What makes you not want to RP?

[Dajoji]

Some will blame the new introduction system... but I suspect it's more than that. It's easier to blame it on the changes in the game than to look in ourselves for answers. I hear complains about how the game is not the same and how the good old days were better all the time and it's hard not to agree sometimes. But I wonder, what makes players really stop wanting to RP or need to take a break from it for a while?

Lost friends. People come and go and sometimes it's those who made RP so much fun for us the ones to leave. Seeing one's buddy list all red is depressing. I've experienced that and I understand it can be a big barrier. You know you can't "replace" your old friends with new ones and those plots you had way back sound like will never be surpassed by anything the present has to offer. So why bother, right?

Lost mechs. Mechanics evolve and sometimes that displeases those who are happy with the way things are. One of the things that has been changed a few times along the way, and is more likely to be changed than others in the future, is the dueling system. Some people love it, others hate it and when it is changed it springs a ton of complains. Some people don't want to do anything with PS until it is changed back, not considering that it is only a part of the game and one that is meant to evolve. The correlation between the introduction or modification of mechanics in game and the motivation to RP is direct. I wonder if this is about

Lost skills. Wipes and wipe threa(d/t)s always bring out the "I'm outta here" line. People have dedicated countless hours to training and when they fear their characters might be deleted they don't feel motivated to stay and start over and that means RP was never their priority. They would rather leave than start over.

Lost plots. It is common to see newcomers put together imaginative plots that... well, have nothing to do with PS. Vampires, werewolves, blaster rifles, Jedi powers, etc... and the community is very quick and ruthless when they deal with this issues and that makes the newcomers feel rejected and exposed and they don't wish to stay anymore or try again.

Lost interest in the game. RL makes us do other things, like... living, for instance. We may love PS but when we have to do other things, we gotta log out and do them and that means leaving the game for a couple of days, weeks, months or years. Coming back after that can be challenge. Oftentimes it makes you face all of the above issues so reconnecting with the game is much more difficult. You have to work harder at it to make new friends, train new skills, learn the new mechanics, pick up your old plots, etc and it can make you lose the drive to go in-game anymore and role play.


There may be other reasons why players stop roleplaying but I think these are the most common ones. However, are they valid in terms of role play? They are valid reasons since they do exist and they do affect how players feel about the game but... how much do they really have to do with roleplaying?

Do you stop roleplaying because the community is bad at it?

Do you stop roleplaying because the game has little to do with it?

Do you stop roleplaying because you don't know how to do it and there's nobody to learn from?

Do you stop roleplaying because the settings are boring and unappealing for you?

Or,

do you stop because of the reasons stated in the first part of this post?


I guess the real questions are:

What makes you want to role play?

and

How good at it are you?

If you really love RP, don't let peripheral things get in your way. The game is in development. Be flexible and ready to change as the game evolves and you will enjoy it much more. Complain, suggest, get involved but don't stop roleplaying if you really like it because that way you're only denying yourself some good fun.

[Socius Rockus]

It takes so much time to fill in these annoying question forms...
jk
Only times when i take a 'break' is when I have exams, or when I'm on holiday. Later in my life I can for see work and more later perhaps even kids coming in the way ^^. Illness could be a reason, also computer problems, or even Internet problems.
It's all summed up in two letters RL
 

[Earl_Listbard]

1.) Never wanted to stop rping, never had a reason to. I have taken breaks from planeshift, but never from role playing.

2.) I want to role play because I like the idea of getting in character, it makes a game more fun, also seeing your character develop as a different entity then you is cool, I also have always been a fan of stories and lore, in all mmorpgs, but the problem has always been that no one rps with the lore, except planeshift.

3.) I have always looked at myself as a good role player.

[Donari Tyndale]

I still roleplay when I am in game, though the latter has become a rarity due to a lack of the first. Currently, roleplay mostly involves only the same people, and that gets boring. Furthermore, as my characters are nothing special, they don't involve in the grand scale roleplays, good vs evil etc. I would like more every day roleplays, though these are lacking. People are not interested in buying roleplayed glass wares, neither chopping imaginary wood. Some people do buy them, but after a while it's just a feeling of duty that gets them to help.

[Zan]

I never stopped roleplaying and I will never stop roleplaying unless I stop playing.

Like I said in the other thread, however, the introduction system does make roleplaying a lot less interesting. If it makes it less interesting for me, I can imagine it can easily make people stop (role)playing completely. Now you might not want to hear this but that is how it is. Also this doesn't mean we should get rid of the introduction system but I do think we should disable it until a better, less confusing system is in place. Essential here is that you can make a distinction between different 'strangers' in main chat. Whether it's done by giving different people different text colors, self-chosen labels like: old dwarf or redhaired dwarfette .. or whatever other idea you can come up with, doesn't matter but the confusion needs to be cleared up.

Now back on the actual topic .. I can answer no to every single one except the last two questions.

I want to roleplay because I like roleplaying, simple as that. How good I'm at it, I'm not going to answer myself. People have different ideas of how to roleplay, because of that some people will think my roleplaying sucks because it's way too realistic and hence boring .. others might think I'm good. Doesn't matter as long as I like what I do and can find people who like similar things.

[eldoth_terevan]

In three years most RPs I have been in have degenerated into [arguments] because there is no system of mechanics that supports this-or-that specific roleplay action(s), and that elements of roleplay that are supported are ignored by certain roleplayers who will not follow the mechanics of the system no matter how well done they are. And sometimes it is just nit-picking one another. RP many times is just not fun, anymore so than trying to do it seriously on IRC. Everybody seems to know what "Roleplay" means, but the practical implementation of it is interpreted differently by everyone. The function of administering mechanics to RP was the function of the table-top GM, and GMs in Planeshift are not even close to that function. Not to mention, most want to create a role that they play, rather than playing the role they "rolled". The introduction system makes the game feel even more unfriendly IMHO.

[Nikodemus]

When a stranger you talk to speak OOC
and doesn't think about stopping or trying to stay IC

Lack of immersity and consistence
When the setting isn't covering all aspects of a given place, encounter or whatelse. When the game mehanics aren't supporting it and lack of elements vital for intuitive RPing within the game mehanics.

[Mythryndel]

I have stated in another post that it is possible to play the game entirely without RP. That, however, becomes very boring. RP is a way to get a lot more enjoyment out of the game.

I agree that it is largely the people that present the RP opportunities. I have seen very few RP conversation since I started playing (1-2 weeks before 0.4), but have participated in all that would have me. The NPCs do not really offer any RP opportunities, especially since they have... how shall i say... limited vocabulary?

The introduction system has a lot to do with the limited interaction with other players right now. I cannot keep track of the 2-10 different "Someone"'s that are trying to talk to me. This is a common complaint, and one that needs to be addressed fairly quickly. Possible fix is to add a field to the description for each character that will be used in place of "Someone". It would also be nice if you could get introduced, automatically, to people you have had lengthy conversations with, or the others in your guild. These last two are realistic scenarios in real life. I am going to recognize someone i was talking to for 30 minutes if i see them again, or if i work with them in the same office.

I think that because of the current implementation of the introduction system there is a lot less communication using the "main" tab and a LOT more going on in tells, guild, and group chat where you will actually see peoples names. This is changing the environment a lot and making it look like RP is dead when it isn't.

[Garile]

Roleplaying dead?  I do feel Roleplaying has had a hit.  Nothing serious at the moment, but I do wonder if it might not become serious if that introductionsystem remains as it is for to long a time.

I mean if people who were in favor of the idea are now saying it's annoying in the present form and often even add it might actually hinder RP instead of adding to it you know something is wrong.

[Sen]

Now I can't resist to add to the intro-bashing 
Just one example amoung others: I was a friend of some small 'rp's at the mine - it was actually even a good place because often there were one or two rpers there. But when I mine now (yes I do sometimes) I ignore the main tab. And when I peek in I see only lots of sitting/standing/"Thanks" or dozens of lines of Someones. *feels urgent need to click on another tab again*

Apart from that:
Yes, friends leaving make my rp diminish
As does my now much more limited time for being ingame

Sen
*edit* Hmmm... I should have read the Roleplaying decreased thread before....

[Leama]

This is a great thread Dajoji.

To answer the questions then in my opinion of course:

Lost friends: Yes many people I played with are gone, but many are still here. I find it disturbing that the ones I learned to role play from are gone. I miss the days when I came in game and people would send me tells and then we would gather to role play.

Lost mechs. If this includes the ‘Introduction System’ then the answer has to be yes. I have met many people and I doubt I will met them again without knowing who there are by name. I know that is not right, but it is true.

Lost skills. This is not a factor to my role play, so therefore is does not matter.

Lost plots. Well can I apply this to making my character who she is today? I have worked hard to make her known for who she is. Building a character is important I believe.

Lost interest in the game. Well standing around and listening to others role play and being able to join in is fun. So for me to see so many standing around not chatting away about something makes the game less interesting. So many had wonderful stories to tell and all I had to do was ask if I could listen and before I knew it I was part of a great role play. It does not happen anymore that I can see.
For a role player it is easy to lose interest when they isn’t any role play going on.

Do you stop role playing because the community is bad at it? With patience anyone can learn to role play. So this is no excuse.

Do you stop role playing because the game has little to do with it? The game might be moving in a different direction where role play is no longer important, or not as much as it was.

Do you stop role playing because you don't know how to do it and there's nobody to learn from? There are some really good role players in game. If people want to learn there is still an opportunity. These days it might be hard to find them, but they are there.

Do you stop role playing because the settings are boring and unappealing for you? This is a great game and the settings are what make the role play work.

Now people have said to me go back in game and make things happen, start making new friends, make new role plays and they are correct. I have to consider if it is the fact I start to make new friends and after a week they are gone or it seems to me that the new people I meet seem disinterested that makes me not want to play as much as before.

As I said before, maybe the game is going in a different direction away from role play.
Please go ahead and tell me I am wrong, it is ok.

[Ravenguard]

Although being your character is fairly easy, what isn't is knowing what other people will do.  Nothing like telling them who to be and all such, of course.  OOC is the thing.

I haven't played an RP type game before, figured to give it a shot with this one.  So, I'm not the best person, because I haven't had the experience.  It's really disheartening, however, when you are trying to get things straight (as you're not an RP MASTARZ, or you don't have the settings memorized and on little notecards), and people start telling you 'you suck' and calling the RP over because it's boring.  Thanks, I really needed that.  If you didn't like it so much, find a reason to leave and do it, or give me tips on how not to 'suck.'  That's like a simple Improv game people play where you have to find a reason to leave (another reason I like playing a character; I like acting).

The first event I got into was fun; I wanted to learn how to be better, do it more often.  But the last 'random' RP event dealios I got into ended up with people coming in to check it out, telling the people involved we suck, and walking off.  It's more fun to RP a steel refiner doing their daily routine than getting criticized about something you don't know how to really deal with, or are trying to get used to.

That's the biggest turn-off to RP events (but not playing a character, I like that) for me; people coming in and interrupting things OOC, and criticizing the players for their RP beginner-ness.

[Velh Krome]

Sorry for some offtopic words, but Ravenguard, you shouldnt get discouraged by that. In fact I am quite a bit shocked to read that. People doing that probably are some immature 12yo kids who wont be around for long anyways - at least I do hope so. You appear to be a guy interested in the game for what its meant to be, and should continue for, say, 2 more weeks, before you can approach them and show them who sucks;)

[Leama]

Ravenguard you could learn a lot from Velh. He is one of the best along with Noriin and Izzabella. Don't give up. We need people like you.

[Taniquetil]

Questions first:

Do you stop roleplaying because the community is bad at it? Not at all. We have a great community for RP.

Do you stop roleplaying because the game has little to do with it? PS is pure RP, at least to me.

Do you stop roleplaying because you don't know how to do it and there's nobody to learn from? True, not many large RPs happen.

Do you stop roleplaying because the settings are boring and unappealing for you? The intro system can be annoying at times, but it is only one of the several overlying reasons.

do you stop because of the reasons stated in the first part of this post? Yes. I think one of the major reasons is the negativity towards new ideas for RP. Eventiually, you can't do the same RPs over and over again. Branch out. Give that new guy with the crazy idea a chance. IF the RP is just too radical, don't just tell him off, encourage him and give him tips and pointers. And please, please don't point them to a two-year old sticky.


That's all i got. (really wish we had this one-> :cookie:)