Curse

Mallich · May 13, 2005, 12:59 AM // 00:59

Yeah I'm definately up for an RP list, feel free to add "Mallich Delletore" to that one. By the way what is the limit on people in your friend's list? For some reason I thought it was 20, in which case we would need another way to solve this... and my guild will be an RP guild once we get settled a little and I finish the website... It would be great if we could establish a community of RP guilds in Guild Wars.

I'd really like to see the RP District and/or the RP Channel though!

Anno Domini · May 13, 2005, 01:29 AM // 01:29

20 is the maximum? Oh man...We really need a guild or an RP site.
These days I've been wandering in the Int Districts but there are too many koreans and other guys anyway, like in Old Ascalon. It's very hard to identify an RPer there.

Whispers are also hard to see and I really don't know if they work or what, because I tried few times but I got no response. Anyway, if you see Dveena Lazaar online send me one.

Heron Fensbanel · May 13, 2005, 01:40 AM // 01:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anno Domini

Heron, the reason why we want an RP channel is to have some "privacy" and be able to read our dialogues without non-RPers interference. It's also a lot easier to find each other. Imagine I enter Avalon city and I donno whether there are RPers or not. I can send a OOC message in that channel and see who responds.

Sorry, I should have phrased that better. I can see why an RP chat channel would be wanted, but what I want to know is how it would be implemented in the game to avoid the problems the current chat channels have. As it is, both the Trade and the Local channels get cluttered up with trade requests on top of the usual chatter. What would prevent the RP channel from being overrun in the same way?

Anno Domini · May 13, 2005, 02:53 AM // 02:53

You're right Heron, we can't totally stop all the unwanted messages in the chat channels. Well, we can turn off Local and Trade messages, but won't be the ultimate solution.
That's why I'd also like to have a more customizable chat window with several filters. Probably instead of having a default RP channel implemented by the developers what I'd like is being able to customize channels and create new ones.
If we decide that our channel is "Roleplaystuff" or something, we will all add it an use it pretty much like an Irc channel.
I'm no programer though, donno if this is possible or not, or channel have to be added by devs and not us.

Anathar Caerun · May 13, 2005, 09:42 AM // 09:42

Not to cut across the general theme of Discussion, I Started a RPers Guild a week or so ago, and couldnt find anyone who wanted to be part of it! DOH! I'd be happy to Have you guys along for the ride? Id even hand over leadership if one of you is better at organisation etc than myself!

If you want to talk about it more, PM me on 'Anathar Caerun' or 'Lerith Ether' im usually on one or another!

PS: I know I'm a low poster, I've only just found this Board!

Necro Munga · May 13, 2005, 10:56 AM // 10:56

Count me in guys will keep a look out in international and 5 although both have always been deserted when I have been there.

Anyone forming a RP guild mail me

Game Name Necro Munga

Melmoth · May 13, 2005, 12:51 PM // 12:51

What about the following Idea?

We could write an "open letter" to Gaile Grey and ArenaNET. This letter could be a sticky Thread in this board. It should include our wish for a rp-district, considering the important aspects we already discussed (i.e. that we don´t need any gamemasters, we would moderate the district on our own / Anet could satisfy even more players, increase longtime-motivation of the game and so on...) but it should not demand too much.

Everyone who wants to support this "petition" could answer the thread in a defined form like, i.e.

Quote:

I want ArenaNet to establish RP-Districts in GW

Name: Mathias Wölfelschneider
Country: Germany
Ingame-Character: Neoven Sireth (Mo/Me)

So we could have some kind of virtual "collection of signatures". After having collected an certain number (after we promoted the petition on fansites, ingame and so forth), we eMail Anet to have a look at it.

To make the thread sticky, we need support of at least one moderator of this bord. They should also look over the thread sometimes, to delete posts that are not on-topic (because it should not be a discussion but a collection of signatures, we also don´t need "Stupid rp-nerds, go play ultimaonline!"-posts..)

What do you think?

Would someone be so kind and write down a text for that petition? As I´m no native-speaker, I don´t feel my english beeing sufficient to express our "desire" in a propriate way.

relientK_fan · May 13, 2005, 04:42 PM // 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melmoth

What about the following Idea?

We could write an "open letter" to Gaile Grey and ArenaNET. This letter could be a sticky Thread in this board. It should include our wish for a rp-district, considering the important aspects we already discussed (i.e. that we don´t need any gamemasters, we would moderate the district on our own / Anet could satisfy even more players, increase longtime-motivation of the game and so on...) but it should not demand too much.

Everyone who wants to support this "petition" could answer the thread in a defined form like, i.e.

So we could have some kind of virtual "collection of signatures". After having collected an certain number (after we promoted the petition on fansites, ingame and so forth), we eMail Anet to have a look at it.

To make the thread sticky, we need support of at least one moderator of this bord. They should also look over the thread sometimes, to delete posts that are not on-topic (because it should not be a discussion but a collection of signatures, we also don´t need "Stupid rp-nerds, go play ultimaonline!"-posts..)

What do you think?

Would someone be so kind and write down a text for that petition? As I´m no native-speaker, I don´t feel my english beeing sufficient to express our "desire" in a propriate way.

That's a great idea!!!! I will sign it for sure! Guilds are not the answer, that's for sure.

Shiryou Kattami · May 13, 2005, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Nope, they're not :\ I love my guild, and we had awesome RP moments in WoW, but it all seems to have gone to post in GW. I can't get 'em to settle on a story or character or anything -_-

Melmoth · May 13, 2005, 06:21 PM // 18:21

Well, GW doesn´t cultivate RP at the moment. But I think this is mainly because of the community, not because of the game itself (as it is highly atmospheric!). The way people behave ingame and all that SPAM in the main chat kills every atmosphere for me. On the other hand, GW would need few things (like our district) to become RP-friendly. It´s not the game design but the community that destroys RP in GW. So we need to seperate this community in RP-interested and OOC.

Shiryou Kattami · May 13, 2005, 06:28 PM // 18:28

Exactly, that's the thing

The community is the main block to RP - hance, having an RP district would be great...at least then you'd know that if you were going to try and RP in the channel there'd be at least 1 person there who'd reply ^^;

Melmoth · May 13, 2005, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Another problem that has to be discussed is the following: When roleplaying, there might be some interference with the story-driven gameplay of gw. People who talk about the latest events may spoil the storyline for those who did not already play the particular primary-quest or mission. And what about these situations (took place at Internat. District 1, Asclaon, just 5 minutes ago, after I started roleplaying): "Prince Rurik asked me to do xyz." - "What? He asked me to do the same?"...This is no problem, but what if someone answers

******** SPOILER ********

"The Prince? The prince is dead. He couldn´t tell you anything."

You got similar problems in any mmorpg, when someone does a quest that someone else already finished. But the gamedesign of GW allows major changes in the world (for each player "individually") that depend on the storyline. So this problem may be much bigger then in "traditional" mmorpgs.

Any ideas how to solve this?

Shiryou Kattami · May 13, 2005, 07:22 PM // 19:22

I've thought about that...really, I think the only solution off the top of my head is that RP'ers need to generally be courteous about it and try and keep plot-line spoilers out of places that are going to have people who don't know. Using the above example, not talking about the above spoiler until you get to the place the quest that gives the spoiler takes you to.

As for properly reinforcing...no idea...

Defafnyr · May 13, 2005, 08:00 PM // 20:00

RP district is really the answer, that and we need a better chat system. This is a great game but the chat system is the worse I've worked with and I've played quite a few mmorpg's.

RP district not only caters to the RPers, but to those who do NOT want to RP as the d00dz don't have to hear us and our RP, we don't have to hear them and their l33t [email protected]

My husband and I are RPers, two of our daughters who play these games are not RPers. Because of this we understand where both camps are coming from.

RPers want a place where they can immerse. Non RPers want us to get out of their space so they have a place where they can socialize OOCly with other gamers while playing and compare views on RL things like the latest movies and such.

Separate districts cater to both the player-of "Eisabeau Willows" (rper) and to player-of "Tuna Casserole" (non-rper...and yes, that's a real character name one of my daughters used in EQ1).

Untill we get such a place, it's International District for me.

Melmoth · May 13, 2005, 08:04 PM // 20:04

The biggest challenge for the "self-moderating"-rp-community might be to handle players that enter the rp-district just to spoil the storyline by purpose.

subbob · May 14, 2005, 02:47 AM // 02:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defafnyr

RP district is really the answer, that and we need a better chat system. This is a great game but the chat system is the worse I've worked with and I've played quite a few mmorpg's.

Agreed. As far as I can tell there is NO way to log (or capture) any of the chat dialogue. The only way is screen dumps and that is not a viable solution.

I find chat logs in RP'ing very useful as I can refer back to refresh my memory on prior conversations for details I've forgotten buy my character would know.

Anno Domini · May 14, 2005, 03:13 AM // 03:13

So what about the petition idea? Are we gonna do it? I guess it's good to try.

ArcticFlame · May 14, 2005, 04:07 AM // 04:07

Hmm... something like this?

Quote:

Dear ArenaNet:

First of all, we would all like to thank you for bringing us this wonderful game, Guild Wars. All of us enjoy this game immensely, and applaud your effort and dedication to this project. Thank you.

One thing which is vital to the solidification of an online community is roleplaying, or RP for short. Through role-playing, players can immerse themselves to a greater degree in this world that you have created, and hence, will increase the enjoyment that they will get out of the game. Put shortly, roleplaying is key to those who wish to truly suspend their disbelief about this fantasy world.

While roleplay-enforced servers are present in other online games, we realize that roleplaying is not for everyone - certainly, it is something which requires time and effort. Also, some people dislike roleplaying for various reasons.

It is for these reasons that we propose the establishment of role-playing districts in addition to international districts and local districts. As mentioned before, these districts will allow roleplayers to do what they love to do best, without interfering with others' enjoyment of the game. Should you establish these districts, all will be happier - the roleplayers will enjoy the benefits of a channel free of out-of-character chat, and the normal players will continue to go about on their daily business, with more fellow out-of-character players to discuss and trade with.

No matter what the decision is, thank you for reading this proposal. Enclosed below is a list of signatures of those who share our ideas.

Maybe a little preachy, but feel free to edit/throw out/comment. Thanks!

Anno Domini · May 14, 2005, 04:56 AM // 04:56

Good one, Arctic. It's pretty much there I guess.

I would probably remove the 3rd paragraph, to avoid saying that some people don't like RP.
And I'd add this to the end of the 2nd paragraph:
***Put shortly, roleplaying is key to those who wish to truly suspend their disbelief about this fantasy world, and Guild Wars, as other online games, has a big community of roleplayers enjoying not only the fantastic battles but also the world and stories you've created with such originality and effort.***

You know, just to sell the idea effectively, english is not my language so you can play around with this idea if you think it's good.

Melmoth · May 14, 2005, 08:58 AM // 08:58

Hey, ArcticFlame! Pretty good text. I really like it. Maybe we should add something like

Quote:

We are aware of the fact that GW does not primarily focus on RP but on fast-paced and action-oriented gameplay. Because of that, the "prototypical" GW-Player (and we respect that Arenanet has to focus further game-development on the needs of the masses first - just to keep it financed with it´s no-fee-concept) might not be the typical roleplayer as found in other (MM)ORPGS. Nevertheless, with little technical (and/or) financial effort you could be winning over a group of consumers you might not have been primarily aiming at. RP could be a further factor of long-term motivation besides the storyline and the PvP-features. We don´t expect a fully equipped RP-environment and no major intervention concerning the general gameplay. For hardcore-roleplayers GW may not be the right game at all. But establishing one RP-district per outpost would give the ones who aim for rp a "home" inside the GW-world.

If someone could put this in *cough* plain english?

Addition to Anno domini´s paragraph:

"We highly appreciate how you made Tyria an atmospheric, consistent and immersive fantasy-world. For those who come from a roleplaying background however, the immersion is beeing disturbed and the design of the world is almost "wasted" [can anyone find a softer expression?] by the high amount of OOC conversation and inappropriate behaviour of non-RP-players. On the other hand, these people might feel disturbed by RP-conversations."

Three points should be added:

1. Self-moderation: No gamemasters needed.

2. ArenaNET´s following statement needs to be invalidated as this might be their answer to our request:

Quote:

Fansite Friday 35: Guild Wars impressive graphics quality and fame statistics are a great attraction for roleplaying gamers. Do you plan some kind of features, scenarios or a world for roleplayers?

You are right about the interest amongst roleplaying gamers. Judging from questions I’ve spotted in various fan forums, it's clear that there is a lot of interest in playing Guild Wars in full roleplaying fashion. There have been suggestions that we offer a completely separate roleplaying world or set aside an area of the existing world for roleplayers only. I’m not sure what percentage of players would choose such a world; it could quite a large number would enjoy investing themselves into the roleplaying experience and that such an opportunity would be very popular. I do not believe that we'll have a separate world for such players. But I think those who suggest that we need a separate server or a different world may not completely understand one of the great benefits of the instanced missions of Guild Wars.

With instanced or private missions, you and your party can choose to engage in the roleplaying experience to any degree that you desire. With instanced missions, you pick your party. This means that you can choose to invite only guild members or only roleplayers to go on the missions and undertake the quests. Based on how you form your party or your guild, you can set all sorts of standards of dress, speech, gameplay, etc. The world in which you live in your mission is your world alone. If you choose to speak in Chaucerian English or Medieval French or Yi-Dynasty Korean, if you want to use strict naming conventions or modes of dress or gameplay, the choice is up to you.

Now, it’s true that you will need to visit towns and outposts between missions. But it occurred to me that it is possible that by the time Guild Wars is released, or soon thereafter, there may be a means to squelch those not in your party and to carry on all game playing within private chat mode. The use of the Party or Guild Chat feature would keep the focus on that roleplaying theme. This broad squelching isn't something I've asked about. It's simply an idea that seems to meld nicely with the concept of the roleplaying illusion, and it could help avoid “breaking the mood” by keeping all player interaction in the appropriate mode. So with instanced missions, and particularly with the possibility of chat interface selections, roleplaying should be easily sustained within Guild Wars.

I wanted to share a new bit of information about guilds, and I believe that this will be of particular interest to roleplaying guilds, which can have a lot of members: We have raised the guild cap for Guild Wars to 100. This should allow more flexibility in party formation, and will surely be good news to all kinds of guilds!

It´s not that easy. Instancing is nice for rp, but it´s no the ultimate solution.

3. Mod-Support: Is any mod of this board reading this? Would you support us (by making the petition sticky, i.e.)?