Bring RP back to NT!

[Romirez]

RP just seems to have dropped off overall the last few years. i remember the days when Tulga was still in charge (rofl, showing my age), RP was everywhere. hell, Order used to be as populated as Chaos back in the days of yore.

RP standards just have dropped overall. the serious RPers left.

[A'Sasha]

Some but not all. Others are coming back and they may find things have changed for the better. I know I've been having a lot of fun since I came back. I'm really enjoying the interaction and I feel like I'm fleshing my character out a little bit, which was something I really wasn't able to do before.

I actually feel like I want to write stories again. Not to mention someone came back to the game that I hadn't seen since this game first launched. Blew my mind right there.

Now just need to get Taenuarhew, Shadowclaw, Mordoth, or Shargrym to come back and I can be a happier dragon (if any of you lurk the forums please send me a pm on the forums!). Not to mention the Nyoko, Xeffer, Kandrin, DharSii and the rest.

I guess I just want to say, I really like how things have come along recently and I'm a lot happier.

[Morinare_Blackclaw]

I've been popping in and out of New Trismus quite a bit over the last week or so, and have been finding a LOT of RP going on...I've joined in some of it, and, simply listened to others, depending on how I felt at the time and what I was doing.

Found it fascinating, yesterday, when I wandered into a discussion between two Ancient Dragons about an apparently serious subject...it seemed to be a bit heated, and, it was interesting seeing a bunch of hatchies rather nervously hovering around the fringes, not sure what was going on...and, not sure if they were in "range," should things get ugly.

More!! It's why I signed up on Order, after all....

[Sigvard]

RP standards just have dropped overall. the serious RPers left.

I find this a tad daft. There's many serious roleplayers still in Istaria.

Just four days ago (in New Trismus, of all places!), I was firing essay-sized emotes towards an apparent new player... And receiving coherent ones of equal length in return! While I've not seen the character since, there's still plenty of serious and talented roleplayers around- whether they're new or returning players. Have stumbled across more good roleplay recently then I've ever had five years ago!

Honestly, while the roleplay in New Trismus can be lackluster, you desperately need to take into consideration that there's a vast amount of new players or new roleplayers. While there's indeed the occasional rude newbie, they rarely reactivate their subscription after the trial's ended.

Besides, after roleplaying in WoW for many years... There's not much that phases me.

[LungTien Temeraire]

I saw, indeed, a good amount of people roleplaying in NT, recently, including new players. It went well each time. Also, we shouldn't forget that some may not have english as native language, and may not be really good with it (details, grammar,...), thus lessening their posts' size. That doesn't meant they can't be good roleplayers.

[Sigvard]

I saw, indeed, a good amount of people roleplaying in NT, recently, including new players. It went well each time. Also, we shouldn't forget that some may not have english as native language, and may not be really good with it (details, grammar,...), thus lessening their posts' size. That doesn't meant they can't be good roleplayers.

Whoops! If you're referring to my post- wasn't stating that you need long emotes to be a great roleplayer! I'm just bad at wording; the reason why I try to keep my own emotes short wherever possible. Apologies if it came across that way! Have met plenty of non-native, wonderful folk that floored me with their roleplay.

I was just suprised to see it from a new player!

(And if not, just *bonk* me. I'm half asleep. )

[LungTien Temeraire]

No problem Sigvard, I just wanted to be sure it wasn't forgotten by people.
It shows that new players can reveal themselves to be good roleplayers, and nice players as well. I have met some

[Akrion]

I find this a tad daft. There's many serious roleplayers still in Istaria.

However there are significantly less than there were back before you took a break from Istaria.

[Sereamha]

However there are significantly less than there were back before you took a break from Istaria.

Perhaps so, but QUALITY, not QUANTITY. ^^ I am enjoying myself almost more than I did back then, to be very honest. There are fewer 'closed' RPs that the so-called 'serious role-players' made, thus allowing more interaction between everyone.

I consider myself a rather serious roleplayer, and I must say the RP on Order is awesome as of late!

[LungTien Temeraire]

Still better to focus on whose who are there, then, and interact with them. In the last months I met new players who shown me they were really nice
RP can be good when unexpected things happen, when new people join,... rather than linear events with selected characters, I think.

[Sigvard]

Yus! It was really difficult to join the roleplaying cliques back then. Had to sacrifice an arm and a leg to worm Piano into one! And even then, that roleplay eventually finished. I took a break and eventually left because there was none I could join.

I love how everyone can get involved now- not just the most popular characters on the server.

[Akrion]

I have no idea why you guys had trouble getting into any of the RPs .. I got into the Clan Azuranous RPs with no trouble, Akrion became one of Xeffer's closest friends with a lot of IC work (had no OOC trouble RPing with her), I got Akrion involved in various forms of RP with just about every RPer I saw over the months of early 09. Akrion even turned out to be the one who ended the story of a nearly 2 year story arc that I had joined almost a year in progress.

Was it easy to get Akrion recognized and become such a powerful figure in numerous RPs? No it wasn't. But it was all IC difficulty, and I loved the challenge. Just like many things in life, I had to work my way up from the bottom, but at no point did I have any OOC difficulties getting in on many of these RPs. There wasn't really an RP I couldn't make my character a part of in some way, I just RPed and slowly but surely became more involved, just like you typically would in any situation in life.

I dunno, I found the RP for the first half of 2009 to be the best RP i've had in Istaria.

[LungTien Temeraire]

The fact that you, Akrion, had no difficulty to enter the RP you are talking about doesn't mean that nobody else could have difficulties to do so.
Depending of players' tastes and distastes about RP, it can be easy, or hard, to enter some RPs and start RP interactions with some players.
I am, myself, open to anyone who'd want to interact, RPly, with my character (unless it is about space giant hamsters or gods ).

[Frith-Rae]

Some but not all. Others are coming back and they may find things have changed for the better. I know I've been having a lot of fun since I came back. I'm really enjoying the interaction and I feel like I'm fleshing my character out a little bit, which was something I really wasn't able to do before.

Now just need to get Taenuarhew, Shadowclaw, Mordoth, or Shargrym to come back and I can be a happier dragon (if any of you lurk the forums please send me a pm on the forums!). Not to mention the Nyoko, Xeffer, Kandrin, DharSii and the rest.

I guess I just want to say, I really like how things have come along recently and I'm a lot happier.

are you back?! ohh we been missing each other then! Dang my inconsistent login schedule!

All of those (minus one, I know you know..lol ) would be awesome to see around again. so many would be awesome to see around again though...

...

As for those who feel the "serious" RPers left. Well some did. And some went private. That leaves less overall for all the "freeflowing/outside/general chat/face" RP but doesnt mean we arent out there. Lord knows that if I am logged in I RP wherever I can find it..24/7 - chat rooms and face to face (when I can break from buildling that is..so hard to sit and do nothing lol - and now we got the little festival!)

I am always frustrated at "private" Rps simply because, while they may be open to new players, they can sometimes be next to impossible to find and then to know wether you are even welcome to break in or not. ANd this is ACROSS GAMES - not just Istaria.

I tend to just create RP wherever I go and if anyone Rps back, great - if not I move on and try again later. My schedule doesnt allow me to promise any longterm-RP right now (I cant login every night, sometimes not even once a week) whicih normally leaves me right out of any "private" RP as the plotlins move on and I spend as much time finding out what happened when I wasnt online as I do trying to RP =) Noones fault just the nature of the beast.

But it can leave one with the feeling that all the "serious RPers" left when they go underground.

But everything comes in cycles - we just had a "everyone here is stupid we are taking this private cuz it just makes everyone mad" fest a few months ago, glad to see its swung back around to the "hey we wanna see RP everywhere lets get going again" phase.

The other phase wil come back around too - I just prefer the longer gaps inbetween the swings .

dunno, I found the RP for the first half of 2009 to be the best RP i've had in Istaria

See the best RP for me was back at launch +2 years (so ..is that..2005-07..or 07-09?? LOL cant remember when launch was...). But back then I could be on every night too, and the server and the guild was booming. Since all that fell apart its been harder and harder to invest that energy - and part of that is knowing that since I cant login every night, ,things move on without you - and thus my problem above - I login and now theres a whole new adventure to try and figure out! Gets..exhausting to even try.

And there is no way taking months at a time to break into a single RP isn't "hard work" you may like the challenge, and if KNOW this will pay off its easier. But I dontknow too many people who would work that hard (nor should they) to get involved with an RP. It should *not* take months to me to be able to break in to anyones RP. That implies a level of elitist that I am not comfortable with (i.e. implies you have to prove yourself to be included - that they are so awesome you have to work to get in). Heck if I had to do that everytiem I wanted to get into someone's RP plot..I would have given up long ago lol.

Eh maybe that wasn't what you were saying - or meant to imply. So I just leave that as a general overall statement....

[LungTien Temeraire]

I am always frustrated at "private" Rps simply because, while they may be open to new players, they can sometimes be next to impossible to find and then to know wether you are even welcome to break in or not. ANd this is ACROSS GAMES - not just Istaria.

But it can leave one with the feeling that all the "serious RPers" left when they go underground.

And there is no way taking months at a time to break into a single RP isn't "hard work" you may like the challenge, and if KNOW this will pay off its easier. But I dontknow too many people who would work that hard (nor should they) to get involved with an RP. It should *not* take months to me to be able to break in to anyones RP. That implies a level of elitist that I am not comfortable with (i.e. implies you have to prove yourself to be included - that they are so awesome you have to work to get in). Heck if I had to do that everytiem I wanted to get into someone's RP plot..I would have given up long ago lol.

Indeed, not everyone can or will do that much effort just to get the right to enter a RP and start interacting with some people. As I said in the past, not everyone is as talented or will turn as talented as writers like J. K. Rowling (as an example ). After that, it is a matter of tastes and distastes.

[Sigvard]

It should *not* take months to me to be able to break in to anyones RP. That implies a level of elitist that I am not comfortable with (i.e. implies you have to prove yourself to be included - that they are so awesome you have to work to get in). Heck if I had to do that everytiem I wanted to get into someone's RP plot..I would have given up long ago lol.

This, this, this! You worded it better than I did. It's one of the very reasons I left originally many years ago. It's hard to describe how intimidating it was to an outsider who lacks confidence. While the situation may not have been as described, the roleplay really felt like a bundle of groups hidden behind closed doors to myself.

It feels as if I'm finally beginning to slowly chip my way into Istarian roleplay these days. I've never felt it before in all my five/six years of playing!

[Akrion]

@Frith-Rae:
To me it implies realism. You can't expect to walk up to a random group of people IRL and be fully included in whatever they're doing right then and there, and that's how I view it in-character as well. It makes no sense for Akrion to just walk up to a group of people in-character and expect that he be allowed as a deep member of RP with them right from the beginning.

How is it fair to expect that, as a new comer to a pre-existing story RP, you should be given a degree of inclusion and control that others that have been with the story for much longer would have?

It took roughly 6 months of roleplay for Akrion to ICly become a close friend to Xeffer largely because she, ICly, had a strong dislike for Sslik Bloodmages which Akrion happened to be. If there's any elitism, the elitism would have been from if I had expected that Akrion and Xeffer should ICly become friends with little effort just because I OOCly don't want to make that effort.

I hadn't roleplayed for years before I joined Order in 09, knew absolutely nobody other than a friend I came along with (who has long since quit), and yet Akrion's been a part of many of the RPs with many of the well known players to an extent well beyond just idle chit chat.

One can't, and shouldn't, expect for the responsibility of getting into a roleplay to be with the people roleplaying. You have to push your character out there. I'm not going to have Akrion, mid discussion with someone, look over at another character and pull them into the conversation for no reason other than 'they're in the area'. That someone has to take the initiative to enter the conversation, and that's what I did with every single one of my RPs. I took it upon myself to get myself into an RP and expected little of the ones I was trying to RP with. It's not on them to provide me RP, it's on me.

@Lungtien:
It's not about the right to interact with them, it's about the right to interact with them on deeper and deeper levels. It's one thing to talk to ICly talk to someone about what's happening between other characters, it's another thing to be immediately included as a core contributer to the story. How would you feel if some roleplayer with a character your character doesn't know very well came into your roleplay when Lungtien was possessed expecting to be able to fix Lungtien and be allowed to do so without spending time building the relationship between characters?

[LungTien Temeraire]

This, this, this! You worded it better than I did. It's one of the very reasons I left originally many years ago. It's hard to describe how intimidating it was to an outsider who lacks confidence. While the situation may not have been as described, the roleplay really felt like a bundle of groups hidden behind closed doors to myself.

I got that feeling too, sometimes.

To me it implies realism. You can't expect to walk up to a random group of people IRL and be fully included in whatever they're doing right then and there, and that's how I view it in-character as well. It makes no sense for Akrion to just walk up to a group of people in-character and expect that he be allowed as a deep member of RP with them right from the beginning.

How is it fair to expect that, as a new comer to a pre-existing story RP, you should be given a degree of inclusion and control that others that have been with the story for much longer would have?

Yes, ones' character can't just enter a RP like that and instantly become a major role of it, that wasn't what I was saying. I meant every roleplayer should have a chance to enter the said RP and be more deeply involved with time. When the RP is held secret, away and for selected players, it is hard for ones to enter it and have a chance becoming a part of it

It took roughly 6 months of roleplay for Akrion to ICly become a close friend to Xeffer largely because she, ICly, had a strong dislike for Sslik Bloodmages which Akrion happened to be. If there's any elitism, the elitism would have been from if I had expected that Akrion and Xeffer should ICly become friends with little effort just because I OOCly don't want to make that effort.

I don't think it was meant that way... I think elitism is when it is harder for some to enter a RP and do something in it than it would be for some others.

I hadn't roleplayed for years before I joined Order in 09, knew absolutely nobody other than a friend I came along with (who has long since quit), and yet Akrion's been a part of many of the RPs with many of the well known players to an extent well beyond just idle chit chat.

I knew nobody in game at the beginning, and want towards others, and tried entering RPs here and here. I have done some errors, but everyone can do errors, and I learned from them. I made effort to improve myself and my RP since then. But true, nobody can please to everyone.

One can't, and shouldn't, expect for the responsibility of getting into a roleplay to be with the people roleplaying. You have to push your character out there. I'm not going to have Akrion, mid discussion with someone, look over at another character and pull them into the conversation for no reason other than 'they're in the area'. That someone has to take the initiative to enter the conversation, and that's what I did with every single one of my RPs. I took it upon myself to get myself into an RP and expected little of the ones I was trying to RP with. It's not on them to provide me RP, it's on me.

Not everyone has the same view about it... I find it hard to join a RP if those who do it don't make a single step towards me, it makes me feel like -I only- have to adapt, and the others not having to do anything
That is why I try to go towards others, to make them feel welcomed and increasing chances to start something.

@Lungtien:
It's not about the right to interact with them, it's about the right to interact with them on deeper and deeper levels. It's one thing to talk to ICly talk to someone about what's happening between other characters, it's another thing to be immediately included as a core contributer to the story. How would you feel if some roleplayer with a character your character doesn't know very well came into your roleplay when Lungtien was possessed expecting to be able to fix Lungtien and be allowed to do so without spending time building the relationship between characters?

I think it is hard entering a roleplay if I OoCly knows nothing about it and the involved characters... not that I should learn everything directly and OoCly, of course, but at least a bit. To be included in seconds as a core contributer isn't what I mean, nor what I ever expected to be.

Building relathionship between characters has to start somewhere, though. If ones had tried that in my RP, I'd have welcomed the player and would have tried finding with him a way to start involving the character without making it the instant key and solution. That is why I make my RPs open, to go with free-flow and let everyone who wants a chance to enter the scene.

While I had settled the fact that the thing possessing LungTien would be defeated, the manner it happened and the manner it ended wasn't quite those I had planned at first.

[Morinare_Blackclaw]

As a fairly new player (still under 2-months), when I come across RP in progress (as most often happens in NT), I'll usually sit off to one side and simply listen, as one might sitting in a park and overhearing a conversation going on between two other people.

If the situation seems open to it (and, that's a judgment call on my part), I might "mumble" something "under my breath" that's "overheard" by the characters involved in the RP...how they respond - IF they respond - is entirely up to them...if they don't, I take the hint that they'd prefer keeping it more private (or, at least, between characters they know)...no problem.

If the RP appears to be more open-ended (a discussion between a group of hatchlings and an adult/ancient, for example), I'm much more likely to join in, but, even here, I won't push myself into the RP...if I'm accepted into the conversation (or, at the very least, acknowledged as *being* there), I'll move further into the RP....if not, that's okay, too.

I really like the fact that more RP seems to be going on in NT (and, elsewhere) than was true even a month ago...or, maybe, I'm just more aware of it....whatever the case, I hope it continues!

[LungTien Temeraire]

As a fairly new player (still under 2-months), when I come across RP in progress (as most often happens in NT), I'll usually sit off to one side and simply listen, as one might sitting in a park and overhearing a conversation going on between two other people.

If the situation seems open to it (and, that's a judgment call on my part), I might "mumble" something "under my breath" that's "overheard" by the characters involved in the RP...how they respond - IF they respond - is entirely up to them...if they don't, I take the hint that they'd prefer keeping it more private (or, at least, between characters they know)...no problem.

Morinare, I don't think some would RP in a public channel or a public area like NT's town if it was meant bo private and/or between selected characters : p
The RP in public channels and eareas are meant to be free and open to everyone who wants to join.

If the RP appears to be more open-ended (a discussion between a group of hatchlings and an adult/ancient, for example), I'm much more likely to join in, but, even here, I won't push myself into the RP...if I'm accepted into the conversation (or, at the very least, acknowledged as *being* there), I'll move further into the RP....if not, that's okay, too.

You can join without problem if you see me RPing around, like I did recently at New Trismus, Morinare : ) unless it is in isolated and private areas.