How To Conduct And Navigate Large Rp Battles

[Jchizz 114]

What?! RP Battles with 10+ people?! Impossibru!

 

Not quite. Yes, large battles that are conducted using roleplay combat as opposed to PvP can be difficult and confusing, I will not pretend that they are not. But this chaos can be managed if one is willing to focus and be patient... and perhaps practice these techniques.

Before we delve into the guide itself, I'd like to note that this is not a debate on whether PvP or RP combat should be the default, nor should said topic and other relation topics be debated here. This is strictly a guide for those who are willing to try and participate in larger battles using RP combat.

So, moving on...

 

Why would I want to bother with focus and patience???

 

Well, there are plenty of reasons... most of which tend to be more selfless than selfish.

 

1: Roleplay combat makes room for more creativity and versatility than PvP does. Emotes can be detailed and many players prefer this more immersive style of combat.

2: Some players, such as magic users, have difficulty conducting combat in PvP due to the lack of a magic plugin. Many feel that replacing their powers with swords and bows, enchanted or otherwise, undermines both the work put into gaining the privilege to use magic as well as the actual act using magic.

3: Many players have low FPS (frames per second) rates due to their computers, suffer from poor internet connection, or otherwise are put at a disadvantage in PvP for reasons outside of their control. They feel that RP combat helps to minimize these unfair disadvantages.

 

Now, if one isn't willing to cooperate and compromise with other players, then most of this is void. However, it should be noted that people tend to be happy and tend to want to cooperate when you avoid conflict and are nice to them... so. If you're looking to build good relationships with players, perhaps give these techniques a try some time, and see how it goes. Even attempting to compromise will earn you respect from most people.

 

When is this applicable? When would RP fights of this caliber be conducted?

 

Obviously, there are some situations where RP fighting in general is just not practical. Whenever there are mobs, there is an amount of players so massive (say, 30 or 40+), or most players on both sides want to PvP, it is impractical and unreasonable to do a battle using RP combat. However, in battles of say, 10-25, these strategies can be employed. Battles like this might occur during wars between small armies, events, antagonist attacks, or large scale raids.

 

Enough lecturing... what are the actual techniques?!

 

Why, I'm glad you asked! The techniques are simple in writing, but can be difficult in practice. They are as follows:

 

1: Don't try and follow every single emote. OOC, it's just... very overwhelming. IC, it wouldn't make sense for your character to know every single thing going on in a battle of that caliber. Instead, focus only on...

2: ... your character, and his actions. Make sure you know what your character is actually doing.

3: ... your target. Make sure you know how your target responds to your attacks.

4: ... your attacker(s). This may be the same person as your target, or it may be someone else. It may be more than one person. Make sure you are aware of what is happening to your own character.

5: If you see a player, but do not know the player's character, simply do /seen _______. This only takes up one line of text, and will allow to know how your target responds to your attacks, and vice versa.

 

In order to do the above, it is best to simply scan emotes quickly for either your character's name, the name of your target, and any emotes that appear to possibly affect the entire battle. Other than that, simply dismiss the other lines of text.

Below is an example of a chaotic RP battle. Using these techniques, see if you can identify which lines are relevant to your own situation and which lines are not. Below will be a spoiler with the lines highlighted, though I strongly recommend trying the challenge out for yourself before checking the spoiler. Since an in game text box holds 20 lines of text, you will be asked to review twenty lines here. Your character's name, in this segment, is Vashklov the Impregnator, and your target is Bojangles the Clown.

 

The Dark Lord lowers his shield and swings his sword diagonally from high to low and his own right to left at The E-Trade Baby.

Little Bunny Foofoo shouts to his comrades as he desperately presses his sword to that of The Edgy One. "Help! Help!!"

Bojangles the Clown stumbles and falls to his side as he is rammed by Sir Trolls-A-Lot.

The E-Trade Baby lets out a terrifying, loud, high-pitched scream as he is slashed across the torso, falling onto his backside.

Gluk-Gluk turns to flee, fearing for his life more than anyone else's.

Yolo Swaggins closes his eyes and concentrates as his hands begin to glow a dim blue, trying to block out the noise around him.

The Based God shouts, pointing to the tunnel in which reinforcements are streaming from. "Archers, fire!"

Squire Billy cries out as Bojangles the Clown's throwing knife impales itself into his back, falling to his knees.

George Clooney ducks under Whiney the Poo's backswing with his axe, then swiftly stands, draws his knife, and slashes across Poo's chest on the draw, attempting to immediately bring it back down afterwards and impale the knife in Poo's neck.

Vashklov the Impregnator hacks downward at Bojangles the Clown with his broadsword, hoping to take advantage of Sir Trolls-A-Lot's help.

Baelif Stonesmasher raises his warhammer from Snooty Elf's mush of a head, letting out a cry of victory.

Ser Lord Bastard Justifier Joseph of Tyrannia the Fifth lets releases the string of his bow, watching as the barbed tip of the arrow hurtles towards Vashklov the Impregnator.

 

Below is the same example, with "important" emotes highlighted and noted.

Green text shows actions being done to or by your target, yellow text shows actions being done to you,  and red text shows actions that might possibly effect large parts or all of the battle, including you.

 

The Dark Lord lowers his shield and swings his sword diagonally from high to low and his own right to left at The E-Trade Baby.

Little Bunny Foofoo shouts to his comrades as he desperately presses his sword to that of The Edgy One. "Help! Help!!" <-- (Little Bunny Foofoo is calling for help to the entire battlefield, or at least to those around him. You may be allied with either him or The Edgy One, and may wish to intervene if possible)

Bojangles the Clown stumbles and falls to his side as he is rammed by Sir Trolls-A-Lot. <-- (Bojangles the Clown was attacked here, and the results will likely change your own plan of attack)

The E-Trade Baby lets out a terrifying, loud, high-pitched scream as he is slashed across the torso, falling onto his backside. <-- (A loud screech like this could be distracting or even damaging to your character's ears, and could cause your character to hesitate or otherwise change his intended actions)

Gluk-Gluk turns to flee, fearing for his life more than anyone else's.

Yolo Swaggins closes his eyes and concentrates as his hands begin to glow a dim blue, trying to block out the noise around him.

The Based God shouts, pointing to the tunnel in which reinforcements are streaming from. "Archers, fire!" <-- (You may or may not be one of the archers being ordered, or be in the area where they are firing. Keep an eye out)

Squire Billy cries out as Bojangles the Clown's throwing knife impales itself into his back, falling to his knees. <-- (Here, Bojangles did something. However, as it does not directly affect you or him, it can be more or less dismissed)

George Clooney ducks under Whiney the Poo's backswing with his axe, then swiftly stands, draws his knife, and slashes across Poo's chest on the draw, attempting to immediately bring it back down afterwards and impale the knife in Poo's neck.

Vashklov the Impregnator hacks downward at Bojangles the Clown with his broadsword, hoping to take advantage of Sir Trolls-A-Lot's help. <-- (Look at that! You may have killed Bojangles! Be sure to wait and note how he responds)

Baelif Stonesmasher raises his warhammer from Snooty Elf's mush of a head, letting out a cry of victory.

Ser Lord Bastard Justifier Joseph of Tyrannia the Fifth lets releases the string of his bow, watching as the barbed tip of the arrow hurtles towards Vashklov the Impregnator. <-- (Uh oh, looks like you're about to be shot. Better take note of that and RP accordingly... in this case, since you're focused on Bojangles, you'll probably be shot.

 

As you can see, there is still quite a bit to keep track of. However, we effectively eliminated half of the distracting emotes from our radar. When more people are added to the fight, even less will be happening to you and your target relative to the flood of emotes, and you will need to focus on even less of what's happening.

 

I hope this could be of some service to people. If anyone has any questions or (constructive) criticism about this method of managing large scale RP battles, feel free to send me a PM on the forums or ask below. Enjoy!

 

[ToenailTickler 290]

Me Like. And also thanks for the tips.

[Bashar al-Assad 120]

I believe this sort of thing seems fine on paper, but horrible in practice. I mean the emotes can simply be overwhelming and I honestly try to not to involve myself with this sort of thing. I find it a lot less enjoyable and honestly PvP seems simpler, less chaotic and MUCH quicker.

[iTzShambo 135]

#PvP

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

One problem I see with large scale RP fighting and the tricky part of this guide is following your attackers emotes. Sometimes you are fighting someone who types slow and in your relative time fighting two others have bounced around to you as well trying to strike you while you had already RP-ed swinging before they hopped on over.

 

Time distortion in fights to me is the most confusing thing about RP fights and the hardest to counteract. I wouldn't mind seeing a small section about waiting for other people to progress in the fight a bit before you jump in and maybe something about being considerate to whoever is being attacked. Not all battles should be all Julius Caesar 50 stabs to the back all at once.

 

Nonetheless this is a good guide.

[Neri 3587]

I like the guide, but I prefer PVP for one simple reason. Why? I don't mind fighting, but by the time you finish a RP fight very few people have enough will or motivation to RP the aftereffects ETC. With PVP it's ten seconds of fighting and a clear outcome that can be fun to RP out. Also, you haven't spent half your evening fighting. That's half an evening that could be put to more peaceful use.

 

Plus RP fighting with over five people gives me a migraine....

[Shadeleaf 757]

As a former Solace Rper, I support this as it's what I've been using since day 1. Also if you all are hating on Rp fighting, I suggest 4 things to improve the experience dramatically. 

1. /roleplay Emotecolor [] is a savior when it comes to seeing who is who. It has saved Rp fighting for me.

 

2. Seven skies STOP SHOUTING! Especially if it is unnecessary. The shouting or talking for that matter distracts from the actual fight, and ruins all.

 

3. If you are in close quarters, emote through whispers~ just do /roleplay Chatstyle until you get quotations mode, throw yourself in /w and just type without the * for your emotes..

 

4. I will hunt you down if you fill up my chat box with L-OOC, this is a promise, not a threat.

 

This is just me though, I enjoy rp fighting because it is much more immersive than Pvp [at the moment ;)] and love to actually use my mind instead of mouse.

[Bucky_24 132]

I would love to try this, it looks interesting. Though I would try to talk to the other 'force' and see if we could all set emotecolors. For instance Army One, everyone uses the color Blue. While army two uses the color green. This could even get as complex as. Army 1's archers use yellow and Army 2's use brown. Army 1's Mages uses Purple and Army 2's Mages use Orange. Then have the leaders of each army have their own color as they are more 'Important' in an RP sense. Just a thought!

[Praetor 1548]

Rp fighting is great fun until

A) It degenerates into ooc complaining, or powergaming. Which is 80% of the time.

B) There are too many people. (Above 5-6 imo)

In that case, I'm not even going to bother. If we can't agree on pvp ill probably make a hasty exit unless exception. I'll either end up having a headache or not having fun at all just spending 3 hours trying to find out who's who ,if I missed someones emote and why the hell Bob is doing a triple back flip before attacking me with a broadsword.

When you get too many people it gets uncool, Antag even in malinor where people insisted on a 30 person rp fight is a good example.

[mmat 7461]

I believe this sort of thing seems fine on paper, but horrible in practice. I mean the emotes can simply be overwhelming and I honestly try to not to involve myself with this sort of thing. I find it a lot less enjoyable and honestly PvP seems simpler, less chaotic and MUCH quicker.

 

I was going to write a reply, but this contains all of my opinions too.

[Jchizz 114]

Like I said, this isn't an argument in favor of RP fighting with a lot of people, simply a guide on how one can try to navigate through it.

 

@Kitten, I'll try and add a small section on your comments this week.

[Major Dom 1297]

The ban reports that would come out of these battles...

 

 

[SirSnowMan 318]

I think just regular pvp for combat situations would just be better.

It would save so much time.

[Bucky_24 132]

Who needs pvp, when you can take 3 hours to be rp about 5 mins :3

[Heff 2458]

Your example.... Mother of God.... So confused.