Where are you?

[Sereamha]

Just where are the roleplayers on Order these days? I find myself and just a few common others ever engaging in RP in the designated chat channels and it is beginning to frustrate me a bit. I do see that a good bunch of people are online, just not in the RP channels and if they are, they remain completely and utterly silent.
I am just curious is this mass exodus from the roleplaying channel and roleplaying in general was meant to happen or if it was just an accident. Given it a few weeks to get better and it just hasn't.
I hate to say it, but I have been considering dropping my sub if I can't find a decent amount of engaging rp, since that is what I use the game for, primarily. This might get put in rant channels, but oh well, I needed to vent my frustration.

[LungTien Temeraire]

I second what is said there... seeing new (and ancient) players and roleplayers come (back) in the last months had made my hope and delight grow a lot, but in the last week, I started feeling like the RP in this shard is sinking again... where did you go, players and RPers?

I also see, sometimes, RPers in the public RP channels, but they sadly remain silent, whether there is RP occuring at the moment or not... With the growing decrease of RPers' presence, and activity, I even start thinking planning and having RP events in game is becoming harder and harder... :/

RP is one of the main reasons making me stay in this game... if it keeps weakening like that, I fear the rope holding me in game will grow thinner and thinner... and leaving the game would sadden me greatly, remembering the good moments I had, in RPs, hunts... with the community.

[Ssilmath]

I'll be back in a couple three weeks and raring to RP again, but the power supply for my computer is busted and I can't replace it till then. As for the RP channel, I left it due to not enjoying myself there. No reason to stick around when not having fun.

[Darkwing_Duck]

I couldn`t agree more Niv! *huggles* sadly I have been unable to get on when you`re on due to work/family, and when I AM on only a couple people even talk to me. and there`s no RP what so ever *frowns*
Blasted work, and second shift 6 day work weeks >.>
Hope you don`t cancel ur sub though I`d greatly miss you, and RPing
even if we can RP here or over a messenger, I still enjoy RPing in game, with out rP Istaria just isn`t as fun, and I feel lonely

I think many are afraid to RP due to the rules of the server, and being told they`re not rPing right, ect..... least from what I`ve been told by a few other players. O.o

[LungTien Temeraire]

I couldn`t agree more Niv! *huggles* sadly I have been unable to get on when you`re on due to work/family, and when I AM on only a couple people even talk to me. and there`s no RP what so ever *frowns*
Blasted work, and second shift 6 day work weeks >.>
Hope you don`t cancel ur sub though I`d greatly miss you, and RPing
even if we can RP here or over a messenger, I still enjoy RPing in game, with out rP Istaria just isn`t as fun, and I feel lonely

I think many are afraid to RP due to the rules of the server, and being told they`re not rPing right, ect..... least from what I`ve been told by a few other players. O.o

I am with Sereamha too... we rarely see each other in game, as well. I'll always be open if you want to talk/RP with me. If there is no RP, but people who could when you are there, you can also bring it yourself. I hope you'll get more free time soon.

The ones telling someone that he/she isn't RPing right are wrong. They are wrong if they tell that to anyone, unless it is about space winged hamsters, and worse if they don't say anything, in a polite way, to help ones in improving his/her RP. Everyone has his/her own character and style, as I said before, and liking or disliking is a matter of tastes and doesn't allow rudeness.

When I see players who are interested in RP but aren't confident and are hesitant, I do my best to encourage them and help them entering RPs, in public, in tells,... and by telling them politely how we usually RP in this game. I also tell them they can try and start with me in private if they want, without being eaten, mocked, nor scolded.

[Thicklesip]

I frequently don't have the time/energy to RP in the first place-- I type slowly, I never know when I'll have to AFK, and in general I just find RP exhausting regardless of how much I love it.

A lot of the RP I do see is so lore- or sanity-breaking that I absolutely don't want to participate.

Many of the commonly-used settings make no sense for my characters. A random clearing in the woods is the opposite of where Thicklesip would hang out when it has free time, for instance: it hates trees, loves temperature extremes, and thinks grass/mud are punishments reserved for hatchlings in training. My dryad likes forests better, but she'd use them for solitary meditation and training, not socializing. You can socialize just as well at a tavern, except in a tavern they also have drinks!


I know I'm hardly one of the backbone RPers of the server and I doubt anyone feels my absence, but those are my three big reasons. (ps. Awww, I was wondering why your armory was so quiet Ssilmath. Sorry to hear it and I'm eagerly awaiting your return.)

[LungTien Temeraire]

I frequently don't have the time/energy to RP in the first place-- I type slowly, I never know when I'll have to AFK, and in general I just find RP exhausting regardless of how much I love it.

If you want, Thicklesip, I'm open for slow and light RP, as I said before (no need to post huge, detailed wall of texts and to get exhausted to RP with me). I also use to read, see other things, watch videos, listen musics when I'm RPing, so don't worry about the rythm, when RPing with me.

A lot of the RP I do see is so lore- or sanity-breaking that I absolutely don't want to participate.

You can tell me how you do, I'd try and adapt, also no need to link it to main RP lines if you prefer.

Many of the commonly-used settings make no sense for my characters. A random clearing in the woods is the opposite of where Thicklesip would hang out when it has free time, for instance: it hates trees, loves temperature extremes, and thinks grass/mud are punishments reserved for hatchlings in training. My dryad likes forests better, but she'd use them for solitary meditation and training, not socializing. You can socialize just as well at a tavern, except in a tavern they also have drinks!

We can have RPs anywhere, in main (anywhere in Istaria), in tell, in other channel, if you want.

I know I'm hardly one of the backbone RPers of the server and I doubt anyone feels my absence, but those are my three big reasons.

I feel your absence as well as the absence of every other who is silent (not talking about afk/busy players there) or not here (not talking about those who don't have time, money,... there). Unless I'm busy or afk, I'm always open for RP.

[Frith-Rae]

teehee see when you say what your character would hate - Thickle - what I see there is an excellentRP opportunity for us to learn about you LOL.

I can see the amusement and laughing IRL if I rwaas reading your dragon complaining about how evil mud and grass is, despite hanging out in "the clearing" in order to try and be "sociable with others.."

Not saying you need nor should RP if you aren't into it - just saying all those reasons you gave to me make AWESOME RP - and then therefore educate the rest of us where we would look for your character in order to engage her in further RP.

(And to my knowledge any RP room can be custom designed if the players in the room wish to do so - the default clearing is just so you don't have to tell every single person who enters every few minutes what the scenery is LOL).

See, myself - I *hate* tavern RPs because they generally consist of nothing but small-talk (in my experience) and rarely have true substance unless you have some weird character expounding on themselves...lol. Makes for weird RP, but not fun RP, to me .

Whereas if you want to drink in any RP environment - low andn behold - magic-still in your pack - produce DRINK!

However - I must say - I do agree with you on the lore-breakers and sanity-WAAAAA RPers - time and time again I seem to run into these when I try to play and it just discourages me from returning each time.

Heck even in the recent forum RPs of Lung - there was a player who was not a dragon, s peaking dragon - and I didn't join theRP because because for me to stay IC Frith would have been ranting against the non-dragon-speaking-dragon and ignoring everything else...LOL. I dint want to hijack the thread so I stayed out of it. (And yes I realize that character was or is becoming dragon or something along those lines - but again - too lore breaking for me to really be able to cooperatively RP in that prticular setting and that particular plot).

It isn't that I want to say "ok you cant exist" (cept for some of them..yes..no flying hamsters please) - its just that depending on t he point of the RP - I really don't care to have to interact with 2 headed, feathered, 4 winged, no legged, five tailed - furred "dragons" that don't exist here...:/. Makes me logoff and remember why I waited 6 months the last time to log back in.

then log in again...and see the same thing...and..logout for another 6 months.

[Frith-Rae]

ok you know what - that post was very negative. I had to comment on thickly but then I went off on a rant...

So to bringn it back to the positive.

This may be impossible as I dontknow everyones timezones and such - but if RP seems a bit dead or if people are constantly missing each other - there would be nothing wrong with setting up a time - a consistent time - each day that you know if you login to RP, others canlogin to RP at the same time.

You can advertise around - and it only takes 2-4 people logging in consistently at the same time/days each week to build an expectation of RP and so that everyone knows "if Im looking this is a good time to look!"

Im not saying a commitment on the level of work r anything - but if all the general RPers know that "every saturday at 2pm" or "every Monday night" Rpers are dedicated to gather and do whatever- then people will start to commit andshowup and keep showing up because of all the fun .

Anyway its something Ive done in the past, and seen done by others, when RP is trying to get drummed up so it might be something that those who are committed and have the time might want to try and put together and work on?

Just a thought. I know if it was a time I could make it each week - if I KNEW quality RP waas happening consistently each and every week (almost) - I could commit to login and have fun. And not worry about logging in on that one little slot I have and sit with silent channels and then wonder why I even logged in!

[LungTien Temeraire]

Since I started playing, I have been more and more convinced the time when I can log and have the best chance to find RP is from the time I posted for the event about Iyrevi's lair, as this has always been the moment when I was seeing more people, and the best chance to see RP, events included... but I can't log too late in the night, and even less when I have work, so it is why I usually come at that time.

[AguaRush]

I my self dont get on istaria much other then the weekends and still rarely then. this is due to being away at school.
sadly if i dont cut out some of my istaria time i fear my grades will drop.

I am assuming this could be the fate of many other roleplayers ^^ christmas break and thanksgiving will be prime time again. and also for me 2nd semester might be alittle lighter load so i hope to be around more

[Akrion]

Sorry Ser. I've been struggling at continuing to log on due to the lack of RP for quite a while. I keep coming back in hopes that enough will spark to entice more people back but it just seems that more continue to leave for one reason or another. To me, due to the fact there has been numeours attempts to revitalize RP, it's becoming more and more clear that Order needs to see a spike in roleplayers somewhat equivilant to the drop in roleplayers that we saw in mid to late 2009.

Currently we're not seeing anywhere near the number of new roleplayers replacing the ones that have left and that pretty much puts much of the public roleplay on the shoulders of the already scarse number of experienced roleplayers to drive. There's just a lack of variety in RP, lack of continuious availability in RP, and a lack of coverage in RP (that is, where you can find RP). When someone encounters the same 4 or 5 characters in RP and are unable to cross paths or interact with any other it's just hard to stay interested.

In the past I'm sure you could imagine a scenario where someone may have harmed someone related to Sereamha, Iyrevi for example. What happened with Iyrevi and whoever harmed him would have quickly spread to Sereamha and Ssiscor, bringing in 2 other characters right off the bat. At the time there were plenty of people that it's definitely concievable that the person who harmed Iyrevi would have friends, thus adding more to the RP. People who oppose or support Ssiscor may wind up offering their help or resistance as well. So on and so forth. Things just flowed like that for the majority of RP and rarely (atleast for me) did you wind up having to RP with the same set of characters and players every day unless you either wanted to or the RP just happened to work out that way.

I'm not saying this is what everybody may have experienced, just that it was possible to experience. You had choices, you had options. You could just go from one person or group to another. There are simply not enough roleplayers for that anymore.

At this point I honestly couldn't even begin to think of a solution, as it feels like many have already been tried. The two IC hunts Tsargoth ran recently managed to pull quite a number of people seemingly out of nowhere into just some random fun RP, which was nice to see because it at least helped support the theory I came up with a long while back when I was saying we had pretty much lost everyone that really drove RP forward and got people interested in RPing which Tsargoth seems to be incredibly good at doing.

[LungTien Temeraire]

I would have joined Tsargoth's hunt in Northern Deadlands if I had known it was going to happen, and if my timezone had allowed me to be there. Anyway, sometimes, maybe it isn't only the RP event itself (a RP with a hunt, or in a lair,...) which pulls more or less RPers... maybe it also depends of the name(s) of the one (those) who organize the event and attend it?

[A'Sasha]

Well as for myself I have a mid-term to study for, a test after that, vacation after that for Thanksgiving, then I come back to a cumulative final exam, then holidays. Needless to say, I have no time to play.

[Morinare_Blackclaw]

Like many, I'm sure, I began role-playing with the original D&D, lo, these many moons ago; my role-playing style was set (almost in stone) by those experiences, sitting around a table...including sitting around a plotting-board in the red-lit Combat Information Center aboard my ship...we had about a dozen or so players, including our Executive Officer, involved (you haven't been flamed 'til you've had a 26-year Navy Commander flame you! ).

I digress...My RP style now is pretty much the way it was then: when I'm in-game, I *am* role-playing, no matter where I am in Istaria, or, what channel I happen to be active in. It's Morinare who's there, not the human who thinks he's in control (!)...and, I RP based on what Morinare sees and hears, and what he knows and learns.

In the last couple of months (Morinare is only 4-5 months old, and he's my first character), I've dropped by a couple of the designated RP channels, and, while I've been warmly welcomed, it just didn't "fit" my style of RP...that's NOT a knock at the wonderful folks who were there, but, rather a comment about my need to broaden.

While I will always prefer to RP "in the moment," I'll give the RP channels another shot, and see if I can adapt myself to what's going on there...so, if ya see me there, be gentle with me...

[Darkwing_Duck]

I would have loved to join in the hunt/RP with Tsargoth if I hadn`t of had to work that weekend D:
I always switch, and swap character to rP I rarely RP the same character two nights in a row XD
Just to try to keep everyone on their toes Sadly I think my RPs are getting a little stale though. with all the stresses in real life going on recently, I just don`t have any good RPs in mind O.o maybe once things get better at work, and home I`ll get the motivation, and imagination to spark back up XD

I think right now with school, work, and the economy, That`s most likely the root cause for many leaving. I know a few players left due to lack of finances.

[LungTien Temeraire]

I would have loved to join in the hunt/RP with Tsargoth if I hadn`t of had to work that weekend D:
I always switch, and swap character to rP I rarely RP the same character two nights in a row XD
Just to try to keep everyone on their toes Sadly I think my RPs are getting a little stale though. with all the stresses in real life going on recently, I just don`t have any good RPs in mind O.o maybe once things get better at work, and home I`ll get the motivation, and imagination to spark back up XD

I think right now with school, work, and the economy, That`s most likely the root cause for many leaving. I know a few players left due to lack of finances.

You can still ghost one of your RP characters while logging another, most of the RPers do this sometimes, and don't see any issue with it. So you can do what you want with a specific character (hunt, craft,...) while RPing with another one. Also, if you don't have ideas for RP, you can still join other players' RP ideas. No need to always have a RP idea in mind as long as another player at least has one in his/her own.

[Sereamha]

I think a large problem is people who complain that there isn't enough rp.....so they refuse to rp and then complain from a corner while not going out there and trying to spark up new storylines. They always wait for 'someone else' to fix the issue. Well, peoples, start with yourself and boldly step into the rp-ring, is what I say. Ooh...don't whine and say you did that before. Things take time.

If everyone just sits in their corner pouting and saying they will return when 'good rp' is back, NOTHING will change.

[LungTien Temeraire]

I think a large problem is people who complain that there isn't enough rp.....so they refuse to rp and then complain from a corner while not going out there and trying to spark up new storylines. They always wait for 'someone else' to fix the issue. Well, peoples, start with yourself and boldly step into the rp-ring, is what I say. Ooh...don't whine and say you did that before. Things take time.

If everyone just sits in their corner pouting and saying they will return when 'good rp' is back, NOTHING will change.

I second that: RPers, if there is no RP, or not enough, stopping RPing yourselves and leaving won't solve it and will even make it worse. If there isn't RP or not enough, bring RP yourself, and it will increase the chances to see it rise again.

[Akrion]

I think a large problem is people who complain that there isn't enough rp.....so they refuse to rp and then complain from a corner while not going out there and trying to spark up new storylines. They always wait for 'someone else' to fix the issue. Well, peoples, start with yourself and boldly step into the rp-ring, is what I say. Ooh...don't whine and say you did that before. Things take time.

If everyone just sits in their corner pouting and saying they will return when 'good rp' is back, NOTHING will change.

Except a number of us have done this, repeatedly, to no avail. At one point Raptress and I managed to bring back Hraefn to join with us alongside Starstilanx, and Nambroth where we tried for roughly a month to get more RP going by spending more time in New Trismus to catch new players but there just seemed to be many more new players that had no interest in roleplaying, or even respecting basic OOC rules of RP areas, than there was a couple years ago. So we would usually suggest they may have a better time on the more populated Chaos shard, which would often elicet crazy over-reactions from other old players. Sometimes even just trying to teach the varoius RP rules to new players more willing to listen would send some of the old players into a frenzy. So ultimately we just stopped going to New Trismus. Hraefn quit, Nambroth quit, and Starstilanx sort of quit.

It goes well beyond people just 'sitting in a corner and pouting' .. How long have you, Lungtien and a few others been RPing continuiously for? And how much more RP is there now than there was 6 months ago? There must be less considering you made a post about it. Notice how despite a group of people continuing to RP regardless of the lack of said RP, things have continued to get worse? You would think if things were as simple to fix as "People just need to RP" then RP would have gotten better through your efforts, as well as ours. But it hasn't, it's gotten steadily worse regardless.

At one point we would of had 6 people, Our little group that I listed above plus you Sereamha, who were actively trying to get RP going with both new and old players. More than there had been for quite a while before that, and more than there had been since. The amount of RP went up a little bit, but then it just crashed again. And really it's tiring to have to deal with trying to get new players some RP while dealing with old players who have some apparent problem with us trying to teach the new players the common rules of Order. I can only try for so long before I have to take a break and try again later. I am currently on that break.