PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: Garris Shrike on April 09, 2009, 12:06:40 am
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This will be swift, and simple. If you have arguments, present them. I'm not trying to offend anyone at all, so if you are offended...
Sorry :devil:
[I'm sure most of this may have been already said. I would like to keep it fresh in your minds, perhaps do a bit of inspiring. Get nitty gritty, folks! This is real-fake-life!]
Hokay. Players are slowly dwindling on PlaneShift. Perhaps not population-wise, but those that actually roleplay in any given situation are. Too many newer players, or even myself at times, will refuse an RP based on that we don't want our character involved. While this is fine, try and make it fun. A little killing won't hurt your character in the long run, and there really should be no reason you avoid it for OOC reasons.
What I mean here, is simply:
RP in any situation. I'm rather tired of people who step beyond real-life boundaries through quirks, and either separate themslves from general roleplay for some reason, or simply refuse to get involved.
PlaneShift has an incredibly strong core of talented, imaginative, and literate people who DO still RP. If you are one of them, I congratulate you. If you are not, become one, and I congratulate you anyways for simply becoming involved with this game. That is the very first step.
Another way to look at this is, don't leave new players hanging. Continue to bait their interest with RP's involving their character, as they learn the ropes of what they truly can or cannot do. Precise and accurate RP is not taught instantly, it is a learning process. It's a process that has taken my brain a long time to comprehend.
If you want PlaneShift to survive, and roleplay to continue, you absolutely MUST teach new players. There are no ifs or buts about it. The only way we will slow our dwindle is NOT huddling together in some veteran's group.
It is through associating with, and taking a good chunk of your time out, to teach the new players. Those who have no descriptions, those who meander aimlessly, and those who shout emoticons when they can.
I myself have not followed this principle. On occasion, I take a tidbit out of my time if I am on an alternate, to educate a player. Very rarely will I dedicate my time, not to pursuing roleplay, but to teaching it so that others can benefit. I plan to change this, and instead give myself a little bit over to that.
To the New Players who may or may not read this:
Take some of your time to listen to those who are telling you things. Yliakum is a large, imaginative land. But even such a place as this has boundaries and ropes that, if you are to be respected, must be learned. A player who truly wishes to experience this game at its addicting finest will take a chance at learning what the core is about. It is roleplay, restricted, yet unboundaried roleplay. You are only limited by the rules of the universe. It's like having a million legos and building what you want, only limited by the color or shape of said legos.
There are INFINITE possiblities. Go out, and learn.
Go out, and teach.
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I'm not sure how many people have done table-top or pen-and-paper roleplaying, but there is often debate between players of different games over style of play. For instance, some accuse the D&D crowd of simply being "roll" players, as-in they just roll dice all day long. And the end of the day, while I prefer story-based play more than dice rolling, all that really matters is that people have fun.
I think the best way to show players the virtues of roleplay is to engage in good RP, which people will observe as they pass by. Someone asks you an OOC question in the Main tab, just find a way to respond IC.
I think harping on others and telling them that their method of play is "wrong" won't convert anyone. Let people enjoy the game as they see fit. Likewise, I think those that aren't into RP all that heavy should be considerate and not fill the Main tab with OOC chatter when they can use /tell.
If you want to grow the RP community, then tell your friends. Recruit some new players. Email old players that you know haven't been around in a while. However, I can't personally advocate trying to force other players into an RP just because you want to.
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Even in AD&D, you have alignments and personal objectives and all that. You aren't just playing to be "number one in the server".
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A valuable message from Garris. Thanks.
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Previous to PlaneShift, I was a dice-rolling Warhammer/LotR/FoW person. Though for me, the battle itself was a drag, unless it had a decent setting, backstory, and consequences. Alot of the time, I would stick to a minority group of players and we would plan out our own "kingdoms" and have month-year long chains of battles for war (that said I have since forgotten most of the game rules). We based our stuff mostly on the Border Princes campaign ideas in Warhammer.
Often, we would add experience to our surviving generals and units, and in battle sometimes our commanders would meet for challenges and peace conversations.
For me, the struggle in PS is RPing as one person rather than a small country/state. That is why I have so many alts.
If there's an RP your character wouldn't get involved in, consider making an alt for it. It only leaves you with more RP options.
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Re: making an alt; Huzzah! Well said. I often had an alt to do certain kinds of activities, including certain kinds of rollplay. Gerta was the "govt. kiss-up" for example, would aften refer to the Octarchal Decree, and be there for such RP (remember the riverlings?). Bamko would help those learning a trade, or needing to find new areas.. and some, not to be named characters would do the less than savory tasks needed to keep things balanced. I think I enjoyed gerta the best, Played Bamko the most, but sometimes too many do-gooders and I thought that maybe the other side would need a few more lowish level guys ...
well, I digress... you get the idea.
I also agree with Zanzibar's point. I believe that PS should not (and is not) trying to be a massively populated leetspeak server, but rather is trying to remain a RP centered game. While I am taking a break from it, due to many reasons, I am watching and cheering you guys on. I look forward to where this project will go in the next few years.
oh, But I also think one should not force their character to go OOC (do something they would not do) for the sake of making it fun for someone else, though again.. that is what alternate characters are for.. but meh, people call their "main" their MAIN for a reason. That is the one they MAINLY play. So I guess we should conversely not expect someone to log out and back in and run accros the world, just so your RP can have more participants in it, eh?
Even though, I have been known to do just that... On occasion.
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The replies thus far have been encouraging!
Thank you all for your valuable input.
In-depth RP guides are actually valuable I'm sure, and I may try and write them, with aid.
@Kangold: Apply it now ;)
@Bamko: Agreed. If for some good reason your character does not need to or wish to be involved, then you should wisely, not get involved. But if there is no reason why you cannot do it, then you really should. Don't be too overprotective of your character, just as odd twists happen in real life.
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Well, I generally keep my main in such a way that he could partake in any RP necessary.
My alts are where I form my interesting characters.
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That's a good way to do things. The way I view it, if my character gets involved in something, they go through with it. That means if one of my feminine characters ended up being killed, so be it. If there is a roleplay going on and my character somehow gets involved, then I really won't shy away from it unless it goes totally against the settings.
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teach me your wisdom oh ye old one ;D
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Elvi you're older than me! :innocent:
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i am? ??? well no wonder my memmory goes so often then :P
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I agree completely. when I was new not a single person helped me for quite some time. I know how it feels and try to help now but I still need to do more
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Wait, does that mean the RP-part of the tutorial serves nothing in most cases?
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Yes, unfortunately most noobs who make it through the tutorial zoom through that part and ignore most of it.
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Yeah, noobs just "zoom" right through the tutorial. LOL
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Noob zooming's a true story, it's what I did :-[
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i cheked it way after i got ingame but it took awhile :P
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Ahhh....
Seems the community has gotten even worse in my absence... so many guilds gone, so many RP'ers and friends... so many new people who i dont know... :'(
I guess we are going to have to rebuild it. I agree with Garris on teaching the new players, but tbh it doesnt matter how much we are wiling to teach... but how much they are willing to learn.
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So there was the tutorial when you first joined, Garris? In any case: The exception proves the rule. Nobody is zooming through that tutorial who is new to it.
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When I first joined I'm not sure if they'd even had the idea of putting in that tutorial ;D
I just recently created a new client just to see if the tutorial was useful. If you pay attention, it surely is. What I don't understand is how alot of people don't -apply- it.
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Their too use to the World of Warcraft way of doing things, you know, go off and grind than sell your wares so you can have the best gear and own the newbs? For a lot of people, that's what they want, and are really more interested in that than actual roleplaying. They just want the best sword and run quests yo buff up their stats.
There isn't much you can do if that is what the player really wants.
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Oh dear. I just had a naughty thought. An experienced player with some tria to spare and a community-oriented mindset could always stock up on a few decent quality weapons, look for a newb in need & start chatting with him/her/kra. Newb will most likely be looking for a quick way to score gear & loot, which is neither unusual nor necessarily bad (they may simply have never played a game where player interaction beyond grouping to kill mobs is such a big part of the gaming experience). Player acts confused if slang language is used, blaming it humbly on his own misunderstanding of the newbs "dialect". Player makes it clear that if the newb can overcome his "dialect" well enough so that the player can understand newb's request for aid, then player will spot newb a nice weapon to get started. If newb plays along exceptionally well, perhaps an offer of an introduction to the sewers would be in order. I admit that it's a bit of bribery, but it could result in some good new players & potentially long-lasting friendships. Just a thought.
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Oomi, that's a splendid idea! :D
Possibly, the inexperienced player will just say "Gr8t! thx" ;)
But it's just as possible that some of the RP will rub off, and we'll convert a grinder to RP :lol:
*Bakin starts to stock up on Battle Axes*
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:) Oomi.. nice idea. I already have an "aprentice" I got him some Sabres and some armour. In return i asked that he learnt to Roleplay with me and my friends. Its going well. He has had an introduction to Roleplay and a tour of the areas surrounding Hydlaa. With a little help he managed to mkae his own way to Oja and Gug within 2 days of starting to play. Now he has got the basics of Roleplay out the way I am beggining to help him develop his characters look and personality, on th sidelines we have taught him more about levling in the game, the sort of skills he will need and gave him a quick intro to Duelling just incase.
If every Roleplayer could do something similiar then the community can be saved.
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This is very interesting, because a similar thing happened to me. A new player approached me looking for some mushrooms, and I ended up selling him some swords and leading him to the leather dealer. After that, we buddied each other. From what I gather, he's not much of a RPer, but I can understand. I think I'll try to look out for him, and try to pass on some RPing in exchange.
Perhaps we could get a large group of RPers to do this, with a petition or something. Or even pitch this idea to the Game masters... ;D
(P.S. Am I being hypocritical if I use smileys? ??? I guess I'd be pretty embarrassed. :oops: I might even look stupid. ::|)
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When I hear old players complain about the "community" going to hell I wonder if they just got too comfortable with a particular group of players/friends. Of course it's easier to RP if there is already an established connection between your character's history and goals and the other player's.
Perhaps it's time to come off the high horse and realize that the issue is not that the new players have no skill in RP compared to the old, but that they have little knowledge of settings, no established character concept and few or no friends among the player base. That's obviously very little to go on in terms of RP.
I just don't think it's good sense to foster OOC reasons to train new players to RP. Kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?
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Communities change.
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Vespers even ran a guild placement service for our biggest contributors so the biggest donors got referrals from the vespers for new players who'd undergone training already
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Vespers even ran a guild placement service for our biggest contributors so the biggest donors got referrals from the vespers for new players who'd undergone training already
Hmm. I just sent players to whichever guild I thought they'd do well in.
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@Zoran:
Precisely. Which is why those of us that are within that comfortable group need to go out and teach, the main point of this letter. Settings are really only tought through research and dropping them in RP situations.