Does RP even matter?

[BaconSoda]

I was replying to every single post, but I think that everything mushed together, so Ima be concise.

Being a pirate is all about being a jerk. That's what the role is. You're stealing stuff from people. I've said it before: you can play a jerky character, but it doesn't mean that you as a player have to be a jerk. What it means is that you have to stick to your role.

There are two really important reasons to charging high prices as a pirate. Neither of them are really that big of an RP choice, but they connect deeply into RP.

1. It facilitates choice.

So you're trading one day in your favorite Behemoth (3,000 cargo) through Stuttgart (Luxury Food to Planet New London for 3159000 profit). You run into a pirate. He demands 500,000 credits. This is 1/6 of your profit. It's hardly anything. Does it cross anyone's mind that this is a bad deal? Is the choice here at all hard? Give him the money and go on your merry way.

Later you see the same pirate. He demands from you three million credits. This is the vast majority of your profit . This is a sticky situation. Now you have to think about what to do. Do I run? Do I talk to him? Are there Navy around? What ship is he flying? What ship am I flying? Do I have the right guns to attack him? Is the time I've spent coming here worth that much to me? Is Bretonia a safer haven than Stuttgart? Can I run something from Bretonia and avoid this person? These are the things your character thinks about. Within his personality, he can make one of those choices. I'd rather be a jerk and have a deep Roleplay involving choices than be everyone's friend and have bland Roleplay.

2. It enables escorting to be viable.

Let me ask a question here: who actually uses escorts? I don't. Why would I?

The chance of paying an escort is 100%. If that escort charges as much as a pirate (1, 2 million?), then anyone with any grasp on simple probability can tell you that they will never be used. The chance of seeing a pirate is always less than 100%. Sometimes there just won't be pirates. If the cost of both is the same, clearly braving the pirates is the better choice.

This is where pirates should be meaner. If the antagonist is actually antagonizing, then there becomes a chance for the escort to actually become something valuable instead of an accessory.



Numero Uno is really more important. Roleplay can be something deep and interesting outside of the written page. It can be awesome, but for some reason we'd rather remove all challenge from the game and then tell Cannon that we're bored and want 4.86.



Also Ryoken was right and I misread that post. My bad. I'm sorry.

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[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:49:19 AM] Elgatodiablo: You know its nice that you have all that proof and all, Bacon... but I just don't believe you.