Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - Roleplaying in "Non-RP" games

Jazuela · 05-12-2005, 05:24 PM

I used to play a game that advertises itself as an RP game, but isn't. At all. Not even remotely. But having no prior experience to any kind of RP game (D&D tabletop, live action, or muds), I had nothing with which to compare it. And so I went along blissfully unaware that I was not roleplaying to the extent that I was able.

Then I left that game, when I discovered other games out there that were more RP-friendly. I went back to the first game a year later...and was "poofed" in on by a mentor who promptly greeted my character by name and said he was there to help me.

I figured I'd get into character immediately so the mentor would know I don't need help, and asked how she knew my name. And my character behaved suspicious, looked around for the spy who told this total stranger who she was...

And the response? The mentor whispers to you, "I can read it on the screen, your name is right there."

So much for mentors who exist to help new players get into the "roleplay" aspect of the game (in addition to helping with mechanics, which they happen to be pretty good at).

I walked out that day and never went back. It was such a disappointment that people were SO used to -not- roleplaying that they didn't recognize it when it bit them in the face.

I don't know how anyone can roleplay in a non-roleplay game. I find it disruptive to try and start plotlines, only to have someone tell me to chill out it's just a game and ask me what level I am. I find it agonizingly annoying to attempt to have my character behave like a person living in the fantasy world created for my entertainment, only to have people complaining about "their weather" (they claim it's an IC way of saying there's game lag on their end). Or to jump around happily and proclaim, "Only 2,000 more pages til I reach 36 trains!" (they claim THAT is an IC way of saying they need 2k experience points til they level again).

The very notion of it makes me shudder with disgust, and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to that kind of atmosphere.

HOWEVER...I don't begrudge ANYONE the right to enjoy H&S type games that have little or no roleplaying, or that feel that masking OOC references with IC vernacular constitutes "Staying IC." To them, that's what it is, and that's fine. They enjoy it, and it works for them, and it's what they're looking for in entertainment. I've found another venue, the RPI venue, and I'm much more comfortable with that and couldn't ever return to the first game, except perhaps as a goof for a day.

05-12-2005, 05:24 PM	#10
Jazuela Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: New England Posts: 849	I used to play a game that advertises itself as an RP game, but isn't. At all. Not even remotely. But having no prior experience to any kind of RP game (D&D tabletop, live action, or muds), I had nothing with which to compare it. And so I went along blissfully unaware that I was not roleplaying to the extent that I was able. Then I left that game, when I discovered other games out there that were more RP-friendly. I went back to the first game a year later...and was "poofed" in on by a mentor who promptly greeted my character by name and said he was there to help me. I figured I'd get into character immediately so the mentor would know I don't need help, and asked how she knew my name. And my character behaved suspicious, looked around for the spy who told this total stranger who she was... And the response? The mentor whispers to you, "I can read it on the screen, your name is right there." So much for mentors who exist to help new players get into the "roleplay" aspect of the game (in addition to helping with mechanics, which they happen to be pretty good at). I walked out that day and never went back. It was such a disappointment that people were SO used to -not- roleplaying that they didn't recognize it when it bit them in the face. I don't know how anyone can roleplay in a non-roleplay game. I find it disruptive to try and start plotlines, only to have someone tell me to chill out it's just a game and ask me what level I am. I find it agonizingly annoying to attempt to have my character behave like a person living in the fantasy world created for my entertainment, only to have people complaining about "their weather" (they claim it's an IC way of saying there's game lag on their end). Or to jump around happily and proclaim, "Only 2,000 more pages til I reach 36 trains!" (they claim THAT is an IC way of saying they need 2k experience points til they level again). The very notion of it makes me shudder with disgust, and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to that kind of atmosphere. HOWEVER...I don't begrudge ANYONE the right to enjoy H&S type games that have little or no roleplaying, or that feel that masking OOC references with IC vernacular constitutes "Staying IC." To them, that's what it is, and that's fine. They enjoy it, and it works for them, and it's what they're looking for in entertainment. I've found another venue, the RPI venue, and I'm much more comfortable with that and couldn't ever return to the first game, except perhaps as a goof for a day.