this is the marketable term expressed in the development of freelancers multiplay. it was started by a game called freespace. Freespace was the king of online space combat at the time when freelancer came out and it was supported that official squads registered ward with others to take over systems or "nodes" by fighting on specific official mission maps.
I used to design these maps, and mod freelancer a great deal thats what landed me my job with crytek a milion years ago. The thing is at the time.. the genre was one of the largest trying to be copied.. it was an inkling of.. what was coming into true fruition ie MMo's.
every company wanted to have ad revenue and community interest in thier products and as badly as it was managed with freelancer this is what lies at the core of the multiplay aspect now. It was designed for squadwar.
On the role play aspect. Im sure these days acquiring a freelancer cd and the mod has more to do with the fact disco is the only server in the freelancer community with this kind of life. Call it a fluke.. call it satan call it one of the few alternatives thats free and worth exploring but whatever the cause discovery is discovery and folks who've been here through a few versions of the mod can fully feel what i mean by that.
Vlados problem is a simple one.. he aint looking hard enough.
Personally if his lpi wants tons of rp he needs to look into the rp heavy factions, the rp is out there and yes its hidden behind the armchair mole-person adrenaline rush junkies that get off on shooting sparkling dots into your ship. There is some expectation that you must arrange or set up abit of rp. but not too much.
I get alot of requests for nomad related rp that merely an induction to getting tech.. do you think im believing rp is being considered a means to an end? Yes for some but regardless of the occasional pirate that wants this or that from said factions the role play itself isnt about you being special or your character getting cyber laid or anything goofy as achieving this or that.
its about the story being told. the entertainment it instills. That takes a effort from you and the other party often without expectations of any kind what..so..ever.
If you have specific rp "needs" like good cop bad cop i suggest donning a secondlife viewer and go searching there.. there alot of kinks that are specifically catered to in that place.. and it might be more your speed.
but as far as this place is concerned.. some days are better then others lpi has a specific duty and the official faction should facilitate inter faction rp to its maximum. if they are not feel free to start your own unit.. and work from there.
Im not suggesting or saying anything I myself has had to do.. even when i joined the keepers from morphood i had to make my own rp make my own faction to facilitate it. and thankfully you can too.
