Does anyone actually care about the story or roleplaying?

[bobturke]

Use your imagination...

"At the behest of the Intendent myself and my guild have been hunting the Ragus. They have been encroaching on farmland of late and making off with domestic Bodoc."

Fair enough.

Create a background history for your character, form some in-character relationships, find out about other people's backgrounds.

Excellent advice.

Erm, hardly. It gives you much, much greater scope to be whatever you want to be. You can level skills to create a role for yourself or you can level the skills you deem most useful. IRL people aren't pigeonholed by 'class'.

Yes you can. What I was implying, perhaps badly is that the choice can be overwhelming. Which follows on to my next point..

Roleplay is creating your own character, not fulfilling checkpoints that are set for you.

Everyone IS creating their own character. What i'm saying is that with low content many people are strictly playing their characters as themselves, ie power leveling, etc, etc. Not as in game charracters based on the content (history, racial preduces, etc).

Most people find pigeonholing a much greater block to their roleplay. Classes are set and distinct with little to no room for manoeuver and stifle roleplay options, as do racial stereotypes.

I doubt this is true. Without pigeon-holing there is no way to either play a character who is sterotypical, nor a character is is not sterotypical, because there is no point of reference, no yard stick for comparison. What tends to happen is lots of people who play exactly as their RL selves, more than if they had a nice stero-typed role to slip into. I know there are those who will RP well regardless, but what i'm saying is that many find it harder without the content.

"In summary, high freedom/lack of direction makes getting into RP harder, but not impossible."

It makes it more possible and more rewarding than simply fulfilling an existing role with points set out by someone else.

More rewarding yes, more possible I dont think so.

I may be wrong. Anyone have any comments?

[raynes]

*I think the lack of content makes it quite hard to roleplay (RPing "I went out and killed 143 ragus today" is quite difficult).*

Use your imagination...

"At the behest of the Intendent myself and my guild have been hunting the Ragus. They have been encroaching on farmland of late and making off with domestic Bodoc."

Create a background history for your character, form some in-character relationships, find out about other people's backgrounds.

*The freedom to be whatever you want is great but can make finding a basis for RPing harder to find.*

-chokes-
Erm, hardly. It gives you much, much greater scope to be whatever you want to be. You can level skills to create a role for yourself or you can level the skills you deem most useful. IRL people aren't pigeonholed by 'class'.

*Look at my Tryker for example, class-wise I have no distict pigeon hole for roleplaying, i'm not just a caster, a fighter, a crafter or a digger, i'm all 4!*

Great! So?

"Racial I look different, but other than appearance there is no difference between me an a Fyros. The lore says I should be living "by the virtues of freedom, equality and sharing". OK great at last some guidelines for how I should RP (although they're pretty broad). That's one aide I have to RP."

Roleplay is creating your own character, not fulfilling checkpoints that are set for you.

"Next history, usually a great place to get RP pointers. However once again I have max freedom here too. Trykers should hate Mantis because they enslaved us, but then again we side with them and the Karavan against the evil Kami and we are all suposed to be working together to defeat the Kitin and Goo. So no clear messages here either. Similar stories for the other races. We have reasons to like and dislike to other two also. Without a strong "Trykers hate Mantis" type message most players gravitate towards neutral relationshsips with them. And so don't have 'the old grudge', 'trusted ally' or other strong relationship to rely upon when RPing with them."

So buck the trend or give yourself a reason to forgive, something to justify the in game relationship or to gain an RP dynamic by going against it.

Did your grandpartents die in Matis servitude?

Something like that?

"I'm not saying the system is bad, just that it can make getting into RP harder."

Most people find pigeonholing a much greater block to their roleplay. Classes are set and distinct with little to no room for manoeuver and stifle roleplay options, as do racial stereotypes.

"Also this world being outside the traditional dwarves and elves fantasy world many associate with RP makes it harder for them to RP (dwarves are short, greedy and grumpy, elves are tall, lofty, artistic (ie strong racial stero-types)). Once again I'm not saying this is bad, just that it can make getting into RP harder."

I'm so glad you qualified that with a 'many'. There's so much more out there.

"In summary, high freedom/lack of direction makes getting into RP harder, but not impossible."

It makes it more possible and more rewarding than simply fulfilling an existing role with points set out by someone else.

There is only one problem with all your advice and it goes exactly to my point. I could do everything you are saying. And none of it makes and difference if no one else does those things.

[xcomvic]

There is only one problem with all your advice and it goes exactly to my point. I could do everything you are saying. And none of it makes and difference if no one else does those things.

remember only 20% (if that) of the players actually read/post on the forums. make sure a gm can annouce it once or twice a day a few day prior to the event. also, some players do not even know if they like to RP because most havent actually done it...

[angus858]

There is only one problem with all your advice and it goes exactly to my point. I could do everything you are saying. And none of it makes and difference if no one else does those things.

True. But there are RP'ers out there. Last night I was solo harvesting in Knot of Dementia and did a /who just out of curiosity. There were two other homins on the list. I didn't know either one. I made an in-character comment about kitin secretions in regional chat. I got an in-character reply. Soon the second stranger joined our conversation which went on to religion, history, and the politics of Atys. It was just a conversation but it was a conversation between role players and I enjoyed it very much. They ARE out there.

A think a Kami aligned RP guild is a great idea. I'd start it myself but I only have less than five hours a week available for Ryzom and experience has shown me that guilds won't work unless the leadership is more active than that.

How many players in this game are more interested in story and RP than they are in achievement measured by game statistics (level, xp, fame, uber gear, etc)? It might be more than you guess, I'm not sure. A pole on the forums is easy enough but many folks don't read the forums. You could also spend a few days going from zone to zone asking this question in regional chat. Make a list. Maybe there are enough for a guild.

Or you could look for a new game. I've played most available mmorpgs. All have a handful of RP'ers but they are always a small minority and consistent RP'ing is only possible if you gather the RP'ers together in a guild or similar association. Ryzom is different in this regard only by the fact that there are relatively few players of ANY sort on the North American server and hence fewer RP'ers. It would be nice if some game actually delivered on their promises of catering to RP'ers to the extent that most would leave their current games and flock to the truly RP-friendly game. I was hoping that Wish might be that game, but ... oh well, Wish was just cancelled. For now I'll stick with Ryzom.

Indobi

[kisedd]

I try not to focus on stats and game mechanics in most of my interactions with players, unless there are questions on regional chat etc.

I"m a more careful player. I'm still not sure how I feel about the Kami or Karavan. Our leaders tell us we must follow one or another, but nobody has told me why yet. I do have a lot of Karavan fame, it's the path of least resistance for my race, but I'm not convinced this is the right path. I won't make a final choice until I have more information.

My relations with other homins are coridal. I have no reason to hate a Zorai. Fyros I'm not as fond of, due to their history. However, what some Fyros did in the past is not what some Fyros I meet did. I have met a few Zorai in a guild who tried to interfere in the entire Mourneblade incident. Those have my anger.

RP is about cause and effect. It's about motivations and goals. I don't spend my entire RL time talking about politics or religion, likewise I'm not going to spend my entire game time doing that either.

[asaseth]

I"m a more careful player. I'm still not sure how I feel about the Kami or Karavan. Our leaders tell us we must follow one or another, but nobody has told me why yet. I do have a lot of Karavan fame, it's the path of least resistance for my race, but I'm not convinced this is the right path. I won't make a final choice until I have more information.

My relations with other homins are coridal. I have no reason to hate a Zorai. Fyros I'm not as fond of, due to their history. However, what some Fyros did in the past is not what some Fyros I meet did. I have met a few Zorai in a guild who tried to interfere in the entire Mourneblade incident. Those have my anger.

RP is about cause and effect. It's about motivations and goals. I don't spend my entire RL time talking about politics or religion, likewise I'm not going to spend my entire game time doing that either.

Pritty much the same sentiments. And of course you shouldn't spend much time on politics or religion.

That would encroach on the wooing of the ladys of the land.

[raynes]

It would be nice if some game actually delivered on their promises of catering to RP'ers to the extent that most would leave their current games and flock to the truly RP-friendly game. I was hoping that Wish might be that game, but ... oh well, Wish was just cancelled. For now I'll stick with Ryzom.
Indobi

Isn't that the truth.

[aldrikoy]

My 2 cents worth, echoes some of the above. Roleplaying isn't always an all-or-nothing thing either. Sometimes I roleplay, sometimes I gameplay. Depends on what's happening and who's happening. And there are levels of roleplaying. Every time I go on a rez run for some total stranger, usually risking a DP myself in the process, in a sense I am roleplaying ideals. Nothing in it for me game-mechanic-wise at all. I might make a new friend, or at least a teammate for the evening. But it is more a matter of Honor, and perhaps Discipline, for my avatar. Every fame mission is, in a sense, roleplaying, at least for me, now. Haven't seen much benefit or meaning to it, game-mechanic-wise, aside from what I give it. My avatar can frame it in terms of guild diplomacy, or personal relationships with other tribes, or whatever. From the non-RP perspective the time would be better spent leveling skills.

Roleplaying is more a frame of mind, usually done by one's self rather than imposed from without. Shoot, all D&D is is rolling dice and arithmetic in reality, but I have memories of putting my longspear thru a dire bear's eye; more so than remembering rolling the critical hit on the smite then having the numbers add up to more that the number designated for the dire bear's hp. (We did all jump up and cheer: it was a desperate move by my cleric, being the last man standing, tapped of spells, with the team down and no way out for me. We were all prepared to lose the characters, and luck came thru.)

I suspect full-immersion roleplaying in region, or in the guildchat of a guild not overtly dedicated to rp, will get you a lot of "huh?" reactions (if not worse), as in general non-rpers will probably outnumber part-time rpers, and full-timers would be rare indeed. Especially if you haven't made it plain that you are doing full-immersion. I suspect most folks aren't even familiar with the concept and would just find it weird.

If you are looking for full-time, full-immersion roleplayers, good luck. I do bet you could find some, but you might have more luck forming a roleplaying guild and recruiting/advertising heavily for it. Hoping to run across them by chance may not be a successful stratagy.

Me, I'm a part-timer. Give me a scenario that catches my interest and I will roleplay with the best of them. Otherwise, I'll be out leveling and shouting "ding" with the best of them.

[lyrah68]

Not going to get into LPD business here, other than to say that I know of several that were working hard on Kami/Fyros faction, and that the current invasion provides fame with both.

Just because others in LPD did not want to get as rabid as your point of view was does not mean that we aren't roll playing. For some of us it is not something we wear on our sleeves. I happen to roll play my Fyros a tad differently, and I think it got on your nerves. I KNOW I rp my Tryker differently since she is pro Kami.

My point of view with my Fyros is "what is all this war about?" and "why don't Kami and Karavan DO something instead of demanding WE do it all?". She is a digger/crafter, IF she got involved in war it would be crafting the weapons/armor, NOT swinging pikes and healing.

My point of view with my Tryker is "Karavan is just interested in themselves, they let my family get enslaved and just stood by and watched. That doesn't sound like they are very helpful." Her back history also supports her pro kami stance as well. She is a digger/crafter too, but she MIGHT be more involved...I don't know yet, she is too young to have fleshed out too much.

I happen to dislike PVP, I have my reasons, I won't change YOUR mind on the subject nor will you change mine. But point is you were expecting a group in which SOME are STAUNCHLY anti PVP to charge into a PVP with gusto, in other words, you were not being reasonable.

I have seen FEW 100% RP guilds, I have also seen those guilds come and go, in every game I have ever been in. They were fun for a while, but the HARD work of remaining IN character ALL the time with NO way to OOC ever (one guild you had to remain IC in public, so NO game play questions to others with guild tag showing, which COULD be turned off in that game). The FUN of RP is spontinaty, when you remove that it gets to be like any other part of the game, TEDIOUS. (in most 100% RP guilds, guild chat devolves into silence while all the real chat is in tells, and mostly OOC).

You had your ideas of HOW others should roleplay and I got the idea that it was YOUR way or the highway...if you had been in charge. Sorry but that is not MY idea of role playing.

Just like there are MANY kinds of Americans, some agreeing with the government and some MAJORLY against some of the policies, you can COUNT on people playing the other side of the coin or RPing in ways you just can't take. And that is what life is all about, learning to live and let live, and that includes role play.

Just because there are written scripts does NOT mean that everyone that is of that race HAS to follow the script. And when they diverge, they aren't NOT role playing, they just have their OWN role to play, and you have yours.

And as far as leadership of Living Planet Defenders, yes there is a bit of a bobble at the moment, but anytime two guilds become ONE, there are bumps. LPD WILL rise from this, already IS rising. And the mission is easy, just like in the invasion, the diggers dig, the crafters craft, the fighters fight, the healers heal. We were in the THICK of the invasion in Fyros lands. We might not have ridden in with a banner screaming our name and claiming glory, but we did our part with honor. Even if that part was supplying guards in the wee small hours when you didn't see us.

I also saw LPD healers risking their lives to heal those defending Fyros lands, Matis OR Fyros, it seems the zorai and Tryker were a tad busy in their own lands, something I completely understand...given the current circumstances. I saw LPD fighters giving the mobs what for with the best of them, even if some were too young they were brave enough and trusted the healers enough to at least TRY to do their best.

Raynes, if it is ALL about being UBBER AND role player of the year...you might need another guild to do it. Usually ubber and role player do NOT go hand in hand, sorry...just a fact.

[raynes]

Not going to get into LPD business here, other than to say that I know of several that were working hard on Kami/Fyros faction, and that the current invasion provides fame with both.

Just because others in LPD did not want to get as rabid as your point of view was does not mean that we aren't roll playing. For some of us it is not something we wear on our sleeves. I happen to roll play my Fyros a tad differently, and I think it got on your nerves. I KNOW I rp my Tryker differently since she is pro Kami.

My point of view with my Fyros is "what is all this war about?" and "why don't Kami and Karavan DO something instead of demanding WE do it all?". She is a digger/crafter, IF she got involved in war it would be crafting the weapons/armor, NOT swinging pikes and healing.

My point of view with my Tryker is "Karavan is just interested in themselves, they let my family get enslaved and just stood by and watched. That doesn't sound like they are very helpful." Her back history also supports her pro kami stance as well. She is a digger/crafter too, but she MIGHT be more involved...I don't know yet, she is too young to have fleshed out too much.

I happen to dislike PVP, I have my reasons, I won't change YOUR mind on the subject nor will you change mine. But point is you were expecting a group in which SOME are STAUNCHLY anti PVP to charge into a PVP with gusto, in other words, you were not being reasonable.

I have seen FEW 100% RP guilds, I have also seen those guilds come and go, in every game I have ever been in. They were fun for a while, but the HARD work of remaining IN character ALL the time with NO way to OOC ever (one guild you had to remain IC in public, so NO game play questions to others with guild tag showing, which COULD be turned off in that game). The FUN of RP is spontinaty, when you remove that it gets to be like any other part of the game, TEDIOUS. (in most 100% RP guilds, guild chat devolves into silence while all the real chat is in tells, and mostly OOC).

You had your ideas of HOW others should roleplay and I got the idea that it was YOUR way or the highway...if you had been in charge. Sorry but that is not MY idea of role playing.

Just like there are MANY kinds of Americans, some agreeing with the government and some MAJORLY against some of the policies, you can COUNT on people playing the other side of the coin or RPing in ways you just can't take. And that is what life is all about, learning to live and let live, and that includes role play.

Just because there are written scripts does NOT mean that everyone that is of that race HAS to follow the script. And when they diverge, they aren't NOT role playing, they just have their OWN role to play, and you have yours.

And as far as leadership of Living Planet Defenders, yes there is a bit of a bobble at the moment, but anytime two guilds become ONE, there are bumps. LPD WILL rise from this, already IS rising. And the mission is easy, just like in the invasion, the diggers dig, the crafters craft, the fighters fight, the healers heal. We were in the THICK of the invasion in Fyros lands. We might not have ridden in with a banner screaming our name and claiming glory, but we did our part with honor. Even if that part was supplying guards in the wee small hours when you didn't see us.

I also saw LPD healers risking their lives to heal those defending Fyros lands, Matis OR Fyros, it seems the zorai and Tryker were a tad busy in their own lands, something I completely understand...given the current circumstances. I saw LPD fighters giving the mobs what for with the best of them, even if some were too young they were brave enough and trusted the healers enough to at least TRY to do their best.

Raynes, if it is ALL about being UBBER AND role player of the year...you might need another guild to do it. Usually ubber and role player do NOT go hand in hand, sorry...just a fact.

I'm sorry but you don't have a clue what you are talking about. My leaving LPD had nothing to do with people in the guild not roleplaying or playing the game my way. It had everything to do with the total lack of leadership, purpose, and goals. Mostly the lack of leadership. If you are in charge of a guild, you have a responcibility to make sure the guild is run. You don't leave the guild without officiers. You don't suddenly announce that the guild is ended because of problems you have. If you don't think you can run things, you hand leadership over to another who can.

I left the guild becuase all LPD was amounting to was a glorified friends list with chat room capibilities. I have a friends list, if I need help that is what it is there for. I either want to be a part of a guild that has a real purpose or I don't want to be involved in one at all.

And in case you didn't notice, I'm hardly the only one who got fed up with it.