How important is roleplaying to you?

[Disrupter]

Its impossible to not support RP, as its a player created activity. The only way to not support is to not support chat.

[Aitze]

I suppose that's true, but... It's not really what I meant. <_< Every game supports roleplaying to at least a minimal amount, but what I mean with support is exactly what the word says - support. As in that there's extra options, like in example emotes, that make roleplaying both easier and more fun.

[Turiel Soren]

Its pretty important to me, it gives actions in the game a bit more purpose beyond just playing, to really get into the quests and the story to feel like your a part of the world.

[Old Greg]

yeah i'm really not a role-player at all. the only time i've ever encountered roleplaying was when some friends and i made characters on RP servers in warcraft as a joke. i went up to a guy in the starter zone and said "forsooth good sire! i am in need of a sturdy shield wouldst thou spare some coin? i have traveled many a path for many moons, slayed many a beast, and still" and before he would let me continue he just opened trade, put in 10 gold, and told me to shut up.

[Ipmia]

Originally Posted by Old Greg

yeah i'm really not a role-player at all. the only time i've ever encountered roleplaying was when some friends and i made characters on RP servers in warcraft as a joke. i went up to a guy in the starter zone and said "forsooth good sire! i am in need of a sturdy shield wouldst thou spare some coin? i have traveled many a path for many moons, slayed many a beast, and still" and before he would let me continue he just opened trade, put in 10 gold, and told me to shut up.

that one made me laught

[[PhiberOpticks]]

Role playing doesn't have to be fancy talking. It's all about immersion. Your character should and often is a mirror of your personality. You play as yourself. You achieve goals that suit you. And the things you do should reflect that in a social setting. The point of immersion for a game is when you no longer think about the character as a person in real life, but treat the other PC as that person. That's truly role playing. Right now, I think MMOs only truly immerse you in combat. That's about as primitive as it can get. It needs storytelling.

One thing I've always wondered about is some way to tell a dynamic story through your character. How can you reflect a totally different story for your character simply by playing the game? I think that really captures the essence of it. But the only game that was even on the right path was Fable. But you couldn't break away from the pre-designated archetypes. What I really wonder is how you can break the mold and remodel it to not only your actions, but your personality.

And if role playing is important to you, how do you think a game should engage you in it in this manner?

[Terpsichore]

Roleplaying is my normal state of mind.

[Midgarsormr]

I'll immerse myself into the game's storyline, and I'll give myself "fake pride" over the faction that I'm part of. Y'know, "Down with the Alliance scum! We, horde, are the superior!" Rah rah and all that. Anything above that is creep to me. Like the, "Hello, my fair maiden, may I escort you yonder forest?" Very creepy.

[Endrance]

Actually, the "RP" in MMORPG doesn't mean that you actually RP at all. It's to be understood as RPG as itself, which doesn't forcibly mean that you have to roleplay in any game anymore because it has "RPG" in it's name. In fact, it just means that the game has some sort of story or plot your character participates in, not you roleplaying a completely different person related to other players. Everyone can decide themselves in current games what they want to do mostly compared to older games where you had to roleplay. It's not a rule anymore like it used to be ten years ago, so it's also not an important factor in MMORPGs unless the game offers some sort of RP-Server.

[Disrupter]

Originally Posted by Aitze

I suppose that's true, but... It's not really what I meant. <_< Every game supports roleplaying to at least a minimal amount, but what I mean with support is exactly what the word says - support. As in that there's extra options, like in example emotes, that make roleplaying both easier and more fun.

I would have to say in this day and age a title lacking emotes would be odd in the extreme, and generally something I would include in chat support.

Phiber brings up some good points about how each player can have their own dynamic story, but its really just faction standings with NPCs and how they react to the player. Thats essentially the only feature Fable utilized outside of the standard "Choose your own adventure" type stuff you'd see in any recent Bioware title. I'd like to see varying degrees of NPC reaction to a player, but not necessarily for RP enjoyment. Having done some work in a professional capacity on numerous RPG titles, this isn't really a breakthrough in the genre.

That said, I do believe it should be a standard. RP aside, the environment and ecology of a region is more interesting when your character illicits a different response from its native inhabitants than your buddy might.

[Yame]

I've never been a roleplayer, but it's ideal to have an environment that favors it to a degree, meaning some good lore and naming rules and whatnot. Just because I don't like to roleplay doesn't mean that I want the whole game to be a joke and everybody to be named "leetpwner" and things like that.

[Disrupter]

Originally Posted by Yame

I've never been a roleplayer, but it's ideal to have an environment that favors it to a degree, meaning some good lore and naming rules and whatnot. Just because I don't like to roleplay doesn't mean that I want the whole game to be a joke and everybody to be named "leetpwner" and things like that.

Name restrictions infuriate me. Not because I try to name myself things like "AwesomeJock", but because I have a handle I've used for close to ten years now. If some overly nerdy administrator somewhere deems it isn't "immersive" I'm out of luck and angry.

Restricting players isn't the way to move units, even in something so small as naming conventions.

[Endrance]

Originally Posted by Disrupter

Name restrictions infuriate me. Not because I try to name myself things like "AwesomeJock", but because I have a handle I've used for close to ten years now. If some overly nerdy administrator somewhere deems it isn't "immersive" I'm out of luck and angry.

Restricting players isn't the way to move units, even in something so small as naming conventions.

I don't quite get your point. What name is the one that you've used?

Because restricting players to a certain extent is exactly how you make units move in MMORPGs. A Game without rules may be fascinating at first, but gets very boring fast. Cause even if you don't, other players do in fact tend to name their character "AwesomeJock" or "Chickenwithrice".

[Disrupter]

Originally Posted by Endrance

I don't quite get your point. What name is the one that you've used?

Because restricting players to a certain extent is exactly how you make units move in MMORPGs. A Game without rules may be fascinating at first, but gets very boring fast.

I figured it went without saying the name I am using now just might have been it...

Restricting players on the names they can use? Does that particular feature make you hop up and down in your seat ready to purchase it? Probably not. Its the interesting game rules and variations there of that make a game. Not, as I said, whether someone in a corporate tower somewhere decides your name is acceptable.

Are you confusing game rules with game mechanics? Lets use the recent example of Grand Theft Auto 4's gigantic sandbox environment, relatively free of "rules", but chalk full of game mechanics. A sand box type title is essentially a single player offline MMO, though some titles have branched into limited multiplayer as well. There are no rules in these titles, but many intricate mechanics.

Also, why should one care what another names their character in an online video game? If it detracts from the enjoyment of the game I really have no answer other than stick to board games.

[Shiro]

not as important as the game coming outttttttttt, where the hell is it?!