Ic, Ooc

[Nanakii]

I'd just like to say that I concur with your frustration, as most roleplayers do, that MMORPGs are filled with people playing as themselves. An additional factor to consider is that OOCness is very contagious. If a few people start to do it, more and more roleplayers will give up their illusions and become OOC as well. I can attest to this happening to me on numberous occasions, despite my strict sense of OOC/IC separation.

I also agree that the best roleplaying communities aren't those with the best plots, but are those with closely knit player communities, where the players feel that they are able to trust each other even though there are a number of reasons as to why their characters should not trust each other. The social infrastructure within MMORPGs should therefore be based upon ways that the players can easily come to know each other indepedently of their characters, which is a nice idea in theory, but I'm not exactly sure how it could be put into practice. Your idea is one possible solution.

[Jetgirl]

I agree that it is a hard problem, and I freely admit that my ideas are untested.

As for role-playing in online games, I tend to just be really stubborn about it. Sometimes this causes a few problems, and I will sometimes have to gently break character to make sure everything is ok.

For example, I was playing puzzle pirates the other day, and someone boarded my ship who proudly declared themselves a "navy brat" (in Puzzle Pirates now you can do missions for the navy and rise in navy ranks -- completely un-pirate like as far as my character would be concerned). So I think I just said something along the lines of "AAAH!" The person said sorry and quickly left my ship. I felt bad and gave them a private tell saying I was just joking and inviting them back.

On the other hand, it often works out really well for me. I was playing Star Wars Galaxies one time and someone asked me where I was from. I was playing a Rodian so I answered "Rodia". He laughed and said "good answer". I role play like crazy in Puzzle Pirates and have fun doing it whether other players realize I am doing it or not. I think they enjoy me adding to the "theme" of the game. Mostly. :)

[Davog]

Hi Jetgirl,

I don't normally do recruiting, but I've just been reading your recent posts. Since you seem very much in favour of sticking to the RP in games, I would recommend giving Castle Marrach a try, over here at Skotos.

Assuming you like fantasy RP games, I think you might find it suits what you're looking for.

Paul