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Old 03-11-2008, 03:27 PM   #22
prof1515
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Re: Looking for an RPI, where the 'I' stands for "Immersive"

The term RPI has been co-opted by a lot of MUDs to describe themselves even though they bear little resemblance to the type of MUD the term was first used to describe. It's only become subjective because of the desire of other types of MUDs to use it. Personally, I am not a fan of this as it has greatly hurt RPIs in terms of player expectations. Far too often those who complain about RPIs have fit into one of two categories, neither totally dissimiliar from the other.

The first group are H&Sers who object to being "forced" to RP and not be allowed to mob-bash. Why they don't simply play H&S MUDs is beyond me but inevitably you find players who simply want to go around killing things and looting corpses showing up in RPIs and then complaining when they're either told by staff or other players that what they're doing is not appropriate for the game.

The second group are players from games that call themselves RPI but don't possess the criteria of the traditional RPIs, namely a lack of levels, lack of experience points, lack of traditional class implementation (an example of non-traditional class implementation is Armageddon which employs classes but more so as a means of skill determination/potential rather than skill/profession restriction), skill-based advancement, extensive crafting, strict IC role-play enforcement at all times, a lack of global channels, limitations on PK and NPC killing (ie, only where appropriate via role-play circumstances), descriptive identities, and veiled ability and attribute mechanics. It is not the fault of these players that they find these characteristics difficult to adapt to nor is it uncommon for them to express question as to why they're missing or appeal for their institution. They're used to these things and unaware that traditional RPIs don't possess these things. That's where the problem arises.

It's an annual ritual, sometimes more than once a year in fact, to have to explain to players via the forums or over email why there is no way for them to see another character's name when they walk into a room or why they can't know how far they are from mastering a skill.

"Why can't I see a character's name? I've met them before so I should be able to remember it."
"Every character has a different short description and even if there are two with similar ones, they each have a unique physical description."
"That's too hard. I should be able to see their name if I met them before."
"Well do you remember it?"
"No, but my player should be able to."
"If you can't, why could they?"
"There should be a command so I can 'remember' the name of any person my character meets."
"But unless they tell you their name, how are you to know it?"
"The RPI I used to play had this command."

I can remember a time when players didn't ask these questions (I know I didn't when I first started because I was trying out a RPI, not a H&S, and naturally expected there to be differences). But now, it's far more frequent and that's because in the many years since I started playing RPIs the term has been used by far more MUDs and MUD types than it was when I started. There were three games that were called RPIs when I first started playing MUDs (two of which are still operating). Now, the term is used by dozens upon dozens of MUDs, the vast majority of which resemble H&S MUDs more than they do those three RPIs.

Confusing the issue are games which resemble RPIs in most aspects but still retain traces of the H&S code from which they're derived. They may possess many characteristics of RPIs but employ global OOC channels or clear skill mechanics (ie, raw numbers from which players can gauge more data than they realistically could). These games are close enough to RPIs that I've never felt their exclusion was completely just but still not close enough to the original characteristics of an RPI to warrant inclusion (lest it further lead to the problem I illustrated above). What to call them, I asked myself.

I came up with a new term myself and mentioned it to Wade Gustafson, founder of The RPI Network (). He liked the term though he used it in a slightly different context lumping the majority of the second and third groups together under the title of the second. However, my original basic outline of Role-Playing MUDs went something like this:

RPI (Role-Play Intensive) MUD
Policy: Strict dedication to and enforcement of in-character behavior.
Code: Modified or written to remove non-RP characteristics.

RPO (Role-Play Oriented) MUD
Policy: Strict dedication to and enforcement of in-character behavior.
Code: Modified or written for RP purposes but still retaining some trace elements of non-RP characteristics (examples include retention of global OOC channels, means of displaying character names, etc).

RPE (Role-Play Enforced) MUD
Policy: Strict dedictation to and enforcement of in-character behavior.
Code: Slight or no modification of the code; most aspects retain the H&S-conceived mechanics.

(Role-Play Encouraged and Role-Play Accepted do not meet the policy criteria listed above and therefore are not included)

In no way does this differentiation define the quality of role-play found within a MUD and create some claim of better role-play in one category or the other. There may be, and likely are, RPE MUDs with vastly better quality role-play than you'll find on some RPIs and RPOs. The quality of role-play is determined not by code or policy, the latter does however ensure consistency, but by the skills of the staff and players themselves. The different terms are merely to serve as guidelines for players so that they may better know what to expect when beginning a RP MUD. The terms have yet to receive widespread use though the term RPO has been used more and more by players and staff on some RPIs. Games that would fall under the term RPO and RPE have on the whole been reluctant to use the term as they were enthusiastic about employing the term RPI before.

Through its use on The RPI Network and hopefully in the RP Community, I hope the confusion the evolution of use of the term RPI will be minimized. It remains to be seen if it will be used beyond that site and within the general MUDding community.

Take care,

Jason

Last edited by prof1515 : 03-11-2008 at 03:37 PM. Reason: Fragment of a deleted sentence wasn't deleted. I'm a nitpicker about such things. :-D
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