The Mirrorball Man said:
Tennis is also a leisure activity, but I'd rather play with someone who uses a racquet. I do think that even in RPG, there's a minimal amount of commitment required of everyone. Without that commitment, the game turns into a chat among friends, which is fine in itself, but it is something else.
So, if you were to play tennis with somebody who didn't use a racquet, would you speak with your opponent, and explain why using a racquet is preferrable?
If the person still refuses to play with a racquet, would you still play him and award yourself bonus points because you use one?
Same applies to D&D. Rather than awarding bonus points, explain to the players what your expectation is for your group. If they don't agree that your way of playing is fun, or if their way of playing ruins your enjoyment of the game, agree not to play together.
My old group had eight players. Three that really got into their characters, two that were middle of the road, and three that just were there for the fun of killing things and taking their stuff. Istarted out awarding roleplaying bonuses and what I ended up with was the "kill them and take their stuff" players began to resent that I had my "favorites" and gave them bonuses because I preferred the way they played the game.
It took a little while, but eventually we all understood what everyone wanted from the game. I made some adjustments (mostly in my own expectations), stopped giving roleplaying bonuses and we alll got along fine. The players who weren't into the roleplaying aspect were patient when we got into deeper roleplay with the other players - occasionally they would put a toe in the water and try a little more roleplaying themselves. The ones who were more into roleplaying had no problem when I would try to wrap up some roleplaying scenes a little quicker, or sometimes put them off until another session so we still had time for a good fight before the end of the night.
