I, Roleplayer
I set the standard
I am the one
I know the laws of RP
I wrote them all
I am neither good nor evil
I am neither big nor small
I dwell in my plots
And my plots are none
I, Roleplayer
roleplay aloneOk. Forgive the
happening. Call it a performance thread, if you will... but I've been thinking about this for a while now. The community has very different peoples. Call them cliques, call them groups, call them whatever you want. Some are roleplayers, some are powerlevelers, some a both, some are none. The game is supposed to welcome everyone and foster Roleplay. This, to my understanding, does not mean that only roleplayers should play the game but that roleplay should be the most important characteristic of PS and the community, which does not exclude other things like training, questing or making money, it only means those things should not disrupt RP.
Now, the thing that worries me is that in our effort for creating sound characters and plots sometimes we fall into what I'd like to call the "I, Roleplayer" attitudes. Let me give you some examples:
- I, Roleplayer cannot stand learning mistakes. I too cringe a little when I read something like "/me thinks it's going to rain soon", or "Hi!
". Neither being able to naturally read someone's thoughts nor the smiley belongs in an IC entry but if we interrupt RP to [point out] these things in main chat, WE are the cause RP is being disturbed. It's not the same as going plain OOC with lols and whatnot.
- I, Roleplayer have a unique character who "wouldn't do that", "wouldn't join that", "wouldn't care about that". Yes, creating a unique personality is an essential part of roleplaying but you can't roleplay alone. It saddens me a little when people take this idea too far and ostracize themselves from the community plots simply because their character is "above" those things others do. I can't join that event because my character doesn't care about that, someone told me once. Fair enough, but how often does your character have to sit plots and events out because of that same reason? When the very nature of your roleplay keeps you from interacting with others, a little flexibility and rethinking could be of use. If not, you're the only one missing out on things.
- I, Roleplayer had a great group of friends once but since they left, I have not seen anyone else I would be interested in roleplaying with. The saddest thing is when we don't have a reason to RP or come online anymore. We know how much we like RP, we try to do it every time we're on, but we simply cannot find the people to do it with. I know this from experience and I can tell you it's really not a big deal. People come and they leave and then come back and leave again. It's a part of any community. You just need to let go and not sit and wait for your friends of days past to come back. The moment I started a little plot with one of my characters, I made a ton of new friends. Sure, I missed my old one but guess what? Many of them have returned since then. We can't do anything about people leaving, but we can do a lot to get to know those who have arrived.
- I, Roleplayer am misunderstood, my wishes ignored, and my initiatives shut down by the PS staff and the Powerlevelers. The "I, Roleplayer" attitude separates us from the rest. If we see ourselves as a minority or a faction in the community we are creating reasons to distrust the others and their intentions when in the end, there is no need to make such distinctions. Note that I am not referring to people who like the game because they can RP in it. I'm talking about the people who use the word "roleplayer" to separate themselves from others ("powerlevelers", "developers", "game masters", "forum members", "NPCs"). We assume they do not understand us and that they are not interested in making the game better for us. That is not the case. It's easy to get the wrong impression about people if we base our opinions on a few posts on the forums. It's obvious that opinions will differ and sometimes even clash but we don't have to assume ill intent every time and when we set our minds in defensive mode because "I, Roleplayer" am being mistreated, then discussions are not going to be constructive. This "I, Roleplayer" attitude is infectious and it's responded with an "I, Powerleveler" one, or an "I, Developer" one an "I, Game Master" one. The "I" part being the problem.
- I, Roleplayer have a keen eye for inconsistencies and I shall not be part of anything flawed. Details. They are very important but in a game in development the more details we try to define, the more corrections and rewrites we will be making in the future. Of course we care about consistency. Of course we want things to make IC sense all the time but there are things that do not exist yet and we have to allow certain vagueness when referring to them so that when they get written we're not completely out of bounds. So yes, sometimes events and plots will lack some details and elements, or they can have questionable/debatable approaches but know that all events have to be approved by Settings or Talad, so the content in them is therefore official and there all make sense; and that events are created for the entertainment of players. There is an OOC reason there, which is the same behind the very existence of the game and in that sense we can sacrifice a few IC details so players have the best time. There is both deep concern for giving events the IC meaning they need to take place as well as deep concern of what will make them more enjoyable for players. "I, Roleplayer", however, do not fail at pointing out the flaws and stop right there, outraged, offended, bewildered. It's "I, Roleplayer" who is the first to go OOC about those flaws, demanding they be corrected, stopping my RP in the process. Do not get me wrong, we appreciate any feedback concerning events and we always listen to what the community says about them and try to make them better based on that (even if we don't always do exactly what the community says we should). What we don't want, however, is for "I, Roleplayers" to assume that things have not been thought through and focus on those details we cannot specify and forget that the game is in development and that they must adjust their expectations accordingly. And most importantly, we don't want "I, Roleplayers" to stop roleplaying because of the flaws they see. Sadly, it's the "I, Roleplayers" who are the first to ignore that what goes on around them is IC because of the flaws they detect, instead of being flexible about those things for the sake of roleplay.
So, in conclusion, the "I, Roleplayer" attitude should be dropped. The objective of the game is that from the moment we log on until we log off, there should be uninterrupted roleplay. That means that everything that happens in-game should be but also
seen as IC, and we should simply ignore or walk away from things that disrupt that. We don't have to [protest!] in-game, we just need to let go, move on and keep on roleplaying. That's the best thing we can do to protect RP. If you want to raise your voice about it, you're welcome to post a thread here, send PMs, or talk on #planeshift. Just don't be the one breaking your RP or keeping you out of events. Don't let minor things get in the way and certainly, don't make others feel inadequate becuase they used a smiley when they said hi. That is the reason why many people will see the PS community as unwelcoming and won't want to roleplay again. It's not the lack of details. It's not the GMs or Devs' fault. It's the "I, Roleplayer" attitude. It unnecessarily divides our community.
But most importantly, it's the "I, Roleplayer" attitude that keeps you from enjoying the game.
I decided to post this because the PS teams work hard to make the game more fun for the players but we often hit the "I, Roleplayer" wall and I personally find people with that attitude uneventable. And it's not exactly the people, it's the attitude that's bad and that should be changed. Just ask yourself if you've ever had attitudes like the ones described above and then ask yourself when was the last time you really enjoyed the game. A little self-assessment can help greatly.
I, Roleplayer
am uneventable.
I, Roleplayer
am unplottable.
I, Roleplayer
am untrainable.
I, Roleplayer
am unquestable.
I, Roleplayer
am killing roleplay.
