LordKlassa Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (I honestly did not have the faintest clue where to put this, so put it here; if it is in the wrong place please tell me for future reference.) Since I played this game at launch there was all sorts of people just RPing in the world around them, guilds often collaborated so that their RP wasn't simply contained to their own guilds, and there was just a general sense of belonging in the RP community. However now I have come to notice that people rarely RP in public now, all the spots I used to go to for RP are now empty, almost everything is contained within guilds. What's even worse is that I have also noticed guilds becoming a lot more hostile to one another, simply writing off an RPer because of their guild name and other such things. Anyone else got any thoughts on this? P.S. Please remember to show respect here, I can't tell you how many times on other websites I have been slagged off for being an RPer or making a slightly incorrect point. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavivsAetivs Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I think in large part that's due to the playerbase and this game's ability to actually facilitate RP. For one, the playerbase has totally changed. We've gone from largely veteran players to mostly new people who have only been playing a few months, because of the lack of content and KotFE/TFA. But also, this game doesn't facilitate RP, like the custom Everquest servers or tabletop games did. I have friends who do RP and have tried it in star wars, and said that it simply does not work here. In fact, they say that most of the A-list MMO's like SWTOR, etc. don't have a gameplay style that supports the RP community, which is pretty much what kicked off MMO's to begin with. Just my two cents ~ Eudoxia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TalonVII Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 To facilitate RP, you need a sandbox environment, something SWTOR is seriously lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drudenfusz Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 To facilitate RP, you need a sandbox environment, something SWTOR is seriously lacking. I disagree with that notion. I think RP can work even in a very narrow definete environment, but that means the roleplayers have to consider to involve the limits instead of ignoring them and then being surprised that it doesn't work out. Sure, a more opne sandbox would allow more character concepts, but some times restrictions can lead to even more interesting games, something that most roleplayers in MMOs don't get, which is why I do not bother any longer with RP in MMO's but get that the old fashioned way, with pen and paper and some dice with friends around a table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branmakmuffin Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 To facilitate RP, you need a sandbox environment, something SWTOR is seriously lacking. No, you do not. RP is in the mind, not the pixels. The biggest hurdle to RP in TOR is that the virtual environment (with the Sith quasi-nobility) promotes bad-a**ery: "I am Lord/Darth So-and-so. You must call me my Lord," etc., etc., etc. I have RP'd extensively in LotRO and DDO and rarely ran into this problem because those games do not have anything like the quasi-nobility of Sith (and Jedi, I guess, but I rarely play Rep-side). In any event, I rarely do see and rarely have seen RP in this game. What I see and have always seen is just meta-gaming and god-moding. I think the type of game it is simply attracts more immature wannabes who are so pathetic IRL they have a burning need to be a bad-a** Sith Lord (or whatever) in a computer game, and this game has that built right into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rklontz Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 To facilitate RP, you need a sandbox environment, something SWTOR is seriously lacking. To a point yes there are also other limiting factors such as the ability to port to non fixed locations via a summoning system or shuttle. If a person was going to just chat rp without using the environment then chances are they are going to play one of the many fine MUDs that are out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediQuaker Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (Since I played this game at launch there was all sorts of people just RPing in the world around them, guilds often collaborated so that their RP wasn't simply contained to their own guilds, and there was just a general sense of belonging in the RP community. Are you talking about every server, or just the RP servers? I've never been on an RP server, so I have no idea how "RP" they are. But, I would say that RP'ing certainly seems absent from the non-RP servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rklontz Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Are you talking about every server, or just the RP servers? I've never been on an RP server, so I have no idea how "RP" they are. But, I would say that RP'ing certainly seems absent from the non-RP servers. Rp on rp servers is mainly guild oriented. There isn't a whole lot of open world rp. It's there but you have to look and it can be difficult to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codedrago Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Dunno, on the Progenitor I've easily found RP if I looked for it, with RP Guilds recruiting on most planets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Killjoy Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Probably depends on the server. Almost every time I visit either Fleet Station on Ebon Hawk, I see / "hear" someone RPing in the hub cantina area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_mike Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I see / "hear" someone RPing in the hub cantina area. Yea, they're RP'ing all over the place. Makes a mess and can you believe the smell?!?!?! Seems like most RPers get trolled if they do it in a common area like general chat. I personally don't mind and will usually throw in a comment or two. Seems like some other players take a negative view of the subject though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codedrago Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Probably depends on the server. Almost every time I visit either Fleet Station on Ebon Hawk, I see / "hear" someone RPing in the hub cantina area. I've never heard of people RPing on the fleet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Killjoy Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) Yea, they're RP'ing all over the place. Makes a mess and can you believe the smell?!?!?! Seems like most RPers get trolled if they do it in a common area like general chat. I personally don't mind and will usually throw in a comment or two. Seems like some other players take a negative view of the subject though. At least in my experience, no one says anything as long as it's kept to the quite local "say" and "emote" commands and thus out of the broader chats -- and no one lets any ERP slip. (ERP... that thing when you think you're going to burp, but actually throw up a little in your mouth.) I've never heard of people RPing on the fleet... In my experience on EH, you can go to the center hub cantina and see the "say" and "emote" from the RPing quite a bit. Most of it's not in general chat. Edited March 28, 2016 by Max_Killjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taramayne Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I've never heard of people RPing on the fleet... "Cantina RP" on EH server is quite common on Carrick and Vaiken. Some days and times are better than others of course but there's a fair amount. More involved RP I have found usually goes on in strongholds or in scheduled guild events and such like, but that's still out there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codedrago Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 In my experience on EH, you can go to the center hub cantina and see the "say" and "emote" from the RPing quite a bit. Most of it's not in general chat. Who the hell RPs in General chat? Is the Progenitor doing it wrong!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 It's not RP...it's PLAYERS that are becoming less common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_mike Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Is the Progenitor doing it wrong!? I was wondering why you said you didn;t hear them as Progenitor is supposed to be a RP server... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knorlac Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 It's not RP...it's PLAYERS that are becoming less common. That's some signature material right there;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoronmir Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) Yes, Virginia, there is RP in SWTOR. While I realize different players embrace different modes and methods of play, my way is the bestest, so ... here are the 10 Thormandments of RP: 1. If you're RPing in General, you're doing it wrong. As has been said, RP should be limited to Say and Emote. 2. In addition to Say and Emote, Guild is fine for RP if your Guild-centric RP wants to remain off the public radar. 3. In our RP Guild, we created a custom channel for RP so as to not overlap with general Guild discussions. 4. If you're serious about RP. I mean really serious about it ... you create a custom chat tab solely for Say and Emote. 5. SWTOR is one of the least RP-friendly MMOs I've played (at least among the MMOs in which I tried to RP). Age of Conan was the worst (it's amazing that a game that allows female characters to strut about bare-breasted is utter failure at RP). But SWTOR is simply not designed to accommodate RPers. If you want to see what a truly RP-friendly MMO looks like, check out LOTRO. 6. "ERP" is like "RP" the same way that "creepier" is like "pie" ... if they contain the same letters, they must mean the same thing. 7. Just because my friends and I are RPing in Say and Emote, don't assume you're welcome to join in. Most time, you are. Just don't assume it. Perhaps shoot one of us a Whisper asking if you can play our reindeer games. 8. Anything related to the actual game missions (class, planet, etc., missions) is off limits for RP. We can't all be the Barsen'thor or the Emperor's Wrath. We can't all have done that thing on that planet that one time for those people. 9. Companions are, generally, excluded from RP as well. Exceptions can be made if you RP some other identity for your Companion. It may be fine for a Sith Warrior to travel with a Twi'lek hottie ... as long you call her something other than Vette. My Sage was known to keep a Trandoshan bodyguard around named Gorn. Still, RPing with Companions is always thin ice. Unless you're RPing by yourself ... for which the technical term is "masterb..." Well, you know. 10. Hey, it's cool that you matriculated at a university far, far away and majored in Obscure Canon Lore (as opposed to Obscure Cannon Lore, which is the study of obscure lore about cannons ... duh). But not everyone has. The goal of RP is to share a cooperative exercise in fun. So, if I allude to a type of "ficus" on the planet Gelgamax when, according to the data gleaned from the deepest, darkest nooks and crannies of the internet, I should have said "spruce", just go with it. No one likes a know-it-all ... and such persons are particularly annoying to those of who know it all. EDIT: I found my lack of paragraph spacing disturbing. Edited March 28, 2016 by Thoronmir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xordevoreaux Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Full disclosure: I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not an RP'r. That said, I agree with all the points people have made about why RP is difficult. My friends and I were looking at all the emotes from the emote list, and gee, funny, there's a paywall button next to half of them if not more. So for each emote you want to role play with, is it free or behind the paywall? I'm a subscriber and there's a ton of pay-to-roleplay emotes. That there is a paywall for any of the emotes lets you know BW's philosophy about RP: it's completely up to the players to come up with their own finger puppets and to cast shadows on the wall. If BW wanted to support RP more, in addition to some of the fine suggestions made so far, they'd take down the paywall for emotes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newyankalt Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Seems pretty non existent in the Red Eclipse, always has though. Probably depends on the server Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoronmir Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) Full disclosure: I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not an RP'r. That said, I agree with all the points people have made about why RP is difficult. My friends and I were looking at all the emotes from the emote list, and gee, funny, there's a paywall button next to half of them if not more. So for each emote you want to role play with, is it free or behind the paywall? I'm a subscriber and there's a ton of pay-to-roleplay emotes. That there is a paywall for any of the emotes lets you know BW's philosophy about RP: it's completely up to the players to come up with their own finger puppets and to cast shadows on the wall. If BW wanted to support RP more, in addition to some of the fine suggestions made so far, they'd take down the paywall for emotes. I cited LOTRO as an example of MMO-RP done right. And it is. But even LOTRO has some store-bought emotes. Just not as many (or at least not the same percentage) as SWTOR. Pretty much every staple emote is free ... and there are lots of them. One thing that makes LOTRO superior to SWTOR is the ability to create our own custom emotes. Custom emotes can even incorporate existing animations with whatever text we want. And we can slot emotes into toolbars, of which, there are enough that I have my entire second set of toolbars (48 slots total) filled with emotes (saves time versus navigating the emote panel while RPing). Add in that LOTRO has had outfit tabs for years and last year added cosmetic weapons, plus the fact that far too many SWTOR emotes are just too silly for "serious" RP (i.e., RP involving serious plots ... I'm not saying that dancing on a cantina table can't be RPed seriously). Then there's LOTRO's music system. I'm not saying we can't RP in SWOTR. I have ... and still do when I can. It's just that SWTOR's game mechanics are less accommodating to RPers than I would like. Edited March 28, 2016 by Thoronmir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eanelinea Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I'm on a non-rp server, thanks dear (husband's choice), and I rp all the time. Granted, I have to keep the rping in my head, because when I mention companion husbands or legacy children or something, all those guys care about is when the next raid or flashpoint is. So I mainly keep the rping in my head. It makes playing my 30th toon much more fun and it helps when doing really boring quests or kotfe chapters because I watch all cut scenes. I like choosing something that's close to what my character's personality would choose, even if it doesn't come out exactly how I want. (take the SOR intro for the female inquisitor, mine is darth imperius, she wouldn't tell her husband, Andronikos, that she doesn't care if it's a trap or not) but things like auto dialogue I can't control. (Same thing with my Sith Warrrior meeting Jorgan...he's her brother-in-law so he wouldn't be a complete *** to her, but pub vs imp so...) Still I wish they'd go more detailed on the legacy tree and actually make it worth something more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XiamaraSimi Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) I recently transferred to Ebon Hawk, and no matter what time I go to the Imperial Fleet, there are people RPing at the cantina in the center. There is also often RP in the Slippery Slopes Cantina on Nar Shaddaa. (Even found some Early Bird Alpha Company in there last night, finding lots of Jung Ma refugees on Ebon!) On Jung Ma where I transferred from, the little RP you saw was in the Nar Cantina, but for the most part it was relegated to Strongholds and guildships due to the trolls who went out of their way to harass the RPers. Much better atmosphere on EH, still trolls, but they usually are more entertaining then anything. Also, if you see a Sin in Purple & Black on Ebon RPing with a Nexu, thats me, I always include my pets in my RP ^_~ As for the person complaining about emotes behind a paywall, you can type out any emote you want by typing /e and whatever you want, Example: /e pulls up a chair, nodding briefly to everyone around. Which will show up in chat in the orange emote text as: "<Yourname here> pulls up a chair, nodding briefly to everyone around." Edited March 28, 2016 by XiamaraSimi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianDavion Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 a lot of RP has shifted into strongholds. which should suprise precisely no one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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