[Tutorial] A case for RPing realistically

[Flimerus]

 

This is a post from the old forums, a guide on how players SHOULD RP, this is in response to some of the piss poor quality roleplayers that are on the server currently, and partly the reason why the playerbase slowly dwindles each day, it's because of the players who forget that they are on a roleplay server and are constantly playing to win.

I'll be transfering some more roleplay guides over as to encourage people to increase the quality of the roleplay.
 

Credits: Santino_Valenti from the old LSRP forums.





 

Fed's edit: It's not an annoucement, but a very good thread to read, it has many good points, not only in the first post. Please read it.
This might take more than 5 seconds to read, so bear with me. Visual aids are included to keep your attention.

I see a lot of hypocrisy in this forum when it comes to people talking about the most desirable way to RP. The debate is almost always about the distinction between RP and real life. Let me designate a few terms first. The real life argument is that you should RP your character as if it's real life. The RP argument is that you should RP your character however you want your character to be. One's more realistic, while the other is seen by some as more "fun." Now, back to what I was saying.

Nowadays you have about ten of these threads made a week (which is a whole other issue), and they're pushing for one of these two arguments. They either say something along the lines of "send the whiners to the gulags!" and "it's a video game so I'll RP in a fun way" - these being representations of the RP-how-you-want argument. And everyone praises the RP-how-you-want argument because it vilifies a common annoyance we all experience: OOC complaining. Even more, it holds up in reverence something we all want: fun. No bitching and fun should sound like a winning combination to everyone. So then about 50 people post the same thing (something along the lines of: +1, QFT, etc.) and we all say that's how we want things to be.

I remember a good point that Karl made a while back. I can't recall the exact phrasing, but it was along the lines of this: if you make a post with good grammar and structure, people will support your argument regardless of its content. From what I've seen, this holds true in nearly every scenario. Because a few days later, someone posts about non-RPers and Rambos. They say that their RP experience has been ruined by some douchebag that didn't RP a situation realistically, ran away from ten guys with guns, refused to give up information in torture, or something analogous. What happens is that the very people who say: "Yeah, it's a game, let's have fun!" are the ones that also support the people who say "RP this like real life, RP to lose once in a while; nobody's superman." I don't know if this is because most people here sometimes act like lemmings and will just agree with whatever the opinion at hand is, or if it's the inherent hypocrisy in all these kinds of posts.

Lemmings:

I think a lot of it is the hypocrisy. When you're the guy with ten guns pointed out you, you're a supporter of the RP-how-you-want argument. When you're one of the ten guys, you want him to RP to lose. In other words, you support whatever argument seems to best fit your needs in the particular situation. Well, stop.

Where do I stand? Personally, I'm one of those "hardcore" (although I don't see anything that's too hardcore about it) RPers that says you should RP realistically. Somehow the word "realism" has become very taboo on here for reasons I'll never understand. I don't see why 100% of the server doesn't feel the same way, because after all, did you not all come here to play on an "RP" server? Personally, I don't think giving your character a 50-inch penis and the ability to lift a truck is okay because it's how you want to write your character. Why don't I RP my character as an unkillable rapist? It's FUN, and it's what I (notice the emphasis on "I" there) want to do with my character.

Well, here's the problem with all of you who say "RP however you want." Role-play involves participation from everyone. You want to know how to stop the OOC complaints and the non-RP? I can tell you what causes it: the selfishness and disregard people have for other characters. If you want to be a serial killer, that involves other characters dying. But the players behind those other characters don't want their character to die. They want their character to live to the age of 80 and amount a massive fortune. But you want your character to kill someone. But they don't want their character to die... and so on. Same thing with my rapist example. I want my character to rape people and to never get arrested/die. But nobody wants to get raped, and the cops want to arrest me...

Do you see what the problem is here? Divergent agendas. We want things for our character that cannot be reconciled with what other people want for their character. We can't all be mass murderers that don't die; because in order for that to happen, someone needs to be on the receiving end of getting killed. This is why people should be held accountable to RP with sensibility and realism. To me, realism is a guiding principle that keeps our IC actions in check, and stops people from receding to self-interested solipsism. I'm getting sick of this "RP to have fun" shit, because all it leads to is a focus on your character, and only your character. If you don't think RPing realistically is "fun", then RPG/DM servers are a better fit for you. RP is more than just typing in a bunch of /me commands and having persistent stats. Just because you use 20 /me commands when you're RPing that you're superman doesn't make it legitimate RP. RP is also about realism.

Superman (not you):


And that's not to say realism means more /me commands or even less "action" like shootouts or fights. It just means that the ways in which these occur, and the reasons for them, are a lot more sensible, and less likely to cause OOC frustration.

Now I understand this is a video game, and obviously your character can still be brave. If I'm torturing you with a nail gun, a curb stomp, vicious beatings, and having your testicles shocked with jumper cables, you should tell me what I want to know. Likewise, don't spit in the face of a mafia boss because that's your character. Everyone has their limits, and most people have a very low limit. If people don't roleplay realistically, we end up with a clash of titans: two people want to win, but only one can. The result of this? OOC complaining, report threads, grudges, DM -- all things that I don't like to experience when I come on this server.

The best RP happens when people play their characters realistically and sensibly. I don't know where this myth that always RPing to win and never to lose is somehow fun and RPing realistically is somehow unfun. Yes, RP requires you to have at least a five second attention span, but for those who are patient, mature, and not selfish in every situation, it is thoroughly rewarding. Not only is it less frustrating, but the RP that arises is fun for all of the groups involved.

Edited November 7, 2024 by Flimerus

[lavakeule]

I mean... he's right