I think the problem is lack of an official definition of roleplay.
I believe the split here is that between those who roleplay as if it were
based on the real world, ie with an effiecient justice system punishments for those who are violent to others, and no names floating above their heads, etc, and those who roleplay as if it was an
unknown and unexplored fantasy world, where the rules of how things or people behave, because of magic and/or unknown customs, could be quite a lot of things. The background story gives us very little info on what is actual roleplay.
Those who support the "based on Real World" kind of roleplay could assume that the game mechanics simply are not advanced enough to implement everything. guards are supposed to be more competant, just dont have enough AI to do so. Names do not float on our heads because there is no mention of names in the lore that we find in the background story in libraries and on the site.
On the other hand. those who favor the "unknown and unexplored fantasy world" could assume that we know nothing about the world as a player. The rules are different. What is impossible and what is impossible is completely unknown to us, because the laws that govern the yliakum world are different than those on our world. Maybe there are names floating above peoples heads, due to an ancient spell by a great but slightly deranged mage who could not see very well. maybe there is a history of violence in cities, because guards are incompetant, that influences people to keep their armor and weapons on. We dont know. The lack of mention of these in books or lore does not mean they do not exist.
The conflict between the two groups drives people from both sides away. Those in the "based on Real World" camp see those in the "unknown and unexplored fantasy world" camp as not roleplaying, god-modding, farfetched, or rulebreakers. Those in the "unknown and unexplored fantasy world" camp see the "based on real world" as the rulenerds and "uber role playing" people who cannot expand imagination enough to include other possibilities. both sides tire from the conflict between them and annoyance from not having everyone agree with their idea of roleplaying.
Then theres the newbies....Some may not know they need to until they finish downloading and go in the tutorial. even then, they might miss it. Most dont even look at the forum. Others find it, but are not sure how to roleplay in this setting, or have never roleplayed before. Many newbies are warned by those from the "unknown and unexplored fantasy world" camp to be careful breaking the rules, or else you might get banned, and warned by the "based on real world" to try to roleplay correctly. This causes them to be cautious enough to venture one or two tries at roleplaying, and depending on their results from those one or two tries, either leave or stay. Who they happen to encounter....depends on luck. It used to be that newbies didnt know that planeshift was a focus on roleplaying, but this has mostly been solved now through the tutorial.
On top of this...I've noticed that many people dont bother exploring the entire site or forum. Some may argue that they're just lazy, but its just a fact of mankind. Also what seems to be easy for one person...isnt that easy for someone else. In my case, I read fast, which means that I can get through most of the background story on the site fairly fast and easily. on the other hand, someone else who reads slowly would prefer to find out what the world is like through experience and ingame quests. a third person might decide to simply ask someone to tell them. the information that is available on the site includes many things that are not yet implemented, or are outdated. This could cause some confusion ingame. It focuses on several histories of the races, the government, and the economy. It does include several customs, such as the slow way of travel, the mounts, etc. however, there are very few of those. Those who try to find out through experience find that many of the quests are very hard to figure out, at least for the first couple. If they are lucky enough to find a person to lead them through some rp, their thoughts of the world take after the thoughts of the person who taught them. the same thing happens to those who simply ask someone to tell them some of the storyline. Beyond these three, there are those that simply dont have time or wish to explore through the many pages to try to find a scrap of lore that may help them roleplay.
this is the first, and only one we can really change due to the free and volunteer nature of the project, of the three main complaints I've seen from various reviews of planeshift: 1) siding with either one or the other side of roleplaying, or not knowing how to roleplay at all, and the feeling of unwelcomeness from the groups you *arent* in, 2) too undeveloped and too many bugs, and 3) it doesnt change fast enough.
Now, enough about this problem, some of my ideas on how to solve it. First of all, the rules should be made plain. instead of being a subcategory called policies hidden under support, or a sticky in the forum, it should be given a category of its own on the main site. This makes it easier to see at first glance at the site, and its certainly important enough to deserve its own category. Perhaps rename it rules, to make it more clear? Or maybe placing a link on the main page(or download page) in big red text "READ THIS FIRST" (just kidding about the red...prolly look horrible)
GMs should openly define what kind of world Yliakum is. what stuff should be considered unimplemented or game mechanics only, and what stuff should be considered as a natural part of the world. The current system of Q&A is pretty good, but two main drawbacks is the location and unsearchablity. Obviously, it would be hard to list every custom or law (scientific) of yliakum, but the major ones, and maybe those already answered in Q&A should be listed as a base to build on. I'm thinking of those "frequently asked questions" system that some sites implement, with a search box and categories. The search box would make it much easier for those with less time to find a certain question or check if it has already been asked, and categories would help those who have time to browse through. This area should be updated every time there is an update due to new things being implemented or new events, or at least have a "report outdated material" option. There should also be an easy way to submit questions. example of what I mean:
http://rosettastone.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/rosettastone.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.phpThis way, when there is a conflict about whether something is roleplaying or not, people can just refer someone to the actual GM answer.
In the tutorial, there should be references to where people can find information, such as an url to the ^^^ page, or even better, a direct link to it. they could also direct people to the library.
in the tutorial, it should be mentioned that many of the quests and other features are not yet implemented or finished, and to "please bear with us as we try to improve them. Remember that you are also a game tester, in addition to a player, and that any and all reports will help improve the game" or something like that
And, last but probably the most important, the people in the different groups should try to understand each other more. Less focus should be placed on whether the other person is role playing or not, and more focus should be placed on how someone reacts to the situtation. OoC things can be answered ICly as many people have said before. In my opinion, a little relaxing of the rules and less jumping on people because of them can encourage experimenting. perhaps place an OoC area somewhere, that both newbies and oldbies can go to try out rps and see how people react to them? Also, people should spread encouragement for experimentation in game, in order to counteract the warnings about being careful to always roleplay.
whoa...I think I just wrote an essay...o well....
any thoughts? disagreements? support? (support would be nice xD)
sorry if any of these are already implemented and I missed them....just let me know.
