State of Roleplay

Lavinya

Sad but true, sad but true. Basically my gripe was that just because you personally doesn't like the roleplay, doesn't mean the person is oocly ridiculous. Some people for example will be very squeamish irl about violent and gory rituals. It doesn't mean it's oocly stupid. Some people will oocly hate politicking, doesn't mean it's oocly bad. But if we want to foster and encourage rp, we need to realise we're not always going to like every moment of it and how it plays out. We all like different books, it's a matter of perspective on what each given person will think is a good or bad book. Even great books we love can have endings or elements that we might really not like, but it doesn't generally have us think the author is an idiot.

Tetra

There were a lot of salient points raised in this thread.

I'd like to share my two cents, not only as an avid roleplayer, but someone who has been on the "meta" side of things.  In a conflict-driven game like Lusternia, it requires a certain level of ambition to Make Things Happen™.  That means if you want to play a certain kind of character it may or may not require mechanical leverage to roleplay it 'confidently' or make it feel right for you. Examples include being in elected positions in your commune, guild, order, cartel -- what have you.  Now, before you start dissecting this, hear me out.  I do not think these things are necessary to experience good roleplay and be a good roleplayer yourself.

The whole concept of metagaming/OOC vs purist RPing is non sequitur in a game like Lusternia, where conflict is the driving force behind everything.  Depending on the player's disposition, much of this ambition fuels the fire for what we can call metagaming/metaplaying.

Yes, I have been in clans where the whole Council is politicking and decided things by OOC banter or conversation, and then roleplayed out accordingly.  That is not an incorrect or invalid way to play, but I do not feel it is healthy for the game, nor do I think it makes the division of IC/OOC clearer.  It actually blurs it much, much more.

Now I've pretty much sworn off this, because I know what happens with them.  I have watched people fight, hurt each others feelings, say incredibly nasty things about one another, and all over ridiculous things that happened in a game.  Plenty of people have quit playing because of these scenarios.

A good example of this would be the of founding Minstrels, which was handled OOCly, in a Skype call.  It was the biggest mistake and biggest lesson for me playing Lusternia.  Long story short?  Because I was so busy trying to please everyone and facilitate their roleplay experience, I ended up losing what was genuine; I began confusing myself to the point that I was unable to integrate my own concepts and vision for the guild, all the while everyone else was telling me what it should be.  Consequently in-fighting broke out, everybody was in a huff, and conversations that happened OOC(yes, I'm serious) were being brought IC when they never happened.

I cannot stress this enough:

Do not let others dictate to you how to roleplay your character.  Be in the conductor's seat of your roleplay; by doing so you'll not only find you enjoy the game more, but you contribute something to another player's experience.  If you're a new player and are uncertain what works, do it anyways.  The only way you'll learn is by trying.  Take time to absorb the world and prime yourself first.  Read up on whatever you can find.  Be open-minded, but do not be a doormat.

While you might not always know everything, and there are times where you will need to adapt and be flexible -- that does not mean minimizing your own creative intuition for the appeasement of others.  Do what you feel is organic for your character's progression. 

I have pre-written some absurdly elaborate and canon-questionable storylines for my characters, and very rarely do I ask for someone else's permission to do so.  Roleplay your story actively and let it unfold within the game world.  Not everyone will agree, but there is always someone(characters and Divine) who will be willing to support and nurture your storylines if you let them.  If you stick to your guns, your roleplay can become 'lore' or something close to it.