Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Any roleplayers out there?
Cookster5
Member Posts: 50
I'm from England and have pre-ordered LOTRO. Alot of people seem to give it bad reviews, but even the good reviews don't mention the roleplaying value to be had! To be honest, I think LOTRO may be the MMO most roleplayers have been waiting for! A multitude of pubs, gorgeous graphics, drinks, pipeweed, food, playable instruments....fantastic!
Any other roleplayers out there who will be playing LOTRO for its roleplay value?
Any other roleplayers out there who will be playing LOTRO for its roleplay value?
Comments
I am playing for the roleplay value. I am enjoying the game very much and I am hard to please. It is similar to any other game out there but there are some differences and there are the tools for roleplaying as you mentioned.
Any game is going to have it's detractors. Heck, look at how much hate World of Warcraft generates...yet, look at how many people play the game. I've learned to skip the posts made by haters and griefers and look for the posts made by those who are being honest in a polite way. Also read between the lines using past experience with MMORPG's to guide you.
I used to be caught up with all the hate and found it hard to enjoy any freakin' game after SWG. Laid it to rest...still hope for the perfect 'sandbox' game one day. I enjoy World of Warcraft even though it's very linear. Therefore I play on a pvp server to throw some uncertaintly into the picture...makes it more fun.
LOTRO is a very fun game. Again, don't listen to the haters and griefers. Download it and try it out for free until the 24th. I was disappointed with the game at first in the beginning instance. I mean, I was very disappointed. I gave it another chance, got through the instance and into the starter area of the world and am now really liking the game alot.
It has it's weaknesses, just like any game out there today. But, it also has its strengths...just like any game out there today. You have to try it and see if it appeals to you.
I am also looking for place in good roleplay guild!
"Before this battle is over all the world will know that few...stood against many." - King Leonidas
In my experience, The Shire seems to be the hotspot of RPing at the moment, and I have seen many more people RP there than in the other areas of the game so far.
Which is too bad, as I was really looking forward to a game that was favorable for RPers. Oh well.
I feel that the best thing for the community in general would be to have NO specific servers for any specific group. You want all types on each server. Of coarse there will be a struggle between them all. That is what makes us grow and learn.
As for names of people ruining roleplay. I dont feel that is a valid reason. What someone has as their name doesnt break the lore, the ability to see someones name does. I really dont understand the arguement. How can other people affect your roleplaying?
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
He he he, I'm glad someone else said that, now I wont have to.
http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=164872&TabID=1396631
It's, as stated, on the mature side, so no kkthxbye?? Plx? Hehe, just kidding...
I feel that the best thing for the community in general would be to have NO specific servers for any specific group. You want all types on each server. Of coarse there will be a struggle between them all. That is what makes us grow and learn.
As for names of people ruining roleplay. I dont feel that is a valid reason. What someone has as their name doesnt break the lore, the ability to see someones name does. I really dont understand the arguement. How can other people affect your roleplaying?
Well, I think it does effect Roleplaying to a degree. You wouldnt expect to see in the books/films xxsephirothxx as a character. Kinda takes away the feel. =P
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
I feel that the best thing for the community in general would be to have NO specific servers for any specific group. You want all types on each server. Of coarse there will be a struggle between them all. That is what makes us grow and learn.
As for names of people ruining roleplay. I dont feel that is a valid reason. What someone has as their name doesnt break the lore, the ability to see someones name does. I really dont understand the arguement. How can other people affect your roleplaying?
The way it impacts things is that everything else around you in the game, all the NPCs, the areas, etc. are all "in character", and they therefore support and reinforce an "in character" atmosphere. XxxSlayerzxxX then comes along and is not a part of that environment, is jarringly at odds with that environment, and undermines the "in character" nature of the environment. It's like an environmental pollutant for roleplaying.
I think it's best to have different servers, because at least if you do that you will concentrate the RPers in these places. You won't get to exclude the non-RPers, but at least there is a chance for more RPers to establish a RP atmosphere than there is on a non-RP server when everyone has those sorts of names and is talking in OOC about WoW vs. LOTRO.
I feel that the best thing for the community in general would be to have NO specific servers for any specific group. You want all types on each server. Of coarse there will be a struggle between them all. That is what makes us grow and learn.
As for names of people ruining roleplay. I dont feel that is a valid reason. What someone has as their name doesnt break the lore, the ability to see someones name does. I really dont understand the arguement. How can other people affect your roleplaying?
The way it impacts things is that everything else around you in the game, all the NPCs, the areas, etc. are all "in character", and they therefore support and reinforce an "in character" atmosphere. XxxSlayerzxxX then comes along and is not a part of that environment, is jarringly at odds with that environment, and undermines the "in character" nature of the environment. It's like an environmental pollutant for roleplaying.
I think it's best to have different servers, because at least if you do that you will concentrate the RPers in these places. You won't get to exclude the non-RPers, but at least there is a chance for more RPers to establish a RP atmosphere than there is on a non-RP server when everyone has those sorts of names and is talking in OOC about WoW vs. LOTRO.
Its best for the community in whole not to. And I think you are generalizing saying EVERYONE who isnt roleplaying has stupid names and is talking about stupid stuff. C'mon. The same generalizations can be made about roleplayers. You are taking a very small percentage of people. the same way when non RP's say all RP servers are for is for weirdos to have cyborz. These arent valid reasons. If seeing a stupid name ruins immersion..doesnt those big glowing letters floating above everyones head telling you there name before you even meet them do too? Which you can turn off at any time you wish and never see anyones name..just like it would have been in middle earth.
The strongest communities are those with the widest array of people. A large group of like minded people breeds elitism. Look at any pvp server or Rp server of other games..they hate each other..they both think the others are below them..when in fact..they are human beings..no better or worse than you or me. They affect your RP..you affect their non-Rp and co-existence of each would breed the balance that the community (as a whole) will NEED to grow and become a better community. Which is must if they plan to co-exist in the same game. We are the community of LOTRs. Everyone. Even those you dislike or wish not to see. Why seperate us?
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
As for integrating the community, it isn't going to happen. RPers like to RP ... non-RPers are generally off-put by it at best, or, at worst, think its dumb/gay/retarded. As for myself, I don't really want to play with non-RPers, and so I restrict myself to RP guilds and RP events and play the games in the context of these RP groups in a more or less closed community of RPers. The forums are there for the whole community to interact with each other if they wish to. But in order for RP to work in these games, it needs some basis for a community to form, and that requires a place to congregate, and that's why RP servers -- official or not -- are best for sustaining any kind of RP in the game.
This is just a bit of Novaseeker's post.
I'm a veteran roleplayer, gamemastered for nearly 20 years, I'm published, have created weeklong live events, and I have tried roleplaying in every MMO I have tried.
In my experience there are three types of roleplayers in MMOs today:
1: The angsty.
These are text-roleplayers, they create a character focused around one or more tragedies/maladies that they have to fight and mourn over incessantly. They focus on social scenes and function best in situations where their story or their character can be in the centre of things. They are pretty easy to roleplay with but hard to get to interact in the environment. They are basically roleplaying their pre-written story and background information, and now they are sort of reciting this story to anyone who would listen. It is not uncommon if you meet them later on, they will recant the same story or a variation on the theme.
There was a huge group of this sort of roleplayer in City of Heroes at one time, lamenting over their destroyed childhood, or their alien origin in a world gone strange. A specific subset of the angsty type of roleplayer is the vampire (or half-demon, half-succubus, nightbreed, you name it) roleplayer. They can be found in nearly all MMOs these days and distinctly take their inspiration from World of Darkness by White Wolf Studios or the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
2: The tavernpeople.
Again, primarily text roleplayers but will also focus heavily on emotes. Often these roleplayers divide their time between adventuring and thereby playing the computergame part of the MMO and hour long sessions where they are talking to other characters IC. These talking sessions will often be conducted in social arenas such as pubs, inns, or similar.
The fuel for their particular fire seems to be the comraderie that these gatherings offer, they will often but not always be involved in the social dynamics of a Guild (or similar structure depending on the MMO in question) and will have a lot of official or in-official rules concerning the expression of emotions, OOC text, and so on. Normally this crowd will house the largest portion of the RPP (or RolePlayer Police), vigilantly reporting or harassing other players who for some reason or another is in the same area that they are. Failure to include text concerning anything belonging to real life in brackets (or similar conventions) will be looked upon harshly and instantly commented on. These will often seem to be having a good time with eachother but are very difficult to approach by outsiders thereby hurting the entire roleplaying community by their rather uninclusive views.
3: The builders.
These are primarily action roleplayers. They thrive in games that allow them to interact and change their environment. Opportunities for creating buildings, guild houses, or similar lasting structures appeal to the builders. They are often heavily into crafting and are strong proponents of accepting the game mechanics as part of the roleplaying experience in opposition to the tavernpeople (above) who will often lament the fact that the same monster can be killed over and over and therefore only peripherally mention the actual gameworld in any conversation, regarding it as "un-worthy".
Builders will often pursuit PvP and function only rarely in games where this is not possible. Sieges, wars, monumental faction changes that change the behavior of NPCs, and similar game mechanics are the focal point of the builder roleplayer. They are often very strictly organized (sometimes even to a nearly military degree) and can seem quite forbidding and formidable to approach. You will often face a certain kind of test or trial before being accepted and they are without a doubt the group among roleplayers that spent the greatest amount of time in the game.
These are often the group that will stay longest in the game and will have among them some of the MMOs super-achievers. They are both obsessive but also competive which means that once a certain number of these roleplayers congregate on the same server they will often form into competing groups that will strive to out-perform the other.
There is a fourth group, they are the forum storytellers, but they have little or no impact on the ingame roleplaying unless they have a dual role. The forum storytellers are the ones writing long tales on the forums that are based on the fictional world of the MMO but couldn't exactly take place in the actual game due to gameplay or game mechanics restrictions.
In Lord of the Rings: Online I see plenty of opportunity for the first and second group of roleplayers and little or no room for the third kind of roleplayers. Lord of the Rings: Online is surprisingly rigid and linear which will appeal to the angsty since the world as such is outside the boundary of the player realm, the players will forever be actors on a stage that was set before they even entered.
The fourth group will not be attracted to this computergame, since there are huge fansites and fangroups devoted to making fanfiction in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien who would see Turbine's limited realization as a detraction and failure more than an interesting new platform for engaging development.
Please bear in mind that these are my observations through years of contact with roleplayers and it is in no way a totally encompassive, final, or complete rundown of the MMO roleplaying community. It is based on my past experiences only.
This is just a bit of Novaseeker's post.
I'm a veteran roleplayer, gamemastered for nearly 20 years, I'm published, have created weeklong live events, and I have tried roleplaying in every MMO I have tried.
In my experience there are three types of roleplayers in MMOs today:
1: The angsty.
These are text-roleplayers, they create a character focused around one or more tragedies/maladies that they have to fight and mourn over incessantly. They focus on social scenes and function best in situations where their story or their character can be in the centre of things. They are pretty easy to roleplay with but hard to get to interact in the environment. They are basically roleplaying their pre-written story and background information, and now they are sort of reciting this story to anyone who would listen. It is not uncommon if you meet them later on, they will recant the same story or a variation on the theme.
There was a huge group of this sort of roleplayer in City of Heroes at one time, lamenting over their destroyed childhood, or their alien origin in a world gone strange. A specific subset of the angsty type of roleplayer is the vampire (or half-demon, half-succubus, nightbreed, you name it) roleplayer. They can be found in nearly all MMOs these days and distinctly take their inspiration from World of Darkness by White Wolf Studios or the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
2: The tavernpeople.
Again, primarily text roleplayers but will also focus heavily on emotes. Often these roleplayers divide their time between adventuring and thereby playing the computergame part of the MMO and hour long sessions where they are talking to other characters IC. These talking sessions will often be conducted in social arenas such as pubs, inns, or similar.
The fuel for their particular fire seems to be the comraderie that these gatherings offer, they will often but not always be involved in the social dynamics of a Guild (or similar structure depending on the MMO in question) and will have a lot of official or in-official rules concerning the expression of emotions, OOC text, and so on. Normally this crowd will house the largest portion of the RPP (or RolePlayer Police), vigilantly reporting or harassing other players who for some reason or another is in the same area that they are. Failure to include text concerning anything belonging to real life in brackets (or similar conventions) will be looked upon harshly and instantly commented on. These will often seem to be having a good time with eachother but are very difficult to approach by outsiders thereby hurting the entire roleplaying community by their rather uninclusive views.
3: The builders.
These are primarily action roleplayers. They thrive in games that allow them to interact and change their environment. Opportunities for creating buildings, guild houses, or similar lasting structures appeal to the builders. They are often heavily into crafting and are strong proponents of accepting the game mechanics as part of the roleplaying experience in opposition to the tavernpeople (above) who will often lament the fact that the same monster can be killed over and over and therefore only peripherally mention the actual gameworld in any conversation, regarding it as "un-worthy".
Builders will often pursuit PvP and function only rarely in games where this is not possible. Sieges, wars, monumental faction changes that change the behavior of NPCs, and similar game mechanics are the focal point of the builder roleplayer. They are often very strictly organized (sometimes even to a nearly military degree) and can seem quite forbidding and formidable to approach. You will often face a certain kind of test or trial before being accepted and they are without a doubt the group among roleplayers that spent the greatest amount of time in the game.
These are often the group that will stay longest in the game and will have among them some of the MMOs super-achievers. They are both obsessive but also competive which means that once a certain number of these roleplayers congregate on the same server they will often form into competing groups that will strive to out-perform the other.
There is a fourth group, they are the forum storytellers, but they have little or no impact on the ingame roleplaying unless they have a dual role. The forum storytellers are the ones writing long tales on the forums that are based on the fictional world of the MMO but couldn't exactly take place in the actual game due to gameplay or game mechanics restrictions.
In Lord of the Rings: Online I see plenty of opportunity for the first and second group of roleplayers and little or no room for the third kind of roleplayers. Lord of the Rings: Online is surprisingly rigid and linear which will appeal to the angsty since the world as such is outside the boundary of the player realm, the players will forever be actors on a stage that was set before they even entered.
The fourth group will not be attracted to this computergame, since there are huge fansites and fangroups devoted to making fanfiction in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien who would see Turbine's limited realization as a detraction and failure more than an interesting new platform for engaging development.
Please bear in mind that these are my observations through years of contact with roleplayers and it is in no way a totally encompassive, final, or complete rundown of the MMO roleplaying community. It is based on my past experiences only.
It's a good summary. I've seen all of the different kinds of roleplayers you've described there in various games. I do agree that LOTR will tend to lend itself to types 1 and 2 -- type 3 isn't there because you can't really build in the game and type 4 isn't going to work because of the breadth of the existing material as well. I do think, however, that for types 1 and 2 there is quite a platform in the game ... I generally don't care for type 1s too much, but type 2s are fine with me. I played as a type 3 for a long time in EVE Online and it was fun for a while but after a while it seemed that everyone was taking everything way too seriously ... in part that's a function of EVE as a game, but in part it's also a function of the obsessivness and competitiveness I've seen in other type 3 roleplayers.
However , so called "Builders" have it hard in 99% of current MMOs
Actually most of my PnP friends, dont want to touch any mmo that doesnt let them to be "the builders" , and they are staying away from LOTRO too.
Actually only "builder" MMO up to this date was - pre nga SWG.
And perhaps EVE...but not to much roleplaying there though.
I just say thanks to god for fact that if not perfect , LOTRO is still trying to cater to roleplaying folk in some ways.
Which is much more than lot of other MMOs that are being developed right now
"Before this battle is over all the world will know that few...stood against many." - King Leonidas