Serious question about roleplaying

Rioghnan · July 2015

Let me say first, I love TES, I have for over a decade, and I truly don't want to make enemies with a bunch of fellow TES lovers. Just for liking these games I think it makes you awesome.

In light of this, I do have an honest question, and I mean this as just that, I want information straight out that's all. So I've noticed it seems like outside of my circle of friends (who are all a lot of great silly idiots), a lot of TES roleplayers are VERY GRAVE and SERIOUS. You can't just be random, you can't make a joke unless it's a seriously badass joke, etc. Is it fairly unacceptable to be a guy who thinks farts are funny and gets girls mostly by making them laugh? Can you be a bit irreverent and sheltered and not a hardened, cynical, battle-scarred sort whose past is full of tragedy, etc.? If so, I'd like to know. I don't care what many people think but in this case I do care.

Kazzy56 · July 2015

PS4 EU

Your roleplay character should be as you want them to be as long as they are in character. In life there are the serious, and the irreverant. The jokers, the tragic. So it is in RP.
There are right times for seriousness and right times for fun. Timing is everything.

Have a great Tamriel day.

Evi1_An9e1 · July 2015

A group of just badasses is pretty boring, if I wanted that id watch expendables. I love diversity in characters cause it can create inner struggle that will ultimately make friends or enemies just like real life. Think more like big bang theory, they all despise Sheldon at times but its not the same without him, those are the TRUE RPs.

Rioghnan · July 2015

Thank you both for answering. I have had experiences before where people found me more of a pain in the arse than funny and normally I don't care at all but for Elder Scrolls I do care!

ThePonzzz · July 2015

RP in this game is severely lacking, @Rioghnan. It's a shame, because there is a lot of potential. You'll be much better off in a text-based MUD/RPG, where RP still thrives. I've been involved in the same one for over twenty years now. I came to ESO hoping to find something, but definitely not worth the effort.

Evi1_An9e1 · July 2015

I would agree it is lacking but if you have experience in forum RP, its pretty much all we got at the moment that's the best option.

Dyna · July 2015

The PC community is doing pretty well for roleplay, but I understand the our console brethren are struggling a bit more!

I absolutely think there's space to have a comedic or humorous character in-game; there are plenty such characters interspersed with the more serious ones! My primary RP character is an angry one-eyed altmer, but my secondary RP character is a clueless bumpkin thief - I really enjoy both, even if their contributions to roleplay are very different.

You should check out this article I found linked to mmo-roleplay.tumblr.com -

http://thefreelanceangel.tumblr.com/post/123405260747/on-writing-style-mmos

It makes some really great points, and maybe some of what you're experiencing is a clash of writing styles? If someone else is RPing their stoic serious badass, and you're cracking fart jokes, I can see where the two roleplay styles might clash.

Rev Rielle · July 2015

ThePonzzz wrote: »

RP in this game is severely lacking, @Rioghnan. It's a shame, because there is a lot of potential. You'll be much better off in a text-based MUD/RPG, where RP still thrives. I've been involved in the same one for over twenty years now. I came to ESO hoping to find something, but definitely not worth the effort.

It's unfortunately true. In truth I put the blame for this on development and their limited (nonexistent) mechanisms in-place that can flag a player as a RPer. Not being able to see at a glance whether a player or not is likely to be receptive to RP completely stifles any innovation of RP in an MMO game, reducing it to largely pre-defined, OOC-based interactions through third party mediums (such as forums). It really is a shame, but it is what it is. Random, free-form, out-in-the-world RP that once use to be relatively common and amazing to be a part of, seems largely extinct. And along with it a whole high-quality level of immersive Role player.

Rioghnan · July 2015

Dyna, that's probably the case and I literally laughed out loud at me cracking fart jokes at some stoic character, that is likely a common scenario in my life in general. Hahaha!

borchan · July 2015

After having little succses with my scammer character im looking into being Spider-Man.
The basics is always jumping around trough cyradel with an templar magicka build. Instread of throwing that flame spell just pretend your throwing spider net.

Rioghnan · July 2015

Hahahahaha! Spider-Man. Are you dressed up like him?

Slonekb05 · July 2015

the back story you create for yourself is your back story. Not all people in TES lore or world are serious ppl. You could be a funny skooma addict lol. your story , your player. have a blast

MornaBaine · July 2015

As one of those "hardcore" RPers for many years I will say I have nothing against "irreverent" characters. I don't even mind the occasional OOC tomfoolery at times. Indeed some of that makes up some of my fondest memories of this game so far. That said, I'm just not a fan of fart jokes. LOL As in real life, you'll gravitate towards those who share similar personality traits and you'll avoid those who you find annoying.

Rioghnan · July 2015

Well yea, everybody's different and I wouldn't insist on bugging anyone who obviously found me annoying. I just wondered cause sometimes it seems like my friends are the only weirdos lol