The Daily Grind: How important are roleplaying features to you?

I think that LotRO is a move in the right direction with this topic. It doesn't have any official RP servers, but it is a very thematic world and then adds to that a mix of RP tools that players are welcome to use. This includes things like player housing (which needs a lot more work that I hope they'll get to), being able to designate your character as roleplaying (which changes the color of your name), character bios, an adoption system, and most especially the music system.

None of these things are required to play the game. They're simply tools that are available to those players that would like to use them. The efforts of those players that do put forth the effort enrich the game experience for everyone else. I would bet that very few players do anything but grin when they enter the Prancing Pony and happen upon a group that's playing songs by the fire.

RP is great and makes the games better for everyone even if you do not RP but RP needs social items to make it work. AoC needs this (as an AoC fan) but they are just cottoning onto this HEELOW HOUSES!!!!!

RP is great for all as RP'ers tend to play a game for years and years keeping the game alive. PVP'ers move quickly to the next game.

Daetrin raises an interesting point.

Many games include PvP to satisfy a minority, often to the detriment of the story portion of the game. RP is a simple way to keep a minority happy, and here's the best part. RP systems don't infringe on PvE OR PvP.

I understand the rancor some people have for RP. A lot of "RP'erz" think that role playing means to speak like you just came out of a Shakespearean Play (Protip: People didnt speak like Shakespeare even in Shakespeare's time) I mean really, how many people are wandering around with missing eyes, scars over their eyes, dragon eyes betraying their half-dragon-half-vampire-from-twilight-half-elf-half-dwarf-jedi natures? But to dismiss a whole component of what the genre was founded on alienates a portion of the population just because YOU don't like it. Isn't that what people who like PvP/PvE face all the time?

I don't roleplay. Its a cool concept, and if everyone was on board on my server, or guild, etc. I wouldn't mind it. It would probably add to the immersion for me.

But for now, police the dumbass names out there that make no sense to the game world. You know the kind... the "Iwillkillyou's" or "Pwnthis's" etc etc etc.

I worry less about the Devs needing to "give us" tools to RP with (give me a decent chat system, and we're good), but what's more important is to avoid doing things that are immersion corrosive. For instance, in CO, the "names are not unique" thing. If I have a given name, and know there's a chance that I'm about to run into someone with my own name... that's immersion breaking.

Anyway, I have far more trouble with the odd griefer who chooses to run into any gathering in open space and act like a buffoon and try to "ruin" whatever is going on. Thankfully, I've developed a good ability to just pretend they aren't even there. Heh.

I think you're talking about two different things that simply go well together. That is, story (what some here are calling immersion, though I see story leading to immersion) and role-play (RP). Story, though is makes RP easier for some, does not necessarily equate to role-play, although role-play, I think, can create story - great story - even when story isn't in-depth already.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You, the MMO developer, MUST create the world first - the races, the cultures, the magic (or not), the technology, the myth - and all of it MUST make sense to the player. The paradigms must be agreeable. Once you've created the world, then, and only then do you move on to create the system, and the system (the math behind it all) MUST support the paradigms of the world you've created. You cannot create the system first or the world will be immediately apparent to the player as non-immersive.

Joseph Campbell said that our society has lost its myth. Our cultures are built on the myths - the stories - of our forefathers. I see MMOs in a position (and perhaps developers are unconsciously motivated) to deliver new myth to players or carry on the old in a different form. But if you don't create the story and then create the system to support the story, the world will fall apart.

Whether you're a role-player or not, I guarantee you you will find more pleasure playing in a world that has a great depth of story that is supported by a system that makes sense to that world - that operates in accordance with the paradigms of that world.

Many of the early MMOs had lots of role playing. UO had tons and EQ just slightly less. After that it drops off fast. Although this comment comes after a long listing, so I doubt many will have a chance to read, but here is my guess on why we don't see much RP in MMOs anymore:

1. Chat channels isolate players. The fact is, the chat channel system as it stands today actually hinders casual conversation and meeting others around you. Early MMOs had NO channels (you had to use a 3rd party app like ICQ) and if you wanted to talk to someone, you walked to them.

Obviously, having no channels and only local speech is not the answer. Currently, having the world's population talking on virtual cell phones in a cone of silence also hinders RP too.

I would suggest that, on a RP server or a game that was trying to foster RP, when you spoke on ANY channel, you could be heard on local as well. People can choose to silence this extra chatter, but by default, when you are talking on your virtual cell phone, at least others around you can eavesdrop.

I say this because part of RP is just player interaction. Early games had lots of player interaction. Even today, when you log into UO - an ancient game - there is tons of chatter in the streets because it is so easy to overhear someone talk about something interesting and join in. RP there just... happens.


2. Every avatar function, aside from emotes, is for; damage, repair of damage, prevention of damage or travel. That's it. Gone are interesting (and useless) spells like UO's polymorph, summon creature, etc..

It really would not hurt games at all if there were more just "fun" abilities that don't serve a battle directly. Things like polymorph/disguises can be cool, and even better when it lets you sneak past an enemy. Yet an ability that changes your look is also one that will get used for spontanious RP.

My other big suggestion - all powers should have a non-combat related effect when used on another non-pvp player. Meaning, say you're guildmate makes a bad joke. It would be cool if you could throw a ball of fire at him and watch him burn for a few seconds. Then he can trigger an emote to put out the flames, otherwise his avatar flails around his arms in panic. Whatever, something. No damage, no interruption to combat, just there for fun.

My lord, if I knew that all by powers/abilities had a fun effect on people when I used them - I would do it all the time in character.


This is already too long of a comment. In the end, the MMO developers today don't provide tools for RP. RP is not just "talking in character", it is living in your character. To do that, players need the utilities to make it happen. As it stands, MMOs are more MMOAGs (MMO-Action-Games)

I'm patiently waiting for the next RPG game.

SWG had just enough tools in it for good RP before their epic self-destruction.

RPG has many levels. It's amazing how many people are clammoring for houses in Star Wars:TOR, not for RP but just to earn, find, buy cool loot to decorate it with. As lame as that sounds, it's a huge drive for players (Which is why achievements have been successful in WoW0.

DDO failed and missed an opportunity to stay true to its roots, do something different than make another WoW clone, and allow for a Dungeon Master and player created content.

That's the key for the successful MMORPG of the future.

I think the model will be to have the company run servers for those that just want the good game experience, but then give a toolset and allow player run servers like in Neverwinter Nights (4-300 people per server).

You will get the good and the bad - but in the end, player created development can far out perform developer content.

The drive to create content (to be the dungeon master) is greater than the drive to play for many people - some company out there could make money by charging extra for running servers, for special toolsets, etc. Then like spore, if something is created, the developers could reward the creator and push the design out to everyone in a patch.

I'm not a roleplayer in that I don't talk "in character", but I play MMORPGs to be immersed in the world. For me, that's the draw - being in another world.

In my game community (my Guild Wars Guild and Alliance, old days in Uru) - the people I liked to interact with in game were the people who acted like the game was real and not real, in the same sessions. People talked about the world, the story, what they saw, what they did, their characters (in Guild Wars). They also talked about their life, any technical issues they had with the game, all that. To me, that's a nice, interesting way to interact in the game - you drift in an out of acting like it's "real". This is the kind of game interaction I like.

I find that I get more into the lore of the world when I play by myself, even if there are people in the world. It's a different experience when I play with other people, good, but different.

On community, what I like is a kind, helpful community in the world, in the PvE areas - I don't generally PvP. If that means that, in other games, I should go to RP servers, so be it.

I do like things in the world that make it seem more real, aside from the combat., more sandbox stuff, more things that make you feel like you are in the world. All that LOTRO stuff sounds great. I've got to get back into LOTRO.

There's lots of good games out there - for MMOs I'm a "glass is half full" kind of person. But - I'm still looking for the best MMO for me in terms of gameplay, story and community.

I appreciate when the games have the tools and environments to foster role-play but lately that seems like a big expense for a portion of players that is shrinking rapidly.

I miss wandering across those casual, fun roleplays.

@Skypp I'm not an old-timer, and I have that dream too. It might be a cultural problem. Or, to put it another way, a problem of numbers. There are too many people who just want 'another game'.

MMORPG's today aren't very conducive to roleplaying in the traditional sense. The only 'roles' that are being played are tank/healer/dps. And even those not always very well.

It would literally require every single player to be roleplaying at the same time in order for it to attract my interest. I mean, to take a strange perspective on it all, we are playing roles in and of ourselves, and so, when i log on and everyone else is playing their RL or special Online personas(dicks, when irl they aren't for example), that's what I'll play because it actually allows me to immerse more into the gameplay. I can't be immersed in roleplaying, I don't care if it's accurate to the lore, if the majority of other people aren't participating - and doing it well.

I really have no idea what they should do. I would like everyone to roleplay, but you can't make stupid people smart, nor change the minds of disinterested people very easily.

Personally i view an mmo as a game, and games are not sopposed to effect real life.. i for one don't have an issue with people who want to pretend(cause thats what it is) to be someone else, just dont force it on other people who are playing the game, just cause its a game and its fun.( I play the mmorpg for the multi-player not the rpg.) Considering gaming is becoming main stream if you want role-playing nowadays in your games, get some buddies together and play some tabletop games its better social interaction that way and a good way to build social bounds with lifelong friends.

I'd probably be more willing to give rping a shot in MMOs if all the rpers I've met weren't pompous, anal-retentive douchnozzles.

Tools for role playing are not many to begin with. I am at most a casual role player, but from what I have observed, not much effort is required to cater to this demographic of people that is bigger then what most would think.

What matters most to me in a game is immersion, and as such, I usually roll on a RP server.

Why do I do that? Simply, it adds to the immersion. In a fantasy game, people walking around, and role-playing just adds to my experience. In a perfect scenario, I would be walking into a tavern, and having people around talking about the dragon they just killed in character.

I would say, one game that pulled it off rather well was Everquest 2, on the Antonia Bayle server. I have no idea how it is doing now, but when I was playing (a few years ago), it had both RP and non-RP players, and the non-RP players generally accepted the RP community and vice versa. Everyone lived in relative harmony. Role players accepted that they have someone in the group that uses MMO lingo, and non-role players just accepted the extra "shenanigans" rpers do.

I would liken myself to an observer first and foremost. I do find it interesting when RP is taking place, and sometimes I would just be within range to hear and see what is going on. If I had to interact with an RPer, I would just try to RP myself, or at least try to be non-intrusive.

Unless of course, it was with that scantly clad Night Elf with a scar over one eye, which shows extreme sadness on her still beautiful face who is standing outside the tavern in Goldshire, and the only dragon she wants to get at would be the one in my pants...

MMOs have gotten too action and metagame-oriented for me to immerse into any kind of role. I'd rather stick to story and pretending to be part of a world in a singleplayer RPG where I don't have: lots of random other people spamming, standing over each other as if they were a statue of Kali, speaking in leetspeak, bringing in their RL conversations into the game, etc.

WASD, mouselook and combat takes all my attention too. Stopping to hit enter and type complete sentences is near impossible for me in today's MMOs unless I freeze in place (a prime target for stray aggressive mobs or PvPers) or autorun happily off a cliff.

Hang about in a city or safezone to RP aka type long in-character sentences? Then why am I wasting my time in a game that barely has any tools to support it? I may as well write a collaborative story on a message board or something in that vein.

The part of me that craves immersion would love it if I were surrounded by 100% of people who spoke completely in character and acted immersively. But then I know I don't have the manual dexterity/roleplay skill to do the same back to them. So things break down there. I'll stick to singleplayer and RP in my mind.

I'm happy to see games put in features that support RPers, like well-built immersive tavern rooms and other hang-out places. But I often think it's wasted and underappreciated in today's style of MMO players, especially after WoW pretty much brainwashed whole generations into an achiever playstyle.

I donno. I find that the people, the other players, are far more important to me than the "tools" provided by the Devs. When I'm roleplaying, I tend to ignore everything but the chatbox, so I don't notice so much if there aren't the right emotes for the right situation, or if you can't temporarily turn somebody into a chicken.

That said, there are games out there that seem to have set out to make RP impossible. Champions Online hasn't done anyone any favors with its serverless environment--when everyone's able to jump instances at any time, it's a lot harder to gather a big group for an event (at least during prime time) because the zone will already be half to two thirds full with non-participants. And from what little I've seen, DC Online looks like a total bust from RP perspective, simply because it's built for gamepads and voice chat.

If there are no roleplaying elements, you can't call it a "RPG". Without the roleplay, it's just a "Massively Multiplayer Online Fantasy Leveling-Socialing Game".

I don't generally roleplay, but I do enjoy roleplaying servers, and I will play along if someone tries to interact with me. I like roleplaying servers because I do like the immersion of the game, and having the chance of seeing actual scenes occuring as I walk through a city rather than the same old NPCs adds to that sense.

I do roleplay my character in a sense, but only in the sense that I enjoy building a story as they go through the game in my head. I've tried external RP but it's just not for me ... it seems more like improv acting, especially since all the emotes seems to have the same effect of an improv person miming, and that's less my thing than written/imagined storytelling, but I enjoy being around it.

It's true if there were more tools, I may take part in more casual roleplay, just for fun.