Inzuher Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) The Roleplaying Community needs more information So... We are fast forwarding a couple of years. My main question is how long. And do not be mistaken, knowing the answer to this question means the world to the RP-community (I speak as a guild leader who is much in contact with other RP-guilds, and we are all very concerned.) I realise that to most people, this doesn't seem like a big deal but to us roleplayers it is an earth-shattering prospect. Now it is my experience that most people don't understand what MMO-roleplaying truly entails so allow me to elaborate shortly: It is not to immerse yourself in the in-game activities you preform nor to immerse yourself in the story provided by the game. The roleplaying community, does not RP when we do operations, farm conquest or the likes, because those things are strictly Out of Character (OOC) activities. What roleplaying does mean, is to create a character within the provided setting of the game, create a background story and interact with other characters within the game. Over the years this game as been out, the creative roleplaying community has created several unique RP-guilds with their own characters, storylines and background stories. So now the setting is being fast forwarded for X amount of years... What happens to the character some of us has spend three years developing and the RP-guilds? Fast forwarding is not a simple process, as RP-characters are engaged in relations to other characters and what of the character progression occurring over this time? Ultimately, my message is this: We need more information to prepare our guilds and characters for this very disturbing time forwarding. Please, please provide us with more information in term of how long we are talking about and some lore about the setting we are entering. Perhaps you could release a second encyclopaedia, explaining what is going on. I promise you, a lot of us would buy it, if only to figure out how to fit in our characters and guilds. Edited June 16, 2015 by Inzuher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NUTMANIAC Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Well guess you'll just have wait for some time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inzuher Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) Easy for you to say. I'm going to take a gues and say that you're not a roleplayer, and thus you don't face the issue of having to figure out how to fit in this disruptive time fowarding and how it affects your character, your guild and so on. These are some seriously huge changes and it is going to be a pain to figure out how to deal with it... Let me try to put down a simple analogy: Imagine Bioware decided to remove all your operation or pvp progression, raid your stronghold for decorations or something along those lines. I'm under no illusion that my concern will change anything, even If I'm very disappointed with Bioware for doing this. I however hope to make them notice this factor, which I doubt they have even considered as non on their team seem to have the slightest idea of what RP entails. However, if they do notice the concerns of the general RP Community, one can always hope they will release some elaborate lore information before the expansion is released, so that the RP community has a bit of time to prepare. Edited June 16, 2015 by Inzuher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlackvale Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 This. I made this thread (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=817732) to answer that same question. Please answer this question for us, Bioware! We're begging you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshlaBoga Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Probably 5-10 years. Otherwise our companions would be too old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnids Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I definitely second that this information is critical to RPers as a whole. 5-10 years can be a massive change for a character, and people will need time to figure out how they're going to evolve/change their character over that time. Not to mention, with no Empire/Republic, many guilds will be obsolete or will have to undergo significant restructuring. On my server (Ebon Hawk) there are a lot of guilds focused around the Imperial/Republic military, so I don't even know how they're going to adapt to the new story changes. Will they just become independent mercenaries? Disband entirely? Change their theme? Become the last resistance of a dead government? I'm personally not hugely affected by the change since I RP mainly Synthetic/droid characters (who don't age), and co-lead a neutral technology company-themed guild (which means we're still neutral after the war), but I know it's a massive deal for the rest of the community. I mean, even RP hubs like the Fleets will be out of the question or severely changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimasterjac Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I definitely second that this information is critical to RPers as a whole. 5-10 years can be a massive change for a character, and people will need time to figure out how they're going to evolve/change their character over that time. Not to mention, with no Empire/Republic, many guilds will be obsolete or will have to undergo significant restructuring. On my server (Ebon Hawk) there are a lot of guilds focused around the Imperial/Republic military, so I don't even know how they're going to adapt to the new story changes. Will they just become independent mercenaries? Disband entirely? Change their theme? Become the last resistance of a dead government? I'm personally not hugely affected by the change since I RP mainly Synthetic/droid characters (who don't age), and co-lead a neutral technology company-themed guild (which means we're still neutral after the war), but I know it's a massive deal for the rest of the community. I mean, even RP hubs like the Fleets will be out of the question or severely changed. I know I plan on going about the sort of resistance-y soldier route on my Trooper, since it's a simple enough transition, but can allow for a bit of development. Most of the Military guilds can do this, most of the Sith guilds can be remnants/underground, etc. I'm not concerned for guild stories, honestly. Only personal stories, but even that, I think, will be okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inzuher Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Hopefully yes. I just still hope they'll provide us with information as to the new setting in timely fashion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caylen Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 As you describe them, sounds like MMO-roleplayers are controlling, demanding, drama-mongers. Good thing you don't represent all of us as you pretend. I would also like answers to these questions, but I'll just ask nicely and not try to make it sound like an emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inzuher Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) Drama-mongers are we? Then how comes you never hear more from us? Rather that's because MMO-RPers are usual content as we create our own stories and content together as a community, and thus don't require a lot. And I don't think you quite grasp how big a deal a 5-10 years time gasp is for roleplayers. So when I make this sound like a big deal, maybe it is due to the fact that it is major inconvenience to many of us. Also due note, that none of us serious expect anything to change because this harms us, but we would appreciate some more information as soon as possible. Edited June 16, 2015 by Inzuher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlackvale Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Drama-mongers are we? Then how comes you never hear more from us? Rather that's because MMO-RPers are usual content as we create our own stories and content together as a community, and thus don't require a lot. And I don't think you quite grasp how big a deal a 5-10 years time gasp is for roleplayers. So when I make this sound like a big deal, maybe it is due to the fact that it is major inconvenience to many of us. Also due note, that none of us serious expect anything to change because this harms us, but we would appreciate some more information as soon as possible. Eyyyyy man, chill. I'd like to know as much as you do, but lets not get angry or frustrated. It'd just be nice to know so we could get moving on plot stuff! Bioware, if you're reading this, please drop us a hint! Some of us are going a bit stir crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inzuher Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Yeah, you're of course right. It's just annoying when people dismiss concerns as irrelevant because they don't understand them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caylen Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Yeah, you're of course right. It's just annoying when people dismiss concerns as irrelevant because they don't understand them. Which is a false characterization of my response. As a roleplayer myself, I am also interested in the same information you want. What I objective to is 1) Your supercilious tone, and 2) the way you presented yourself in your OP as a representative of other roleplayers (myself included). I'm critical of your tone because I think it makes the rest of us look bad; I'm not dismissing your concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varium Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I don't RP but even I want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inzuher Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Which is a false characterization of my response. As a roleplayer myself, I am also interested in the same information you want. What I objective to is 1) Your supercilious tone, and 2) the way you presented yourself in your OP as a representative of other roleplayers (myself included). I'm critical of your tone because I think it makes the rest of us look bad; I'm not dismissing your concerns. Well, in that case I apologies. My initial message might indeed some a bit supercilious as I was indeed frustrated and eager to get my point through to a crowd, that I had the general impression wouldn't understand nor care. As for using the prefix "we", I use that because I in fact do speak on behalf of alot of other people within my guild who has the exact same concerns. Furthermore, I have seen the same concerns reflected a lot of other places in our community since the release of the news. Finally, I think it is important to convey the message that there is a lot of roleplayers concerned with this, yourself included apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewGoldens Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Well, in that case I apologies. My initial message might indeed some a bit supercilious as I was indeed frustrated and eager to get my point through to a crowd, that I had the general impression wouldn't understand nor care. As for using the prefix "we", I use that because I in fact do speak on behalf of alot of other people within my guild who has the exact same concerns. Furthermore, I have seen the same concerns reflected a lot of other places in our community since the release of the news. Finally, I think it is important to convey the message that there is a lot of roleplayers concerned with this, yourself included apparently. We RPers, we always find a way. Give us a rock and a dead mouse, and we'll give you a narrative to get addicted to. As long as BioWare doesn't do a Call of Duty and say that the entire justification for the new story is "HERE ARE DEM GUNS, GO SHOOT DEM ROBOTS CUZ I GAVE YOU DEM GUNS TO SHOOT DEM ROBOTS WIT" (And they won't screw it up that bad) we should be fine. Granted stories will have to evolve and change. For many RPers (myself included) this change is exactly what we've all been needing - to shake things up a little for RPers who's stories have been stagnating. The time gap leaves questions and plot holes, but it gives RPers creative ways and opportunities to fill those plot holes. If anything, this change gives us more story-creating options not less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthZin Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I think alot of people are thinking this digital expansion will make something along the lines of what Cataclysm did to WoW which completely changed the landscape of the world. And while that may be possible here with Knights of the Fallen Empire, it's not looking like that sort of change otherwise it would have been advertised as such with clear examples not just sentences on a little text box, cause that sort of change is a massive one that can be used for marketing means. I think the actual game world of TOR will remain the same, like we will remain with Vaiken Spacedock and the Republic counter parts for fleets as well as all the planets blah blah blah, nothing would actually change and if im not mistaken they would play it out just like they did in Shadow of Revan, keeping it to flashpoints and stuff for just that, to ensure that the players can still play out the original layout of the galaxy TOR came with. That being the case, as an RPer this shouldn't be a concern cause you will still be able to play out in the original world and you don't have to conform your guild's story to the current TOR story. For all intents and purposes you can still play out in the pre KoTFE timeline since the world would look just like it would do before KoTFE. Not only that, I imagine they would give background stories and explanations of the Zakuul empire when KoTFE launches which will help you position your character and guild's story into the new timeline. One of the great things about Roleplaying is that you are in control of what you want to play out. You are not forced to jump timelines at any point in time, I for one have played out countless RPs at previous timelines in TOR for example before the Hutt Cartel incidents (vanilla TOR) and somewhere in between even when at that point in time TOR was going through Shadow of Revan. In the end, it's your story and you decide how to play it through, not Bioware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caylen Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We RPers, we always find a way. Give us a rock and a dead mouse, and we'll give you a narrative to get addicted to. Thanks for this. This is my attitude as well. Reasonable knowledge of the fictional world in which we play is important to assuming a role in it, but we don't need months of heads up to have fun. BioWare will assuredly release more info as time goes on leading up to the big release. I don't think we need to shout and howl; I think it's safe to assume it's coming. By the time the new expac comes out, I expect I'll already have started imagining what my characters have been up to in the interim. I'm interested and curious---even eager---but not alarmed, or desperate. Not knowing < 24 hours after the initial announcement is not an emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerak Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 This is a major point for all RPers, I think, and should be answered asap. People will want to plan out what has happened to their characters in the space between, and decide how to go about it. Deserves a bump up until Bioware comments. Most guilds and characters will presumably not be frozen in carbonite, and need to plan ahead with that in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iDraxter Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 because u`ll be frozen u will look the same as nothing has happened, heck you could also not even do the new story and lvl to 65 just killing mobs no1 is forcing u to break ur own RP by including the games story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yermog Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I honestly would worry too much about this. I also RP with a friend. So we're also concerned, but consider this: Bioware knows how important our companions are to us. They know how important storyline is to us. There is no doubt in my mind that they know how badly players would take it if they froze us for 10+ years only to wake up and find everyone gone. However, also consider this from an actual war standpoint- the Imperial and Republic fleets are both on the verge of collapse by the end of the Ziost campaign. The Republic is depleted and the Empire is overextended. At that time, the Zakuul Empire invades and finds little to stop them. Shortly after they arrive, it is implied that the PC is frozen, but the war is still going on when they wake up. This means that it can't have been any longer than a few years (3 I'm betting), because they have said that the fleets are in dire shape, but not yet defeated. If it were 10 years, the Zakuul would have wiped the Empire and Republic off the face of the map, which would make trying to bring the two groups back futile. I'd say that it would be a safe bet to plan on anything between 2 to 5 years. 10 is too much and 1 is too little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourherohunter Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) An article published today seems to strongly indicate 5 years, and while it isn't directly quoted, I think that it's probably enough info to start planning RP shenanigans around. http://massivelyop.com/2015/06/23/e3-2015-bioware-dishes-more/ Possible spoilers... obviously. "Backus said point blank that answering me would involve spoilers, so he wouldn’t share. However, he did note that while you were frozen in carbonite for five years, your companions still had to live through the passage of time. In your absence, their lives went on — but the choices you made involving them might have something to do with where their lives headed after you disappeared. " Edited June 23, 2015 by ourherohunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yermog Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Rats. Well, I'll take 5 years over 10. It isn't ideal, but it is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shayddow Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I don't think its anything we have to panic about. Mainly, I think that those of us that RP will do so the same as we currently RP the situation on Balmorra, Taris, Tython or Korriban. Balmorra, which we can still visit as Imperials and hear the best music in-game. Which, is no longer Imperial if we visit it as pubs. Or Taris. I hate Taris. Too much jumping around in the dark..... Or go to our respective "homeworlds" of Tython or Korriban and see them as fully functional, not in ruins like in the flashpoints. Or for that matter do some flashpoints in Hardmode and be spoken to by Malgus, who we already killed in "false emperor". If the above things don't break immersion, then the new expansion with a 5 year time-difference shouldn't either. By the way, I'd like to see more of Manaan. Its a beautiful world. Even though we can't go swimming.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyonYlle Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) The way how I see it. Our personal stories, as much as I can't get enough of Bioware's story, it's still only a 'legend' - if I quote the all powerful Disney. My smuggler is waaaay too BA in that story. As far as head-canon is concerned, my smuggler is only seventeen before KOTFE, which means she will be, twenty-two. Whether I write how she is frozen in carbonite, or not will dramatically change her either way. I could say that she was betrayed, since we won't have our companions, or, another idea could be to say that she was abandoned. Saying that she was abandoned will literally destroy her! Since she already believes her twin brother, and the jedi order have. (She was a slave on Korriban), so I agree five years is a major jump, and whatever I decide for her, she'll probably never trust anyone again. Especially if we don't get a choice of companion between Jakarro, Theron and Lana. I don't see why we wouldn't, since we know we're getting Lana as a companion, maybe. If Theron isn't in the xpac at all. She'll have essentially turned to the darkside. So, in short. While we aren't in desperate need of information. It would still be awesome if Bioware did give us something. Edited June 25, 2015 by TyonYlle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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