What ever happened to Role Playing?

[mistergone]

What happened to NOT STEALING MY NAME?!?!?!








Oh and Whoohoo! 500 posts!

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

Those are my thoughts on this subject. If you want to call be a troll all you'll be doing is showing the rest of the ENWorld community how small and shallow you are.

I won't call you a troll. I'll call you a guy in dire need of getting over himself.


Patrick Y.

 

[Dark Jezter]

"role-playing isn't dead, it just smells funny"

TS

Or...

"Real roleplayers don't die, they just smell that way."

 

[Nightfall]

Obviously...you've not playing in any of my games...or my friend's Ash's Midnight campaigns. Trust me, there's plenty going on that doesn't get seen here. While I love this board...doesn't mean it shows what is ACTUALLY going on at times.

 

[William Ronald]

I have had hour long sessions of games where no dice were rolled, and where role playing and social interaction were key. Sometimes we had sessions where the excitement of the game was finding a rare piece of information, or finally winning over a reluctant ally.

The original poster should check out the Story Hour form, the Gaming forums, and all the questions on the nature of alignment, different races, and character concept. Indeed, even on the thread about fighters who don't use swords there was a discussion of religious and cultural impact on weapon choices.

I have had some great experiences at conventions role playing in different events. Indeed, without role playing it would have been impossible to complete the events.

Role-playing is alive and well as far as I can see. Even back in 1st edition, my group had such things as romance, politics, and mysteries. I would like to argue that it is up to us to decide what sort of game we want to play in our own groups. Perhaps we should not so much look at a "superior style of play"-- which is a subjective matter -- as at what we can learn from different styles of play.

 

[Tsyr]

If you want to call be a troll all you'll be doing is showing the rest of the ENWorld community how small and shallow you are.

What if the rest of ENWorld agreed with whoever called you a troll?

Anyways, is this roleplaying?

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=42200&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

 

[Voneth]

It seems all that is ever discussed on these boards is mechanics... skills, feats, abilities, etc. All computer geek type qualities of D&D.

We must remember that 1st and 2nd editions brought us "role playing" and as much as I positively adore 3rd edition and 3.5 it seems it appeals to a large group or "computer gamer" types who just build their characters for "optimization" (or power gaming). No souls just numbers.

That is a matter of perspective. My "clique" regularly commented that "if we wanted to dungeon crawl, we'd just play D&D" waaay back during 1st edition.

I was on a personal mission to rescue gamers from D&D so that I could "enlighten" them about true role-playing compared to (wait for it ... wait for it ....) roll playing. LOL!

It wasn't until I got back into D&D via 3rd editon (a version that basicly rolled up all the mechanics that I had been using for years in different games into one mediocre game that never the less has the pull to bring people to my table, no matter what game world I shoehorn into it), that I learned some people actually roleplayed in D&D 1st and 2nd editions, by what I define as role play.

It's all a matter of perspective

In fact, you know the RPG world has changed when D&Ders are talking about storytelling and White Wolfers are being labled as muchkins. LOL!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Take a look at the number of posts on these boards regarding crunch versus fluff. T'is a rare person who prefers the fluff over the crunch. Forgetting in their eagerness to kill people and take their stuff , that the 'fluff' is just as necessary for a full RPG expenience as the 'crunch' is.

I wouldn't say "rare." I'd say that the majority of posts deal with mechanics, but much of that is simply people trying to figure out rules questions, which is one of the major purposes for a discussion board like this. My own perception of it is that the balance of mechanics/fluff threads is something like 60%/40%, respectively. That's just how it seems to me on the General Discussion board.

To put it another way, leave the fluff out and you might as well be playing a war game.

True. But the original poster was encouraging us all to return to the old ways, when roleplaying was the norm. My contention is that the old ways were back when the game was, indeed, just a step removed from a war game.

How to correct the problem:

1. Remember that it's a roleplaying game, and that you can engage in social activities during the course of a session.

2. Include guidelines for awarding XP for activities other than killing. Negotiating, information gathering, running away, or surrendering for example. "Joe, for recognizing those guys could bet the crap out of you and booking like a terrified rabbit, 100 XP."

3. Obvious roleplaying advice. Stuff like, "The elves from this land are nowhere near as 'stuck-up' as those from others. Not that they're exactly friendly, but they are more apt to treat non-elves as small children rather than disgusting animals."

4. Remember that 'game' is only a part of an RPG. Along with elements of game there are elements of story, theater, and real life. By emphasizing 'game' over the other three you are missing a lot.

I'm sure you'll agree, as a long-time poster to these boards, that the points you discuss above - which are good points - have been discussed many times on these boards. The original poster contended that they weren't.

Those are my thoughts on this subject. If you want to call be a troll all you'll be doing is showing the rest of the ENWorld community how small and shallow you are.

I think people were calling the original poster a troll because of the basic tenor of the original posts, which didn't seem to indicate a true familiarity with this community. We've all seen this type of thing before, where someone who frequents another community or communities gets it into their head that EN World, because it is focused on d20/3e, is somehow nothing but a haven for rules-monkeys, and decides to enlighten us to the error of our ways (the "open dome gaming" guy is a really good example). I'm not saying the original poster is a troll; I was careful not to do that. However, it's understandable if people do assume that, given that the original poster did put people on the defensive with the way the original post was worded. I do think everyone needs to be given the benefit of the doubt; I hope to see the original poster come back to address many of the points made above.

 

[mythusmage]

I wouldn't say "rare." I'd say that the majority of posts deal with mechanics, but much of that is simply people trying to figure out rules questions, which is one of the major purposes for a discussion board like this. My own perception of it is that the balance of mechanics/fluff threads is something like 60%/40%, respectively. That's just how it seems to me on the General Discussion board.

Unfortunately, that's what gives people the impression we deal with nothing but the mechanics, especially when you consider how many posts deal with matters that are plain off topic.

Now, how many threads on this forum deal with actual roleplaying?

True. But the original poster was encouraging us all to return to the old ways, when roleplaying was the norm. My contention is that the old ways were back when the game was, indeed, just a step removed from a war game.

D&D has always had a problem with the roleplay part of it. But 3e makes it blatantly obvious. All the malarky about 'balance' and 'attacks of opportunity' etc. Not to mention 'Feats', something that (in my many years of experience) makes no dang sense at all.

I'm sure you'll agree, as a long-time poster to these boards, that the points you discuss above - which are good points - have been discussed many times on these boards. The original poster contended that they weren't.

He's new, that makes him a troll? Even if it is a troll, he's shown yet again who the insecure members of the ENWorld boards are.

"Oooh, MrGone has said bad things about my favorite game, I must throw a tizzy or people will think I don't love it more than life itself."

To be really insulting, these are the kind of people who give Christianity a bad name.

I think people were calling the original poster a troll because of the basic tenor of the original posts, which didn't seem to indicate a true familiarity with this community. We've all seen this type of thing before, where someone who frequents another community or communities gets it into their head that EN World, because it is focused on d20/3e, is somehow nothing but a haven for rules-monkeys, and decides to enlighten us to the error of our ways (the "open dome gaming" guy is a really good example). I'm not saying the original poster is a troll; I was careful not to do that. However, it's understandable if people do assume that, given that the original poster did put people on the defensive with the way the original post was worded. I do think everyone needs to be given the benefit of the doubt; I hope to see the original poster come back to address many of the points made above.

The chap could've done it better, on that I shall agree. A simple query re roleplaying in roleplaying games to solicit responses for example. Calm, measured, mature responses from the youngins would've been great too. But until the prefrontal lobes grow in there's not much you can do with 'em

[grownup talk]
A bit of advice from Uncle Mythusmage.

Kiddies, if you didn't act out whenever somebody trolled you, people wouldn't troll you.
[/grownup talk]

(Then again, if some people didn't get mad about something totally inconsequential, they'd have nothing to do all day.)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

He's new, that makes him a troll? Even if it is a troll, he's shown yet again who the insecure members of the ENWorld boards are.

Ah, but if you'll look at his initial post, he says he has read these boards and others for quite a while now. That means he's familiar enough with them, or at least implies that he is, enough so that his generalization about EN World, and its resulting impact, could easily have been anticipated. If he isn't that familiar with the boards, then he made a misstatement; if he is, then he made the statement knowingly. Either way, it's not surprising that people would call "troll."

"Oooh, MrGone has said bad things about my favorite game, I must throw a tizzy or people will think I don't love it more than life itself."

Well, I'll agree that maybe people are quick to call "troll," but, again, I think it's understandable in this case. I mean that with all due respect to the original poster if that wasn't the intent.