Top Mud Sites Forum Return to TopMudSites.com
Go Back   Top Mud Sites Forum > MUD Players and General Discussion > Tavern of the Blue Hand
Click here to Register

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 01-23-2011, 11:19 AM   #1
Darren Brimhall
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 243
Darren Brimhall is on a distinguished road
--Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

Now that there's a very good ideal on what turns people away from RPing, now its time to ask the opposite question; What turns People on to Rping?

What is it that you look for in a MUD that attracts you to it? Is it because of :

the overall design?

what you can do there as a Character?

Are the Staff and Administration willing to listen to suggestions and apply them to the Game to make it better?

The Overall attitude and atmosphear of the place?

An intollerance to cheating?


As a Person helping to put a Mud together, I'm interested in hearing so to apply such to the Game's overall design.

Thank you.

Darren Brimhall
Darren Brimhall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2011, 02:35 PM   #2
shevegen
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 63
shevegen is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

Other good roleplayers.

Of course a good atmosphere as well but other characters are the key concept.
shevegen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2011, 03:47 PM   #3
Delerak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Name: Dan
Location: New York
Posts: 716
Delerak is on a distinguished road
Send a message via ICQ to Delerak Send a message via AIM to Delerak Send a message via MSN to Delerak Send a message via Yahoo to Delerak
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

The oldest form of roleplaying. Storytelling.
Delerak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2011, 06:20 PM   #4
WarHound
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Locked in a place where no one goes...
Home MUD: Armageddon.org
Posts: 219
WarHound is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?


That's it for me. It's a book that never ends.
WarHound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2011, 06:30 PM   #5
silvarilon
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 144
silvarilon is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

For me, it's the freedom.

It doesn't always happen like this - but if all goes right, I get a game tailored to my specific character. I don't mean that staff jump when I snap my fingers, what I mean is...

... imagine playing guild wars, or something - and you decide to play a pacifist. Someone who won't pick up their sword except to defend themselves, and will always try diplomacy first. It just doesn't work - the mobs will attack you regardless, and you don't have any options other than to fight until the death, then move on to the next fight.

In a social mud, this is a very viable option. Since you are often dealing with other human players, you'll get a different reaction to your character who tries diplomacy first than you would to your warrior that charges in, or your stubborn diplomat who refuses to compromise, or your baker who stays out of politics, or you...

So many character options, and they don't come from a list that the game provides - they come from the player. More options for me, means I'll have more fun actually building a *character* - with a distinct personality - rather than just building an avatar.

And more options for the other players means I'll be more likely to run into other characters. Not just run into a level 15 fighter, but run into a noble's son, who's been cast out of his land after it was plundered, who is now seeking retribution. Or other equally unexpected characters.

Sure, not every character works for every mud. I wouldn't expect (or want) to find a lazer-wielding octopus in a medieval fantasy setting. And depending on the mud, not all professions would be viable (if there are no diplomatic goals, playing a diplomat would be hard...) - but nonetheless, within the game setting, choices are much more open than in other types of games.

It's not just the choices, but also the consequences. I like the concept that every single action my character takes could, conceivably, lead the story in a different direction. In WoW I can run around in circles all day long, without that having any impact on my character or the gameworld. In a RP mud, if I did that, I'd probably get reactions. Other characters might ask me what I'm doing. Or they might follow me, start copying me. Or have me arrested for insanity. Or they might do something that I can't predict - which would be awesome. And if I do something more meaningful than just run around in circles, all the more chance that there will be reactions from the other characters. Which is totally awesome
silvarilon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2011, 09:36 PM   #6
Sombalance
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 49
Sombalance is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

I prefer original settings. To the point where I seldom log into games that are based on books or movies. I like to be able to get into the setting fairly quickly.

I don't mind reading a lot of documentation and writing pages of history and descriptive information to play a character, but I do mind having to do it for a game that I know very little about. I appreciate games that have an area where new players can explore the system a bit before requiring a lot of background (ie limit the character to a "newbie" area or to the number of levels that can be earned). I've spent too much time creating characters for games that had great web sites, finally get approved, and then log in to find an almost stock code base, no other players and/or content that doesn't meet the expectations set in the web site.

I still think that RP games are games, so I like things like skills that are coded into the game and that can be improved. I'm not too partial to the actual mechanics though, character levels or skill ranks or talent trees or whatever, are all pretty much the same to me. If I like the setting, then I can adapt to the mechanics. I like to see games where characters can advance skills without killing stuff.

It is great when solo characters can be part of the game. This doesn't mean that it needs to have a H&S component, it just means that if someone logs in and they are alone in the game, they can find a way to occupy their character until someone else comes in.

I like to play heroes or villains. I think player characters are special in the world and I'm always a little surprised when someone says they want to play a mundane character. If the character can't evolve into something than I think the roleplay can become stagnant ("what fine weather we are having today" type of stuff), but where characters can advance and compete, then there is the possibility of character creating a more vibrant rp environment.

I'd rather player with characters that want to be the center of attention as opposed to characters that want to fade into the background.

I would rather see the staff have a long term plan and stick to it instead of a staff that caves into player demands, but I it is also important that the players have a chance to shape the world around them. Having a setting where the actions of the characters can shape the world is important to me.

The game has to have an overall friendly feel to it, and has to be willing to accept that it is still a game. An oppressive game isn't really that much fun.

I like when the developers put code in place to minimize the impact of cheating as opposed to creating lots of rules. Accept things like scripts and triggers and do something to minimize the impact of it instead of trying to monitor random people to see if they are on line typing the commands. When you have rules, be clear in what they are and what the consequence of breaking the rules are, and stick to them. Please don't have a generic "don't do anything the admins wouldn't approve of" rule.


And, just in general, RP games should have a way for players to coordinate RP in the game. If two players are on line, being able to figure out a way to meet so they can join up is a good thing and should be encouraged

Just my 2cents
Sombalance
Sombalance is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2011, 03:25 PM   #7
iKallisti
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 8
iKallisti is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

Great topic I think, so here goes.

What is it that you look for in a MUD that attracts you to it? Is it because of :

the overall design?


I don't think I worry overmuch about the -design- so much as I expect a fully fleshed out world. I'll make do with things that might require some pretty major suspension of disbelief but I'm normally working out reasons that the world works that way. It's also incredibly helpful to have actual descriptions for areas with as many things in a room have their own description as possible (like... l rocks, l table, feel cloth), things like this help with making the game world feel so much more real. I think design probably covers more than I've really mentioned here but that's what I can think of off the top of my head right now.

what you can do there as a Character?

This is a big one for me, I want to be able to do just about anything within reason as my character, I want to be able to come up with a concept and run with it, I want to be able to play a range from sociopath to saint to Jill the drunk at the bar. I want to be able to take a title that doesn't exist and have the ability to become known by that simply from quality RP and effort, and if I can't do it I want to not be able to do it because somehow I simply failed (If that makes sense. I don't want to be catered to but I want options).

Are the Staff and Administration willing to listen to suggestions and apply them to the Game to make it better?

Listening to suggestions is great. That said I'd prefer a staff/administration with a vivid picture of their game world actively working to bring more life to it. Just about everywhere I've ever played I've seen people make suggestions that were incredibly supported by a huge chunk of the playerbase but that by there very nature would have turned the game into a different place. Sure there are plenty of suggestions I've made to my current MUD that I'd love to see implemented, but I would (probably) forget all about them if a long term plot driven storyline started up tomorrow and I had -that- to focus on.

The Overall attitude and atmosphere of the place?

This gets back to what I was talking about with room descriptions, I want an atmosphere that's consistent with the game world that's reflected in the descriptions. As far as attitude goes I expect the other players to take an equally serious approach to the game (even if that serious approach is seriously silly!) I don't expect -everyone- to be doom and gloom and whatever else but I want the RP to fit and not make me want to gouge out my eyeballs at the sheer stupidity.

An intolerance to cheating?

This one's kind of a given to me, but yes, cheating should not be tolerated in the least, players who cheat should be punished and depending on how serious it was (and if their character is even permitted to still exist) there should be IC ramifications possibly as well. That said, players should be rewarded for finding AND REPORTING bugs, even if it's not much, just a simple letter from the staff saying "Hey, thanks, that really was a bug we've got it fixed and we appreciate you letting us know about it."


Another thing that's a personal pet peeve.

The roleplay environment should be strictly enforced, I'm personally a fan of only one character per player at any given time (although I currently have two o.0) because I think this helps to reinforce the seriousness of playing a role. Name policies should be strict enough that really fragging stupid/silly (I'd list some that I've seen but I don't want to hurt feelings... needless to say I'm thinking mainly of names that are either something well known that somebody has horribly misspelled or that are flagrantly something that no sane person would EVER name a child, celebrities included... ahh hell Otto Carlot springs immediately to mind) names aren't allowed but they should be lenient enough that the name of a village in Africa with a population of 500 that nobody has ever heard of (even the person who came up with it) are fine.


Anyway, that's it from me for now.
iKallisti is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2011, 09:02 AM   #8
Darren Brimhall
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 243
Darren Brimhall is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

well, we have the reasons (with more comming) as to why people are turned off to RP...

so, lets see what turns them on to it...

Semms fair enought..

Darren Brimhall
Darren Brimhall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2011, 10:24 AM   #9
RP Kris
New Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 20
RP Kris is on a distinguished road
Re: --Another Brain Picking Session--What Turns People On To RP?

I might not touch all your sub-questions in this post, but I will at least touch the original!

I've written this before recently, but an RP enforced environment is an essential component to any MUD I would wish to play.

What turns me on to RP?

The simple answer is that I like being immersed in a story as a character, and I've found MUDs to be the best present medium for online interactive RP. (If someone knows a better one, please let us know!)

Some thing I look for in a MUD that I feel facilitates the RP environment:

-A rich, complex game world. While they often evolve, it should be fairly fleshed out by the creator. Ideally there should be a good base of history of cultures, races, and world regions for the players to be able to use in character development and game play. There should be a consistency between different areas of the game as well.

-Well developed NPCs and PCs. The first the game administration is responsible for, and the second is the responsibility of the players. But the more a game is built to foster RP, the more good RP players will come and stay.

-Enforced RP - While I have seen fairly decent RP encouraged environments spring up due to lucking into the right player base, the unfortunate thing is that just setting the rules isn't enough. It needs to be enforced. While you can't nor shouldn't force someone to play a well developed character, what can be enforced is character names and at least staying in character in the appropriate places.

As to suggestions of changes regarding the game... I believe the administration should always be polite and appreciative of suggestions. It is their responsibility though to make sure that anything that is implemented into the game makes sense in the context of the game world. Just because an idea is popular doesn't mean it would make a positive impact on the game. Also, what makes the most sense to work on first? No one has unlimited time to code.
RP Kris is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:52 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Style based on a design by Essilor
Copyright Top Mud Sites.com 2022