Will your RP conflict with the game?

[NexusLuke]

This was an interesting idea that I hadn't considered before, when I stumbled across this thread on the official site.
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=186061

At least read the OP, if this concept interests you.

Personally, the RP I have done so far is just for fun, and I left it open enough for my JK that he should fit into the Bioware story nicely. Unless of course they say he was born on such and such a place, and trained from infantsy in the Jedi order. At that point I still won't care, and will just role with it.

However, what that OP says in the link got me thinking about our serious Role Players, and how they might be disappointed if Bioware fills in a back story, and paints over the tapestry they have already created. Some RP'ers have been complaining about how Bioware is taking away their freedom.

Personally I would rather have an epic story interwoven into my epic game play, than need to make an entire story up just to have one present and thus preserve this freedom of open RP (which I have never done, and in this case don't think I would care to start).

So with that, just be mindful serious RP'ers, Bioware might tread on your dreams.

Thoughts?

[Tyklon]

I actually thought about that when making my Character Bio. I went more along the lines of my play time in TOR could be part of my post-Character Bio story. But it does kind of defeat the purpose if BioWare has us select a background. I don't really care, because I think the backgrounds they have would still be cool. But I hope that they have at least several backgrounds per class. And hopefully one of them will be remotely similar to my SOTOR Character Bio.

[Paul of Taris]

I think Bioware would be aware that many people love to roleplay so if they made a back-story that'd be kinda lame. Plus every character would be personal, so they wouldn't just make one because that takes away the personality of your character

[AltaVista]

First off, let me say that I'm a different type of roleplayer and the way I choose to roleplay doesn't always mesh with what a lot of people do. So, this is just my opinion and how I've dealt with roleplaying in an MMO.

When it comes to what the story is given me by Bioware and what I've created myself, I treat them as two very separate entities. I know there are the kind of roleplayers out there that never break character. Even if they are slaying slugs on Korriban, they're still roleplaying their toon. Me? Nope. I make it a point that if I'm leveling, then I'm not roleplaying. If I'm roleplaying, then I'm not leveling... at that moment.

Of course I love the MMO environment and doing quests and being involved in deep over-dramatic plots, but I don't let it influence my roleplaying. I tend to write very detailed backgrounds for my characters and roleplay them very specifically. While I do intend to make conversation choices via Bioware's character plots that would reflect my toon's character, I have no intention to have the plot Bioware has prepared be the plotline that I will roleplay. It's like two separate lives: the one Bioware wrote for me to enjoy as a solo experience and then the one I write for my character, and which I will roleplay publicly when given the chance.

I imagine this isn't making much sense, so I'll give an example: When I played LOTRO I had a lore-master who ran all over Middle Earth and Moria when I was power-leveling. But once I got back to Bree for my fun roleplaying sessions, I would never admit to any of my questlines as having been part of my character's history. She never chatted Elrond. She never fought a Ringwraith. And she most certainly never met a wizard!! She was just a little girl with a big imagination who got caught up in a crazy world during the dark times that the game was set in. And it was super fun! When my roleplaying guild decided to have an "event" in our tiny-plot to venture into Moria, we had all "been" there a thousand times as we leveled our toons. But our "characters" hadn't!

Anywho, that's my roleplaying philosophy. It's probably a bit more stingy than most people, but it's what I've always held to. But I think I'm coming from a different MMO/roleplaying background than most of the players here.

So, fair warning! Should anyone ever be in-game and playing with me, if I'm being absolutely crazy or powerleveling... I'm probably not roleplaying at that moment. ;) Then again, if I'm being crazy and chilling as I buff my lightsaber hilt to a shiny shiny sheen, then I just most likely probably without a doubt... am roleplaying.

If you're ever confused, just ask. I'll either say, "oh, I'm OOC right now" or "dude, this is <insert name here> being totally IC!"

Looking forward to it all, as always!

[Naandi]

But I being poor have only my dreams.
I have spread my dreams under your feet, Bioware.
Tread softly

[Tyklon]

Naandi wrote:

But I being poor have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet, Bioware. Tread softly

I am sorry to hear that all of your dreams have to do with BioWare.

Unless of course you work at BioWare, then it would make sense.

But if BioWare ever goes down to the level of Blizzard... your dreams will be crushed, Naandi. Because Blizzard cares for no one.

And then you will become a lifeless person with no dreams.

...On the bright side, at least you'll always have us at SOTOR!

[Naandi]

*uncontrollable weeping*

[Tyklon]

Naandi wrote:

*uncontrollable weeping*

UHHH! UHHH... here!

Whew! No one can be upset when they see the happy green face.

[Tyklon]

Tyklon wrote:

Naandi wrote: *uncontrollable weeping* UHHH! UHHH... here! Whew! No one can be upset when they see the happy green face.

Julmay can vouch for that one.

[Darius Tarminthor]

AltaVista, I completely understand what you're talking about. Though I've never roleplayed in an MMO seriously, I do know that there are some quests/occurrences that I would not consider IC for my character to have gone through, unless I was roleplaying in a combat situation.

I do often wonder though, since my character has gained levels and equipment, how do I address that in a IC way, since my character would not have gone through the quests I'd have done OOCly in the game, where is he building his skills? Is it tangible to roleplay that the current level and gear of my character is just sort of how they started off with, as if they had it while going through their own RP story prior to the game? I always find that a difficult thing to consider.

[AltaVista]

@Archenson Since my approach approach to roleplaying seperates the leveling aspect of the game from the "in character" part, I haven't really let skill levels be affected by my leveling. Hypothetically speaking, if I'm playing a 15 year old girl who's been a moisture farmer all her life, but I've managed to powerlevel her to level 60... she's still a moisture farmer to me. If she gets in a fist fight with a level 5 character who's backstory has his roleplaying as a merc with a deathwish... he's going to win. Hands down. To me, roleplaying deals outside the realm of "levels".

Of course, if your character never develops over time or as you play, then you've got a boring 2 dimensional character. So, it's not about letting your character be stagnant and sitting on your written history. That's boring! A history is merely a launching point. Unless you're roleplaying a character that has a degenerative disease or something, just life in general will make them get better. Inch by inch. ;)

As far as clothes and gear goes? *shrug* depends on how I feel. As a lowbie, I'll probably claim to have a nicer blaster than the one I have equipped. Or, conversely, I'll make up a story on how some jerk sold me this cruddy blaster at his kiosk down at the spaceport. I've actually seen gear/weapons/attire roleplayed several different ways, and it always boils down to how the player wants to portray their character. If I get a new clothes, yah, I like to roleplay that they were given to me... or I earned enough credits to upgrade my wardrobe, or maybe someone stole my jacket whilst I was in the refresher, and now I've got this all-weather tunic in the meantime. *shrug* Seriously, run with it! As a roleplayer, you have so many options!

Granted, there are roleplayer griefers out there that will look down on starting-level roleplayers who say they are some super Jedi and neither have the cosmetic apparel or gear to prove it. So, at some point, having a couple levels under your belt does help you as a roleplayer. And that delves down into the scary-scary accusations of "god-modder".

But, bah! I'm rambling. Someone stop me from my massive walls of text!!

In any case, please note that this is only my opinion. And while I prefer to follow these rules myself, I am in no way saying that anyone else has to or even should play this way. Everyone has their own style, and yeah... sometimes people's styles don't mesh well with another person. But that's the fun part of RP! If it was just you sitting in a room and writing a story by yourself, it's simply creative writing. But add another player who's writing from their own character's perspective? Woot woot! That's more like improve acting and cooperative storytelling. And it's awesome...

Archeson, did I answer your question? Hehe... I feel like I just blah blah blah'd. ;)

[RichardRobins]

As for rpging the swtor era isn't my favorite one, so i've not joine din swtor era backstories, my character will simply be whatever he is and backstory left as a mystery.

I normally try to keep my written rpg and my game rpgs seperate

[Steel Falcon]

When I write my RP stories I try and make sure that they line up with the current swtor era... however alot of it is just speculatoin lol.... but its mainly for fun and gives me something to do until game release... after that I'll be doing and not writing my character's story

[Visan]

I've been working on my story for Scattered, and I've been taking this into account very seriously, not even mentioning the races of those around me. Everything is very vague so that when the game comes out it can all fit beautifully in with their established story-line for my character.

Tyklon wrote:

But if BioWare ever goes down to the level of Blizzard... your dreams will be crushed, Naandi. Because Blizzard cares for no one.

Sorry to go off topic, but I've had a better customer service time with Blizzard then any other mmo company. And they listen to the community constantly, there are so many Blue Posts. I mean, they took out the Real ID on forums when the community showed distaste, and when the community said the Maelstrom wasn't "epic" enough, they added an Undead playing guitar on top of a dinosaur riding a shark with a jet-pack lol. Not saying you're like this, but people are too quick to hate on Blizzard and WoW without really having anything to support their accusations.
Sorry if this seems distasteful, but its always been a pet peeve of mine, having something I enjoy being blindly bashed constantly, I mean no offense.

[Tyklon]

Visan wrote:

I've been working on my story for Scattered, and I've been taking this into account very seriously, not even mentioning the races of those around me. Everything is very vague so that when the game comes out it can all fit beautifully in with their established story-line for my character. Tyklon wrote: But if BioWare ever goes down to the level of Blizzard... your dreams will be crushed, Naandi. Because Blizzard cares for no one. Sorry to go off topic, but I've had a better customer service time with Blizzard then any other mmo company. And they listen to the community constantly, there are so many Blue Posts. I mean, they took out the Real ID on forums when the community showed distaste, and when the community said the Maelstrom wasn't "epic" enough, they added an Undead playing guitar on top of a dinosaur riding a shark with a jet-pack lol. Not saying you're like this, but people are too quick to hate on Blizzard and WoW without really having anything to support their accusations. Sorry if this seems distasteful, but its always been a pet peeve of mine, having something I enjoy being blindly bashed constantly, I mean no offense.

No, that's fine. None taken. I just don't like it when I file a complaint to a GM and then they PM me, while still in their RP mood, and they seemed to avoid actually answering my questions unless it was a complaint about another player. And I just hate on WoW because I thought it was a big grinder. And I hate grinders. Especially now, since I believe that TOR will be more like playing Mass Effect, but Star Wars, which has no grind. I'm not saying TOR will have no grind, but I think that I won't even notice it because I'll be totally into the story/fully-voiced feel of it all.