Sticky: The Darker Side of Life: A SWTOR-RP Weekly Column

1) Do you think the type of gear a character is wearing should matter in RP? I.E. cloth armor offers less protection but heavy reduces mobility.

Of course it should, every character needs to be internally consistent about everything that defines the person. What they wear is just one more thing to define them. You need to remember that your characters are not superheroes and that there are reasons people wear Light Armor besides 'the game does not allow me to wear Heavy'.


2) Should it matter if all forms of RP conflict or just emote duels? pvp duels? /roll duels?

The type and quality of the gear you are wearing should always matter whenever the type and quality of gear come into the roleplaying environment. Besides duels, also social situations bar certain kinds of clothing to be worn. For example: No matter how heroic and high quality your Bounty Hunter's armor is.. he better show up in dress suit at a high class dinner party or expect to be handled like a brute. Clothing defines more than just your combat readiness, it defines the person wearing it as well.
More specifically, my experience is that type of gear matters most in emote duels, ingame quality of gear matters most in pvp duels and often /roll duels seem to completely ignore gear because of the very nature of the randomness of the system.

3) Does PvP gear give you a right to play a character that is a stronger duelist?

Duels in RP should always be done with consent is my point of view. This is also the reason why I dislike RP-PVP servers myself, as it often removes that consent. But, to get back to the point, the gear should only matter if both sides of a duel agree that the gear matter. You cannot bully yourself into an RP situation being the better/stronger duelist just because you wear Battlemaster gear and the other is in their RP greens. Things simply don't work out that way and nobody leaves the RP situation happy after a confrontation like that.
But, when two people decide to let a /duel decide who wins a fight then of course PvP gear becomes a defining factor of the RP encounter and the strength of each person.

4) Should all high ranking or powerful character have to have good gear to reflect their power?

I fall back on my point 3 answer here: Only if both sides agree on the matter that it does. Strength to be decided by game mechanics is not something you should force on another player, but I do support and personally prefer game mechanics to determine the outcome of battles. I am not a fan of the emote battles, so for me, personally, the only two real options to end an RP battle are /roll battles or /duel battles. One of those options requires you to use the game mechanics to fight. So if you want to be powerful and go down the /duel route, you need the gear to back up your claims.


General Conclusion) It all comes down to how do you want to RP your conflicts. Some people swear by emote, others by role, others by ingame dueling. Just make sure that long before such a moment happens in-game, that you have contact with the other person and ensure the conflict will be decided in a manner you are both comfortable with.

Man, what D&D players do YOU hang out with? :V

1) Do you think the type of gear a character is wearing should matter in RP? I.E. cloth armor offers less protection but heavy reduces mobility.
Absolutely. As a Sith Assassin wearing light armor, I'm simply going to be less encumbered than a Juggernaut in full heavy armor. It's part of a character's training and fighting style

2) Should it matter if all forms of RP conflict or just emote duels? pvp duels? /roll duels?
This should apply to all forms of RP conflict. Armor is armor. Had my character been jumped while wearing her social clothing (e.g. not actual armor), I'd have had to play that out. It adds more spice to have variety in armor types. Otherwise, everyone would probably be fighting the same.

3) Does PvP gear give you a right to play a character that is a stronger duelist?
Absolutely not. Just because you've managed to do well with in-game PvP through PvP mechanics doesn't necessarily mean you should be stronger than anyone else RP-wise. Unless you are specifically a character who makes that part of their established history, it doesn't work. Plenty of people don't like PvP in games, and yet their character might have a history of duels.

4) Should all high ranking or powerful character have to have good gear to reflect their power?
I suppose it also depends on 'good gear'. I don't like the look of a lot of the higher level moddable armor, so my character for the longest time wore lower level items with higher level mods. It didn't look 'powerful', but it looked the way I thought she should - wearing something sleek, formfitting, and black. I don't think, however, anyone would argue that she's lacking in power or prestige.. even when she's wearing a midriff-baring shirt and a pair of tight pants. Clothes don't make the (wo)man.

1. I remember my community in SWG hashing this one out time and again. And it came down to this since we evolved into a kind of RPvP group. If you wore a cloak to an event and a fight broke out and suddenly you were in full heavy armor... you had some 'spainin to do! I'm a little more open minded that, well, maybe under that group of cloaks is a troupe of armored bounty hunters ready to cause a ruckus, but I was usually the more radical of the group I played with. I'm adding a layer to the question I realize but it evolved in my group just because of that particular situation. Essentially what you're wearing to an event though is how you're being experienced by others... so it does matter a bit.

2. Again, in SWG I came from what we called an RPvP group. Multi guild/Multi Faction so must of us were red to each other most of the time and had to practice a "Only attacked someone if there is an RP reason to do it" mentality. I think ultimately though... how a fight goes is up to the people participating in it. If one person wants to do it one way and the other another and there can be no compromises with them... they probably should agree to just walk away from it. Otherwise, there is no wrong way... just what suits different play styles.

3. This one is debatable. If you have it though you obviously have an edge over someone that doesn't. Again, my group had some rough types in it over the years. If, essentially, a lvl 1 played billy bad ass and picked a fight with a lvl 50... when it came throw down time the lvl 1 usually lost his boastful "I'm gonna kick yer shebs" fight. So, again, I think it depends on the players participating in a fight. If you're wearing it when RP starts and it heads toward a fight? Well, I think it's ok for that player to use it since they did earn the gear. If they slap it on in the middle of a battle while they were wearing something else? (I realize mechanics don't actually allow that but let's say just before a fight begins) Then, I think it can be a form of meta gaming so that they know they have an edge. If any of that makes sense.

4. No, they don't. They just have to look the part as I saw someone else post earlier. Ultimately your level and gear should never, ever, matter... but if you are playing billy bad ass at lvl 1 you probably should be ready to take some licks. Otherwise most rp depends on the people you interact with. I find I'm fine with all types where this is concerned. There have been a few "Darths" already that I've ran into that I know I could beat based on gear at the moment... but their characters act the part they're playing so ya gotta respect that. : )

1) Do you think the type of gear a character is wearing should matter in RP? I.E. cloth armor offers less protection but heavy reduces mobility.

No. It's stupid. Where what makes you happy, I'm there to RP, not be a badass mofo with a chip on my shoulder.


2) Should it matter if all forms of RP conflict or just emote duels? pvp duels? /roll duels?

Depends on who I am fighting against. If it's some random stranger with aforementioned chip on his shoulder? I'm not going to duel them. They provoke the fight? Not my problem he has an e-peen issue. Again, I don't mind conflict, but if someone goes out -just- to get into a fight in RP just so they can whip out their e-peen? That's their issue and not mine. I'll ignore them.

If it's someone I know and have a small amount of trust for them, I might /duel or even work out some sort of system where things can be fair on both sides. I'll be happy to emote, duel, dice, or even plan out a fight where one person agrees to lose.

In short, I seriously do not have time for the tards who Rpvp just to get off on beating up people.



3) Does PvP gear give you a right to play a character that is a stronger duelist?

PVP gear just means you spent time in warzones and have a hobby. Doesn't mean anything else.

4) Should all high ranking or powerful character have to have good gear to reflect their power?

No. Because to me that's like looking at the titles over peoples heads and assuming that's what they are. Not everyone who plays a Sith is actually a Sith, so why should I assume that someones level has anything to do with the RP. Rp is there for a story, not there to bicker about if Tim Tim the crippled kid from Ohio can whip out his saber and beat people down.

1. That should be a reasonable conclusion, but not a point of contention. Obviously Nyomi doesn't go into battle in her casual robes, but just because she wears what is classed as heavy armor, doesn't mean she's a walking tank that can't dodge or otherwise move quickly.

2. Endless debate is endless. I personally prefer emote or roll duels, mostly because if I want to PVP, I will go do WZs (and there's that other debate with question 3). Of course, I try to avoid conflict with any random schmuck, because RP conflict needs to done with maturity and consideration towards the other player and their character, and unfortunately not every player will understand that.

3. No, no, seriously no. I don't see any logic in why my character suddenly went from zero to powerful in a few weeks because I got my PVP set.

4. Goes back to question 3. Gear just reflects what you've achieved by putting time into the game, and it makes no sense that your character suddenly becomes powerful because you got a few new drops or powerleveled to 50. I remember someone claiming that his PVP gear meant that we should automatically respect him as a high ranking Republic officer, and it just came off as silly. (That and he was a jerk about it.) I understand the debate about lowbies claiming to be a Jedi Master, but if I'm playing a character who's experienced, why should I have to get to 50 before I can acceptably play my character?

To a degree, however only to a degree, just because the armor type says "heavy" doesn't mean it's nesscarily heavy. both the Jedi Guardian and the Sith Juggernought have heavy armor selections that are little more then robes. whose wearing the thicker more encumbering armor ICly, the Jedi Guardian in the Jedi Peacekeeper's set, or the guy wearing the CE imperial trooper armor? Despite the Jedi robes being heavy and the CE set being light, the CE set is more "armorish"

in emote duels it matters as much as both parties decides it matters. obviously in a PVP situation well, gear is gear.

it doesn't give you a RIGHT no, but it does improve your ability to back up your talk with action.
no because ultimately roleplaying a powerful high end character shouldn't be a race of whom can hop on the gear treadmill first

1) Do you think the type of gear a character is wearing should matter in RP? I.E. cloth armor offers less protection but heavy reduces mobility.
Well, visuals over stats really. If your armour is heavy but visually it's only some robes, well, you're wearing robes no matter what your stats say. Inversely CE Imperial Trooper armour is clunky even if according to the game mechanics it's light.

2) Should it matter if all forms of RP conflict or just emote duels? pvp duels? /roll duels?
I'd say it's more situational. A Jedi can use the Force to strengthen or speed up his or her limbs anyway so a heavy suit of armour would slow them down considerably less than others. Plus really, if we're going to have to account for speed and armour durability and protection in a /roll duel you might as well grab some SW tabletop RPG rulebook and start rolling for initiative. In an emote duel it could play a role, but I wouldn't see it as pivotal.

3) Does PvP gear give you a right to play a character that is a stronger duelist?
Not at all, and personally it annoys me to no end that some people "coincidentally" RP in full PvP gear and then all too happily get into a friendly spar with their peers or challenge their foes and then come out on top simply due to superior gear.

4) Should all high ranking or powerful character have to have good gear to reflect their power?
Of course not. It'd go against all that Star Wars stands for. Yoda, one of the most powerful Jedi ever wore well worn, dirty old robes in ESB. Didn't stop him from being a wise and powerful Force user. Similarly a cunning Agent can be powerful without resorting to elaborate armour or fancy gear. And of course, it doesn't matter what a smuggler wears, they can still kick you in the nuts.