I don't RP at all but I always pick a RP server to play on. It does add a level of immersion to the game for me when you see/listen(read) players RPing.
I have been playing CRPGs since the early 80s (most of its history) and online RPGs since 1993. IMO Ultima Online is the MMO that did the RP of MMORPG the best and most.
And I never even played UO so I think that's a fairly objective opinion, in that it is not colored by nostalgia.
It really makes no sense trying to roleplay in an MMO, any more than it makes sense trying to roleplay Master Chief in Halo.
This. MMOs are not about RP for many. It is about combat, and progression. Personally i don't RP.
I do RP, just not in MMOs. That's not what they're built for. They never have been, they never will be and as far as I'm concerned, you can't really do much actual roleplaying in an MMO. You can play make-believe, you can type in odd ways, you can act a certain way, but you cannot actually roleplay a character, they're still avatars designed for playing a specific game a specific way.
I really disagree with this, I'll agree that they're never properly built for roleplay, but It's entirely possible and great fun to do.
The great thing about roleplay is that It's only limited by your imagination, and if you feel roleplay is not possible within a MMO, you're simply limiting yourself.
I've had great fun roleplaying in MMO's just I've had fun doing so in a P&P game of D&D, and while having a dungeon master enhances the experience, I'll participate in online/mmo roleplay for years to come, even if the product i utilize wasn't meant for it.
The communities exist, they're living proof.
Oh, communities that think they are roleplaying exist, I just don't think they're really roleplaying. They're playing an existing game by the existing rules while talking in silly voices. Some people think that is roleplaying, I disagree. It's what I described, people running around, playing a game by the rules of the game, progressing in the game by the established methods of progression, the very fact that they cannot and do not go outside of the rules in the game shows me that it's not roleplaying, you're playing a game and are unable to go outside of the rules of that game.
In a PnP game, you can go outside of the rules, you can go outside of the campaign designed by the GM. That's not the case in an MMO.
I have been playing CRPGs since the early 80s (most of its history) and online RPGs since 1993. IMO Ultima Online is the MMO that did the RP of MMORPG the best and most.
And I never even played UO so I think that's a fairly objective opinion, in that it is not colored by nostalgia.
I guess my best RP memory was in City of Heroes. I RP'ed two different heroes who were both linked to an original hero that I had played in beta. One guy was the original guys successor and his deal was that he was always trying to live up to his predecessors memory by being a super boyscout, super positive, and super understanding all the time while the other guy was the soul of the predecessor implanted into the body of a former criminal. His deal was that he was both jaded, because of the way he had sacrificed his first life, conflicted, because the powers of his new body were dark in nature, and generally looked upon as a bad guy because of the exploits of the former inhabitant of his body, which were profound.
I put this out there in story, in my profiles, and pretty much stayed in character in these ways the entire time that I played that game and I think that the people that I played with enjoyed it. I didn't force them to play along with me, never forced them into any kind of dialogue about it, and eventually they all knew that both of the guys were being played by one person, but I acted according to who I was playing at the time, I always referred to the other in the third person, and I made sure that when someone asked for the other guy they knew what they were asking for, because that guy was going to be a different guy than the guy I was playing at that moment. And I think we all had a pretty good time.
My wife, who has never played a pen and paper RPG has always taken some aspect of her characters and stuck with it as well. In EQ she played a druid and would prefer to run from a bear rather than kill it. Used to burn me up because there were times when I needed to kill bears and she would just let me die. Little stuff like that though is what made hanging out with her in that game kind of cool. So that's how we roleplay in MMORPG's.
Really all you can do is make up a story about you and do your best to stick to that story. If you do that though, even if the story is not a stretch from who you really are, in my opinion you are roleplaying. Because who really does a lot of the stuff that they do in these games in real life? Hell, I barely even HAVE a personality in real life anymore.
And I think that last thing I said has everything to do with why some people can't figure out how to roleplay in these games. Maybe it's because their real life personality is so overwhelmingly in control that they don't feel the need, or even know how to escape it.
It really makes no sense trying to roleplay in an MMO, any more than it makes sense trying to roleplay Master Chief in Halo.
This. MMOs are not about RP for many. It is about combat, and progression. Personally i don't RP.
I do RP, just not in MMOs. That's not what they're built for. They never have been, they never will be and as far as I'm concerned, you can't really do much actual roleplaying in an MMO. You can play make-believe, you can type in odd ways, you can act a certain way, but you cannot actually roleplay a character, they're still avatars designed for playing a specific game a specific way.
I really disagree with this, I'll agree that they're never properly built for roleplay, but It's entirely possible and great fun to do.
The great thing about roleplay is that It's only limited by your imagination, and if you feel roleplay is not possible within a MMO, you're simply limiting yourself.
I've had great fun roleplaying in MMO's just I've had fun doing so in a P&P game of D&D, and while having a dungeon master enhances the experience, I'll participate in online/mmo roleplay for years to come, even if the product i utilize wasn't meant for it.
The communities exist, they're living proof.
Oh, communities that think they are roleplaying exist, I just don't think they're really roleplaying. They're playing an existing game by the existing rules while talking in silly voices. Some people think that is roleplaying, I disagree. It's what I described, people running around, playing a game by the rules of the game, progressing in the game by the established methods of progression, the very fact that they cannot and do not go outside of the rules in the game shows me that it's not roleplaying, you're playing a game and are unable to go outside of the rules of that game.
In a PnP game, you can go outside of the rules, you can go outside of the campaign designed by the GM. That's not the case in an MMO.
You obviously haven't played Ultima Online and judge the RP capabilities of MMOs by the "wow-standard". Your loss.
And what do you mean "talking in silly voices"? Do you realize that roleplayers generally don't use voice chats?
Most roleplayers play by some kind of rules, be they strict or not. Going outside the rules is also possible in MMOs. Why is make-believe inherently better at tabletop where you have usually zero visual aids, than in MMOs where you have lots of?
RPG tools in MMOs were just about the first thing that the genre ditched. From languages which only certain races could understand in EQ to scripting in AO; it has all gone. MMO's started of as MMORPG, hence this sites title. But that is historic now, the title MMO is far more apt.
There are a few glimmers on the horizon, mostly from the fact more MMOs are allowing you to create mods. But I have not even heard yet if that has translated in RP usage. As an example NWN was heavily modded by roleplayers, the new NW, I just don't know.
Originally posted by NobleNerd What games of old do you remember for encouraging RPG? Give me a brief story of your most memorable time. Let's talk RPG.......
EverQuest was my first MMO, in 2001. Roleplay was an integral part of the experience back then. Players could even RP with NPCs as they typed the [keywords] in a chat box however they felt like. EQ wasn't really big on animations, though. Most "emotes" appeared in the chatbox as "Player x dances with player y", or "player x bows to player y." I spent 2 1/2 years playing EQ without ever reaching level 20 on any character just because there was so much to do in the game. I eventually got into a fun guild of like-minded players and got to level 37 before quitting.
Then I played City of Heroes in 2004. This game was ripe for roleplaying. I laughed many times as all of us "heroes" would argue about who should "RUN!" when a mission went sour CoH's animations were great! They had multiple dance animations and animations for almost all of their massive list of "emote commands."
The biggest difference I see in MMOs today are the players. More and more of them are "too busy leveling to end-game" to take the time for any roleplaying. Most MMOs still have the capability for "limited rolelpay" in place, it is just that more and more players just do not care to anymore. They want action, 24/7.
What is needed, in my opinion, is to bring back specific gameplay servers, ie: PvP, PvE, Normal, and Roleplaying. With all the hubbub about one, single mega-server, I don't see this happening anytime soon.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Comments
I don't RP at all but I always pick a RP server to play on. It does add a level of immersion to the game for me when you see/listen(read) players RPing.
It's great IMO.
I have been playing CRPGs since the early 80s (most of its history) and online RPGs since 1993. IMO Ultima Online is the MMO that did the RP of MMORPG the best and most.
And I never even played UO so I think that's a fairly objective opinion, in that it is not colored by nostalgia.
Oh, communities that think they are roleplaying exist, I just don't think they're really roleplaying. They're playing an existing game by the existing rules while talking in silly voices. Some people think that is roleplaying, I disagree. It's what I described, people running around, playing a game by the rules of the game, progressing in the game by the established methods of progression, the very fact that they cannot and do not go outside of the rules in the game shows me that it's not roleplaying, you're playing a game and are unable to go outside of the rules of that game.
In a PnP game, you can go outside of the rules, you can go outside of the campaign designed by the GM. That's not the case in an MMO.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
You're definitely spot on there
Main Game: Eldevin (Plat0nic)
2nd Game: Path of Exile (Platonic Hate)
I guess my best RP memory was in City of Heroes. I RP'ed two different heroes who were both linked to an original hero that I had played in beta. One guy was the original guys successor and his deal was that he was always trying to live up to his predecessors memory by being a super boyscout, super positive, and super understanding all the time while the other guy was the soul of the predecessor implanted into the body of a former criminal. His deal was that he was both jaded, because of the way he had sacrificed his first life, conflicted, because the powers of his new body were dark in nature, and generally looked upon as a bad guy because of the exploits of the former inhabitant of his body, which were profound.
I put this out there in story, in my profiles, and pretty much stayed in character in these ways the entire time that I played that game and I think that the people that I played with enjoyed it. I didn't force them to play along with me, never forced them into any kind of dialogue about it, and eventually they all knew that both of the guys were being played by one person, but I acted according to who I was playing at the time, I always referred to the other in the third person, and I made sure that when someone asked for the other guy they knew what they were asking for, because that guy was going to be a different guy than the guy I was playing at that moment. And I think we all had a pretty good time.
My wife, who has never played a pen and paper RPG has always taken some aspect of her characters and stuck with it as well. In EQ she played a druid and would prefer to run from a bear rather than kill it. Used to burn me up because there were times when I needed to kill bears and she would just let me die. Little stuff like that though is what made hanging out with her in that game kind of cool. So that's how we roleplay in MMORPG's.
Really all you can do is make up a story about you and do your best to stick to that story. If you do that though, even if the story is not a stretch from who you really are, in my opinion you are roleplaying. Because who really does a lot of the stuff that they do in these games in real life? Hell, I barely even HAVE a personality in real life anymore.
And I think that last thing I said has everything to do with why some people can't figure out how to roleplay in these games. Maybe it's because their real life personality is so overwhelmingly in control that they don't feel the need, or even know how to escape it.
You obviously haven't played Ultima Online and judge the RP capabilities of MMOs by the "wow-standard". Your loss.
And what do you mean "talking in silly voices"? Do you realize that roleplayers generally don't use voice chats?
Most roleplayers play by some kind of rules, be they strict or not. Going outside the rules is also possible in MMOs. Why is make-believe inherently better at tabletop where you have usually zero visual aids, than in MMOs where you have lots of?
You are making no sense.
RPG tools in MMOs were just about the first thing that the genre ditched. From languages which only certain races could understand in EQ to scripting in AO; it has all gone. MMO's started of as MMORPG, hence this sites title. But that is historic now, the title MMO is far more apt.
There are a few glimmers on the horizon, mostly from the fact more MMOs are allowing you to create mods. But I have not even heard yet if that has translated in RP usage. As an example NWN was heavily modded by roleplayers, the new NW, I just don't know.
Then I played City of Heroes in 2004. This game was ripe for roleplaying. I laughed many times as all of us "heroes" would argue about who should "RUN!" when a mission went sour
CoH's animations were great! They had multiple dance animations and animations for almost all of their massive list of "emote commands."
The biggest difference I see in MMOs today are the players. More and more of them are "too busy leveling to end-game" to take the time for any roleplaying. Most MMOs still have the capability for "limited rolelpay" in place, it is just that more and more players just do not care to anymore. They want action, 24/7.
What is needed, in my opinion, is to bring back specific gameplay servers, ie: PvP, PvE, Normal, and Roleplaying. With all the hubbub about one, single mega-server, I don't see this happening anytime soon.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR