[mixxit]

Rumours about a /roleplay command coming

Sigh…

A role-playing switch? Alright, I'm baffled. I thought all servers were role-playing servers? I thought that we all role-played differently, and a definition of role-playing didn't exist? And now we will have the ability to flip a switch and proudly announce to the world that we are role-playing, and role-playing correctly, in case you hadn't noticed. While I'm all in favor of adding role-playing tools, this role-playing switch is no such thing.

I hear some gasps. How could Absor not like this idea? It's a way of telling the role-players from the non-role-players! It's great! No, it's not. It's divisive and insulting. The insulting part is that Verant tells us that role-playing can't be defined (which was insulting enough to me), and then tells us that by flipping a switch we will all suddenly be role-playing, where those that don't flip the switch are not. I understand the concept, that role-players using this switch will be better able to tell who is and who is not role-playing. That, too, is insulting. I have no problem whatsoever determining who is role-playing. If they are doing something distinctly out of character ("Yo, dude, where r all the kewl treasures"), they are not role-playing. Otherwise, they ARE role-playing. How hard is that, and how stupid do I have to be to not be able to figure that out without someone wearing a big fat dunce cap to educate me?

Flip the switch and the game actually sends you a message: You are now role-playing.

I was reading the interview with Brian Hook done by Voodoo Extreme about his coming to Verant. In one response he says some very nice things about how he wants to make EverQuest MORE of a role-playing game; more guides, less players per server, less camping, less hack and slash. All things that would please the hell out of me. Then, a few paragraphs later, he tells us that he thinks that people catering to the on-line RPG market don't do enough to give these games a broader customer base, and that they are therefore not reaching enough people. Alright, sure, but HOW do you reach more people without 'dumbing down' the game? "Training missions, on-line help, chat servers, good documentation, and strategy guides all go towards making the early levels less painful." All good in theory (with many reservations about strategy guides). And more power to him if he can push Verant more in that direction (accessible role-playing game). I think they've been heading away from that ideal, pulled relentlessly downward by the crowd of people that want nothing more than a special little world all their own, one with rules that are starting to stifle role-playing. Many of us that used to enjoy EverQuest a lot more then we do now are starting to lose interest.

The recent reduction in experience loss is, I guess, an appeal to those that want a savable, easy leveling game. This isn't just powergamers (after all, a lot of powergamers want to be challenged), it's just the lazy ones. The ones that want 'stuff' without working for it, without risk. The folks that have never been able to invest any of themselves into their character. The folks that only see a loss of experience as a reduction in some numbers. Not the folks that tear their hearts out during a close fight. Not those that feel adrenaline rush through their limbs when they think that they might die in this dark hole of a place they call Paw. Reducing the cost for death is another step in the wrong direction, following the tug down the easy path, the one that leads away from the EverQuest we were promised.

But many so-called role-players are doing the pulling too, sucking the rest of us with them. This whole thing about a role-playing switch is to appease them. Most folks are probably thinking, 'so what, let them have their toy, it won't affect you'. That's why I used the word divisive before, because it does affect me. I suspect it will affect me a lot.

It is divisive in the same way that the PK switch is divisive. It clearly divides us all into two groups and encourages us to pick one. I think that is the definition of divisive. Look around next time your in game and see how many +pvp people you run into. If you do, stop and think about how you really do think of him as one of them and not as a fellow citizen of Norrath. It's true. Deep in all of us we feel a twinge, a sense of 'hey, he's not one of us' when we see a red name. Sure, most of us immediately get over it, but that does not deny it's effect.

Picture yourself in, oh, BlackBurrow. You see that perhaps one person in three has flipped their switch to indicate that they wish to role-play (in this previously labeled role-playing game. Now I suppose they'd better change the box and call it a strategy/role-playing game to avoid lawsuits). You find yourself inundated with /shouts about the most recent NBA playoff game. People standing near you are discussing the affects of overclocking on the performance of their PC. You move away from the /sayers without muttering a word, since wandering away alleviates your problem. But the /shouting continues. So you /tell the most frequent out of character shouter and ask him to please at least use the /ooc channel, since that's what it's for. He responds (over /shout of course) that his switch is not on 'role-play' so he can say whatever the hell he wants. After all, this is the new generation of EverQuest, the strategy/role-playing game.

Verant once told us that a role-playing server was not needed, since all servers were role-playing servers.

If this switch is implemented, then I want Brad to dig up that copy of a proposal for an "Intense Server" that a good friend of mine sent him and put it on the top of the to do list. Add a line in the proposal someplace that says that the role-playing switch will be disabled, and have it up and running as soon as possible. Because now not only can we define role-playing, but NONE of the servers are designed for role-playing. I'll be sending the "Intense" server proposal to Brad and John myself, just to make sure they have it, the same day that this role-playing switch hits all the servers.


I wrote that several hours ago. On my way home from work I was talking about this situation with my carpool partner and fellow role-player (though he does not play EverQuest). During the discussion he mentioned a word that stuck with me all the way home, and finally brought into focus what exactly it was that has me so on edge about the trend I've been seeing from Verant lately.

The word was pasteurized. Now I've known this guy a while, and I know that he has a tremendous talent for murdering the language, any language. And I'm clever enough to understand him, though only through years of practice. He meant homogenized: to blend (diverse elements) into a uniform mixture. And, in his usual confused way, he hit the nail right on the head.

I'll demonstrate, as usual, with an analogy. Consider role-playing as a thick, somewhat bitter, and expensive beer. Some people that have tried it really love it. It's their drink of choice. Some people have tried it and hated it. Some folks tried it and really didn't much care one way or the other. Those that really like it want everyone to try it. Those that hate it shake their heads and tell all their friends that the people that like it are all insane, and don't try it, it sucks. And many, many people have never tasted it at all, either because they believe the tales of those that hate it, or it's too expensive (too much time investment), or it's just not interesting to them, since water is tasty, free, and actually cures a thirst. Or maybe they've never even heard of it. And this is how it's been for thousands of years, since the invention of Chain Mail (the game, named after the armor).

And as I read the interview with Mr. Hook I got a sinking feeling. At the time I couldn't tell why. Now I can. Mr. Hook (and Brad, and John as well in their own way, conscious of it or not) wants to water down our beer. With all the best intentions, he wants everyone to try this great beer. He is very aware that there are a lot of people drinking plain old water. He, like me, feels a bit sorry for them. So he wants to convince them to try it out. So he figures that, since everyone drinks water, let's add some water to the beer, maybe that will make it more attractive (think of the loss of experience on death as a few ounces of water). And some people tried it, some of them even liked it. And Verant was pleased. I'm not saying that they were pleased for the money, but for the fact that new people now love this great beer. A few of them may even have moved on the real stuff and joined the rest of us. And so, they want to add more water. More water just might hook more people.

But you know what, add enough water and your no longer even drinking beer. At some point you have to look up from your labor and your good intentions and realize that you're just serving water. And instead of pulling people toward the fine beer that you love, you are weaning them off of it. You're destroying the thing you love in your fervor to let everyone know how wonderful it is. And that's a shame.

Some people just won't like the beer. And as much as I would like to convince the world of its great flavor, I'm aware that some people will never like beer. Some folks don't even drink alcohol. And that's really the way it should be. I'd hate to have to retreat to the real stuff and find myself no longer drinking in the pubs of Norrath.

Editorial by Absor

Please enjoy this issue of EQX!