Guild Wars 2

Not bashing on RPers with this question, I really don’t care how you want to play this game but I’m genuinely curious about something.

RPG means you are already playing a role defined by the devs. When you RP, you are essentially roleplaying within a roleplay, it just seems needlessly redundant to me.

I just want some clarity on why a RPG? Why something that already has a role, story and set rules? Why something where someone just passing by can accidentally ruin your RP experience? Wouldn’t it be better using a forum, with Tyria as the backdrop?

I used to RP back in the day but I could never see a video game being a medium for one, it just seems too constricted.

Sorry, if this is in the wrong sub, have no idea where a post like this would go.

I got first table, YAYA

Because it’s harder to find pen and paper people living near you do to this. Because you like the lore and the world and this is the setting you want to play in. Because some people like having characters they can dress up to RP.

Lots of reasons.

First of all, lots of people bend things a bit when RPing in a game like GW2. They’re not the Hero or Slayer or what-have-you. That’s someone else. This puts us a bit outside of the roles the game says we’re to play. Not far, but just a little.

As for why in an MMO? Well, the problem with finding good people to RP with is one of the big reasons. Another is that the MMO provides a good setting, and visual information. It’s like when a book is made into a movie. You read the book and get a mental picture of what the people and places look like. When the movie comes out, however, you may find that not everyone shares your opinions on these things. The MMO allows people to start from common ground on what they’re seeing and doing.

There’s also the matter of scale. Let’s say there’s 20 people RPing in DR right now. Not a lot for a city of that size, right? Right. But, try to get 20 people RPing together in a table top game. Or a LARP. Or even on a forum. Even if they break off into little groups, having people drift around from location to location isn’t very easy. In an MMO, you do it by walking down the street to the next setting and seeing if anyone’s there.

There are problems with any set-up for RP. Table top, forums, or whatever. MMOs can be one of the better choices for it, if everyone behaves themselves and respects their fellow players. It’s just a pity that ANet doesn’t seem to have any RPers on staff, to judge by their actions.

When you play a “western RPG” MMO, there are two “characters” for every character player:

1. The character of the main story. In this case, the Pact Commander. They are, usually, of various or unknown background with mostly blank slate.
2. The character players create the background, personality, looks, habits, etc. of.

Roleplayers take the second, and create their story to be ‘not the main story’s character’s story’ but within the world.

It’s not ‘roleplaying within a roleplay’ really, because you’re disregarding that “character made by the devs”. This is why the characters are referred to as “OCs” (Original Characters) – characters made by the player, not the makers of the game.

Aeikon.1467:

RPG means you are already playing a role defined by the devs. When you RP, you are essentially roleplaying within a roleplay, it just seems needlessly redundant to me.

You’re confusing playing a role (class) vs. playing (acting) a role. Someone who participates in in-character role-playing defines his own personality, background and story for his character, independent of what the game developers provide in the game. In-character role-playing provides the opportunity to go far beyond the linear dialog the game provides. For example, a friend and I (both playing human characters) sat around in Lion’s Arch one day discussing whether the charr would become hostile against humanity again once the threat of the elder dragons was taken care of. Nowhere in the game’s actual dialog are you given a chance to say whether your human character is okay working with the charr, is fearful of them or has a deep hatred of them. The charr NPCs in the game are going to react to you the same, regardless. But put a real person behind that charr, and you can have some fun seeing how such an interaction would play out.

The game worlds in RPGs (particularly MMORPGs) generally tend to be much larger and more flexible than any other genre. MMOs in particular tend to have a lot of non-combat activities in them, and large areas of the world where you can just hang around. That’s why you’ll see in-character role-playing in RPGs more than any other genre. But even then, it depends on the game. Diablo would be a lot more constrictive than, say, Neverwinter Nights.

Aeikon.1467:

Why something where someone just passing by can accidentally ruin your RP experience?

Not every role-player gets upset about random people passing through or interfering. Most of us can filter out the noise and aren’t bothered or distracted by it. But the few that are tend to be rather vocal about it (vocal minority), leading to the false impression that all role-players get all uppity about people “breaking their immersion”.

Aeikon.1467:

Wouldn’t it be better using a forum, with Tyria as the backdrop?

Some people do. But, a forum isn’t real-time. And text-chat clients aren’t very action-oriented. Online games provide a much stronger shared experience (particularly a shared visual experience). Also, some of us are not coming to an MMO expressly to role-play – we’re playing an MMO, and happen to do some role-playing along the way when the opportunity presents itself.

Aeikon.1467:

I used to RP back in the day but I could never see a video game being a medium for one, it just seems too constricted.

In many ways it is, particularly when you compare a video game with the flexibility of the human mind. But what leads most people to role-playing in online RPGs is the shared visual experience. And again, some of us aren’t going for total-immersion role-playing. We’re playing a game, but we add some of our own RP elements to it.

I will agree that if someone wants a highly immersive, in-character online role-playing experience with minimal to no distraction from non-role-players, Guild Wars 2 is not the ideal game for that (because it was not designed to be so). Something like a private server in Neverwinter Nights would be much better for that.

Just in game.

I’ve never understood it myself. It would be nice to enjoy that kind of stuff, Could easily make every game’s longevity a longer.

Longevity is the key, indeed. You might be able to play through an LS chapter in two hours, but you can take years to get through an RP plot. RP is a means of telling collaborative stories. It’s a jump start to the creative juices, leading to art, poetry, and prose. It makes memories and friends.

The MMO version means more fluid meetings, as people have time to be online, rather than having to rigidly schedule sessions. It also does all the core world building, providing cities, towns, politics, disasters (LA’s fall was awesome for RPers), all the consensual reality stuff needed for creating a character who makes sense in that world.

For me it’s easier to design a character for a setting than just to randomly come up with a personality in a total void. Heck, RL it’s much easier for me to costume for a party if there’s a theme to it the way my friends do a different theme for every New Years. Context makes the character much more believable. So I can have a nobleman with a conman roguish side who’s part of the noble party scene in the Reach and has traveled with a circus, but I wouldn’t design a tomboy rodeo bronco rider in a world without horses.

RP with a good group can sustain a game for years.

Fernling.1729:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ04mfAY2BU

Just in game.

I’ve never understood it myself. It would be nice to enjoy that kind of stuff, Could easily make every game’s longevity a longer.

From my point of view, to RP in an MMO is to further bask yourself in what the setting has to offer. I RP a bit whenever we got a session and I find it quite enjoyable so long as you got an idea on what group you are interacting with.

Aeikon.1467:

Not bashing on RPers with this question, I really don’t care how you want to play this game but I’m genuinely curious about something.

RPG means you are already playing a role defined by the devs. When you RP, you are essentially roleplaying within a roleplay, it just seems needlessly redundant to me.

I just want some clarity on why a RPG? Why something that already has a role, story and set rules? Why something where someone just passing by can accidentally ruin your RP experience? Wouldn’t it be better using a forum, with Tyria as the backdrop?

I used to RP back in the day but I could never see a video game being a medium for one, it just seems too constricted.

Sorry, if this is in the wrong sub, have no idea where a post like this would go.

How can I explain this … an RPG whether it’s an MMO or pen and paper (AD&D, GURPS) first and foremost has a mechanics aspect to it. You picked your race and class/profession because of the playstyle. Melee Vs Magic. Low or High HP. Light or Heavy Armor. Etc. Most players choose a combination of these things to play as their character. To them it’s simply a “piece” in the game. Doesn’t really matter if it’s fantasy or scifi or horror, you chose to play something that can take more damage than most but also can heal and buff others. It would be no different than choosing Ghandi Vs Genghis Khan in Civ 5 because you wanted the advantages/modifications those world leaders have in the game.

What RPers do is use the world, race, profession, lore to act out their character. To an RPer the game is a play and they have the role of Sven Ravenclaw, Norn Warrior. When you are interaction with that player you aren’t talking to LokiRulez.2358, you are talking to Sven Ravenclaw. Everything will be from the PoV of someone living in Tyria and not as a gamer playing an MMO. They will try very hard not to break character.

TL;DR – RPers are actors and the game is their play. They imbue their characters with feelings, motivations and personal history. To them their character isn’t just a game “piece” but a living being in the game world.

To me personally, Roleplaying is about giving your character a bit of history, that doesn’t include the Personal Story. You can be a barber, a bartender, a mercenary for hire, a banker, a minister, a tribune, a Seraph, a Lionguard, a Warden, and so on.

For me also, it gives me a little extra end game. My guild in particular (Piken Square mainly guild) does RP events 3 times a week, hunting down certain bounties (ones that are not Guild Bounty, such as Champion Trolls, or Separatist Leaders, or Flame Legion Tribunes etc) that are out in the open world, but we create a story around it, a sort of adventure within an adventure.

The MMO gives additional things to “play” It gives platform for Make-Your-Own Adventures. At least that’s what I play for. Using the in game things such as quests and the abilities to actually “Quest” and engage in battles, etc make a lot of RP come full circle.

On top of that I also RP because it allows me to write my own story how I see fit for any various character and how he/she interacts with other RP’rs around me thus breaking the normal modes and allowing for additional story to develop.

Thirdly, its just super fun.

The simplest way I can think to put it is that RPing allows you to set aside a character that someone else made for you and make yourself into what you want to be.

Most MMOs have official RP servers with RP rules (like names can’t be yoloswaglegolas etc.)… but not GW2

Aeikon.1467:

I just want some clarity on why a RPG? Why something that already has a role, story and set rules? Why something where someone just passing by can accidentally ruin your RP experience? Wouldn’t it be better using a forum, with Tyria as the backdrop?

for me it’s just a matter of immersion. Who are my characters? just some random names attached to a proffesion, or there’s a story behind each? how do they interact with other players? do they go around saying: man, i have to kill X mobs to get the daily, or they come across one guy and ask how are they doing, and, after a while, explain they are on a rampage because some centaurs killed a friend and they intend to kill as many as possible before the day ends?

the game offers only a canvas. The personal story is so poor it doesn’t help with immersion at all. Roleplaying your character does help a lot.

Heck, when playing Wow, I even roleplayed the raids.

a random guy showing up and trying to spoil the fun is likely going to happen. Screw him. it’s just a drop of water in the sea. He will get banned and I will keep having fun just the way I like.

Interesting, I guess I didn’t see it like that. Still, I personally wouldn’t be capable of RPing in an MMO, but to each their own. Thank you for the replies, guys.
Happy grindi…er…rampaging.

kitten .9460:

Most MMOs have official RP servers with RP rules (like names can’t be yoloswaglegolas etc.)… but not GW2

From what I’ve been told, Tarnished Coast is the “unofficial” RP server. Several MMOs have had something similar: a server that a large communtiy of RPers have decided was going to be their base of operations. In City of Heroes it was the Virtue server. Nothing official, no RP tag next to it’s listing, but you couldn’t throw a stick without hitting RP somewhere.

TC seems to be very much the same. There are very few places I go where I won’t encounter people RPing.

Sadly, when I started playing TC was packed to the rafters, so I wind up guesting over there a lot.

Role-play can also be a way of getting more into the story of the game by immersing yourself in the role you’re given.

For example some people I know don’t role-play all the time in-game but they’ll only speak in-character in story instances, they walk instead of running if the NPCs are walking, they don’t jump around randomly etc. It’s all small things but it helps make your character and therefore their story more believable.

This is part of why so many people were bothered by having to do the Party Politics instance in your armor. If it was more realistic they’d never have been allowed in wearing that and they looked incredibly out of place, which makes immersion more difficult.