First of all, a big \"Hello\" to those I have not seen since the last time I posted. Something like half a year, I think? Surprised to see me here? I know I am, I thought I would never come back to this place. But that discussion is for another thread.
Anyway, leaving that aside, and going straight to the point of the issue. I wish to ask the staff one simple question (and then I will ramble non-stop for a while, you have been warned):
What will be done to encourage the RolePlaying aspect of PlaneShift?
First of all, allow me to state a few obvious facts here.
PlaneShift is (or will be, if you want to get technical about it) an MMORPG. Most of us in contact with internet and computers by now are acquainted with this label. Not many realise, though, that most games that are categorised this way are not in reality MMORPG\'s per se. \"Why do you, oh you strange little man, claim such thing?\" Let me clarify!
MMORPG means \"Massive Multi-player Online RolePlaying Game\". Following? Good!
Massive Multi-Player means that it involves a vast amount of players to interact in real time in the same virtual area. We are not talking about the 16-player First Person Shooter Multiplayer option, we are speaking of hundreds of players online at the same time, obviously.
Online is pretty obvious and self-explainatory. You need Internet to access the game.
So far, so good. But here comes the tricky part. what does RPG mean? It means, and let me highlight it, underline it and put it in italics: RolePlaying Game
Alright, I caught someone\'s attention, hopefully, by making it stand out that way. Will PlaneShift be a RolePlaying game? That is what I wish to know!
But before we jump to that, we have to know, what is RolePlaying? RolePlaying is the act of empathising with your character\'s life. Your character is a persona created entirely (or mostly, at least) by your imagination. It is, obviously, not -you-. So, via this incredible concept of RolePlaying, you assume control of this character, and being his puppet master, you decide what he/she says, thinks, does and which path he/she takes.
Simple, neh? Only in theory. Coherent and cohesive RolePlaying is actually very hard to pull off. Let us take a game, for example. Many of us know of it, but I will not give its name. Now, I have not played in the p2p servers, neither I intend to, but allow me to picture you a scene of the beta testing stages of the game:
*** With the magic of imagination, we will fly to the virtual world of this game we shall call from now on \"Peanut\".
Your character was created and spawned in some altar with a strange symbol on the stone ground. You were literally in your undies, with only a dagger in hand. Now, you would see dozens of people spawning like this everyday, all of them walking past by you without uttering a word.
The directions to the north and west are blocked by some buildings, which you cannot enter, by the way. So you wander towards the southeast, into some plains where some slimes incessantly spawn and creep towards everyone nearby. There, you would find your way to initiate your survival training: Endlessly slaughter ponds of violent gooey stuff.
You will also find several warrior wannabe\'s doing the same, mumbling nonsensical statements such as \"Lol!!1!1!!\"; \"a/s/l?\"; and \"u sux!\". A language which I found intriguing and lacking the finesse of true English, to be honest, but that you soon will picke up by ear. After some monster bashing, I found myself in the city. I followed the map to the weaponsmith, which was crowded with clients.
More dramatic dialogue befell as I overheard some individuals exclaiming \"wanna buy 1 longswd +1 4 200 gp?\", which was responded with an equally confusing \"i dun have 200 gp. cmon, ill give u teh $ later, k? thx!!1!\"
*** Enough of that headache!
This game was -always- referred to as a MMORPG. Now, do you see where the game fails to fulfill the requirements for such a category? I will help you a bit...There is no RolePlaying whatsoever in any point of the gaming world!
Would your character speak that way? The dialogues -in game- reflect what the -players- want to say, when they should only contain the -character\'s- expressions, feelings, thoughts, experiences, and the like.
The conversations should not touch topics such as the Lakers vs. the Spurs, or how your Math teacher is such a pain in the back of your neck, or how you hate your 56k connection. No! NO! It is RolePlaying! Your characters would never had heard of any of that! They would speak about how frightening the increasing amount of monsters has become, or how he has been a mercenary for hire as a means to buy his food, or how he is weary about the latest orc raid.
Am I getting my point across here? Role Playing is like a theatre play (or a movie, if you despise Shakespeare so much...). Only that this play has no definite end, no strict script. You assume control of a character, and tell the story of his life in the game\'s world through your actions and speech.
That is what RolePlaying is all about. Telling a story. The story of your imaginary person.
I dread to see what those Hack and Slash games for the concept of RolePlaying. It all has come down to the point of levelling up and ostentating the rarest and most expensive items.
What has happened with the noble Knight that wished to uphold the values of Virtue and Honour among all things? What has happened with the Mage that would remain in the room of an inn studying the Art of Healing? Or the charismatic Bard that spread the word about the Knight\'s heroic deeds and the Mage\'s clever tactics?
You see nothing of that online. Not in graphic-based games, at least. Some text games are the only ones that have captured the esence of RolePlaying. In these games, you are ignored or, worse, banned, if you do not RolePlay. Why? Because those are games in which \"killin\' stuffs\" is not the main point, nor is PK, or PvP, or PvNPC.
Storytelling. One simple word.
Now, where have these MMORPGs failed? They give you a pretty game world with a lot of places to explore and visit. They give you a combat system to RolePlay the fighters and wizards, the rogues and bandits. They give you items, wound levels, skill advancement to show how the anonymous farmer rised and grew to become a Paladin in golden plate armour...But...
...But...the players choose not to take advantage of those features, and simply ignore the RolePlaying aspect of the game. The staff does not moderate the gaming world and hit the powerlevellers on the nose with a rolled newspaper, chiding \"Bad boy! Bad boy!\" with a severe tone of voice. We have a community than in general does not encourage and demands a RolePlaying atmosphere.
What to do about this? We obviously cannot kick every person that doesn\'t comply out of the game. It would be an exhausting and pointless tactic (although the staff is entitled to decide who plays and who does not. Moreso in a free game. When no monetary exchange is made, and the player who was banned or forbidden to play has not lost a penny, I believe the development team does not face a possibility of a lawsuit)
First of all, it would be in the TOS (Terms of Service), that the player is expected to RolePlay whenever he logs on and gains access to the IC grid (In Character), although he may leisure at will and converse about anything he likes in the OOC lounge (Out of Character area for taking a break).
For this we need IC and OOC sections. Mmmm...so...what else?
RP Administrators (RolePlay Administrators). These are staff members that dedicate their time to control the flow of the game, so that no abuse of a bug occurs, no player is harrassed, and that everything runs smoothly. They help new players and usually are quite learned in the game\'s general aspect.
We also have different \"speak\" functions. The ability to \"page\" another person to ask them a question, find out where his character is, and the like. Channels that would be used for spreading OOC information.
For example, the leader of the Peanut Guild would say in the Peanut Channel: \"I will be away for 2 weeks since I will visit my grandma so I will not be able to make it to this weekend\'s Guild Meeting. I will make an IC announcement, but keep your heads up!\"
But, and here is what I consider to be most important: The game must contain incentives, and catalysts to incite RolePlaying!
Let us say that character \"Woogie\" is a learned wise mage. He has been seen many times frequenting taverns, speaking about how wizardry should be controlled due to recent attacks by witches and evil sorcerers. He comments ideas about what the Octarchs could do in order to hunt down these evil doers.
Now, Woogie as a character could be an old geezer rambling on nonsensically, but Woogie\'s player is to be commended. He is contributing to make of Hydlaa a more believable world, more coherent, and cohesive. He is encouraging RolePlaying. How can we reward that?
Let me transcript you another scene, this time well RolePlayed, from a text based game I was playing the other day:
***
My character will be called M, his friend, a comrade belonging to the same army, will be called F. A lady nearby will be named S.
M and F met to have a drink at the tavern. There, lady S was sitting at a solitary table going through her letters. M and F drank some wine, laughed and talked about their pasts and their careers in the martial path. However, one of M\'s comments appeared to hurt F\'s feelings (Which does not mean than me, M\'s player, had an argument with F\'s player. We just RolePlayed it that way. See? The actors of Romeo and Juliette are not truly in love, it is the same thing!).
F demanded his satisfaction to be given by a duel. M stood up from the table, unwilling to face his fellow comrade in an encounter that could cause death, for a silly misunderstanding. Lady S spoke up and mentioned how M and F were being childish, incurring M\'s wrath, who told her to stay away. S refused to be commanded like that, and initiated an argument with M.
F continued firm in his idea of challenging M, so they both went outside the tavern and discussed things through, although S quickly followed. M and F ended up settling their differences with an apology from my character\'s side, and a handshake. But M\'s unkind words had, as a consequence, a fierce feud between him and S which appears will never end.
And the three players are enjoying the scenes enormously. Why? Because we are telling the story of how our characters have conflicts and differences, and struggle to remain strong.
***
So, how can we reward good RolePlaying?
First, players can do so with a pat in the back, done via page, that says \"Good scene, I enjoyed that!\". It is very satisfying for the player, let me assure you. Specially when everyone seems to have had a good time.
Staff can toss \'Hooks\' at the players. For example, an Octarch could send a letter to Woogie, explaining how his attention was drawn by his ideas, and offering to start a \'Circle of Wizards\', which would have Woogie as the leader. This \'Circle of Wizards\' would control all magical activities and the use of the six ways of magic in Hydlaa.
Want another similar example? Garith is a particularly strong and honourable Ynnwn. On several occasions, he was seen fending off muggers and assaulters that tried to harm defenseless denizens. He also aided Guards and Soldiers in their struggle against merciless hordes of monsters.
The Captain of the Yliakum Army could use some people like Garith, so he decides to approach him one day, and invite him to join the military force as a Lieutenant.
See the pattern? Reward characters, give them an interesting role to play that has been earned by their actions.
----
I will stop my train of thought right here as this post is undoubtedly long enough for all of you readers. If you managed to go through it without falling asleep, you have my appreciation. And a hug too!
I warn you, though, I could go on like this for pages and pages, but I am afraid I am hitting the 12345 characters per post limit...
Post your comments, speak up!
And Happy RolePlaying!
- Golbez
