Weighing in on that "background" thing:
I've been through a lot of RP venues, ranging from moderated chats, unmoderated chats, system enforced structures, MMO games as a framework with moderated rules (Small, small venue mind you) and now here on mass population MMO RP.
Ultimately the only thing that's worked for me, through all of these is "Do what's fun, for me". Â In this setting? it means talking before initiating a fight. Â It means rolling with whatever someone says, even if it also means your char rolls their eyes and assumes they're dealing with a drunk or a delusional.
It also means I'm watching the levels, somewhat, because I do have that 'are they vested in this or are they a throw-away with no consequence scenario' eye on it. Â I think consequence is part of the fun of RP and someone who's not going to invest in the game and a char probably needs to tone down the altaholism a bit, or get their feet a bit more as an RPer to play something that isn't quite so high pie in the sky. Â High concepts work, but boy howdy do they take a careful hand, and it's not something I want to see in a n00b walkup because that's deer in the headlights time for me). Â Alternatively someone who just rolls a new level 1 TCHING TCHING assassin/rich father/unbeatable older brother out of the hat whenever they want to deal with something isn't something I want to deal with personally.
In short, a lot of RP background means I look for investment and here, so far, level is only part of that, kind of like what Gaspard said. Â But it IS something of a first blush gauge, and tells me what foot to lead with when exploring with a walkup.
I've been through a lot of RP venues, ranging from moderated chats, unmoderated chats, system enforced structures, MMO games as a framework with moderated rules (Small, small venue mind you) and now here on mass population MMO RP.
Ultimately the only thing that's worked for me, through all of these is "Do what's fun, for me". Â In this setting? it means talking before initiating a fight. Â It means rolling with whatever someone says, even if it also means your char rolls their eyes and assumes they're dealing with a drunk or a delusional.
It also means I'm watching the levels, somewhat, because I do have that 'are they vested in this or are they a throw-away with no consequence scenario' eye on it. Â I think consequence is part of the fun of RP and someone who's not going to invest in the game and a char probably needs to tone down the altaholism a bit, or get their feet a bit more as an RPer to play something that isn't quite so high pie in the sky. Â High concepts work, but boy howdy do they take a careful hand, and it's not something I want to see in a n00b walkup because that's deer in the headlights time for me). Â Alternatively someone who just rolls a new level 1 TCHING TCHING assassin/rich father/unbeatable older brother out of the hat whenever they want to deal with something isn't something I want to deal with personally.
In short, a lot of RP background means I look for investment and here, so far, level is only part of that, kind of like what Gaspard said. Â But it IS something of a first blush gauge, and tells me what foot to lead with when exploring with a walkup.