Roleplaying Anger
Verant has presented us with an interesting quandary. They have proclaimed role playing to be this undefineable, nebulous thing. Yet they are perfectly willing to label their game an RPG and provide switches. Just what is going on here? To kick start things, I'm going to paraphrase the definition of 'role play' from a psychological journal. To wit: Role play is the act of defining an imaginary persona, replete with desires and motivations for the express purpose of acting out an imagined situation. Now while this is obviously intended to be very general, it certainly is applicable. To paraphrase, you create a persona with motivations, and then stick with it. Contrary to Verants objections, they have done just that.
Not to long ago I noticed a debate on one of the popular forums discussing the relative and inherent evilness of a necromancer. Basically it was postulated that a necromancer isn't necessarily evil. Well, this opinions piqued my interest, and I started looking into necromancers, and all the other race/class/deity combinations. The conclusion I came to? Either no one ever noticed or chose to ignore the blurb Verant provides you when you create a new character. Here is an example from the process for a Gnome necromancer:
"As one of the few Gnomes to hear the call of the Plaguebringer you must worship in secret and keep your true dark desires from your fellow Gnomes, especially the Eldrich Collective, or else they will banish you from the workshops from Ak'Annon. There are several Gnomes who also believe in the power of Bertoxxulous and form a group known as the Dark Reflection. You are feared even within your enclave for you seek to master the dark art of death, necromancy."
Whammo! Motive! Political conflict! Better yet, the players could actually create the Eldrich Collective and the Dark Reflection and role play Gnomeish political intrigue (what I thought Verant was talking about when they said guilds were going to be tightly regulated, but that is a different tangent)! Further, this paragraph leaves plenty of room for player modification. Nowhere does it say all Gnomeish necromancers must be diabolical megalomaniacs. There is plenty of space for this general role archetype to fit your personal role playing desires. But it is a solid boundary within which to place your character. What is even more outstanding is that there is a different passage along these lines for each character/race/deity combination. Guess what everyone, Verant HAS defined role playing in Norrath. We are simply ignoring them. What Verant had failed to do is encourage role play in any meaningful way.
One of the maxims of the pen and paper realm of RPG's is that the game master set's the tone of the adventure. While the GM needs to keep their players wants, desires and attitudes in mind, it is up to the GM to set the tone. Only the GM can make the game either a role playing experience or a munchkin fest. This truism is just as valid in MMORPG's as it is in pen and paper games. Verant or any other online RPG company for that matter, MUST set the tone. So how in the world to you encourage role play without forcing it?
Many ideas have been tossed about as to how to make an RPG an RPG. I think that EverQuest is uniquely positioned to take advantage of several of these ideas. First and foremost, the faction system can and should be implemented to its fullest extent. There was a time when you would take faction penalties when grouping with those of opposite faction. In short, if you group a Paladin with a Shadow Knight, both parties should take it in the shorts. Next, you can expand on this. Each God of Norrath espouses a code of ethics. Many of these ethical stances are compatible, many are not. Would it not make sense if the followers of these gods actually gained tangible benefits or penalties based on their 'god faction'? If the above mentioned Paladin continued to associate with their Shadow Knight friend would they not eventually become a 'fallen Paladin' loosing many of the powers that makes them unique? In short, give the faction system real teeth. People need to realize that there is a reason for the conflicts that the history speaks of.
To compliment the faction system is would be nice if the guides had the ability to give experience bonuses to those they 'catch' behaving in character. Other ORPG's have successfully implemented such a system. It can be a very powerful tool in making sure the player base understands that acting in character is much more desirable than talking about the San Antonio Spurs. One of the things I try to incorporate into my pen and paper campaigns is the concept that the best way to get a 'powergamer' to role play is to convince them that role playing is the best way to power game. A temporary experience bonus is the best way to go about this.
These of course, are just a couple of potential ideas. There are as many thoughts on how to encourage role playing as there are people. Personally, I'm waiting for the game that allows the players to actually alter the geo-political landscape of the world and had truly world altering dynamic quests. But that is just my personal taste. One thing the Companies need to be aware of is that while right now there isn't much competition in this arena, there are more games on the way. Ultima Online is still going strong with its appeal to the more violent minded and those that like crafts. EverQuest has the 1st person 3D thing going for it. But let's not forget Asheron's Call with there everyone on one world and player devoted factions. Nor should we forget Middle Earth Online, Dark Ages or some of the other smaller scale MMORPG's that are either out or in development. We are rapidly approaching a highly competitive market, and the approach of catering to everyone will no longer work.
I can't remember who, but a famous statesman once said that you can please some of the people some of the time or none of the people all of the time. I hope Verant chooses to please the Roleplayers (yes, a personal bias) especially since they are very close to having an outstanding RPG on their hands. All I can do is hope, continue to comment, and if all else fails vote with my dollar. I like EverQuest. It is the best Online RPG I've experienced to date. But I could really love it. Perhaps one day Verant will decide to encourage role playing. Until such a time they choose to do so (as Maxwell Smart has been known to say), they missed it by that much....
Tale by Ahtenret
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