Roleplaying in Neverwinter, in its current state

vampirecavy

This thread is for the people who already RP, or for those who want to get into it. If you're not in one of those groups... well, I suppose I can't tell you to go away, but you're not going to find anything interesting in here :P.

The current state of RP is not particularly welcoming to new people in Neverwinter - and I'm referring to the community end of things. The Mask is only generally advertised during events, and we don't go there to RP during events. Outside of that, the vast, VAST majority of the playerbase avoids it. The handful of people who want to get into it don't have an easy time doing so - very few of us, myself included, are welcoming to 'outsiders' or 'newcomers'. We tend to prefer to stick to our circle of friends, or even our guilds, and generally don't reach out to new people. Sometimes, there's also characters such as one 'Buffy Vanhellsing', who are almost instinctively avoided by most of us just because of the name, which we really shouldn't be doing.

The NWRP chat is a partial solution, yes - but I'd been roleplaying since shortly after launch in June, and I hadn't heard of the channel until the Waukeen event was going. I'd not used the forums, since my one glance at this section of the forums had -nothing- about RPing in it when I looked. Getting into the channel does make getting together for RP far easier, but you need to have heard of it first.

We need to find a way to be more welcoming to new roleplayers - whether by simply resolving ourselves to be more welcoming and inviting, giving newer people a chance regardless of first impressions, or trying to set up something more complex to get people into this.

For what it's worth: I'm not in any of the RP guilds, but I know several characters within them, and have attended several events. I sincerely want the RP community to grow here - I've grown quite fond of my characters (especially Lavi), and would love to have them forge new relationships with new people, but I feel like most of them know most people already.

sockmunkey

We need more options. The mask is fine, but also limiting. Its not a theme that fits well for any and all characters. And being the only viable single instance area makes it an easy target for trolls and greifers.

By the same token the NWRP channel is also its own problem. There are not many alternatives for those looking to form RP. So it gets annoying when the channel devolves into a shameless level of immaturity. More often then not, I simply find myself either rolling my eyes or turning off the channel for a bit.

Put simply, Im a roleplayer unimpressed with my current limited choices. And I personally feel im either forced to alter my RP to cater to it. Or continue to lurk and bide my time until better choices come along.

Id like to think im not alone in this.

raptorskyfire

You aren't alone, @sockmumkey.

I've been wanting and longing for RP for some time. Yes, I have characters in an RP guild and I have characters in a non-RP guild (and would like to RP with them all, but, as my one time RP in the Mask went on my non-RP guild character, it was lackluster at best.) I RP with my guild, but sadly, there's just no one on anymore and it seems like many RP guilds are up and dying and falling off.

I've made a suggestion with my GL of the RP guild that perhaps we could start mingling with the other RP guilds, but they haven't replied (mostly due to RL things, they are busy). Even a handful of people in my non-RP guild are interested in RP but there's hardly any to be found.

Yeah, sure, the Mask has one instance (most of the time) but seriously, not everyone's character fits in with it. There's other taverns out there too, some easier to get to than others.

And don't get me started on the NWRP channel. Most of the time it's fairly nice and good, but some days (like today) I swear we have people who don't RP and just like the chatter which devolves into a mess.

I want to have fun with like-minded RPers. I don't always want to be stuck sitting in a tavern drinking and chatting about the spellplague, I want to get out and do something. It's unfortunate that we're limited Foundry-wise to do so, and that current zones aren't much of a challenge once you're level 60. There's so much potential and it's all wasted.

Yes, I want to get to know more RPers. I want to find RP easily and readily, but that can't happen much unless others wish the same.

ruinedmirage

Golden age will be golden. Unfortunately, today MMORPG means something completely different than it did 20 years ago.
Massive
Multiplayer
Online
tRolls
Perverts &
Griefers

xushin7

sockmunkey wrote: »

We need more options. The mask is fine, but also limiting. Its not a theme that fits well for any and all characters. And being the only viable single instance area makes it an easy target for trolls and greifers.

By the same token the NWRP channel is also its own problem. There are not many alternatives for those looking to form RP. So it gets annoying when the channel devolves into a shameless level of immaturity. More often then not, I simply find myself either rolling my eyes or turning off the channel for a bit.

Put simply, Im a roleplayer unimpressed with my current limited choices. And I personally feel im either forced to alter my RP to cater to it. Or continue to lurk and bide my time until better choices come along.

Id like to think im not alone in this.

I agree here. For a person that is like me, who likes to stay in IC as much as they can when ingame until they log. Its hard.

The Rp guilds that are left, are more or less the same. Both in context and in theme. Not much variety to them.

the nwrp channel is alright, but much of the time, as stated it does devolve into silly chatter and nonsense, me being not liking to use ooc means to set up Rp and talk ooc much unless its needed makes me just mute the channel.

If you're not in a circle of friends, your opportunities is minimal. Even being in multiple guilds doesnt solve much of that problem, because it also kind of requires to be in a circle of friends within that to do anything.

To add to it, alot of the rpers dont seem to do much besides tavern Rp and specific events. there has been a thread made in a discussion about new choices, but no devs or anything has responded to it, even with a good portion of the community getting involved in it.

The environment in game doesnt help, and only encourages this disconnection for roleplayers.

I'll try to find the thread and link it here.

Edit: here it is
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?515241-Role-Play-s-Status-in-Neverwinter-The-Forgotten-Crowd

haelra

I agree with the general sentiment of the previous posters.

I'll add that I think something fundamental about NWO tends to suppress roleplay; that is the extreme power-gaming/grinding progression/achievement nature of the game.

Most roleplayers aren't solely roleplayers. They want leveling and gear progression, and the mounts and items and things too. And in neverwinter, it can be a serious chore to acquire these things. The opportunities for pick-up roleplay; e.g., a random encounter with another roleplayer to work on a quest or do a foundry together in-character, are often missed because of the "chore-pressure" to finish the quest fast, get to the next level fast, finish the daily now, queue into the dungeon quickly, and so on. This same relentless drive for achievement, on the other hand, is what draws conventional non-roleplayer PvE players to the game; so I don't see it ever changing or relaxing. It's core to the NWO business, and roleplay simply isn't.

I'm in these roleplay channels and in an RP guild. When I see movement to get some rp going, there's not a lot of replies and interest. I think most others are already engaged with the game's core non-rp process, and don't reply or even see the discussion. They'd like to RP, in principle, but can't right now, because they're busy.