Now that Roleplay has become a dirty word...

[AlienEyeTX]

OP, I know what you're saying and I get it. I'm not sure what life is like on an RP server in this game, but I hope people respect it there. I'd like to know, as I would consider transferring once that service is available. In the meantime, I don't really expect people to RP much on the PVE servers. Those are basically there for playing the game, not RPing.

[branmakmuffin]

OP, I know what you're saying and I get it. I'm not sure what life is like on an RP server in this game, but I hope people respect it there. I'd like to know, as I would consider transferring once that service is available. In the meantime, I don't really expect people to RP much on the PVE servers. Those are basically there for playing the game, not RPing.

For an RPer, RPing is "playing the game."

[AlaricSevGirl]

For an RPer, RPing is "playing the game."

 

Exactly.

[DarthTHC]

Pretend to be a Roman.

 

 

I find many RPers to be rather self-centered. They are only to happy to regale others with tales of their character's mightiness, but are not very interested in listening to others. Also, too many players insist their characters are the pre-load of Anakin Skywalker (or some similarly hyper-powerful person). Sure, our characters are not scrubs, but they can't all be the saviors of the galaxy, either.

 

The galaxy is a pretty f'd up place. Much saving is required!

 

But when I see people tying their characters' stories into lore, I tend to view them as too lazy to be bothered with trying. Get creative! Do something different! Blaze a new trail!

 

Definitely agree with the self-centeredness being a frequent thing. That and my disdain for most tavern RP sort of turn me off the whole scene in this game and most MMORPG's.

Edited May 22, 2013 by DarthTHC

[branmakmuffin]

The galaxy is a pretty f'd up place. Much saving is required!

 

But when I see people tying their characters' stories into lore, I tend to view them as too lazy to be bothered with trying. Get creative! Do something different! Blaze a new trail!

 

Definitely agree with the self-centeredness being a frequent thing. That and my disdain for most tavern RP sort of turn me off the whole scene in this game and most MMORPG's.

You are evil for quoting my "to/too" mix-up.

 

I have encountered very few what I consider truly creative RPers in my life, playing PnP and online RPGs. Like you, I prefer no RP to tavern RP (and that's just me and others are free to say it's my loss).

[Darka]

AS someone who plays on a RP based server, for 90% of the time it does not feel like an RP server.

Most of the RP guilds that set up in specific cities are gone, those guilds who do RP do so exclusively with themselves. 99% of the chat/general interaction seems to be out of character,

With the General Chat feature being so prominent I find it pushes the need for public/random RP away.

Sure there are places like fleet cantina where you can find a RP drink, but even Shaddaa seems dead now days.

 

For the most part i feel there is no interest in greater RP experience for many on an RP server

[CrazyOldMystic]

In swg the community I belonged to pushed the envelope of rp, and there by created some very interesting legends, thats right legends. The problem is swtor is not a rpg, it is a mmo period. On worlds where there should be cross faction interaction, like tatooine, there is not. Thats just one small example I am sure others as well myself could go on a bit longer. Good rp requires a good setting, but nearly every setting in this game is choked by hostile npcs, or regular npcs. There are some good phased areas, but those are only usable once for a mission. The other problem to be blunt is Kotor one and two. I have yet to come across any rp that is out of the ordinary. I was waiting on my pvp qu to pop and a person was rping. He was rping about seeing revan. I thought to myself wow could you be any more plain.

 

The best rp requires two sides interacting, and spontaneous action. While this game remains split, with virtually no interaction between the Empire and Republic. I do not see how rp will enter into this game. Hell at least in swg you could kill someone in a duel, you cant even do that here. Dont get me wrong if the Republic guild could say, have a sith guild land on Tython, that we could spin into some seriously fun rp, with some combat at the end. We cant even do that. Even in the pvp zones, they have been turned free for all, so its no longer republic vrs Empire. You cant very well use them either. One thing after another. Scripted is all and good but gets extremely bland, extremely fast.

[ScarletBlaze]

Some of the problems I see is some people can't understand why someone would want to roleplay. To them it doesn't make sense. When you tried to tell them it is fun they look at you like you are nuts or they call you names. I try to tell people like that we don't expect you to like or even roleplay but what we would like is to be able to play the game our way. We are no different than pvp players wanting to play their way or pve players playing their way but for some reason they can't understand this.

 

If you don't like it then okay but that doesn't give you the right to be rude and childish. I think if people would back off and let the roleplayers alone you may find more of it. But the reason a lot of us retreat back to roleplaying with friends and guilds is so we dont' have to deal with people who want to be rude and insensitive.

 

The most fun I have is when my guild is doing flashpoints and we rp off and on in there. Sure it may take us a bit longer but we are having fun.

 

What is the point of a game if you can't have fun and what is fun for one person may not be fun for another. If you don't like something fine but why try to ruin the fun for someone else just because .

Edited May 22, 2013 by ScarletBlaze

[Darth_Lahey]

They need to create an RP server where the rules are actually enforced.

[TUXs]

Very interesting post.

 

I'm not a good RPer. Only ever tried it in SWG where I was lambasted by a guy for not "doing it correctly". Since that day, I realized it was an aspect of gaming I simply didn't want to be a part of. I don't treat others poorly for doing poor in PvP or not knowing an Ops...I couldn't believe I was treated poorly for not using my chat bubbles correctly while visiting him...I didn't understand it, he didn't suffer a death, a loss of time or even decay from my mistake, but he made it perfectly clear what he thought of me.

 

The story could be quite similar for anyone who is PvPing or doing an Ops for the 1st time, which is why I always try to be extremely accepting of good and bad play in either, but I know that's not always the case with other people - when I see intolerance, I always try to stand up for the recipient of it....it takes all of us to make a difference.

 

As far as my take on it - RPer, PvPer, PvEer or Crafter...I know you'll try other aspect of the game eventually, and when you do, I hope it's a new and enjoyable experience for you. We're all equals.

[DamionSchubert]

They need to create an RP server where the rules are actually enforced.

 

It's pretty hard to 'enforce' roleplaying because the definition of what is acceptable roleplaying varies wildly from player to player. Some guilds want full-on roleplaying in all chat channels, others prefer just say. Some are okay with anachronisms, whereas others want you to stay strictly within the lore. Some are very picky about names. Others less so.

 

Some people mentioned that most hardcore roleplayers tend to stick with themselves. To be honest, in a large-scale MMO like SWTOR, finding subcommunities like this is the best solution. This allows you to find other players who defines roleplaying the same way that you do. So I heartily recommend that players who have this interest research roleplaying guilds on their server. Be warned, some of them have pretty stringent entry requirements to get in -- I had to write an essay about my character to join one last year...

[TheBBP]

It's pretty hard to 'enforce' roleplaying because the definition of what is acceptable roleplaying varies wildly from player to player. Some guilds want full-on roleplaying in all chat channels, others prefer just say. Some are okay with anachronisms, whereas others want you to stay strictly within the lore. Some are very picky about names. Others less so.

 

Thanks for stepping in. Being picky isn't even the issue. It is that folks roll up on RP servers with names that include many various ways to call themselves Obi-Wan or Annakin etc... And then you have the types that clearly appear to actively disrupt the process. Names that clearly refer to everything from drug use to oral sex. Many times these names are reported and more often than not are never forced to change. It still baffles me as to why these people will roll on an RP server anyways.

 

In a nod to at least respect the RP community, there should be measures in place to at minimum require folks to adhere to naming standards.

Edited May 22, 2013 by TheBBP

[OddballEasyEight]

Thanks for stepping in. Being picky isn't even the issue. It is that folks roll up on RP servers with names that include many various ways to call themselves Obi-Wan or Annakin etc... And then you have the types that clearly appear to actively disrupt the process. Names that clearly refer to everything from drug use to oral sex. Many times these names are reported and more often than not are never forced to change. It still baffles me as to why these people will roll on an RP server anyways.

 

In a nod to at least respect the RP community, there should be measures in place to at minimum require folks to adhere to naming standards.

 

This.

 

And also being able to report someone for disrupting roleplaying or berating roleplayers on a roleplay server at least.

[CosmicKat]

It's pretty hard to 'enforce' roleplaying because the definition of what is acceptable roleplaying varies wildly from player to player. Some guilds want full-on roleplaying in all chat channels, others prefer just say. Some are okay with anachronisms, whereas others want you to stay strictly within the lore. Some are very picky about names. Others less so.

 

Some people mentioned that most hardcore roleplayers tend to stick with themselves. To be honest, in a large-scale MMO like SWTOR, finding subcommunities like this is the best solution. This allows you to find other players who defines roleplaying the same way that you do. So I heartily recommend that players who have this interest research roleplaying guilds on their server. Be warned, some of them have pretty stringent entry requirements to get in -- I had to write an essay about my character to join one last year...

 

It's not hard to enforce roleplaying, it's impossible.

 

Facilitating it though is another matter.

 

Having played and role played in MMORPG's since before that term even existed, I can tell you the biggest impediment to spontaneous roleplay in TOR is the ginormously ridiculous range of /say and /emote. The practical headaches it causes with horrible spam in "role play areas" is obvious. The less obvious problem is that the vast majority of RPers I have ever met do not want everything they say or emote to be seen by everyone within a virtual 50m radius, and they certainly don't want to see everything everyone else is saying or emoting within 50m of them. Shrink the range by half and RP would improve immensely.

 

After that you can work on environmental interaction like chair sitting, enforcing naming policies, chat bubbles, allowing cross faction whispers, character descriptions, and all the other issues that RPers have been pleading and begging for since launch. But fix the crazy /say range and the RP would improve immensely. We have a /shout command, why do we need /say to travel so far?

[Inflicktion]

Some people mentioned that most hardcore roleplayers tend to stick with themselves. To be honest, in a large-scale MMO like SWTOR, finding subcommunities like this is the best solution. This allows you to find other players who defines roleplaying the same way that you do. So I heartily recommend that players who have this interest research roleplaying guilds on their server. Be warned, some of them have pretty stringent entry requirements to get in -- I had to write an essay about my character to join one last year...

 

Did you even read the OP? These exact suggestions are what we're talking about being so detrimental to the RP community. Like someone else said, it's not about enforcing RP; it's about facilitating it. Those people who go and RP in their own little corners are just as much of the problem as the people trying to dictate the RP of others. All we need is the tools to RP.

 

It's sad because before BW destroyed the RP community by merging the wrong servers and giving us the finger content-wise this was actually one of the better RP communities.

[Artanisia]

The problem is not the different opinions about what roleplaying is. The problem is that nothing is done to protect roleplayers from griefing. Naming policies are not enforced, reporting names that break the naming policy has no effect. Players that willfully disrupt the roleplay of others get away with it, we get called names, get ridiculed on "our" own server and NOTHING is done about it. Roleplayers face an increasingly hostile environment when they log into the ROLEPLAYING servers. Is it any wonder that we retreat into private channels? But this is NOT a solution. Self-seggregation will kill roleplay, because new roleplayers who roll on the servers won't be able to see the roleplay any more, thingk the server is dead, and move to somewhere else. We will lose fresh roleplaying partners if we segregate ourselves.

 

Oh, and we still don't have speechbubbles, just saying...

[SithKoriandr]

Other than the stream of abuse that generally follows, I never understood this.

 

If someone wants to say "I need help removing Republic Scum" as a call to PvP on Tattoine or "I've grown more powerful in the Force" rather than "DING!", why is this unacceptable? It is more acceptable to get into stupid trash-talk conversations pertaining to other peoples' mothers, or talk about Chuck Norris? Come on!

 

If there are no rules pertaining to General, THERE ARE NO RULES. That includes whether to speak in character, or talk like a fool.

 

Because maybe it makes no sense? General chat goes over the whole planet. Yeah, use the force to shout across the planet

 

Comm fails, because when have you ever seen characters in SW lore holding conversations world wide?

[CosmicKat]

Because maybe it makes no sense? General chat goes over the whole planet. Yeah, use the force to shout across the planet

 

Comm fails, because when have you ever seen characters in SW lore holding conversations world wide?

 

The more people try to dictate when and where to role play, the less role play you will have.

 

Back in the days of EQ, there were no RP servers because it was a role playing game (duh), and almost everybody role played to some degree or another all the time. Now people just argue about what is and isn't role play.

[SithKoriandr]

It's sad because before BW destroyed the RP community by merging the wrong servers and giving us the finger content-wise this was actually one of the better RP communities.

 

Really? I find it to be on par with most other MMO RP communities, and by that, I mean, suckie.

 

Roll up a Sith, but no, it's not really a Sith, it's a Jedi.

 

Roll up a Jedi, but no, it's not really a Jedi, it's a Sith.

 

Do that, and then go about publicly saying it, and then expecting no one to react to it, or really be able to react to it at all.

 

Or how about how everyone goes about dressing in slave gear and being expected to be taken seriously. "I'm a slave! I'm also a slave who is so powerful and deadly! But you know, can't break away from it at all."

 

Or those RPers who like to use names like "Darth LadyHelen" or "Papa Smurf"

 

Let's not forget the 4chan style RPs or the people who mix in character with out of character and back to the ERPers.

 

Oh! How about that Drow Maruader! *facepalm*

 

There are many reasons RP fails in TOR, and it's not because of a lack of chat bubbles (which are nice), sitting in chair emotes (which are also nice), it's because the general RP community of TOR comes out feeling like a joke.

 

This isn't to say I haven't found good RP in TOR, but CoH, TOR is not.

[Aries_cz]

To be honest, the problem with RP was, are and always will be, people.

You cannot "force" someone to RP the way you want, as there is a huge number of "levels" or RP. You have to find a group that thinks alike, and RP with them.

 

I do not personally play on RP server, as think PvP environment gives out the feeling of cold war with border skirmishes etc., and I classify myself as the "lite RP-er", with relatively normal name (bit worse now because I was forced to add an apostrophe to it after merges), trying to use /say and /emote when I meet someone waiting for Jawa balloon (for example), trying a bit to stay in character (outside of General Chat, which I feel is not a place for RP on non-RP server)...

 

However, some increased dev attention to Reports on names, harassment etc coming from RP servers would be awesome for you guys.

[DarthDak]

They need to create an RP server where the rules are actually enforced.

 

Yes.

 

However, they first need to establish what the rules should be in the first place, and then enforce them. Since you can't force people to role-play, the rules should probably cover the things that are possible.

 

Two personal suggestions for the RP servers, that I think would go a very long way:

 

1. Enforce reasonable character names. No xXx nonsense, or obvious in-your-face word-play. Most morons rolling on RP servers (instead of PvE or even PvP) simply for teh lulz would get caught here, since they (as far as I can tell) lack the intelligence to come up with reasonable names in the first place. (No, I don't have a lot of respect for the mental faculties of ***-hats. If I offend any ***-hats by saying so, I couldn't care less.)

 

2. Enforce strict rules against abuse and (obvious) offensive nonsense in general chat, with actual consequences. This would catch those who get through the above filter, since they simply can not resist acting out their infantile nonsense in general chat. It's only a matter of time until they do, and then they get one warning. Next verified offense, and their entire account is off the server.

 

That's it. Quite possible to handle, I'd say.

 

What would remain, over time, are those who care enough about the names of their characters, and don't feel the need to be ***-hats in general chat. In short, the people who should be on an RP server in the first place, even if they don't actively role-play, since they at the very least have the capacity to coexist peacefully with those who do.

 

The less remaining ***-hats, the easier to discover and deal with any new ones, as well, so the burden for Bioware won't actually increase over time, but rather the opposite. As soon as would-be ***-hats realize that their accounts will actually suffer if they continue rolling and acting out on an RP server, they will have a very real reason to stop.

 

Those who then want to actively role-play, do so, and everyone else simply coexist.

 

It doesn't have to be any more difficult than that, to start with.

 

(Then there most definitely are a host of things on the technical side that would further facilitate role-play, such as shorter ranges for /say and /emote, the ability to sit down on more things, and loads of other stuff that can be considered and implemented over time.)

[SithKoriandr]

The more people try to dictate when and where to role play, the less role play you will have.

 

Possibly true, but it still stops things from making sense.

 

As an RPer, I know I hate it when people RP the ding of a level up. It doesn't fit at all with what I've seen in the movies or read in the books. They're RPing game mechanics.

 

Also, it is RP, something you use your imagination for, so one can easily RP without the use of emotes, so no need for dance emotes or chair sitting emotes, that RPers say they can't live without

[zzoorrzz]

There's no fixing it. Roleplayers over the age of 16 are f*%*ing weird. Every time I walk into my comic book shop which also doubles as the local gaming store, its all the most hardcore nerds and geeks that have no life outside of that store and/or the computer. When I see a roleplayer in Swtor I think of those Local Gaming Store losers. I think most people do too.

 

And what exactly is the problem? I didnt get it from your post.

 

To me, it seems more weird to think about whos behind the keybord when I play mmo. Who cares?

[TheBBP]

I would be content if there were just some enforced naming policies. It would be a great start. As for forcing people into RP or making rules that would punish folks for being out-of-character, that is a bad idea. I know that personally, 8-9 times out of 10 that I log in that I have absolutely zero desire to RP. I just wanna go on about my game. However, I do my best to respect the process for other people.

[CosmicKat]

There's no fixing it. Roleplayers over the age of 16 are f*%*ing weird. Every time I walk into my comic book shop which also doubles as the local gaming store, its all the most hardcore nerds and geeks that have no life outside of that store and/or the computer. When I see a roleplayer in Swtor I think of those Local Gaming Store losers. I think most people do too.

 

You are a subscriber to a Star Wars online game who goes to comic book shops and you are criticizing RP nerds? Buy a dictionary. Look up irony.