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[Visian Mu'artarkan]

RP culture has been about player generated content from the beginning. However, I began playing EVE before it even released for retail. No, I wasn’t a lucky beta player, but I was a forum warrior on the original EVE forums. It was there I would decide to become a Brutor extremist when the game released. I went by the name Mr Vapor.

When I got the retail version, I jumped feet first into the RP side of it. I was totally on the Minmatar rebels side and saw the birth of U’K, worked with Camar of the Stormriders as a Minmatar terrorist to the extreme, and saw Unity Station come into being.

And then the pull of riches in the game took players to the more practical side. The Minimatar vs. Amarr battle that had raged for almost 4 years and was dominant amongst the games population kind of died down. I lost interest, my character basically went crazy, and then I sold him (legally) and got a new one. I still paid attention to the RP side, but I no longer participated for the most part.

I stopped playing EVE for a bit, but now I’m back and I’m very interested in reviving the feel of the RP culture I remember and get to something that will make the game more than just a grind again. Something that promises good fights, epic speeches, and political intrigue. Something that brings capsuleer’s into a prominent place in the 4 Empires again and their Faction War.

I’ve seen that the CVA is still alive and strong. They’ve always held true to their roots and they were awesome to fight back in the day. I hear the U’K is getting big again as well. I’m sad to see that E-M no longer exists, but Gradient is still hammering away. It looks like more random faction loyalists are taking roles much like Veto and Verone did back in the day. I’d also like to see some old timers like Jericho Fraction get involved because I can promise that if you’ve never RPed with Jade Constantine, you have no idea what you’ve missed.

So, what am I thinking and how could I possibly imagine all these disparate entities and new one’s work together?   Well, it’s for the sake of a lot of things:

 :!:Propaganda. Not everyone plays this game to shoot people. Some like the meta game aspects. From bloggers, to banner makers, to forum warriors -- this was the aspect of the game that always appealed to us most. It was also fun for the big personalities to weigh in and created a hell of an immersion factor.
 :idea:Good Fights. Yes, real good fights. Not pre-determined, but somewhat scheduled and never just one massive blob fleet. It wasn’t necessarily about winning so much as it was about moving the story forward. You brought all your good ships yes, but we rarely fought an superior fleet. It wasn’t about the killboards really. It was about demonstrating your skill as a team. It wasn’t a brawl. It was a ballet of explosions.
 :arrow:Political intrigue. Yes -- spies, thieves, double agents -- they all had a part whether people knew it or not. This all added to the spice of it. It was huge fun to try to figure out who was lying and who wasn’t. You also had the in-fighting within coalitions. Great stuff.

This is the original flavor, but with a new edge.

I would like to organize with these big players to come to some sort of agreement to work together to deliver some exciting player driven RP content this coming year that will add to the flavor of New Eden and run right alongside the CCP produced events. Blogs, political rallying, alliances, coalitions, weapons manufacturing, piracy, secret agents -- all of it IC (in-character for the uninitiated).

The only thing that will be scripted are the beats and only the major players will know what those beats are. They will be helping to construct the storyline that will play out. Agreements amongst the major players and leaders will determine key elements and shape the story for the other players to enjoy and participate in. Battle won’t be scripted, but it will be fought, stories will be told, new names will become famous, old names will shine bright again.

I came up with this notion when I returned to school for Creative Writing. The focus on it is working in the entertainment industry. A lot is made of transmedia storytelling and EVE is the absolute perfect environment to carry that out. My intent isn’t to determine an ultimate victor, but to engage the players in a way that hasn’t been seen in EVE in a long time.

Basically, it would start early next year if I can get the bigger names interested. I’d serve simply as a guide and mediator and give suggestions to the development of the storyline. The leadership that is involved would make key decisions (without giving the house away) that will allow the members of their respective corps and alliances engage in a war unlike anything that’s been fought before. At the end of 2015, we have something akin to Armageddon day where all sides come at each other in a no holds barred, winner take all ending.

I’m really willing to put some time into this if there are interested parties. I think it could be something that will make CCP notice and get a lot of players, old and new, together and make some EVE history.

Would I be a character in the storyline? Yeah, but a very small part. Nothing like the new leader of the free people's Ammatar or anything. I'd probably go back to my Minnie roots and be some sort of bit player propagandist at most.

Is everything scripted? No, like I said, I want to use beats like in a season of television. Take the classical three part story structure, build and crash the story over the year. All the content is going to be player driven, guided by the leadership of these different entities to provide their memberships with a fun experience.

Are there going to be rules? Yes, but I'd say they were just temporary limitations to expose people to a wider variety of ship fights and tactics. I can't predict tactics and I can't predict winners. Together we can get people to experience the awesomeness of small roaming gangs, cruiser fleets, Sub Cap fleets, and even the big Cap fights. They'll get something that's guided so they can get the maximum experience.

Am I going to be writing everything and determining the way things play out? No, absolutely not. I only want to come up with a skeleton that we can all use as a guide, and then hand it over to the players to determine the ups and downs of the individual stories. I would only be stepping in to help people massage the story and perhaps give OOC intel to all sides if, and only if, it could lead to an intriguing twist. No, I'm not going to divulge fleet makeup or anything like that. If it's something that could cause people to go WTF though, information will get in the right hands to make it happen. It will never be anything that could cause the demise of a corporation or alliance. It's about the story, not permanently screwing each other over.

Does the idea have any merit with any of you? Would you be willing to do something like this so you actually have something historical in the RP community to refer to other than PF stuff? I'd really like your opinion. I know it'd be a huge undertaking and I'd need to enlist the help of those that know their stuff canonically to make it good enough to participate in.

Okay, now rip it to shreds please. 

[Samira Kernher]

Sounds good to me, so long as there is not too much scripting. A little bit of direction is good, but it should really just be a 'push' that drives people to interact and build the story instead of something that holds their hands the whole way.

I can see it being very hard to get a lot of people onboard with something like this, though, considering the way EVE roleplayers tend to be. I would say that, where possible, most of it should ideally be handled through IC interactions rather than OOC plotting.

[Anyanka Funk]

Sounds like you want to be a DM. I'm with sam, go for it. There are a lot of roleplayers that can be involved. Anyanka's roleplayer contact list is already over six hundred. I suggest, first, ghost writing for some major rp corps to form the skeleton plot your thinking of. Good luck!

[Mizhara]

Might be interesting. Going to have to see more details before I can yay or nay this.

[Milo Caman]

major rp corps

Because these are still a thing.

[Anyanka Funk]

major rp corps

Because these are still a thing.

Pyre seems to be the it corp at the moment. Scope Works is also up there. Pie corps, sfrim. Gradient of course. There are no huge rp corps as far as I can tell. Were there ever?

[Utsukushi Shi]

Make a mailing list and I will join it and force Pyre to participate.

[Visian Mu'artarkan]

Sounds good to me, so long as there is not too much scripting. A little bit of direction is good, but it should really just be a 'push' that drives people to interact and build the story instead of something that holds their hands the whole way.

I can see it being very hard to get a lot of people onboard with something like this, though, considering the way EVE roleplayers tend to be. I would say that, where possible, most of it should ideally be handled through IC interactions rather than OOC plotting.

Yes, I'm definitely against pre-determined outcomes. That would ruin the fun of it for the players in the know and the players waiting to see what would happen next. I was thinking more of a loose storyline that's adaptive and interactive with a few trigger points to spur people on. Kind of like one of the Epic Arc mission, but without all the tedium.

Sounds like you want to be a DM. I'm with sam, go for it. There are a lot of roleplayers that can be involved. Anyanka's roleplayer contact list is already over six hundred. I suggest, first, ghost writing for some major rp corps to form the skeleton plot your thinking of. Good luck!

In a sense, yes. I wouldn't want to be a major player in it all because that smacks of "godmoding" to me. I'd want it to focus on the personalities that have built their story in-game over a long time and maybe give newer people a chance to make a name for themselves. I hadn't thought about the ghost writing idea. That's an excellent idea. Thank you!

Might be interesting. Going to have to see more details before I can yay or nay this.

I agree. This isn't something that would just be jumped into with no thought given to it. I basically envision it as a year long (or close to it) event that plays out kind of like a season of television. I've got the basic idea, but I'd really need input from the people involved to make it something everyone wants to participate in and enjoy. It's an MMO after all.

major rp corps

Because these are still a thing.

Pyre seems to be the it corp at the moment. Scope Works is also up there. Pie corps, sfrim. Gradient of course. There are no huge rp corps as far as I can tell. Were there ever?

Hence the resurgence part. At one time, probably 2003-05, RP corps were pretty big. Nothing that rival Goon numbers or anything, but it was pretty impressive. There were regular skirmishes and war that were a lot of fun to be a part of and participate in. That's what players want really. Something that can engage them.

Make a mailing list and I will join it and force Pyre to participate.

Sure thing. I'll get one made and let you all know.

Thanks for the feedback and support. I've been out of the RP scene for a while, like I said, but I'm going to do my research and get a feel for where it's at today. Hopefully I can talk some of the old-timers back into it that may have left that sort of thing. Consider it a work in progress as of now. I'll update in this thread if I can get it on track.

[Deitra Vess]

I'd be interested in this, though I wouldn't really want any major part since aside explaining what I've been doing for the last year +,  my rp has kinda been limited thus having a specific thing would take some time to craft...

[kalaratiri]

I would be up for this.

Every story needs its antagonists 

[Jikahr]

I think something needs to be done to spark an RP resurgence.

One of the things I was thinking of would be, a Minmatar messiah. This doesn't have to be an actual player, or someone whose name is known, but the rumors are of one Minmatar that would bring the various tribes and nations together as friends and brothers.

Also, it seems as though Amarr could be seeing a civil war soon. At least one Amarr roleplayer in Khanid space is now considered a Heretic. She is claiming to be a holder, thus wielding a lot of power. Many Amarrians are upset about their cloned flesh Empress. The Blood Raiders are also heretics of course.

I suppose the difficulty with RP is that most of the other EVE players don't take you seriously. "Oh, so you are the Duke of Devoid region? Really?" RP generally only affects yourself. Also, it is self-inflicted or self chosen. If someone gets into an RP knife fight and loses an eye, it's up to the other character whether they lose that eye, or get it regenerated or whatever.

I was reading a blog about roleplay the other day. The blog said that the two things that roleplay needs are a bar/ pub and an Inn/ Hotel. EVE never really mentions these. I suppose the captain's quarters are our 'hotel', and there are probably nightclubs and so on in the chat channels. There is no one place for everyone to meet. Of course, if we did all meet we would only end up killing each other.

I was also thinking about medieval Monasteries, Crusades, Orders, and Hospitaleers. The Hospitaleers were the ones who were the servants of the fighting Knights. The ones who ran the stores, repaired what was broken, ran the Hospitals, and so on. In other words, the people that made life seem more comfortable and bearable on the front.

Unless these people are part of the janitors and dockworkers that man our crews, we don't see much of the 'human' side of EVE. There are apparently no bars in the stations, and no night clubs or red light districts.

Modern Military Naval ships, and ground units as well, will always make sure entertainment needs are attended to. There are no  Ball rooms in battleships, but the sailors get shore leave and so on. In real life, 9 to 5 is boring and spaceship combat is fun. If EVE were real life, spaceship combat would be their job, and whatever our characters did in the stations would be their fun.

If you subscribe the Joseph Campbell's idea of the monomyth, every story starts the same...with 'a call to adventure'. This is apparently what the Agent missions are about. Your character is docked safely in station, but then an agent says (s)he needs the capsuleer's help. Before the mission, your character is docked up safely and....doing what? This seems to be a missed opportunity to develop one's character and/or plot. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

[Visian Mu'artarkan]

Well, one of the main things we'd have to do is avoid conflicting with things that are PF driven. It has to be a completely insular, capsuleer driven plot so it doesn't go against any storylines CCP would do. We can't do anything that will really "change the face of Eve" other than for ourselves. If CCP recognizes it and starts adding to it (highly doubtful), then maybe it'll become bigger. Basically, we can't do things that would warp the story of Eve.

I think it just needs to build on everything the RP community has done before and tie our clique together again, having fun and shooting each others face off.

Does anyone have any good links or anything on good storylines that have happened before? I'd like to pore them over and come up with a convincing plot and background. It has to make sense after all.

[Samira Kernher]

Maybe not what you're looking for but PIE's EVElopedia page includes links to the news articles for some of the old PIE/CVA/UK/EM interactions and such. You can also look at the Modern Era of the Amarr Empire article as, while unfortunately focused only on Amarr stuff, it's to my knowledge the largest accounting of empire history for the last decade.

[Esna Pitoojee]

Color me at least mildly interested. There are going to be a lot of rough bumps and questions that will have to be asked (and answered) if this is to run successfully, but I'll give it a chance.

[John Revenent]

I have some interest in this. Feel free to contact me.