Discovery "RP" 24/7

[Haste]

I don't know how to start a post and I don't want to think too long and hard about how to do it, so I'm just going to randomly kick off somewhere and post - probably - an incoherent, rambly post. Enjoy.

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Discovery currently "markets" itself as a roleplaying server. It isn't. It isn't fooling anyone who actually spends a couple hours playing on it. Unlike other roleplaying communities (that I'm aware of), the roleplay-related server rules are minimally enforced, if at all. A significant amount of interaction, very often including (if not most commonly done by-) our supposed "exemplary" Official Factions, comes down to typing absolutely zero roleplay, dropping your favourite /l and/or /l2, and then blasting your target of choice.

I remember days where players whose characters were hostile to one another would still - sometimes - prioritize roleplaying with one another, realizing that they're both human beings in spaceships and that violence should be the last resort*. These days, nobody cares. The - often underwhelming - PvP followed by an empty, meaningless blue message, is all people are playing for. They're just going through the motions.

Let's face it. People are just playing themselves in the various spaceship-shaped PvP-sticks they enjoy. If anyone goes out of their way to roleplay, they're most of the time doing it just because they're chasing some special snowflake SRP. Discovery has moved further and further away from roleplaying just for the sake of roleplaying, to immerse ourselves in the game universe. I think this gradual decline of Discovery's roleplaying standards is something a lot of us barely even noticed until it was "too late" and we arrived where we are now.

So. Is this something we should change? I have some ideas for how to do so, but I'm mostly curious how the remaining community even feels. Are we happy with our current, zombified Discovery - a game with an interesting universe, that even with its rather limited chat options, still makes for a really cool roleplay environment (with, at times, pretty fun PvP gameplay as the cherry on top) - or would we rather try to change things around?

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*) No, I'm not saying that soldiers, in armies of nations that are at war, should have a chat over a nice cup of tea and biscuits rather than play their roles, but military characters and warring nations are not the only possible character archetypes and interactions in the Freelancer universe.

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[Typrop]

/l1 /l2 let me set aside RP over discord beforehand so i can get [indeterminate amount of shekels] with minimal conflict so i can achieve MAXIMUM OPTIMIZATION ROLEPLAY FOR MY FACTION that's invariably turned into a wholly unrecognizable mess so i can panhandle for free gibs from the devs more efficiently

Spoiler

More seriously though, roleplay issues extend beyond funny meme names and /l1 /l2 justification. They're the most visually prominent, yes, but I've seen a good deal of effort placed to do things with as little roleplay effort or risk as possible, much like a job for government contractors. Lowest price, technically viable solutions. Hence, accusations of discord diplomacy and panhandling for stuff from devs. Or, you know, being a dev and giving your faction stuff. This bizarre emphasis on "efficiency" and guaranteeing benefits before doing anything kind of kills roleplay, due to a present tendency to shy away from uncertain solutions and unpredictable scenarios in favor of safe, guaranteed shjooting and minimal in-RP discussion.

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User was banned for: They will know.
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[Miaou]

Discovery has been at best RP Lite since its birth. If you actually want roleplay that follows any sort of quality, you have to go elsewhere.

People only care about logging in to shoot things. The few that do roleplay or start doing forum story stuff are indeed chasing SRPs.

It's too late to change things Haste. Even you only log in just to shoot things with your Reaver or other [x] PvP faction. It doesn't matter anymore. Even those who say they want things for lore reasons just want toys and don't actually understand quality of setting or common sense. Discovery's community is mostly brain dead.

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Characters & Stories

[Venkman]

Let's face it. People are just playing themselves in the various spaceship-shaped PvP-sticks they enjoy. If anyone goes out of their way to roleplay, they're most of the time doing it just because they're chasing some special snowflake SRP.

Well said.

Disco these days revolves around bringing Caps and other ships to system X in order to shoot target Y even though it doesn't really makes sense for people to do that. The only argument that I'm hearing is "it's fun" or "it's good for activity".

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Orex Armaments

[monmarfori]

In my 10 year career playing Discovery I have always found that this server has both RP and PvP elements. Originally back then the player count was way higher than today, and there were a lot of opportunities for players to meet in any system. Of course it is hard to blend PvP and RP elements seamlessly so there are often times where the most logical solution is either of the two.

Also, remember that the playerbase is very diverse. You still get people who log for RP, others who log for PvP, others who simply powertrade or form large oorp groups, and others who aren't somewhat acquainted by the rules.

The game back then was full of weird stuff, which didn't fit well with the general RP environment, but now things are more original and realistic, so there is more RP potential here.

But even then, there's the mentality of target prioritization, where three (or more) mutually hostile groups focus on only one group without consideration for others and that ruins "fairness" observed by some people. Not only that, conflicts between houses in the Taus isn't justifiable by the RP development as there were no declarations of war, only a way to try to make the area more active.

Just my opinion. RP standards have to be improved so that even new players can enjoy the fun while not eliminating the PvP aspect of the server entirely.

[Haste]

Discovery has been at best RP Lite since its birth. If you actually want roleplay that follows any sort of quality, you have to go elsewhere.

Yes and no. The average level of RP probably wasn't much higher in the past, but I sure as hell remember flying around with my allies, roleplaying in group, local, and sometimes both. Nowadays, the only thing people use group chat for is.. Coordination. Why? Because they logged in to go shoot [Faction] together. ooRP group chat is convenient for the purpose of PvP coordination, which is all they're there for.

The highs are a lot lower and the lows have stayed about the same. The average has definitely gone down, and it doesn't have to.

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[AuruemSaber]

since Squiggly is a nice person and wont let me be brief about it, let me just say that much like caps currently I do not think the situation regarding rp will ever change and we will get the usual forum thread arguments then the thread gets locked and forgotten about.

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[Hokan]

Discovery has been at best RP Lite since its birth. If you actually want roleplay that follows any sort of quality, you have to go elsewhere.

People only care about logging in to shoot things. The few that do roleplay or start doing forum story stuff are indeed chasing SRPs.

It's too late to change things Haste. Even you only log in just to shoot things with your Reaver or other [x] PvP faction. It doesn't matter anymore. Even those who say they want things for lore reasons just want toys and don't actually understand quality of setting or common sense. Discovery's community is mostly brain dead.

This is the kind of thought process that ensures it remains or degrades further. Once you resign yourself to treat disco with no respect you begin to contribute to the degenerating process of its RP standard.

There is no such thing as the quality not being able to get better, or even get more players.
Squiggly and myself are relatively new to disco considering how long some of the others have been here for example.

PS I don't mean to pick on your here

[Tenshi]

The few that do roleplay or start doing forum story stuff are indeed chasing SRPs.

Haste also mentioned this on his first post, and while I am not against anything else that Haste said and completely agree with the existence of this thread, I gotta step in here and ask that we at least show some credit to the people who do roleplay with no end-goal in mind. Just because you (this being general, not pointed to Miaou) don't do it, doesn't mean nobody does it. I can name a number of people, including myself, that do a damn lot of roleplay just for the purpose of doing roleplay.

Hell, I've spent hours upon hours doing roleplay either in space, docked in a planet, in forums or even in discord for the sole purpose of doing roleplay. Roleplayers who do roleplay with no end-goal in mind still exist, and they're a lot more than you think. The problem is that people who flame said roleplayers for liking to do roleplay also exist, and that does make people lose interest in roleplay.

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[Typrop]

The only argument that I'm hearing is "it's fun" or "it's good for activity".

The activity meme is a weak justification, usually pushed by faction leaders who feel the need to justify why they need X or Y benefit. Among other things, I believe that devs seriously need to tighten the leash when it comes to faction leads screwing around and making a mess of the faction, and by extension the setting for the sake of their own particular brand of free stuff.

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