I'm not really sure how you've reached the conclusion that it's meaningless, OP. But anyway, here are my thoughts:
There's basically 2 broad intepretations of "roleplaying": Entering the role, and becoming the role.
Entering the role means your character is simply you, acting as you imagine you would naturally if you existed in the game world, in whatever situation that might be.
Becoming the role means creating a new persona entirely separate from who you are, just like you'd write a character into a fiction story.
I generally prefer the "entering the role" sort, because that makes my character function like a real human being. Any character I design will be simply a concept, and never have as much depth as a real human being - plus in that case I'd have to constantly remind myself of how this character ought to think based on my design when interacting. When I enter the role, I can simply experience what my character does, everything comes naturally, and isn't unrealistically cheesy.
If I do that, and others do in their interactions with me, it potentially tells them more about them, and perhaps myself, then I'd get to learn in the regular everyday casual gameplay interactions. It actually becomes less superficial, in a way. Of course, that's no substitute for full on genuine direct dialogue with the person, but you don't get that very often in an MMO setting.
I.watch real fireplace II.watch yourself in a mirror III.close your eyes IV.imagine that fireplace and yourself standing on it. Which one would you choose? A)superphotorealistic picture where you stand in fire and nothing happens. B)poor quality graphics but your character gets damage from fire.
I’d like a game that’s more about the ‘story’ than about ‘winning’, more about the ‘journey’ than ‘arriving’: so even if you lose, you still feel like you’ve had an amazing adventure. I’d like a game with a lot of replayability, where different choices can take the game in a totally different direction. I’d like a game about decisions, where decisions really matter. I’d like the basic format of the game to minimize mouse clicks in favour of making key decisions and letting them play out automatically. Character creation: I’d like some randomization. For example, astrological/numerological attributes based on birth date and name selection. I’d like more ‘social interaction’ attributes (e.g. personal ‘style’) and some subtle gender differences. I’d like some backstory for character immersion. Levelling up: I’d like a more dynamic, life-like system, where it’s possible to blunt performance by overuse (i.e. ‘burn out’); and maybe a ‘give/take’ system, where you improve performance in some areas but worsen it in others. Equipment: I’d like access to suitable ‘class’ equipment from the start, with options for improvements as quests are completed. I’d rather receive equipment as rewards for achievements rather than loot from enemy corpses or random finds in random chests etc. Travelling: I’d like to minimize on mouse clicks by simply choosing where to go on the map and then journeying automatically. Journeys can still be dangerous or fortuitous, but it’s all done automatically without lots of mouse clicks. Maybe you switch to a ‘travelling’ screen or something . . . Combat: I’d like to minimize mouse clicks in combat. I’d like a system where you can prepare for combat and then let it play out. I’d like combat to be about preparation, planning, luck and not a button-mashing clickfest. I’d like combat styles to reflect character class (so you can play your role). I’d maybe like a designated combat screen for stylized combat. I’d like different forms of ‘combat’; for example, answering riddles, winning bets, or trading insults - not just armed combat.
I find that alot of people who want the immersive and deep games don't last long in them.
If you truely want an immersive, deep game with deep lore and friendly community, I'd suggest Ryzom. They have a solid game, brilliant harvesting and crafting along with the most inventive skill system (Stanza's) to mix the benifits and costs of abilities/spells how you see fit.
Well people want RPG because they think that , when your playing such game you are that character which you are using because you control them as if you are one with your character, however only in the gaming world and not int the real life. when playing rpg you also experince fanatasies and other stuffs that you always dreamed off like flying, fighing enormous monster and especially meet new friends. Thats why this days RPG is the most widely recommended games. Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, including multi-player text-basedMUDs and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player offlinerole-playing video games in which players control a character or team who undertake quests, and may include capabilities that advance using statistical mechanics. These games often share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling. Despite this variety of forms, some game forms such as trading card games and wargames that are related to role-playing games may not be included. Role-playing activity may sometimes be present in such games, but it is not the primary focus.The term is also sometimes used to describe roleplay simulation games and exercises used in teaching, training, and academic research.
A little bit more than lip service from the company.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
What I want from roleplaying is true immersion in the game. If I really get into my character and the environment, then I really become immersed in the gameplay. That's just loads of fun to me.
Immersion is whats important to me too. Anything and everything to keep me swallowed up by the universe Im in, is awesome. One of the greatest RP times ingame for me was my time in WoW, which has barely any RP support really. But the universe is what keeps me sucked in. The story and lore is amazing, albeit a lil ripped off from other IPs.
Another thing I want is more RP mentoring/apprenticeships. Ive always found the Master/Apprentice relationship to be something mysterious and intimate, and something that could drastically immerse me into RP as well as train others in gameplay and RP. Alas, Ive never been able to find a suitable situation. Maybe Ill just have to become a master someday.
For me the most important thing is storytelling. I like the storytelling in ddo. It's much more fun. A mysterious universe is also one of the key ingredients of an RPG. I played 2k hours or so on GW. Back in the days when servers were overcrowded that game was a lot of fun. But now some parts are empty which is sad. I know GW 2 will launch soon but as I have a crappy laptop I won't be able to play it.
lotro has pretty much everything I've ever wanted to roleplay:
1. Large base of other roleplayers. Landroval has more RPers than most other games have players lol
2. Great Lore. What's the purpose of Roleplaying, if there's nothing to Roleplay about.
3. Things other than fighting and crafting. I do love a good RP roam out in the battlefields, but while intown, there's really nothing to do in most games. lotro has a bunch of things you can do. Sitting in The Prancing Pony listening to others play music, drinking ale, and storytelling of your latest excursions into the depths of Mirkwood, Moria, Isengard, etc.
Really the only thing I don't like about RP in lotro is that Landroval isn't the offical RP server, it's a mix of RP and non-RP players. Some of which mess up RP on purpose, but that's only a minor gripe of mine. I've always liked dedicated RP servers...unfortunately, there aren't many games that have one left. And I like to RP orc, or evil characters, and noone in monsterplay RPs
I will probably get SWTOR just because I have a feeling there will be alot of other RPers there.
I'm the orc in back. Too bad you can't see my mace, it's totally awesome looking. My buddy and I made everything except the bracer/glove/shin plates and the shield. Took forever hehe
I want to be able to do nearly anything in a game I would be able to do if I was actually my character. I should be able to go chop down that tree - or atleast shake its branches. Things I do in the game should have an impact in some way.
As someone who enjoys acting, I naturally fell in love with roleplaying back when I first discovered D&D way back in the day. This love transfered over rather well when I discovered roleplaying in MMO's such as LoTRO and WoW but sadly when you have such large roleplaying communities that have little to no established guidlines or rules, it can be frusterating at times.
Lately I've been rather turned off to WoW rp, at least on the server I played on Wyrmrest Accord (The last time I played was about two months ago in mid August) because there are several pervasive elements that make immersion almost impossible:
1. Drama. For some reason, it seemed for every five rp'ers I met, three of them had some major crisis going on in their character's life that they just had to talk about with every person who'd listen. I'd take my character to a local tavern or other gathering spot and I'd be bombarded with people complaining about the husband/wife that had scorned them, the trajedy that had robbed them of something or other, etc. etc. It seemed like nobody was interested in fostering a sense of community it was just a bunch of angsty folks sitting around brooding and complaining about their woes. This all sort of segways into my second problem.
2. Attenion hogs. I'm sure anyone who's spent a good deal of time rp'ing in WoW knows what I'm talking about. The druid house cats, the people standing around with the Warglaives of Azzinoth equipped or wearing full Grand-Marshall's armor, and the people who chugged shrinking potions and rp'ed as children. I wanted to claw my eyes out every time I saw one of these people which sucked because they were *everywhere.* I understand it's a game and we're all free to rp as we like but seriously. How in the hell does pretending to be a "cute little kitten" or "lost little baby" contribute to anything? In my mind good rp is about being social and making sure that the sense of community remains intact, not walking around /purring at anyone who'll give you the time of day. An even sadder sight was the sheer amount of sad people who lapped this sort of behavior up. It's infuriating enough seeing someone running around pretending to be a toddler, having to watch their entourage following them around fixing all the problems they cause (because their toddlers and when they break something it's cute right? *Blegh*) was just the last nail in the coffin.
3. Griefers/Lol-rp'ers. These people, similar to the attention hogs, would soak up attention in their own unique ways. Either they'd come up with some weird trait for their character that would allow them to act silly/disruptive and let them claim they were just "in character" or they'd skip that part and just dance naked on a table in the middle of a crowded room. Without any sort of enforcement or policing of the server, this sort of behavior would often go unpunished.
I tried private rp servers for a while but their communities, while smaller and generally more commited to proper rp, were usually just as immature as some of the examples I listed above and despite how much I enjoy rp, a server where rp is the *only* thing you can do gets old after a while especially considering even on private servers 90% of rp happens in cities which meant the rest of the world was one big ghost town.
Overall, I much prefer single-player games for my rp fix these days. While it may not be as much of a social experience, it allows me to foster my creative outlets without dealing with all of the inevitable frusteration that arises when I take my rp'ing habits online. Even something as simple as giving a small backstory or personality quirk to one of your characters in games like Oblivion or Fable can help you develop your rp habits with literally zero risk of running into griefers, attention-hogs, or drama queens/kings.
Comments
be awesome.
"The world's still the same - there's just less in it."
Role Playing in MMO's is practically making a virtual image of yourself.... Well sometimes hell lot cooler!!!!....
All Hail MMORPG's! ^_^
I'm not really sure how you've reached the conclusion that it's meaningless, OP. But anyway, here are my thoughts:
There's basically 2 broad intepretations of "roleplaying": Entering the role, and becoming the role.
Entering the role means your character is simply you, acting as you imagine you would naturally if you existed in the game world, in whatever situation that might be.
Becoming the role means creating a new persona entirely separate from who you are, just like you'd write a character into a fiction story.
I generally prefer the "entering the role" sort, because that makes my character function like a real human being. Any character I design will be simply a concept, and never have as much depth as a real human being - plus in that case I'd have to constantly remind myself of how this character ought to think based on my design when interacting. When I enter the role, I can simply experience what my character does, everything comes naturally, and isn't unrealistically cheesy.
If I do that, and others do in their interactions with me, it potentially tells them more about them, and perhaps myself, then I'd get to learn in the regular everyday casual gameplay interactions. It actually becomes less superficial, in a way. Of course, that's no substitute for full on genuine direct dialogue with the person, but you don't get that very often in an MMO setting.
might not be the best place for this, but does anyone have suggestions for mmos that actually lend themselves to rp? other than Second Life at least.
They want these factors:
Training
Simulation
Entertainment
These 3 leads to a world of fantasy, creating history in game, creating their own stories from journey's inside the game.
BECOMING THE CHARACTER ITSELF >_<
II.watch yourself in a mirror
III.close your eyes
IV.imagine that fireplace and yourself standing on it.
Which one would you choose?
A)superphotorealistic picture where you stand in fire and nothing happens.
B)poor quality graphics but your character gets damage from fire.
Generation P
I’d like a game that’s more about the ‘story’ than about ‘winning’, more about the ‘journey’ than ‘arriving’: so even if you lose, you still feel like you’ve had an amazing adventure. I’d like a game with a lot of replayability, where different choices can take the game in a totally different direction. I’d like a game about decisions, where decisions really matter. I’d like the basic format of the game to minimize mouse clicks in favour of making key decisions and letting them play out automatically. Character creation: I’d like some randomization. For example, astrological/numerological attributes based on birth date and name selection. I’d like more ‘social interaction’ attributes (e.g. personal ‘style’) and some subtle gender differences. I’d like some backstory for character immersion. Levelling up: I’d like a more dynamic, life-like system, where it’s possible to blunt performance by overuse (i.e. ‘burn out’); and maybe a ‘give/take’ system, where you improve performance in some areas but worsen it in others. Equipment: I’d like access to suitable ‘class’ equipment from the start, with options for improvements as quests are completed. I’d rather receive equipment as rewards for achievements rather than loot from enemy corpses or random finds in random chests etc. Travelling: I’d like to minimize on mouse clicks by simply choosing where to go on the map and then journeying automatically. Journeys can still be dangerous or fortuitous, but it’s all done automatically without lots of mouse clicks. Maybe you switch to a ‘travelling’ screen or something . . . Combat: I’d like to minimize mouse clicks in combat. I’d like a system where you can prepare for combat and then let it play out. I’d like combat to be about preparation, planning, luck and not a button-mashing clickfest. I’d like combat styles to reflect character class (so you can play your role). I’d maybe like a designated combat screen for stylized combat. I’d like different forms of ‘combat’; for example, answering riddles, winning bets, or trading insults - not just armed combat.
I find that alot of people who want the immersive and deep games don't last long in them.
If you truely want an immersive, deep game with deep lore and friendly community, I'd suggest Ryzom. They have a solid game, brilliant harvesting and crafting along with the most inventive skill system (Stanza's) to mix the benifits and costs of abilities/spells how you see fit.
It is not super cartoony, either.
Physics, actual character interaction.
Frumple bog was here
Speaking for myself, I want player created stories and scenarios from roleplay.
Well people want RPG because they think that , when your playing such game you are that character which you are using because you control them as if you are one with your character, however only in the gaming world and not int the real life. when playing rpg you also experince fanatasies and other stuffs that you always dreamed off like flying, fighing enormous monster and especially meet new friends. Thats why this days RPG is the most widely recommended games. Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, including multi-player text-based MUDs and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player offline role-playing video games in which players control a character or team who undertake quests, and may include capabilities that advance using statistical mechanics. These games often share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling. Despite this variety of forms, some game forms such as trading card games and wargames that are related to role-playing games may not be included. Role-playing activity may sometimes be present in such games, but it is not the primary focus.The term is also sometimes used to describe roleplay simulation games and exercises used in teaching, training, and academic research.
Why do people like to watch movies or read fictional books?
People RP for similar reasons as the above, only they take an active role in creating the story themselves.
A little bit more than lip service from the company.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
what do roleplayers want from roleplay?
What I want from roleplaying is true immersion in the game. If I really get into my character and the environment, then I really become immersed in the gameplay. That's just loads of fun to me.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
I want GW2. Haha!!
Immersion is whats important to me too. Anything and everything to keep me swallowed up by the universe Im in, is awesome. One of the greatest RP times ingame for me was my time in WoW, which has barely any RP support really. But the universe is what keeps me sucked in. The story and lore is amazing, albeit a lil ripped off from other IPs.
Another thing I want is more RP mentoring/apprenticeships. Ive always found the Master/Apprentice relationship to be something mysterious and intimate, and something that could drastically immerse me into RP as well as train others in gameplay and RP. Alas, Ive never been able to find a suitable situation. Maybe Ill just have to become a master someday.
For me the most important thing is storytelling. I like the storytelling in ddo. It's much more fun. A mysterious universe is also one of the key ingredients of an RPG. I played 2k hours or so on GW. Back in the days when servers were overcrowded that game was a lot of fun. But now some parts are empty which is sad. I know GW 2 will launch soon but as I have a crappy laptop I won't be able to play it.
For the latest articles/news visit my blog: ==> http://linus41.blogspot.com/ <==
lotro has pretty much everything I've ever wanted to roleplay:
1. Large base of other roleplayers. Landroval has more RPers than most other games have players lol
2. Great Lore. What's the purpose of Roleplaying, if there's nothing to Roleplay about.
3. Things other than fighting and crafting. I do love a good RP roam out in the battlefields, but while intown, there's really nothing to do in most games. lotro has a bunch of things you can do. Sitting in The Prancing Pony listening to others play music, drinking ale, and storytelling of your latest excursions into the depths of Mirkwood, Moria, Isengard, etc.
Really the only thing I don't like about RP in lotro is that Landroval isn't the offical RP server, it's a mix of RP and non-RP players. Some of which mess up RP on purpose, but that's only a minor gripe of mine. I've always liked dedicated RP servers...unfortunately, there aren't many games that have one left. And I like to RP orc, or evil characters, and noone in monsterplay RPs
I will probably get SWTOR just because I have a feeling there will be alot of other RPers there.
I'm the orc in back. Too bad you can't see my mace, it's totally awesome looking. My buddy and I made everything except the bracer/glove/shin plates and the shield. Took forever hehe
I want to be able to do nearly anything in a game I would be able to do if I was actually my character. I should be able to go chop down that tree - or atleast shake its branches. Things I do in the game should have an impact in some way.
As someone who enjoys acting, I naturally fell in love with roleplaying back when I first discovered D&D way back in the day. This love transfered over rather well when I discovered roleplaying in MMO's such as LoTRO and WoW but sadly when you have such large roleplaying communities that have little to no established guidlines or rules, it can be frusterating at times.
Lately I've been rather turned off to WoW rp, at least on the server I played on Wyrmrest Accord (The last time I played was about two months ago in mid August) because there are several pervasive elements that make immersion almost impossible:
1. Drama. For some reason, it seemed for every five rp'ers I met, three of them had some major crisis going on in their character's life that they just had to talk about with every person who'd listen. I'd take my character to a local tavern or other gathering spot and I'd be bombarded with people complaining about the husband/wife that had scorned them, the trajedy that had robbed them of something or other, etc. etc. It seemed like nobody was interested in fostering a sense of community it was just a bunch of angsty folks sitting around brooding and complaining about their woes. This all sort of segways into my second problem.
2. Attenion hogs. I'm sure anyone who's spent a good deal of time rp'ing in WoW knows what I'm talking about. The druid house cats, the people standing around with the Warglaives of Azzinoth equipped or wearing full Grand-Marshall's armor, and the people who chugged shrinking potions and rp'ed as children. I wanted to claw my eyes out every time I saw one of these people which sucked because they were *everywhere.* I understand it's a game and we're all free to rp as we like but seriously. How in the hell does pretending to be a "cute little kitten" or "lost little baby" contribute to anything? In my mind good rp is about being social and making sure that the sense of community remains intact, not walking around /purring at anyone who'll give you the time of day. An even sadder sight was the sheer amount of sad people who lapped this sort of behavior up. It's infuriating enough seeing someone running around pretending to be a toddler, having to watch their entourage following them around fixing all the problems they cause (because their toddlers and when they break something it's cute right? *Blegh*) was just the last nail in the coffin.
3. Griefers/Lol-rp'ers. These people, similar to the attention hogs, would soak up attention in their own unique ways. Either they'd come up with some weird trait for their character that would allow them to act silly/disruptive and let them claim they were just "in character" or they'd skip that part and just dance naked on a table in the middle of a crowded room. Without any sort of enforcement or policing of the server, this sort of behavior would often go unpunished.
I tried private rp servers for a while but their communities, while smaller and generally more commited to proper rp, were usually just as immature as some of the examples I listed above and despite how much I enjoy rp, a server where rp is the *only* thing you can do gets old after a while especially considering even on private servers 90% of rp happens in cities which meant the rest of the world was one big ghost town.
Overall, I much prefer single-player games for my rp fix these days. While it may not be as much of a social experience, it allows me to foster my creative outlets without dealing with all of the inevitable frusteration that arises when I take my rp'ing habits online. Even something as simple as giving a small backstory or personality quirk to one of your characters in games like Oblivion or Fable can help you develop your rp habits with literally zero risk of running into griefers, attention-hogs, or drama queens/kings.