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The Daily Grind: What ruins your immersion?
Oh my goodness, it's a Harry Potter clone in the middle of my Secret World play experience! My illusion of reality is shattered, and now I see the game for what it is: a collection of GOTO programming commands and impersonal variables. OK, maybe it isn't that extreme, but I think we've all had moments in our games when someone does or says something to rip us right out of our immersion groove. Maybe it's an eye-rolling name, the game breaking the fourth wall to wink at us, or a streaker going through an RP wedding. Today we want to hear tales from your playtime: What ruins your immersion? What happened to shatter the veil of fiction that you wrap around yourself every day? 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!
Storyboard: The RIFT project - week 3
I can't believe that this has almost been going on for a month. Well, all right, I can believe it but still find it somewhat baffling. Yes, it's the penultimate installment of RIFT project recaps, and it's been an interesting week. This one has been mostly focused around broadening the scope, adding in some new characters to the mix and seeing how they've played off the quartet already in play. In short, it's been good... but it highlighted a weakness that neither Ms. Lady nor I was really conscious of until we sat down and articulated it. Of course, if you've been reading steadily, you may have already guessed at the problem, but that's all the more reason to catch up on the events. There's a higher than usual dose of unmitigated crazy this week, too. So what happened on a week when we should really have been bringing things toward a conclusion? Anything but.
Drama Mamas: Roleplaying the system
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. We fear change. Sometimes change is good, though. Change caused a bit of a problem in this week's letter. Dear Robin & Lisa, I'm in a middling-sized roleplaying guild on Argent Dawn (EU). We hold casual RP just about every evening and when we roleplay any combat, it's usually done in the form of an emote battle, with a simple rolling mechanic (/roll 1-100) used only when it's really, really needed. Then, out of nowhere, our GM and deputy posted up a new set of roleplaying rules on the guild forums. These D&D-esque rules asked that each player pick a series of passive bonuses and active abilities to attach to their roleplaying character(s). Later on, we found out that the idea for and most of the work on this new set of rules had come not from our two leaders, but from a brand new guildie, and that he had worked this out with our leaders on Skype long before anyone else was notified.
Storyboard: The RIFT project - week 2
This week, the RIFT project slowed down a little bit. Oh, we didn't stop playing by any stretch of the imagination, but when you're also playing (and roleplaying) in two other games, you're going to find some time crunches, especially when the novelty of a game starts to wear off and gets replaced with the more mundane tasks of playing the game into the doldrum levels. And the middle levels are always the doldrum levels, no matter how elegantly they might be handled on a whole. New characters were made and played, but as of yet, they haven't really interacted with the main group, so the focus remains on the same quartet as the first installment. As such, I'll be jumping right into a recounting of the week's events and an examination of where the project is going. And the splinter I mentioned in passing is still there, but I don't think that needs to be discussed this week, does it?
Storyboard: The RIFT project - week 1
While I had expected this project to get shoehorned into a footnote over the next few weeks, the majority vote was in favor of seeing this recapped every week. So it's time for the first recap of the RIFT project, which will cover just about a week of time spent in the game as of Wednesday. That means recapping characters, giving a brief summary of events, and giving everyone an idea of how well the project is working out thus far. I'm going to go on the record stating two things, just in case they weren't clear from the first column. The first thing is that this project is not an official Massively thing by nature, just something that I had dreamed up and figured would be interesting to read about. Second, I'm well aware that I'm probably going to have one or two enormous lore holes in my recaps or character summaries. Those of you who read regularly probably already know that I lose precisely no sleep over this fact, and you should not either. It's just a game; we should all really just relax. With the preamble out of the way, let's get into the story so far.
Hyperspace Beacon: Tips for roleplaying in The Old Republic
I had a game developer tell me recently that he wished more players were like roleplayers because roleplayers are easier to cater to. Having been in MMO roleplay communities for the last nine years, I have to both disagree and agree with him. Roleplayers need special tools and good quality-of-life mechanics (like sitting in chairs!) in order to find a game extremely enjoyable. However, he was correct when talking about content. When the content runs out -- when every raid is on farm, when PvP is no longer a challenge, or when all that's left is dailies to grind -- the majority of players start to slip out of the game. But when developer content runs out for a roleplayer, she begins to make her own content, if she hasn't already been doing just that. And the game is still fun! When I started roleplaying in an MMO for the first time, a friend of mine who started with me summarized my feelings about roleplaying that game: "This is the reason I started playing in the first place." What he meant was that when he started playing Star Wars Galaxies, he wanted to live in the Star Wars universe, and roleplaying actually allowed him to do that. Star Wars: The Old Republic offers its own opportunities for immersion. It's not the same as SWG, but it does share the same universe. So how do you get involved in the fun that roleplayers have in SWTOR? I'm glad you asked. I have some quick and dirty tips for you on how to get started in your epic Star Wars MMO adventure!
Storyboard: The RIFT project
The biggest problem with roleplaying in an MMO is that there's a certain amount of enforced stasis. No matter how determined you are to bring about long-term change in your group, there's the simple fact that you generally need to have characters working together and staying alive. Game considerations force you to refrain from anything that would rock the boat too severely. So most main characters have plot armor, most relationships need to stay at a functional professional level, and most villains have to be guest stars. It's a compromise we make so that the game itself remains playable. But what if you didn't have to make that compromise? This isn't a story about RIFT, and it isn't a story about PAX East, but both of those elements come into play because that's how the idea came to me. What would it look like if you had a month during which there were no restrictions on roleplaying? How would things play out if you could feel confident about a month of play that's completely self-contained, with no need to preserve characters any longer than the story required? Would it make roleplaying more interesting, or would nothing change?
The Daily Grind: Do you play on a roleplay server as a non-roleplayer?
Most every new MMO has a roleplay server set up specifically for roleplayers to do their thing. Presumably, this RP server would be kinder and gentler than your average PvP or PvE server. This is the reason many players -- including myself -- seek out these RP servers on day one, even if we're not roleplayers ourselves. I tend to not interrupt in-character chat and generally respect the atmosphere of roleplaying while not actually participating. So for you non-roleplayers out there, we're curious to know if this is something you've done. For roleplayers, does it irritate you to see non-roleplayers using your server? We want to know! [Image: Lotrogeek] 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!
Storyboard: Ten questions to answer about your character
If you have anything in common with me RP-wise, then you want your characters to seem more or less like real people. Sure, there are going to be blank spots compared to someone who's lived for the past 20-odd years, but you want to create the illusion that there's no real difference. And one of the best tools in that area is to answer questions that real people have an answer for in a few minutes at most. Usually, if someone mentions a mundane aspect of a character's background, it's meant to play into something further on down the line. But my experience is that giving those questions mundane answers helps ground the character in a much more solid foundation. So I've put together a list of seemingly innocuous questions that can help you construct a more fully formed character, someone who at least creates the illusion of a real life to recall. That illusion can make all the difference.
Storyboard: The social contract
Have you ever thought about the fact that every single one of your characters is a murdering thief? Picture the scene for a moment: You have a group of people living in an isolated and rural community. Without warning, a man with heavy weaponry bursts in and starts hacking his way through every inhabitant of the community, smashing his way into locked houses. But he also stops at the body of each victim to gather any money or important belongings, slowly working his way through the community until there's nothing left but carrion and a few trinkets he didn't deem valuable enough to steal. On the news, this would be up there as a pretty shocking tragedy. In an MMO, this is a good chunk of the gameplay. And that brings to mind one of the major issues that faced by roleplayers hoping for verisimilitude: the horrible discrepancies between the social contract as we understand it and the one employed by the characters in the game. They're divergent sometimes, identical at other times, and universally ambiguous.
Breakfast Topic: What is your character's backstory?
I haven't roleplayed in a while -- and I have never done it on a regular basis -- but most of my characters (yeah, altitis) have backstories. To be more accurate, my adventurers have motivations. I have more fun when my character has a reason for what she is doing, even though I'm the only one who knows about it. Roblinator the goblin Shamanator She has no interest in becoming a better shaman. Boring! She just wants to host parties and hang around with Sassy when she gets the chance. Robiness the tauren druid Her name used to be Freja, and she is still that in her heart. She enjoys her friends but really likes to travel the world alone. She gets the most pleasure from solitary archaeological digs. Boadicea the blood elf paladin She misses the days of holding a Naaru captive in a basement and stealing his energy to fuel her paladin skills. Evil. Boadicea loves killing, but she will heal someone helping her kill -- if necessary. Robinemia the Forsaken mage She went a little, well, insane trying to please her tormentors. So now all she does is hang out at the Auction House and reminisce about what it used to be like to feel. Peenk the gnome rogue She used to be somebody! Now she just sleeps in the shadows of Ironforge, smelling of ale and regret. Qila the draenei mage This goody-two-shoes light stuff is for weaklings. It's all about magic, baby! If you RP, I know you have backstories -- spill 'em. If you don't roleplay, do you still have histories and/or personalities made up for your characters? If so, what are they?
Storyboard: Dark past of infinite darkness
There's no reason in the world that the idea of a dark past needed to become a cliché. I mean, it has; there's no denying that. Do a shot every time you find a character with a dark past and you'll have alcohol poisoning inside of half an hour. (Do two for every character whose past is dark and mysterious and you can just call an ambulance before you start.) But it's one of those things that's been cast into the realm of the cliché before its time -- it's a legitimate element to constructing a character that's become overused. Of course, it's been sent to the horrid land of the cliché by people using it poorly and overzealously. You can still make an interesting and nuanced character with a dark past, but you have to do so with a gentle hand. You need just enough dark past that it's interesting but not so much dark past that it gets obnoxious or silly.
The Daily Grind: How do you kill off your characters?
Indie sandbox Origins of Malu plans to feature a very unusual PvP mode: a permadeath PvP duel system. Characters who voluntarily duel under this system -- and lose -- will be erased from the game. Forever! Massively's staff roleplayers are divided on whether or not this feature will ever see much use, though. While most of us think it's an awesome system that will provide some spectacular entertainment, others of us have argued that it takes a lot of courage for MMO gamers, so used to investing time and money into their avatars, to kill off a character permanently. It won't be easy finding another roleplaying duelist who's both capable of putting up a good fight and willing to risk his own hide. Plus, wouldn't it be weird if every single RPer who wanted to off a toon did so in a gladiatorial duel to the death? There are so many other dramatic ways to end a character's story! And that brings us to today's Daily Grind: How do you kill off your characters? Do you go for climactic in-game events? Do you field "can I have ur stuff" requests? Do you delete silently and never look back to avoid future temptation? Or do you cancel your accounts and let your characters slumber peacefully, awaiting your someday return? 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!
Storyboard: When I was the problem
I do not claim to have any sort of superhuman intellect. If I understand how people are likely to make mistakes in roleplaying and how to fix those mistakes, it's a product of having made a lot of mistakes of my own. Sometimes it's a result of failing to fix them and realizing what would have worked after the fact. And while I'll write advice on how to fix the things that you're doing wrong, I never want to give the impression that I'm preaching rather than practicing. Last week's column was all about what happens when it turns out you're the problem, and there's a J'accuse-style rant if there ever was one. In light of that, I wanted to make it very clear that there have been situations in which my character was the problem rather than some hypothetical example. And so I pulled out three of the most notable examples of places where it turns out I was causing a world of disruption within the group.
Storyboard: The problem in your group is you
There are a lot of ways that roleplaying can go south. Over the past two years, I've tried to focus on how to look out for problems before they happen, how to identify problems coming from others, and how to solve problems with a minimum of drama. It's important to try to fix miscommunications, after all. Unfortunately, there's a problem that comes from analyzing everything other than yourself: Sometimes, the real problem is you. Maybe you've been trying to fix all of the problems in your group without realizing that the real pot-stirrer was the jerk trying to fix everyone else. Maybe you've been trying to enforce a specific standard that no one else wants to adhere to. Heck, maybe you're just playing a character that you like a lot but everyone else loathes. Whatever the reason, you aren't the solution any more; you are the problem that needs to be fixed. And that means figuring out what to do when you find out that you have seen the enemy and he is you.
Wings Over Atreia: Twelve activities for Daevas under max level
You know me: I'm the lollygagger. In no rush to zoom through games, I tend to wander about just taking a gander at things. I peek into all the nooks and crannies and am easily sidetracked by all the shinies. In the journey vs. destination debate, I am a proud pompom-waving, card-carrying member of "the journey is half the fun" crowd. It's a wonder I progress at all! But progress I do, and in Aion I had been max level for quite some time. Emphasis on "had." Then 3.0 rolled around. It's actually odd being lower-level again, unable to participate in everything because of level restrictions. Sorry MJ, no dungeon for j00! It's my fault really, since I could level but have been distracted with housing, mentoring, etc. Then I got to thinking about just how many things there are to do even without being max level. Whoa! Sometimes people have the (in my humble opinion, erroneous) idea that Aion doesn't really start until max level, that everything you do before reaching that exalted pinnacle isn't playing. Don't be absurd! The game doesn't start at level 60; it starts at level 1. Remember the part about enjoying the journey? Why worry about reaching some magical number! Just play. After all, experience happens -- before you know it, you will level up. Previously, Wings Over Atreia discussed some things to do once you reach endgame. Here, in no particular order, are 12 ways to take your eyes off your experience bar and just play with reckless abandon before maxing out.
Storyboard: On roleplaying projects
Roleplaying projects are great. They're good for avoiding burnout, good for stretching your roleplaying muscles, and good for giving you reason to explore something you'd otherwise ignore. Not every project works out all that well, but I'm a big fan of the idea, and I'd encourage everyone who likes to roleplay to try a major project. The problem is that roleplaying projects are a lot of extra work and sometimes don't produce a lot of worthwhile results. Restrictions can breed creativity, sure, but sometimes they're just limiting. Roleplaying a character who never moves, for instance, is certainly possible but probably not a lot of fun, unless you really like sitting in a chair in-game while you sit in a chair in real life. So while I'm not kicking off my own little project just yet (it would take time away from my latest round in Choose My Adventure, and that would be terrible), I thought it'd be a good idea to look at how to create and work within a project so that the experience is a fun break rather than an oppressive fun-sucking nightmare. Hopefully, even if it doesn't work out, you can at least have some fun with the concept.
Storyboard: Why I rejected your guild application
Explaining guilds to people who don't play MMOs is always odd. You have to explain the process of applying, getting interviewed, and generally being brought on some trial runs in a way that doesn't make the whole thing sound like an unpleasant second job. This is even worse when it comes to explaining roleplaying guilds, which often level all the same restrictions as endgame-focused guilds with the added benefit that you're being examined based on your character rather than your play ability. So it feels like a real kick in the teeth to do all that and then get rejected. At face value, this feels outright ridiculous. The only criteria for a roleplaying guild should be roleplaying, and if you're applying for one, you almost by definition pass. But there's actually a lot of valid reasons to say that someone just isn't right for your roleplaying guild. So you might not have been rejected because the guild is made up of judgmental pricks -- it might be for the best.
Storyboard: The second anniversary of Storyboard
Last year, I had planned to change up the focus of Storyboard a little. The "high and wide" format had been working, but I was worried that the column just wouldn't have legs if I didn't start going for more focused and narrow applications. So I spent several months working on just the right way to do more game-specific columns in here. You don't remember them, of course, because none of them was ever posted. Those several months of work did not produce a single viable column. At the capstone of the second year of Storyboard, I'm forced to basically eat crow about one of my major plans for the last year because it turns out that not only did it not work but it didn't need to work in the first place. I managed to fill up another year of columns just fine without going into great detail about one game over another, and as it turns out, I'm a lot happier with this year as a whole anyway.
Storyboard: Why roleplaying is worth the trouble
Why bother roleplaying? I've covered a lot of topics in this column that circle around that topic. I've talked about why roleplaying is important and how you can roleplay without tears, but I've never touched the central question, something that was brought to mind recently by a fellow Massively writer. Why even bother with roleplaying? The usual answer is a shrug and a self-evident "because it's fun," but that's more a dismissal of the question than a functional response. That's not a good thing because there's a case to be made against roleplaying. Your character doesn't have an impact on the game world. Your roleplaying is, in the context of the game itself, irrelevant. The game doesn't care why your character wears weaker gear than normal; it just downgrades your stats and makes your life harder. You derive no benefit and wind up losing a lot of time for social interactions that are prone to drama and arguments. So why bother?
