Roleplaying and Discovery Freelancer

[Holmes]

Well, I've only been around here a month (probably less then that, and haven't played nearly that much), but I could whole-heartedely agree with the first post. In the time I've been here, there've only ever been two occasions I've actually seen some logical Role Play- one was a scheduled event, one I stumbled on just yesterday.

I think Freelancer itself is a very big culprit for this, as many earlier have pointed out. I role play in a Star Wars game called Jedi Academy, specifically the mod "Forcemod III," and the community to which I am a part of is really the best Role Play experience I've had. However, a server for THAT game only holds up to 30 players, and the server hardly ever gets over 15 at a time. It simply isn't as popular a game anymore. In general, on any game, people would rather blow eachother's heads off than have a cultured conversation. It doesn't help that most games of the present day that somewhat support Role Playing are either purely FPS or purely RPG- most mods try to fix that, but few can actually merge them together well. You see, I have never believed that you can truly Role Play using traditional RPG style "caveman" combat. How is that immersive at all!? So, that pretty much eliminates Role Playing Games in general, which leaves you with FPS's. Unfortunately, it's difficult to turn an FPS into a full-fledged role playing experience- you simply cannot reach the level of interactivity with the environment that a role playing game has, and true role playing would call for.

That really shows what the pinnacle of any role play is about: Interaction. With other players as well as the environment. It's the ability to effect other people as well as truly effect the course of a society that makes role playing as exciting as it is. However, Freelancer is one of those games that simply don't offer you the kind of interaction that would truly set the game apart. Granted, it's not terrible- the economy is very simple, but it works. Combat gets kind of tedious and boring, but, works. The major area lacking is that real interaction, I think both on an environmental and player level. I believe if we, as players, strive to turn everything that happens, no matter how out of character it may seem, into an in-character action, then that would drive off the irritating people whose entire goal is to bore themselves shooting up NPCs and other people, as well as deepen the links between eachother. Links from character to character are what really make something like this shine, in my opinion. Granted, Freelancer offers a huge scale universe in comparison to the fact that we have only up to 120 players at a time. You literally have to search for Role Play, rather than Role Play coming to you. That's why I believe that the amount of systems should be cut back on- there are many areas that are truly not needed, in my opinion, and just serve to take away from the immersion, or just plain don't offer anything.

Also, just from my observations, I believe that interaction on a larger scale could prove beneficial for Role Play. I'm talking Rheinland-Liberty-Bretonia-ThatJapanOne larger scale. If there's a player that leads each of these empires, then they can interact, and thus falls in a natural tendency to role play under them, to follow the guidelines they set.

I dunno, I think I'm just ranting, and perhaps I'm entirely wrong in all of what I say; I very well may be. However, these ideas are what I believe could culminate the Role Play that I know this server could provide.