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NWO and role playing?
thedio777
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 75
Is NWO gonna be an mmo rpg, or just an mmo pg , like most mmo games out there?
I came up with the quesiton when i saw the pvp vs pve poll. I myself love pve, and would like occasional pvp if it just...you know happens.
I used to play nwn and nwn2 online, in some very very awesome servers, role playing of cource. You were totally in character,(although you could pm or just occasionally speak ooc).
IMO this is the true core of rpgs. I remember back in lineage or WoW it was all about griding, and going for xp, kind of a routine after a while. In nwn you would just stop around town, talk to strangers, look for a party, pretend you explore a place for a first time, give advice and warnings when hunting. All in character. Dms would even award xp for that kind of gameplay. I realise this is hard to accomplish in an mmo game, because let's face it the majority of the playerbase (not the nw one, just in general) are people with the anime type of logic, lack in fantasy, and just want to waste their time griding and killing pvp style so they can feel better about their uncreative lives (kind of harsh, i know.) Also i know it's hard for cryptic or pw to have staff just to watch out for people that role play and award them xp, i'd just do it for the fun. but will it be possible?
I came up with the quesiton when i saw the pvp vs pve poll. I myself love pve, and would like occasional pvp if it just...you know happens.
I used to play nwn and nwn2 online, in some very very awesome servers, role playing of cource. You were totally in character,(although you could pm or just occasionally speak ooc).
IMO this is the true core of rpgs. I remember back in lineage or WoW it was all about griding, and going for xp, kind of a routine after a while. In nwn you would just stop around town, talk to strangers, look for a party, pretend you explore a place for a first time, give advice and warnings when hunting. All in character. Dms would even award xp for that kind of gameplay. I realise this is hard to accomplish in an mmo game, because let's face it the majority of the playerbase (not the nw one, just in general) are people with the anime type of logic, lack in fantasy, and just want to waste their time griding and killing pvp style so they can feel better about their uncreative lives (kind of harsh, i know.) Also i know it's hard for cryptic or pw to have staff just to watch out for people that role play and award them xp, i'd just do it for the fun. but will it be possible?
Post edited by thedio777 on
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There is the trade-off of being behind in grinding and such, but that's a choice one makes in any game, SP or MP, between powergaming and flavor-gaming. Just like that one time I beat BG2 as a bard.
Completely true. In nwn2 you could enjoy all type of servers,and there were servers for every style. Pvp, pve POW, and role play. I wasn't focusing on the developers but the players. How can i roleplay, if i am surrounded by people that talk about skills,feats,damage and items and many other ooc stuff
And when it comes to MMORPGs, even the least RPish of them is still miles ahead from RP-heavy SP games like NWN or TES, as in MMORPGs your conversations and choices are made with real people, not with a bunch of wires and silicon plates...
Also, for a game like this, an RP only server would be even better.
With the Foundry, you can create custom RP content for your guild - and RP events take on a whole new meaning.
Erm, not sure which game you played but I never opened SP NWN. Even the OC's I did in multiplayer haha. Furthermore RP doesn't exist in basically any MMO. Even DDO is action orientated and in the entire two months I played I never once saw a single person RP on the Khyber Server. I'm sure some do...but they can't even be considered a minority IMO.
The original NWN RP servers were far better than anything NWO will have sadly because Cryptic has basically announced that it will provide no support for it.
Their all in one server 'solution' kills any chance of RPing because RPing is an all or nothing style.
Had they designated a server for RP players the results would be limitless...but in not releasing one there's no hope for RP to be a fraction of what it was in NWN.
i dont think i've ever encountered a screaming 13 year old in a mmo. most players seem to be in the mid to late 30s or early 40s.
the 13 year olds seem to be all on xbox/playstation playing halo or some other fps.
as fo RPing, if you dont want your immersion broken, you're going to have to disable general chat and limit your interactions to your guild or other dedicated RPers.
I am sure you didn't. Sarlona is the RP server. Though people who RP always do in private groups. Many people even did it very hardcore style - meeting in a tavern accidentally(though a scripted meeting) and then going on adventure and then coming back saying bye and fix next time when they will visit the tavern...
Basically RP depends on players as said before and in early threads a few months back, and it is usually done on private channels.
And some servers had RP guilds for those that wanted RP, like the Permadeath guilds. But DDO has an atrocious UI for the chat. No chat bubbles
Actually I don't think a DM monitored at all chat to give XP bonuses but was all a scripted automated thing. When I came across others out in the wilderness and partook in some RPing I always got some xp out of it. Problem is exploiting the system.
In the server i used to play it wasn't an automated thing. it was active a lot, and dms were watching most of the times. I remember i didn't know there was a rp xp bonus at first, and a dm pmed me after he gave me the xp. Sometimes dm would even pop up and give me stones or materials cause i used to rp on my own xD Good times, good times..
@vindicon You couldn't be more wrong even if you tried to :P Rp in mmos far ahead than in nwn? ***** please, the choices i could make on the online servers of nwn could change the entire history of the server. Mmos are filled with quests that are repeatable of some sort, and the story is premade..roleplaying doesn't really affect the story, or the settings. In a nwn server, if i rped and was an epic wizard that went mad, i could destroy a town, a bridge, a tavern whatever i wanted, and then next day with a small update, that thing would be gone. This is heavy rp, this is light years ahead of anything you have propably encountered. This is an active creative community.
I'd love to see a strong, and vibrant RP community grow in and around Neverwinter. I'll be keeping my ear on the ground for things that we can do to help as well.
However, one thing that I have learned in my time here is that in general,m when I ask, "What can we as developers do to help you RP?" I don't get much in the way of feedback.
So, if you have ideas, remember to share them! We are listening. b:thanks
Thanks!
Stormshade
There's plenty of things you can do. It could be as simple as making an RP only chat box (short range) and allowing people to...
1. Before Entering have a pop-up disclaimer stating that the channel is RP only and what that entails,
2. Allow players to personally ignore (hide) those which are not RPing
3. Put it some minor anti-griefing system (optional, hopefully we'll all be adult enough that it won't be a huge issue)
However one game I previously played tried telling us the ignore feature was the number one solution to dealing with players that harrassed you. It made no sense to me because although I couldn't see what they were saying each of us could see neither had left and others would clue in to what was being said. It seemed more childish to cover my ears (eyes) going "I'm not listening! I'm not listening!" than to simply see the comments and choose when to ignore and when to defend manually.
This is kind of how I see an RP only chat box. I'll see people who aren't RPing and they'll either be silent to me (not talking in RP) or I'll see their comments and every comment that isn't RP detracts from the RPing experience. That's why NWN RP servers had such strict rules that Non-RP comments had to be kept to a minimum outside of private conversations.
To hear that Cryptic wants to throw everybody on one server is saddening. You called it a solution, I call it a problem.
The community can choose a server, even if it's not official, to be an RP server and self moderate that. But to know *everybody* will be on one server leaves me with little hope for successful RP.
So if you guys stick with the "solution," although I know it's not the easiest thing to code, the most idealistic way you guys could support the RP Community is to make an RP Game Mode. In a nutshell expand the RP Chat Box to only being able to see and hear players also on the RP Game Mode and allow it to be toggled back and forth.
more of a question than a suggestion:
will foundry made content be editable by the creator after they've released it to the community at large?
if the answer is yes, that could go a long way to enabling the RP community to make their own fun, in a way that has continuing after effects.
ie: a previous poster mentioned being able to RP a towns destruction in NWN, and the servers DMs would accomodate that in a server update. perhaps something similar could be done with the foundry.
if the answer is no, then the RP inclined could be doomed to forever be recreating past foundry mods from scratch with slight changes to include any recent changes they have made through RPing.
Regarding roleplaying, I would like to bring forth a revolutionary idea given by a forum user near an year ago which I later included in my idea thread.
The idea of (hold your breath)
!!ROMANCING MOUNTS!!
http://rpmadesimple.com/fyrp/the-30-minute-role-player-a-quick-start-for-non-rpers/
It's a great startup that we can alter for Neverwinter and possibly even incorporate into our Neverwinter Wiki.
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
However a few brave guilds put together RP communities and made it work. Profiling their challenges, is important to understanding the challenges that will be faced here in Neverwinter. There's one big tool Neverwinter has that can tip the scale and that's of course the Foundry.
Written by: Anonymous.
Introduction
I was a teenager around '78 or '79 when I read a review of Dungeons & Dragons in the NY times, and harassed my mom till she bought it for me for Christmas. I was thrilled with the idea of a game that was played almost entirely in your imagination. As a budding writer, I couldn't imagine anything more perfect. It was part acting, part writing, part scheming, part watching the vivid pictures that unfolded in your mind as the DM described the dungeon and we reacted to it, and part sitting round the table with your friends, eating pizza and laughing uproariously at the latest prank that someone played on the DM or each other.
Since then I gamed PnP on and off (mostly on). At one point I even got paid (I kid you not!) to DM for a homeschool group. I only discovering MMORPG's in the last year or two. I was pretty much bewildered that DDO didn't put the focus on the RPG part of the equation. Fortunately, I was picked up by one of the largest RP guilds on Sarlona, and learned that there WAS space for RP in DDO - but you have to make it yourself.
Now an officer for my guild, I was rather amazed when I started getting tells asking "what is RP and how do you do it'" Recently I read a guide suggesting that someone should write a guide on RP, so I figured, "why not'" The below is a compilation of my own experiences as well as tips from articles by my guildmates. I hope you'll add your own suggestions to make it more comprehensive.
Why Should I Role Play (RP)'
Well no one says you have to. In fact, DDO in its current incarnation neither encourages RP nor discourages it. It's a matter of personal preference. Some of us enjoy immersing ourselves in our character and the world. Others treat DDO as a strategy game, with them trying to outwit the DEVs, and still others see it as a beautifully graphical version of Wack-a-Mole.
One thing I can say, is that RP'ers will be far more likely to accept those who want to try odd builds, or even "gimped" characters, so long as the player themself is happy with them. Many of us remember the days when there were no "point buys" and you rolled a straight 3d6 for each stat, often leading to some challenging builds.
For some, role-play is the heart of D&D, others find it slow and boring. All I can say, is try it and see if it fits you. Be willing to suspend your disbelief and step into a world that is built of more than just the pixels on your screen and the commands on your keyboard. Try it. You might not like it, or you might find it as addicting as potato chips - you can't eat just one!
Creating Your Character
Stats
I won't talk numbers here. This is absolutely NOT the guide to "creating a character that can beat the Titan single-handed". Set your stats however you want, but as you do so, consider the stats you have that are especially high or low. Maybe you've got a character with high wisdom but low intelligence. So you might decide that he's one of those guys who just has a "gut feeling" regarding the right way to proceed. High INT, low CHA' How about your standard geek' I'm really smart, but I'm just a ditz in social situations. I'll probably stammer and drool when the pretty girl comes along but when you need that brilliant master plan for outsmarting the end boss with no tools other than a wad of bubblegum and some sparklers, I'm your man!
Biography
The DDO bio page has some challenges. Mostly regarding its filter, which will make you work hard to write something that passes its censors. However, ignore that for a moment, and imagine the bio you'd write without that. Pull up your notepad or just sit down with your imagination and focus on your character's beginning moments. What was their home life like as a child' What made them want to go adventuring' You might combine that thinking with your stats. For instance, maybe a character with low CON and STR was sickly as a child or picked on by bullies. Perhaps your high CHA, STR, DEX ranger was the captain of his worg-ball team. Stats aside, maybe your parents were killed by kobolds as a child, so you have an insane hatred/fear of them and want to get even. Why did your character become a paladin' Was it because he was raised in an orphanage by clerics who promoted his aptitude as a fighter' Or did he commit some egregreous sin and then find this as a way to make amends'
An alternative view of Bio entries where RP is concerned is that really there shouldn't be anything here that another player couldn't tell from just looking at your character. How would someone else know that your parents were killed by kobolds just from looking at you' You might therefore restrict the text in the bio to details of physical appearance not covered by the game's basic avatar of your character and leave the details of your character's life to be revealed only to those who bother to roleplay with you in an effort to find out. Perhaps your character broods on their egregious sin so much that they glower the whole time, perhaps some old war wound makes them walk with a pronounced limp. Perhaps you might write that they nervously look around the whole time as if expecting attack at any moment, and so on. The choice is yours.
Bio guidelines can vary from guild to guild. It's not 'right' or 'wrong' to take the either approach outlined above, or any other. You don't have to use the Bio entry at all if you don't want. But it can be a useful tool to aid RP immersion, you just have to decide what works for you and your guild.
Personality
We all grow up with certain challenges that affect how we deal with the world around us. IRL I was horribly shy with folks I didn't know, and barely spoke above a whisper with them. At the same time, if I knew you well, I would allow my intelligence, leadership abilities and scheming brain to show, and before you knew it, I'd drag you into some sort of trouble, "cause wouldn't that be fun'"
One of my guildies plays a cleric who is self-deprecating to a fault. She's constantly apologizing for her every thought, speech and action. Most of my very-self-actualized characters want to smack her senseless. "Geez you're allowed to have an opinion, ******!!!"
Another guildie plays an evil old wizard. (So what if evil alignments aren't presently allowed in game, that's how he plays it.) That character is sarcastic beyond belief and after spending about 10 minutes with him you'll be plotting revenge and he'll be warning you about getting turned into stone.
Another friend plays a thief. (Oh excuse me, they're called rogues now! Gotta stay politically correct!) Even if he actually knows the quest inside out and backwards, he'll approach a chest and do a thorough search. "Because *I* wouldn't leave a chest out here in the open without trapping it."
Phobias and Foibles
Does your character run and scream like a girl when he sees spiders' Do the undead give him horrible nightmares' Will he hate elves with a passion (and be summarily rude to any in the party) or make rude comments about anything that's the color pink' Maybe he's a snobbish connoisseur, and will only drink the finest Galhada Distillate.
Perhaps your ranger mourns and says a prayer for the dead when he has to kill wolves or other ordinary animals' Does your foppish paladin kvetch and moan about anything that gets on his shiny clean armor' 'Oh my! It'll take weeks to get the stink of the sewers off my new gloves!' and 'Ewww I have sand in my boots!' Or play a bard that speaks in rhyme as often as possible.
Your Own Catch Phrases
"What's up, Doc'" "I'm hunting wabbit. Hehehehe!" "Up, up and away!" "Elementary, my dear Watson." "Exit: stage left." For those of us who've been exposed to them, these phrases immediately call to mind Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Superman, Sherlock Holmes and Snagglepus.
Does your character sound like a sweet southern belle' A Bronx street fighter' Does he answer with a clipped upper crust British accent, a redneck twang' Reading many good novels, you can often tell who's speaking without all the "he said/she said" just by the words the characters use. When your character is faced with a dangerous trap or a diabolical plot, do they say, "how extraordinary" or "wow man, that stung!"'
I once played a "Druish princess" a halfing Druid with a thick Jewish-Brooklyn accent. (Having grown up in NY City, I can do that accent without even thinking about it.) "Oy vey, there you are trampling across the forest trying to find the orcs, and you don't even bother looking for tracks. Don't mind me, I'll just sit under this oak tree in the dark until you bother asking me for my aid."
Giving your character a voice of their own lends flavor and individuality to your character.
Don't worry if you can't actually "speak" that particular accent, as long as you can portray it reasonably in print. Most RP groups rely on text chat - but more about that in a bit.
Goals
What does your character want out of life' Is it their desire to eradicate evil in any form' Are they greedy rogues who care little beyond the contents of the next chest or the pockets they can pick' Does the potential reward of a new spell send them into conniptions of bliss' Might they be a fallen hero, trying to make up for past misdeeds with present good ones' Or are they merely looking for a good story to tell over a round of ale'
How Would I React If . . . '
Now that your character has his personality fleshed out, let's ask a few questions about how he'd react in certain situations.
What if . . .
You were told to bomb a ship' (My paladin had to be convinced by the other party members that this wasn't an unpaladinly thing to do.)
A PC asked for an item that you'd pulled from a chest' (You as a player might have no problem letting them have it, but how would your PC react')
Your employer sent you to retrieve an item. You braved a den of thieves to get it, and when you returned, he stiffed you on the gold he'd offered and told you to keep the lousy signet (+1 Heal, whoopee!)'
Another PC made fun of your weaponry' Would you snarl at them' Challenge them to a duel' Ignore them' Make snide comments about their gear/personality/character class'
You were told that a man's wife had been kidnapped by kobolds' Would you race in to save her, or decide that you'd get around to it eventually' Or call him a wimp for not rescuing her himself'
Feel free to make up more 'what ifs' if you desire.
Role Playing Conventions & Setting Up for RP
No I'm not talking about going somewhere in a funny costume, and hoping to get a chance to hear Gary Gygax speak. (Though if you've run Delera's you might not be so hot on that idea ) When you're in a quest with other Role Players, it's polite to speak mostly in character. However there are occasions when you need to say something that is out of character, or OOC.
In Character Chat
Most folks put OOC chat in double parenthesis, such as '((brb bio))' or ((wait ' need to adjust my pack)). You might also see someone preface their remarks with OOC or IC, which stands for in character'.
Many RPers do not wish to use voice chat, and sometimes don't even use headphones. Generally this is because they feel it breaks the mood. Imagine going into a quest with someone who purports to be a nobleman's daughter, but when you hear her voice, her accent is pure hillbilly. If you can actually role play your character in voice, then check with the rest of the group. Personally, I love it, but some folks have a problem with that.
There are times when things are moving fast and furious, and it's usually seen as okay to break in with voice chat. For example, one of your party members is about to run headlong into a trap. Feel free to get on VC and say trap!' or if you're lost somewhere behind the group and you get attacked, its faster and easier to scream for help on VC.
What is NOT seen as okay is long winded VC or typed chats on anything not pertinent to the quest and RP, whether it's the latest debacle with wife/hubby agro, or the +5 Vorpal Longsword you found in the auction house.
Aliases
'Aliases' are DDO's terms for macros, and a great way of getting your message written swiftly with minimal typing. To make an alias go to your 'general' tab and type:
/alias ;string1 'string2'
For string1 substitute the letters you want to type for your shortcut. For string2 substitute the sentence you want it to print out.
For example:
/alias ;tr //p I sense danger ahead./
When you type in ;tr you will say that sentence in party chat.
see this post on the DDO Forums> http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php't=382645 < for more on custom alias command.
Emotes
Emotes add a bit of fun and expression. Perhaps you want to cheer a member of your party who just vanquished an enemy or got a great pull from a chest. Just type /cheer into the chat tab. So that you can see your own, and other party members emotes typed in party chat, make sure to set that window to accept emotes.
You can find the full list of presently available emotes by typing in /emotelist in the general chat tab.
Of course there are many emotes that aren't readily available. You might want to show, for whatever reason, that your character spins in circles till they become dizzy and falls down. The general convention used for this is to bracket your emote in stars (*). So:
" *Hellebore spins in circles until she becomes dizzy and falls to the floor.* "
Finally, It's Time to Role Play!
Finding An RP Party
Occasionally you'll find a group that is already LFM and specifies that they are holding an RP quest. However this is a rarity. Be sure to put RP or Role Player in your LFG notes, so that other RPers can find you. Generally you'll need to create a party for RP questing yourself. Just make sure that you specify 'RP questing' in your LFM, and explain your rules to the rest of the party before you go into the quest.
Sarlona and Thelanis are both unofficial RP servers, and it's easier to find RPers on those servers, but we have plenty of folks on those servers who don't RP as well. Although I haven't checked out too many servers, I'm sure that there are RPers on most, to a greater or lesser degree.
Find an RP guild. On Sarlona, one of the biggest RP guilds is my own beloved Lightstorm's Dragonslayers. Check your server forum to see what available guilds might suit your needs.
In Quest
The way my guild quests is that we go through each room, and after we've cleared it, we stop and give everyone a few moments to role play before moving on to the next area. Yes this DOES take longer than normal questing. However RP is generally not about zerging and getting through content fast. Instead our goal is to slow down and enjoy every moment. The imperative here is to make sure everyone is given ample time to contribute, comment back and forth, and have a good time. A typical scenario might be:
Algothang the Cleric: /cheer 'Well we shown that wizzie right good.'
Idran the Rogue: *laughs* 'And I thank you, Algo, for rescuing me once again. Those nasty skeletons nearly killed me there, but for your good graces. Oooh, and what have we here' [Idran finds a chest and even though it's not likely that it's trapped, does a search.] Well it seems to be safe. Foolish. If I were to leave a chest around, you can be sure I would have trapped it.' [Idran opens the chest.]
Burgee the Fighter: [Pulling his loot from the chest] 'Ahahah, Bracers of Ogre Strength! Finsh, you are doomed next time we duel.'
Algothang: 'Izz no problem Idran, I'z there for you as you is for me.'
Finsh the Sorcerer: *quirks his brow* 'Oh really, Burgee' Next time we duel, please remind me to transform you into the toad that you are inwardly.
Rondal the Paladin: 'If all of you thugs are finished looting, you might care to recall that we have a sacred mission to finish. Shall we''
Play It Like It's Brand New
Another thing our guild does is to take each quest and pretend we've never been there before. First off, if anyone is new to the quest, it helps them by not revealing secrets, and thus ruining many of the fun surprises that happen along the way. Even if everyone's been through the quest twenty times before, it's still fun to go through it as if it were a new experience. After all, in PnP, how many times would you duplicate a quest'
There's a razor fine edge to handling this. You don't want to put your party in danger, and at the same time you desire the illusion. If you're running with someone new to the quest, then please don't 'ruin' it for them. For instance don't say, 'the wizard ahead casts fire spells, let's all buff'. Instead, try 'I feel there is a challenge ahead. I'll do what I can to offer you some protection.' Or if you're running Von2, you might say, 'Gee these walkways look scary. Lets be sure we don't fall off!' The good news here is that RP quests usually run slowly enough that there's generally more time to warn someone if you sense a trap or other danger.
RP Speak
There are many circumstances we typically come across in DDO that can easily be rendered in an RP tone. Here are a few common ones:
Found the shrine: 'Ah, this might be a good resting place later.'
I need to go shrine: 'My friends, I'm weary. Think you we can find a place to rest''
What quests are you planning': 'Have you found any work''
I want to do X quest: (Describing the quest info) 'Well, Lesto wants me to retrieve this gem for him. He seems to think it'll be a piece of cake so long as we don't stir things up by killing all the prophets.
I need to log: ''Tis time I retire to my apartments. ((Gotta log guys, thanks for the party.))'
Going to repair: 'Ah, how sad, my trusty <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> sword has been nicked. I must run and take care of that.'
Going to the tavern: 'I'm feeling quite thirsty.'
After being rezzed: 'How very strange, I had an odd dream that I was a ghost . . . . '
Backpack is full, give me a moment to readjust inventory: 'Hold a moment, friends, this backpack is getting heavy.'
Feel free to add to the list..
Making What You Can of DDO
Once again, although DDO was created under the aegis of the name Dungeons and Dragons, it's not a RP specific game. RP is certainly possible, but you'll have to make it happen for yourself, as it's not, at this time, part of the programming.
Knowing Your World
In any RP game, having an idea of the world's history, mythology and natural cycles will help you further immerse yourself in the world and aid role playing. In a recent PbP (Play by Post) game I joined, my character is a druid. Wanting my druid character to be attuned to the planetary cycles, one of my immediate questions to the DM was, 'What's the moon phase, right now'' And since he didn't know, I ended up creating an entire calendar for his campaign, complete with holy days for the gods, harvest festivals and more.
The DDO world is based on the Eberron campaign world. While I'm no expert on that world myself, I'll include several links which will allow you to research that.
http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread...ght=loremaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberron http://www.bossythecow.com/ http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php'f=502 http://www.coveworld.net/eberron/
RP in Taverns and Public Areas
My guild holds occasional RP tavern events to satisfy our need for RP and public events designed to introduce RP to the general public. We'll buy each other drinks, and pass them via the trade window (if you don't need it, you don't have to consume it, just pass it back to them when you 'buy' them their round. For appropriate suspension of disbelief, pretend to talk to the barkeep first.)
Taverns are a great place to role-play. You can 'meet' folks from your guild you've never run with and talk about your respective bios, or tell your friends a yarn about the latest quest. If you're a bard, play a tune and make up some funny lyrics. (Perhaps something you've written for a friend in advance.)
PVP brings out some additional opportunities for RP. In fact the ONLY time I PVP is as part of RP with my guild. You might challenge a close comrade to a friendly duel or pretend to be insulted by something another person says and challenge them to a fight. Unlike fighting pre-programmed mobs, who generally only come up with comments like 'Yark!' and 'Kobolds always hate you,' a good RP PVP battle is a lovely excuse for insult trading. And with or without PVP a great insult war a la Cyrano can be a blast.
The first time I held a Morning Tea (my term for guild sponsored open-to-the-public Tavern RP - I hold these in general chat with the idea of attracting other RPers) I found a rusty old warforged standing in a corner of the Phoenix Tavern. After pushing the buttons on his breastplate, I found that I could activate him. He immediately began to look for his master (dead some time back) and we spent the next hour running around the Marketplace playing hide and seek. *Laugh* don't push the wrong button or he might attack you.
Keeping It Friendly!
Some of the suggestions I've mentioned, such as insult fests, PVP and dwarves who hate elves (and vise versa) or cranky old wizards may sometimes cause confusion if folks don't realize you're role playing. If you're RPing with someone who doesn't know you well PLEASE send them a /tell letting them know that you're not actually mad at them, you're role-playing. There was one incident where a character who RPs a very snide rogue managed to inadvertently insult another person (who took it to heart, sadly) and got very upset over the matter.
You'll also occasionally find folks who aren't interested in role-playing and will get bored and frustrated if you try. Either go back to 'normal gamer mode' or find another party. Or just keep the RP light. Chat away in RP mode, but don't expect everyone to go along with it.
Interacting with the NPCs
Okay, I realize that you can't REALLY interact with DDO NPCs at this point. They have a limited amount of responses and there's only so much you can do or say regarding them. However you can certainly use them to color your world as you role play.
For an example of this, how many threads on this forum are devoted to 'I hate Coyle' messages. Some of them get quite creative regarding his reasons for zerging ahead with no armor and a club, including pejoratives as to the circumstances of his birth, and the many reasons that he must hate you to act the way he does. 'Because your mother dresses you funny.'
Apply that imagination to all the DDO NPCs and they become fodder for RP between your characters. For example:
* Guard Jung is looking for his badge - again!' 'I swear, that drunkard is constantly missing things. Is that any way for a Stormreach guard to behave'' 'Aww give the guy a break. He's hankering over that lass who spends all her time on the ramps near the Dinghy, and she won't give him the time of day!'
Conclusion
So call me crazy. I make up stories for the NPCs and I talk to my summoned Hell Hound. If DDO won't bring RP to me, I'll bring myself to RP.
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Another idea would be a horrible disease that only player characters can heal. Say certain level clerics with a certain spell and they could make money off the disease from the character who is infected, and maybe that disease is contagious and spreads to different players, and thru a pop up, say the disease has infected 13% of the server population. There could even be a timer on that character to have the disease healed within a certain time frame or character loses levels or abilty scores. There would be panic and mass hysteria. b:shocked
You see I like role playing if it is somewhat real. Now ive played all the neverwinter nights roleplay servers and enjoy them the most, but I can only play pretend for so long. I need substance, otherwise i get bored of saying "well met" all day. Anyway thats how I think you can really get the other 75% that don't roleplay involved. Players could have real relationships with each other, based on helping each other or waring with each other.
I would like to see people talking about something that you the developers can import into the game, that effects characters life.
I know, easier said than done. But I find it ideologically necessary. I'll produce that or produce nothing.
To try to answer Stormshade's question, I think a lot of what developers can do to facilitate roleplaying is stuff that Cryptic already nailed in Star Trek Online. The selection of personality animations and the simple ability to sit in chairs are great examples of what I think should be standard fare for MMOs that want to support roleplaying.
But to add even more to that, I think I would look to character moods and player-composed music systems (see The Lord of the Rings Online), as well as voice sets (see Age of Conan and most South Korean MMOs of the last ~5 years). Anything to increase the ways in which a character concept is expressed to other players. Because while actually portraying the character is obviously the player's responsibility, the ways in which they're able to do so are, of course, the developers'.
EDIT: Oh! Also, walking at a deliberate pace. It's somewhat agonizing to have to choose between running everywhere as if in a panic and sauntering as if wandering around one's own home.
Okay, I'm going to attempt to squeeze some blood out of a stone and give some feedback. I say "attempt," because I confess I agree that at least 90% of the roleplaying in a game is a grassroots, community based effort. Assuming there are people who want to roleplay, all that needs providing for them is a communication infrastructure that they feel comfortable using with each other. Anybody remember MUDs? Those were pretty bare bone environments in which people did a heck of a lot of roleplaying without any fancy looking avatars, emotes, and environments. So I say all that to say that I'm not sure there are huge features Neverwinter needs that would enable a robust roleplaying community other than the community itself. Certainly certain themes and IP are more conducive to it than others. I think D&D is one of those, but I guess we'll find when the game's released.
That being said, I do think there are some things that would help. I don't think they're Earth shattering ideas, but I feel like they'll as a whole make the Neverwinter environment more conducive to roleplaying. Additionally, a lot of these things I would guess are already going to be in the game in some form. My reason for bringing them up is to point out how a little more detail could make the actual process of communicating that much more accessible to the roleplayers.
As a point of reference, I'm assuming most roleplaying happens via textual communication. In my experience that's the prevalent medium.
1) A chat interface that's not cumbersome to use.
I'm pretty pleased in this regard with the functionality of the chat window in CO and STO. I don't expect Neverwinter to be much different. Chat isn't in the way of my other UI elements, nor is it hidden. It feel like it's supposed to be there and I can see as little or as much text as I want on a part of the screen that I've determined is comfortable for me to read for long periods of time. I feel like all of the above needs to be true for Neverwinter's chat.
2) Attention to typeface legibility
I'm going to give an example from a non MMO game that had a lot of roleplaying.
Neverwinter Nights 2 had a neat looking serif typeface that had a lot of immerse old style qualities that was perfect for the Forgotten Realms. For all that game's faults, the artists did a good job making the "game" parts, like the UI, look like they fit in the world. Unfortunately, this detail was somewhat lost on the chat typeface. As serif typefaces generally go, it didn't scale down well and so it was harder to read than it could have been compared when it was used while larger and the letterforms' cool nuances had space to breathe. It's an example of where aesthetics stepped on the toes of functionality. It's a hard line to walk, I realize, but it's important that it gets walked all the same, I say.
A roleplayer tends to look at walls of text scrolling past in quick succession, so some attention is put to the legibility of small characters and how much the leading and kerning holds up when it flies through the chat window can make the difference between if a player wants to read a block of text or just ignores it. I think this kind of attention is good for the non-RP parts of the game as well. Video game RPGs, even MMORPGs, have a long history of text as a means of relaying information and story and it does a service to the rest of the game areas that require reading when the typography is really well thought out.
3) Floaty text duration and legibility
Part of the dynamics of an audio conversation comes not in just in understanding the words but hearing the timing. Obviously textual communication is vastly inferior to audio communication in this regard, but little silly things like floaty text above a chatting avatar's head go a long way in smoothing over text's limitations. If the duration the text floats there is long enough and if the text itself is legible enough, then a group of players roleplaying together get a more natural sense of the pace and the timing of the conversation than the very artificial list of timestamps in a chat log.
4) Differentiate users' names from their chat
These next couple of examples are a little more straightforward, and all have to do with color, so I can use some more visual examples to get my point across. I grabbed this text straight from unsuspecting members of my guild.
Compare...
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
to...
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
Or even better...
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
I think the last one is super easy to digest compared to the other two.
5) Differentiate my chat from others' chat
When you're reading through a quickly passing wall of chat it's sometimes difficult to keep track of where your responses fit into the scroll. This is most frustrating at big events with large groups of players in the same area. As nothing more than a point of reference to keep track of where you are in the chat acroll, I propose an option to have one's own name and/or text a different color. Here are a couple examples from TonyAshe's point of view.
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
This one builds on an idea in the previous suggestion
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
6) Bold and Italics
This one's pretty straightforward. Having both of these in chat would be neato.
7) Emote feedback
I'm a little on the fence about this because I've seen situations where this worked well and others where it was annoying. If emotes have a textual indicator in the chat log it's my opinion that they should be straightforward and simple. I think it's neat when the text in the log is tailored to your selected target in the manner of "Thomas waves to Isaac" when Thomas's player uses the wave emote while selecting Isaac.
Then another part of me gets really frustrated with it when a couple people fire off emotes as they pass by and suddenly my chat (even if I'm not roleplaying) is filled with, "Thomas shows Isaac his knowledge of a variety of dance styles" multiple times. Frankly, that's annoying, despite the cool personalization. It feels like spam.
And here's the difference for me: Annoying is what I'd tell you at the time it happened, but as I write this and am not neck deep in the middle of game chat I can think of ways it's nice to have that emote feedback. Maybe the rest of you reading this have a more definitive opinion on the matter? I'd be interested in hearing it.
Maybe the best compromise looks like this:
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Sparrowhawk beckons Brigantia closer.
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
In this example I can visually skip over the emote feedback if I want to because it stands out from the rest. Of course, if I'm interested in Sparrowhawk's emotes, then it's also easier to find.
Here it is with some spam thrown in for comparison's sake...
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Echo showes Zorggie her knowledge of a variety of dance styles.
Echo showes Zorggie her knowledge of a variety of dance styles.
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Sparrowhawk beckons Brigantia closer.
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Echo showes Zorggie her knowledge of a variety of dance styles.
Zorggie dances the robot.
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
8) A roleplaying flag
Something either in the floaty nameplate of a character or their inspection window (or both!) to indicate, "Hey, buddy, I'm looking for roleplaying" would be great. Think of it like a "LFG" indicator for the roelplaing community. It would be easy to tell at a glance who in a room (or maybe a whole zone if it's a sortable category for the social UI) is approachable in character.
Author's note: My undergrad was in graphic design, so if I sound like I'm harping on the text too much, now you know why! :P
Now, are all these things nit-picky? Yes. I'll admit that. But off the top of my head they're things I've missed in whole or in part in various games I've roleplayed in. They made the experience more accessible and therefore (I believe) they kept me in game longer.
Naturally, your mielage may vary.
ADDENDUM:
If you're wondering abut chat channel color and how it would look with my suggestions, consider this:
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (Fancy running into you two)
Cadet Justice@Melidara: [OOC] Fancy!
Sparrowhawk@Pallas001: (Brig join us)
Sparrowhawk beckons Brigantia closer.
Kit@TallMan6f7: Dude what is up?
Brigantia@TonyAshe: (sure)
Bog@Virp: [got room for one more?]
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[yar
Mister Valiant@BellRing3r: Up? It's a direction!
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[youre not accepting invites o.o
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[ >.<
Isis@shadowdragon00000: [[cant invite you if you're not accepting invites
One thing you can do is add more social and RP type skills to the available list to choose from... For instance:
Specific Knowledges, not just a simple Lore Check. Leave that for the Bards.
Examples: Engineering, Cartography, Navigation, Herbalism, Monster Lore, Goblinoid Lore, Orc Lore, Giant Lore, Elf Lore, Dwarf Lore, Language Skills, Intuition, Plant Lore, Geology, Alchemy, Art Lore, Music Lore, etc...
Then, these can be used in any adventures to add some RP aspects.. Like, the big Fighter who happens to be the only one to have Art Lore, and identify a stone carving as a collectable from an ancient civilization, and that it was used as a spiritual guardian for the homes of the powerful and wealthy. This knowledge providing a bonus to a search to find a very well hidden secret door under and behind the foilage and detritus to a easter egg type treasure. If no one has the skill, they do not get a chance to find this. Then the party can RP stuff like "Sven, I never knew you were so knowledgeable about art." etc...
Make non-combat skills worth as much as combat skills to the characters. In my many years of playing, having the Knowledge Rogue (Indiana Jones) was often a huge benefit to the party.
Books, Tomes, Grimoires, Scrolls and other Parchments that we can write in and seal from further editing. This was one of my most favorite Roleplaying-type mechanics still found in Ultima Online.
There was even a time when player's sealed books were going get flagged for review then published and spawned randomly through out the bookcases and other containers through out the game. This latter did not happen, unfortunately.
Hopefully too, official books and other literature will be found through out Neverwinter - a hopefully continued tradition. Such things can often lead to player's roleplaying, creating history and lore for their characters, and give an in-game understanding of the world, which further their immersion and drive to role-play, no matter how minute in form.
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However, like PvP, while its proponents are vocal, it should not be confused and made mandatory or considered a "make or break" in a game's release. It should be included, but optional to all players, like PvP. Just like PvP, sometimes you don't want to say something IC (in character) when you play.
As to how it can be encouraged by the CM as well as Cryptic/PWE staff? Try offering live events on a rare occasion (not simply those things that happen twice a day like in your other games but with a real live "GM" present. Similar to a special event like Q's holiday event but perhaps not so elaborate.) Have quests or contests or what have you where part of the goal or qualification is the player must "act their character" to complete the event. Whether they should get titles or xp or even additional items I leave to the company, but it surely would foster the players to literally play their character as their character.
A non-live option that is possible is to make a chat window that is used for role play speaking no matter what section/area you are in. This is not to be confused with chat channels which are a global thing, but will link with roleplayers in the zone you are currently in. So a person who enters the Moonstone Tavern and opens that "RP" window/tab will see other people in the tavern who are chatting IC.
Finally, as silly as it seems now, try having a talent show! I can't imagine people NOT acting their character (or their character acting another character...the play's the thing...)
Hope this helps and I look forward to anybody who wants to RP...just be warned if you l33ts93@|\/ me in game, I will RP right back at you for your "alien tongue," so fanboi MMO players you now have been warned!