God RPing

[lanser]

I agree that God like rp (/me dodges effortlessly)should be discouraged wherever possible, powers, abilities and races should stay true to the settings, but a couple of other points have been raised in this thread that seem to have strayed from my perception of PS.

Firstly my current char is a freakishly large Enkidukai developed over the last 6-8 months who is quite capable of tossing the average member of the smaller races around Ylian/Enki/Dem etc one handed, he has his faults and weaknesses which a couple of chars have discovered but is a lot stronger than his race would normally allow.

Secondly unless I have been playing under a misapprehension for the last 18 months PS is primarily about roleplay and that is how I have been playing  it. So I fail to see the correlation between ooc levels/stats and rp'd abilities.
Since just before xmas I have not trained at all for several reasons.
1. I don't have the time anymore and what time I do have I'd rather spend in roleplaying
2. The mindless bashing of mobs just got very boring
3. Training is almost impossible for me to justify in an rp fashion (in PS if some one is killed then they go to the DR, not reappear 20 seconds later in the same spot with similar loot)

Don't get me wrong I am not against training or PVP I just feel that it should not be necessary or required to be able to rp

[Pestilence]

Well I think that is a possibility to discus Rp in the sence of playing being better in swordfighting then you really are personally. RPwise it would be a lot more fun to be able to conjure up a evildooer your friends have to vanquish the also stands a bit in a duel, specially with things like wipes I could hardly say different at this stage of development.

With me the problem arises when someone goes above what is "humanly" possible. In specific in this case in RP fights. Noone like to lose but people who do that in fact are simply cheating as RP rules don't even allow that and if this game had a builtin DM you know he would be whisteling those people back.

Specially RP people who have been playing for ages and are good at roleplaying and do it with humor I don't think people will mind. Specially seeing it normally doesn't mean death in the end, but fights aren't humoress and therefor if someone is cheating there to win... people will notice.

The person for example I talked about before I told him I thought he was using godpowers and asked if he could please stop, but he ignored me and now I met two people ingame already who say exacrly the same without me even having started about it. I again asked him to reconsider and still he claims he isn't using god power. After that he claimed everyone did it {practicly admitting he knew he was doing it ] but that he had to or else he wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. Even said I should just do it aswell.

[zhai]

I agree that God like rp (/me dodges effortlessly)should be discouraged wherever possible, powers, abilities and races should stay true to the settings, but a couple of other points have been raised in this thread that seem to have strayed from my perception of PS.

Firstly my current char is a freakishly large Enkidukai developed over the last 6-8 months who is quite capable of tossing the average member of the smaller races around Ylian/Enki/Dem etc one handed, he has his faults and weaknesses which a couple of chars have discovered but is a lot stronger than his race would normally allow.(...)

What if there was a bigger, stronger character than you RP wise? Would you grant them that? They could have been worked on for 10 months... My suggestion for you to be able to claim you can toss anyone with one hand is that you get potions that would boost your strength or endurance and use them during the RP. That way you will be more successfull with you intimidation, which is what you seem to be aiming for anyways. And if you are going to duel afterwards you can warn the opponent OOC why you are boosting your stats. If they follow the RP it should be OK. Otherwise, what makes you think you can decide that you are stronger than everyone else when you have the same limitations everyone has? Yes, you can be larger, very intimidating, disturbingly muscular, I'm ok with all that. Just make sure that you state it that way, don't say you are stronger (you won't be unless you use pots or magic). There's no need for it in your RP and you'll get challenged OOC more than IC and rolleyed at (because you are not).

[Pestilence]

I have to agree with Zhai here.

We all have the same possibilities.

It wouldn't be fair to decidde by yourself to just say you alone can go beyond the lmitations others should follow.

[Datruth]

You see someone trying to act like a God, Ignore them.

As talad said, if people arn't rping around you, Just pretend they don't exhist.

I think we could do the same with those who RP God's, Just ignore them.

[Peacer]

I think we could do the same with those who RP God's, Just ignore them.

prooving IC'ly that he is nothing more than a lunatic would be a better solution imo I've been doing this some time... pretty easy as a god knows everything. "what is my mothers name?" "what does <elvish phrase> mean?" Done

[Datruth]

I think we could do the same with those who RP God's, Just ignore them.

prooving IC'ly that he is nothing more than a lunatic would be a better solution imo I've been doing this some time... pretty easy as a god knows everything. "what is my mothers name?" "what does <elvish phrase> mean?" Done

lol peacer, your way seems more fun lol.

The only problem i could see with it, is if the person your mocking is stronger than you and challenges you.

Then you run lol.

But yea, i think i'll try your way, they could never know everything lol.

[Nilrem]

This thread has the purpose of warning to anyone roleplaying a superman char. There is no debate at all, as it seems assumed by everyone that that kind of roleplay destructs the ambience.

This applies for the good type guy, that alone kills all the guards, rescues the donzel, and all that in a second without loosing his elegant hairform, and also applies for the evil type guy that claps hands and destroys mountains and cities (seems that this "superman" types always choose those ugly plain stereotyped kind of chars to play)

There is then, it seems, no disagreeing that all those illogic actings aren't enforcing any roleplay at all, rather destroying it.

Where I think there's more debate is in the stat/skill being used in RP.

I've faith in the players. The persons behind, have more potential than any game mechanics. I give them freedom. To the point that game mechanics are secondary, and what they do in fact roleplay, is what really matters to me.

I might see someone hitting 520 (as I've seen in another thread) but I won't assume that one to be strong/powerful, till the char is roleplayed. Until then, that number is meaningless. Same applies to magic. Nowadays, seems every player has a couple of glyphs for their chars, and they're able to use them. That I "see" those glyphs used by the game mechanics, won't make me assume the char indeed can, until it is roleplayed.
And even a step further, I am more inclined to assign the cathegory of a mage to someone that roleplays the magic even with 0 skill and no glyphs in inventory, rather than someone that solely uses the game mechanics, casting over and over a spell hitting a shortcut keyboard key.
If I see a decent description, that states the char before mine appears as strong, that char is for me strong, no matter what the "You evaluate..." thing might say.

Giving that freedom will lead to everyone being super powerful chars, you say?
If we rely only on stats/skills, we now have almost everyone being super powerful chars. Rely in roleplay and the persons ability to create and imagine.

Message shortened by PREY (Prevent Reader's Eyes Yell).
Might post something more later, might not.  

[lanser]

What if there was a bigger, stronger character than you RP wise? Would you grant them that? They could have been worked on for 10 months...

Of course  I would grant that I only mentioned the length of time I have been playing this char to show that I have put considerable thought into him and not once have I been challenged oocly about it. (well not directly, a maxed out PLer did threaten to stomp me when he didn't understand the rp that was going on)

My suggestion for you to be able to claim you can toss anyone with one hand is that you get potions that would boost your strength or endurance and use them during the RP. That way you will be more successfull with you intimidation, which is what you seem to be aiming for anyways. And if you are going to duel afterwards you can warn the opponent OOC why you are boosting your stats. If they follow the RP it should be OK.

Firstly I don't duel and have autodecline set so there is no point in using potions, secondly in real life there are a few 7+ foot tall Strong men about and I didn't say the char was stronger than every one or could throw anybody thirdly I dont find downing a couple of gallons of potions in one shot in the middle of a fight particularly realistic.

Otherwise, what makes you think you can decide that you are stronger than everyone else when you have the same limitations everyone has? Yes, you can be larger, very intimidating, disturbingly muscular, I'm ok with all that. Just make sure that you state it that way

I do

don't say you are stronger[/b]

I don't

(you won't be unless you use pots or magic). There's no need for it in your RP and you'll get challenged OOC more than IC and rolleyed at (because you are not).

Sorry don't quite follow your reasoning there are you talking Game Mechanics or RP?

Maybe I didn't make my point clear enough
I don't have the time or the inclination to train my Chars anymore so in a Role Play game why should my chars  be at the mercy of every new player who spends a couple of weeks non stop training, maxing out then deciding to RP?

[Pestilence]

Well reading Chaos post the idea behind planeshift is to combine the game elments with the roleplaying. Neither should be looked at seperately. Granted this ofcourse is for when wipes aren't nececary anymore, but it does show you should not look at either as independant of the other.

Therefor my opinion is that becuase of the wipes and whatnot you shouldn't be strict about enforcing stats, but that if you want to RP a strong person you should atleast try to train strength up so the stat isn't still untrained after months of play with no wipe affecting stats.

You might not like this view but this is what the GMs have chosen for and thinking of games like D&D you aren't allowed to throw everyone around there either if you are in fact a level 1 wizard with a -1 modifier on strength.

Although personally as I said I am not someone who is asking for stats just to see if someone is actually able to do something. I do keep this in mind when playing my own character. Garile for instance at first was weak as I had not raised her ranks at all, but as time went on she trained more and became more confident about her skills with the knife. She still isn't an uberperson, but after all that training only few should be able to beat her speed.

[eldoth_terevan]

This is really an interesting thread. Back in the day, characters with godlike powers or the superhero or dark antagonist would have been exclusively played by the DM (GM) in my campaigns. Yes: I mean pen, paper and miniatures. This is because the characters themselves were not capable of it as their characters had not developed to the point where I would consider it. Also, the characters that always wanted to play gods, uberheroes and godlike villians always seemed to want to somehow usurp game control from the GM and ignore the other players and what they wanted. I have tried these scenarios before and, unless the character is actually capable of it within the game mechanics, it usually does not work out in the long run. I just consider it kind of mediocre for people to want to play characters like this. The point of the game is acting within the role of your character as it is created and exists in the game for the purposes of interacting with others and advancing your character, as you get more powerful the ability to expand your role occurs. If one wants to stand about RPing and talking with people and act like a god, other players will ignore you or make fun of you. If you WERE a god, they could not do this. So since they can -- you are not and should not RP as such. I mean who cares what people do with their friends online? I don't, but RP like this is never going to make it outside of a small group. Why not play your character as your character? There are so many possibilities to play, why does everybody get so excited about being a god or evil all powerful villian? Basic psychology gives us the answer on this one ...

[lanser]

Well having reread the post by Cha0s and from your viewpoints it appears as if I have been playing under a misapprehension for at least a year.

It seems like even though I have gradually developed my Char from a callow young freak driven from his village to the adult he is today, it has been a waste of time because I haven't raised his stats to match.

[eldoth_terevan]

Lanser, if you were talking to me, this does not mean your year was a waste. If I am with you IG and you want to roleplay it that way and it is fun all around, then fine. I will play along with you and have with others.

That is one thing, but PS is wedding together RP and the game mechanics that they are developing, and the setting of the game and the abilities of the players should have SOMETHING to do with how they are played. If it was not so, we could all just hang around on IRC and make up whatever we want whenever we want. What if my PC is your friend and he is getting attacked by a bunch of rogues and you do not help because your character cannot fight? Do you really think my character would then support this uber-strength thing after that?

I keep alts that have not much or no skills and I use them for RP... not one of them is going to claim to be a great wizard, awesome warrior, or a god. They are just there for RP, to interact and tell stories with the other players... I just think if you follow the game the interactions you get are more sincere. Indygo gets my vote, he plays an excellent character, does good RP and maintains a place in the community even though he does not appear to work on leveling much. He makes no claims above the simplicity of his character and is honest and comes off very sincere. Hence I believe him and always pay attention when he is doing something RP nearby.

This is why in tabletop there was ALWAYS a DM watching the play and making judgements about what was going on. The DM would moderate, punish, reward, assent to out of character play or cut it off depending on who was doing it and how they were using it. Right now in PS it is like all the players are sitting around the table, the DM has left the room, and the players are arguing amongst themselves about what they can and cannot do in game. It is really an unresolvable argument, the DM MUST DECIDE what the limits are and what is permissible.

Maybe I am totally wrong in how I view the game, but that is what the discussion is for. You guys tell me... I do not suppose Talad has any time to give us his views on how this stuff blocks out, but it would be nice to hear it summarized from someone with 'authority'.

[lanser]

Sorry Eldoth it was in reply to Pestilence.

In reply to your points though if we were together and you were attacked by Rogues I would consider that an ooc occurance and as such shouldn't affect your Chars viewpoint, although I would certainly RP coming to my friends aid.
As for Indygo I've never met him and for my char I make no claims apart from being very large with corresponding physical attributes (nothing Uber). He has fought with Unar, Hagarath and Aucices with varying degrees of sucess (he does have an easily exploitable weakness)

[bilbous]

I had a thing or two to say earlier and I have a different thing or two to say now.  It seems to me now from listening to all the ardent RP'ers that if RP is the purpose of the game the devs are going in the wrong direction. Why bother with training at all if you can be whatever you say you are and can convince others of? I propose a radical departure from the current system. No training, no npc's. your account starts off with a certain amount of points to be divided between the three characters allowed which are used to provide the abilities of those characters. If you decide to spend all your points on your first character then the others get no abilities at all. Then the GM's sole duty will be to create events and apportion development points based on players role-play. The GM will get a stat sheet for every character that participates in their event and will have a discretionary amount of points to allot for that event which will be based on the size and complexity of the event. The community at large could develop templates for adventures which could be used by the GM's with little or no preparation. A blank template for new adventures could be developed that would determine base rewards for original adventures which would then be added to the template store and re-evaluated post-adventure.

This is my idea of how a Role Playing game should be run. It is not fully developed but the bones are there for all to see.