Poll: Hatred Towards Roleplaying

[Thoric485]

Most of the fun in singleplayer RPGs for me comes from playing a specific type of character and interpreting the situation from their point of view. I haven't seen anyone offended from that, but I've seen multiplayer roleplaying be dissed quite often, and it's a shame, since it's the main thing that draws me to MMORPGs - being able to craft stories with other players. And it infuriates me that as far as the priorities in a modern MMO go, immersion isn't even on the damn list.

Roleplayers try to give MMOs the air of authenticity singleplayer RPGs have by assuming diverse roles in all sorts of factions - militia, mage covenants, crime syndicates, trade cartels, or zone-specific communities mixing all of the above, including petty commoners. And sometimes it all comes together in a fantastic way - walking around a city at night you won't see nondescript toons rushing about on mounts, but uniformed guards patrolling, adventurers filling up a player-run inn, zealots preaching, high citizenry bickering, PvP events and in-game holidays where hundreds of roleplayers pour in one spot.

Yet all of that has zero outlet in the gameplay itself - in modern MMOs there are no mechanics for guild warfare, housing, locational trading, full loot PvP, thievery, pure crafting or political roles, there isn't even practical-looking gear at high levels. Through RP addons and forum posts you're opened up to all this player-generated content, but it loses its luster after the 10-th military campaign with no impact whatsoever. It's a goddamn simulation within a simulation.

And what's ridiculous is that this type of sandbox features were available 15 years ago, but not now. They've been replaced with linear, now voiced questing, achievements, instanced raids and battlegrounds. Developers focus on storytelling and combat in a genre which's name is shorthand for "bad storytelling" and "bad combat".

I sincerely hope this madness will end at some point and MMORPGs will again be suitable sandboxes for roleplaying. Players interacting with each other in a persistent, changeable environment is their defining feature, and the only reason people agreed to pay their exorbitant prices in the first place.

 

[evilneko]

Roleplaying--and yes, writing the story--is pretty much the only reason I'm still playing Fallout 3 after three and a half years (yeah, it really has been that long). My little vault dweller has had quite some adventures.. even being teleported across the continent to experience a new land...

I'm also working out a backstory for a character for Skyrim (and currently playtesting her planned playstyle). Just haven't quite decided which alternate start to use.

 

[Erttheking]

It's one of those things that I don't love but I do enjoy.

 

[Zhukov]

Uh... kind of?

In games that give me the neccesary freedom I generally cause my characters to act in a consistent manner. Sometimes after a while I will form some notion of my character's personality based on those actions.

I don't talk to myself as them though, that seems excessive and silly.

As for why people would hate on roleplaying, well... does it really surprise you that someone whose hobby involves sitting at their computer pretending to be a mysterious elf ranger in the land of dragonwizardkings could be regarded as a bit weird? 'Cause it sure doesn't surprise me.

 

[kouriichi]

Eh, i dont really roleplay. I get these small tangents once or twice a year when it sounds like a jolly good time, but others i just cant be bothered with it. I'll come up with a nifty back story for a character, and maybe think a bit like him when im playing the game, but outside of that not to much else unless im willing to join friends who are also doing it.

 

[TehCookie]

I'm weird with role-playing, I can create a better character if I have something to work with. When I was playing Pokemon Black I created a strong personality for the main character and how he treats his pokemon and talks to people (and I would actually speak for him). I was limited by the game since everyone says the same thing no matter what, but with the personality I created it all falls into place.

It felt better than Skyrim which advertises role-playing I couldn't get into since my characters didn't fit the scripts. My first character went along well since she was an aloof murder with an innocent face who liked to act refined but turned giddy when it came to killing. So when people treated her like a noob it worked out because she was fooling them. My other character is a cocky badass so it's annoying when everyone treats you like a weakling especially when you're at a high level. No matter how I played characters still acted the same, honestly the guards remarks were the only part that made it feel like you were the character.

 

[Belaam]

I roleplay in PnP all the time. MMOs... if the group is going for it anyway, I am happy to play along, but never seek it out. I tend to have backstories for all my gaming characters that are never vocalized.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Don't roleplay in games, but I like pen and paper role playing games.
I just have no one to play with, and technically no time to play.

 

[Something Amyss]

Don't roleplay in games, but I like pen and paper role playing games.

Likewise. More fun in terms of both a freedom to actually play a characters and the social element.

Though your mileage may vary.

 

[Bat Vader]

I like the think the FemShepard I create is a descendant of General Shepherd from MW2. Their family was shamed for generations because of what he did so she is the first Shepard to enroll in the military since him. I know it is kinda weak.

I also like to RP in Skyrim as well as The Old Republic.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

I have created and dungeon mastered my own table-top role-playing games and they have gone over well, we even started a group through MSN/Yahoo/Skype. I don't see the problem in role-playing through Skyrim or Falout New Vegas in order to make up for particularly bland stories. It's not like you need to dress up and start talking out loud to the screen. Just build a character accordingly and give them a personality to reference when confronted with conversations and events, what would {Insert Name Here} do in this situation?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I find role playing in a single player game to be more than a bit odd. Doing it with a group is one thing, but making up a story based on what you did in a videogame, with no intention of writing it down[footnote]like an after action report in a strategy game or space trading sim; they're still a bit odd, but at least it's writing practice, plus people like to share them[/footnote], just seems weird to me. Then again, I find the concept of actual roleplaying (as opposed to roll-playing) in D&D to be a bit odd; most of the people I've known to do it would have been better off with either community theater or the SCA.

I personally love some of the Sword of the Stars and Aurora (both 4x games) roleplays.

I have written a few of my own from where my little fledgling planet went from earth circa 2000 to an interstellar empire, then was crushed back to sol by an alien race before slowly fighting their way back to dominance.

if done right it can read like a good book with main characters popping up in the game (Aurora has all of your ship captains and ground commanders have names)

Playing these kinds of games (which at times can seem like spreadsheet simulators, particularly aurora) can get quite dull unless you have an active imagination and think about the happenings in a greater context.

It was 4X games I was mainly thinking about when I made the footnote; it's always kind of interesting to see a good after action report. The difference for me is that writing down a characterized version of a 4X session is a neat little creative writing exercise, while just doing it all in your head is... well, odd. Also, I completely get what you're saying about them being spreadsheets: the game. Ever play Space Empires V? It's the most spreadsheet-y 4X game I've ever played, and one of the best.

Edit: I should clarify. Having a passing thought or two about the emergent story is okay. It's actually pretending to be a character, like the tabletop roleplayers who were described as taking it too far a little up the page, but without any sort of audience, that I find to be incredibly bizarre.

 

[Syzygy23]

As far as Tabletop roleplaying goes, it's only fun when your GM isn't incompetent or an asshole. makes it kinda difficult for me, since my GM is both of those things while at the same time my best friend tripping over his own inflated ego (Our last game culminates in his first time GMing Pathfinder, which he heavily modified without telling us first, added a Dark Heresy-esque system of punishment for Casters and Psionics without changing the core spells/abilities to make the risks worth it)

The worst part is that I LOVE playing the caster types, so when I lose at least 1 character per two sessions to his fucking bullshit and then call him out on it, and then he completely ignores my complaints OR advice (considering I've been the groups SOLE GM for the past two years) It just kills my mood to roleplay, i'd rather munchkin the hell outta my next characters and ruin his game.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I find role playing in a single player game to be more than a bit odd. Doing it with a group is one thing, but making up a story based on what you did in a videogame, with no intention of writing it down[footnote]like an after action report in a strategy game or space trading sim; they're still a bit odd, but at least it's writing practice, plus people like to share them[/footnote], just seems weird to me. Then again, I find the concept of actual roleplaying (as opposed to roll-playing) in D&D to be a bit odd; most of the people I've known to do it would have been better off with either community theater or the SCA.

I personally love some of the Sword of the Stars and Aurora (both 4x games) roleplays.

I have written a few of my own from where my little fledgling planet went from earth circa 2000 to an interstellar empire, then was crushed back to sol by an alien race before slowly fighting their way back to dominance.

if done right it can read like a good book with main characters popping up in the game (Aurora has all of your ship captains and ground commanders have names)

Playing these kinds of games (which at times can seem like spreadsheet simulators, particularly aurora) can get quite dull unless you have an active imagination and think about the happenings in a greater context.

It was 4X games I was mainly thinking about when I made the footnote; it's always kind of interesting to see a good after action report. The difference for me is that writing down a characterized version of a 4X session is a neat little creative writing exercise, while just doing it all in your head is... well, odd. Also, I completely get what you're saying about them being spreadsheets: the game. Ever play Space Empires V? It's the most spreadsheet-y 4X game I've ever played, and one of the best.

Hm, never heard of that one, will have to pick it up on Steam when I get home come monday.

If you are fan of 4x games you should check out Aurora, it is the dwarf fort of space based 4x games. It has very, very limited graphics, but the pure amount of options is astounding.

Though I have to disagree with the coming up with the stuff in your head is strange part, I would never have thought to write it down if I first hadnt come up with the stories and adventures of my officers in my head first. I am still rather depressed that the save game and the stories I had written for them imploded with my flashdrive

Fair warning about SEV; it uses an old version of direct X that doesn't play nice with Windows 7. It'll work, but modern versions of Windows emulate most of the features in software, which means it's a pain in the butt to get a decent framerate, even on a relatively fast computer. I've heard some good things about SEIV, which had most of the same features but was done in 2D, and ironically works better with modern versions of windows as a result. I got my copy for a couple of TF2 items thanks to a friend of mine getting it from the last Christmas promotion on Steam but not wanting it.

Moving on, when you say Aurora is like the Dwarf Fort of 4X games, does that mean it's some sort of freeware? The way you're describing it reminds me of Anacreon, which is this really early ASCII based 4X game from the 80's, with all sorts of cool features that aren't common today. The original developer released a couple of freeware ports to modern systems in the early 2000's, which is why I know about it. Space Empires is closer to Anacreon than it is Civilization, and it would be interesting to find another 4X in that vein; most of the other ones I've seen really ape Civ.

As for the roleplaying thing, like I said in my edit, what you're describing with kind of characterizing the emergent narrative of the game isn't what weirds me out; it's people who do the kind of thing dyre and I were talking about earlier in the thread, but in a singleplayer game without any sort of audience that really weirds me out.

 

[darth.pixie]

Not sure if you're talking about RP'ing or LARP'ing. LARPing is fixing your house in Skyrim for it to look pretty, walking in cities because running is rude or the 'hardcore' mode (they have no impact on the game, quests or story). RP'ing is picking a choice with worse consequences because that's what your character would do, thus influencing the outcome of your quest (saving the obviously evil kid because you're the good guy and don't kill the defenceless, sacrificing your XP or attribute points to save someone else etc.)

I know what LARP stood for, originally, but as far as I know, the term has evolved to this at least around the gaming guys I know. I only mention it because Skyrim isn't really the RPG type ("Why yes, I will be the leader of the assassins and the leader of the honourable Companions and the archmage even though I can't even conjure up a spark")

I like RP'ing but don't LARP as much. I do have my moments.

 

[evilneko]

I find role playing in a single player game to be more than a bit odd. Doing it with a group is one thing, but making up a story based on what you did in a videogame, with no intention of writing it down[footnote]like an after action report in a strategy game or space trading sim; they're still a bit odd, but at least it's writing practice, plus people like to share them[/footnote], just seems weird to me. Then again, I find the concept of actual roleplaying (as opposed to roll-playing) in D&D to be a bit odd; most of the people I've known to do it would have been better off with either community theater or the SCA.

I personally love some of the Sword of the Stars and Aurora (both 4x games) roleplays.

I have written a few of my own from where my little fledgling planet went from earth circa 2000 to an interstellar empire, then was crushed back to sol by an alien race before slowly fighting their way back to dominance.

if done right it can read like a good book with main characters popping up in the game (Aurora has all of your ship captains and ground commanders have names)

Playing these kinds of games (which at times can seem like spreadsheet simulators, particularly aurora) can get quite dull unless you have an active imagination and think about the happenings in a greater context.

It was 4X games I was mainly thinking about when I made the footnote; it's always kind of interesting to see a good after action report. The difference for me is that writing down a characterized version of a 4X session is a neat little creative writing exercise, while just doing it all in your head is... well, odd. Also, I completely get what you're saying about them being spreadsheets: the game. Ever play Space Empires V? It's the most spreadsheet-y 4X game I've ever played, and one of the best.

Hm, never heard of that one, will have to pick it up on Steam when I get home come monday.

If you are fan of 4x games you should check out Aurora, it is the dwarf fort of space based 4x games. It has very, very limited graphics, but the pure amount of options is astounding.

Though I have to disagree with the coming up with the stuff in your head is strange part, I would never have thought to write it down if I first hadnt come up with the stories and adventures of my officers in my head first. I am still rather depressed that the save game and the stories I had written for them imploded with my flashdrive

Fair warning about SEV; it uses an old version of direct X that doesn't play nice with Windows 7. It'll work, but modern versions of Windows emulate most of the features in software, which means it's a pain in the butt to get a decent framerate, even on a relatively fast computer. I've heard some good things about SEIV, which had most of the same features but was done in 2D, and ironically works better with modern versions of windows as a result.

SE4 is definitely superior to SE5 in terms of UI. But then, I'm saying that as a veteran of SE4 coming to SE5 and finding things acting strangely, button in all the wrong places, and things just not working like I expected. (For example, in SE4, if you tell a colony ship to go colonize a planet, it will happily pick up population, go to the planet, and colonize. In SE5, it stupidly goes and creates an empty colony) A new player might not find SE5 as...frustrating.

Also, SE4 is portable (well, SE5 might be too, haven't tried) and runs on damn near anything. There's a guy who plays his PBW turns on an ancient 100MHz laptop running Win98, and I've run it successfully under WINE.

 

[arnoldthebird]

Back in the day of Star Wars Battlefront, I would make up a story for the guy I was playing as. Simple entertainment, it just added a little more depth.

As for RP now days, I only set up basic measures, so that my character's are different from one another. Each has a specific style of gameplay, and their skills reflect that.

I can't write the in depth back stories or create entire family lines for the one character, it feels like I'm creating fan fiction and I am not the biggest fan of that

 

[L. Declis]

When I played Mass Effect, I roleplayed:

John Shepard, the pro-alien-human unity, politically slick paragon good guy, who eventually became more angry and impatient as the Council/other races ignored him (up to ME3).
Jane Shepard, the pure soldier who has utmost loyalty to her squadmates, doesn't care about politics one bit, and expects everyone to do their job well. Tends to get angry when people risk her life or that of her crew.

Hell, when I played Dragon Age 2 and completely shot down Anders, I refused to take him on missions for a while (even though I desperately needed my "White Mage") because I thought Hawke and Anders would simply not be able to talk for a while.

So yeah, when playing games, I roleplay the hell out of them.

In regards to tabletop roleplaying, I'm mostly the GM, but I'm also THAT guy who always does the voices, acts in character, seperates character/player knowledge, will avoid taking certain things if my character wouldn't.

 

[RedLister]

I do some roleplay as in i make my own little backstory for the character i create. Only do choices, quests etc which agrees with characters said personality/backstory.


Did play Wow during the burning crusade period and some of the Wrath of the lich king period. Never ventured on the RP servers so i can't really comment about that catagory.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I generally don't roleplay. The closest I came was when I played Skyrim. I started out going to the Mage guild. From there, I went to the assassin's guild (a reasonable jump given my focus on destruction/conjuration magic). My stealth magic character seemed like a perfect fit for the thieves guild. From there I went Companions and Finally Bard.

The thought was you learn magic and power and would thus be inclined to use it for evil. After a certain point, material reward seemed like reason enough. By the end of the thieves guild, atonment for my endless list of crimes seemed like a reasonable choice for a character who was not inherently evil and thus I went with the Companions. By then, I had defeated the world eater and ended a civil war so the best thing to do was to tell stories to warn others from the dark and terrible path.

Of course, in all of this, I played the metagame to no end. My Spellcaster was swinging a version of chillrend that did about 450 damage per swing (I could reasonably boost it to about 600 with potions) for much of the game and wearing heavy armor (Ebony Mail and Ebony armor) that provided protection up to the cap (in terms of damage reduction), ensured I did maximum damage with my Sword and that Destruction magic was free and Restoration nearly so and was all but immune to magic.