Role Playing

[Hurk]

I finally got my first RP award. I started thinking after I got it. I was thinking that the gods could put a poll on this website that shows each charactors progress in RPing.

[Kampfer]

already suggested

http://losbb.creative-realms.net/viewtopic.php?t=105

[jagg]

There might be some scope for a few more levels to the titles though. It's a long way to proficient, and it might encourage people to know that they're progressing along the path.

[Valiant]

Stimulate... maybe. But improve quality ? I'm afraid not...

Roleplay should be a given - not done because of the rewards it brings. A progress bar may provoke the opposite: people rping only for the rewards. Forced rp is bad rp imho.

[Qoith]

I agree with both Jagg and Valiant here.

Certainly, from what I have seen, the "proficient and skilful" characters role-play all the time - it is the very nature of their portrayal of the character and their every interaction with other characters that has earnt them their well-deserved titles. Those who strive for similar titles can learn much from these characters.

RPing a grand scenerio for the sake of getting a reward can be fun every now and then but, IMHO, is only part of what the DMs are looking for. Our characters have to "explore, kill, breathe" every second with the persona we develop for them until it is second nature ... that, I believe, it what the DMs are looking for - so as Valiant says "Roleplay should be a given".

However, I, like most other players who are trying to develop RP, I often wonder how I am going. I probably worry more about whether, at times, I am doing anything that is giving me negative RP rather than good RP. I like the idea of more titles along the way, as Jagg suggested but the difficulty with RP will always be that it is a subjective thing - and the DMs arent gonna introduce anything that has people questioning why character X has managed to achieve a certain title and another player hasnt - at least with the broad bands at the moment - no-one disputes that the "proficient and skilful" characters deserve their titles

[Ruan]

Please continue to discuss this, we're interested in all your views on this subject. Rewarding RP seems worth doing because we want to encourage and reward people who enhance the "world" we've created... but of course it is not an exact science.

One off bursts of good RP _may_ earn you a reward, _if_ they are spotted and _if_ we believe them to be consistent with the character you have developed, but really it is _consistency_ that does it. If we see nothing special but realise that you've stayed in character in your interactions over a time period, then you'll get awarded. If you appear to be contradicting yourself (being one thing one day and another thing the next) then you'll probably get queried on your behaviour before you get a negative award. If players are getting negatives we do try to discuss it with them, (although players who tend to have tantrums don't get talked to so much, for obvious reasons). Basically, we'd love it if everyone was Proficient/Skilful, so we try to help you to move in that direction and will let you know if you're heading the other way.

It may also be worth knowing that the higher you get on the scale, the higher our expectations of you -- so it is much easier for someone with a bad or Inept RP rating to gain + points than it is for those who are Proficient or better, because what comes naturally to an established RPer is a big achievement for others.

Still --- all your comments will be read with interest.

[Illyatra]

I have no idea how it could, would, or should be done but i think it is a great idea to have some way of knowing how well your roleplay is going, I have a cleric that has an aura of shimmering blue and he gets up to blazing or heavenly, i have to kill some good to get him down to his right aura so i set macros that i can hit when i walk by a guard so it looks like the guards start shuving me around (hating on me cause im a half orc) so that way i can attack them and there are a few other things that i do that im not sure if they affect my rp positively or negitivley, would realy be helpful to the progression of my character to know. but rp is so subjective any program coded into the game to help those who truley want the help with rp will surely just be exploited somehow by those who dont care about roleplay. well i guesse this isnt a sugustion or even a helpful ramble. i just had to post somthing here cause i would realy love to see some way to help me know how well or how bad my rp is

[Scorpion]

I think i agree on my subtitles. Not all of them should have a positive effect, like getting more gold at a shop. Now you have to get like 20 awards for proficient (depending on lvl) and then like 50 (big guess) to skillfull.

But the thing i miss is the creatures of LoS speaking (controlled my DM/Liaison). For the people who don't know what i mean: DM/Liaison controlls a creature, an orc for example, and helps RPing by interaction with your character. I think with that interaction with that, including some (silent) hints and ooc chat maybe, will help players to learn it faster and improve their RP.

[Ruan]

i set macros that i can hit when i walk by a guard so it looks like the guards start shuving me around (hating on me cause im a half orc) so that way i can attack them and there are a few other things that i do that im not sure if they affect my rp positively or negitivley

Okay, this kind of thing is something that can often be missed by us: clearly you are making quite an effort, but since there is no interaction between you and other players it will easily get overlooked. To get your RP noticed you really need to talk to other people (or yourself, if pushed) more. So far, your cleric has been noticed in a positive way and seems to be doing the right things and should be able to pick up more awards in future if he continues.

Scorpion: I take your point about the positive interactions whe the DMs join in the RP. We do still do it, but perhaps not *quite* as much and you are also on less to see it!

[Keezheekoni]

but really it is _consistency_ that does it. If we see nothing special but realise that you've stayed in character in your interactions over a time period, then you'll get awarded.

A long time ago I asked about how this worked and got no response. You say that consistency is awarded. Is this award directly through roleplay awards, or is it just a behind the scenes raise a certain characters roleplay status? If it is a behind the scenes type thing then I would definitely suggest that a sort of RP tab is kept. That way it will encourage people who haven't seen an award in ages, but are consistent with their RP to continue. I know with my character Keez, I went through a very long stage of no roleplay awards. I really have no idea how I am doing for RP besides I can't be doing that bad because I am not inept. Not playing for a while doesn't really help the case though. For others I think this could be helpful however.
--Keez

[Ruan]

You say that consistency is awarded. Is this award directly through roleplay awards, or is it just a behind the scenes raise a certain characters roleplay status?

Both. Mostly visible at the moment because we think it helps more to tell people that they have been awarded. Invisible increases in RP status have their place for more long term character development where a bonus of experience/gold is not necessarily appropriate. Many players don't really develop definite characters but just muddle along, attracting little positive or negative attention. Some attempts at RP may be missed - staff are not always online. If you want to discuss the RP of a particular character then I'm happy to mudmail comments to you.