Ysharros,

I kinda disagree with you. I chose an RP server as much to not hear the crap in /ooc as to RP. I don't want hear any Chuck Norris jokes. I don't wanna hear rants about how good bad or indifferent WoW is.

If something appears in red on my screen, I expect it to be pertinent to at least someone in zone (and game related). If someone wants to treat area wide chat at MySpace.com, then its perfectly ok with me, but there are bunch of other servers where that is ok.

If someone comes to RP and its not what they want or expected, imho its perfectly logical to suggest they re-roll on another server. I would, and would thank someone for the advice.

Is it having a chip on my shoulder to expect someone to play by the RP rules or leave...as opposed to stay and either not have a good time or lessen my experience by ignoring the rules?

[Ceyllynn]

you know it's funny... i tried the rp server yesturday... i wasn't in the /ooc channel(i was in the eastern thestra regional channel),and i heard more ooc that i had heard playing on the thunderaxe server.. when i commented on it i was blasted for it. they said it was the ooc channel.. but i checked and made sure that my /ooc channel was closed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinto
Surely everyone isn't so uptight about this? I mean, I understand that it is an RP server, and if you are sitting around chatting, or really getting into a raid, you can use all the "aye"s you want, and I'll join you. But does it really break your immersion more to hear someone shout "Is Quest X broken?" than to have the ooc channel open and hear it there?

After reading this gem, my advice is to reroll on a non-RP server. If you do it tonight, you'll still have a head start on the people who didn't preorder.

reading this totally disgusted me as someone who is an rper. if someone hadn't taken me by the hand and helped me so many years ago, i wouldn't know how to either...

a simple polite "no, that wouldn't be a good idea, maybye try a /tel to someone or ask in the /ooc channel would be a better idea. yes, it might ruin the immersion for some" would have been a decent answer. not get lost we don't want your kind or will even give you the time of day type answer the poster was given. grow up!

[Ishad]

Roleplaying is not speaking ancient english (or any other language). Answering to the OP I would define roleplaying as "reacting to the game according to a character's role". According to that definition, roleplaying is not either overacting in a tavern, but rather reacting to the situations created by the game mechanics in character. In other words, the game sets you a conflict of any kind and you react as your character is supposed to do.

There may be a contextual problem when it is the game itself who creates OOC circumstances, which is what happens when you find a bug (broken quests for instance). In such cases, by common sense, one cannot enforce any roleplaying rule because it is not possible to react in character to a game bug, is it?

If there is a channel for such cases, then it is recommended to use it.

[Ceyllynn]

Originally Posted by Ishad

Roleplaying is not speaking ancient english (or any other language). Answering to the OP I would define roleplaying as "reacting to the game according to a character's role". According to that definition, roleplaying is not either overacting in a tavern, but rather reacting to the situations created by the game mechanics in character. In other words, the game sets you a conflict of any kind and you react as your character is supposed to do.

There may be a contextual problem when it is the game itself who creates OOC circumstances, which is what happens when you find a bug (broken quests for instance). In such cases, by common sense, one cannot enforce any roleplaying rule because it is not possible to react in character to a game bug, is it?

If there is a channel for such cases, then it is recommended to use it.

cheers! excellent explination of what roleplaying is.. thank you.