The "I'm Bored" Conversation Thread

[Illysia]

Congratz on 0.6.0 Release. Numbers are consistently higher all times of day than normal and already holding longer than for other releases. Looks like interest is up. Hope people are taking advantage of it.

[Oronec]

I'm bored.

Might try and update PS during my winter break to see how it fairs on my computer. See what new things await 

[Rirenil Masdo]

I'm bored.

1) http://youtu.be/L5l9lSnNMxg
2) http://youtu.be/_jKylhJtPmI
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRBihr41JTo

learning is good for everyone.  LEARN!

[Ebonwumon]

Ah. Looks like I missed Vayl again.

Shucks.

[Illysia]

This post got me wondering...

Just how many people actually started RPing not long after they started playing? For those people who started RPing soon after, was this your intro into RPing or had you done it before? PS started me on RPing but, it had to have been at least 2 or 3 years before I actually did it. I was a stubborn convert to RPing at first.

[Suno_Regin]

I started out the exact same way, Illysia. Exactly the same. No exposure beforehand beside very light storytelling experiences; came into this game not even really knowing the full extent to which people roleplayed through gaming mediums.

[Illysia]

You had more going in than I did. I didn't have the storytelling experience at least not in writing. It was all new to me. I remember that once I did start RPing, I really struggled with people RPing less than nice characters. PS was a crash course in almost all aspects of RP for me.

[Zalya]

I joined PS for the RP at first. Good thing people where so forgiving back then. Because I was god awful at it. I actually had a subscription to World of Warcraft at the time, and I wandered and ended up here. My first two characters where flops, but then I decided to do something entirely different with the third. I decided I wanted her to be shaped by her own experiences, and not be a badass from the start. That was Zalya. I remember one of my first 'RP's' was asking for help to get to Hydlaa ICly. I think it was Merivo who walked me there. There I bumped into a few people at Kada's and over the next few days wound up meeting Elady at the Stonehead. I believe this was while you where away for a bit Illy. And well, one thing led to another, and now four years later Zalya is one of my favorite characters to play.

[Candy]

I also joined for the RP. I'd been roleplaying on forums for a few years and playing MMOs for fewer still. I started roleplaying almost immediately after I found other people.

[Illysia]

@ Zalya: I probably was away during that time. Did you start Zalya off to get into trouble from the beginning or was that influenced by the RPs she got into? All of my characters developed by being influenced by the characters they RPed with. That lead to some interesting successes and flops for me. I've lately found that doing more background work is making it easier for me to RP though. However, I only had Illysia for years and back at that time there was enough RP to stumble into, so RPing with Illy was really simple. I do miss the cavernous bag RP bit I used to do when Illy met new people though.

However, I did notice funny character development trends back when I started to RP. Many people had tragic or super-epic-tragic backstories and most of those people wore hooded cloaks that hid their faces... black cloaks. It was common enough it became it's own PS cliche.

@Candy: How much did you have to change RP style to switch from Forum RP to real time MMO RP?

[Zalya]

No, Zalya got into plenty of trouble on her own. Now a days I tend to make characters with very well thought out back stories so I can jump right in and have a well thought out character right off the bat. But Zalya helped me develop those skills naturally as she grew. Her back story came along later.

[Illysia]

Haha. Poor Zalya. I had to work very hard to get to the point where I could work out backstories for my characters. I had to make a checklist for it just to do it, but I am slowly getting better. I find that working out motivations more than anything helps me have a character I can RP with in enough situations though. It also gives me something to RP about in a pinch as I weave in something more personal to the character into a lull in the RP. But at least I am now branching out into a wider variety of characters. Finally made my first neutral character and that has been quite the foray as I normally can't help but make a good character that takes issue with a lot of "grey" things, but it lets me grow in skill.

Anyone have any goals for what they want to improve on RP skill wise?

Mine is conveying personality in most RP interactions. For me that means better defining that which makes each character unique, improving on using emotes to more accurately and specifically describe character interactions, and being sure that I put more effort in to incorporate changes in the surroundings and other nearby characters into what my character is saying or emoting at a given moment. It's easy to get caught up in a one on one RP, but it is hard to work in snippets of overheard conversation, throw in something like a tipped over glass, or come up with logical props to start new RP directions. Not to mention broadening out to RP in a wider variety of locations.

[Rigwyn]

I only had exposure to single player RPGs prior to planeshift. When I joined, I had this idea of ganging up with other players and doing stuff... like going on adventures, quests, and stuff.  None of that really happened until sometime later when i got bored and starting trying to find people who role play.

Planeshift's RP is more like play-acting than anything else. I guess what I was originally looking for was something more ooc - ie playing as a player. The idea of player/character separation was completely new to me.

[Illysia]

What you were looking for early on reminds me of some of the "RP" that they do on one of SWTOR's RP servers. Technically the players just communicate during missions, like saying where they are going or who they are going to target next, then toss in an occasional emote.

I honestly had no clue what I was getting into when I first started PS. I really had no expectations, but I was fortunate in that I had time to grow into RPing slowly. I ended up loving it in the end.

[Candy]

Many people had tragic or super-epic-tragic backstories and most of those people wore hooded cloaks that hid their faces... black cloaks. It was common enough it became it's own PS cliche.

@Candy: How much did you have to change RP style to switch from Forum RP to real time MMO RP?

Oh, the hooded black cloaks are an RP trend in general. Everybody wants to play the edgy, mysterious rogue at some point. Also it's easier to draw if your character's figure is hidden under the folds of a big bulky cloak.

As for the style, I sat around lurking on peoples' roleplay for a while before jumping in, and I probably should have done more of that. In a forum RP I can get a feel for the community and its roleplay within about ten minutes of skimming threads. I went into PS without really looking at the forums, however, and as soon as I started emoting, I got a lot of OOC snark and tongue-lashings if I made a slight slip-up and/or didn't know the lore. A good few of the snobs remained unapologetic when they found out I was new and clueless. Had I not been used to roleplayers in general and the fact there's often more OOC drama than actual roleplay going on, I'd have probably quit after my first couple visits to Kada's.