Can someone introduce me to roleplaying in-game?

Momocerus

Now, I'm a writer, and one way to practise my writing is via roleplaying. I've been roleplaying this way for nearly fourteen years now, I've had muses that went away, other muses have been with me for many years now, and they're the muses I base much of my writing on.

So I know the ins and outs of roleplaying. But I've never ventured from my collaborative writing platform, and considering ESO is the first P2P MMO I've ever bothered with, I thought it could serve me to extend my roleplaying experience. Only thing is, I have no clue how, what it involves, exactly how you go about it. So I was hoping someone could inform me of this all.

Thank you in advance.

Skookum

I like to write as well! maybe that's why I really like the idea of having a RP guild, and have been trying to think of ways to make RP easy and fun for people who arnt used to it. It seems to me that RP would make it less weird to be talking to strangers on the internet, cuz you could feel like they are part of the game. I would really like to find a way to ease people into it.

I guess my first thought is to just sort of do it, you go up to people and just be like "Hail, adventure!" I honestly haven't had much success though...

MercyKilling

Well, @Momocerus....I can offer this advice from what I've learned. When RP'ing...do not ever flatly state in a post what your character does to another person's character. That's "godmoding" and generally frowned upon.
Far better is the "my character attempts this action upon yours" approach.

Also, some people(like me, for instance) are pretty skittish when it comes to interactions. Words and phrases like "I tap your shoulder" are to me....creepy. It makes me think you're outside the window peeking in. Use non personal pronouns or character names. He taps her on the shoulder. John reaches over slowly to tap Kate on the shoulder. But then, that's just me, most likely.

All in all, I'd say...just go for it. Put yourself in your on screen avatar's shoes and have at it. It's a learning experience, and like anything..you can only get better with practice.

Also, I'd say....don't let other people's unsolicited criticisms get you down. Make healthy use of the ignore feature for trollish people.
Find like minded people and group with them...and perhaps even join a guild....but NEVER...EVER give up on open world RP.

Sue_D_Nim

Everything Mercykilling just said. ESPECIALLY the part about god-moding. Something like "I hit you on the head and you fall down" gets an instant ignore from me. You never force a roleplay on somebody. Instead use "Tantriel swings at Plurath's head in an attempt to knock him down."

Using custom emotes is great for roleplaying. In chat, type /e to enter emote "mode," if you will. Now, what you type shows up in colored text (I think it's kind of purple-ish, but with the server down I can't check.) and it comes out looking more or less like "Eilendar taps Skookum on the shoulder."

Alternatively, it's a little easier to simply enclose an action in asterisks or some other agreed-upon symbol, like:
*smiles and nods* or
*looks up at the tall Skookum* If you say so, my friend.

When typing direct speech, just speak as if you were your character. You can use /say to roleplay publicly (visibly to all near you), or you can keep it to group chat. I like /say because it identifies you as a roleplayer and invites others to join in at will. If I'm RPing in a group, we might use both: /group to talk amongst ourselves, rather like speaking soto voce to the people standing next to you, and /say to speak aloud to the room at large.

/group Gods. See the way that orc's staring at me? He looks like he'd as soon bash my face in as not.
/say Hey, barkeep! A round for the house on me!

To differentiate between in-character and out-of-character speech in /group or /guild chat, I use double parenthesis ((like this)) to enclose my OOC remarks. It's a common convention that may differ in particulars depending on the roleplaying background of the speaker.

The canned emotes like /wave, /bow, /nod, /drink, /sit, and so on are great fun for RPing, and provide another clue for identifying roleplayers in the world.

Also, look for players who are walking. Non-roleplayers tend to run everywhere. Roleplayers run when it makes sense for their character to do so. I love to run through the woods, climb cliffs, etc. But after my burst of energy, I'll slow down and walk, enjoying the scenery. I always walk in a crowded city unless I have a reason to hurry.

Oh, yeah, and ... writers tend to write in the past tense. Most RPers I've seen use present tense. There's too much of a mental disconnect in past tense. You're NOT actually writing a story, you're LIVING a story. In the moment.

I had no idea I was going to be so verbose. Blame the server being down; I have to get my fix somehow, and the forums are how.

Rastafariel

Great posts guys! I cannot add much more to the topic of RP except that there are many types of RPers. Hopefully (since we are a smaller portion of the player base) we can all play together nicely in this fantastic world Zenimax has built for us to RP in!

If anyone wants to RP or adventure RP, look me up @Rastafariel, Dragon Tears Guild.

reagen_lionel

I would take you up on your offer in helping you Rp ingame, and Rping and Rp adventuring ingame with anyone else for that matter.

Skookum

I wonder if it is going to make it more difficult to find people who want to RP because they don't have a server dedicated to it like it WoW, The looking for people walking idea is great one, It is very true

Sue_D_Nim

Skookum wrote: »

I wonder if it is going to make it more difficult to find people who want to RP because they don't have a server dedicated to it like it WoW, The looking for people walking idea is great one, It is very true

Yes, the lack of a dedicated RP server is a shame. At least it would be nice if they'd give us a /RP chat channel or toggle-able RP tags for our characters like they have in LOTRO, but I know they won't. On the other hand, I look at it this way. RPers WILL find one another one way or the other, either on forums like this, or in game. It's such a pleasant thrill to be walking along and come across somebody who bows to you or speaks to you in /say. It's like finding a treasure chest. It's almost more fun that way than a prearranged meeting.

That said, there's another thread around here someplace where some of the Ebonheart Pact roleplayers are already having a Tavern Night event to meet and RP on launch night. I wonder if the other pacts would want to put together something like that? I'd spearhead the Aldmeri Dominion one, but I'm far too lazy and also can't guarantee my play times. (Not to mention that I'm still in the staring area!)

Rastafariel

Great Idea! I will ask my Guild if they want to sponsor a Tavern Night for RPers [Daggerfall Covenant] at Launch tomorrow... or for that matter, on the first weekend, where people might be more comfortable with the game and there might be more people on.

Sue_D_Nim

Rastafariel wrote: »

Great Idea! I will ask my Guild if they want to sponsor a Tavern Night for RPers [Daggerfall Covenant] at Launch tomorrow... or for that matter, on the first weekend, where people might be more comfortable with the game and there might be more people on.

First weekend is a much better idea.

Delte

Skookum wrote: »

I wonder if it is going to make it more difficult to find people who want to RP because they don't have a server dedicated to it like it WoW, The looking for people walking idea is great one, It is very true

I walk around towns and cities if there is no fighting going on.

reagen_lionel

Only problem with that is, that its very easy to mistake a player as an npc. So you could easily miss someone, and there is also the case with the phasing and instancing. I have a hard time just simply looking for people in my guilds and friends list.

JonathanJeweet

reagen_lionel wrote: »

Only problem with that is, that its very easy to mistake a player as an npc. So you could easily miss someone, and there is also the case with the phasing and instancing. I have a hard time just simply looking for people in my guilds and friends list.

I agree that this is an issue.

It would be nice to have the option to choose for an RP-phase.

MercyKilling

reagen_lionel wrote: »

Only problem with that is, that its very easy to mistake a player as an npc.

Protip: When you point your cursor at an NPC, you just see their name. It's right under the compass.
When you point your cursor at a -player-...you see their LEVEL and their name. Number and name. Right under the compass.

I've -never- had a problem telling the difference between an NPC and a player.

NPC's you can interact with require the E key press, and it tells you so when you're "looking" at them(IE, targeting them in the crosshairs) while players require the F key.

It's really not that hard to tell between the two. Even without chat bubbles and name plates.