Hydaelyn Role-Players
What makes you RP? - Printable Version

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What makes you RP? - Cliodhna Eoghan - 12-07-2014

Or rather; what was the initial pull that got you into RP on any form? Personally, I've been doing RP's for about....14 years now and have done it over a few forms table top (mostly White Wolf) forum/IRC based and now MMO more recently. The first RP I was involved in was a Vampire the Masquerade campaign with a rather small group (only three people) and even though I was dragged in by a friend at first with little knowledge of the concept; I was instantly hooked and haven't really stopped since.


What was really a pull for me was the fact that it was fast pace writing. You could be descriptive or just quick with reactions and in face to face instances; really get into the character with some bad acting. (Still not one for LARP...it makes me feel a bit silly so that ruins the immersion.) And there's always that uncertainty on how a event is going to end because it's being written as you go.

SOOOO...I'm curious; why do you love RP and how did you start? o3o

RE: What makes you RP? - Maril - 12-07-2014

Unbeknownst to myself, I started on chats and IRC's in my native language. It was completely random, and I had /no/ idea people called it roleplay. To me at the time (I was probably about 14 or 15. That putting it to be about 10-11 years ago) roleplay was the stuff some people did out in the forests, cause we had a satirical song in the radio about that. I was still learning English at the time, and I had a break until one day after I got so sick-and-******-tired of progression raiding in WoW I made an escape alt on a different realm. I chose Steamwheedle Cartel (EU) because I had some acquaintances IRL who played there at the time. On my old realm it was very normal for me to lurk about on the realm forums for chatter and banter, so naturally I went exploring, and that's where I was first properly introduced to Roleplay in MMO's. 
During the "break" I had attempted to join a local pen-and-paper club because my mom was wanting me off the PC more, but it being an all-male club and me being an extremely socially awkward girl, I gave up on it after a couple of sessions. 

I was /quite/ surprised and instantly interested in what all of the guides had to say on the forum, so I read them all basically in one sitting. 
I spent aaaaaaaaages looking on the forum for a newbie-accepting RP guild, and they were all like "Must make a background" - So I fathomed a pen and promptly designed a backstory about a 19 year old Draenai that was raised by a bear. In the elever lands. (*CRINGE*) So during my IC interview they obviously declined me, and I had a whisper about checking out the game's lore (I honestly had no idea) and then I took contact to them later with a new attempt, and they offered me a second chance to prove my meddle in a relaxed social RP situation - Campfire by Lakeshire, fishing and just two people involved. 
After that, I was accepted in and promptly given a mentor. Smile I like to consider my own start to this one of the big reasons why it's important to help newbies to the stage these days. If they hadn't offered me a second chance, I wouldn't be here today. I'd have been some bookworm somewhere. I also don't really hear about a lot of people who started out with MMO-RP, they always seem to come from non-online variants of it, so I'll be keeping an extra eye on what other people say to see if there might be anyone like me Big Grin 

I was with that guild for about half a year to a year, and the RP was predominantly social themed. I met some other people via RP - One of them I still talk to and RP with in XIV now - who introduced me to evil/cult RP, which apparently was right up my alley because I got so addicted so fast, that I transferred over my ex-raiding character and just went completely into RP xD All in all I had 2-2½ years RP'ing in WoW, before moving on to Rift for the following 3 years, and I have hung about XIV since it's relaunch. Making it like 6 years in total, give-or-take. 

I love roleplay because it gives a whole other meaning to playing MMORPG's, without RP I would not be playing them still. I find it so enriching in a way I can't describe, I love writing - but I can't write short stories and novels and such. Roleplay is my main creative outlet these days. I love being inspired to make new characters, I laugh and cry with them and feel how they grow and develop with every step they take. I love when you get to the point with a character where it's not so much you playing them, but the character playing you - Because you have gotten a complete sense of understanding of their "ruleset", you can effectively see how they would react to certain situations and you can tell when something isn't logical for them to do - without questioning it or giving it second thought. To normal people it probably sounds like some kind of split personality disorder stuff, but I truly find it fascinating. 
It's just a whole bundle of fun, even when it's sad.

RE: What makes you RP? - Steel Wolf - 12-07-2014

My roleplaying life started with MechWarrior 3. I picked the game up on a lark because it was on sale and I liked giant robots blowing each other up.

I was not expecting to enjoy the game as much as I did. I was even less expecting the lore of the MechWarrior universe to be so deep.

Offline play bled to online matches in the MSN Gaming Zone, which was my first true online gaming experience. People chatting, opening and closing rooms, just having fun...it led me onward to related forums. From there I decided to participate, and then start my own merc company--the Order of the Crimson Shield. It was a mercenary company that was devoted to identifying and naming in-game cheaters while fostering a roleplay story of free fighters, former Clanners and overall guns-for-hire. In-game, we carried ourselves as holy knights, and kept to Clanner ROE--no intentional legging of an opponent, and no firing on an enemy that was knocked down or shut down. The company survived for about three years, seeing us through the Pirate's Moon expansion release and the MechWarrior 4 release and Mercenaries ex-pack.

Trust me, folks, these were some of the best people I've played with and against. When you can get a bead on an enemy yards away on a 56K dialup connection, you can boast that.

I would play XI for about four or five years but only play it as the mindless grind it was, and so would think I was exhausted by MMOs until I found a title called City of Heroes. Not only was the game character creation robust, but so too were the creativity of the players. I was back in the RP fold, maining as The Midnight Kestrel, a sneak-thief and privateer who worked with the Sky Pirates supergroup before going rogue and playing both sides of Paragon City and the Isles. She would have adventures with random people and steady friends that saw her across time, space and beyond.

Ever since, I've seen MMOs as a roleplay space, and write characters and study lore accordingly. I've always been embroiled in long-running, full-featured and close-knit storytelling, while allowing an open door and free interaction policy in the groups I've run. It's enriched my gaming and my creativity in ways that no other medium has even compared.

That's why I RP. Interaction. The adventure and the connection and the drama and romance and sweat and camaraderie and challenge that only bands of heroes seem to achieve.

RE: What makes you RP? - Cliodhna Eoghan - 12-07-2014

@Sastra
I agree, newbies need a lot of help when they're first starting out. (Remembers her first rp character....a bubbly high school girl turned gangurl vampire because reasons.... >n<;;;;; ) There's just so much to any given game and a way to make things detailed that is just lost on a lot of new players at first. If they don't have anyone willing to lend a hand and teach-or worse yet, a bad interaction-it can completely shut down someone on RP and they end up losing out on a really enriching experience. :c

@Wolf
That's another thing I love about big RP communities as well. Just the overall feeling of everyone interacting. Even if it's just sitting somewhere to listen in or watching people chat on a LS...it's great to see how so many people can end up being friends OOC because they've started talking IC. 

I used to be really shy/not wanting to meet or talk to new people but since I started doing the whole RP interaction on a open level like this; it's made me much more outgoing and I really enjoy that.

RE: What makes you RP? - Oli! - 12-07-2014

I had a love of writing long before RP, so I sadly don't have any stories about That Really Awful First Character. A friend and I were both playing WoW around Cataclysm's launch, and he convinced me and another guy I know to try out RP on the Wyrmrest Accord server. My first characters were a silent Worgen (werewolf) private-eye, a snarky jerk Goblin (i.e. a standard Goblin), and a mage that was kind of crazy and liked to dip cups into his water elemental and drink from it.

Then I got hooked and went MMO-hopping and made All the Characters.

RE: What makes you RP? - Yhen Yizeh - 12-07-2014

I think it's fun. (:

RE: What makes you RP? - Parvacake - 12-07-2014

I've been RPing about 14-15 years now. Since I was a little kid dicking around on Dark Age of Camelot with my stepdad, I didn't really play the game so much as I ran around, explored, and trolled the fuck out of people unintentionally (I was seven, lemmealone). I don't remember this story myself, but my stepdad tells me about it with pride so I usually use it as my first RP experience...

My stepdad and I are playing DAoC, him in one room, me in another. His buddy suddenly calls him up on the phone saying "Dude, where's your kid?"

"Uhh...in the other room. Why?"

"Check out what she's doing in the game."

So he gets up and comes into my room, looking at my screen. I'm standing in the middle of one of the little towns in the game typing out a story to a group of about fifteen people standing around me just listening. I'm seven at the time. He thought it was one of the coolest thing ever that a bunch of people who were likely 15-40 years old are all standing around for a story that a seven year old is typing out.

It sorta went from there.

But over all in all my experiences (from MSN Groups, Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger, Hexrpg.com, fanfiction.net, WoW, Rift, Skype, Fetlife, Aeon, ArcheAge, and FF14), the common force that drives me is the telling of a story. Not only just the telling of the story, but having other people to help make even more magic happen.

RE: What makes you RP? - DreamedReality - 12-08-2014

I RP to get outside the humdrum of RL. To have fun. To collaborate and connect with others.

I suppose I've been (and possibly a lot of you did) 'role playing' since I was young.

For example: my sis and I made pokemon trainer characters who were siblings traveling together and had all sorts of adventures. Usually turning the world of pokemon into a much more gritty version of one of our favorite TV shows. 

Going back further: We had -hoards- of stuffed animals/plastic toys. In our little world they came to life and each had their own personalities, histories, friends, enemies, etc.

They certainly weren't anything close to refined or even good, of course. And our characters tended to mature as we matured. But we were still taking on persona that was not our own and creating stories and keeping continuity.

Then puberty hit and it was 'not cool' to do such pretend things.

The late teens hit and I got into White Wolf with a group of folks that I'm still friends with today. (my first campaign was also a Vampire the Masquerade game.) And discovered it was a much more structured version of the sort of thing I'd done with my sis when I was young. And wondered why I ever quit. XD

Stuck with the structured stuff for quite a while until I started playing LotRO and realized there were unstructured but still mature RPs to be had.

RE: What makes you RP? - Madda - 12-08-2014

Madda's turn!

When Madda was little, Madda loved playing with toys and pretending the characters had their own little TV show and different personalities. When Madda attended daycare, Madda continued this trend to entertain the younger kids. Madda kept a journal of all the adventures they had and enjoyed spending time with people who enjoyed it. 

Madda's first ever MMO was World of Warcraft. Madda heard of role playing back then, but never really gave it any thought. Around Wrath, Madda's guild had cleared most of ICC and was waiting for Cataclysm to hit. During that time, we began to play pretend online and be in a family near Elwynn Forest. Of course, this led to many ridiculing us for doing so. 

But Madda first started roleplaying on Gaia Online in the 9th grade. It was quite new and interesting to create a whole character based on only a single picture and such. Then came the first character Madda made. His name was *groan* Kiru Otashi, a wandering high school student that had a pet kitsune (Madda is almost an otaku. Just afraid of anime for some reason). Madda never had an issue being too powerful, and instead made Kiru incredibly underpowered. He lost most fights because of every hit landing, Madda thought Madda was power gaming. 

Then came time to server transfer to Moon Guard, using Madda's night elf Druid as a character. He was *double groan* Navarion Razorwind and his backstory was basically his daughter kidnapped by an Orc roughly around the time of the Well of Eternity. Needless to say, Madda was informed and given a guide to read up on. 

Madda began to seek roleplay in other games, which led, Madda to XIV due to Madda enjoying how visually different it looked from the games (it doesn't look like an anime style game, think pre FF7). 

Why does Madda roleplay? It breaks up the monotony of simply playing the game normally. You'd get bored fast of the same thing over and over, and with roleplay, Madda can take a break and have fun with other characters living in a different world. 

Madda also roleplay a because of Madda's love of writing. When Madda was young, Madda absolutely HATED writing. Even a single sentence drove Madda insane. This was mostly due to Madda's disability (Asperger's Syndrome) and how Madda couldn't focus correctly at a younger age. As Madda matured, it lessened and Madda began to write down reports for school quicker than ever. Madda usually turned a single one page "write your own story" assignment into several pages of characters interacting with one another. Madda hopes to one day get a job using writing (journalist or maybe even the high school student's dream of *GROAN* helping write a manga). 

If there's one thing Madda enjoys most of all, it's watching other characters grow and make connections (Madda hates that term) more than Madda's own. Some characters are really well written and could deserve a series of their own.

RE: What makes you RP? - OttoVann - 12-08-2014

Raiding is tedious. RP can be fun.

RE: What makes you RP? - Nero - 12-08-2014

I enjoy conceptualizing story ideas and characters but sitting down and actually writing stories with all the details is labourious. RP lets me write stories by making up about one seventeenth of it and then letting other people fill in the blanks themselves.

So basically, RP is my way of being lazy.

RE: What makes you RP? - Clover - 12-08-2014

As many opther people said, RP is a tool that serves to tell story, or simply to tell something. To me RP is also a tool that helps me experience many kinds of different emotions and lives, and that's something I find fascinating. The real world has always been quite a boring place to me.

RE: What makes you RP? - Artigan - 12-08-2014

Mostly masturbation.

RE: What makes you RP? - Nebbs - 12-08-2014

*wobbly lines* Lets go way back to a time before PCs and Xbox and even Internets.

I suppose I always like stories, comics at first and then fantasy books. So when someone said that had Judge Dread RPG I was in (probably 1985)
[Image: Judgedredd_gw.jpg]

After that came DnD (and many other table top game), LARP, dial up BBS, Compuserve forums then WoW and into the mad world on MMORPG.
[Image: scurvydogs-1.jpg~original]


Computer games wise I would RP with my now wife over things like Bards Tale and the DnD Gold Box stuff.

[Image: 300px-Pool_of_radiance_panels.png]

I have built world, destroyed worlds. I have lived died and come back again. I have laughed cried and been amazed. May snacks were consumed, many pops guzzled. I have seen guilds come and go along with RP friends. It has been, and still is, a big part of my life.

[Image: NebsMakebEnd_zps0507540f.png~original]

RE: What makes you RP? - Kellach Woods - 12-08-2014

Obviously it started when I was a kid and we'd play TMNT and I'd pick raph because he was a brooding badass (in the live-action movie which was the GREATEST THING EVER at the time)

I was 5 OKAY.

Then I'd just play pretend with other things because the internet wasn't as widely available back then. Also knew that it was "shameful" so I hid that shit for when I was alone. (REST RESERVED FOR THERAPIST)

Actual internet RP only started when I discovered the internet. For me, at that point, my exposure to roleplaying games were D&D and JRPGs with set characters such as Final Fantasy. It's really only when I first started in the wonderful world of fanfiction that I discovered RP as a collaborative storytelling experience and only when I hit a certain forum (which then had its inhabitants split from that forum because the admins wanted to overhaul the RP forum for... reasons I really didn't understand and I'm sure you'd explain it to me now and I'd still go "wat")

Then I started to play CoH. I was looking for RP but also wanted to play with my friends. I lucked out as I was on a server that ended up having both - Robust if small RP community and where my friends played (Hint : It wasn't Paragon or Virtue).

After that I just started looking for RP everywhere I went because it flexes the creative muscles and allows me to push boundaries that I wouldn't otherwise push.

Funnily enough it's because of RP that I got into wrestling as much as I did. I also skipped over efedding. I also LARPed but fell out of it due to the lack of quality LARPs around here.