A Plea from an RPer

YourNameHere

Hopefully Zenimax looks at this and realizes the RP community is getting hurt.

Nearly all other MMOs have a place for RPers to get together, mainly a separate server or other way to have like minded people to gather. They have this for those who PvP, and those who like doing dungeons.

But because of the large megaservers, RPers have an extremely difficult time gathering or finding each other. It's like a game in itself. With no easy way to move instances, or to just gather in one spot, it is really hurting/killing the RP scene.

Many will probabaly state we are a small minority. But The Elder Scrolls universe is great for RPers! So rich in lore, and I am certain there are many who RPed in the single player game and dreamed of doing so in TESO. But the way the game is structured ... well ... it's a dream that is near impossible.

I have heard people say Zenimax was thinking of making some sort of flag or something so RPers could flag themselves. This way, when they zone or log in, it would put them in an instance with other RPers. Where is this?

Please don't read this wrong. I am not whinging or begging or throwing an 'I'll quit!' if you don't give me it. I already watched a wonderful RP guild dissolve, and another I am in lose nearly all it's members because RP is near impossible to find.

So I am asking you to please reconsider making this flag, or some other way to help RPers come together. We have a site, TESO-RP, that is trying to get events going, but as I stated before, near impossible when we're all spread out with no easy way to get to where something is happening.

Sariias

I've had issue finding other RPer's because of phasing as well. I'll even ask in zone chat if any Rpers are around or if there are any RP guilds around. I know they're out there, I just can't see them.

ThePonzzz

Yeah, it's been quite the struggle. An RP zone would be amazing. My problem is I want my RP to be organic. I don't want to ask over a guild chat, "Hey is anyone RPing in Windhelm?" I don't want schedule RP times. I just want it to flow naturally. I'd have loved an RP server, but I get that will never come to be. But a zone could definitely work. It would need to have no nodes, no monsters, and no leveled quests.

Jim_McMasterub17_ESO

RP community? ...where? ...

Xuxilbara

I agree with ThePonzzz, I'm that sort of person, too.

It's kinda sad. They made and make beautiful games, rich in lore, perfect for roleplay - and then make it superhard to just dive in and roleplay.

Maverick827

The profile system was cut, making RP pretty much impossible. I don't RP but I typically play on RP servers to avoid the unwashed masses, so to speak.

I really think this "mega server" concept hurt the game as a whole. I can understand a developer's want to avoid what happened to SWTOR, but I don't think mega servers are the solution.

Sariias

ThePonzzz wrote: »

Yeah, it's been quite the struggle. An RP zone would be amazing. My problem is I want my RP to be organic. I don't want to ask over a guild chat, "Hey is anyone RPing in Windhelm?" I don't want schedule RP times. I just want it to flow naturally. I'd have loved an RP server, but I get that will never come to be. But a zone could definitely work. It would need to have no nodes, no monsters, and no leveled quests.

I agree. I'll stroll into a few taverns and inns in various zones to see if anything is going on, and rarely find people. For all I know, the players are there, they're just phased.

Bangstin

Roleplayers should get a hint already. People who make and design mmos don't do them for roleplayers and you guys always end up dissapointed.
But that own 'phase' for roleplayers sounds like a great idea. Good luck with that.

Sariias

We know we're not high on the totem pole. No harm in asking.

Jim_McMasterub17_ESO

Bangstin wrote: »

Roleplayers should get a hint already. People who make and design mmos don't do them for roleplayers and you guys always end up dissapointed.
But that own 'phase' for roleplayers sounds like a great idea. Good luck with that.

...Wow...just...wow..

Bangstin

Sariias wrote: »

We know we're not high on the totem pole. No harm in asking.

You should definately try pursuing the own 'phase' for roleplayers idea. Most likely the biggest issue to hook up with similar minded people is that you can't find eachother?

Columba

Low priority when many players face basic functionality issues. Rprs should be creative enough to go find a gathering spot.

ThePonzzz

Columba wrote: »

Low priority when many players face basic functionality issues. Rprs should be creative enough to go find a gathering spot.

Again, it has nothing to do with being creative and finding a spot. The spot could have dozens of people, but you might not be in that phase, so you end up hoping someone arrives.

The guild system is flawed for RP. By default, you're chatting with user IDs and by nature that's OOC. But you can use your imagination. But then what you have to do is friend those people. And then travel to those people, so you're in the proper phase. But at that point, you're now just organizing sessions, because that's how the game works with the phasing.

GreySix

Never liked the idea of a megaserver, but alas - ZeniMax didn't ask my opinion on it.

Turelus

I don't support a separate server just for RP players but tools to ensure you're in the correct instance as others without playing group leaving/joining travel to player games would be nice.

However as you showed in the opening post the players have already got together and made websites and community groups for RP, now it's just working on tools to make things better, maybe more RP focused guilds for IC conversations.

aufischb16_ESO

I would love to see an RP- zone. Lore seems so crippled in ESO when compared to the other games in the Elder Scrolls series.

ShedsHisTail

Couldn't they just make it so certain areas are tagged for RP and find a way for characters to tag themselves to enter said areas? Like, say the Devs set every Tavern/Inn/Temple as "RP Areas."

For instance, imagine if you could just click a setting in you game menu that tagged you for RP; then, every time you enter an "RP Area" you would automatically be phased into the RP phase of that area.

It'd make it easy to meet up with other RPers in an organic setting and, once met, you could group up so you remained visible to one another in the outside world.

Of course, players not self-tagged for RP would just enter the boring version phase of these areas when they enter them.

Audigy

I met some RP in this game, a few examples...

1. Orc that wanted my Char to have warm feet, so he offered his boots (of course way too big) but its the gesture that counts isn't it?
2. A khajiit playing the guitar for a few of us in town.
3. A whole guild (I suppose?), chatting at an inn about how they could hunt vampires best.
4. Players sleeping in a camp in the forest
5. the occasional strip girl at the market place (questionable!)

Right now these things are still not the norm, but they happen. It would indeed be fun if there could be some type of RP feature. A skill line that can be used to make the Char more appealing for other Role-players by offering custom made titles, clothing lines and maybe RP specific skills etc.

A own server sounds not so perfect to me, it would exclude us from the world wouldn't it?

Sariias

Audigy wrote: »

A own server sounds not so perfect to me, it would exclude us from the world wouldn't it?

It would. I don't roleplay all the time, and there's not a big enough population to support such a server.

GreySix

Sariias wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

A own server sounds not so perfect to me, it would exclude us from the world wouldn't it?

It would. I don't roleplay all the time, and there's not a big enough population to support such a server.

Seems lots of folks look at exclusionary servers as a bad thing.

I don't.

Pintobean

I vote for an RP server. I will play a skooma addicted junkie in prison clothing that mines and collects jute 20 hours a day, with the name 'afgjiks' (which is junkie speak for 'Alex'.) If I could only put a brown spot on my ass for the diarea effect and in ingame FART every 20 seconds, I would play for years, or until I ran out of cheetos.

Moonraker

Paul Sage mentioned in his recent interview with MMORPG that they wanted to provide more tools for RP community so hopefully this will bear fruit;

Paul would also like to see more tools added in the game for role players. He doesn’t have any specific plans at the moment, but says that he wants to find ways that people can reward others for inspiring great in-game experiences.

source

Would be great if they resolve the phasing and added the RP group preference. Also they could add a separate place just for RP like the Mage Guild Eyevea which has a nice feel to it.

pborerb16_ESO

ThePonzzz wrote: »

The guild system is flawed for RP. By default, you're chatting with user IDs and by nature that's OOC. But you can use your imagination. But then what you have to do is friend those people. And then travel to those people, so you're in the proper phase. But at that point, you're now just organizing sessions, because that's how the game works with the phasing.

I agree, especially regarding the flawed guild system (which is flawed in many other ways). Well, one workaround is to prefix your utterances in guild chat manually with something like [Name of character], so there's still your user ID, but people immediately know which character is speaking...

ciannait

In a way, it almost makes it all the sweeter when I run into RPers "in the wild". I'm questing in a 15-20 zone (hi, I'm a newb) and went to the inn to talk to an NPC, and discovered a group of RPers sitting around the fire, shooting the breeze. I popped off a tell, saying they made my night. I'm sick with a cold and my head's as thick as a brick or I'd have joined them. It was lovely.

Sariias

GreySix wrote: »

Seems lots of folks look at exclusionary servers as a bad thing.

I don't.

Depends on personal preferences, of course. There aren't that many griefers in this game than there were in World of Warcraft. No lines of naked Gnomes, no racial slave auctions (based on real world racism not in-game lore racism), no one spamming to a large degree other than bots. The exclusion for peace isn't so much of a big deal here as it is in other MMO's.

I also enjoy the random element of encounter non-roleplayers. They're something to talk about, and sometimes those players even join in, and you might have just introduced a new player to roleplay.

YourNameHere

Bangstin wrote: »

Roleplayers should get a hint already. People who make and design mmos don't do them for roleplayers and you guys always end up dissapointed.
But that own 'phase' for roleplayers sounds like a great idea. Good luck with that.

Actually they do.

EverQuest had an entire RP server of Firiona Vie with their own set of rules.

Games, such as EQ2 have 2 RP servers. FF14 and LoTRO have communities that 'chose' servers for their RP communities.

Even Champions Online and DC Universe has roleplayers and they have/had one server!

So saying RPers are not 'wanted' or are not thought of is wrong. The community finds ways to work with what is there, but Zenimax just didn't make good decisions in some things. Even if we had a way to make private channels RPers could join (like EQ2 does) or find an easier way to meet up (like with flags) it would be great.

Columba wrote: »

Low priority when many players face basic functionality issues. Rprs should be creative enough to go find a gathering spot.

Oh we have many spots. There are tons of great places to RP in ...

But as many have pointed out (and many seem to just overlook for some reason) the shards/instances kinda make it hard. You could be standing next to another RPers in the same building, but you wouldn't know since you are in two different instances!

As for priority, apparently Zenimax didn't think putting basic bot protection in the game at creation or fixing blatant known bugs in Beta was a 'priority' .. hmmmm.

Turelus wrote: »

I don't support a separate server just for RP players but tools to ensure you're in the correct instance as others without playing group leaving/joining travel to player games would be nice.

However as you showed in the opening post the players have already got together and made websites and community groups for RP, now it's just working on tools to make things better, maybe more RP focused guilds for IC conversations.

Yes, TESO-RP is making events up, but how hard do you think it is to get it set up so EVERYONE interested is in the same spot? It's not like you can just walk into a tavern and see everyone there. Nope. Gotta hunt them down through search by handle, friend them, travel to them, hope you can in case the shard isn't full to keep from going there ....

And there are quite a number of RP guilds out there ... some who have disbanded because the tools in TESO suck and getting RP is hard.

Not a whine, it's fact.

Sariias wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

A own server sounds not so perfect to me, it would exclude us from the world wouldn't it?

It would. I don't roleplay all the time, and there's not a big enough population to support such a server.

How would this exclude RPers from the world? People can quest and do everything the same as PvE and PvPers. Geeze, it makes RPers sound like they are lepers or something.

It has worked in other MMOs. And I don't want them to make a separate server because I know they won't. But more tools to help would be nice.

And don't worry. Even if they did, trolls would go to the RP servers and so will the bots and goldspammers. *shrugs*
~~~~~

For me personally, I have not found RP outside of the guild I am in. And I'm all the way in the Alki'r Desert. Normally I would just go to a particular spot like a tavern, and there it would be. But doesn't work that way here. I can go days without finding any.

Even letting us make personal chat channels, even to take up one guild slot, could help immensely.

Thanks everyone for their comments!

madfeldoreb17_ESO

I try to roleplay whenever I can and even though I do it like "casual", I love it anyway. I have failed manytimes (if you can, to be honest when roleplaying) and will in the future too, I mean especially if I start something in zone chat - whoaaa:) I was a bit bored (very rare in this game for me!) and went on answering to another WTB WW / Vampire bite comment. The channel was a bit quiet, well, this picture only shows small part of the answers:)
First time I try to add a picture, hope it comes ok(?)

PS. I am Feligar there and I hope it is ok to post chat. Nothing that big here but, I guess I found this funny, especially the *uck comment which came almost immediately.

Oh well, seems I can't add a picture here, anyone can help? I tried to upload it here but seems it doesn't work for some reason. To have url for it, well I guess I need to have a place then, which I don't have atm. My post is half useless without the pic then:)

Cheers....

Arwyn

Sorry but I like how it is, for one I who have never RP'd before have actually tried it, if anything having the RP'rs around has probably increased their population a tad.

My attempts have been miserable though and the poor chap(s) who have been doing it with me have probably got sore foreheads by now....

DragonMother

Well, the hardest part of keeping an active group of roleplayers is the phasing issues. Because I have a lot of folks from different factions, not all of us can appear in the same location. Perhaps a blackmarket region, or something for neutral grounds at some point would be of interest? Personally I'd love to have a custom chat for rpers to meet up, organize and gather at, but it's very hard to do considering the phasing between the megaserver and the locations in the game world.

d0e1ow

The amount of RP hate you guys are getting from these bro-gamer scrubs in an Elder Scrolls game is really, really disappointing to see.

RP'ers need more support in this game. I'd -love- to RP in this game because I actually can take the world seriously and enjoy the lore, but alas, I'm stuck with XoxoYOLObroseidonXOXO spamming chat about someone's mother.

I like the megaserver and then I don't like the megaserver. If they'd just add in a little more player control to the system then I'd probably be able to mitigate some of the poo poo that comes with it.

DragonMother

d0e1ow wrote: »

The amount of RP hate you guys are getting from these bro-gamer scrubs in an Elder Scrolls game is really, really disappointing to see.

RP'ers need more support in this game. I'd -love- to RP in this game because I actually can take the world seriously and enjoy the lore, but alas, I'm stuck with XoxoYOLObroseidonXOXO spamming chat about someone's mother.

I like the megaserver and then I don't like the megaserver. If they'd just add in a little more player control to the system then I'd probably be able to mitigate some of the poo poo that comes with it.

Seconded. Chat tools are fine to a certain degree, but let's have some more functionality options, like custom channels for better organizing!