Is attempting to Role Play that common?

goatlyonesub17_ESO

The most serious role-playing I've done lately is inventing a character called The Mudball Goblin, who, as you might expect, went around to places where there was frequent mobile player traffic (albeit very few loitering players in that same area), find a good place to hide while wearing camouflage clothing (wolf fur brown priest of the green & wiseman hat), and began tossing mudballs at players. Splat. Watch the player try to find the Mudball Goblin. See him give up and start to ride away. Splat. On it goes. Sometimes (this is the best part) the Mudball Goblin would start a mudball fight between two other players. Then he'd do a bellylaugh at them.

Since I retired the Mudball Goblin, there have been a number of copycat characters. One of them, who seems to hang out in Belkarth a lot, is an Argonian female who has taken a different approach to anonymously hurling mudballs. She leans back against a pillar and does that coin flipping thing, until somebody goes by in the direction she isn't facing. She tosses mudball at said player, then goes right back to /leanbackcoin again. She does it so fast (must be a hot key in use) that the targeted player assumes that she could not have been the one and goes looking for someone else to blame.

thegreatme

There's also the matter of finding where the RP crowds go, which used to be Riften, but the last few months we've seen large roleplay groups shift away from it into other unused corners of Tamriel a lot. Probably on account of all the obnoxious pvp spammers there

It can be frustrating at times though because RPers are somewhat of a cliquish/reclusive and guarded lot even with other RPers. If you're not already in on something going on or know someone, good luck having a lot of other RPers even acknowledge your character is there or exists. Or maybe I'm just not straightforward enough to insert myself into someone else's thing and other people are. Who knows lol

One issue I seem to have come across a lot lately is that if your toons don't hit it off and kiss butt or be friendly to some other RPers' toons right off the bat, you end up that person they go out of their way to ignore as if your characters aren't there XD I think a lot of people just seem to assume what your character does / how they feel is how you as a player do / feel, and just don't have much of a backbone for In-Character tension or drama unless its coming from inside their clique. Takes a lot of the fun out of random encounters.

theplague4u

I'm a vampire pirate and I'll talked to others but left alone especially when I'm draining an NPC. I'll disappear and come back to kill it. I'm never caught by the gaurd since you can't capture what you can't see. I only allowed the guards to kill me so I can do the crafting quest, but I usually rock around a 10k bounty give or take so I'm constantly in the shadows.

Varkal2112

I roleplay as an AMARANTH that's aware he's inside a fictional creation of the Godhead. Next level roleplaying is not roleplaying at all lmao

jaekobcaed

The way I do it is this: I separate my gameplay in multiple ways. I have a solo gameplay roleplaying identity for my characters when I'm questing, exploring, fighting in Cyrodiil, etc. Then, I have an identity for any of my characters in any roleplaying guilds I may be a part of; sometimes, my solo roleplaying ties into the guild roleplaying, but not always. Finally, I have my "casual" gameplay where I don't really actively roleplay or if I do, it's very loose roleplaying so that I can enjoy just having a fun time with other players.

Rykoth

A lot of folks don't RP in public because there's some real... interesting people out there who think it's funny to harass players enjoying the game how they like. But the RP Community is alive and well. And big. Probably one of the bigger RP Communities in an MMO. Spread out in a lot of player houses? Yeah. But you can both attribute it to housing AND to idiots that think its fun to be griefers.

jaekobcaed

Rykoth wrote: »

A lot of folks don't RP in public because there's some real... interesting people out there who think it's funny to harass players enjoying the game how they like. But the RP Community is alive and well. And big. Probably one of the bigger RP Communities in an MMO. Spread out in a lot of player houses? Yeah. But you can both attribute it to housing AND to idiots that think its fun to be griefers.

Definitely one of the biggest. I've never seen so many RP communities in an MMO and I've played quite a few over the years. I think that's partly because ESO has the greatest set of tools for those who like to roleplay.

thegreatme

One fun thing to do is to walk through delves and public dungeons, even in battles!

Sometimes, rarely, you get lucky and come across another RPer. Had that happen the other day, got stalked from the shadows all across a public dungeon by a vampire that ended in an interesting RP conversation. They were very into their sneaking about and it was fun to watch while pretending they weren't noticed. Other times people just gawk and move on.

I've gotten every kind of reaction from "Lol you idiot" and "Why are you walking everywhere?!" to "This one admires your nonchalance!"

Funnily enough, people running through delves never seem to get any farther ahead than when I'm walking

erliesc

Mureel wrote: »

Hello I'm Mureel, and I've at times sort of role played xD All by myself, and after I look round to see no one's watching, but I've /kneel and /bow and other stuff like that at points where it seems I should/my character would. I haven't done that many quests - but a few, I did let myself get involved.

I can't even remember the ones where I was moved to do that, but when I was, I went with it.

If you tell anyone I'll deny it

I occasionally roleplay vs NPCs. My experience is that there are people in the game that will interfere with some roleplaying.

For instance I once got the bright idea to stand where there was lot of pedestrian traffic and used various emotes to direct traffic... as in up/down/left/right etc. Some non NPC character seemed to have a fit and messed with it.

Sometimes in a bank...if a guard says something I'll make a stink.

There are "players" in the game who are undercover and seem to resent anyone actually having fun in the game.

There is a certain town where I can run over the railing on a bridge and jump completely over a lightpost at the end...that is until it seemed to bother some "players". Somewhere in the desert....

Some of my female characters might get into her skivvies and go beach combing or even slip into a tavern and do a table dance.

I rarely mess with player characters...too many issues...

Iccotak

Here's my perspective on Role Play
I prefer to act in character as I do the content

If I want to play D&D then I will play D&D. I am not a fan of standing around in game and pretending something is happening.
That kind of gameplay is far more enjoyable in tabletop and even more in person.

The content is already there in ESO - just act in character while you play it.

Indoril_Nerevar

Minor and Major Roleplay

You can name yourself PEEWEE HERMAN and be an elite PVP player. That would be minor roleplay at its minimal.

Acting out as a character/pretending is moving more toward Major Roleplay....

Yes. It's common. Both for reasons such as Roleplay, Reputation or plain o'le Fun.

Aendruu

rumple9 wrote: »

Lotro (Lord of the Rings Online) used to have its own dedicated roleplaying servers - we used to joke that was where all the weirdos hung out

Oh dear, LotRO was the first MMO I ever played, and I joined the EU-RP server precisely because I was intrigued by the idea of RPing with other people instead of just inside my own head in TES solo games... so I guess that makes me a "weirdo". However, I'm very glad to have found this thread, and to discover that there are indeed fellow weirdos in ESO!

So greetings and well met! Please excuse the following gratuitous block of quotes (and my apologies for excluding many comments in this thread that are also relevant), but these are the ones that really resonated with me:

Glenmorils wrote: »

For me, a console player, role playing is more about creating and adhering to a lore based concept for my character and coming up with stories for them. It isn’t necessarily about interacting with other characters, but about having ideas, thinking about your characters place and role in the story and world presented, decorating houses and customizing appearance to fit your characters personality and backstory... it’s kind of a personal roleplay, I do the same in Skyrim and other single player games.<snip>.

Nayawin14 wrote: »

What is fun is that by definition, every people taking part in a MMORPG and creating it's own character should already be seen as a role-player. However, most people don't see this and consider engaged role-play an extravagant thing, that can potentially prevent them from succeeding in others end-game aspects... <snipped>

Ansuzgardaraivo wrote: »

@tamburello7
Isn’t that the case in most multiplayer games? Everyone is just RUSHING all the time and I just hate it. That’t why I never play any multiplayer game with random players.
Either I know you and I know we are both looking for a same game experience or I’d rather play with bots or solo.

thegreatme wrote: »

One fun thing to do is to walk through delves and public dungeons, even in battles!

Sometimes, rarely, you get lucky and come across another RPer. Had that happen the other day, got stalked from the shadows all across a public dungeon by a vampire that ended in an interesting RP conversation. They were very into their sneaking about and it was fun to watch while pretending they weren't noticed. Other times people just gawk and move on.

I've gotten every kind of reaction from "Lol you idiot" and "Why are you walking everywhere?!" to "This one admires your nonchalance!"

Funnily enough, people running through delves never seem to get any farther ahead than when I'm walking

Iccotak wrote: »

Here's my perspective on Role Play
I prefer to act in character as I do the content

If I want to play D&D then I will play D&D. I am not a fan of standing around in game and pretending something is happening.
That kind of gameplay is far more enjoyable in tabletop and even more in person.

The content is already there in ESO - just act in character while you play it.

I must admit that I'm not a hardcore RPer. As I mentioned, LotRO was my very first MMO, and I joined the EU-RP server just to see what online RP was, and perhaps learn how to do it effectively. Alas, this was soon after the servers had been merged and it was no longer RP-dedicated, and the RP aspect was somewhat overwhelmed by End-gamers and trolls; RP kinships (guilds) were often mired in petty politics and unnecessary drama; and I met my first elitist lore nazis. Needless to say, I didn't last very long, and my enthusiasm for RP was severely dampened. Hence my joy in finding all you like-minded souls here in ESO!

However, what delights the most from the above quotes is that there are indeed other players who enjoy not constantly running about at top speed. I, too, prefer to often wander around slowly, simply to admire the scenery; so much so, that I created the Phynasterian Perambulators just so that I could have this quasi-guild name beneath my characters' nameplates as both a joke and an explanation for my seemingly unusual behaviour.

Finally, please indulge me this one final quote, for - to me - it's the most disappointing of all:

idk wrote: »

I think the RP community in ESO is not very strong. There was a lot of interest before the game launched as Zos had stated they were building a system to strongly support RP by allowing them to flag themselves for RP and then the game would work to put them into the same instance.

However, weeks before the game launched Zos changed their mind and tossed what they were developing. While they said they would work on other aspects to help the RP community they never did. As a result Zos lost many prospective players at the game would no longer be RP friendly.

Of RPers from previous games that were interested in ESO only a few ended up trying the game and none stayed because Zos' decision which I think is the reason ESO lacks a robust RP community.<snipped>

My thanks to one and all.

Scion_of_Yggdrasil

On PS4 its kinda hard to do too much without chatting (because you really need a keyboard). And sometimes you try to interact with others and they just don't get it, ignore you, or just dont care lol. My first MMO was Runescape, and I would get iiinto that game when I was younger. I use my character in a way I think they would behave if the game world were the real world. I don't like to treat RPG characters like tools to play a game, but instead, I pretend its me in another life.

I almost always do the little things...

• idle emote while waiting on the group
• kneel pray after a battle that felt like they didnt deserve to die lol or pray for a comrade that died
• cheer at the end of hard battles, or fancy bow when I pull off something amazing lol
• walk in my house, not run
• use the torch emotes often in dungeons
• slowly get off my mount, instead of instantly dismounting
• I will explore a dungeon at my own/a reasonable pace. Im not gonna hold the group up, but I will speed read a book/scroll, or loot some chests, or just admire some of the details put into this game. If you venture on without the healer... reap what you sow. lol
• On the flip side, I will always stay behind for the straggler. Torch emote or playing the lute while I wait for someone to finish leveling up, looting, etc. which is really important in the more confusing dungeons. I will guide them back to the group.
• always return to town, inn, or home before logging off!

Those are just some example of things I do every time I play, just about. I get more into a "personality" when playing with friends. RPGs unleash my alter egos, in a way.

dazee

Those who still do actual RP seem to be mostly stuck up self important asses tbh. If I'm looking in the wrong places I'd love to be steered towards those mature decent human being roleplayers, but it seems RP in most games has taken a turn in the worst possible direction.

thegreatme

dazee wrote: »

Those who still do actual RP seem to be mostly stuck up self important asses tbh. If I'm looking in the wrong places I'd love to be steered towards those mature decent human being roleplayers, but it seems RP in most games has taken a turn in the worst possible direction.

Its not just you. The public RP community lately is full of a lot of just that. Makes for an overall frustrating experience. I'd like to say I have a pretty good group going but finding new people to expand it who don't fall under that category has been infuriatingly difficult.

In my experience, its the people who are mostly disconnected from the mainstream RP channels and guilds, like newer players, for the most part aren't so difficult to stand as a lot of regulars, but finding them is the trick.

Scion_of_Yggdrasil

thegreatme wrote: »

dazee wrote: »

Those who still do actual RP seem to be mostly stuck up self important asses tbh. If I'm looking in the wrong places I'd love to be steered towards those mature decent human being roleplayers, but it seems RP in most games has taken a turn in the worst possible direction.

Its not just you. The public RP community lately is full of a lot of just that. Makes for an overall frustrating experience. I'd like to say I have a pretty good group going but finding new people to expand it who don't fall under that category has been infuriatingly difficult.

In my experience, its the people who are mostly disconnected from the mainstream RP channels and guilds, like newer players, for the most part aren't so difficult to stand as a lot of regulars, but finding them is the trick.

*waves* if you ever need a bow/healer/bard hit me up! Been wanting to get into the RP scene but worry about the same thing, toxic players (already met plenty, and its kinda disheartening lol).

wolfbone

I was in a roleplay guild on the ps4 eu server for some time, I found out recently they where faading away, I'm not suprised through as their idea of roleplay was to go around and do things like dungeons or groups, then one of the higher ups would write a story and post it in the facebook group, it wasnt really roleplaying.

Sylianwe

Ithilis wrote: »

You can also join Discord channel of a guild who does RP to look for roleplay if your guild slots are full

I've tried several guilds now who claim to be roleplaying, took it to discord, yet none of them were. It's true that being on Xbox and limited to typing with a controller doesn't really help (in-game).

I'm still on the lookout for a genuine roleplay guild.