tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7288246453268952191.post2809221022916833313..comments2023-11-02T05:51:30.624-07:00Comments on rocket number zero nine: Yeah, I role-play. What about it?Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663408988272116822noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7288246453268952191.post-55461704058245971952007-05-20T09:28:00.000-07:002007-05-20T09:28:00.000-07:00Um... right. On that note, NWN pwns n00bs. And reg...Um... right. On that note, NWN pwns n00bs. And regardless of whether the campaigns are actually RPGs or not, they're still a ton of fun.<BR/><BR/>I can't wait to get back on Thain (a server on NWN) when summer starts.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16017556567214650599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7288246453268952191.post-85158617250227057352007-05-20T02:39:00.000-07:002007-05-20T02:39:00.000-07:00Picture time!!!!http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivati...Picture time!!!!<BR/>http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivational/images/roleplaying.jpg<BR/><BR/>http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivational/images/cthulu2.jpg<BR/><BR/>http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivational/images/cthulu3.jpg<BR/><BR/>http://llbbl.com/data/RPG-motivational/images/escapism.jpg<BR/><BR/><BR/>Seriously, though, well, I suppose that was kinda serious, anyway. So, I go on SD.net today, check around the forum, it's where I get most of my news, and I check off-topic, and there's this topic that just started about role-playing. Then I come here, and BAM!, a blog post about role-playing. Are you on SD.net, Matt?<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I know and inherrently understand that the average person doesn't really understand what roleplaying IS. Some people will automatically think you mean sexual roleplaying, and most others believe that something like, say, WoW, Diablo II, the Final Fantasies, actual campaign NWN, that they are what role-playing is, when they're really not. Why not? Well, several reasons, really.<BR/><BR/>Reason the First: Limited to no meaningful choices available to the player. Consider, for instance, Diablo II "Do I kill these guys, or go over there and kill those guys then come BACK and kill these guys?" The player and his character is more or less set on a path that they can not stray from much, if at all. You can't help Diablo and his brothers return to the world in exchange for immortality or power, you can't help Fenthick escape and say you killed him because you know he is actually a good human (half-elven) being. This reason can also be called the inability of the PC(s) to alter the story by their actions.<BR/><BR/>Reason the Second: Gross over-simplification of morality/consequences/available actions. Closely related to Reason the First, but dissimilar enough to warrant being a reason of its own. In a game like, say, KotOR, you are often allowed choices in your interaction with people and events. Ostensibly, there are good choices and bad choices. With very few exceptions, the evil actions consist of "Argh! I are brutal, I stab you!" You can not be a subtle, conniving, planning evil. Obviously this isn't going to be present with Reason the First at almost any time.<BR/><BR/>Reason the Third: Character background, largely, doesn't matter. Let's say I'm playing WoW and I've got my character goin', say a Dwarven Priest, and I've got this long, comprehensive background on him. Stuff about his ancestors because, as a dwarf, he cares greatly about these things, why he chose to join a Holy Order when all his brothers became miners and fighters and archers and whatever. It doesn't matter, not really. Why? Mainly because of the above reasons.<BR/><BR/>Okay, I'm very, very intoxicated and sleepy right now, so I'm just gonna start rambling. Railroading != RPG. If I am forced to go somewhere or do something, even if I feel it is not what my <B>character</B> would want to do, then I'm not playing a role-playing game. It just isn't. Speaking as a pen & paper RPG veteran I know that, in my experience as both a player and a GM/DM/Narrator/Keeper/etc., that the most memorable sessions, campaigns and adventures are the ones where the party goes a completely different way than was expected. Why? Because it sends a message the GM, "You don't own us, you aren't our boss!" I realize, of course, that in the P&P realm this isn't always possible and is often very frustrating, but it is also the cause of some of the best experiences. It also is a way for the PCs to actually alter the game world, assuming the GM doesn't make some cheap cop-out Deus Ex Machina or something. "Wait, Jeff!" I hear you saying, "In OC NWN the hero of Neverwinter DOES change the world of Faerun," NOTE: Screw accents. Screw 'em, "He does all that stuff and stops the great impending doom and yadda, yadda, yadda," First of all: That is actually an instance of the PC restoring the status quo, although this doesn't matter. Second of all: The people who wrote the game's storyline <B>already knew</B> how this was going to end. So it's not an unexpected change, which is the important thing. To me, at least.<BR/><BR/>Long story short: Aside from things like PW RP servers for NWN, I refuse to acknowledge basically any video game as an RPG. Also? Call of Cthulhu = Awesome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com