Ok, so what IS role play after all (go ahead and TRy to read it, I won

[Lyrah]

Ok, so what is role play anyway?

Story telling right?

What is a story?  

The tale of DOING something (hunting, killing, exploring, finding some RARE artifact in some SPOOKY place), maybe a tall tale (I am Texan, sometime...only every once in a while, we can tell a WOPPER), but some basis in fact or action.

So as I see it, if you don\'t go out and do something, your role play is hollow and empty, like those cheep chocolate easter bunnys. You bite into it thinking solid chocolate *rubs hands together eagerly* and *hollow popping sound* no center, nothing but air *child cries*.

BUT, if there are spooky, dangerous mobs, armors that show and LOOK impressive (even if they are nothing but looks), weapons that look dangerous and nasty (all spikes and points and Ut oh...too many polygons *pout* oh well, maybe one small gem on the pommel...please *blink blink blink*), and maybe you got a scar (ok I know, too many polygons *more pouting*) then your role play pulls me in and you LOOK like...just maybe you really COULD have done all that stuff you just said.

Plus if you actually go out and do something, then you have money to pay newbies to dance (and the animation to see him do it), or play for his supper, and the lute for him to do it.

As I see it role play and hunters can NOT do without each other, if you don\'t have a story teller, you don\'t have anything to do when you are resting up after a long hunt (and the hunter gets BORED...ergo he NEEDS, but fails to realize the need for, the role player) and the role player can easily run out of fuel for his/her tales and get bored, ergo the role player NEEDS, but fails to realize the need for, the hunter.

Or in short terms, both are going to be in game, why not encourage them and find a way to USE them to increase your fun. ASK THEM to tell the tale and feed them \"ale\" (a few coins for each turn that you REALLY enjoy), TA DA you won them over.

Now it is YOUR turn to join them, since they are here to stay. Hunt with them, and gain some fuel for your tales. Maybe the hunter is exactly the hero/rine your tale yet to be finished needed.

I know in my *insert a few other games names\' here* yes there were MINDLESS hours of kill the mob, kill the mob, kill the mob, rest and med/heal, repeat ad nauseum. BUT there were also tales of the hero who it turns out had JUST enough of the right stuff, and the brave and wise healers that had JUST enough of the spirit (of nature or whatever god) to heal just enough to save the entire questing party. The time when insane amounts of monsters of HORRIBLY high skill poored out over our brave hunting party, they could not POSSIBLY survive *soap oprah organ plays*, BUT...*insert god game here* gave the cleric just enough of his holy spirit and he saved the day, or the pally or whatever.

If you have played enough games you have had a rest that went something like this...
cleric: *pant pant* are we all still alive, I have NO mana left
Druid: *casts a regeneration spell* now I have no more mana either.
Mage: how many where there? 10? 20? god I lost count, somewhere around the third or fourth pet.

Warrior: *groans and finally plops next to cleric to finish healing* 20? try 35...I counted them. *binds his wounds until out of bandages* *starts to craft more silk bandages*

Monk: *mummbled from face down in the dirt* can I get up now?

Cleric: *chuckle* yes you can.

Monk: *plops down near mage and starts binding wounds on the warrior* There is just NO WAY we just survived that one! The one I pulled musta chain agroed the whole fort.

Warrior: *looking at the top of the fort* nope...I think you missed one! Wait a second...INCOMING!

Mage: *summons more bandages and binds wounds on the warrior* *summons another pet and cringes* *voice sounds weak* bring it?

Monk runs up and tags the first mob and runs to the left away from group and out of agro range and flops (valiantly) to the ground.

Warrior plunks an arrow at second mob. Druid sends in pet and sits, cleric prays (still no mana, so sitting regaining mana), mage sends in pet and joins the cleric, not normally a religious person she figures *shrug...can\'t hurt can it?*

Monk\'s mob wanders slowly back towards the fort and out of agro range, POP up jumps monk, running in for the killing blow.

Group passes out from a mix of exhaustion and too much excitement for one night.

For the next WEEK they have a tale that will \"pay for their ale\" in town, while they prance around with more than one black eye or big green and yellow bruise.

[Draklar]

Originally posted by Lyrah
Ok, so what is role play anyway?

Story telling right?

No...

\"In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. Role-playing is like being in an improvisational drama or free-form theatre, in which the participants are the actors who are playing parts.\"

Storytelling is just roleplaying a bard or something...

[Under the moon]

Not sure where you\'re going with this or what the point is, but just to add to the confusion...

I once used agility and stealth to have my favorite Gnome sneak up on a stray cat and toss it in the face of an evil wizard (who happened, by chance, to be allergic to feral biting and clawing) because the good warrior type rolled a 6 for stupidity and drank an entire keg of ale and fell on the good wizard. The Gnome then rolled a 5 and became unnoticed (a skill we came up with because I had just read \'The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to the Galaxy) and stole the bad wizard\'s shoes while he was distracted by the biting and clawing, thereby \'defeeting\' him (don\'t ask). After that...well...lets just say the elf princess drank a little to much after rolling a 2 and failing to resist a dare by the good wizard, who was nursing a broken arm from being fallen on, and she and the warrior had to hire the Gnome as a nanny nine months later.  :baby:

[Lyrah]

And the way you tell they are roll playing and not just standing around the plaza testing the server load is?

Sure I could roll play a shy withdrawn mousey person, but who would notice my role playing?

Originally posted by Draklar

Originally posted by Lyrah
Ok, so what is role play anyway?

Story telling right?

No...

\"In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. Role-playing is like being in an improvisational drama or free-form theatre, in which the participants are the actors who are playing parts.\"

Storytelling is just roleplaying a bard or something...

[Draklar]

Uhm... you don\'t cease to confuse me...
\"roll player\" is used to mock players who (in role-playing games) think just about their stats.
Like in pencil & paper role-plays, to have the best dice-rolling outcomes. My question is did you use it intentionally?

The first sentence I understand not, but let me answer the second one by asking yet another question:

Do you role-play for yourself or for others?

Oh, and by the way: I like Under\'s example more;
There\'s nothing like achieving something with an underpowered character

[Lyrah]

it was a typo. And to understand me...you need to understand \"player types\".

I am sure you have heard about them, if you haven\'t, it is not a hard \"google\" to find. (if you have heard of them, most of the rest of this will be PURE jibberish, so...might want to open another browser and do the google now)

There are Explorers, socials, achievers and killers. I took the quiz, which I felt was a bit too short to get a GOOD statistical result, so I don\'t quote the numbers. But the results proved that I am the type I thought I was: Explorer, social (about evenly both) killer about 1% (got to defend ya self ya know, from agressive players OR monsters) and achiever was DEAD LAST (if I could have not answered the achiever/killer ONLY questions, the results would have been 45.5% explorer/social 1% killer and 0% achiever).

SO, when I role play...it is for social purposes. I fail to see any other reason for myself, but understand others could, might, will have their reasons. (if I had to guess, no quizzes or anything. I would guess many role players are close or similar to my results or even MORE social than me maybe 95% social 4% explorer 1% killer IF that much on killing, but...without a quiz/poll...that is PURE speculation/guessing.)

Also you tend to LOOK for things to not understand, dislike or combat verbally in my posts. I don\'t understand why.

Some misunderstand my intentions in alpha/beta/testing this game...so I will state them as CLEARLY as I can.

I am testing this game to state ways that I feel I can help the game. I am not new to beta testing, my feelings on testing are not new, have not changed significantly since my first beta test. I am NOT an artist, I am an idea person, an explorer, so I tend to trip into bugs that may or may not yet have been reported. I tend to test ALL races, since some bugs are related significantly to one or two races but miss others (in my experience, not that I understand HOW this happens code wise). I do NOT think I am smarter, faster, richer, better, more important, a better coder and anyone else, and tend to think that respect is earned by treating others in a way that I want to be treated.

I tend to react to harsh or hateful people in leadership roles by informing that they ARE leaders, but are not behaving like one.  And I do NOT pass out respect like Halloween candy to those with 5, 50 or 500 stars, or ANY title, especially when I see them using words and tones that are CLEARLY aimed at hurting the feelings of others. Trying to shame or verbally abuse people into shape doesn\'t tend to work, even more so with me, since I see it for exactly what it is.

In case people do not keep up with the beta world, but there is a beta MMORPG out there named Mourning. I don\'t remember the specifics just that about a year ago I found it advertised as a closed beta. I went to the forums and found one or two mods strutting around their forums banning, suspending and verbally smacking around the posters...which responded pretty much by trolling, flaming and generally forum styled free for all fight club (pretty much expected from the mods attitude).  

I have read hypes on the topic of Mourning and the reputation that they have gotten as been HORRID. I know I pulled my email and beta form and specifically email the devs to inform them that I would not be testing their game due to that mod, and I know at least three other beta testers that I have met in other tests that also did this (these testers were known for MANY bug reports with extensive info, bug logs, locs the whole ball of wax).

The tone of the community, sets the tone on the game/test, and if the test is open, and advertised the hype will get out (not a threat, just FYI). THAT is why I gave the advice to lighten up on the tone.

[waa]

Originally posted by Lyrah


Also you tend to LOOK for things to not understand, dislike or combat verbally in my posts. I don\'t understand why.

Ive noticed this  seems to be the main focus and habit of most people on these forums, instead of testing,  posting ideas and helping, all they wanna do is flame and degrade others ideas.



I thought your post was good, I like your ideas and understand where your coming from........



maybe when this games gets more content we\'ll see less  \"forum troll campers\" and more ingame activity.


-----


And in case anyone doesnt know (im sure from what ive read on these forums a lot of you dont)............


Play testers....not the devs, not the programers of relations people,,,,,,,,,



Play testers are what makes or breaks a game in the industry.

Grant you this games free, but the ethics and theory shouldnt change.

[ajdaha]

You said role-players are actors. And what do actors do but tell a story.

[Draklar]

ajdaha: Actors don\'t tell stories, but play their roles...

Lyrah, waa: What on the Thor\'s hammer are you two talking about?
Lyrah, I only said I don\'t understand structure of the first sentance and suddenly you come up with a post as if I flamed you or something...
And \"roll-player\" is a very specific typo, I just asked so there wouldn\'t be any further confusion...

[Xordan]

Originally posted by Lyrah
Some misunderstand my intentions in alpha/beta/testing this game...so I will state them as CLEARLY as I can.
...
THAT is why I gave the advice to lighten up on the tone.

Urr, what\'s the point of that large bit of rant?

[ajdaha]

And whilst playing their roles they serve to tell a story. So effectively, acting is the art of telling the story of a certain character from their point of view. And if role-players can be described as actors then it is true that role playing is nothing but a way of telling a story.

[Draklar]

Let me use pencil and paper RPG as example:

The whole role-playing session is a book.
Game Master is the storyteller/storywriter.
Player Characters are the characters appearing in his tale.

[TheMinority]

i think a better way to explain role-playing would be something like this (to condense the ungodly long posts above... )

It\'s real life, only in a game. You go about (in the form of your character), and live out your life. Just like your real life, in the game, you have a background: things you\'ve done or seen and places you\'ve been to. You have to work to gain money, but you must choose what profession you will take on in order to gain this money. Also, you make friends in the game just like you would in the real world.

To be precise, it\'s an alternate world in which your role in life has changed.

[Keyaz]

certainly a lot of air for someone saying the same things over and over, just give up, no matter how much you try its not going to happen any sooner :|

[Lyrah]

Agree 100%, exactly my point. They might not do it by Narative but they do it by acting out the tale.

Originally posted by ajdaha
You said role-players are actors. And what do actors do but tell a story.