Roleplay ?

[tfmachad]

Ok, i admit, i was wrong then in saying your vessel was oorp, please forgive me Gornath.

Apology accepted, Captain Needa.

It's alright, man. As you have said yourself, it's about the fun, not about winning. Which brings me to something of a counterpoint (more like an addition) to Hood's initial point.

I sometimes lament the precious time we spend in game looking for "ooRP" stuff to complain about AS WELL AS the time we spend in "ooRP" complaining about them rather than actually "RPing" our encounters somehow. Not that there aren't aberrations that are quite unsolvable, but we get rather jumpy at the slightest trace of the so dreaded "ooRPness".

Your reaction to our encounter was an indicative of a general stance I've been observing in this community for quite some time. Sure, there are those people exploiting the game's hardware with a "win at all cost mindset". In our case, the cost is some sensible reasoning in coming up with, not an excuse, but a role to play. Not an "RP"... (I'm starting to hate the term and I'll elaborate on it further on).

There are some characters flying around with extraordinary stories in them, which doesn't mean these stories don't add up. Unfortunately, we are so quick in judgment and loud in creating a fuzz around that judgment, that we are incapable of listening to those stories. We are so busy flying around preoccupied with all the possible "ooRPness" surrounding us, that we are incapable of actually playing those which should be the roles of our characters. We merely fly under the guise of those long forgotten proposed roles, but we can't get over ourselves (the players) to truly become them. We are no better "RPers" because we have some piece of written story tossed around somewhere to "justify" us abusing our characters.

And that brings me to another issue. The so called "RP stories" have become a harm to role playing here. Writing may be a consequence around role playing. It is a good thing for a character to have a background; some facts that will lead that character to some chronological point; and perhaps a purpose that will drive that character into further existing. The thing is, none of these need to be written, they need to be known by the person interpreting that role. No actor can be exempt from his responsibility of acting because there is a copy of the script in the backstage. The script is not important for the play, it is important for the actor.

Of course, RPG players are commonly both writers, directors and actors at the same time. As such, reading and writing hold a great importance for them as people. But still, those elements are but distantly related to role playing. Role playing is about characterization, as Hood puts it; and he continues, "it isn't about writing of stories to justify a choice..." I'd say actual role playing isn't about writing stories at all. Stories serve as basis for an actor to play his role in them, but they most definitely aren't, in themselves, role playing. If stories were role playing, we wouldn't need this crude artificially created universe for us to express our roles, we could make do with the forums alone.

Unfortunately there are actors who aren't really actors, and whose purposes supersede the realm narrated by the play in progress. They bring swords and shields to love stories, or machine guns to medieval sceneries, just so they can have the upper hand somehow, even at the expense of the overall ambiance. Poor them. They didn't really understand the purpose of it all and have become the buffoons of the play. To the eyes of the audience, they are out of place, they don't really belong. But a true actor, immune to the absurdity of the travesty which has just conjured itself in front of him, still mindful of the play, will stick to character and improvise: "My kind sir, how very odd it is for a man of your heritage and overall appearance to be brought before us here! I wonder what bizarre conjunction of events have made this possible..." and upon using that line give their counterparts the cue to continue. Then, all shall see if such queerness is the consequence of some elaborate and original script, or merely a blatant disregard for everyone else's efforts to present an enjoyable play.

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