RP Covenant.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

I move that the players try to establish a set of roleplaying principles that they want to adhere to.

You can use previous guides on roleplaying.

You can debate what constitutes roleplaying.

You can include what rewards should go with good roleplaying.

Your goal would be to find a common set of roleplaying ideals that everyone can agree to.

The rp covenant can be refined until someone moves that it be "ratified."

Once this happens, I will make a poll for it.

Ratification will be defined as 4/5 of all voters agreeing that this is a system all should agree to.

That will pass it on to gms to discuss view comment on and agree to or veto.

We can't define what roleplay is or should be, maybe you can.

The Covenant will not be an end all, be all, it could be overturned by popular sentiment or amended by the same.

(I just want to see more specifically what it is you want rp to be)

(also my word here is not binding this is simply a proposition to be discussed)

[Apnew]

This falls into the Ideals Category
.
One of the things I see often in Roleplay that I find distracting at best and multiplicative at worst is the tendency to RP thoughts.

Why: If the Character you are roleplaying with/to has no ability regarding telepathy Noone should have any idea what so ever what You are thinking.

Example : 1.  Apnew feels sad.
                2. Apnew thinks PlayerX is angry at her.
                3. Apnew is angry at playerX

Rather: 1.   Apnew look sad.
            2.  Apnew looks apprehensive at PlayerX.
            3. Apnew looks aggravated.


A player does not have access to your thoughts and emotions. Only what can be observed by the expressions carried out.

[Garris Shrike]

Good idea, here are some of my notes.

In descriptions, somewhat like apnew noted, there should only be allowed what is going on on the outside. I'm partially guilty of purveying feelings through my descriptiong, so its ok.

Like in my descr, I have that through the ring on my finger, people know me for who I am. That should be ok. But if I said that through the ring on my finger, YOU (the person reading) was automatically scared of me, that would be god modding. I mention in my description that I demand respect. Of course, its ok if you dont respect Garris as a character, but like in real life, there are people who walk a certain way.

To sum it up, your description is simply that: a description of what your character is wearing, what he/she has equipped, perhaps the look on his/her/kran's face.

[Mathy Stockington]

I think this is a very bad idea. If you wish to have diversity in the characters then this will not work. This will only help to have one kind of role player and all the creativity that we can have will go down the toilet. If you set up rules they will be broken. The Ten Commandments were not enough so they made more rules to follow and that just meant more rules to break. Role play is something that people do because they want to not because they have to. Some do not like it because they just do not have the mind set to do it. Therefore adding rules to how it is done will only make them more apprehensive to even try. This is a very very bad idea or a good idea if you want the role play community to shrink in numbers.

[Mythryndel]

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:

- Core to the RP argument and what RP is... is what it is not. I think that a significant mention in this agreement needs to be to avoid discussing Real Life in "main". You can ask for help, but RL need not intrude on "main". If this means the devs want/need to create a tab for RL chat, well... that can be decided at another time. I think everyone that I have seen post on the subject agrees on this point. If we can AT A MINIMUM keep "main" to only discussing PS and/or our characters interactions we will be on the right path.

- Keep [ooc text here] to a minimum. Sometimes it is impossible to avoid getting your point across any other way. Discussing a perceived bug in the game that can't be explained except with technical details for instance.

- There is nothing wrong with leveling or making trias, but you should strive to interact with others as your character would... not how you, the player, would. This does not mean Shakespeare. As an example, don't assume you know everyones names (just because you can read them).

- DO NOT TAKE THINGS SAID IN GAME PERSONALLY. Unless someone is specifically harassing you, the player, which is an offense that should be /reported to a GM, just relax and have fun. Characters are allowed to be boisterous, rude, friendly, comical, etc. Just go with it and have fun.

- Hiding behind RP as an excuse for harassing other players will not be tolerated.

- If a player is either being polite, or simply playing their character, do not chastise them for interfering with or trying to be part of your RP. If you are talking about something in "main" that piques their interest, you obviously were talking loud enough to be overheard, deal with the consequences as your character would.

- If at all possible, make exceptions to your normal etiquette or your current running RP to help out a new player that is being polite in asking for help. Even if your character would not, tell them [go to tell tab] in "main" and then help them. New players are important to PS, and being rebuffed for interrupting an RP is not going to make them feel welcome, especially when the tutorial tells them to ask other players for help.

I may think of other things later... but this is a start.

[EDIT] Mathy, I respectfully disagree with your assessment of what this is about. This is about establishing a code of conduct, if you will. This is the fundamental baseline for all RP. There will be plenty of room for creativity. If you really want to RP in an exclusive setting form a group (/invite <playername>) and keep your chat to yourselves. But this is a set of ground rules for interacting with other players in "main".

Xillix, please correct me if i have misunderstood your intentions here.

[Farren Kutter]

I... Agree with Mathy... Try to establish 'rules' of RP is... not a good idea... Instead, RP etiquette is more appropriate an idea...

[Mythryndel]

* Mythryndel plants his tongue firmly in his cheek before responding...

Does this mean that RPers do not want to act as a team player and restrict themselves to settings and mechanics? Do "rules" only apply to those annoying PLers that frequently have better stats than the RPers?

Seriously though, the most common conflict I see on the forums is the question of "what is RP". Among the players that I chat with frequently, every one of them have a different idea of what it is, and several of them are afraid they will do it wrong, and so avoid it altogether. I see this as a way to clarify the issue, and get everyone on the same page. Threads from this week are debating the same issues as threads I have found from 1 - 3 years ago. This issue needs to be settled for PS to really be able to move forward. I get tired of hearing people say that the PS devs are either liars or hypocrites because they post the PS is a GPL game, and a Role Playing game. Everyone just has a different ideal or expectation when those terms are used.

[neko kyouran]

I don't see how this thread is bad at all.

Rules are setup in LARPing events in which everyone abides by to make the event go smoothly and keep it fun.  I don't see why PS should be any different.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

I move that the players try to establish a set of roleplaying principles that they want to adhere to.

You can use previous guides on roleplaying.

You can debate what constitutes roleplaying.

You can include what rewards should go with good roleplaying.

Your goal would be to find a common set of roleplaying ideals that everyone can agree to.

The rp covenant can be refined until someone moves that it be "ratified."

Once this happens, I will make a poll for it.

Ratification will be defined as 4/5 of all voters agreeing that this is a system all should agree to.

That will pass it on to gms to discuss view comment on and agree to or veto.

We can't define what roleplay is or should be, maybe you can.

The Covenant will not be an end all, be all, it could be overturned by popular sentiment or amended by the same.

(I just want to see more specifically what it is you want rp to be)

(also my word here is not binding this is simply a proposition to be discussed)

Did I say rules?

To reject such a proposal out of hand seems knee-jerk and less than thoughtful.

I hope those of you who push rp very hard will reconsider this idea before trashing it.

[Mythryndel]

This is the problem with RP in PS and why it is sooooooo confusing to new players. Everybody getting defensive and trying to nitpick if their interpretation of RP is criticized or maligned. There have to be rules at some point. This isn't about rules as much as trying to come up with a definition that everyone can live with, and some core understandings of how things could/should be done.

[EDIT] And specifically to Mathy, you have established, by your definition, that we are looking for an agreement from all sides as to what RP is, and then getting everyone to agree to be bound by the terms of the agreement. What is wrong with this again?

[EDIT2] And while we are on the subject of rules, why is it that in the previous poll, there were so many people ready to shove RP down the throats of those that only PL... using the reasoning that PS is a RP game... but now that we are trying to establish what exactly RP is, some of the same RPers are setting themselves against the very idea of imposing "rules" on anything they do in-game. I find it interesting that some want a certain portion of the player base to be held to a standard, but not establish what that standard is.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Mythryndel, you are spot on.

Ideals and guidelines that the community agrees to would be very nice to see.

[Lokter Tarvitz]

Well, if the new alliance gets of the ground (no specific details) then RP will be a major part in any dealing you have with A LOT of players. This alliance may bring together 4 or 5 guilds with not only an IC reason to work together but an OOC reason to promote RP.

and beleive me.. if you want to have any dealing with them the you will have to RP.


welll after my OFF TOPIC rant i will get back to the main reason for my post.

IF enough people RP properely and spent time helping new players then there would be no "OOC n00b problems" as my old freind would say.

IF a series of slightly stricter guidelines were implemented along with an example of a common routine RP introduction then maybe players will grasp the idea of Role Play better

and one last thing. I partly blame the plat mine for the amount of powerlevelers... with the price so high it is an easy source of income, the PLers just mine till they have hundreds of thousands, and then blow it on training.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Further discussion of PLers is not really needed on this thread.

Try to refrain from raising points that will make this thread typical.

This thread is for every forum user to have a hand in deciding the fate of rp in PS.

[h34th]

The problem that is continually coming up is that RP *needs* moderation. RP without moderation by person -- or without moderation by some automatic system -- becomes a free-for-all or argument, as there is no framework that is being enforced. The framework, or principle, requires intelligence and spontaneity to judge or enforce. Hence, the never-ending discussion. I honestly do not think that any agreement or covenant is going to resolve anything, but I am interested in seeing what principles could develop from this. Would brackets around OOC text be considered a 'principle' in this case?

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Talk of moderation is also not helping this discussion.

use /report /petition

If no one responds then the community is failing to generate enough gms, the game is free, it IS on you.

Refrain from further commentary on moderation.