On the IGS, and in ingame things, there seems to be a trend lately for explosions and other violence.
People shooting at each other, exploding bombs and the like, people fitted with so much in the way of weird cybernetics such that they're like the T-101 from the first Terminator film.
meanwhile in OOC channels, people agitate about a RP venue's weapon screening technologies and so on, a place that doesn't explicitly mention in the MOTD how it has umpteen different ways to probe people before they're allowed in gets called "dangerous", and "not worth going to"
But... everyone has soft clones, (or mentions them to people that haven't heard of the idea before), so all the exploding has no significant permanent effect on any of the persons present. It's not like the chat channel even costs any isk to repair either ?
I don't understand what the goals of this kind of thing are, what people gain from it, or why it seems to be a trend over the past couple months.
The goal, if one can call it that, is for the player to feel like they are in control in any environment. Capsule pilots are only immortal in a pod? Make soft clone backups to prevent death out of pod. Get into a nasty barfight you can't explain your way out of? Good thing you have those cybernetic enhancements to keep you from death. War is pointless cause you can't kill your enemy for good? Claim you have special ways to kill lots of capsule pilots out of pod.
The problem I have with this sort of behavior is twofold.
First, roleplay interaction beyond game mechanics requires a measure of trust and cooperation between players in order for a decent story to develop. It's the difference between
Bill leans forward and takes a mighty swing at Jack and
Bill punches Jack in the face and Jack falls on his ass like an idiot. When players step into a roleplay situation where they're attempting to
win rather than have a great experience, they create situations where they'll never look bad, never lose, and will always attempt to stretch the rules to avoid negative consequences.
Secondly, in my eyes, roleplay should be an extension and/or enhancement of the existing game structure. My goal for roleplaying in EVE beyond having fun is to enhance my experience through immersion, not to create an entirely different scenario unrelated with what my character does in space. I'll go to parties, mingle, and bullshit with other characters because it builds relationships that may determine the course my character takes in the future. I don't roleplay to pretend I'm a secret agent, a baseliner, criminal investigator, a slaver hound, or play a role that will ultimately have no impact on my game.
So ultimately, I feel that while players often agree that
character flaws and failure are good for story building and growth, seldom few are really comfortable with losing. Actual character development takes a sideline as players attempt to win in the chatroom rather than space, and competition spoils any cooperative effort in roleplay. I think it's a shame, personally.
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Topic: I don't understand this recent trend in RP (Read 5696 times)