| Frek, you pretty much nailed it, the developers have hell to pay when it comes to true D&D'ers expectations. Assuming that they actually expect D&D players to play the online version.
Any of you that have played SWG and or were involved in the pre-paunch community know what the reality is vs. what we all expected the game to be.
D&D is RPG personified. IF they fail to actually make the RPG experiance first and foremost, then all they have is another EQ with the D&D logo.
The following is a post that I wrote up for my guild's forums. We wrestled with the lack of RP in SWG so this is the idea that I came up with.
Of course Hell's Hockey team will take the Stanley CUp before this ever happens in SWG, but maybe the D&D dev's could do something in this vein to encourage interplayer RP.
Note that this was written for SWG, and I have not modified it, so ignore the parts that obviously won't aplly to the D&D world.
Putting the "Roleplaying" back into MMORPG
The following is a revised and expanded version of the original post. The purpose of this exercise is to detail and discuss how to institute actual roleplaying in the MMORPG environment. In the few MMORPG’s that I have played in, actual RP has been a hit or miss affair. Which is to say, “Largely missing”. Despite the scenery and game mechanics built for such worlds, the most important component goes primarily under-resourced. Which again is to say, “The interactive story line”.
In a PnP Rpg, how is this achieved? By way of a detailed story moderated by a DM that controls the flow of the story and adjudicates the game mechanics. The DM presents the story by acting out the parts played by the NPC’s. The mechanics are already taken care of in the MMORPG, yet the story is not readily apparent in the game experience. There is no DM to present the story and to react to a players behavior. There is no way to program this into an NPC-Ai, in a satisfactory way.
As Ryoushi has pointed out, many people are reluctant, or shy, or lack the confidence to RP. Why is this so. Why do even experienced PnP Rpg’ers fail to Rp within a game system? We can all come up with a “character” with a detailed history, acquire in-game skill sets that reflect the character’s raison d’etra. Yet still the Rp goes under utilized.
What it boils down to is that there is a base line story that the game world is built upon yet there is not an Interactive story line that encourages and rewards players to participate in, as an RPG is meant to be. This can not be achieved by lifeless NPC’s handing out simple quests and basic rewards. That is not role playing.
So what can be done?
Story lines have to be developed and presented in a fashion that encourages player to player interaction with an eye to actual RP. Players must be given a framework to plug their characters into, both in regards to profession and “character persona”. So how is this achieved without employing umpteen bazillion DM’s to regulate and tell stories?
Role Play Mission Terminals
First: A story line has to be developed and broken down to chapters. In each chapter there are a series of missions tailored to all the basic professions. Missions can be simply cantina encounters with an exchange of information, a hunt for creatures, items, people, or data, a group effort towards a common goal. The types and combinations are endlessly variable. Bounded only by the creativity of the writers.
Second: RP Mission terminals dispense the story by missions, per chapter. Player characters will essentially log into the story by way of these terminals and are assigned missions or roles depending on where they are in the story. Not only are objectives supplied, but interaction guidelines as well. Key words start and end the RP dialog, and RP xp is assigned by the time spent Rp’ing with your target as well as words per conversation between the start and finish. Min/max RP rewards are predetermined to keep exploitation to a minimum. If a player is failing to RP a finish keyword is used to end the session and the minimum Xp is assigned automatically.
If your RP contact (s) log, then the system re-assigns a new contact. Or if applicable an NPC might take their place.
At all times you have access to the pertinent information needed to play your “role” within the story line, and a running journal keep track of your progress including the PC’s that you have engaged during the course of the story.
Travel vouchers are issued to cover the expense of travel while within the story line.
All RP’ers while, within the story, lose their faction coloration and everyone goes to the same RP color. This would add an uncertainty as to the political leanings of who you are working with or against.
Only, in-story history would be available to examine, thus you would not “know” a persons actual in-game badge or master accomplishments.
If required, Overt status on a per faction basis, would be available as the story requires. An Rp Overt player would otherwise be un- attack able by regular in-game factioned players
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