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The Daily Grind: How do you define roleplaying?
Like many of you, I've gone through so many stages of roleplaying; I started out as most people do, playing an idealized version of myself in Ultima Online. In EverQuest, I found myself funneling my roleplay into fan fiction and formal events because there was so little time between dungeon camps and raiding to actually step into a role. Star Wars Galaxies was my turning point; I finally became truly immersed and willing to play full-time as characters totally different from me, and that's partly because the game encouraged non-combat roles and activities. I never had to fight the game to be a real person in that world. And yet in the years since SWG's heyday, MMOs have pushed me away from formal roleplaying once again with mechanics and frustrations and contradictory goals. At best, my roleplaying now takes the form of respect for other roleplayers, in not breaking character where it might be annoying, and in selecting gear and names and planning backstory more than in participating in whatever epic plot my server's RPers are weaving. It still feels like roleplaying in my head. But is it? Without stepping too far into Storyboard territory, we're wondering today how you define roleplaying. Would you consider each stage of a roleplayer's evolution equally valid, or does it only "count" when you're actively participating? How do you express your RP in modern MMOs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
MMO Blender: Larry's roleplay sandbox
I can't say that I represent every roleplayer in the MMO space, but I have been a part of MMO roleplay communities going on eight years now. I think it's safe to say that I have a pretty good handle on what roleplayers want out of MMOs. Fortunately, there are existing game designs that can give us what we are looking for. When developers stop giving roleplayers new content, we -- unlike other gamers -- start to create our own. In fact, the vast majority of us don't rely on the game developers to give us any story content beyond the backdrop of the world our characters are living in, but that's not to say there aren't tools developers can give us that help with our level of immersion. Let's explore what makes a great sandbox for an MMO roleplayer.
Hyperspace Beacon: Four reasons in-character reporting is good for SWTOR
A few weeks back, I wrote an article about why I played Star Wars: The Old Republic. I drew on references from my childhood and how much Star Wars influenced my life. Although I did mention the impact of the roleplay community, I didn't talk about the roleplaying side of my MMO gameplay and how that influences my enjoyment of the game. When the quests dry up and PvP becomes stale, RP and the RP community hold me to this game. Multiple readers of the Hyperspace Beacon and fans of The Republic have asked how they can get involved in the roleplay in SWTOR. I usually point them to one place: SWTOR-RP.com. I could go on and on about this site and what it has done for the roleplay community, but nothing stands out more than the metagame that it's created with in-character articles. These news reports and editorials have been a launchpad for many in-character conversations. So let me draw you in and show you what I'm talking about.
Wings Over Atreia: Ode to 3.0
*cue pitch pipe* Twinkle, twinkle, little patch, How I wonder where you're at? In the East they play with ease, In the West you're just a tease! Twinkle, twinkle, three point oh, Hurry please I want you so! I've tried to be patient. I really have. I even avoided any wayward glances at Aion's Korean patch notes (translated, of course) for 3.0. That way, I could contain my excitement a little better. I mean, we already know I am dying for housing, and I also know mounts are involved. But there is always so much more, and I was trying to make the wait more bearable. I stood firm in my resolve. Then I broke down. I peeked. And oh how the many-tendriled beast of anticipation took hold of me once again! Of course there is always the requisite "fixed this bug" and "changed that appearance" filler, but when mining deeper, you also find some definite valuable nuggets. Aion's next patch has some "how cool," some "oh wow, that's really unexpected," and some "about time!" thrown in as well. From new zones to new instances to new features, there is plenty coming our way. Don't want to tax your scroll wheel and sift through the entire patch notes yourself? Wings Over Atreia delves in to uncover some of the most tantalizing treasures for you.
Wings Over Atreia: Immersion 101
This week's course: What were they thinking?!? Maybe it was running smack into the garish sugary confection amid the beauty of Pandaemonium. No. Honestly, it was a combination of many things that finally exploded my synapses; the sight of that gaudy cake that made me whip my head around looking for little Hansel and Gretel was just the catalyst. I may be missing something, but I just don't quite understand why a game -- one that obviously put a lot of effort into not only making a visually stunning world but interweaving lore throughout the entire experience -- would toss in such jarring breaks of immersion. There is no denying (even the hating haters agree) that Aion is an extremely beautiful and detailed world; the team even rolled out a graphics upgrade to enhance it. The developers have also obviously spent time developing lore for the players to experience: The campaign quests give personal cutscenes sharing this lore. This implies, at least to me, that the devs want you to immerse yourself and envelop yourself in their world. So why in the Seraphim Lords' names would they toss in things that not only break the suspension of disbelief but yank players out of it so forcefully that they are left dizzy and disoriented? Join the class beyond the break for Wings over Atreia's look at immersion, why it is important, and what destroys it in our favorite game, Aion. (BTW -- the cake is not a lie!)
Breakfast Topic: As a WoW player, do you consider yourself a roleplayer?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Adventuring in Azeroth, I never considered myself to be a roleplayer -- a point upon which I prided myself until recently. I was winning a debate among friends about my non-roleplaying status until one pointed out that WoW is an MMO RPG. My face reddened as I admitted yes, WoW was a roleplaying game, and therefore I must be roleplaying. Crestfallen, I considered the implications for the rest of the day. Did this mean I had to transfer my character to a roleplaying server? Would I starve if I did not maintain the Well Fed buff? Am I going to have to change my name to something more Azeroth-appropriate? Thankfully, the answer was no to all my questions, though the revelation was not completely wasted. Our friendly debate gave me a fresh perspective on roleplaying. Azeroth suddenly became host to a wide spectrum of roleplayers, from the lowbie who bought his girlfriend a white kitten on their anniversary to the fellow who wrote a novel of fiction about his character and chastised me for not removing my plate armor before jumping into the water lest I sink to the bottom and drown. The very nature of playing WoW is to roleplay. Where on the spectrum of roleplaying do you see yourself? How do you think it compares to the way others view your degree of roleplay? %Poll-61831%
Wings Over Atreia: Shakespeare in Aion
OK, OK, maybe Shakespeare is a bit melodramatic, but the idea of taking on a role and playing it out on a stage is not a foreign idea -- even in Aion. It just so happens that this stage is not under your feet but in virtual space instead. Besides, I happen to love Shakespeare, so props to me for mentioning him in a gaming column! Now, I am the first to admit that NCsoft doesn't make it easy for a gamer to roleplay in Aion; there are scant few tools to support this style of play. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Despite this dearth, there is in fact a whole community comprised of legions both large and small as well as individuals. These players use personal connections and a player-created chat channel in-game as well as external tools such as the Aion Roleplayers website to bind themselves together and support the community as a whole. So what exactly is roleplay, and how viable is it in the world of Atreia? Exit stage left (past the cut) to define RP, debunk some RP myths, and explore RP in general Aion.
The Soapbox: Sandboxes and the cop-out of FFA PvP
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Last week, our own Jef Reahard mounted the Massively Soapbox with an article titled Sandboxes and the fear of FFA PvP. In it, he argued that open PvP was a natural and necessary part of any solid sandbox MMO. He also made waves by suggesting that FFA PvP is crucial to the roleplaying experience and that roleplayers should really face their "fears" and give it a try. I'm a sandbox gamer and a PvPer at heart. I played the early years of Ultima Online and lived the adrenaline rush of full and brutal PvP and thievery. Dark Age of Camelot's RvR sucked up another year of my life. Star Wars Galaxies remains my sandbox of choice, and I've braved a World of Warcraft PvP server since launch. I know this territory very well. I'll knock it, because I have more than tried it -- in several tasty flavors. And even though I'm an unabashed Jef-fangirl, I think there are a few debatable issues with his article. Hit the jump for some good old-fashioned counterpoints!
Lost Pages of Taborea: Seeking out the roleplay
Runes of Magic is funny with its seemingly high emphasis on chasing carrots, but it also contains some horizontal gameplay features. Gear is so highly customizable and the higher-level dungeons require you to invest a lot of time upgrading. Running dungeons is easily a full-time gig that I'm finding out firsthand. I've been leveling a new character strictly for dungeons, but it takes up all of my game time. I've cut out crafting completely and I outright ignore my house, yet I'm still falling behind my guildmates. But for those who actively seek it out, there are plenty of features to aid the other pursuit known as roleplaying. The horizontal aspects of RoM have a lot to do with why I love the game so much. Of course, they are ripe for the roleplaying crowd, but roleplayers aren't limited to only those areas. I think there are both areas good for roleplaying and areas that aren't so clear but lend themselves well to roleplaying. It's about how you roleplay with RoM's features, not which features are best for roleplaying. This week, I want to take a look at a few ways you can seek out roleplaying, with an emphasis on the uninitiated. I finish with a sappy message about roleplaying and instant gratification. Pros can very well find some ideas past the break as well.
Hyperspace Beacon: Rockin' the Roleplay
I once asked, "What is roleplay?" in Massively's IRC channel. My intent was to define roleplay in its simplest terms. After all, the majority of us play RPGs, even if they are MMORPGs. I was surprised that, once you added "game" versus just the word "roleplay," the context changed astronomically. For instance, roleplay taken by itself could be defined as taking on another character. We all know that LARPing (live-action roleplay) is dressing up as character and performing the actions of a character who is not you. If you ask someone who considers herself a roleplayer in an MMO, she would define roleplay similarly: taking on a character in that particular setting. But ask a group of gamers what defines an RPG and you'll certainly get a wide variety of answers. Some define it as leveling. Others say it's telling a story in a game. Some define it by the DIKU-type playstyle. Some go so far as to say that you have to have a gamemaster, rules, and story for it to truly be an RPG. Our Senior Editor Brianna Royce suggested in the interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Manager Stephen Reid that BioWare is "putting the RPG back into MMORPGs," to which Reid replied in general agreement, "I think that's part of it. It's really about allowing you to experience real choice in a great story." The phrase "putting the RP back into MMORPG" (or something very similar) was used a couple of times in "booth chat" with developers of SWTOR. It was good to see a developer respond to that phrase. But is it true? Does SWTOR put the RP back into the MMORPG? What makes an RPG an RPG? Does SWTOR fit that bill? How will it will work with traditional MMO roleplayers? Join me past the break to find out.
The Anvil of Crom: Roll the bones
MMO guilds are complex beasts, simultaneously serving as competitive outlets, support groups, and even extended families for those of us who devote a good portion of our free time to this strange and marvelous hobby. Guilds come in all shapes, sizes, flavors, colors, and descriptions. Heck, sometimes they're not called guilds at all, but rather corporations, kinships, legions, or even supergroups. Many guilds focus on powering through PvE content in the most efficient way possible, while others are driven to excel at PvP, conquest, or server firsts. Still others spend their time roleplaying and storytelling in a medium that seems increasingly hostile to it. Funcom's Age of Conan features the usual assortment of PvP, PvE, and roleplaying guilds spread across its four American servers. Then there's Venja.
Hyperspace Beacon: Loyal to their cause
As some of you may know, I love roleplaying in MMOs. Most of the MMOs I've played have had RPG tagged at the end. Even though it's not required to roleplay to enjoy an MMORPG, immersion is compounded when you do, therefore fun is compounded, too. In the Star Wars universe, I could not help but wrap myself in lore when I played a soldier or agent of the Galactic Empire. From line and formation to order and procedure -- all of this was in service to His Majesty, the Emperor. Of all the characters I made over my seven years of Star Wars Galaxies, my Imperial characters were the most purpose-driven. When Bioware announced the trooper class for Star Wars: The Old Republic, many players asked who would want to play a clone. There's no personality there, no motivation or character development, right? I disagree very strongly. In fact, I will go so far as to say I believe there is only one binding factor between soldier types: loyalty. Even then there are different types of loyalties and different motivations behind an individual character's loyalties. Step past the break and watch as I contrast the loyalty of famous factions of existing Star Wars soldiers and compare them to the trooper and agent classes of SWTOR.
All the World's a Stage: The curtain falls
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. It's a strange feeling to look back on four years of roleplaying in WoW, more than two of which were spent writing "All the World's a Stage," and feel as though the curtain is coming down on this part of my life, just as many new things are rising up to take its place. It's a sad thing, and it's a happy thing at the same time.Part of me doesn't want to change -- it just wants to go on having more of all those experiences I've enjoyed, which have helped me grow and become the person I am today; but the other part of me embraces these changes, and looks forward toward the experiences that will make me into the person I will be tomorrow.The fact is that I need to put WoW on indefinite hiatus, but before I go, let me share some of the things I have deeply appreciated about playing the game, especially how roleplaying filled an important niche in my life, and actually helped make me a better person.
All the World's a Stage: Anonymosity
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. Roleplaying is a journey of trust you take with strangers. You may now and then start out with a group of people you know in real life, but for the most part, the people you roleplay with have no idea who you really are, or why you are sitting here at the computer. You can tell them if you want to, but most people don't ask. Roleplayers tend to keep personal details private, and don't intrude on one another's space. Besides, other roleplayers don't necessarily care that much about who you "really are" either. They're there to get to know your character, not you as a person, unless your character first makes a very good impression and they decide that they actually want to be friends as real people. Even though you respect each other as people who share the same interest, there's still a distance between you which either (or both) of you may wish to maintain. And yet, the relationship you have is one of trust. It's not at all at the same level as a best friend of course, but you still have to trust one another in a very creative sense -- you rely on each other to create interesting things for your characters to share with one another. You're not just buying a shirt from a salesperson or holding the door for a passerby -- you're exchanging behavior and language in an unpredictable and totally interconnected way. Any little surprise a stranger brings to an interaction may completely alter the whole game session and stick in your mind as one of your most memorable gaming experiences. Roleplayers have to trust other roleplayers to help make those experiences positive, even without knowing anything at all about one another. Sometimes two characters can even become very close friends, even though the real people behind them do not.
All the World's a Stage: Player housing, interactivity, and other possible features
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. Playing Warhammer recently has made me think of more features that WoW could add in order to create a better roleplaying experience. Far and away the most important one, to my mind, was the Tome of Knowledge. WoW players really need an in-game resource they can refer to as a standard for information about the Warcraft universe, and having this at hand, roleplayers could do a lot better than they can today. Knowledge is the most important thing, of course, but there are other features Blizzard could add to the game that would help roleplayers too. I'd like to address a few of these things, and see how much they could really do for us. Player housing is a possible feature that gets talked about a lot, but I have my doubts as to whether or not it would really help roleplayers all that much. Another issue is one that is more important to me personally, and is another feature inspired by my trial with Warhammer Online: looking at interactivity between characters.
All the World's a Stage: How to bring Warhammer's "Tome of Knowledge" to WoW
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. Some time ago, I had my first look at Warhammer Online, and wondered if that game treated roleplaying any differently from World of Warcraft. I wrote at some length about the significance of a written warning whenever someone signs up for a roleplaying realm for the first time, but I also noticed that Warhammer actually had another very special feature that could be beneficial for WoW roleplayers, namely the "Tome of Knowledge." Playing around with this a little bit made me think about how Blizzard could make something similar, which would go a long way toward enriching the experience of the game, not only for roleplayers, but for all players. Warhammer's Tome of Knowledge is not without it's flaws, of course -- I can surely imagine a better one for WoW to adopt, but at the moment WoW has nothing at all like it, which is unfortunate. But what is the Tome of Knowledge? Basically, it's is an in-game database full of all kinds of information you might be interested in. This includes gamey things like achievements, titles, and quests, but also contains a lot of info about the story and lore of the game, such as some history for each major region, descriptions of noteworthy persons, and a bestiary of all the enemies in the game. When you visit an important location, encounter an important questgiver, or defeat a new enemy in battle, information about that entity will appear in your Tome of Knowledge. A little popup will even let you click through to it right away.
All the World's a Stage: The voices of every race and class speak in RP
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. All the World's a Stage has been a voice for roleplaying in WoW for over two years now. I didn't quite realize it at the time, but the article entitled "So you want to be a bad guy" was just about at the 2 year mark for this column! To celebrate belatedly, today we'll review some of the other websites about roleplaying in WoW out there. If you like All the World's a Stage, you'll probably enjoy these as well. In addition, you will find that some of these websites have similar, but unique pages with information about roleplaying the various races and classes of Azeroth. So for those of you who would like to have a reference to all these articles in a single place, I've collected them all together in one list at the end of the article. This list includes my own articles, as well as those of all the other websites I'm about to mention which follow on the same theme.
All the World's a Stage: We don't need no narration
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. Throughout my career as a roleplaying columnist on WoW.com, I've been talking about roleplaying as a way to tell stories, but last week a comment by Zombie, as well as those made by a few others on the same topic, caused me to think about roleplay stories in a new way. Perhaps what we roleplayers do isn't actually storytelling so much as it is character development through interesting and somewhat disjointed anecdotes. There's really no beginning, middle, or end to a roleplayed character in WoW. Instead, what you get is a mishmash of events and experiences, which you may then string together into a story in your mind if you like. But even if you don't, you can see that most of us don't really expect for a narrative to develop from a clear beginning, through various plot developments, and finally lead into an exciting climax. There is something else roleplayers want to get out of their experience, even if many of us have trouble articulating exactly what it is.
All the World's a Stage: Attitudes about roleplaying for the first time
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles.We've talked before about getting started in roleplaying, as well as how to find the right group to roleplay with. But there's also another aspect the question of roleplaying for the first time, which is that inner attitude people feel towards it.I often see people leaving comments on All the World's a Stage, saying that they have some sort of story for their character inside their heads, but they don't let it out, for various reasons. Some don't feel that they have the right social space to let it out, and find it difficult to connect with others in such a way that their internal idea can actually take shape in reality. Others feel as though roleplaying isn't for them, even though they clearly seem to have the gift for it. In both cases, their roleplaying is limited to their own mind, where no one else can hear it or benefit from it at all. For every one who posts something about it on a site like this one, how many more just think about it, and never say anything to anyone?
All the World's a Stage: So you want to raise up the shadows of doom
Today, All the World's a Stage concludes a series on "how to be evil," bringing the bad guy back into your fantasy roleplaying, complete with ideas, methods, warnings, and practical examples. Be sure to check out steps 1-3, steps 4-6, and steps 7 and 8 on the path to evil!Your friends keep telling you, "you can't play Arthas, man! Nobody's going to believe that your little human death knight is actually the Lich King in disguise. Get real!" But your idea just won't go away. You admit that creating a human death knight named "Ahrrthyss" might not be the best way to go about it, but you're in this guild which is devoted to fighting the Scourge, and you want Arthas to be a part of your story, not just an NPC who shows up in some quests and at the end of a raid.We've already discussed a number of ways to be a villain in WoW – so you look at them to see if you can get one of them to work for you: The most obvious is to just start a new character and designate it to be one of your guild's antagonists, but the problem here is that making Arthas as an actual player character is way too Mary Sue. Such a tactic usually only works for very subtle villains (more like flawed heroes really), or for short-term possession, and your guild has done 3 "possessed by the Lich King's power" type stories already. You need something new! Another choice is to create a disposable villain, perhaps, some agent of the Lich King, which could be interesting, but still doesn't put you in touch with Arthas himself. But there is another way, which many people have not thought of: to put the villain entirely in the shadows of the background, let him never actually be seen, but let his effects be felt based on what happens to the heroes. Arthas can indeed play a huge role in your story, without ever having to appear in person. It has been done to great effect before, even in novels. Sauron, anyone?
