Post by Morreion on Jan 14, 2011 9:24:45 GMT -5
Community Spotlight: Do You Still Roleplay? (MMORPG.com)
On the MMORPG.com forum, Suilebhain of DAoC Hibernia Nimue RP fame comments:
I recall the good old days of DAOC where, on the roleplay servers, nearly everyone roleplayed to some degree, even if it was just to say "Hail". Almost never did I encounter people who would approach my elf with their lurikeen and say "whatup dude?" Later, SWG provided a similar, even expanded immersive experience, as player cities became hubs of roleplay activity where you could wander into a cantina and find people ready, willing and able to engage in improvisational roleplay nearly any time of the day or night.
Now, though, finding anything resembling a roleplay community that approaches that of Albion/Percival or the entire Nimue server is like finding hen's teeth. Not even on roleplay servers in alleged MMORPGS do people roleplay. I know this all started with WOW and the absurd and infamous Barrens Chat, but it has speard and now nowhere provides a welcoming place for people who prefer a greater level of immersion.
My most recent escapade came about in Runes of Magic. F2P games attract the most casual of players, but on the unofficial RP server there were only a few guilds and no casual roleplay that I could find. The folks in the guilds seemed like nice enough people, but the majority of their interaction was spent in an OOC channel labeled RP, which really was just a sign to those seeking others who enjoyed RP rather than providing any true outlet. There were little to no in-game opportunities to roleplay, as there was back in DAOC and SWG.
So, is it time to drop the RPG from MMORPG and just call it MMO.Com? Do people even value random roleplay ex periences or is it all about gear/level acquisition (AKA Achievement), raiding, and PvP?
He makes a good point.
MikeB responds:
...MMOs on the other hand, a lot of their potential for RP depends on how much the developers value that sort of gameplay. A lot of the RP is dependent on the tools provided to the player as MMOs are entirely visual. Sure you can just stand there lifelessly and emote, but it really takes you out of the experience. With MUDs, you didn't have to worry about that...
...When I first started playing MMOs all I really wanted to do was replicate my MUDding RP experiences in them, but I found it was nigh impossible to do this and I must admit I've pretty much given up on the idea. I'm older now and honestly most of the RP I've found was not really that good anyways (with a few exceptions, shout out to the Mos Eisley community on Europe-Chimaera from way back!) and now I focus more on PvP gameplay.
Speaking for myself, I am more of a casual RPer now. If I run across it, I'm much more likely to RP. I'd describe my typical style as being more in-character (avoiding OOC) more than RP. Get me together with some RPers however, and I'll happily RP.
On the MMORPG.com forum, Suilebhain of DAoC Hibernia Nimue RP fame comments:
I recall the good old days of DAOC where, on the roleplay servers, nearly everyone roleplayed to some degree, even if it was just to say "Hail". Almost never did I encounter people who would approach my elf with their lurikeen and say "whatup dude?" Later, SWG provided a similar, even expanded immersive experience, as player cities became hubs of roleplay activity where you could wander into a cantina and find people ready, willing and able to engage in improvisational roleplay nearly any time of the day or night.
Now, though, finding anything resembling a roleplay community that approaches that of Albion/Percival or the entire Nimue server is like finding hen's teeth. Not even on roleplay servers in alleged MMORPGS do people roleplay. I know this all started with WOW and the absurd and infamous Barrens Chat, but it has speard and now nowhere provides a welcoming place for people who prefer a greater level of immersion.
My most recent escapade came about in Runes of Magic. F2P games attract the most casual of players, but on the unofficial RP server there were only a few guilds and no casual roleplay that I could find. The folks in the guilds seemed like nice enough people, but the majority of their interaction was spent in an OOC channel labeled RP, which really was just a sign to those seeking others who enjoyed RP rather than providing any true outlet. There were little to no in-game opportunities to roleplay, as there was back in DAOC and SWG.
So, is it time to drop the RPG from MMORPG and just call it MMO.Com? Do people even value random roleplay ex periences or is it all about gear/level acquisition (AKA Achievement), raiding, and PvP?
He makes a good point.
MikeB responds:
...MMOs on the other hand, a lot of their potential for RP depends on how much the developers value that sort of gameplay. A lot of the RP is dependent on the tools provided to the player as MMOs are entirely visual. Sure you can just stand there lifelessly and emote, but it really takes you out of the experience. With MUDs, you didn't have to worry about that...
...When I first started playing MMOs all I really wanted to do was replicate my MUDding RP experiences in them, but I found it was nigh impossible to do this and I must admit I've pretty much given up on the idea. I'm older now and honestly most of the RP I've found was not really that good anyways (with a few exceptions, shout out to the Mos Eisley community on Europe-Chimaera from way back!) and now I focus more on PvP gameplay.
Speaking for myself, I am more of a casual RPer now. If I run across it, I'm much more likely to RP. I'd describe my typical style as being more in-character (avoiding OOC) more than RP. Get me together with some RPers however, and I'll happily RP.
That's sort of my own definition of 'RP-lite', not engaging in OOC behavior in public chat, but not necessarily roleplaying in the sense of pursuing storylines or having interactive scenes or even having embellished conversations. In other words, I'm myself in-game, but I avoid any OOC public utterances.