Respect in both PvP and RP

[Orin]

The game as in "in game" is the heart of the Role Play server of course.

But at least since i have been here i have always seen Discovery as a dual entity; That is the game itself, and its forums. Your character should be able to stand up more or less without an epic novel on the forum to back it up, but that being said, we know thats not the case with some characters hence there is a "special RP section", there are also faction background posts, faction stories etc etc...

Granted, some people are just not going to know your backstory - which is fine, do you know everyone's back story you meet in life? Nope.
But, if you have taken the time to write a story about your character, then that other person has the option of knowing more - they don't have to excersize that, but its there.
For me - the writing i have done for my characters on the forums has given them depth, which then adds to the character in game - you might seem my character doing something in game, going somewhere and ask "why are you doing that" - now, if you were concerned i was doing something OORP, you could pm me, and i have no prob explaining.
However a better way of dealing with an unusual circumstance is simply to Role Play it yourself... who cares if you haven't read my back story.

"what are you doing there Corsair?".... If you have read the back story, maybe you will know, if you haven't, maybe not - but its still an encounter that has to be Role played anyway.... Role play in game and out is about creativity after all, its about taking on the role of someone else and then being as that character might.

One thing that i always love though in game is when i can tell - via someone else's RP that they actually have read my back stories, it adds to the experience quite a lot. I also personally like knowing the back stories of others, it also makes their characters in game seem so much more fleshed out.

None of this is something thats mandatory in any way of course - if you don't have the inclination to write things or even read them, then you shouldn't and don't have to. I'll relate to you in game by how your RP with me - and there is nothing wrong with that because some people like to keep it simple. But if you do have a backstory and i have read it - then perhaps my RP with you in game might incorporate that and make it that little bit extra....

However - Part of respect is respecting differences - so you don't write stories, big deal, it doesn't make you any worse than "veterans" who do, you're just as much a part of this place as them, and if you are Role Playing in game Kudos to you.
And if you are a Tolstoy writing epics on the forums, then Kudos to you as well, and i'll check out your stories. Immersion is different for everyone, some of us, can do it with a line of text in a chat window - others, like myself to be honest, like a little bit more than that (for my own characters at least) and thats how they play.

Yes.

My thoughts, elaborated and brought to you by someone whose posts are softer.

Thank you, Laowai.

[Rudo]

If people want to write endless and complicated stories (and they are correctly called stories, not RP or roleplays; roleplay is a verb, not a noun, so you can't write one), then knock yourself out. But when they make it necessary for the rest of us to do so in order to interact with them on the server, that is simply selfish and abusive of other people's time. It is also totally confusing to new players.

I can't even count the number of times I've seen people first create a character, and then start posting forum topics asking what faction that character should belong to, or what ship they should fly, etc. Whatever that is, it isn't roleplaying. Roleplaying activities are driven by the role that the character plays, not by obscure pseudo-psychological and/or historically driven events that only the player owning the character is aware of when he encounters anyone else.

When someone sees you on the server, they see a Junker, or a Police or whatever, they don't see a neurotic, revenge-driven, mother-abandoned, Liberty Rogue who actually hates Outcasts and cardamine because an Outcast hopped up on Cardamine crashed into the transport his sister was on killing her in a fiery inferno and causing said LR to go on a Sirius wide crusade against his faction's ally. [Insert the snarky comments of your choice about poor punctuation and grammer] On the server people just think, "What's wrong with that fool? Doesn't he know the Rogues and Outcasts are allies?" because perhaps 1% of the server population even knows your story exists, and even less would remember any of it if they encountered you.

This is what I think most people should shoot for when it comes to their RP.

If people can't know what you're about in two or three lines of text, your story needs a TL;DR version and you need to simplify your reasoning.

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[pchwang]

Unfortunately, Xoria, as someone who's been here for a while now, I must disagree. No offense intended in any way, shape, or form, this is simply my idea of the forums here.

The reason why Discovery is quite different from many other MMORPGs is the fact that it is a tight-knit community, and the reason why this is the case is because of the fact that we have the forums. Yes, I am saying that Discovery would never exist in the way, shape, or form that it does this late midnight hour.

Were it not for the forums, I would not be typing this message. I would not have gained a lot more experience in dealing with people in life. I would probably be much more hotheaded, and not as good of a writer.

Like Laowai said, we can't expect to know everyone's backstory ingame. There's no "You need to know my backstory" in order to understand my RP rule in discovery. Personally, I've never seen it. The only thing that ever came close was when people asked for an explanation to why Mon'Star has his own ship or Zapp giving a reason for how Wesley.Richter seemingly respawned.

Finally, a great deal of RP does occur on the forums. Just that the Federalist RP by Trevelyan, or the RP of a Bretonian Parliament. Those people aren't just writing stories...

They're writing from the point of view of a character that they play in game, and on the forums. They are writing as entities that they control, a projection of their characters, only in a text-based format.

The forums are not unimportant. They are an integral part of this community, a community that I doubt you would have joined had it not been for the forums.

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[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<

Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?

[looqas]

I agree with you bacon here.

Lately the attitudes server-side has been pretty cold.

I see people taking advantage pretty horribly when they see a guy that is flying an inferior ship or has inferior equipment. The attitude, let the guns do the talking, is really prevalent mood now.

I wish we all would leave the door open for guys to retreat.

After a good RP and athmosphere or feeling that something epic that is transpiring the pvp comes as an icing on the cake. Without the pre-fight build-up the pvp feeling is not the same.


What could be done?

I, for one, believe that when people see and participate in a good RP event (be that spontanious or planned) it shows how cool it really really can be. If a faction or some area of Sirius constantly have high quality RP then it sets an example which people will follow. And people are naturally drawn towards coolness, so those factions and areas will see a rise in popularity.

I think it's all about showing high standards RP in-game. I have to take some blame for letting the things slide to the wrong direction.

We need more small pre-planned events. All the events taking place now are huge.

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Flying under radar.

[kingvaillant]

Solution ... treat even the bad role players as if they were role playing ... or ignore them.

I like to do that. Just funny to respond to a noob that Alaska doesn't exist or that he is alienated or suffering of the harris disease because of intensive lolling

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Director of the Liberty Security Force: Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity

The Amundsen Zone-21 Restrictions

[looqas]

One of my pet peeves is with the CD spammers. Don't mind you using one to drop me from cruise. But when I'm no longer in cruise and I don't attempt to get back into cruise ... its time to start role playing. Drop me out of cruise and start talking. Gotta be a reason you dropped me from cruise. Way too many people I encounter drop me from cruise and go immediately to the guns. And I think they have their CD's directly connected to their guns because when they pull the trigger both the guns and the CD's fly. Can we get some role play? CD me ... then speak with me. If I do not attempt to jump and run or try to fight you ... why do you need to fight me? If I have illegal cargo ... role play with me and be patient ... I can't go anywhere. You've caught me and I'm either gonna drop the cargo or get destroyed. Don't be so impatient that all I get from you is "I said drop the cargo ... bang." You don't gotta keep my shields down ... especially when NPC hostiles are about.

That's the problem Baltar. Until you show or give a very clear indication (speak and stop) to that guy who just CDed you that you are not just going to pull a fast one on him, he needs to assume that you might run.

A silent trader who just sits there might bolt or might be just impatiently for the CDer to initiate the RP. But the CDer just does not know.

That's why, when flying a transport, I personally type something in regard that we can take this easy buddy. I'm not going anywhere. The CDer has so much more stuff to do than the guy who just got stopped. Check the ID, cargo, armament, contend with hostiles etc.

That's why people use those /setmsg. Even as a trader.

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Flying under radar.

[Asymptotic]

Perhaps if I make a fancy signature and upload an avatar, my point of view won't be entirely ignored. Anyways, uh...

Though there is no panacea for these issues, I have an idea!
Password-protect the server.
And then make the password available on the forums with registration! Isn't that brilliant? Preventive medicine, not reactive medicine!

[worldstrider]

Perhaps if I make a fancy signature and upload an avatar, my point of view won't be entirely ignored. Anyways, uh...

Though there is no panacea for these issues, I have an idea!
Password-protect the server.
And then make the password available on the forums with registration! Isn't that brilliant? Preventive medicine, not reactive medicine!

Great idea and then you would discover that the true blue absolute rp is better than the game itself crowd makes up about 5% of the server (and 95% of the forum posts).

It would be a small..very small..happy group of people (though I doubt most of them will ever be very happy).

In church life we have a saying: "There is no perfect church. It stops being perfect as soon as you attend." The point being that you can criticize every church you go to because someone or something there won't be perfect--just like you.

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[Asymptotic]

Well I have read the rules; putting a password would force others to.

[n00bl3t]

Great idea and then you would discover that the true blue absolute rp is better than the game itself crowd makes up about 5% of the server (and 95% of the forum posts).

It would be a small..very small..happy group of people (though I doubt most of them will ever be very happy).

In church life we have a saying: "There is no perfect church. It stops being perfect as soon as you attend." The point being that you can criticize every church you go to because someone or something there won't be perfect--just like you.

Well said. That is pretty much what would happen.

(Anyway, there is no need to worry about Asymptotic as Igiss has already said he will not password-protect the server.)

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Anything I say is not intended as offensive, and to try and deliberately misinterpret it as such would be an attempt at trolling via misrepresentation.

It's not a conspiracy, it's localised bias. They're not intelligent enough to form a conspiracy.