How do YOU role play?

Indigochild3rdi

Title says it all. What are some things you do when you role play in eso?

Gilvoth

i am allways roleplaying when i play morrowind and eso.
all i do is simple, just 1 thing.

"i pretend that i am really my character, and that the world i see ingame is the real thing, and i react as if it was really happening."

Krist

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

i am allways roleplaying when i play morrowind and eso.
all i do is simple, just 1 thing.

"i pretend that i am really my character, and that the world i see ingame is the real thing, and i react as if it was really happening."

I don't know if you were being funny or not, but I never act as if I am my character. My charactersssS are all different, so they must react how they must react. My personal emotions to a scenario have no bearings on it. In hardcore rp people that pretend they are their character seem to struggle more with outcomes. I have seen players get out of control over what is going on with their characters, or even take out emotions on alts. I never see it as really happening, I see it is as a story being developed. I do like to write, so that may be why I view it as such. With that said, I think we all bleed over into our characters at times.

Now to answer the OP: I just play my characters and react like they would, even in Cyrodiil, without making a big show of it. I dont find any RP with others here, so it is basically solo acts. I still keep them to their character though. Krist is honorable and lawful. Luke is neutral. Hughe is devious and chaotic. Even so, all are complex characters. Hughe can be very loyal. Luke cares for people, just isn't big on laws. Krist can get angry, and being a Nord, become very dangerous. He is also a werewolf that has killed. I get into who I am playing, and handle the situations as they would.

Turelus

I don't generally do much RP wise in relation to the games quests or choices, especially as many achievements etc. require me to clear everything.

I do have some basic background and head canon for my characters though.

Rohamad_Ali

I am Khajiit .

BlackSparrow

For me, in-game roleplay is about story construction and character development. Each of my characters has a personality, backstory, and motivation, and those drives what things I do and decisions I make when playing each of them. I get into each character's headspace and react to events and the world as they would, and that in turn develops their personal stories.

What sorts of specific things does that mean?

• Walking often in cities... especially for my elderly character!
• Everyone has multiple outfits depending on the environment and circumstances.
• Everyone has a home that suits them and which they are decorating to their tastes
• My altmer mage pulls out a magical wisp of light at night, because walking in the dark is for barbarians
• My thief's housecat is an Alfiq Khajiit pretending to be a harmless kitty, and they're partners in crime. When he meows, she talks back
• My werewolf doesn't transform around other people
• My honorable knight doesn't steal, ever, including unattended thieves troves
• My assassin doesn't steal either, because it's beneath her.
• My witch has an actual appearance that is spooky and offputting (namely, the Mind-Shriven skin) due to being an undead being who made a deal with a Daedric Prince, but she can affect a normal appearance when she's concentrating, so will appear as a normal person while around other people to hide her true nature. Basically I take the skin on and off depending on whether she's concentrating or not XD

Things like that.

Indigochild3rdi

Thank you for the reply guys. How do you justify a thief character doing all sorts of quests? He isn't technically evil yet (joining thieves guild when I level my legerdemain skill more). But plan on slowly turning evil when I contract vampirism and join the dark brotherhood. He doesn't kill yet but will for sure. This is my bosmer alt. I have a main dragonknight orc who doesn't role play, just does whatever but doesn't kill either (I disabled hitting friendly npcs). Wanting to get into role play though.

Rev Rielle

We try and keep things in-character 100% of the time. Unless it's in (( )) it's considered in-character.

I've tried to play characters that are nothing like me, but I've found it's just impossible in an MMO setting where I'm investing 100's of hours into a character. Many of my personal characteristics in the end always shine through, and I don't mind that, because in the end I'm still playing the game and want to enjoy myself.

Oh and our RP is almost always light-hearted, humorous and in the moment for me and the group I'm a part of. It's extremely rare we'll stand around in a tavern (can't remember the last time we did that actually); we're almost always out doing something together. Though that being said of late there's been a lot more standing about than usual, do to helping others move in to their new homes.

Finally, I love bringing a little RP experience to others that don't consider themselves RPers (there's a little RPer in all of us), or don't have a clue really what it's about. From the outside looking in RP is perceived very differently than what it actually is, though that can be said about almost anything. I think some of the greatest compliments I've been given have been by those who are surprised just how fun it can be, and what it can bring to the game, and they begin to try it themselves. One such that stands out I'll link below, it was such a kind thing of them to say:

I guess at the end of the day that's what RP is all about; Fun. Enjoyment, both for us as individuals as well as bringing a little happiness to those around us.

Indigochild3rdi

Are you part of an rp guild sir? I appreciate the feedback. Thank you if you are and have an opening for a new Rper and friend let me know @Rev Rielle

Indigochild3rdi

@BlackSparrow @Rohamad_Ali @Turelus @Krist @dwemer_paleologist

Turelus

I don't get it, why was I tagged?

pjwb16_ESO

I RP at Bleakers Outpost

ProfesseurFreder

As part of RP, do you all just follow the game plotlines, or create your own? I can imagine that much would be possible in a group; but playing alone, there's not much to roleplay beyond just defining your characters and being them.

Is there a guild or guilds devoted to this stuff? How do you find them? (I've been playing alone for more than a year and don't know the first thing about guilds)...

pjwb16_ESO

Vice City Deals recruits RP Player for Bleakers Outpost RP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ahy8p6AYRQ

Turelus

@pjwb16_ESO whilst I generally find the RP jokes funny don't ruin actually interesting and real RP threads with the farming stuff.

pjwb16_ESO

Turelus wrote: »

@pjwb16_ESO whilst I generally find the RP jokes funny don't ruin actually interesting and real RP threads with the farming stuff.

DUUUUDE, how dare you to think of me that bad.... I really am RPing at Bleakers

Rev Rielle

Indigochild3rdi wrote: »

Are you part of an rp guild sir <ma'am>? I appreciate the feedback. Thank you if you are and have an opening for a new Rper and friend let me know @Rev Rielle

You're welcome. And we will. Goodluck, I hope you find what you're looking for (if indeed your are looking for something).
I'm not sure how TESO-RP is doing these days, but it might be worth a look if that's your style.

adriant1978

I give my characters lore-friendly names and try to avoid doing quests which are inappropriate for the character I'm playing. No joining the Thieves Guild with a Divines fearing paladin, no making my ruthless mercenary run off looking for some guy's missing guar, etc.

BlackSparrow

Indigochild3rdi wrote: »

Thank you for the reply guys. How do you justify a thief character doing all sorts of quests? He isn't technically evil yet (joining thieves guild when I level my legerdemain skill more). But plan on slowly turning evil when I contract vampirism and join the dark brotherhood. He doesn't kill yet but will for sure. This is my bosmer alt. I have a main dragonknight orc who doesn't role play, just does whatever but doesn't kill either (I disabled hitting friendly npcs). Wanting to get into role play though.

The big thing to remember with an evil character is that "evil" isn't actually a personality trait in itself. It's a descriptor other people use to describe your character's actions or personality traits... but "evil," by itself, isn't a personality or motivation.

In short, your evil character may not think he's evil.

I have three of these types of characters: my assassin who isn't evil, just ruthless and with a tendency to value her personal goals over those of others; my thief who isn't evil, just careless of other people's personal property, because stealing is "fun"; and my witch who isn't evil, but rather is a longtime (read: undead) servant of Mephala and thus has little care for the plights of mortals, since they'll all just eventually die anyway. All of these characters have their own goals... whether it's to get their soul back (the assassin), to sabotage a rival Prince's plot (the witch), or just to engage in some fun but challenging sneakery (the thief).

So figure out what the character's motivations are (and "because they're evil" doesn't count ). What does this character want to achieve in life, and how does that lead them down the darker paths? It can be something as simple as a sense of belonging leading them to the Dark Brotherhood, or something as blatant as enjoying the power that comes with being a vampire and searching for more ways to become powerful. But whatever drives them should be tangible and logically follow from their backstory and personality. That's how you get a holistic RP character: when their backstory, personality, and motivations all work in tandem to drive how you play them.

Easier said than done, I know. But it's something to think about, and it's something that can develop and change as you play. And once you know what drives your character at any given moment, you can usually find angles and justifications for doing a lot of the quests. My assassin used to do quests because it was on the path to getting her soul back from Molag Bal, and now she's found that ingratiating herself with the local powers allows her access to otherwise inaccessible locations for her assassination contracts, so does quests to build up her reputation in an area for better access. My witch does quests because she's been told to act as the proverbial wrench in the works, righting the chaos that Molag Bal is depending on for the Planemeld to succeed. My thief does city and faction quests to make her thieving environments easier, and then tends to skip wilderness quests altogether, since those don't benefit her.

So for you, what I'd do is figure out why your guy is a thief. Is it purely for profit? Some Robin Hood-esque sense of societal duty? Because it's fun? Because it's what he grew up doing and so it was the only marketable skill he has? Use his motivation (and backstory and personality) to look at what could lead him down darker roads. Does he care about other people at all? If so, where does he draw the line between their needs and his own wants, and if not, how far is he willing to go to get what he wants?

Once you know what motivates your character, justifying quests is no longer much of a problem, because you'll know what they would do in any given situation and why.

Good luck, and have fun!

Indigochild3rdi

He decided to be a thief at a young age! When he was a teenager in valenwood (where he grew up) his parents wanted him to grow up to become a hunter like most bosmer to support the community and family. But he often found that he would make more money for himself and others by just taking what he wanted instead of tracking deer and wolves all day for little meat and a few pelts. After being caught and accused of thieving countless times he was eventually banished and disowned from him family. While he was on his journey to find a new home he was attacked by worm cult savages and thus begins our story. He definitely cares about people. He's not heartless and generally helps anyone that he can, for the small price of scoping out there homes and having access to the possessions he wants. Like I mentioned before he isn't a violent, evil character yet (even though he did murder a citizen during a botched job and had to kill her). But when he becomes a vampire I plan to join the db and become much more sinister and cold blooded as the vampirism consumes him. I appreciate the feedback! Was really helpful and informative! @BlackSparrow

Angelfire_Arisen

Ooo! I like the idea of vampirism corrupting him that way.

Mephilis78

Just a role playing anecdote here;

A long time ago, before the boarder were opened with 1T, I made a Khajiit named Kong'Do as an ebonheart pact character. His back story was created before he was. He was raised in Dune and was killed by manimarco.When the prophet helped him escape from coldharbor he was mistakenly dropped in Morrowind. His ultimate goal is to return to Elswyer, but I am faced with a dilemma now.
I never finished his story before 1T, so now, when I get into his character, I have an emense urg to just fast travel to Reaper's March. It takes a great deal of RL willpower to overcome this. The only reason I continue to resist is because Kong should not have any knowledge of the "open boaders", that knowledge comes from me. To allow him to return home in this manner seems akin to devine intervention (and not the old morrowind spell).

Neyane

All my characters have their own personalities, decisions and stories behind who they are.
An example of this, would be my main character I play.

Cindafall was once a remarkable women in DC. She didn't go to war, but she helped so many people throughout the regions, she became a well-known hero and adventurer. She however kept a secret. When she was adventuring, just finishing up her jobs she had, she came across a monster. A vampire. He turned her, and she then became very corrupt and started to kill innocents. (Mixing in with the time I got the Dark brotherhood dlc).

She's now cured (remarkable isn't it?) and is finally returning to her "original" self. Though, no matter what, she will never forget the evil deeds she carried out and the people she hurt along the way.

What I wrote here is a very short extract from my thought process when I was playing her through this time. Everything she does when I "play" as her, I record in my head and make the "story" up afterwards by putting the pieces together. It's a different way to RP sure, but it's incredibly fun! I do this with all my characters, they all live in the same universe, and interact with each other.

Eirikir

Mostly alone. Not sure if its me and my style or people just to busy with their own thing.

I've joined guilds, tried to make friends, but things just never go. Usually I join an RP guild right as it breaks up dramatically or I watch quietly as the leadership eats itself. So I just started going alone. Its easier.

jarnkoldur

Apparently, a common theme within this thread is that most individuals prefer role-playing alone. I thought the purpose of role-playing (in regards to MMORPGs) was to be a part of a collective narrative as opposed to pursuing one's own head canon?

Meathook94

I RP by playing with emotes and mementos, I've become pretty good at it, found some combinations that work well together lol. Also, my ability bar is set up for style and flash. It's effective for PvE, but seems to fail me with PvP, but I don't really care.

Ilsabet

I'd rather play the game than stand around juggling text messages with other people, so my RPing consists of interpreting my gameplay (mostly questing) through the lens of my main character's thoughts and feelings and writing headcanon "mindjournal" entries as I go along. The narrative progression has been remarkably solid considering that I'm literally just experiencing her journey in whatever order I happen to do the quests in (although I have done some reordering of zones compared to when I actually played through them, which I can cuz it's my headcanon). It's nice as the omniscient author to take some time to craft these written entries after the fact, and sometimes I end up combining or making reference to experiences that relate to a certain theme rather than just making it a "Dear Diary, today I..." kind of thing. And I can pace myself in posting the entries in my thread so that I don't feel like I have to panic about running out of things to write about (which hasn't been a problem so far).

I'm not sure how many people actually read these things, aside from a few comments early on, but even if I'm the only one who cares I still have fun with it and I find that it adds a lot to my gaming experience.

HeavyMetalAngel

I imagine things on my own, but have yet to find an RP guild that is not actually focused on ERP.

Haytham_Of_Ishura

I tend to first research the lore of my character's race, but that's about it. For the most part, I do my own thing - I pledge no loyalties to anyone and run my Order independently. After all, the deserts of Tamriel are unregulated - who's going to stop us, anyway? :-p

Tucker3711

I play a little game called interrupt...

Malic

I RP all the time but no one likes my char. I made a vid of just a brief interaction last night. I made a social faux pas and said something about a hat. I noticed another RPER was wearing one, the look he gave me. Whenever I RP, I get no respect...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB0nJ64cgmU