How do you role play?

Cryomatrix

For example in MMORPG online games, ill play like i do in real life, honest, no stealing or senseless griefing. Sharing items etc. 

In single player RPG i tend to do the same thing. No stealing or wanton murder. (Except in GTA 5 as the goal of the game is senseless violence) 

I just started kingdom come deliverance and realized that murder amd thievery pays well, but wont do it. (I had just saved my game and decided to see what happens if i kill a random person, saw that it was quite profitable and then got owned by a guard). That is how i figured out it is profitable.

I feel that in an online MMORPG theivery and lying and that crap is really bad as you are doing it to another player.

But single player is just pixels.

So what do you guys do in online and single player RPG?

Kyleran

Funny thing, when SWTOR first came out Ieveled a Rebel character to level 50 no problem.

Then I tried leveling an Empire character of some type but quit around level 20 or so. I just couldn't get into the choices I had to make in order to progress the mainline forward.

Even in ESO it sometimes forces me into difficult, irreversible choices like trading an NPC ally to a mad god for two skill points, where she would live insane, but happy for the rest of her life vs coming back with me only to be miserable forever.

I generally role play the good guy, even being neutral can be a challenge sometimes.

Theocritus

In EQ I used to like to take a Gnome or Dwarf and go kill Hill Giants or Ogres....The size difference made for alot of fun...I usually role played good vs evil also.

Wizardry

I act as i would imagine i would inside that game world.This is why i love survival games,you can fortify yourself,build cool structures how you want and a lot more role play stuff,just depends on how many tools the game gives me.

I do VERY little of the linear gameplay that most take part in,example i am in no rush to BEAT some boss but instead i try to enjoy the world and discoveries.

Gorwe

I generally just setup my characters as a sort of archetypes with some backstory. I rarely roleplay as in speak as my character would. But I enjoy immensely editing my character's aesthetics towards what I want to see and just generally being in the world.

Truth be told? My characters are characters, but they are also somewhat of avatars. They are never just "toons" to me, just no.

As for what I want vs what a character would do...that's a fascinating topic I could cover in another post.

iixviiiix

by just play your role ?

Kyleran

Xodic said:

True neutral, unbound by the constructs of good and evil.

It's been argued that playing true neutral is almost impossible for a human as their actions in game would have to be totally random with no regards to the situation at hand.

It would be akin to basically spinning the wheel and performing whatever action came up even if it made no sense.

Scot

I divide this into three areas, personnel, guild and roleplaying group.

Personnel is immersion, a form of nearly always solo roleplaying. I base this on my role playing group persona, this is is also a toon getting the job done, so it is strictly immersion.

Guild depends on how roleplaying the guild is. I prefer guilds that at least enforce roleplaying in guild chat but not heavy roleplaying guilds. This just means that instead of asking where "the crafters are in the hub" you say "Where are the crafters in Bree?" It sounds far trickier than it is. But you also tend to play your role to an extent at guild meetups and raids. Use your common sense, people meeting in the guild headquarters do a lot more roleplaying than people on a raid.

Group is where most of the roleplaying happens, you can't really have roleplaying akin to table-top unless you can interact with other role-players. Likely the group has met up with the specific purpose of roleplaying, some sort of scenario may well have been set up. But it is not just that; those calendar events MMO's have, imagine going to one of those with a roleplaying group, so much better than yet again the same Halloween based event. It has the fun (yes I said that dreadful word) of co-op within a MMO.

Nebless

Generally I role play by myself, in that I decide how I want my character to act and do all I can which that choice I've made;  If I'm a dwarf in LotRO I'm attacking any and all evil dwarves no matter the odds, for SWToR it's doing bad stuff as the good guy and good stuff as the bad guy.

I just set my personal backstory in my head and try to keep coloring inside the lines.

Mendel

I've always tried to have a quirk that made my character stand out.  I'd pray to a specific god, or I'd act like my character was cold, or I'd talk of faraway places my character would like to go (but was afraid).  Almost all of it was done with /say or /emote, a few times trying to walk appearing to be lost.  Most people would ignore me, but a few would engage and talk with me.  I had fun.  Others seemed confused and couldn't be bothered with role playing or listening to a story I was trying to act out.

cameltosis

How I roleplay is very much dependent on the game itself and what sort of roleplaying they allow. Most RPGs are extremely limited on what sort of roleplaying they allow through actual gameplay, so I guess a lot of my roleplaying comes from just making shit up.

I guess the main way I roleplay is through my actions in combat. I'm a combat focused player so combat is where I do most of my roleplaying. I will take the combat role I've selected (tank, dps, buffer or whatever), add the personality I've invented, then play it out through my actions.

A simple example of this is PvPing with my captain in LotRO. Captain is (was?) a buffer role, so the sensible way to play was to take it easy, keep everyone buffed and support others.

But, one of the spec lines was called "Lead the Charge" and was more damage focused, and my captain's personality was that of a battle hardened warrior. So, rather than playing optimally, I would genuinely lead the charge, fight from the front and get stuck in. Because that's what the role and personality demanded. It wasn't optimal, I could have ranked up quicker being sensible. But it was fun!

Likewise, most of my characters in an RPG will have some sort of genocidal tendency. Orcs and Dwarf characters are easy - just kill all orcs or dwarfs. In some of the Elder Scrolls, I've opted to exterminate scamps, or kill all the argonians.

The beauty of roleplaying, however, is experimenting and learning from it. I've played real evil characters, I've played ultra good, Frontline, backline etc. The best RPGs give you real, meaningful consequences to your choices. Most RPGs don't have any consequences, so the roleplaying is just cosmetic.

For example, when I've played real evil characters, robbed everyone blind and murdered 100s.......the worst I get is a fine. Thats a really, really bad lesson to be teaching gamers!

My favourite type of personality for roleplaying is the "by any means necessary" type. I'll support the good guys and will try to achieve the good goals, but im not really going to care about the methods used to get there. So, I'll happily murder people to achieve "good" goals.

Another one I enjoy is an "anti-politics" type personality. I'll help out others and try to do good in the world, but will steadfastly avoid getting involved in anything political.

Scorchien

Dam it , All this time i would lay on a table and pretend to be a bake good ,Guess ive been doing it wrong

Ungood

delete5230

Well, first the kids have to be out of the house, then turn the phone off and go down the basement and bring up the.... Oh sorry, that's a different type.

Theocritus

Scorchien said:

Dam it , All this time i would lay on a table and pretend to be a bake good ,Guess ive been doing it wrong

Yes thats "roll" play, easy to confuse the two........

ConstantineMerus

I'm not sure you'd really want to know and I am pretty sure my answer would be removed. But if you are determined to learn about my role playing techniques send me a private message. Just know this, once you learn, you cannot unlearn. 

Ungood

ConstantineMerus said:

I'm not sure you'd really want to know and I am pretty sure my answer would be removed. But if you are determined to learn about my role playing techniques send me a private message. Just know this, once you learn, you cannot unlearn. 

Hard Pass, I am content being a murder hobo in MMO's.

AlBQuirky

Generally, I roleplay as I am IRL: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This is not just a goody-two-shoes attitude as this also incorporates vengeance and revenge. I have no qualms about stealing from or outright killing terrible people

I have found, though, that way too many games make being evil equate to just being a dick. I'm NOT kicking that puppy or stealing candy from a baby. Nosireebob! I just don't find any "enjoyment" acting like that. Even single player games

Gorwe

AlBQuirky said:

Generally, I roleplay as I am IRL: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This is not just a goody-two-shoes attitude as this also incorporates vengeance and revenge. I have no qualms about stealing from or outright killing terrible people

I have found, though, that way too many games make being evil equate to just being a dick. I'm NOT kicking that puppy or stealing candy from a baby. Nosireebob! I just don't find any "enjoyment" acting like that. Even single player games

So, you would like if others stole from you or kicked your ass(masochist)? Sorry, just following this logic to its conclusion.

AlBQuirky

Gorwe said:

AlBQuirky said:

Generally, I roleplay as I am IRL: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This is not just a goody-two-shoes attitude as this also incorporates vengeance and revenge. I have no qualms about stealing from or outright killing terrible people

I have found, though, that way too many games make being evil equate to just being a dick. I'm NOT kicking that puppy or stealing candy from a baby. Nosireebob! I just don't find any "enjoyment" acting like that. Even single player games

So, you would like if others stole from you or kicked your ass(masochist)? Sorry, just following this logic to its conclusion.

Not at all. I don't want to do that to others so why would I want it done to me, let alone "like it."

On the other hand, if I stole from them without reason or kicked their ass "just for kicks", I'd deserve everything thrown at me

Sid_Vicious

Cryomatrix said:

For example in MMORPG online games, ill play like i do in real life, honest, no stealing or senseless griefing. Sharing items etc. 

In single player RPG i tend to do the same thing. No stealing or wanton murder. (Except in GTA 5 as the goal of the game is senseless violence) 

I just started kingdom come deliverance and realized that murder amd thievery pays well, but wont do it. (I had just saved my game and decided to see what happens if i kill a random person, saw that it was quite profitable and then got owned by a guard). That is how i figured out it is profitable.

I feel that in an online MMORPG theivery and lying and that crap is really bad as you are doing it to another player.

But single player is just pixels.

So what do you guys do in online and single player RPG?

I think that Conan Exiles has the best roleplaying atmosphere out of all MMOs.. because of being able to craft so much content! I really had a lot of fun spending months glued to my chair, enough to get a back injury from sitting too much... simply designing really cool roleplaying structures for others to come across and admire. I was designing all sorts of shrines, tests, pilgrimages, and other structures such as bars or an area like a school ground for my "slaves" to train and learn how to survive the wild. I would also color code everything and make smaller structures for purposes such as a bridge toll or whatever... maybe a fishing dock? 

Long story short, even though my name in the game is usually some ganker name such as "Lezbow the Impaler" . ... it feels completely like roleplaying since the crafting is so much fun! People tend to be a lot funner to play with, much more respectful, if you can make nice structures that are fun for the eyes with riddles to solve or what not. I have yet to be bothered with someone giving me a hard time with some grief and I always play on the full-loot ffa servers, which ever one has the most pvp.

Compared to that game it feels like other MMOs do not really offer any roleplaying... I mean you can get into the game and feel the immersion.. pretend that its "real" but let's be honest here... compared to making your own buildings or whatever its going to be a lame roleplaying experience.

Darksworm

Roleplaying died a long time ago. Only creeps do that.  FFXIV is a great game for that.

Sovrath

In online games, I tend to have a back story and some sort of made-up quest/mission in mind. It mostly kicks in when I solo.

In single-player games, I do the same though I can have an evil character. It seems when I play evil characters I play really evil characters.

hmmm well, more like Disney villains in my mind who are slight psychopaths.

I tend not to do thievery. So for example, even though I have several thousand hours in Skyrim, I've cone the assassin's guild quests (well both sides) but have never done the thieves guild. it always feels, at least in Skyrim, a bit dirty and skeevy.

I did them in Morrowind and in Oblivion they are more like robin hood sort of deals.

However, in a game such as Dark Souls I never kill the "innocent" npc's for their souls. So if they're not attacking me I don't kill them.

It just doesn't feel fun and I tend to adopt a certain type of immersion. for these things.

MonsutaMan

I don't really.....

The closest I come is engaging in parody stuff, in the form of artwork of my mmo character via forum sigs on the mmo community pages. I like to think I am funny.....so I make short comic gifs of my characters.

That is about it. I don't do anything in-game or RL really.

themarkwilkinson

I typically role-play some good guy who has solid morals, I've been into old rpg games for the past month, and runescape has been one of the games that got me into this.. recently i bought a lot of gold over at piegp and spent it one alot of items to get started lol.