Well folks. It seems that some things have gone haywire here lately. I've read many posts in the forum in
which everyone's whining about the RP of others or of leaving people which have lost some kind of
dreams/illusions. So i'm asking the community here one, very simple question:
Do you really know what "Roleplaying" actually is?
I don't wanna hear anything about discovery's degeneration, teachings about good/bad/right/wrong RP or
anything like that. For that there are many other spots on the forum. Just tell me your serious opinion about
RP. What is it? What do you think it is? What do you understood/understand about RP?
Turn into someone else? Express the emotions of someone different than you? Acting like a movie star after
"Action!" was yelled? Just an opportunity to do things which you never would do in real life? It may be
difficult to explain, yeah. But please try. I must admit that for me its even harder, cuz english isn't my
native language.
This is NOT a complainment, or some kind of criticism. I'm just curious what's everyone thinking about it.
Do you roleplay your chars, do you just play your chars, or do you just disguise yourself as your chars?
Like i said i'm asking this for curiosity, since this is a so called "RP-server". In case you asking yourself why
i don't post my own opinion here: Hehe. People tend to complain about the first opinion and try to correct it
by forgetting to show the reasons WHY it's probably wrong. Let's skip these formalities and show me your
mirror, community. :D
Role-Play is playing a Role, as clearly as it is defined by its own word.
Role-Play does NOT mean that you should write as much as you can in any given situation, or that you should do your utmost to have a lengthy conversation with somebody using pretty English words in every sentence. Good Role-Play is as much defined by your actions as it is in what way you speak to others. Reading the background Role-Play of any Faction, then create a character that sticks with the ground-up plan but at the same time remain unique and original usually leads to a well-thought character, but this is never a demand.
You should never demand a player to play as you envisioned his/her character to be (depending on which faction he belongs to).
But unfortunately, what many people do and what has become a norm here is to sit on your high-horse and tell others how they should play their own roles ("because you always know best"), and that usually ends up being "write more and shoot less".
As much as people point out about the fact that capital-vessels receive an automatic "bad Role-Player" status before they have a chance to prove themselves, they equally point out that people who frequently enters battles without the desire to have a lengthy conversation prior to the fight, receive an automatic "bad Role-Player" status as well.
But that's a lie. That's not a measurement of how well you play a role. These are the same people who either wants to decide how you should play the game, or are simply jealous of what you can accomplish that themselves cannot. The usual case is a combination of both.
Now to answer your questions. I'm not perfect, I say this right from the bat, I can't fully pretend to play my roles. My personal feelings and opinions sometimes gets in the way, and I have never met a person who has broken completely free from this. But I do try to stick to my roles. I don't perhaps like this guy or that guy personally, but if he wants to apply for the Liberty Bounty Board and I'm in charge of it, I'm gonna give the guy an honest chance.
Same deal with handing out fines or whatever. They should be based on the crime and the actions committed, not who the player is behind the character. You stick to your role as much as you can. That's what defines how well you play it. That's all you need to think about.
Its your personal expression of your thoughts/fantasies/inner feelings. Gender does not matter. Nationality does not matter. Age does not matter. If you look at yourself, do you see only one person? You react at every situation differently. Multiple persons in one person in different situation. Character is your persona, a mask you show to other worlds. You chose one, you show it. And others will see it. But you should wear only one at the time otherway it turns into a mess.
EDIT: Um... did i really wrote that?Somebody please tell me it it makes any sense...
EDIT: By gender, nationality and age i mean IRL gender, nationality and age...
Roleplaying is a possibility of experiencing another reality. From this point of view it's related to the experience gained by reading a book, watching a movie or (in some cases) playing a computer-game. It's fabric is similar to stories that you read - imagination. (That's also the case in Discovery - the graphics you see on your monitor is just an illustration - like a picture in a book.)
The difference is that a roleplaying game consists of every involved person's imagination, not just the writer's. That makes 'rp' a lot more immersed and personal phenomena than the above mentioned mediums.
I think Role Play can best be described in how you come away from an in-game encounter. If you felt like you had been dealing with another person (in whatever way, whether dialogue or actions) then you have experienced Role Playing. If however you felt it was a superficial encounter (either too NPC-like or you got the feeling that they only went through the motions, doing as little as needed) then you have not experienced Role Playing. It is not about how lengthy or involved the encounter was, but about how personal it was.
I have been in situations such as when my Bounty Hunter was attacked by a Pirate. The only words spoken were, "I hate mercs, die scumbag!" And he then proceeded to beat the poo out of me. Afterwards, I felt that I had felt I had been dealing with a real person, not NPC. I have also been in situations that involved 5-10 minutes of dialogue, that got a bit strained near the end and ruined the 'atmosphere'.
Perhaps I could decribe it like a phonecall. Sometimes you pick up the phone and a voice says,"Is Bob there?", to which you reply, "I don't know any Bob.", "Oh sorry, wrong number.". It happens, and you don't mind that they rang you by mistake. Other times you pick up the phone and a voice says,"This is a free message to inform you ........" and you slam the phone down and hate that some-one who couldn't even be bothered to speak to you personally has wasted your time.
So which sort of encounter do you want? I want the one that feels like there is someone interacting with me, Role Playing with me, not impersonally going through the motions.
' Wrote:Role-Play is playing a Role, as clearly as it is defined by its own word.
Role-Play does NOT mean that you should write as much as you can in any given situation, or that you should do your utmost to have a lengthy conversation with somebody using pretty English words in every sentence. Good Role-Play is as much defined by your actions as it is in what way you speak to others. Reading the background Role-Play of any Faction, then create a character that sticks with the ground-up plan but at the same time remain unique and original usually leads to a well-thought character, but this is never a demand.
You should never demand a player to play as you envisioned his/her character to be (depending on which faction he belongs to).
But unfortunately, what many people do and what has become a norm here is to sit on your high-horse and tell others how they should play their own roles ("because you always know best"), and that usually ends up being "write more and shoot less".
As much as people point out about the fact that capital-vessels receive an automatic "bad Role-Player" status before they have a chance to prove themselves, they equally point out that people who frequently enters battles without the desire to have a lengthy conversation prior to the fight, receive an automatic "bad Role-Player" status as well.
But that's a lie. That's not a measurement of how well you play a role. These are the same people who either wants to decide how you should play the game, or are simply jealous of what you can accomplish that themselves cannot. The usual case is a combination of both.
Now to answer your questions. I'm not perfect, I say this right from the bat, I can't fully pretend to play my roles. My personal feelings and opinions sometimes gets in the way, and I have never met a person who has broken completely free from this. But I do try to stick to my roles. I don't perhaps like this guy or that guy personally, but if he wants to apply for the Liberty Bounty Board and I'm in charge of it, I'm gonna give the guy an honest chance.
Same deal with handing out fines or whatever. They should be based on the crime and the actions committed, not who the player is behind the character. You stick to your role as much as you can. That's what defines how well you play it. That's all you need to think about.
Never thought I'd be quoting Sina when I said this, but...
I have never agreed more with any post on these forums ever. Had I tried to communicate my idea of the topic, I couldn't have done it as well as Sina just did. So I'm just gonna quote him and say... Yes.
' Wrote:Never thought I'd be quoting Sina when I said this, but...
I have never agreed more with any post on these forums ever. Had I tried to communicate my idea of the topic, I couldn't have done it as well as Sina just did. So I'm just gonna quote him and say... Yes.
I'm going to quote Zach on quoting Sina. So yes on your yes, on his yes.
For me, it's another way of interaction with other people. There is a reason why I have only one character. Yes, in the inside, I'm immature, possibly childish. A lot of people playing computer games a lot are. This is a way of loosening myself a bit in non-retarded way providing entertainment for myself and sometimes for others as well, if we are compatible.
It is also a good psychological exercise which helps to further develop one's empathy, understanding of needs of others and in the end one is more open-minded, if one roleplays someone a bit different.
One the other hand, roleplay can be carried out differently, of course. For example, an ingame character can be a mere extension of one's feelings and desires. One simply lets reflect most of his or her intentions in the character's intentions which are rendered a little bit differently, according to the game or faction's lore. But even if one like this has 5 characters, they all have the very same pattern of behavior. Is that RP? To some level, yes.