Overpowered Characters

[Frith-Rae]

what of those that play the game just for RP? you guys may find leveling in this game fun, but others do not, and i myself am simply incapable of doing so. it's said that it's best to keep IC and OOC separated, i think that applies here as well.

Well then sorry, if you were to attempt to roleplay out an actual physical fight between your level one biped or hatchling, with my level 90 adult dragon - you would not seriously hurt me.

I play to RP as well, I've sat for years in one spot doing nothing but RPing. I've not gained in level in 2-3 years at this point because I've not bothered aventuring.

But knowing that I would never then go out and pick a fight with a level 100 dragon or level 100+ biped if I knew they were the type of person who RPs according to in game abilities. Because I would know that is a losing battle.

Now, not everyone fights using purely in game abilities - I've RPed out tons of "fight" scenes and we didn't throw silver scales and gale winds at each other etc. We just Rped out physically jumping/clawing/biting/breathing on each other without using specific abilities. You jus thave to talk/work with the other player OOC to see which style they prefer using if you don't already know.

But it still stood that if someone was a hatchling they weren't going to wollop on anything but another hatchling. Because if they attempted to fight an adult, they got shaken by the scruff of their neck...lol.

As for keepign IC and OOC seperate - that doesn't really refer to overpowered/godlike or god-modding type stuff. Keeping IC and OOC seperate is *usually* referring more to in character relationships/attitudes/feelings towards others characters. Meaning that your OOC attitude/relationship with the person BEHIND that character doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your two characters IC relationships/attitudes dealings.

I.e. if say Dhalin played a character who hated my dragon's guts and went out of its way to cause problems for my dragon - "Keeping IC and OOC seperate" means that behind the scenes we're friendly and having fun and joking around and whatever, even if our characters are trying to kill each other. It means that I don't take Dhalin's characters opinions about Frith-Rae as Dhalin's PLAYERS opinions about ME (the player).

OOC information like game levels, or known abilities, or limitations of lore - well some people keep 100% strict to only what actually works/happens/allows in the game (i.e. none of hteir characters will deviate from cannon, they will only fight/heal with in game known abilities, etc.). Some people fudge one way or the other. And some people follow absoutely nothing about the in-game cannon at all. Its up to each person to figure out 1-which they like to do and 2-which they like to join and then find/put together such an RP as they enjoy.

So there are groups of RPers who would have no problem with your level 1 character being equal to a level 100 (I've known people who RP hatchlings who never turn into an adult, hatchlings who are old when they become gifted, etc. so it is possible), but there are also groups who would.

Its important to be *clear* about yourself and what you like, and then to *clearly communicate* that to others OOC wise so everyone's on the same page.

So again..COMMUNICATE!

[Draustin]

We aren't there to start another dragons VS bipeds discussion, but there are some dragon NPCs, at Dralk and around (Lantenal the hermit, and one of the dragons in the floating rooms, for example), who talk, while the player does some of their quests, about taking lava baths. If Istaria was realistic, with organic things who burn, there wouldn't be magic, teleport, undeads, spirits, spells,...
The choice to play a dragon or a biped belongs to the player who does it, at the end.

i'm not saying that people should choose bipeds over dragons, i'm saying that dragons are simply OP when compared to bipeds...yes they are fire spirits, but in physical bodies. they would have been immune to fire in their realm because they WERE fire, but now they're not made of fire. it's not even proven that they were fire spirits. if they were, it's possible that they have slight magical protection, but not complete protection due to having a PHYSICAL FORM. if they weren't, it's still possible they've built up a slight resistance to it from living in char. but instead, you say they are COMPLETELY IMMUNE to heat. bipeds can't do that, nor do they have ANYTHING that make up for it. you -could- say that they can learn more forms of magic, but dragons have become so OP that they now can apparently learn bipedal magics, make if publicly known that they know bipedal magics, and not get in any trouble. with how you think of them, they can lift ten times their own weight, immune to extreme heat, and can learn every form of magic. what do bipeds have? nothing. THAT is OP. as for lunus building lairs with lava, it doesn't nessisarily have to be lava. it could be the same thing i said they may bathe with. i'm guessing your about to say "but they say LAVA not part lava." well here, we say water, but the water from our faucets is not pure water. i simply think dragons should be portrayed as weaker than we currently portray them, or give bipeds something epic to make up for it. your statement "in the end, its the players choice to choose between dragon or biped" sounds to me like a big F U to those that choose biped.

[Akrion]

Akrion can destroy many Dragons, both in lore and in mechanics.

In lore, one big disadvantage that Dragons have with their limited focus in magic is that they can't do ethereal damage (Attacks that bypass armor), or really protect from it, like Spirit magic can. And since Dragons rely heavily on physical armor, that's a big problem for them.

In mechanics, well.. Multicast -> Perfect Spell -> Exsanguinate will deal out 3 to 6 hits (depending on Multicast level) of 650 to 850 direct damage, at a distance, insta-cast (Direct damage is not affected by armor or resistances, it's only affected by damage negating attacks such as Shield of Gold) and likely one-shot kill any Ancient that doesn't get Shield of Gold off in time. And depending on if Akrion has Multicast already prepared, he can use Multicast twice in rapid succession, doing both Stop Blood and Exsanguinate which do direct damage (350 - 450 for Stop Blood). Akrion's teched Blood Bolt IV is on par with the damage of a teched improved primebolt V plus being able to do ethereal damage.

Bipeds aren't as bad as you may think. x3

[Draustin]

Akrion can destroy many Dragons, both in lore and in mechanics.

In lore, one big disadvantage that Dragons have with their limited focus in magic is that they can't do ethereal damage (Attacks that bypass armor), or really protect from it, like Spirit magic can. And since Dragons rely heavily on physical armor, that's a big problem for them.

i know a dragon who is quite skilled in spirit magics...a very well known player. dragons being OP violates lore, how could bipeds have won a war for freedom if they really were inferior?

[Raptress]

i know a dragon who is quite skilled in spirit magics...a very well known player. dragons being OP violates lore, how could bipeds have won a war for freedom if they really were inferior?

There was never a war for biped liberation, not really anyway. Yes, the humans fought with dragons, but I'm not sure I'd call it an all-out war for one since the humans' king actively tried to keep conflict to a minimum, and for another the dragons were arguing amongst themselves about how to deal with bipeds, making them far weaker as a force than they otherwise could have been. I'd call the "liberation" (though I use the word very loosely since I don't think humans were ever truly enslaved) more a side effect of the collapse of dragon society than some sort of military victory.

And again Draustin, I really think you might be painting a picture of dragons vs. bipeds that really doesn't play out in the real game. Bipeds are in no way useless compared to dragons. Indeed, there are some mobs in the game that a dragon can't really hope to solo that a multiclassed biped can.

[LungTien Temeraire]

your statement "in the end, its the players choice to choose between dragon or biped" sounds to me like a big F U to those that choose biped.

It isn't this at all. You took my statement the wrong way.

When I fought a biped on the PvP arena, my dragon was stunned 8-9 seconds on 10, and I couldn't even reach the biped with my melee attacks. My dragon died in a few minutes. So, ni game mechanics, a lvl 100 ancient dragon isn't thougher than a lvl 100 biped, and consider that nor the biped nor my dragon used their 'one-shot kills' abilities.

[Ashuran]

the reason the dragon thing bothers me is because all i see are dragons everywhere, only the occasional biped. logicly, it should be the other way around, but with bipeds being a thousand times weaker than dragons IC, not many want to play bipeds.

The real reason why dragons outnumber the bipeds doesn't have anything at all to do with who's more powerful. It has to do with this being the only decent game that allows you to play a real, big, flying, fire breathing dragon (and don't bring up Holy Beast to me either, those aren't dragons, they're fish with hands); people who want to play humans/lizardmen/catmen/elves/dwarves/fairies etc. have plenty of other games they can do that in, and they do.

In reality, a well played biped character with a good build can beat any dragon every time with no contest. And I'm not talking about PVP... PVP here is an absolute joke... I mean in terms of overall power, versatility, and general ability.

It's just too bad good players are in short supply. When playing a biped, Istaria has a steep learning curve compared to most MMO's out there today, and many just can't hack it. The ones who do, become LEGENDS.

Playing a dragon is easy, on the other hand, about on a par with other games. This is not to say any of you who play dragons did so because it's easy... I know you did it for the same reason I did: because RAWR!

When I want to roleplay a human, I log off.

[Reckless]

I think you hit the nail on the head Ashuran, as have a few other individuals who -know- how Istaria really works. No one in this game holds more power over the other. Each race has their own strengths and weaknesses. A biped may not be able to hit nearly as hard as a dragon, but at the same time, their ability to stun (and keep stunned!) among numerous other abilities is what allows them to be on par with their dragon counter-parts. While I need to be right up in my enemies business in order to really attack it, there are plenty of bipeds out there who can deal enough damage from afar to keep the enemy at bay and ultimately kill it.

And in the pvp aspect of things, a dragon could probably one hit KO a biped using GR if they pulled it off quickly enough. However, in the event that the dragon didn't make contact with their hard hits quickly enough, you can be nearly guaranteed that the dragon will end up rooted/mezzed/etc...and ultimately killed.

TL;DR. Every race has it's own abilities that keep them on equal ground with each other, and I think the devs did a good job reflecting that in game.

[Sereamha]

Amen guys XD

Any race can stand up to another in terms of combat. The only hitch is that it takes a biped a lot more training and dedication to get to that level of ability. Which makes sense, sense they are not born with naturally appearing armor scales, firebreath, razor claws, wings etc etc.

RP wise, if you are playing a biped and he say, gets into a fight with a fully grown dragon, you need to have tactics. Just charging right in there, like a dragon could, WILL likely and realistically get you torn to pieces.

'Dragon slayers' in fantasy are usually feared/held in awe/rare for a reason. Dragons are fricken tough customers, but when a biped is intelligent enough and skilled enough to bring one down....WHOOAAA. THAT guy musta been training for this! ^^

[Draustin]

i am aware that a biped can become more skilled than a dragon in the game. i have no problem with the mechanics and levels and stuff for dragons and bipeds, what i have a problem with is in RP...you say a biped can become more powerful than a dragon OOCly, that is because they can learn many more magical schools. ICly, the lore (and mechanics that support it) that says dragons don't allow their kin to learn bipedal magics was thrown out the window. ICly, dragons can aparently learn the magics that make bipeds so skilled legally, that being added to their own natural abilities making them...more powerful than bipeds. another bit of game mechanics that have been ignored is the fact that dragons can take fire damage. yet in RP, they are somehow immune to fire and heat. (before saying something about lava baths, look at my earlier posts.) even though it goes against mechanics, it's widely accepted. and of course, you think that it must be right if it is widely accepted...not necessarily. many trains of thought have become common simply because people conform with the ideas of others. they don't think for themselves. this is me actually thinking about what i accept. and note, before you post anything about "a biped can kill a dragon in pvp" or "a biped can gain better stats than a dragon", i know, and have known. i'm concerned about the RP aspect. now, i am trying to think about what bipeds have that make up for it, because their multiple schools can aparently be learned by dragons ICly. each race does have their own small gift, such as human adaptability, but they're not enough to add up. you may say "but all their gifts added together make them as good as dragons." while i think even then, it's not enough. even if it was, you'd still need ten bipeds (one of every race) to equal a dragon... (and sorry i don't have this separated into paragraphs and indented and stuff...not much of a writer XD)

[Raptress]

It really doesn't do to look at what a few players are doing and think that what they're doing necessarily reflects the beliefs of everyone. For example, dragons using biped magics. I personally will always have my own dragon characters be very secretive about any sort of knowledge about or use of biped magics because I believe that general dragon society believes that sort of thing to be unacceptable.

I also believe that general dragon society is made up of individuals that think themselves superior to bipeds because that's the sort of attitude that the quests and language of NPCs lays out.

But that doesn't stop people from playing dragons that use biped magic in the open nor does it affect the fact that, from my experience, many dragons do not adhere to the "I am greater than thou" attitude.

If there is anything I've learned, it's that not everybody is going to agree on what's "right" in RP. That's not going to change, and neither you nor I can control other peoples' decisions about what their character can do, what they are, or even what plane of existence they come from.

All you can do is voice your concerns, but many times people are not going to want to change their characters just because one person doesn't agree with them (and a lot of the time, they will proceed to get offended, so be careful). The person playing a character you dislike has a different view of how Istaria works, and the only person that can change that view is themselves.

What you can control is who you choose to RP with and how you choose to RP your character. If a particular issue leaves a sour taste in your mouth, you can choose to have your character ignore it or think the other character is lying about what they can do, etc. If something bothers you a lot, then you can choose not to engage in RP with that character at all.

[Frith-Rae]

I also believe that general dragon society is made up of individuals that think themselves superior to bipeds because that's the sort of attitude that the quests and language of NPCs lays out.

But that doesn't stop people from playing dragons that use biped magic in the open nor does it affect the fact that, from my experience, many dragons do not adhere to the "I am greater than thou" attitude.

Exactly. Dragons attitudes in game are encouraged to be "holier than thou" that doesnt mean that everyone follows it, and that doesn't mean that they can "put their claw where their mouth is" .

Frith-Rae feels she's superior to everyone, not because she can beat them (it has nothing to do with that), but because she's a dragon and as far as she is concerned, dragons are by nature - better than everyone in general =D. Its the classic "lofty attitude" dragon. Doesn't mean I'll one swipe your face, or even that I use any type of non-dragon magic (I don't myself). I've ran into others who did, and it was up to me to decide to RP with it or not.

What you can control is who you choose to RP with and how you choose to RP your character. If a particular issue leaves a sour taste in your mouth, you can choose to have your character ignore it or think the other character is lying about what they can do, etc. If something bothers you a lot, then you can choose not to engage in RP with that character at all.

This...AGAIN. I amnot sure how many times we can explain this. If its something you cant' wrap your brain around, soemthing yuou don't WANT to RP with then DON'T! (not yelling, emphasis). You can get creative and RP them being crazy, your character thinking they're hallucinating or imagining their abilities (can be fun!), or you can plain ignore that part of their RP (not respond to it and if it gets thrown in your face anyway explain, politely, OOC, that in order for you to RP with them you are choosing to not respond to that part of their RP), or you can simply excuse yourself form the RP and not respond at all.

As long as you're polite and tactful, MOST people will,if they can "tone down" the mention/usage of that part you feel is "going too far" - esp. if its not necessary to what's going on in the moment (If they use biped magic or something and you're not in a fight it doesn't really matter..). I know I've had this conversation with a few RPers and they respected it and did't make that core of the RP we were engaging in at the time.

ANd sometimes I've just sat out and watched and read but not participated. It sucks sometimes but if you want to take your stand, take your stand.

There's always other groups to RP with, who will follow lore more to your tastes.

However, the fire-proof thing is pretty wide spread, but that doesn't necesarily mean they are immune to ALL fire (dpends on the person). Not sure why that gets your goat considering 90% of all dragon lore, fantasy-wise, is the same on this. But if there's a dragon immune to all the spells you are casting or wahtever, then explain why you will refuse to battle them as its not fair. They can;'t MAKE you RP with them and they can't MAKE you fight back if you don't want to.

Its a choice. But no, you won't be able to determine all their RP, and there will be some dragon facts you're going to have to be happy with - especially if that's how it is in most of the game (cuz yes there is lava/fire that will burn me in game I believe, even if we are more fire-proof in general. Most bipeds can stand in the same stuff per game mechanics, but most bipeds don't RP being fireproof)

But yea, not sure how many ways we can explain it. I hear you in the "I don't like it when you RP this", I have many things I don't like when others break RP.

But in the end, all you can do is choose for yourself.

[Raptress]

I thought of one other personal RP belief that is relevant to the "dragons being fireproof is OP" issue because it occurred to me that perhaps such a quality seems more OP because "able to take lava baths" could be construed as "immune to all fire and fire-like damage."

I do not believe this to be the case. While I do hold that most dragons can indeed have a relaxing lava bath, I do not think that they are immune to flame magic.

Others may have differing opinions on the matter, but my personal "theory" is that flame magic is not the same as regular fire/heat. Given that all specialized biped magic schools are shards of the "master" magic, Primal, it follows that these shard magics probably retain at least some properties of Primal. Primal hurts dragons just fine, and I believe that this carries over to flame magic, thus allowing it to damage dragons as well.

[Sereamha]

I thought of one other personal RP belief that is relevant to the "dragons being fireproof is OP" issue because it occurred to me that perhaps such a quality seems more OP because "able to take lava baths" could be construed as "immune to all fire and fire-like damage."

I do not believe this to be the case. While I do hold that most dragons can indeed have a relaxing lava bath, I do not think that they are immune to flame magic.

Others may have differing opinions on the matter, but my personal "theory" is that flame magic is not the same as regular fire/heat. Given that all specialized biped magic schools are shards of the "master" magic, Primal, it follows that these shard magics probably retain at least some properties of Primal. Primal hurts dragons just fine, and I believe that this carries over to flame magic, thus allowing it to damage dragons as well.

I think the SAME way GREAT MINDS!!

Arcane fire would most definately have different properties and thus would harm dragons just as easily as say lightning magic would ^^

[Ashuran]

There's another thing too. I understand people wanting their characters to be the central figure in the story. But when you're in a cooperative RP you have to realize that it's not just your story, it's everyone's. There is no dominating central character, and there are going to be times when you're just not the almighty Chosen One, owning the spotlight. In fact, most of the time you won't be. Ideally everyone should get their chance to shine, but if all you do is try to make sure every time you're around the story is all about you, you're not going to impress anyone and will probably earn nothing but resentment.

Also, there seems to be a lot of opinion in open RP that in order to be an important or interesting character, you have to be more powerful than everyone else. This isn't true at all. I tend to think of RP storylines as if they were a book that I hope someone would actually want to read. Unless you're 12 (or younger, at least mentally), who really wants to read a story about a character that is all powerful and invincible, and never loses or makes mistakes? The best stories are about characters who have the deck stacked against them and struggle against the odds.

Look at the Lord of the Rings trilogy for example... it had its powerful protagonists yes, look at Gandalf, who was something akin to a demi-god, who returned from the dead and battled with demons of unthinkable power. But the story was never about Gandalf, it was all about Frodo, who could barely keep his head up under the burden that had been placed on him. Gandalf in fact, was hardly ever on the radar, except for a scene here or there... and even he got his butt handed to him a few times.

Now having a powerful character can be fun, of course. I have Ash, who I have described on occasion as an "extinction level event", but on the rare occasion that I do RP him, I keep him in the frame of a Gandalf... there only to be dramatic, give mysterious insights and sage advice, and face off with the occasional "demon of unthinkable power" that rears its head. Then he steps back into the backstory again, leaving the main characters do their thing. I have no desire to make him the center of the story, it would get old, real fast IMHO.

The rare instances that I do have time to do much RP'ing, it is usually my Frodos that I spend the most time playing, and have the most fun with. They're usually the most enjoyable and memorable too, to the point of where I've had other people emulate my characters (I won't name any names, for I prefer to keep my alts to myself... though it can't be too hard to figure out who my alts are. )

To sum up, all I mean to say here is the best characters are not the most powerful, overpowered or otherwise. They are the ones with the most development and character, no matter how strong or 'weak'.

As for my definition of an "Overpowered Character", it's one who can't be defeated, persuaded, or even really affected by any of the other characters. There's really no point in such a character existing in multi-player RP, to be honest, they don't want to be part of a cooperatively written story. It's just literary wank that might as well be posted on a blog somewhere that no one will read.

[Tcei]

I agree so much Ashuran. A lot of people, especially those new to rp think that to have a unique character you have to have an all powerful character. (Or a character that is completely lore-breakingly impossible.)
In a rp community I was apart of a long time ago, we had a this thing called a character diamond. It was a short way to describe unique character traits that (providing something catastrophic didn't happen) would never change. It made making an interesting character that wasn't also a super hero/villian very easy once you got the hang of it.
After a quick search I found:

You choose four adjectives that describe your character. The goal of these four adjectives:

1. Between the four of them, they must pretty much COMPLETELY encompass every aspect of your character. This means they should be appropriately general, as you need to spread them pretty far to cover as much of your character as possible.

2. They should not overlap or duplicate each other. Ask yourself, can my character be X without being Y? If not, then X and Y do not *both* belong in your character diamond.

3. Each adjective should be a TRAIT, i.e. it should affect the way your character acts, speaks, and possibly even looks. So "wealthy" is not an appropriate adjective, as it doesn't affect the way a person acts. But "materialistic" or "snobbish" could well be.

4. No more or less than four. Less, and your character may be too simple. More, and you may not have a good handle on your character. A real-life person might need more than four adjectives, but a fictional character shouldn't (especially if you're adhering to guidelines 1 and 2). Any more than that and your audience may have trouble creating those fun mental expectations of how your character might react to various things. They'll never really feel they "know" that character.

5. These are traits, not states. They are unchanging. (Diamonds are forever!!!) "Naive" CAN be a personality trait, but only if you are that Teflon type of person who just never, never, never loses her innocence.


Now... to mix it up a little, I've made a game of it for myself. This part is in no way necessary to the process, it just helps me make it fun. In EQ, I did one based on race, one based on class, one based on deity, and one wild card. But in WoW I'm going to do something a little different. Inspired by my recent marriage:

Something old: A trait typical of the race, hardwired into his ancestry.

Something new: A way in which this character is a bit of a "rebel" or stands out from what you'd expect of the stereotype.

Something borrowed: A personality trait "borrowed" from his class or profession. Not exactly accurate, since the personality trait is inborn, and they probably chose the profession based on their personality, rather than just adopting this trait because of their profession, but hey, it's a mnemonic, so sue me.

Something blue: This is something just for "color." This should be the trait that makes the character most interesting to others, that draws others to them - the one they'll remember most. This is often one of their most likable or at least interesting traits - the reason people choose to spend time with them. It can be something related to race or class OR something a bit unusual, but its main purpose is to make this character *interesting.* It differs from the "something new" in that a person can be unusual for their race/class without being interesting or likable. For example you could have a rogue who's a little slow-witted. Or an extremely quiet gnome, or a selfish Draenei.

For abit better description on how to do it you can go to this link Appologies if I just posted a no-no.

[Akrion]

I'm not entirely sure how well a "permanent, unchanging temperament" would honestly work in free form RP that you can typically find in Istaria. There's really almost nothing permanent about anybody's personality or temperament. I mean, perhaps if your RP is focused around casual stuff, personality won't really change.. But when you take into account that people can and do change when faced with extreme situations such as war and death (Which Istaria is right in the middle of with the Withered Aegis).

I can certainly say that over the course of time from January 2009 to now, many of Akrion's personality traits have changed in some way.

To add to the above, I'll point out the part where it says "or traits you plan to eliminate in your character over time."

The only RP I ever planned was the storyline I made to bring the whole Akrion/Ikaron Sslik/Dragon thing into play, and I planned that for roughly 2 months, waited another 2 months looking for a good time to get the plan rolling after which it took roughly 6 months until the actual change from Akrion to Ikaron happened (where he became stuck as a Dragon), and finally another 6 months before Akrion returned, transformed back from Ikaron.

Every other RP that my character had been in I planned for absolutely none of. I never planned on having my character witness his adoptive mother get killed, for instance. I just go with the flow of RP around me and typically let it take my character wherever it may go. A few of those RPs happened to be rather intense RPs that changed Akrion's personality over the course of them.

Now, I'm not saying this character diamond is a bad design concept, I'm simply saying that it seems to be suited for RPs that you have a good bit of planning for and control over. I couldn't really tell you when any part of my character may change, because I can't really tell you when, where and how he may get in an RP that could do so. It's all "as it happens" RP.

[Frith-Rae]

Aye Akrion, I don't plan out anything really about how Frith-Rae evolves over time (or anyof my RP characters). I have ideas for where they are starting from and what attitudes they may or may not have. I also have ideas about aspects of them that won't change (for example, Frith-Rae will never not believe dragons are the superior beings in existance, that's a core dragon trait of mine lol, but that doesn't mean she wouldnt'consider XYZ creature really really close after experience ). But there are very few parts/attitudes/beliefs of hers that I would not allow to be altered over time because that's how it goes.

I tend to let my characters in ALL RPs just develop over time, they change and alter based on whatever experiences they are having in the stories they are in. I don't want to write a book, I want to play a character. To me if I'd had it all planned out, that they would go from A to B to C and eventaully get to Z it would be more for booki writing and not for evolvuing/changing storyline-driven RP.

But that's me. I just know that throughout the years, when I look back and try to think of all the problems and pitfalls and walls and bad feelings from other players if I had tried to control all aspects of my characters developments - ugg. WHY?! LOL That would be WORSE than herding cats or organizing a 40 man raid! ROFL

There's another thing too. I understand people wanting their characters to be the central figure in the story. But when you're in a cooperative RP you have to realize that it's not just your story, it's everyone's. There is no dominating central character, and there are going to be times when you're just not the almighty Chosen One, owning the spotlight. In fact, most of the time you won't be. Ideally everyone should get their chance to shine, but if all you do is try to make sure every time you're around the story is all about you, you're not going to impress anyone and will probably earn nothing but resentment.

This this this so much this. 9 times out of 10 when I'm burned out of RP its because one or two people in the group make everything about them, everything concerns them, and when other people try to play out storylines they either ignore them entirely (because it doesnt' involve them) or just RP their own storyline on top of the other person -causing everyoen in the group to choose.

A good RP group is one where you notice everyone is allowed "central stage" at one point or another. Maybe Billy had the last 3 month storyline about his character, but as that one winds down now Laura steps up and she's able to present her ideas. Billy is participating 100% supporting Laura's ideas and not trying to mak ehtem about *him*.

THAT is a good RP group. Unfortunatley, it takes a certain maturity about a person to be able to handle when the "spotlight" isn't on them - and like in IRL - in RP sometimes that can seem very rare. Roleplay itself attracts a certain type of person, and (no offense to anyone here, just an observation) alternate-reality storytelling can sometimes attract a larger-than-norm population of drama queens and selfish/immature people who can't even deal IRL whent hey aren't the center of attention, much less a "game" where they feel they should be "in control". Isn't the fault of RP itself, its just the population that tends to be attracted to it.

There are many past times that attract many different types, both good and bad. Like I said that isn't a slam on Order or anyone here or even of RP, but just a meta-awareness if you will, of the type of person you know you may encounter.

You must be able to spot these types quickly, and handle them easily, or else you'll end up being caught up in their unhealthly being.

But sometimes you won't know until after the story is done, and a new one starting up, that XYZ character you are with is apparently the "center stage" for all events. I've seen so many good friends quit this game, and others, because of this problem. They get tired of always supporting, always being the "shoulder to cry on" or the "cheerleader" to the star's character.

You'll lose more good RPers this way if you find one of these in your group. So don't be that guy! =D Communicate!! And if you find someone trying tot ake over, or trying to make everything about them - talk to them! Odds are you aren't the only one feeling this way about this person and sometimes it may take you asking them to leave if they can't "join the crowd" - but the group will be better off for it. But work with them first, sometimes people just need to be educated.

[Akrion]

A good RP group is one where you notice everyone is allowed "central stage" at one point or another.

*sniffles* I miss my RP group.

[LungTien Temeraire]

*sniffles* I miss my RP group.

I miss some RPers too...
Not that it could be replaced, but I'd encourage to try and make a new and fresh one.