Using gameplay mechanics to support/tell your story

[Aramara Meibi]

http://experiencecurve.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/using-gameplay-mechanics-to-supporttell-your-story/

[tman]

That's definitely interesting. 

I think my biggest complaint about planeshift is that people see RP as something totally separate from the game mechanics.  I would love to see these two meld together better.  The mechanics should encourage roleplay, for example by having stuff to do as a group and forcing/encouraging players to interact with one another to accomplish goals.

[Caraick]

Of course I can't disagree with that, tman or Aramara.  However, that's much easier said than done.  It's very easy to propose that the game do a better job of integrating engine-driven mechanics with the role-play elements of the game; it's an entirely different task to actually go out and do that.

That's all. Thanks for posting that up, Ara. 

[Aramara Meibi]

well said both of you.

The mechanics should encourage roleplay, for example by having stuff to do as a group and forcing/encouraging players to interact with one another to accomplish goals.

In PS, I think this may end up coming about as more and more skills are developed. The more options there are, the harder it will be for one character to gain mastery in all of them. A set of limitations is I think necessary in obtaining this goal, which is why most games which fall under this genre have specific class builds. The classes have built in advantages and disadvantages, which makes grouping up necessary.

Planeshift has thus far avoided setting classes for the ideal of free character development, but maybe, by the endgame, when the number of options for development grows and grows, it will reach a point where a mastery in all areas is too great of a challenge, and a limited focus in development will become advantageous. It's all about balance.

I'll agree that the ties between RP and the mechanics are basically nonexistent. It's as much a fault of the developers as much as the players. Speaking for myself now, I typically only use mechanics as a sort of loose foundation when RPing. The mechanics just aren't detailed enough to express the actions of my characters, but I keep in mind their skill levels, knowledge in certain areas, to dictate what they are and aren't capable of. At the same time, I am guilty of creating alts that, for the sake of story, are masters of a skill set, although I haven't spet a single second developing that skill set through gameplay.

That might be one way in which the article doesn't quite fit Planeshift, or Planeshift doesn't quite fit the article, is that there are a number of players who use the game as a setting or medium through which to tell an interactive story, it's our responsibility to create the narrative out of the mechanics.

An area of development that i would like to see is a set of tools for players to use to run an RP. In table top RPGs, you have players who are DMs and players who are PCs. They both must follow the same set of mechanics, but their roles are completely different. In PS, we only have the PC role to work with. Some players are capable of running RPs through the PC role well enough, but we could really use more tools towards this end.

[Eonwind]

The mechanics should encourage roleplay, for example by having stuff to do as a group and forcing/encouraging players to interact with one another to accomplish goals.

I fully agree. In many way this is already being done, for example when a NPC ask to bring him rare animal parts from dangerous mobs this is to suggest a group hunt or a trade with other players. (and I experienced this in many way, Caraick or Teshia may remember helping me when I had to hunt many ulber furs and egg sack  ).
Sure there's much space for improvement.

In PS, I think this may end up coming about as more and more skills are developed. The more options there are, the harder it will be for one character to gain mastery in all of them. A set of limitations is I think necessary in obtaining this goal, which is why most games which fall under this genre have specific class builds. The classes have built in advantages and disadvantages, which makes grouping up necessary.

Exactly, adding skills and crafting is not done to increase grinding but to open up a RP opportunity, after all even working is RP isn't it? We all have to work IRL, in PS this is not mandatory, of course, but skills are there to open up opportunities.

Example: in a RP a specific item is required by a player (cure disease potion, a special sword, ...) another specialized player (aka alchemist, balcksmith, ecc.) ask for the base materials from third player (which is thus indirectly involved in the RP) and craft the needed item. The RP goes on...

Of course a player may create a *fake* item and skip the crafting process, I'm perfectly fine with that but the first case shows a possible use of the game mechanics in a RP.

An area of development that i would like to see is a set of tools for players to use to run an RP. In table top RPGs, you have players who are DMs and players who are PCs. They both must follow the same set of mechanics, but their roles are completely different. In PS, we only have the PC role to work with. Some players are capable of running RPs through the PC role well enough, but we could really use more tools towards this end.

About this I must say there are several very cool GM only or quest only items that may enhance the RP experience. An example can be a simple "bag of tria" (which is actually worth nothing) but left next to a corpse may suggest the murder was done for reasons other than robbing.
When setting up events I think the GM team can help the player to set it up. I heard in some cases the GM gave the players a temporary low GM level access to allow them to set up things themselves.

[Zalya]

The GM player thing has been talked about a lot. I personally support the idea, but with great power comes great responsibility and has the potential to be abused. Of course so do other things in Planeshift. As far as game mechanics and RP go, right now there is a compleate disconnect. Right now, I just can't train. I don't like grinding, and a game should be more fun then a chore. On the same note, if the leveling bell curve was easier, I would be more likely to train more often.

Also, when I create new characters, I don't want to have to go through the process again before I can effectively use him/her/kra in an RP. Maybe character Generation should be more like the Mongoose Traveler system, where characters being created can get more skills, but in turn they get older, and risk starting with lower. I'm not sure if it would fit, but its a thought.

My all time favorite pen and paper RPG system is the Cortex system, with is the one they use in the Serenity Roleplaying game (Yeah, it exists and its awesome.). But like most pen and paper systems, it would not translate well to an MMO.

[Eonwind]

The GM player thing has been talked about a lot. I personally support the idea, but with great power comes great responsibility and has the potential to be abused.

As soon as the player which was temporarily granted GM commands misuse his powers the GM can throw the permission away from him and punish (ban) him.

[Aramara Meibi]

The GM player thing has been talked about a lot. I personally support the idea, but with great power comes great responsibility and has the potential to be abused.

As soon as the player which was temporarily granted GM commands misuse his powers the GM can throw the permission away from him and punish (ban) him.

or... players are free to choose which RPs they participate in. If someone has proven themselves to be respectful, responsible, mature, then more people are going to choose to RP with that person. If someone proves that they misuse the system and altogether hinder the enjoyability of the game for others, no one will partake.

the idea of aging characters at creation dependent of their beginning skill level is an awesome idea. i love it.

i'm not sure if i can fully understand the argument that a pen and paper system does not translate well to an MMO. Those players who RP taking turns, elaborating on their characters actions, already RP in a pen and paper fashion. The mechanics as is don't support it, but mechanics that do can be developed. In fact, MUDs and MUSHs utilize such systems. Roguelikes combat and crafting systems are also translatable.

[Eonwind]

The GM player thing has been talked about a lot. I personally support the idea, but with great power comes great responsibility and has the potential to be abused.

As soon as the player which was temporarily granted GM commands misuse his powers the GM can throw the permission away from him and punish (ban) him.

or... players are free to choose which RPs they participate in. If someone has proven themselves to be respectful, responsible, mature, then more people are going to choose to RP with that person. If someone proves that they misuse the system and altogether hinder the enjoyability of the game for others, no one will partake.

abuse of GM commands has nothing to do with RP and godmodding it's different matter

[zanzibar]

That's definitely interesting. 

I think my biggest complaint about planeshift is that people see RP as something totally separate from the game mechanics.  I would love to see these two meld together better.  The mechanics should encourage roleplay, for example by having stuff to do as a group and forcing/encouraging players to interact with one another to accomplish goals.

For sure, people come here looking for a free platform to do the things they want to do. And it often ends up being different from the environment which has been made for them. This is probably true for anything that has sandbox mechanics though.

[Zalya]

i'm not sure if i can fully understand the argument that a pen and paper system does not translate well to an MMO. Those players who RP taking turns, elaborating on their characters actions, already RP in a pen and paper fashion. The mechanics as is don't support it, but mechanics that do can be developed. In fact, MUDs and MUSHs utilize such systems. Roguelikes combat and crafting systems are also translatable.

Well there are mechanics like that, but one of the things that makes pen and paper rpgs fun, is that the charicters are the main charicters. NPCs are not real people, but they react like they are. While in Planeshift, not everybody can be the main character all the time. And a lot of the people who would be NPCs in a given story, would be played by an actual person. It is very possible to use pen and paper style mechanics in RP, but when you start to use that in solo combat, then it can get difficult. Sure its possible, and I would love to see it, but it would take some work.