Roleplay Dismay No Way!!!

[zanzibar]

1. The rules cover conduct expected in-game, and should be enforced with respect to rudeness, non-settings compliant names (guild and character), etc.

If you mean that very obvious interuptions of roleplay and the settings should be responded to by game masters, I can agree with this.

2. Forcing people to "actively" RP is a bad idea.

Yes.  We should stop people from hurting the roleplay environment, but we can't force people to roleplay.  We can however do things to limit activities that are out of character, even when they don't directly hurt the roleplay environment.

3. Expecting PLAYERS to be courteous and in-character should be the norm. Players must be courteous, even if their character is rude.

There's a good thread on this topic called IC baddies versus OOC goodies or something.  I think we need room for evil characters, evil actions, and rudeness.  I think that it's extremely tricky though.  A character who spits is one thing.  A character who spits on others is something else, even when it's supposed to be IC.  Often, people will roleplay things like that, but only to characters controlled by players they don't like.  And often it's completely unnecessary anyway.  So maybe there should be strict limitations on IC rudeness, especially since IC rudeness is often a disguise for OOC rudeness.  There are many ways to roleplay dark, evil, or rude characters, and only some of them stand the chance of hurting OOC feelings unintentionally.

4. How on earth do you enforce "better" RP beyond the obvious netspeak or rudeness issues addressed in 1 above?

Addressing bad behaviours.  Providing models of good behaviour.

Did I miss anything?

Yes, but there's so much to write on the topic that it probably isn't wise to address everything in a single post.

[Mythryndel]

Zanzibar... yup. That is what I meant. Largely, the rules and framework for enforcement exist, and should be able to address most serious issues.

Preventing any interference with a given RP... the only way I can see that happening is if a group that wants to RP, gets sent to their own instance of Y'liakum for the duration of the RP. That way they cannot possibly be bothered by anyone sneezing loudly in the plaza. Yes, I am exaggerating again, but only to illustrate a point.

[zanzibar]

By interference, I mean OOC behaviour.  Your roleplays should be vulnerable to in-character interuptions.  If you act like other in-character roleplays and actions aren't happening, then you're breaking the rules of roleplay.  If it's in character, and within the settings, and it's happening around you, then your character is aware of it and should respond to it in a way that's in keeping with the character.

[Farren Kutter]

Zanzibar, I agree completely... I get so annoyed when I try to hop into some RP and someone says to me in a /tell, [We're doing an RP right now] as if they're trying to get me to back off, and they sometimes ignore you when you try to roleplay anyways. However, and I am guilty of this part myself, I consider newer players to be OOC, so when I am RPing and a newbie comes up to us to ask where they can kill something [unless they ask the question the right way to make it IC (without all the acronyms and such)] then I usually ignore them, usually doing so by standing very still and saying nothing. If it is not a busy RP I'll show them and stuff.

However, some characters are known for annoying others. These characters BARELY stay in settings and some of them even say OOC things. Often I put these common annoyances on my ignore list for a while.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

I am reading to figure out only as a "general temperature gauge" on the opinions of forum goers only. The poll is doubtless skewed, and intentionally vague. I still want an impression of how people feel.

[Raa]

I feel angry when people don't roleplay on a game that emphasizes roleplay. Then the nonroleplayers get their way and turn it into an ordinary grinding game. But PS is low-budget and still in progress, so I think it would be foolish to not enforce RP. PS can't compete with other games, so might as well make it unique.

[khoridor]

Would you like to see roleplaying more strictly enforced and more highly encouraged on Laanx?

(I quote because it keeps changing; I'm not mad, I saw it, I swear )

Voted Yes after all, because the only word pulling to the 'no' is the first 'more'.
As to encouragements, there are plenty of ways to do that via game features improvements.

[yanom]

what happens when laanx smites you?

[Illysia]

You go to the Death Realm I believe.

[Shaman]

When RP isn't enforced but instead "encouraged" not only does this game's uniqueness plummet (that uniqueness being the community that actually roleplays), but we invite every single lesser-being to play this game (Runescape kiddies looking for a free game, for example), which severely destroys any sort of enjoyment that can come from this game when more than one of them collaborates together. If RP is enforced, the people who DO want to roleplay don't need to be punished by the idiots who come in and try to ruin the fun.

And just to be clear, I'm NOT talking about "powerlevelers", since that term seems to be hated so much; I'm talking about people who run right into the middle of an RP gathering and start spamming emoticons/lol's and completely disrupt what's going on. Powerlevelers and those people are two different entities - the latter just happens to powerlevel as well as disrupt.

[zanzibar]

Powerlevelling and true roleplaying are mutually exclusive.

[Mythryndel]

I agree. The problem is simply rude people, not power levelers. I don't think you will ever be able to pre-screen all of the rude people out of PS (or any other game). You just have to deal with them on a case by case basis.

[zanzibar]

I agree. The problem is simply rude people, not power levelers. I don't think you will ever be able to pre-screen all of the rude people out of PS (or any other game). You just have to deal with them on a case by case basis.

No, people who don't roleplay are a problem if you're trying to create a roleplay game.  Because if there are people who aren't roleplaying, they encourage other people to not roleplay.

[Mythryndel]

So... then you go back to the age-old question... why would the devs put all the time and effort into mechanics for PS, if there was never any intention to have character interaction beyond typing stories to each other?

Please, do not misunderstand my post. I am not saying that there is no value to RP, or that it is not enjoyable. But I am trying to make a point that the mechanics are there to be used. The devs did not waste countless hours trying to make these things available, so that a bunch of people could act superior and belittle those that wanted to play PS as a game, not a interactive storybook. NON-rude PLers can often turn into RPers. But, rude players... well... RP or PL... are just rude and are going to upset everyone.

I think that as long as PLAYERS, regardless of the characters nature, are polite, that the two extremes (and everyone in-between) can co-exist just fine.

[Raa]

Wait, why can't roleplayers use mechanics?