Hello! *Tips Hat* Pardon the intrusion and the possibly flammable statement I'm about to make here. Please don't reply in anger, but give it a good moment or five to ruminate. I mean no ill will to anyone.
This thread and the varying opinions of RPers in general is the intrinsic reason why, to use a meme, "we can't have nice things." Functionally, roleplaying can be solo (as we see in fan-fictions and personal stories written about our characters to provide depth) or roleplaying can be multiplayer (exemplified by RP-FCs, groups of friends, tabletop gaming groups and MMORPG <--- It's built into the term. RPG.) However, the individual tends to look at the "RPG" in MMORPG and forget all about the "MMO" or Massively Multiplayer Online. Inherently, you are entering a world, a universe, an entire existence in these games and these existences have something that happily parallels our reality. Rules. Laws. Established Heirarchy. Organizations. There is a standard of Order involved.
Now, don't get me wrong. Everyone loves a Billy Badass (pardon my language). The criminal, the scallywag, the obnoxious rogue stealing all the loot that the rest of the party hasn't nailed down. Even that guy who hits first and asks questions later can be great fun. Keyword: can.Â
But, I digress. Wouldn't it be awesome if we had an amorphous entity hovering over our heads during our individual daily lives in the really real world (there ain't no coming back.....we killed you dead, there ain't no coming back...*cough* FOCUS, HATTER!) that piloted us around and when something we didn't like happened or worse, something truly devastating was about to happen to us, that amorphous entity suddenly screamed "STOP! I do not allow this to happen." and your life was spared? Yeah, that would be pretty fantastic! I certainly think so!
Does that happen? No. No, it does not. This is where RP communities on MMOs tend to break down. It happened on WoW after its golden age and I'm sure many of you have seen it happen on various other MMORPGs over the years. Have you ever wondered why these communities break down? I have.
People quit. (Yep, definitely happens a lot for various reasons)
RP stops being interesting and players turn toward the PvE. (Also happens often)
Someone or a group of people alienates an individual or a group of individuals. (Common as well)
I'm certain there are a lot of reasons for community breakdown but one absolute fact behind each and every one of them (sometimes even those who quit for "RL reasons") is simple: It stops being fun.
Now, you can't please everyone and I don't expect anyone reading this to try. I do feel inclined to make this general statement though (Please don't hit me, Freelance).
Exerting your own personalized control over a roleplaying environment where you, the individual, are a teensy weensy percentage of the community is what breaks that community down over time. It's a small leak in the dam that eventually creates a flood.
Why did these golden ages of RP happen? Everyone involved worked together. To continue the WoW example mentioned previously, everyone conformed (OH NO, the dreaded C word!) to a model standard system. Those who didn't? They kept to themselves. Yes, there were many instances of community drama when one or a group tried to stray from the established paradigm for their own personal enjoyment but on the whole, we had ourselves a massively multiplayer online good time.Â
So what I'm saying here is not "You're all wrong." More like "You're all half-right." If you met someone you thought was the coolest person in the world, loved them for who they were and spent months getting to know them only to have a mugger walk up to the two of you and pop a cap in their head. You'd be traumatized. If that happened and a split second before the trigger was pulled, God (or flying spaghetti monster depending on your preference) bellowed down from above "I DO NOT CONSENT", I think you'd be pretty traumatized too regardless of the joy that your friend is still alive.
While that never happens within the awareness of your characters, it does take some of the drama out of the character's development when you're stacking the deck as a player. If the game mechanics and lore (something we've all talked about at great length) determine that your level 2 Archer gets one-shot killed running across Northern Thanalan, it's safe to say that somebody could really mess up your character's day by running down the husting's strip and shin-kicking them for no apparent reason. Part of the thrill of living (especially living as an adventurer) is the sensation that you could die stepping out the Gates of Nald.
So why doesn't that apply to RP? Personal preference. And it's a double edged sword. Yes, it sucks when someone named Fartsmasher Pandabutt announces that they drive their sword through your character's skull just to be a douchenozzle. Yes, there are times when you want to be Billy Badass. Why can't Billy Badass be something your character earns rather than something you "control" into an outcome Out of Character?
My utopian vision would be a community of RPers (such as this one) that doesn't tell each other "I dictate what happens to my character." Where IC actions have universal IC consequences (like Law Enforcement involvement, cause really.....really? Limsa may be Tortuga, but I still see Yellowjackets all over the streets, people.) and players think "OH crap. I got myself into this situation, now I need to think of an IN CHARACTER way out" instead of "I don't like this. You can't tell me what to do."
Naturally, there are some necessary exclusions to this process. I would happily ignore Fartsmasher Pandabutt if he tried to kill Galen, but that's really the extremist situation. I can understand the imposition of environmental alterations (as discussed in another thread about the one group's story where Ul'dah's water supply being poisoned) but on a "I fought the law and told the law's players they couldn't stop me." aspect, it's quite a different animal.
Then again, what do I know? I'm a mad Hatter.