[Discuss] Role Play Island.

[Timothy Collett]

On Sep 4, 2006, at 8:10 PM, Lyman Stone wrote:
> No, planning RP doesnt work. But, maybe I have this wrong, it  
> sounds like planning RP is what the FEIers want, for RP to be  
> strictly bound up and to be "collaborative" in that X people sit  
> down and plan it out, then RP it in pre-set plot lines. I'm sure  
> their RP messages are very clever and eloquent, but I dont like  
> seeing RP planned.

Nonono, you're misunderstanding what we want.  When I say it's  
supposed to be "collaborative," I mean that it's something we all  
contribute to together, on various levels--whether it's just my  
character going up to yours and smacking him, then your character  
pulling a knife and stabbing mine, and mine blocking the stab,  
knocking away the knife, and fleeing, or the larger level of the  
total shared history that we create by our RP and our in-game actions.

That's not to say that I don't sit down with Tonie in IRC and plan  
out particular RPs between Ariana and Morthwyl--that's just a simpler  
and more sensible way of doing a long 2-person RP than back-and- 
forthing through the in-game message system.  But what I do *not* do  
is plan out more than general trends in what my characters will do  
(for instance, I know that Anton will be becoming a priest as soon as  
religion comes to Atamara...but that's about the only specific action  
I have planned far into the future for any of my characters).  That's  
both foolish, and against the character-based RP that I think is the  
foundation of what BattleMaster RP is supposed to be.

However, I also strongly disagree with W Drix's position that RP  
should serve the strategy.  It's the other way around: strategies  
should be formed to support the RP--**ESPECIALLY** on the FEI, where  
*EVERY* war and alliance is supposed to have real RP justifications  
behind it.  By the founding principles of the FEI, Soliferum and  
Arcachon should be neutral essentially forever, unless there is a  
specific incident that causes them to fight or join forces, because  
they have nothing to do with each other--they're at opposite ends of  
the continent and they don't really know each other.  Just as an  
example.

It galls me to see all these people talking about their RP on the  
FEI, and saying, "No one can tell *me* how to RP!" when the  
foundation of the FEI was to have specific roleplaying standards that  
EVERYONE was supposed to have to meet, and the rulers even more so.   
That's why so many of the great roleplayers have left the FEI, and  
some of them, like Daniel Richard (Sadi SaDiablo and family) have  
left the game entirely.  And believe me, the game as a whole is  
poorer for that.

Timothy Collett
Anaris Family

--

"Hitotsu dake onegai ga arimasu!  Inakunatte shimatta hitotachi no  
koto.  Tokidoki de ii kara... omoidashite kudasai..."
  ~ Yuna ~ Final Fantasy X ~