PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jilata on June 04, 2012, 12:40:12 pm
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Really, I am starting to wonder where all the RPers went off to. I hardly find anyone RPing and when I ask for someone to RP with me via gossip, I don't even get any answer the most times.
Now I am wondering if it is only my problem or generally one.
Is it because I mainly play Oele, even though I know that she might not be the easiest to RP with?
Is it because I am not in the same guild as other, meaning that there is mainly RP inside of a guild?
Is it due to the bad times I log? Which times should I log to get RP?
Or anything else?
I really don't know anymore what to do anymore and wanted to ask what I could change before I get fed up with the game again and vanish for some time.
I never got any answer who would like to join the RP fighting tournament as well. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks,
Jilata
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I've seen you asking for RP in gossip a few times, but I'm usually already involved in something by that point. I'm also pretty useless at casual RP, so not sure if I'd manage much with Oele. I'd say a lot of my RP gets triggered through my guild as well, though we try to drag others into it as often as possible. There's definitely still RP happening though.
My only real hesitation with the tournament idea if that it probably won't fit my characters (mostly magic users, and I think you weren't allowing that?). Plus there's the issue of committing to be online at any certain time and the fact that I'd need to hear about the whole event IC in order to consider taking part.
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I know it can be discouraging, Jilata, but I don't think it's your fault. I suspect it's a combination of things, especially timing. For example, my schedule lately has been such that I can't get on (for long) when a lot of the active RPers are on.
And Oele is a cool and interesting character. She doesn't say much, true, but if she is difficult to RP with, that is simply one of the points of her character/story: the challenge of being/interacting with a character with a disability and a quiet personality.
And on the point of Guilds: It does provide another avenue of interaction, and sort of a vested interest for characters to connect with eachother. However, I don't think it's good to limit one's RP to just their guild.
As for the fighter group, it's an interesting idea, and sounds like a good opportunity to practice RP fighting; However, Timil has been wrapped up in other matters, and isn't a particularly violent person. That's probably why he hasn't gotten involved in it yet. He could use the practice though... <_<;
But please: Don't give up on the game. You really do add to it, and it would be everyone's loss if you leave. Even if they don't realize it at first. :'(
~Timil~
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I am sorry that I switched "gossip" off, already long ago, but it used to get too annoying. Maybe it's not as annoying as it used to be, now that there are less people...
I'd like to play with Oele, but each time I try, I don't understand her; either she mainly ignores my chars, or she was involved with others already so I might have missed earlier context.
And it may indeed be a general issue, at least partially. There are players who wouldn't let their character look up from their work even if a murder happened in front of them. Not that we would have a lack of crime, not at all... but the more recently a crafting technique was introduced, the more probably people will try to spend much time in mastering it.
I enjoyed watching the fight with Haraun. Once. But I am not a player of characters who love fighting. And others who used to, seem to lose interest as well. Even the Champions Cup was cancelled this month, due to the lack of participants.
Not to be misunderstood: I would like to play more with others too. But there are kinds of plots I like less than others. And the ones I like are hard to find, they seem to happen where I don't pass by.
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@LigH: I never ignored you on purpose. It is just that Oele is blind, so I can't have her react to every action you do. If you have problems understanding her, you can either ask IC again, she will try to explain it somehow, or just ask me OOCly.
About the RP fighting tournament:
Yes it was only meant to be a brawl. But even that could be changed if there is more interest for that.
What I wanted, is to have a few, who would say: "Yes, I'd like to enter with my char when he/she hears about it." If I had enough participants this way, I would actually start it in the game so those chars could hear about it ICly. I just don't want to do that already and in the end stand there alone. So I choose to do it this way.
And I don't wanna stop RPing in PS again, but I don't want to lurk around just to get one RP in three days if I am lucky. And even that RP is mostly with the same person. That is frustrating. That is why I am asking what could be done to change it.
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And Esanor is mute, so it is probably not easy to contact her... :D
About a possible solution ... well, probably not much from your side. Except: Be present, and be conspicuous. You already are. The only flaw is the low player base. The less active chars we have, the less will both notice you and enjoy your plot. Ways to keep new players longer have been discussed a lot already (in the forum as much as in Dev Q&A meetings). Some probable ways involve avoiding annoyances which repel new players, like unavailable quest relevant NPCs...
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I also wonder how to find RP - or rather, how to find it reliably. While there are are weeks without seeing really RP, I sometimes join and then am 'busy' for hours with small RPs.
Right now, it seems to be simply random.
As idea, how about posting times when a new chapter in a long term RP will be played out, so interested people can gather?
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I also wonder how to find RP - or rather, how to find it reliably. While there are are weeks without seeing really RP, I sometimes join and then am 'busy' for hours with small RPs.
Right now, it seems to be simply random.
As idea, how about posting times when a new chapter in a long term RP will be played out, so interested people can gather?
That's a good idea if it were feasible. In my own case, my work schedule is so random, and given on such short notice, that I cannot really plan ahead too much for when chapters of my RP are going to occur. I'm coming to a point, though, where it would really be nice to be able to do so. :sweatdrop:
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I'm not sure what you are expecting, in real life people with disabilities frequently have difficulty finding people to interact with, often being reduced to one or two care givers. Why do you think it should be different in a game? I've seen you come on and ask for role play and I just don't get it. I'm not one for plot lines or structure of development so take what I say with a grain of salt. If you want to role play then role play. Sure your character can't see the people whizzing by on their mounts but you can role play hearing them them, each person would sound a little different due to their particular fashion sense. If they are the kind of people you want to play with they will accept your explanation that you knew it was them because their rivnak has a distinctive whinny or whatever other reason you make up as long as you try to be consistent with their descriptions.
Personally my role play consists of doing whatever I do in the game and interacting with others as I go along. I suppose that isn't enough for everyone.
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If you see me around on Zalya I'm almost always open for someone to RP with! When I'm online I'm generally in Gugrontid at the Stonehead. I keep gossip off most of the time, so I haven't even seen your messages.
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i would be lying if i were to say these or very similar thoughts haven't occurred to me also.
Every second I'm online I treat as RP, so if you see me on, don't hesitate to ask or just confront me ICly. Right now though, I'm on less than half the time I wish I could be. I'm also trying to minimize OOC contamination in my RP, so that I know only what my characters know about what's going on (outside of their own story line, and for that I'm trying to be very calculating in when I reveal certain information).
It's not easy to catch people online, everyone's schedule varies, but I'm thankful for whenever the planets and stars align and I do find it.
It would mean a lot for Ara to get to see Jilata soon though, so I hope I bump into you online.
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I'm thinking since quite some time to an RP flag, disabled by default and to be explicitely turned on by the player. This will shows on the /who list an [RP] flag next to the person. This way you would more easily know which players are actively RPing at the moment, so you could approach them and start your RP. The downside of this is that others without the flag may feel they are entitled not to RP, which should not be the case, but I guess the benefit can be greater than the downside. What you think?
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Don't make RP optional like that, Talad. If this is an RP game it needs to remain an RP game.
@Jilata: For me it is simply time frame. I only come on near the end of my days, which is not easy for people in other countries who I want to play with.
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Thanks for all your answers :)
I'll try poking those I know who are RPers and ask them for RP I think. Though sometimes I just don't know who are RPers or not.
Looking around for RP is good and well, but since Oele is actually more or less stuck to Hydlaa, there is not much to look around for it. And I usually check the normal RP places such as at the plaza and Kada-Els if there is any RP going on before I ask in gossip.
I am not asking for anyone to leave their place to RP. One time I got the answer to check on the roof of the tavern. I went there and did some RP with those working on herbalism.
@ Timil: RL gets the best of us all...
@ bilbous: I am not exactly sure what you mean. When I am asking for RP, I am not asking for anyone to beat my char up because I just felt like it would be a good experience for them, for example. I am simply asking and if someone agrees, both people just "happen" to be at the same place so one can RP.
@ Zalya: I guess I'll have to visit you with another char, since Oele lives on the streets in Hydlaa.
@ Aramara: Jilata is travelling on the third level right now. Different from the other times she is not travelling alone and I don't think she would come back alone. I think she'll be retired from being played until the player of the other char can return to the game.
@ Cairn: I know the timezones are probably one of the reasons why I have this problem. I am usually able to only log in the evenings as well.
@ Talad: I am really not sure if that would help. And I think Cairn is right there, PS is a RP game and should remain a RP game. So there should be mainly RPers around.
Another thing I just thought of, would it help to create a channel, similar to gossip for looking for RP? It has a simple rule, that you are only supposed to write in there to ask for RP or answer to someone for it. Or simply to announce that there is RP going at some place and whoever wants can join.
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@ Talad: I am really not sure if that would help. And I think Cairn is right there, PS is a RP game and should remain a RP game. So there should be mainly RPers around.
Planeshift isn't a full RP game though, when EZPCUSA combined with the RP server it became a combined RP and non-RP game. What is what I heard anyways.
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A fact I was unaware of. I always thought the RP server remained the RP server due to its rules. If it is not this way, that's unfortunate. Spells a quicker end to it.
A little bit more for ya, jilata:
Essentially what I notice most happening with people who don't get into most RPs is that a.) they are not instigaters; meaning they do not walk up to random people to start things or even start things with people they do not know. Unfortunately perhaps Oele may fall into this category, so be aware that as people walk by you or as you stumble onto people, whether known, unknown, description or not, it is partially your duty to interact with them as well. b.) cliques! There are, always will be, and always have been groups of people who are more -willing- to RP with each other. Nonsense, surely you must think ;) well, again the way to do this is to remind them by instigating as well. People become sheltered creatures secure in their relationships :P
....I'm gonna add a c.) on there as well, that being the lack of many social activities, like the RCD would run. These brought people's characters together on a common ground, uniting them by strenuous threads, but at least getting them introduced and interacting with each other. If we could get the established guilds to continue in this vein and host regular events, it would be a great thing.
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to a) I am well aware of it Cairn. I don't have /greet in my shortcuts anymore, and didn't really like it to begin with. Most people do a greet&run how it is called or they run past me so quickly that I can't even press enter.
I do tend not to start a RP with a random person passing by. There is also that problem that those busy grinding (It used to be only the smiths, not sure if those grinding herbalism or leatherworking are the same) didn't reply even though I RPed some stuff right in front of them.
And the possibly person standing around doing nothing is in the most times afk... Maybe it is just my luck.
to b) Cliques is another thing. You have to be part of one. It is the same with guilds. My chars always had been in guilds after they were popular like DE, Outlaws, Cult of the Wheel (forgot it's previous name ;) ), Ad Lib (when it was still small) to name a few of them. Don't understand me wrong, I joined those guilds for some IC reason. But still I always had to rely on friends outside of those guilds to RP. And most of the people I used to RP with have vanished over the time.
to c) The RCD is a nice place to meet, if there were people coming when it opens. It used to run well in the beginning of the year after the masquerade ball event. But then no one showed up anymore and so I stopped opening it, since it was a waste of time.
Social events would be nice, but there has to be someone to run it.
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I suppose I meant that you shouldn't use blindness as an excuse not to 'notice' people nearby, while in character it seems counter-productive.
One thing about those people crafting, very often they have several windows open, inventory and functional container, as well as having the system tab focused in order to monitor practice messages. They may even have the skills window open too. This makes it difficult to notice someone trying to talk to them.
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... I hardly find anyone RPing and when I ask for someone to RP with me via gossip, I don't even get any answer the most times.
Just a simple thought... many players dislike the gossip channel, but maybe some common sense could help to establish a "looking for RP"-type channel. That does not require a separate tab like the help/advisor system, a simple /join <insert name> will do, people just need to agree on a suitable tag.
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And you can even put "/join rp" in your autoexec script now! \\o// Hail Aiwendil!
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Don't make RP optional like that, Talad. If this is an RP game it needs to remain an RP game.
I don't want to divert this thread's topic, but this needs to be remembered. I'm all for increasing the amount of RP around town. Exactly as to how, I'm not sure. However, an RP-flag is not the way to go.
For my part, I'll just continue writing, and see who feels like ambling along and writing with me. ;) Any time you're bored, Jilata, send me a poke, please?
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What car said.
I am also aware that you have a sempetor char. be on the lookout for leadership and they/I will give you orders to execute and get some other people involved as well, if that's to your liking.
also aware of the time difference :( boo
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Maybe it's because I stopped playing. :P
In all seriousness though, I'd reverse the RP flag idea and make an 'OOC' flag that must explicitly be toggled on by the player. In fact, flags visible without having to open the description in general would be nice (for example, one for 'LFRP (Looking for roleplay), AFK, NPC, Newbie', et cetera).
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When we had 200 players as average at specific daytimes, the rules about OOC speech in Main were not yet so strict. But implying a causal relation would be nonsense... ;)
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@ Candy:
No. Already the Naming Policy exists to avoid a bias against specific characters. Immediately visible "player mode" flags would provoke a bias, instead. One may not even try to contact someone flagged as "noob", despite surprisingly good roleplaying skills which remain undiscovered... and imagine the abuse potential.
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Just a simple thought... many players dislike the gossip channel, but maybe some common sense could help to establish a "looking for RP"-type channel. That does not require a separate tab like the help/advisor system, a simple /join <insert name> will do, people just need to agree on a suitable tag.
That is what I suggested a few posts earlier. Got ignored though ;)
And you can even put "/join rp" in your autoexec script now! \\o// Hail Aiwendil!
I think that name for the channel should be simple enough to remember. :)
I guess I'll start poking people when I am bored.
@ Cairn: I haven't seen the leadership since I officially joined...
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Wow o.O what's your time zone, every time I log on there's at least 2-4 of us leaders on as well as other guildies. And I apologize as well, that's no fun!
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I've never had a problem with clicks... as mentioned, you need to figure out how to gracefully merge into whatever is going on. If you have trouble with that then just send people ooc tells. Typically people want more people to rp with and will say yes.
I tried the announcement route in /gossip or whatever the hell its called. That simply didn't work.
What usually works, is doing something very visual and inviting in a busy ( relatively busy ) place.
For example, settings up some tables, a podium, etc... will grab the attention of those running by.
Wearing a helmet and armor and carrying a "fancy stick" used to give the illusion that you were a GM or something and would cue people to *herd*... but now that staves are common, I'm not sure if that trick still works.
Another idea is to pick a daily time and place, make ooc arrangements with some folks to meet there rain or shine. If people know there will be rp somewhere and at a predictable time, they'll be more likely to *make time* for that rp.
Whisper Bless!
Rigwyn
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@ Cairn:
CE(S)T, so we Germans are usually online in the evening to night GMT, or the morning to afternoon for american players.
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Roled is trying hard to get back in game but the new client coupled with a new computer that replaced the one that died has me flummoxed. All I get is a totally black screen for launch. I will look through the forums when my term finishes next week and see if anyone can suggest a fix- Sarva tried for a long time one night but for whatever reason my new flashy Windows 7 puter with all up to date drivers and great graphics on other sites just won't get anything on the launch screen but the black void...
Roled misses RP with you !!! ALL!!!
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@ Candy:
No. Already the Naming Policy exists to avoid a bias against specific characters. Immediately visible "player mode" flags would provoke a bias, instead. One may not even try to contact someone flagged as "noob", despite surprisingly good roleplaying skills which remain undiscovered... and imagine the abuse potential.
K, I get it how proclaiming AFK might get you noosed by apples. But how would a self-activated NON-ROLEPLAYER or OOC label be abused? Just seems like a helpful indicator for identifying chars from the other server, or when you're on your mule alts, or those moments when you're incognito fixing up your own RP props or destroying other people's .... oh hey, wait a minute.....
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Well, different people may interpret the same flag differently. What exactly would a "non-roleplayer" flag mean: Only avoiding superhero-supervillain-drama plots, or even avoiding any verbal contact at all? There is a span, and not everyone is close to the same end. Just one example for a possible source of accidental misunderstanding. Not to be nitpicked about.
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I highly doubt people that avoid 'superhero-supervillain-drama plots' would flag themselves as Non-RPers. I'm not a huge fan of those myself, but I still enjoy RPing. It simply means, for reasons I personally can't fathom, you're more interested in the actual gameplay on PS than the roleplaying (or as SAristo said, you're tweaking your description or managing items, etc).
Yes, it can be abused (admittedly when I played WoW I used an RP addon and flagged myself as 'immature roleplayer' to subtly poke fun at all the people who marked themselves 'mature roleplayers'), but so can placing items on the ground, writing in your description, the /sit command, and pretty much every feature in-game.
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Hello,
I do not always listen to the chat channel, but I always try to behave in a RP-like, for example in the way I speak to others. This has often led to spontaneous and very nice RP. If everybody tries to create the right atmosphere, much RP has been achieved without people having to ask for it.
Travel safely.
Gonger
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Hello,
I do not always listen to the chat channel, but I always try to behave in a RP-like, for example in the way I speak to others. This has often led to spontaneous and very nice RP. If everybody tries to create the right atmosphere, much RP has been achieved without people having to ask for it.
Travel safely.
Gonger
Gonger!!! \\o// \\o// \\o//
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Hello,
I do not always listen to the chat channel, but I always try to behave in a RP-like, for example in the way I speak to others. This has often led to spontaneous and very nice RP. If everybody tries to create the right atmosphere, much RP has been achieved without people having to ask for it.
Travel safely.
Gonger
Well-Stated, Gonger! \\o//
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In all seriousness though, I'd reverse the RP flag idea and make an 'OOC' flag that must explicitly be toggled on by the player.
An OOC flag would help in other situations as well. I would think of problems caused by spawn position of the character. Examples:
- Newly created character gets ingame the first time, but his story states he never left Ojaveda. He spawns in Hydlaa, and needs to physically get there (at least if no GM is available to help); on the way the character should be ignored ICly.
- Sometimes, a character can spawn in the middle of an ongoing RP after logging. This RP might have been different had they known the char would spawn there. (Say for example they were discussing secret stuff and the char was "sleeping" there. Had they known this, they would have talked elsewhere.) So then he should set that flag and move somewhere else.
But, that wouldn't help much if it was only shown on the /who command - it would have to be visible when seeing the char.
Seriously, I ran into this first problem every time I created a new char... and I had that second one happen at least once.
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Hello everybody. I have an idea about how to establish who is ready to RP and who is not. ...and it doesn't involve flags. When I RP elsewhere I basically end up RPing in mostly the same places since there aren't a lot of places to RP in relative peace in a non RP game. Perhaps it is time to do the same in PS. It's kind been hinted at so far but I will go ahead and outright propose it in this post.
How about picking meetup places in Amdeneir for people who are looking for certain types of RP? People need a more efficient means of finding RP if they can't do so by incidental occurrence or by going to players they already know. Oldbies in particular could use such things since they will often be coming back only to face a completely blank slate. Hardly anyone has the time, these days, for the long haul effort it takes to form a new RP group that you can go to in a pinch, especially with such a small player base. But in a place like Amdeneir, it's not the kind of place you just stumble into. You have to make a choice to go there and most people don't seem to go there often. Therefore, anyone you find there would be far more likely to be there for the purpose of rp.
All you would need is to pick certain places to meet for things like baddie RP, social RP, story driven RP, and so on. Then you could simply make arrangements to meet people there and anyone that is curious could go looking for people there or ask if anyone is there. I prefer not having to make such arrangements, but you have to stretch beyond your comfort zone sometimes. And from there, you could branch out to other places but it would at least let people meet up.
For the social people both "good" and "bad", they can head to the tavern. For the bad people that need to get stuff done, they can meet in the amphitheater that I believe will eventually lead to the slums. For the goodies that need to get stuff, they can meet by the message board, and so on. Basically, use the city of Amdeneir as your "looking for RP" flag and make use of what was a really cute city and a nice player initiative.
What do you say?
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Aye! Hard to port, rack the starboard ores!