Backstage - OOC Forums
EVE-Online RP Discussion and Resources => EVE OOC Summit => Topic started by: Louella Dougans on 04 Jun 2011, 08:44
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Soap: Characters personalities are in conflict. Social occasions, conversations, interactions and gossip are the major battlegrounds and weapons, escalating into assassinations in space, wars and exploding things.
Ideology: Characters ideas are in conflict. Forum debates, news articles, are the initial sources of disagreement, escalating into wars and shooting.
Power: Characters economic, military or other material goals are in conflict. Parking your tanks on someone else's lawn is the start of things. Wars and explosions soon follow.
I would say that mostly, it is the ideology that I like more, when there is enough PF to make it interesting. E.g. the difference of opinion with the Sani-sabik space nuns that led to the Doll Wars, and the interpreting of Scripture that I engage in with some of the more traditional Amarr characters. I also like a bit of soap from time to time, depending on the characters involved, e.g. when I took various people shopping for things for a social function.
What do you prefer doing?
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I like a balance of the three. I dislike overemphasis of one of the three types provided to choose from.
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I usually do ideology, filtered through soap. I avoid power like the plague -- ICly because power can attract the attention of more powerful entities (which has historically been a bad idea for most of my characters) and OOCly because I just don't have that kind of time to invest.
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I try for a good mix of the three, but generally end up being drawn into Soap rather often.
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Trying to focus primarily on power, with occasional forays into soap.
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Mostly Ideology, with the ocational power trip and some soap, but not much.
I preffer to stay in the ideology department in regards to RP - I find the entire idea that bigger power = higher right to oppinion to be absurd, and don't like the pitfalls this brings at times. Nothing annoys me more thaa some pompus prick telling me my oppinion is irrelevant unless I take my 7-man corp or whatever and declare war on their mega-alliance to somehow shut them up and verify my argument's right to be made.
On the other hand, soapy soapy personal stuff bores me, if done in public. I don't care if your pregnant. I don't care about any details about your personal relationships. Why do I need to know? Why are you sharing this in public even? If anyone wanted to talk to me about anything personal they better be someone my toon likes or can tolerate or they feel they can trust, and it better be in relative privacy. The whole world don't need to know about this stuff.
Lastly, in ideology, maintaining one's oppinion and statements about X Y Z - it's all perfectly fine. But once you have informed us 2-3 times one would think we got the picture. There is no need to repeat one's publicly posted vitrol towards faction X that you hate; it atually get's bothersome and boring in the longer run. Also, people totally unable to realize that it is possible to offer some degree of minimal respect despite not liking a person's goal or actions or faction of choice or whatever, annoys me. One can afford to be somewhat civilized and still hold to an idea or don't like another idea, you know :bash:
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I find the entire idea that bigger power = higher right to oppinion to be absurd, and don't like the pitfalls this brings at times. Nothing annoys me more thaa some pompus prick telling me my oppinion is irrelevant unless I take my 7-man corp or whatever and declare war on their mega-alliance to somehow shut them up and verify my argument's right to be made.
From my perspective, this isn't necessarily what "power" RP means. For example, the acquisition of resources (including ISK, data, and influence) qualifies, or at least that is closer to what I meant. I guess political and diplomatic RP between leaders of large organizations could be a part of that, but it can include more than that, too.
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In Kyber's case, it's not unlike what Vieve said -- ideology with a soapy face. The exact ratio varies depending on context and subject matter, of course; Kyber being the toastery sort he is, ideology tends to take the leading role, whether he likes it or not.
In situations where he's with people he gets along with (or just not around people who are 'grr, Nation', depending), the ideology stuff usually takes a back seat compared to the soapier noise. Power's never really generated enough out-and-out conflict for Kyber, yet, much to my surprise; we'll see what happens as time passes, I suppose, but my limited exposure to that side of thins makes it hard for me to judge with any degree of accuracy.
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Power Soap.
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On the other hand, soapy soapy personal stuff bores me, if done in public. I don't care if your pregnant. I don't care about any details about your personal relationships. Why do I need to know? Why are you sharing this in public even? If anyone wanted to talk to me about anything personal they better be someone my toon likes or can tolerate or they feel they can trust, and it better be in relative privacy. The whole world don't need to know about this stuff.
Oh, agreed. I can't think of a single character of mine (except maybe Suosio, but since she's not a capsuleer, she doesn't count, right?) who likes their personal business discussed in public, unless they're doing so. One can assume if they're doing so, there's a reason, and they're very much managing the content. :twisted:
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Hm, soap can be a bit dollhousey, but I suppose I'm into the intense character-driven RP that is influenced by ideology (the public facade being this)
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Hm, soap can be a bit dollhousey, but I suppose I'm into the intense character-driven RP that is influenced by ideology (the public facade being this)
'Dollhousey'? Could you explain the term? Only reason I ask is that characters're (typically) more than just faction or ideology, and plenty of very enjoyable RP that I've had hasn't even factored in the ideology of any involved characters -- or, indeed, anything beyond their various personalities.
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Dollhouse is when the RP is less about the universe and invented characters, but just players playing with dolls (avatars) just purely to have happy-clappy fun and "everyone getting along with everyone" stuff. Not necessarily bad one bit, just not my thing. Miz coined the term as "come and play in our channels" sorta deal.
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I would have argued that a lot of 'soap' RP has the exact opposite issue of people drumming up teh dramaz for the sake of teh dramaz, honestly, but I've never ran into any major instance of what you described. Characters in conflict for whatever reason can be just as enjoyable as characters who get along like a house on fire, surely?
In any case, cheers for the clarification; the rest is probably a matter for another thread.
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I think it interesting all three of your options end up in explosions 8)
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What I like: Ideology conflict. A different worldview of what makes the cluster spin by varying parties that disagree causing good character altering discussion/debate(IC). Violence over ideology isn't my preferred reason for violence, would like to keep the violence segregated to the 'business' side of EVE for Inara.
What I actually face: Ideology conflict that others tend to instantly escalate to Power conflict. Inara's worldview is not a common one, and many have turned to violence because they disagree with her... which is okay too, because watching their ships ASPLODE is sometimes satisfying. It doesn't help that Inara is irritatingly polite (most of the time), and won't raise her voice, preferring to talk to someone who disagrees with her like she's talking to a child that needs to understand. And Power conflict has always gone in my favor... so far.
As for Soap, well I enjoy a little of it mixed in, but usually as more the lubrication between the joints of the Ideology and Power conflicts. Constantly present, but not the focus of the situation.
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Need moar POWAH!
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I like it when everyone gets into the conversation.
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I like a mix of all three. I'm not a big fan of the soapbox, but it depends on how its done.
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A good mix isn't bad.
I had a great "session" with Leo Caine recently. It was just Sinjin and Leo and Leo's slave sitting around, having a drink and discussing business, mutual aquaintences and ideologies. Verbal fencing at it's finest. 8)
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Ideology for mine, with a side order of the others.
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Like Scagga said. Though it depends of the character I am playing (but obviously I have only one main, the rest are story supporting characters). Depending of the character in question I will probably touch one side more than the other sides. With Lyn it is more about ideology (coupled with a little power), but this is mainly the public side. There is a little soap on common day to day channels, though it has always remained quite soft for now (no big character to character drama cooked with utterly dramatic sauce of hurted feelings and emotion).
I have no preference for one upon the 2 others. What matters for me is the quality and entertainement of the roleplay in question.
I would have argued that a lot of 'soap' RP has the exact opposite issue of people drumming up teh dramaz for the sake of teh dramaz, honestly, but I've never ran into any major instance of what you described. Characters in conflict for whatever reason can be just as enjoyable as characters who get along like a house on fire, surely?
In any case, cheers for the clarification; the rest is probably a matter for another thread.
I have seen both.
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Ideology motivated by a hidden well of (largely internalized) soap, with power as a means to various related ends.
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So here's a thing, right.
I don't actually like PvP very much. That's not to say I won't do it when it's required of me, or that I actively run from every possibility of a PvP engagement. I just... really don't enjoy it very much, at least not right now. If other people have fun PvPing, more power to them, but right now, I just don't find it all that fun - it might be because of the small size of Mixed Metaphor and my relative inexperience, but it's not what I pay my subscription for right now. So basically, I'm always going to respond better to characters whose players don't expect me to spend real-world time and money on doing something I don't find all that fun.
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Power & Idealogical.
Power: Characters economic, military or other material goals are in conflict. Parking your tanks on someone else's lawn is the start of things. Wars and explosions soon follow.
Sometimes explosions do not follow or it may be fought via proxies.
Need moar POWAH!
I think it is fair to say there is a power and idealogical struggle going on between I-RED and LDIS. It's foundation is the struggle between Liberal and Patriot Caldari corporations. This bleeds over into conflict over areas of focus, for example domestic development vs foreign markets (Black Rise vs Providence or Placid & Syndicate). There is also a struggle for leadership of the State's capsuleers and their support.
Are these conflicts likely to turn into shooting matches? Most likely not direct ones as the appearance of a unified front is important.
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I enjoy all three in a regularly-rotating dosage :)
Although I think for my absolute favorite interactions I enjoy humorous verbal battles of wits / conversations/ sparring more than anything else.
Finding a particularly good quip or witty remark at the right time in a real-time IC comm channel is just the bee's knees as far as I'm concerned. Some of my favorite interactions have been the ones that end up as hilarious witty interjections from friends and enemies.
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I'm going to answer this in a general sense because I'm not fond of picking any of those.
My favorite RP is when I can't predict what's going to happen (be it combat, debate, or a casual chat in a bar) and they can challenge my characters and bring them out of the box, so to speak. I least enjoy racial politics- the discussion has already been anticipated the moment the discussion started and pretty much has to end in space with killboards and the usual one-upsmanship that happens in the rest of EVE, which I could sincerely do without.
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RP with explosions in space, so 'power' mostly.
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I like stuff related to actual stuff happening in the game rather than drama-llama suff.
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I think it interesting all three of your options end up in explosions 8)
Especially considering how rarely explosions actually seem to happen when RPers are involved (at least in my experience).
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I think it interesting all three of your options end up in explosions 8)
Especially considering how rarely explosions actually seem to happen when RPers are involved (at least in my experience).
Bacc wins the thread. Game, set and Match, sir. :)
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I think it interesting all three of your options end up in explosions 8)
Especially considering how rarely explosions actually seem to happen when RPers are involved (at least in my experience).
Bacc wins the thread. Game, set and Match, sir. :)
Ah but those are "rp'ed" explosions - often they don't have to happen in space at all :)
Serious point though. I do think the ooc-angst and grief we tend to have between rp'ers actually reduces the amount of space combat significantly. People get so het up about the feuds and vendettas and massive forum fights that the stakes are raised for space pvp beyond people's ability (or desire) to take risks.
Its something worth considering anyway.
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Power with a sprinkle of ideology. Stay away from the soap as much as possible. Full of drama merchants who rather get excited by pretending to do stuff than actually doing it.
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You know what RP I like the least? Seriphyn being told he needs to get laid. It's funny because it comes from the same people who insist he still sleeps around. Not really RP, likely just OOC attacks.
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I prefer a mix of all three.
I've always put Verone and his supporting characters in a position that maximises social interaction (for instance by creating The Last Gate), and I prefer social RP to anything else.
A good healthy mix of this, along with some "Power" RP given Ethan's position and that of his supporting characters is always good fun.
I just wish I had more time to host RP events at The Last Gate, although I'm not sure anyone would be even remotely interested in partaking of them.
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I think it interesting all three of your options end up in explosions 8)
Especially considering how rarely explosions actually seem to happen when RPers are involved (at least in my experience).
If you're not going to fire spaceship layz0rs at each other, why EVE and not pen/paper?
e.g. in the last Doll War, my opposition engaged while outmatched (1 cruiser + punisher vs my cruiser) and I engaged outnumbered (retribution vs 3 punishers. I lost, but killed 2 punishers + 1 pod).
it seems other people wouldn't fight those, and would have just spun in station instead. so why EVE and not paper?
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I always seem to start with Power and Ideology and wind up doing soap style stuff, even if just with 'extra' characters rather than with my main. I guess I like peppering my war stories with human interest.
I like roleplaying to come out of things that actually happened in-game. It's much more fun for me for rp to come out of a patrol I actually did, or a deal that actually happened, rather than totally 'scripted' stuff. I like not knowing what will happen next.
I especially like that in Eve, unlike many other games, violence is always an option. That edge of danger..
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I'd come at it from a different angle. I like the fact that violence is always an option, and one I can choose not to take if I'm not interested in it.
I mean, one of the reasons I haven't been doing much in EVE lately besides roleplaying and being un-chill on the forums is because what I enjoy about EVE is making money and getting cool new ships. But without other people to show my cool new ships to, and with no real desire to PvP, I don't really have any reason to get cool new ships. The only reason I make money is to buy cool new ships, and buy skills so I can fly the cool new ships that I've bought, and two of my coolest, newest ships (my Tengu and my Noctis) make me more than enough money to get afford it all. (Also, on another note, CCP haven't released all that many cool new ships lately).
I guess in terms of the categories, it depends on my mood. None of my RP really translates into internet spaceship battles because I don't have the resources or the manpower to fight one - yeah, I admit it. Go ahead and mock me for that if you want. Even if I did, I'm not sure I'd want to take people into random wars based solely on what my character had been doing.
Actually, what would make me happiest is if I could turn Mixed Metaphor into a ~20-30 man mission/industry corporation that can defend itself when trouble comes knocking.
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Actually, what would make me happiest is if I could turn Mixed Metaphor into a ~20-30 man mission/industry corporation that can defend itself when trouble comes knocking.
I've always thought that should be a relatively straightforward endeavor. The trick is the fact that it's a roleplay corp.
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I'd come at it from a different angle. I like the fact that violence is always an option, and one I can choose not to take if I'm not interested in it.
I mean, one of the reasons I haven't been doing much in EVE lately besides roleplaying and being un-chill on the forums is because what I enjoy about EVE is making money and getting cool new ships. But without other people to show my cool new ships to, and with no real desire to PvP, I don't really have any reason to get cool new ships. The only reason I make money is to buy cool new ships, and buy skills so I can fly the cool new ships that I've bought, and two of my coolest, newest ships (my Tengu and my Noctis) make me more than enough money to get afford it all. (Also, on another note, CCP haven't released all that many cool new ships lately).
I guess in terms of the categories, it depends on my mood. None of my RP really translates into internet spaceship battles because I don't have the resources or the manpower to fight one - yeah, I admit it. Go ahead and mock me for that if you want. Even if I did, I'm not sure I'd want to take people into random wars based solely on what my character had been doing.
Actually, what would make me happiest is if I could turn Mixed Metaphor into a ~20-30 man mission/industry corporation that can defend itself when trouble comes knocking.
Andreus, it seems like you could achieve what you want by joining MXD onto a larger alliance. You'd have the autonomy of and RP of your own corp structure, and people to fly with should you want them.
I can think of one that could use you....
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Right now we're kind of in a quandary. I've had personal offers from two alliances to come and fight alongside them (one of which I don't think I should talk about in public, and the other one I know I'm not allowed to talk about in public). Add on top of this that Damar Rocarion has shown his utterly unwelcome face in Intaki again with his usual toolbox of bugs and exploits that CCP ignore petitions about, and we're in an awkward situation as to where exactly we want to go and what we want to do.
And by "we", I mean "me, Faust and possibly Friar Kite", because we're all that's left of MXD right now.
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I think it interesting all three of your options end up in explosions 8)
Especially considering how rarely explosions actually seem to happen when RPers are involved (at least in my experience).
If you're not going to fire spaceship layz0rs at each other, why EVE and not pen/paper?
e.g. in the last Doll War, my opposition engaged while outmatched (1 cruiser + punisher vs my cruiser) and I engaged outnumbered (retribution vs 3 punishers. I lost, but killed 2 punishers + 1 pod).
it seems other people wouldn't fight those, and would have just spun in station instead. so why EVE and not paper?
I'm not exactly sure why the idea people try to perpetuate the idea that people that roleplay are less inclined to be interested in pvp in EVE. Personally, I want some meaning to my gameplay, hence why I pursue roleplay to add a level of immersion that justifies character behavior in-game.
The problem that I have with a majority of conflicts between RP entities in EVE are that they appear to be artificially inspired, or in other words a "war and pvp first, justify it later" approach. I mean, hey, it's a game, you do what you like, but that doesn't get me engaged as a player to jump into a conflict when my character is scratching their head wondering wtf is going on. Furthermore, I think the perception of war is skewed by the real world in a sense that wars can be won by obliterating your enemy, conquering their land, and hearing the lamentations of their women. In New Eden, we have CONCORD mediating our wars with an artificially infinite number of people ready to fight at our disposal, and the pilots themselves can never die. So your alternatives are left with destroying their POS structures and forcing your enemy to remain docked until their corp disperses or you claim victory with a lot of chest beating and killboard stat-flexing. When a majority of the RP community base their roleplay on ideological and racial boundaries, this becomes absurd to me because I'm just seeing an endless murder fest with no goal or purpose.
Another area where the immersion busts for me is the matter of location. I can see a reason for Freedom fighters to want to stop the Amarrians from expanding in Providence, but many of the conflicts I see (and have been apart of) involve enemies on the other side of the map that have exactly ZERO impact on my character. At least in 0.0, there's SOME justification for war; resources are up for grabs and territory has some worth to be defended, but there's nothing in EMPIRE space you can't get in the Federation that you could in the State (other than agents). So while my character may be ideologically opposed to yours (say, Nola supporting the Sansha cause), declaring war on me when you're 40+ jumps from my current docked location gives me absolutely no justification for coming after you. I can replace ships and manpower. How is this hindering my cause? What do I stand to gain by exploding your punisher? *flex*
So again, as a roleplayer, meaning is important to me. It's why I got into RP to begin with.
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Power RP is certainly what I do most off, part of being a CEO I guess. Though when it comes to diplomacy (how it affects IC, diplo is done OOC because the other party rarely is an RP group) or recruitment the ideological factor comes well into play. IC corp chat and the occasional Skyhook visit fall under social. So at the end of the day I get a mix of all three, maybe a little heavier on the power. I'd say it is how I would want it to be for the position I am in.
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I'd say Vicky has always had a bit of the soap going*, with a bit of added ideology after she joined U'K. She comes across as being far more thoughtful than she is while trying to justify her actions - "Because I felt like it" doesn't tend to get you taken seriously, which she craves regardless of whether she deserves it.
I'm been trying to work in a little more 'power' lately, getting out in space a little now that I have a comp with isn't quite as likely to overheat and die when I undock. Now I just need iskies, I think it's time to get out the whip and make the carebear alts work again.
*This may or may not be a blatant, massive understatement.
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Actually, what would make me happiest is if I could turn Mixed Metaphor into a ~20-30 man mission/industry corporation that can defend itself when trouble comes knocking.
I've always thought that should be a relatively straightforward endeavor. The trick is the fact that it's a roleplay corp.
I've yet to come across a misson/industry corp that can defend itself. Not so straightforward.
To stay good at PvP and up to date on the current metas, you kinda have to PvP regularly (say, several nights a week). If a core of your organization is not doing that, you'll be outmatched by those who do. And if you are doing that, you don't have much time left for grinding red crosses off your overview.
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Especially considering how rarely explosions actually seem to happen when RPers are involved (at least in my experience).
You don't know where the self-destruct button is? ;)
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To stay good at PvP and up to date on the current metas, you kinda have to PvP regularly (say, several nights a week). If a core of your organization is not doing that, you'll be outmatched by those who do. And if you are doing that, you don't have much time left for grinding red crosses off your overview.
Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
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To stay good at PvP and up to date on the current metas, you kinda have to PvP regularly (say, several nights a week). If a core of your organization is not doing that, you'll be outmatched by those who do. And if you are doing that, you don't have much time left for grinding red crosses off your overview.
Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
Ditto.
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
This may be in need of a new topic, but I just want to comment on this... I make more ISKies from PvP than I ever have from PvE. Just sayin'.
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A new topic on that sounds like an outstanding idea.
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
This may be in need of a new topic, but I just want to comment on this... I make more ISKies from PvP than I ever have from PvE. Just sayin'.
Inara, your pirating, thus getting ransoms and perhaps loot regardless. Not everyone have the numbers needed to PvP effectively all day every day, and not everyone ransom people for large sums or attack anything floating in space - reduced target access, lower numbers and not ransoming the stuff you don't attack makes for a large difference in income from PvP.
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I like PVPRP.
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Actually, what would make me happiest is if I could turn Mixed Metaphor into a ~20-30 man mission/industry corporation that can defend itself when trouble comes knocking.
I've always thought that should be a relatively straightforward endeavor. The trick is the fact that it's a roleplay corp.
I've yet to come across a misson/industry corp that can defend itself. Not so straightforward.
To stay good at PvP and up to date on the current metas, you kinda have to PvP regularly (say, several nights a week). If a core of your organization is not doing that, you'll be outmatched by those who do. And if you are doing that, you don't have much time left for grinding red crosses off your overview.
Depends what you'd be facing. To be able to fend off attacks from most opportunistic wardeccers you don't have to be unstoppable ninja pros keeping up to date with the latest fleet doctrines. You just have to be careful, clever, and familiar with pvp to a basic or intermediate level. There are some good simple fits and tricks to use when dealing with that kind of foe.
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
The reward is in the fun and adrenalin packed action. :bash:
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
The reward is in the fun and adrenalin packed action. :bash:
Not everyone wants that. As an example, today I learned not to bother with duels anymore. Pointless in most regards, and rarely honored anyhow. While I had not dueled anyone in quite some time, this guy showed new nasty tricks that I had not seen used before yet identified shortly after seeing them.
My stupidity in hoping for a fair fight crusier vs cruiser ended in losing me my cruiser, to soem guy who had orca swapping his ship, a CS offering bonuses, and a neutral RR. Waste of freaking time.
/De-rail; Andreus, if you want a calm PVE corp doing stuff and are actively going to get involved in that, inform me. I'd like a word in that regard if you do end up going down that road. Don't reply here but contact me in-game or by mail. /De-rail.
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
The reward is in the fun and adrenalin packed action. :bash:
Was fine by me, though I mostly care for the fun factor (entertainement) when pvp-ing (and I am mainly a pvp-er). Now though, it is the adrenaline of the blobs. Do not want. T_T
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
This may be in need of a new topic, but I just want to comment on this... I make more ISKies from PvP than I ever have from PvE. Just sayin'.
That's because our corporation knows how to take care of it's own.
The vast majority of other corporations in the game don't have the systems in place that we do to ensure their members make their fair share.
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Which is why I don't PvP. Too much work for too little reward.
This may be in need of a new topic, but I just want to comment on this... I make more ISKies from PvP than I ever have from PvE. Just sayin'.
That's because our corporation knows how to take care of it's own.
The vast majority of other corporations in the game don't have the systems in place that we do to ensure their members make their fair share.
Would you mind sharing some insights into what kind of systems you have in place (in another thread)?
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The reward is in the fun and adrenalin packed action. :bash:
>mfw you attempted to define fun as a non-subjective concept
(http://mxdcorp-radio.com/evelulz/Notsureifserious.jpg)
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Show-off. :twisted:
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I have never had any problems whatsoever to find good targets for duo-gangs in FW land yet, so I really don't get the complaints about how people are unable to get fights with small numbers. :psyccp:
Edit: Incidentally (or not! ;) ) the most fun I had in eve was in such small groups, especially when we kill vagas / cynabals with two or three af's.
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Ideology, with a little Soap mixed in. I've yet to be involved in Power rp, so I don't know if I enjoy it.
One thing I like about Simon's relationship with the ILF is that I think there's a very clear sense that Simon and them are not on the same side, but that the context of that struggle makes going after one another in space a non-answer. Unrelated, I think my least favorite form of rp is heavy soap. I end up getting trauma fatigue and then I just stop caring.
In reply to Louella's question, I play both, but I don't favor pnp exclusively because:
1) I can play Eve whenever I have time, instead of once or twice a month when the whole group can get together over a table.
2) Eve has better graphics.
3) PnP doesn't usually feature much in the S&I department, nor does it have an intricate economy.
4) The type of involvement in Eve pve and a tabletop game are pretty different, and I find Eve to be somewhat relaxing, instead of fun but draining. I'm usually brain dead after four hours of running a tabletop game.
5) The forum/evemail/chat channel scene is much livelier than an online pnp game.
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Soap: Characters personalities are in conflict. Social occasions, conversations, interactions and gossip are the major battlegrounds and weapons, escalating into assassinations in space, wars and exploding things.
I can enjoy these things. I very much like Revan's social events when the mood takes me, I like to portray the human side of Jade there with dancing, nightclub singing general chitchat and interactions and its something I find quite disappointing now that this form of roleplay in general has become quite remote from things in space on all sides. I'd love there to be less general narkiness in the RP community and have people more comfortable sharing each other's social events and flowing more naturally to consequences in space as a result.
Back in the grand old days of the server in the first couple of years we had far fewer established nightclubs/bars/social points but more active RP'ers frequenting them and the atmosphere was better.
Ideology: Characters ideas are in conflict. Forum debates, news articles, are the initial sources of disagreement, escalating into wars and shooting.
This can be heinously boring where the characters are a stuck record and just keep endlessly repeating the same stuff for years and years. I like to see characters evolving and changing and reacting to new situations and I'd far rather interact with somebody capable of showing human emotions than with an endless array of sterotypes mouthing PF propaganda. I try to encourage the stuff I like by being supportive and respectful of characters who can change and react in a natural manner while being generally curt and dismissive with those that just keep the same monotone.
But on the plus point - a couple of interesting characters with a fresh ideology and ability to react and change to external stimulus can make the game very good indeed.
Power: Characters economic, military or other material goals are in conflict. Parking your tanks on someone else's lawn is the start of things. Wars and explosions soon follow.
Its good but there are some ways if can become boring too (in RP terms). For example, I love talking over the ideology of conflict, the psychology of warfare - the reasons for fighting, I love dramatising (mythologizing) conflict and playing the role of the "warrior-bard" who fights and tells the tale to help those not on the field to relive the conflict anew. But I just yawn when people start doing the nit-picking about efficiency, k/d ratio, analytics on multiple corp success ratios against x,y,z targets. That stuff is terrible. Also NBSI corps claiming they are elite because they have 100x the kills of NRDS corps - bah tbh.
I guess my take is its great when it feeds creativity and narative and allows expression of in-game ideologies and helps suspend disbelief and progress the storyline of our lets believe conflicts. But its terrible when it turns into some wierd stats-based baseball comparison with maths geeks twisting figures to produce some kind of technical win. Its why I prefer to summarise the outcomes of our wars with something like "we killed 3 ships for everyone one we lost and we blew up their tower!" rather than posting 10 pages of killboard links with infinitely detailed statistical analysis.
I would say that mostly, it is the ideology that I like more, when there is enough PF to make it interesting. E.g. the difference of opinion with the Sani-sabik space nuns that led to the Doll Wars, and the interpreting of Scripture that I engage in with some of the more traditional Amarr characters. I also like a bit of soap from time to time, depending on the characters involved, e.g. when I took various people shopping for things for a social function. What do you prefer doing?
My perfect RP day would probably be:
An interesting discussion on IGS on freespace ideology vs criminal cartels with some characters that had moved close to us in-game and wanted to know our position on various kinds of engagement possibilities and had the genuine possibility of making allies, making enemies, making profit for in-game effect.
A nice military engagement against ideological foes that ended with discussion of corporate outlooks and guerilla tactics in local / long range assassination mission in Fedakyin bombers against a key target where I get to roleplay on Voice coms telling my fleet to "run silent, activate sublight drives and clear torpedo tubes for firing" before the attack begins.
Some relaxation in La Maison or one of Revan's nightclubs with a little music, in-character discussion and probably Jade singing something by kirsty maccoll on stage in a little black dress.
Bonus points if is followed by a conversation with a younger character wanting to know about the role of the revolutionary in new eden while we drink shots at the bar.
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I can enjoy these things. I very much like Revan's social events when the mood takes me, I like to portray the human side of Jade there with dancing, nightclub singing general chitchat and interactions and its something I find quite disappointing now that this form of roleplay in general has become quite remote from things in space on all sides. I'd love there to be less general narkiness in the RP community and have people more comfortable sharing each other's social events and flowing more naturally to consequences in space as a result.
Actually, it has never been better. When you take for the example the current event at IGS, and see that in just 5 days it checked over 60 role players of all sorts of backgrounds going in and out the channel interacting pretty much around the clock and enjoying a venue which has brought several consequences at space ( war decs, merc scamms, pods, assassinations ) , you actually have to give credit to the advancement of eve community in such regards.
We have all sorts, from old veterans to fresh starters, former enemies and friends, role players to anti role players now starting to take taste for it. Together they are creating a fantastic environment that I havent seen so dynamic before.
I for one, am very impressed with such developments and I trust that social interactions will be a trend to stay regarding player driven events.
On that note, I've seen many of you here participating and and enjoying your time with us. It's been a pleasure.
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I have never had any problems whatsoever to find good targets for duo-gangs in FW land yet, so I really don't get the complaints about how people are unable to get fights with small numbers. :psyccp:
Edit: Incidentally (or not! ;) ) the most fun I had in eve was in such small groups, especially when we kill vagas / cynabals with two or three af's.
Gotta agree, really... never have a hard time finding stuff to shoot with small gangs of frigates.
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Although I think for my absolute favorite interactions I enjoy humorous verbal battles of wits / conversations/ sparring more than anything else.
Finding a particularly good quip or witty remark at the right time in a real-time IC comm channel is just the bee's knees as far as I'm concerned. Some of my favorite interactions have been the ones that end up as hilarious witty interjections from friends and enemies.
This, in any of the three categories, is my favorite as well. Unfortunately I don't always come up to bat with the proper equipment. :(
In response to Lae's AF duo post, I saw that he had a very good weekend doing just that.