Discussion About Roleplay

[Captn Norrington]

As most roleplayers know, the roleplay community has become very small compared to the old days. As a relatively new roleplayer I can say from experience that roleplay gets kind of boring without new people joining every now and then. I'm hoping that the people who do not roleplay, could be convinced to give it a try if the right kind of events are organized, even if they just want to come and observe. anyone have a suggestion on how to do this?

 

[kulder]

We used to have Storyteller night's, I myself have hosted a few and also traveled to other share for their night's. I am also known Rumil of Lorain and another great event was pub crawls each pub had their own event's

 

[Thom]

Storytelling night's are a good one, but in my experience you won't attract many people that don't already rp unless you have really good prizes. I have had success with jousting as well.

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Im sososo busy in UO I cant vote for anything I dont already do. Political and EM events.

 

[MalagAste]

I understand about the small numbers of RPers..... however since most of us do the political government things we are fairly busy but we also enjoy PvM as well... we spend quite a bit of time testing new area's as well as hunting and gathering needed supplies.

With some folk slowly returning to UO we've also been busy retraining lost friends...

I might make a suggestion.... if you attend EM events you might look around and see who's participating in RP fashion and slowly one by one inviting them into your "fold" and showing them a good time. You might just slowly over time grow your population.

Reach out to other active guilds on your shard and see if they are interested in joining.... Other Governors and such. Since being a Governor is pretty RPish.

 

[Tina Small]

My time to play UO in the last few years has become extremely erratic as far as when it happens and for how long it happens. It never fails that when I think I just might squeeze in an hour or two to play, some other RL situation comes up and playing time gets cancelled or postponed. It's why I gave up a long time ago even trying to attend EM events. Most of the time when I play UO, I'm on my own and it's really just the luck of the draw if I actually run into someone else while playing and we strike up a conversation of sorts. I think it's great if people can put in the effort to do organized events of some sort. I'm afraid, though, that at this point in my life, my RL responsibilities and priorities make it almost impossible for me to even try to participate in such events, let alone offer to help with organizing or setting one up. Honestly, if it weren't such a hassle to pack up stuff and jam it into bankboxes, I'm not sure I'd even still have active UO accounts for as little as UO seems like an MMO to me anymore. There are many days when it feels more like a job that I log on to do and I have to pull back every few months and stop even trying to log on so much to keep things from becoming totally dull and tedious.

 

[whiterabbit]

MEEES JUST COMES TO ALT, SOON AS MEEES GETS MORE GOBLINS AN A FEEL FER DA RPERS DA GOBLINS WILL TINK OB PLAYER EBENTS
OZOG

 

[DJAd]

The question for me as a non-roleplayer is what exactly is role playing within UO? Meeting up and talking in RP speak? Dressing up in the correct clothing etc? What do you guys do and when and where does it go on?

 

[Cetric]

Guild wars used to be the best in this arena. great lakes had some very large, very active armys, militias, and "clans" of groups all wared together that was pretty epic.

 

[Velvathos]

Guild Warring is fun only if there is A LOT of people and coordination involved.. The outcome of course we don't know, but spontaneous RP is always best. Europa had one of the most insane RP-warring at one point, but I think those days are over.. But the RP warring guilds would do their fair share of PVM as well, as it was a very low fantasy setting, most guilds acted as an army so we had ranks and to get up in rank you had to write reports, which involved patrols, expeditions, gathering an X amount of gold, placing banners (a way to advertise in game..) and so forth.. In BoC we had to show proof of all of it by taking screenshots with our reports..

And don't forget tavern nights, player taverns always kept things interesting but when the community got to small that's all RP came down to was sitting in taverns and it just got boring for me, too much gossip and cybering can ruin RP..

 

[Velvathos]

http://cove.sugeworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=15360.0
My grenadier trials from when I had a character in BoC

 

[Velvathos]

The question for me as a non-roleplayer is what exactly is role playing within UO? Meeting up and talking in RP speak? Dressing up in the correct clothing etc? What do you guys do and when and where does it go on?

"What is roleplaying?"

It’s the art of taking on the personality of someone that is different from you. It is very similar to acting or writing. The biggest difference is that it involves interacting with other people without the benefit of a script or an outlined plot that you already know the ending of.

The most difficult thing to understand about roleplaying is that you only get out of it what you put into it. You can’t just come into a room and sit in a corner and expect the others there to pull you into their RPing just out of the blue. Many people accuse RPers of being snobbish or elitist because they don’t go out of their way to include everyone they run across. The simple fact of the matter is, most RPers get very involved in their characters and the existing plots that they are participating in, and they never think about trying to drag in people they don’t know. Look at it this way...if you and some friends are standing around talking you usually won't try to pull nearby strangers into the conversation. If you want to be involved with a group of RPers, you have to actively involve yourself. But do so with politeness and consideration.

The trick to being a successful RPer is to have interesting characters. If your character has nothing of interest to say, then people won’t interact with you. It’s important to work out a full history and personality for your character, and to stick to it when interacting with others. It’s also important to not have a perfect character, or a ridiculously powerful character. Such characters will rapidly wear on the nerves of the other RPers you try to interact with.

The most important thing about Rping is to remember that everyone involved is in it for fun. Be polite, be considerate of the players behind the characters you interact with, and enjoy yourself. If you aren’t having fun, then you need to change something, either your character or the group of people you interact with."

 

[Smoot]

The question for me as a non-roleplayer is what exactly is role playing within UO? Meeting up and talking in RP speak? Dressing up in the correct clothing etc? What do you guys do and when and where does it go on?

Velvathos put it very well. ill just add a few things. Roleplaying is playing your character. not playing "you" for example you might be a very nice person, however your character is rude or arrogant. or downright evil. or a total fool. A well know governer on atlantic roleplays a prideful, arrogant character very well. Dont mistake the real life person with the character he or she is roleplaying.

Basic elements to roleplay in UO are not assuming anything. Like if you meet someone, you dont know their name (even tho in the game you can see it above his or her head) so you have to ask, or find out before refering by name.
Adding elements to your character that can not come across thru clothing or graphics. Like emoting facial expressions, non verbal sounds, body language. all this contributes to what we can do with verbal text. Also "setting the scene" for a character. this can include details to clothing like if its dirty, neat, ripped, bloody, or physical ailments, scars, colors, bleeding, wetness, clear skin, unkept hair etc.
Ive left so much out. Anything you can add to a character to make him or her more than a paperdoll wearing items who talks. details details details

Other popular roleplay gatherings include:
weddings
secret societies
murder mysteries
arrests / trials

I would love to see real jousting. details would have to be worked out, but actually having both players using the lance while mounted (the only weapon you can use to dismount while mounted) and then fighting on foot.

i havent roleplayed seriously in a couple years but have been in a number of active roleplay guilds ranging from Egyptian, Pirate, Samurai / Ninja, to Evil. That being said you dont have to be any "type" of character or guild to roleplay. Just add details and personality to any character in any setting to give depth and make him or her come alive.

 

[Dag Nabbit]

Storytelling night's are a good one, but in my experience you won't attract many people that don't already rp unless you have really good prizes. I have had success with jousting as well.

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

I agree that solid prizes are the key to bringing people together for events. I have been thinking that I would like to introduce a monthly/bimonthly event in Catskills that would offer a 1st place prize that would be purchased from the Origin store. Such as a 1st place winner would get like say,a Kings Collection Theme Pack,2nd place would get Forged Metal Tool with 5 charges and 3rd place would get Haochi's Pigments.I am sure this would draw a crowd and the general population would see the RP side of this game if it is done right.

 

[Thrakkar]

Computer games limit you extremely, when trying to role play. Even sandbox games. That's why I'm not interested in RP in a computer game at all.
On top of that, often you have to wait for a response, just because the other guys are not fast typers etc. A simple conversation can take ages.
All in all it's definitely no satisfactory experience at all.

 

[Smoot]

Computer games limit you extremely, when trying to role play. Even sandbox games. That's why I'm not interested in RP in a computer game at all.
On top of that, often you have to wait for a response, just because the other guys are not fast typers etc. A simple conversation can take ages.
All in all it's definitely no satisfactory experience at all.

True, but there are aspects to video games which also make roleplay extremely easy. Like unlimited supply of costumes and virtual props.
I could even roleplay a dog if i wanted to starting with ninja form, without having to rely on something like this to achieve the same look.

 

[Assia Penryn]

I enjoy RP, but I am old school and I have yet to find a healthy population to play. No pokes at current communities, but they are either internal guild rp, very small communities or the pseudo rp with lots of d00d speak, ooc talk etc.

Being an old school RP, that does zero for me. When the governor addition was made, I was hopeful it would bring about a rekindle of rp. Alas, while I applaud the creativity in which the governors appeal to the masses of non-rpers with wonderful events, I was sorely disappointed in the rp aspects. For me, RP was stories and plots. Interactions and the dance of wit and sword. It wasn't god-moting and talking ic only when it suited, but 100% of the time you were logged in.

I know I'm a grouchy ol' dragon.

 

[deadite]

I used to be an RPer, but nowadays I'd just call myself an immersion gamer. I like having an RP oriented character name and background... I like hanging out with other people who have the same. What I don't do anymore is RP mundane tasks or try to create storylines with other players... Maybe it's my limited playtime, or my patience, but I'd rather just join a hunting group and hit some dungeons in a very casual RPesque manner... in other words, just get immersed into the world, leave RL behind a bit, and have some fun. Don't worry so much about character motivations and storylines, but also don't talk about Duck Dynasty or the weather in New York. Go with the flow, keep it loose and enjoy the game.

 

[MalagAste]

I agree with others it's about assuming the role of your character from your characters eyes..... He/She of course can not "see" that name or guildtag floating above your head... nor can your character "see" that the other person is "Orange".... So if they haven't met this particular person before they wouldn't know to be wary of them for they might be your enemy.....

Though if all your enemies look like Ninja's..... then you might see a Ninja and be 'very cautious"... and approach them accordingly...

I do miss the big RPPvP battles we used to have on GL's...... Used to be that on any given night you could go to Skara Brae and expect to find several Orcs, Urks, or other Scum hanging about waiting for you to drive them out of town or try to arrest them... Or if you went to Skara you might find and Orc harrassing you for "shinnies" so you can get them to "go away"...

You could travel to the Desert valley outside Umbra and expect to find the City of the Spider..... and meet up with some dark elves... who might greet you in their native Drow language... Or curse you in it....

Years earlier you could go to Kazola's Treetop Tavern and expect to find weary travelers who've banded together for safety and storytelling with a few bottles of Yew Wine...

I also agree that you get out what you put in... Roleplayers often come off as "snobbish" because they are used to being ignored and harassed or ridiculed by the rest of the community so they tend to keep to themselves... Though more often than not if you are looking for them they most often are pretty good at "reporting" what they are doing on websites.... GL's has the UORPC.net..... as well Galen often posts a weekly calendar here on Stratics.

It's not hard to find them.... just with the smaller and smaller populations it's just harder to get more than a few of them around to RP anything "freestyle" anymore.... you pretty much have to be there where they are.
Also no one expects anyone to be "great" at RPing right off the bat.... but most RP communities are willing to help folk join and get to know the RP...

Many UO RP communities follow the In-Game Metafiction ...... so no one declares themselves King of Britannia or anything..... Unless they are Evil perhaps. But they will battle the Kingdoms foes... form governments.... get their officials elected now.... Because to them the cities, the virtues, the government actually has "meaning" more than Blackthorn has a dungeon under his Castle...

 

[Flutter]

True, but there are aspects to video games which also make roleplay extremely easy. Like unlimited supply of costumes and virtual props.
I could even roleplay a dog if i wanted to starting with ninja form, without having to rely on something like this to achieve the same look.
View attachment 18876

LOL

 

[Yadd of Legends]

True, but there are aspects to video games which also make roleplay extremely easy. Like unlimited supply of costumes and virtual props.
I could even roleplay a dog if i wanted to starting with ninja form, without having to rely on something like this to achieve the same look.
View attachment 18876

That leather dog head picture made me laugh. UO? Imagine the RL possibilities ...

 

[Flagg]

I have exceptionally fond memories of the rich, active and beautifully organized RP communities of Europa. Today, if somebody told me there was not only dozens of RP guilds but several competing - roof organizations- for these guilds, I would not believe it had I not seen it myself. I'm gradually discovering it can not eternally be 2002.

Tis a shame an occasional IDOC is the only thing blowing the layers of dust off hibernating communities' ancient holds. In totally unrelated note, here is The Rains of Castamere, off Game o Thrones.



I seem to recall there was some worthy effort to bring some RP to city of Britain some two summers back. They were active for a time. Then vanished. Or atleast, i haven't seen em in a while.

 

[Viquire]

Velvathos put it very well. ill just add a few things. Roleplaying is playing your character. not playing "you" for example you might be a very nice person, however your character is rude or arrogant. or downright evil. or a total fool. A well know governer on atlantic roleplays a prideful, arrogant character very well. Dont mistake the real life person with the character he or she is roleplaying.

Basic elements to roleplay in UO are not assuming anything. Like if you meet someone, you dont know their name (even tho in the game you can see it above his or her head) so you have to ask, or find out before refering by name.
Adding elements to your character that can not come across thru clothing or graphics. Like emoting facial expressions, non verbal sounds, body language. all this contributes to what we can do with verbal text. Also "setting the scene" for a character. this can include details to clothing like if its dirty, neat, ripped, bloody, or physical ailments, scars, colors, bleeding, wetness, clear skin, unkept hair etc.
Ive left so much out. Anything you can add to a character to make him or her more than a paperdoll wearing items who talks. details details details

Other popular roleplay gatherings include:
weddings
secret societies
murder mysteries
arrests / trials

I would love to see real jousting. details would have to be worked out, but actually having both players using the lance while mounted (the only weapon you can use to dismount while mounted) and then fighting on foot.

i havent roleplayed seriously in a couple years but have been in a number of active roleplay guilds ranging from Egyptian, Pirate, Samurai / Ninja, to Evil. That being said you dont have to be any "type" of character or guild to roleplay. Just add details and personality to any character in any setting to give depth and make him or her come alive.

A lot of these positive player experiences can be found simply by finding a good guild that recognizes the thing all their members have in common is the desire to play within the setting and the commonality of shared relationship. I have seen sticklers for detail upend some wonderful groups, and much larger associations of guilds. KoB on GL used to have a lot of fun and almost all our group activity centered around the initiation of new members and recognition of advancement in public ceremonies held at various places throughout Sosaria. Then we would retire to the tower and proceed to celebrate by bashing each others heads in in duels to the death on the roof of the guild tower.
Those were great, really great times in my playing UO, and I have mused for years about how to make that kind of guild attractive to active players again in a day where so much play time is centered on the acquisition of the latest loot.
Dungeon runs, sometimes referred to as "tours" for newer players, and treasure hunts were some of the most well received "other" activities, but KoB also had its share of weddings, and the occasional "assassin in residence". Yeah, I miss that.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I agree with others it's about assuming the role of your character from your characters eyes..... He/She of course can not "see" that name or guildtag floating above your head... nor can your character "see" that the other person is "Orange".... So if they haven't met this particular person before they wouldn't know to be wary of them for they might be your enemy.....

Though if all your enemies look like Ninja's..... then you might see a Ninja and be 'very cautious"... and approach them accordingly...

I do miss the big RPPvP battles we used to have on GL's...... Used to be that on any given night you could go to Skara Brae and expect to find several Orcs, Urks, or other Scum hanging about waiting for you to drive them out of town or try to arrest them... Or if you went to Skara you might find and Orc harrassing you for "shinnies" so you can get them to "go away"...

You could travel to the Desert valley outside Umbra and expect to find the City of the Spider..... and meet up with some dark elves... who might greet you in their native Drow language... Or curse you in it....

Years earlier you could go to Kazola's Treetop Tavern and expect to find weary travelers who've banded together for safety and storytelling with a few bottles of Yew Wine...

I also agree that you get out what you put in... Roleplayers often come off as "snobbish" because they are used to being ignored and harassed or ridiculed by the rest of the community so they tend to keep to themselves... Though more often than not if you are looking for them they most often are pretty good at "reporting" what they are doing on websites.... GL's has the UORPC.net..... as well Galen often posts a weekly calendar here on Stratics.

It's not hard to find them.... just with the smaller and smaller populations it's just harder to get more than a few of them around to RP anything "freestyle" anymore.... you pretty much have to be there where they are.
Also no one expects anyone to be "great" at RPing right off the bat.... but most RP communities are willing to help folk join and get to know the RP...

Many UO RP communities follow the In-Game Metafiction ...... so no one declares themselves King of Britannia or anything..... Unless they are Evil perhaps. But they will battle the Kingdoms foes... form governments.... get their officials elected now.... Because to them the cities, the virtues, the government actually has "meaning" more than Blackthorn has a dungeon under his Castle...

Thank you for the shout-out for my calendar.

Part of me is inclined to address the primary topic of this thread, as a long-time and quite public roleplayer, but I know my opinions increasingly are rather non-mainstream.....So best to stay quiet.

-Galen's player

 

[Aedon Durreah]

What used to make RP special for me in UO has sort of disappeared with the bulk of the community. There had at one time been vibrant player run towns where knights and constables struggled to keep the law against a collection of naer do wells, pirates and orcs. Plot lines were long and involved and might include a search for an offender, then a trial the outcome of which might have profound impact on the community at large. It was not uncommon then to be sitting in the tavern in Skara and be suddenly attacked by a hoard of orcs. These days RP seems to have devolved into a set of events which revolve around some quest (plot) you are sent on by an EM.

Where once we had Knights and Ladies, wizards, brigands and orcs, we are now over run by Vampires. There is nothing wrong in wishing to RP you are a dead being, but i is not the RP I enjoyed for so many years in UO. Events held now do not make me excited about logging in these days. And I find myself doing less and less in the way of role playing spending most of my in game time playing in my house, or hunting.

I have thought of looking to other shards for some of the old style RP, but it is hard to bring myself to leave Catskills. I do play other games, but have never taken part in the RP in these. I suppose I am stuck in a time that is long gone, sitting on the steps of my Yew house, sipping tea and keeping watch over the glade.

 

[Captn Norrington]

I completely agree Aedon, the old days of RP were fun in so many ways...sadly almost none of those ways still exist.

 

[Norrar]

What used to make RP special for me in UO has sort of disappeared with the bulk of the community. There had at one time been vibrant player run towns where knights and constables struggled to keep the law against a collection of naer do wells, pirates and orcs. Plot lines were long and involved and might include a search for an offender, then a trial the outcome of which might have profound impact on the community at large. It was not uncommon then to be sitting in the tavern in Skara and be suddenly attacked by a hoard of orcs. These days RP seems to have devolved into a set of events which revolve around some quest (plot) you are sent on by an EM.

Where once we had Knights and Ladies, wizards, brigands and orcs, we are now over run by Vampires. There is nothing wrong in wishing to RP you are a dead being, but i is not the RP I enjoyed for so many years in UO. Events held now do not make me excited about logging in these days. And I find myself doing less and less in the way of role playing spending most of my in game time playing in my house, or hunting.

I have thought of looking to other shards for some of the old style RP, but it is hard to bring myself to leave Catskills. I do play other games, but have never taken part in the RP in these. I suppose I am stuck in a time that is long gone, sitting on the steps of my Yew house, sipping tea and keeping watch over the glade.

I see far more normal types than vampires.

 

[Dag Nabbit]

I agree with Norrar here. In Catskills,I don't reckon that I have even seen one vampire since my return. If I had any interaction with one of them,I hadn't known it in-character or out-of-character.

 

[whiterabbit]

DA GOBLIN MOB ON CHESSY HABES 2 RULZ
1. YOU MUST IN GOBLIN FORM WHEN IN PUBLIC
2. HABES FUNZ

 

[Larisa]

One of my favorite scenerios that I was involved in...WAY back when lol when I had a town on Origin called New Dawn. We had a library, town hall, auction house which I ran, tavern, church...it was very immersive. I still have a few of the images we used...
The Library

My first Auction House which I modeled after the Europa Auction House because I loved the design so much, and yes I got permission to use the design before I build it

My second Auction House which was located on the Islands

During the whole Blackrock fiasco, our Governor banned the substance from our town, as it was deemed unstable and very dangerous. Mia (My Auctioneer) was not aware of this new law as it was put into effect a few days before the auction, and one of the items she was given to auction off was a large piece of blackrock.

In the middle of the auction, 2 constables came and arrested Mia and took her to the jail. Noone knew what was going on, it was a complete surprise to all in attendance and we RP'd the whole scenerio for about a week, held a trial and everything.

Things like...what happened with Ricardo..the whole Inu event arc...those are the kinds of RP'ish things I like. Totally immersive, everyone involved, telling a story through the event without really knowing the outcome as each person plays their parts differently.

My tamer Maharia was one of the first people to start hearing voices due to the blackrock infection. I remember the day very well lol, I was running to Yew where Ricardo was being held in the caravan outside of the courthouse. I ran up to him and a voice said *Hello There*...I thought it was Ricardo so I started talking to him...I discovered later that because I had used the Armageddon spell on a piece of blackrock I had become infected. I still RP her this way..she's a little quirky and odd, and during the times of New Dawn, her and the Governor where lovers...the person who played Dolphenix left the game so I RP'd that he had disappeared mysteriously, I still have the date and time in her profile of the day he disappeared and she's never gotten over it.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

I agree with Norrar here. In Catskills,I don't reckon that I have even seen one vampire since my return. If I had any interaction with one of them,I hadn't known it in-character or out-of-character.

I only know in character what I was told in character. In the past I was accustomed to vampires who kept the masquerade. Many now are more forward and in the light of day. As I said, there is nothing wrong with a person choosing to play an undead being, and I have much respect for a lot in the vampire community of RP. It is simply not the role play I enjoy, and it is a bit hard for me, coming frm such a rich history of rp to reconcile my play to the new community.

You should not notice, unless they try to bite you of course that a person is playing a vampire In fact, much of the community on Catskills are actively involved in running the towns as well as many fine and varied events. It is not the folks who are in the community, it is those who are gone that I miss. The plot-lines, the nightly RP, the interaction that was more a surprise as it came at you urging you to live in the moment.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

One of my favorite scenerios that I was involved in...WAY back when lol when I had a town on Origin called New Dawn. We had a library, town hall, auction house which I ran, tavern, church...it was very immersive. I still have a few of the images we used...
The Library

My first Auction House which I modeled after the Europa Auction House because I loved the design so much, and yes I got permission to use the design before I build it

My second Auction House which was located on the Islands

During the whole Blackrock fiasco, our Governor banned the substance from our town, as it was deemed unstable and very dangerous. Mia (My Auctioneer) was not aware of this new law as it was put into effect a few days before the auction, and one of the items she was given to auction off was a large piece of blackrock.

In the middle of the auction, 2 constables came and arrested Mia and took her to the jail. Noone knew what was going on, it was a complete surprise to all in attendance and we RP'd the whole scenerio for about a week, held a trial and everything.

Things like...what happened with Ricardo..the whole Inu event arc...those are the kinds of RP'ish things I like. Totally immersive, everyone involved, telling a story through the event without really knowing the outcome as each person plays their parts differently.

My tamer Maharia was one of the first people to start hearing voices due to the blackrock infection. I remember the day very well lol, I was running to Yew where Ricardo was being held in the caravan outside of the courthouse. I ran up to him and a voice said *Hello There*...I thought it was Ricardo so I started talking to him...I discovered later that because I had used the Armageddon spell on a piece of blackrock I had become infected. I still RP her this way..she's a little quirky and odd, and during the times of New Dawn, her and the Governor where lovers...the person who played Dolphenix left the game so I RP'd that he had disappeared mysteriously, I still have the date and time in her profile of the day he disappeared and she's never gotten over it.

This is the sort of think I miss. Every scar my character has received in the past are still with him. Each thing that happened to him did so with no pre-planning whatsoever. (planning much in advance these days is needed more due to the size of the community and folks busy lives.)

I recall one time my character was on a trial jury, and the Knights of Yew showed up mid trial to arrest him. He of course bolted, and they had to chase him down and subdue him. I did not know they were coming, and all around reacted to the moment in different ways.

 

[Lady Storm]

Long ago and far far away in Shards like Siege P., Sonoma, Napa, Catskills, and Oceania I was the "new" kid to their RP set. There was 2 story lines going roughly at the same time on Oceania if i remember correctly. These 2 distinct RP communitys story line were open and good acting was well under way and many a time they crossed lines to interact.
First was Nobles and Lords and the second was Vampires and Humans Other types of interaction was had but slips my mind right now but we had tons of fun.
During normal game play it was business as usual and if you crossed paths of a fellow rp'r you went into character for lite banter and continued your business but on set nights the story was run full swing.... the outline was made, rolls given out way before the play started so you knew sorta the ending but the changes here and there made it mroe fun to reach any sort of outcome...
But as most shards phased out RP ... many times this was due to a few people who made the acting to link to real life and spoilt it for the rest with fighting and general hate.. which is not RP by any means. I know of 4 marrages that broke up and 2 marrages that happened from these spats... not healthy for RP.
People have to remember this is acting not real life and its all for fun....

 

[MalagAste]

Long ago and far far away in Shards like Siege P., Sonoma, Napa, Catskills, and Oceania I was the "new" kid to their RP set. There was 2 story lines going roughly at the same time on Oceania if i remember correctly. These 2 distinct RP communitys story line were open and good acting was well under way and many a time they crossed lines to interact.
First was Nobles and Lords and the second was Vampires and Humans Other types of interaction was had but slips my mind right now but we had tons of fun.
During normal game play it was business as usual and if you crossed paths of a fellow rp'r you went into character for lite banter and continued your business but on set nights the story was run full swing.... the outline was made, rolls given out way before the play started so you knew sorta the ending but the changes here and there made it mroe fun to reach any sort of outcome...
But as most shards phased out RP ... many times this was due to a few people who made the acting to link to real life and spoilt it for the rest with fighting and general hate.. which is not RP by any means. I know of 4 marrages that broke up and 2 marrages that happened from these spats... not healthy for RP.
People have to remember this is acting not real life and its all for fun....

I know my own of all that and yes... I know of marriages that were in danger, some that collapsed..... a few that grew stronger... even families that were drawn closer. I also knew of vindictive negative behavior that pretty much ruined RP in a few times... rivalries taken WAY beyond the norm and things that should have been nipped in the bud by powerful Guildmasters that were NOT and when allowed to continue only drove the community to destruction.

I never cared much for scripted RP. I like open plots.... let the creativity flow and see what happens.... to me if you already know the outcome.... what's the point write your story post in on the forums and don't force me to go thru the motions just so you can get something done... that no one can change the outcome of... I like to have a plot started.... and just let it blossom on it's own. Sometimes magical things happen when you do.

Sadly though there are just so few folk around to RP that well most everything now is either scripted or planned out down to detail because well..... you have to schedule the RP around when the "most" people will be available.

 

[Velvathos]

Europa RP 2006-2010 was some of the best fun I ever had in UO, especially the raids, it was like being apart of the Society for Creative Anachronism or a LARP event, cause that's what the RP was like, it was very old school and there was also war going on and it took place in a very low fantasy setting and we customized our houses to be like a medieval Europe.. Sadly times have changed, it's hard to make a guild that consists of "GM Armour" as we referred to it and have anyone take it seriously, sure, we would have like a group of 40 players raid a high-end dungeon and another guilds territory to "GM Armour" as we call it, made more sense, sadly we only have around 5 or 6 active Rpers left on Europa, in which 2009 alone we had hundreds... That's a short amount of time as well considering how long this game has been around for.. And it just wasn't "RP events" every now and then, we had stuff going on a daily basis, the Baronship of Cove could host like 6 or 7 daily events within their guild while remaining completely immersed in character the entire time.. This of course only works with a larger guild as I have learned..

 

[Velvathos]

This was literally at our peak and it really died down in mid 2010 and somewhat came back in 2011 and we had very good run around that time but with only half these players, 2012-2014 has been pretty much dead, I ended up starting my own guild within Skara Brae and got a couple returning roleplayers and existing players into the guild but really we haven't had much more than 10 roleplayers on in the last 2 years.. I am really gonna miss all the raids we had but I don't think it'll return..

 

[Velvathos]

Forgive my nostalgia but I must share these..

 

[Velvathos]

 

[Velvathos]

Festivals, celebrations and big occasions..

 

[Velvathos]

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Well I guess I'll post since the thread has gone on.

RP in some form occurs or starts when a player recognizes his or her character as a separate entity form him- or herself.

At that first level (for want of a better way to put it), way more people RP in UO than most realize. Just like most RL people, most RPed characters just go through life, accumulating fortunes or struggling to survive or both.

You don't need a community to RP. Most people who do RP will seek to find or form communities of those who also RP, either because it's more fun, and/or gives a more meaningful experience, and/or because it just makes more sense, and/or it gives you a better chance to find people to run with in-game with whom you have something in common, and/or a dozen or so different reasons.

RP however also is a very frail activity, and it doesn't take much in the way of insincerity to damage it, harm it, or even out and out shatter it. I've seen communities harmed by excessive openness and excessive non-openness. By cliqueish behavior and by newcomers trying to impose themselves on a situation they didn't yet understand. By too many rules, by too few rules. By trying to ignore the manufacturer-provided environment and by thinking that the assistance of the manufacturer (and/or its representatives, such as Seers or EMs) was necessary to RP. By too much PvP, by the lack of willingness to PvP. By too few people willing to shoulder the burdens, and by too many people seeking burdens to shoulder.

And a dozen or so other different dichotomies, by themselves or in combinations. The underlying cause, though, to me always has seemed a lack of sincerity.

RP in communities is a frail thing indeed. When everyone is sincere about equally, though, communities can survive a good deal.

-Galen's player

 

[Lady Storm]

brings back alot of memories

 

[Aedon Durreah]

That is a great collection of screenies.
When I first started to RP in UO it was just my smith, sitting at the brit forge living the daily life of a blacksmith. I would roleplay with anyone that happened to stop by the forge to work, or seek repairs. It was some of the most fun I had in the game. After doing this for more than a year, I headed into Skara and eased myself into the RP scene there. I was never an elitist sort, in fact to me as long as a person was trying to RP, I was more than happy to spend time shooting the breeze with them over a drink, or talking seriously about the dire goings on of the area.

 

[Dag Nabbit]

Aedon,my first memory of you was before you moved to Yew. If I am not mistaken,you and your guild had a string of houses along the road heading out of Umbra. I remember the tournaments you'd host. Most times Des would win them easily. She really had a mind for pvp.

 

[Flagg]

Velvathos,thank you very much for posting that ridiculously impressive amount of screenies. Really enjoyed oggling through the lot of em. Shame I was gone from the game in 04-09 or so. Happen to have anything from COY times in early 00s? : )
Also, with reasonably positive vibe of Mythic-> Broadsword in mind et all, I thought it might be as good time as any to try to remind world about UO still exsisting. With this purpose in mind, I made a Reddit post linking to your pics. Hope you don't mind!
http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1xp36c/would_you_like_to_see_few_hundred_screenshots/

 

[Wenchkin]

The best RP generation device I ever found was running a tavern with a few vendors and simply being as active as I could in there. I preferred player owned homes to the NPC cities because we had more control and people could really live etc in our place.

Events are great if you have players in your circle who can come up with stories and ideas for using characters and locations to flesh it out. But if you're alone then I would make events when you can and focus on a central meeting point. If you make RPing into a habit, then event ideas will just bubble up from there. We'd train craft skills and spar there to, so it was easy to keep it active.

To get started, think of all the things that would likely happen in your RP society, trade routes between cities, what materials might cities specialise in. All the little stuff that you can't see, but it happens in real villages etc. Think about the crafters and workers too.

Now, what happens if a caravan is lost between say Yew and Skara Brae, the Rangers may find their new bows don't arrive, and the lack of good Yew ale is a disaster! So off you go, find the missing supplies, free the missing merchant and go haul the bandits to Yew for trial. That can easily split up over several sessions or weeks of RP if desired. We did stuff like that just using characters created or disguised to play roles, with one or two of us setting up items, books etc.

Most of the time I just ran a tavern with a char who was so focused on her cooking and gathering fish and other food supplies, that she didn't know anything else. So she was curious, and I used her on everyone who visited. Get in char and the blandest UO player is coaxed into RPing a tale of where they hunted, what x monster is like and how heroic that guy was heh. But once you start describing you UP life in RP, I think it's easier to envision your char as a real person. In fel you can't be fussy who you RP with, so I would RP this barmaid with PvPers and shop customers. I'd have stories about a fishing trip to tell too, if conversations dried up. We'd go on impromptu hunts with a rabble of RPers and PvPers, and honestly I found it easy to get folk joining in. Because we had this little safe spot where you could always find some RP, and if enough came in we'd go hunting, or visit our enemies. And we all got so much RP practice, so we did more events spur of the moment rather than all organised.

My rabble were all action junkies, so we never got into the political type RP, or the really restrictive rulesets, but there were some good fun RPers when I was actively RPing. So we could concoct a steady supply of stories, battles, hunts and non RP battles too if some pks passed by heh.

Now I'm wishing I had time for my tavern again pffft!

Wenchy

 

[Frarc]

We do our best to give roleplayers a chance on Drachenfels too.

We just finished a 7 part RP event we worked together with our EM.

The Final.

And Next Saturday we having a RP story event.

The Storytellers of Drachenfels.

I like roleplaying but its not for everyone. I can only encourage more RP events everywhere.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

Aedon,my first memory of you was before you moved to Yew. If I am not mistaken,you and your guild had a string of houses along the road heading out of Umbra. I remember the tournaments you'd host. Most times Des would win them easily. She really had a mind for pvp.

I did indeed for some time run the Umbra Tavern. Had a grand time doing so, and must admit that some of the tournaments got a wee bit sadistic. The tavern was owned by Midhir O'Falga and he let Aedon do as he pleased there so long as some blood was spilled from time to time.

Yes, Des was the Tavern champion for some time.

 

[AirmidCecht]

This has always been my favorite UO picture back from the Britain Invasion. So much organized RP happened on Lake Superior during the invasion but it was also a time where young players spawned into towns and this [young] player happened to spawn in Britain and died right off to a lizardman.

We welcomed the new guy to UO and Brittania in true from, nightshade wreaths and gold coins around the body, a nice eulogy and then, coincidentally, the one term every player would come to learn captured in the background....

 

[Taylor]