An Essay On Bad Rp Situations

[Urahra 5777]

Hey, guys.

 

So I'm gonna start this post off with a little anecdote. Every Friday and Saturday afternoon, I get together with a bunch of nerds and we play a game called "Dark Heresy." If you're a Warhammer 40k fan, you know about this. Dark Heresy is a game much like Dungeons & Dragons. You make a character, roll for their stats, and RP some quests.

 

My GM plays what is called a "high mortality game." Meaning we get our butts handed to us on the regular. We need to have at least 2 or 3 backup characters lined up in case we get into a fatal situation. In case you didn't know, fatal situations occur almost every single session. We have to be extremely paranoid, because my GM is a sadist and is always looking for ways to get us killed.

 

But you know what? It's fun.

 

I get excited every time my character ends up in a life-or-death situation. I love it when the squad ends up at rock-bottom. My reaction to failure or suffering in RP is not "GM, stop! This isn't fair!" - it's "Oh wow, how are we going to RP our way out of this situation? How can we make the best of this?"

 

My GM doesn't let us void RP or do things over. Because "failure conditions" open up new opportunities for RP, character development, and plot development.

 

There are some things I don't like in RP. I can't stand sexual assault or torture. But for the most part, I try not to complain when my character ends up in a really ugly situation. When my character was forced into a marriage that I didn't like, I decided to run with it and see how it turned out. It ended up with some of the best RP I've ever had on the server. When my character was BURIED ALIVE, I had her dig out of that grave and emerge traumatized - but a new person with a new goal.

 

You guys need to stop looking at "bad situations" as ruining RP. And start looking at them as new opportunities.

 

Some of y'all are SO afraid of Oren destroying your culture or mass murdering you. Well, I would absolutely LOVE it if Oren crushed elf culture and forced y'all underground. I'd love it if Oren leveled elven cities, tore down the trees, built Canonist churches, and forced everyone to adopt human culture. Imagine the RP. Black markets for elven cultural items. Secret druidic services in basements. Vandalizing Canonist churches with elven symbols. I think that would be hardcore as hell! And it'd be awesome development for the elven playerbase. They'd turn into underground guerrilla rebels fighting against an Imperialist foreign power. That sounds like LOTR meets the Hunger Games! It'd be amazing!

 

The solution to these problems is not "change the server."

 

It's "change your viewpoint."

 

Embrace change. Embrace bad situations. Embrace failure. 

 

You'll be a lot happier and have more fun once you do.

[Z3r05t4r 855]

In the sense of "Yes, we can." I did not expect a thread immediately after. Well, you know my point of view, I suppose :)

[Sultan 3953]

Lovely but alas people on LOTC do not think that way, perhaps some guides :>

[Coaster 2086]

damn i got SNIPED

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

Speaking as a former elven leader, the RP itself is superficial from an OOC standpoint to me. I'm willing to RP out most RP scenarios (barring extreme gore/wierd sexual fetishes etc). I just dislike when what the victim ought to gain out of the RP (something meaningful and fun) is sidelined for the conquerer's OOC desire to feel above someone.

 

If the elves end up like city elves from Dragon Age or end up all hiding in the woods and forming bands of Scoia'tael (where I would live out my livelong dream of going full Iorveth mode tbh) then so be it, so long as the victims are provided ample means to enjoy the RP, should they choose not to be resistant just because their character is at a disadvantage.

 

tl;dr:

Big evil oren: Put some effort into making sure your subjugated minorities gain something meaningful and fun out of the oppression RP you bring.

Whiny elf tavern edgies: Just because your character is being persecuted doesn't mean your partner in RP isn't interested in some meaningful interaction and to put some effort into his RP.

[mylimo7 409]

Skyrim is for the Nords!

[Kalehart 1096]

I agree for the most part, but I think you might oversimplify the goal of detaching from a character. Some people can do it, others cant so easily.

 

 

I for one know that when Peter is in a really bad situation, I'm stressed. I can't help but empathize with him; and it isn't always fun. I'd stop myself from doing that if I could, but I can't. I suspect it's much the same for other people. In short, changing one's viewpoint is not so easy as deciding that conflict is a good thing- yes it leads to character progression, but for those who pour much of who they are into their character, it's very hard to separate your character's distress from your own. After all, developing as a character isn't always pleasant!

 

Of course i don't mean to generalize, but I think that is the case for more than a few people. If my character is upset, so am I, thus I have a hard time enjoying RP that puts a lot of stress on Peter. To give a relevant example, that Horen masquerade the other day- I felt almost as overwhelmed as Peter, and his lashing out and instability was very much my own as well. It was fun, but in high doses it can be something people want to avoid. I don't blame them for that.

 

You frame it sort of like watching a movie; observing your character go through life with a certain level of detachment; it isn't that easy for some people. I care about my characters and put a lot of myself into them, so if they are in danger, I feel like I'm in danger too. To a much lesser extent of course, but it's much different from watching a movie or reading a book. It's far more personal.

 

But maybe that's just me.

[TheWyrdWolf 1532]

I agree with what is said here Urara, but on another note.. Dark Heresy/Warhammer 40k is awesome! (If only i could get into a game ; _ ;))

[zaezae 1098]

Hell yeah I freaking LOVE drama. Bring the oppression!

[Bircalin 332]

Amen

[Jonificus 2741]

Please... PLEASE

 

 

:)

[xDK 1205]

I just read the title and gave it a thumbs up.

[monkeypoacher 8055]

yaaaay

 

+1 10/10 clapping of praise praying towards the hadley 100/10 +2

[Lita 677]

I couldn't agree more. It's not like it'll crush anyone's roleplay, it'll just compound onto it in a different direction.

[Mirtok 2853]

Your anecdote made me giggle.

 

"I get excited every time my character ends up in a life-or-death situation. I love it when the squad ends up at rock-bottom. My reaction to failure or suffering in RP is not "GM, stop! This isn't fair!" - it's "Oh wow, how are we going to RP our way out of this situation? How can we make the best of this?"

 

My GM doesn't let us void RP or do things over. Because "failure conditions" open up new opportunities for RP, character development, and plot development."

 

I proper chuckle considering that personal interactions with you have shown the exact opposite to what you claim to be something you enjoy and are now advocating for.

 

 

 

 

They go on a bit longer but the tldr is that Lorin removed herself from the Green lands and we never RPed with her ever again.

 

Your reaction to a situation in RP that was unfavorable for the life of your character or your attachment to your character was to void everything, pack up and leave. I was quite surprised at your response, even as I was in the middle of asking you if this is something you would be cool with progressing in OOC you were offended that you did not have a guiding hand in a plan that had barely even formed- and yet you say here now that you love these sorts of situations and that everyone should embrace what happens to them in RP.

 

The kicker is that you had a character that in every way you could expressed hate towards their husband. You wrote a Villain Application when those were still a thing expressing your characters hatred, disdain and eventually intentions to murder said husband. In RP you would cry into the shoulders of the Greens, recalling the abuse your character suffered in the Dreadfort. But when an RP situation was heading your way, you failed to RP your character in the manner that made sense to that characters RP and committed your efforts to ensuring that nothing bad could happen to your character ever again . . . in an OOC sense. You liked the Blackmonts and the Chivays in OOC so much so that you heavily influenced your Role Play to prevent adversaries from exploiting a situation that you practically invited.

 

You were afraid that the big bad Teutons were going to ruin all your OOC friends nice things and you did something about it. Your "culture" was threatened and you did not dare to let that possible outcome come to fruition.

 

Simply stating that everyone should conform to things that you think are great is not at all a valid argument. Why in the world should I care that you think all elves should crumble? Why should Elves be regressed to a status of extreme squalor and under world muck shoveling? Maybe I just don't want to RP that way, maybe I'm pretty content with the environment of RP that I have been playing. Maybe I really don't like it when other people make huge plans that regard my future and my role play without consulting me. You surely didn't, you know, when you were on the receiving end.

 

And as cool as your snapshot into an Oren ran world sounds, it's certainly not a large enough blanket to encompass the interests and personalities of every Elven player in the Elven community; And when you try to enforce a blanket environment on too many people who do not want it, you get things like Exodus.

 

I support logical RP progression in game and I also support every players "right" to try and fight for things that they like and even believe in. To pretend that Oreners have never taken a step out of RP and settled things in OOC is insane. To pretend that Oreners have not exploited OOC assets and people in influential places is even more so. And until all the skype chats and private teamspeaks are all void and empty, people are still going to talk outside of the game. People are still going to have ideas and they are going to figure out how they can keep doing the things they like so that instead of logging on to a game where little interests them, they can still have fun.

 

A partition of the Elven demographics would enjoy what you hinted at Urara, some do not care and some are against that outcome. If everyone shunned bad situations then Oren would still be lead by TheRedNinja and if everyone accepted every bad situation then Lorin Blackmont would be long dead and The Teutonic Order would be happily praising the Immortal Emperor. And I'm pretty sure the Elves, or more specifically the High Elves in this situation have for the most part fully accepted the monumentously horrible situation they are in. The High Elven nation is subjugated, the old leaders are executed and exiled and anyone who didn't want to serve Oren now lives scattered among the lands. So cool your jets everyone.

 

In the end I'm playing the Devil's Advocate here and if I still played Mirtok I would certainly love to see Imperial Might spread across every nation, granted it was properly fought for. I do not support chucking up OOC power to make something happen in RP but man these threads are all sorts of useless and promote an atmosphere of "Everyone is an idiot but me!"