What makes you not want to RP?

[Anumesa]

Once i figured out how to RP, i couldnt stop, its addictive Anyways, my character got into some pretty crazy plots and all of it was fun, and i pretty much couldnt see anything bad about any of it. Eventually however, i started to encounter a few things that eventually pretty much caused me to lose interest. I tend to try to stay on good terms with just about everyone, and i believe that IC is IC and just that, which incidentally leads me to my first point:

People taking IC OOC: This REALLY annoys me. Just because someone may play a bad character does not mean they are a bad person, etc...its so annoying to receive threats OOC, about an IC event or encounter. It kind of blurrs those lines and makes it difficult to continue the RP.

People criticizing others RP in brackets: Im guilty of this, once in awhile but I try to usually be constructive: for example if someone is standing next to me valiantly fighting off a clacker with his trusty lightsabre, i might remind him or her in a tell that thats a -bit- over the top. However, i have seen people be harassed to no end by extremely rude comments made in brackets. I think that everyone can always learn more, even those that wander around as self-proclaimed RP-Masters.

Turning on or off RP: I can understand sometimes wanting to just mindlessly slaughter mobs, or mine for awhile, instead of getting involved in some complex plot, but if someone greets your character, why not take two seconds and greet them back IC? THe other day my character went to the mine, she tried and tried to strike up a conversation, but it was like being among ghosts. Everyone just stood there and mined and not one person made a comment, even when she started singing about how the fellow in front of her direly needed a bath. Other times i have been in the tavern and someone will make a comment like "[My character is really dead, but im just here]". How does that make any sense? Now everyone else that may speak to that character is speaking to someone that is technically not there... o.O

I dont want to sound like im complaining, but those are just the major things that came to mind when i read this thread. After awhile, a lot of these things became more and more prevalent and it just became annoying to try to RP. I tried making new characters and starting more 'everyday' RPs, for example: Pohim the little shoeshine..but it just became harder and harder to find people to RP with. Now it seems like barely anyone will at all

[Dihenis]

Turning on or off RP: I can understand sometimes wanting to just mindlessly slaughter mobs, or mine for awhile, instead of getting involved in some complex plot, but if someone greets your character, why not take two seconds and greet them back IC? THe other day my character went to the mine, she tried and tried to strike up a conversation, but it was like being among ghosts. Everyone just stood there and mined and not one person made a comment, even when she started singing about how the fellow in front of her direly needed a bath. Other times i have been in the tavern and someone will make a comment like "[My character is really dead, but im just here]". How does that make any sense? Now everyone else that may speak to that character is speaking to someone that is technically not there... o.O

This is how I REALLY got into Roleplaying, by singing at the mines with Anumesa. Sure, when you're mining you usually focus on the system tab, but by the time you finish typing out a line, that mining session should have finished and you can move or try again. Why can't more people do that?

What makes me not want to roleplay now has mostly already been said here, but I'll mention some anyway

When events degrade to mostly OOC brackets and shouts
Again, the lack of evil things to do that people might go along with, at least partly. I don't usually care about the outcome, and we usually plan to lose, so its discouraging when people don't acknowledge you(rather just me).
How hard it is to recognize people I've talked to before but haven't asked their name, but I'm not going to say too much more about this.

[Scarn]

People taking IC OOC: This REALLY annoys me. Just because someone may play a bad character does not mean they are a bad person, etc...its so annoying to receive threats OOC, about an IC event or encounter. It kind of blurrs those lines and makes it difficult to continue the RP.

I feel exactly the same way (I must admit I too have lost my temper when I started playing PS when many things were unfamiliar and ppl killed me here and there. never like this tho--->). Last one I recieved and which p**sed me off somewhat was from player Cayoke saying he works for the PlaneShift team and will have my account banned or at least get me a warning. He threw out some devs names and said he is E-mailing 'his supervisor'. As unlikely it seems that the PS team would hire a f***** such as him in the first place, it does put my and others RP on hold as atleast I have no contacts to any GMs and such to ask what should be done. (no GMs were online when this happened but I reported it)
Newer players will seize their RP almost entirely for the fear that their trained and personalised chars will be deleted if they say something bad to a wrong person (ICly).

[Under the moon]

Impersonating a Dev or GM is bannable. Report the person and file a petition. You can also go to the IRC channel #planeshift on freenode and contact GMs or Devs dirrectly who are not ingame.

I have noticed that a great many of the "What makes...?" answers have to do with other players, and not features of the game at all.

[Karyuu]

The player in question is someone I know as a prospect - I've already given "Coyoke" a talk about his place in the Scheme of Things, so I'd rather not have the situation escalate unless another episode comes up. Hopefully there will be no need.

[SerqFeht]

I have noticed that a great many of the "What makes...?" answers have to do with other players, and not features of the game at all.

I think there are a few reasons for this one. A lot of people will admit that the constant mining and introduction system will damage them, and many posts have ignored this to avoid redundancy, I think.

As for other features, such as statue-like guards, death, and the dueling system, people work their rp's as well as they can. I've seen brilliant attempts at pretending that the guards could attack them, and I've seen duels in front of the same guards.

The settings and books could be read more, like Velh said, and they do improve rps a lot. I've seen rps that completely fit into the scheme of things, and raining flaming ulbers that destroy all of Hydlaa rps.

From my experience, I can make up an rp that fits in with the features of the game, but it often ends in utter failure because of the introductions, the silent miners, and the fact that players often choose money over a rewardless rp.

I guess to sum it all up: incomplete features can be worked around; players cannot be.

[zorbels]

People criticizing others RP in brackets

@ Everyone:  This truly amazes me when people do this. It should be an absolute no no to put into brackets criticism of someone else's RP. That is just out right disrespectful. It should always be done in /tell or /group or some where that isn't in the public eye. To be little someone like that is really mean I think.

Ask yourself this ... What right do other players have to tell other players how to RP? Everyone has a different perspective as to how RP should go. (Even if you have played the game for years it still doesn't make you an expert! It just means you have had more experience with the game.) To tell a RPer that they are over the top or they don't know what their doing is completely rude in my humble opinion. To suggest a few ideas would be fine. This HAS to be handled very carefully though (This is what I learned from Gming). You must chose your words carefully and word them in a respectful manner to help the player better understand where you are coming from. It also helps them understand that your only trying to help, and not be some bossy, pushy player who thinks their the greatest RPer ever. Remember there are people of different ages, countries, and back grounds in this game. SO what you think might not be offensive maybe to them.

I have had new players and old tell me how to RP. Some I have taken offense to and some I didn't. It was the way they approached me that determined how I took the advice, and most importantly what I did with it. Keep that in mind when your giving advice to players.


[edited] Spelling errors

[neko kyouran]

the reason for me: (to answer the topics question)

lack of time.

I'm a bit busy IRL, so I can't put aside an hour or two every day/ every other day to keep up with any real RP going on.  When I do log in, it's to chat here and there for a few moments, go off to explore some area I haven't been to in awhile, maybe work on solving a quest or two, play around with some of the new features being released, etc.  And that's all I have time for really.  If I did get involved with and deep RP event or whatever, I'd be involved one night, be logged out for a month, and come back to find it all resolved, and then where would my char be?  So it's better for me to stay out of any of the 'bigger' things and stick to the occasion, spur of the moment while I'm running from here to there' type stuff. 

[thecrzy99]

I really enjoy RP but I think people who get into it should, rather than improve their charcters life, look at their own. If you really want to become this other "person" so bad something must be amiss in your real life. I am a fan of the game. I enjoy creating fiction about my character, giving him personality and such, but their is andalways has been, a point where you need to seperate yourself from the character.

[Shadow1490]

Usually one of two(or three) things keeps me out of RPing.
1. The server is down.
2. There's nothing going on.(That I can find anyway.)
3. My character isn't the type to interfere in other people's troubles. (especially when not being paid to do so.)
4. I've got something to do IRL

[Dajoji]

I dropped the question and left it alone for a couple of days for the community to respond. Now that I've read the replies and reflected upon them I can explain why I started this thread and what I have learned from it.

First of all, roleplay is not dying. It is not ruined. Not by the few disruptive players who don't get the purpose of the game and are in a path that eventually will get them banned. Not by the current mechanics. Not by player leaving because of RL and other reasons. If it were truly ruined, we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here. But we are. And we stay because we haven't given up on PS. We stay because we still believe this project is unique and rich and that along the way, a solution for these issues will be found.

What PlaneShift is all about is RP. The settings, the community, the future plans are all aimed at it. It is unfair to say that PS is drifting away from it just because we're having a hard time dealing with new and buggy mechanics or because the game does not exclude those who are not interested in RP.

The purpose of this thread was to put in evidence that we do not have to stop roleplaying and that the things that may get in our way are not really part of the game's development plan. But what can we do about them?

• There are several ways to communicate with the Devs and GMs: forums, bugtracker, IRC, tells, petitions, reports, etc. Among them, some topics are of particular interest like those that about new systems, development projects, and content, for example. They allow us to voice our opinion and suggest solutions and improvements that are taken into account, so by being active and constructive we can really help the game move forward.

• Inappropriate player behavior is dealt with by Game Masters but it all starts with the players. There are attitudes we can avoid that have been mentioned in this thread. We can stop policing others' RP, for starters. We can be more tolerant with those who are still learning about the game and RP and allow them to make a few mistakes here and there. We can make suggestions and point out possible problems with other players' plots but that should always be done respectfully and constructively. We have no right to disregard or undermine others. We have seen that this can drive good players away from RP and away from PS and this affects how we are as a community. You don't have to like or get along with everybody in-game but if you don't, just respect each other's spaces. Ignore each other and don't look for confrontation. That is immature and will only cause more complications. If their behavior becomes disruptive, contact a GM and let us handle it.

• If you have the skills or experience to deal with bugs, OS specific problems and other technical issues, help out in the support forums and bugtracker.

• If you think you have the necessary skills to offer more in-depth help, apply for the different PS teams: developers, game masters, testers, and moderators. We are always looking for prospects.

• Share your experience. See if you can add anything to our guides and tutorials section as well as help newcomers. Many forum users only check a few sections, ignoring the support and newbie forums.

• Don't give up roleplaying. Be patient, take your time, do it your way, don't take it too seriously but don't let things make you stop.

We can think this problem is solved by pointing at someone in the team and say "fix it!" but the bottom line is: Roleplay is not about game mechanics. It is about the community. To improve roleplay we must improve as a community. Do your part and RP will always be around.

[Nikodemus]

We can think this problem is solved by pointing at someone in the team and say "fix it!" but the bottom line is: Roleplay is not about game mechanics. It is about the community. To improve roleplay we must improve as a community. Do your part and RP will always be around.

One thing, if roleplaying was not about game mechanics, then Planeshift wouldn't have game mechanics. Game mechanics have impact on the RPing and these can be designed to support it, or support Gamers more. That's pretty much it.

[Karyuu]

You are all gamers. Why make that distinction? Our goal is to blur the line so much that when you are in PlaneShift, you find yourself roleplaying no matter what you do

[Nikodemus]

Coz there are gamers who RP and gamers who don't ;P
So, RPimg gamers and gamers ;P
Hope my previous post make more sense now.

And yea, go for the blurring! Though it is going to be hard and complicated, i like it.

[Prolix]

It seems to me all games, and life in general, require you to play a role, or many roles, of one kind or another. An RPG merely opens up the kinds of roles you can play within the rules. Doom is not an RPG but you play the role of a relentless demon hunter. Monopoly is not an RPG but you play the role of a rabid property developer. This continuous navel gazing that is the quest for role play seems completely pointless to me. People will always choose what role they will play, either actively or by default, and some will always choose "silly git." Those of you dedicated to the "passion play" focus of this game need to get on with it and quietly recruit promising newcomers, ignoring the rest. All this blather does little other than reinforce the clique boundaries.

I am not questioning the intent of this kind of thread, just its effectiveness. Talking amongst yourselves rarely affects those who do not share your concerns as they are outside the conversation.

I suppose I should shut up as my opinions are abundantly expressed, but I do like the sight of my own text!