Ganden posted May 10, 12
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, EA, Electronic Arts, Galactic Republic, Hutt, Lord Ieldis, LucasArts, Member Spotlight, Nar Shaddaa, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith Empire, Sorrik, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
Members of SWTOR-RP come in many shapes and sizes, and no, I'm not making reference to physicality. Our members comprise of casual users who log in from time to time; forum-dwellers whose main activity is lurking about and posting on the forums; creative-critters who create wiki articles and journal and story entries; and finally we have the lurker. The latter group can be compared to a night owl: they browse the forums and articles on the front page, though they hardly ever make themselves known.
One such individual who falls into the "lurker" category is Sorrik. As a Bounty Hunter on the roleplaying server Lord Ieldis and a member of SWTOR-RP, Sorrik is looking to learn the ways of RP by finding like-minded players and possibly a guild to join. However, if your vocabulary consists only of words such as GTFO, LMFAO, and n00b, look no further. Your kind is not wanted here. You're either too young to understand the concepts of RP and probably don't know what I mean when I say, "You are what you eat," or you just never hit puberty and still think that the Easter Bunny actually lays its eggs. For the rest of you (and I hope by that I mean all of you), continue reading as we get to know Sorrik in this Member Spotlight.
Raspar Ojen posted Apr 2, 12
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Author: Raspar, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Dejarik, Electronic Arts, Force Reflection, Huttball, LucasArts, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
We all have hobbies; things we do that entertain us, and things we can do when we need to escape the stresses and problems of our daily lives. Some are highly physical, whilst others are purely cerebral, but either way a person's hobbies often define them in very interesting ways. So when it comes to roleplay, shouldn't our characters have their own ways to deal with stress or boredom? To be convincing, won't they have to have hobbies outside of fighting their enemies, tending bar or fixing hyperspace engines?
One of the many interesting aspects of the Star Wars universe is the fact that the movies, books, and comics always create rich environments that feel real. Though they do this by using a variety of techniques, one of the most interesting is showing us board games, card tournaments, and even sporting events. The universe feels real because there are lives and events outside of what we are shown, events and hobbies we can relate to. The ruthless Bounty Hunter we roleplay may be an avid Dejarik player, or the brainy doctor may follow his favorite Huttball team religiously. This extra dimension of roleplay gives people the opportunity to roleplay with those they normally would not.
So, what hobbies do your characters have? What do they do on their down time to keep their sanity, or simply pass the time in between missions or jobs? Well, give us your answer in the comments below!
Raspar Ojen posted Mar 19, 12
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Author: Raspar, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, EA, Electronic Arts, Force Reflection, Han Solo, Jedi, LucasArts, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
 Trust is the foundation of every good relationship, be it with a significant other or a close friend. Without trust, how can we expect those close to us to follow through when we need them most? This article addresses that—specifically: how good is your characters word? If he or she makes a promise, do those around your character expect you to follow through, or do they expect you to leave them high and dry in a moment of need? Star Wars is a universe like any other in the sense that it contains many people of varying degrees of credibility. Han Solo has gone back on his word more than once, which landed him in more than one hairy predicament. While this archetype is fun to play, these characters aren't the only ones who go back on their word. What about a manipulative Sith who will say anything to get what he needs, or a worldly Jedi who understands the need to sometimes leaver certain promises unfulfilled? Or are you a Bounty Hunter whose word is his bond, and no matter what comes up he performs the job he swore to do? Do you establish a character's credibility beforehand for RP, or let his reputation in IC events determine how trustworthy his word is? How do you handle situations where a bad reputation comes back to haunt you? So, how good is the word of your characters? Are they trusted to complete any job, or are they known to go back on what they said? Have you ever had an experience where a previous failure to follow through on a promise put you in some hot water? Let us know in the comments below!
Ganden posted Mar 15, 12
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Doctor Who, EA, Electronic Arts, Imperial, Imperial Agent, Lord Adraas, LucasArts, Member Spotlight, Nar Shaddaa, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith Empire, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWG, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Ultima Online, West End Games
Community sites are driven to success by one major contributing factor. You have three guesses. No, it is not hiring a group of Jawas to run the site. And no, it is not by employing an army of Gungan soldiers as forum moderators—though that could be fun, right? Did you say "member support and growth?" Ding ding ding! We have a winner folks!
SWTOR-RP has been blessed with a supportive community and ever-growing member numbers. Each day, players from The Old Republic seek a virtual home away from home in this hub for roleplayers, connecting with others to form new relationships, create new stories, and to make their roleplaying and gaming experience as pleasant and adventurous as possible.
Without the support from our members, we'd flutter into a pointless non-existence. And to express our gratitude, members are randomly chosen to participate in the member-alternative to the Guild and Staff Spotlight feature: the SWTOR-RP Member Spotlight! To qualify, just be sure to remain active on the site, and watch your private message box.
This time around, Tiali takes to the stage with stories of her roleplaying endeavours as an information broker in The Old Republic. What does it take to buy and sell information on other player characters? Let's find out!
Sebaya Keto posted Mar 14, 12
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Agent, Amaranth, Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Chroma, Cloak, EA, Electronic Arts, Enjin, Executor, Extended Universe, Galactic Civil War, Jedi Consular, Kida, LucasArts, Mai Cash, Millenium Falcom, Nar Shaddaa, Operative, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sendra, Sith Assassin, Smuggler, Spying, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, Stealth, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Darker Side of Life, The Empire Strikes Back, The Old Republic, Tolian, TOR, Trooper, WingedThing, Xaveric
Welcome back to another issue of The Darker Side of Life, the roleplay column for The Old Republic where we take a look at the issues concerning roleplayers, and try to find solutions for them. In this week's issue, we're tackling stealth and how it affects roleplay, specifically spying and information gathering. Spying can be a core part of an RP community, with different groups trying to figure out what each other is doing. There are all sorts of ways to gather information, from bribery, to torture, even just being a fly on the wall and listening in. The real question is, what happens if that fly on the wall has stealth abilities and can't be seen by the other players, is it still legitimate?
As always, I've collected your responses from the thread and worked them into this article where we're going to try and come up with some ways to make stealth RP work, and make it fun for everyone. Sitting cloaked in a meeting watching your enemies plot may be exciting from an adrenaline rush for the first minute or two, but without any interaction it gets boring. After all, if they can't see you, there's a zero percent chance of being discovered, and that's also why many players consider it unfair. Join me as we dive into the issue head first and try to settle the debate over whether stealth powers are acceptable to use in roleplay.
Sebaya Keto posted Mar 7, 12
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Agent, Alts, Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Corso Riggs, Cyborg, Family Tree, GTN, Guild Summit, Human, Inquisitor, Jedi, Legacy, Legacy System, Miraluka, Pureblood, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Smuggler, Sprint, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Twi'lek, Warrior, Zabrak
Outside BioWare HQ, the official food truck of the Sith Empire makes an appearance...
One of the best parts of the Guild Summit, and the part I'm going to start with is the newly expanded Legacy System in The Old Republic. First off, we've all seen and heard over the past month or so about the new race/class combos, but now we finally have details about how they are obtained. To unlock a race for all classes you must level a character of that race to 50 in any of its native classes. So for instance, to get that Pureblood Jedi, you're going to have to level a Pureblood Warrior or Inquisitor first. Since Cyborgs are already shared by many classes, you'll simply unlock all the class specific implants for everyone. Humans will not unlock anything including the red skins useful for RPing Zeltrons, but instead at 50 give a global stat boost to Presence. Additionally, Twi'leks and Zabraks will unlock the colors and cosmetics available to both factions.
For those of you that aren't alt-a-holics, there is good news; you will also be able to buy most legacy features with credits from your main, but it's going to be expensive—no word on just how expensive yet though. To help people who do want to level new alts to participate in the system, they've also moved Sprint to level one, meaning you can turn it on right away and clear the origin worlds a bit faster. You'll also be able to buy a jetpack or rocket boots through Legacy that will work as an enhanced sprint. And don't worry about people just sinking money into Legacy instead of working, as I'll explain later in my economics report that means lower repair costs for everyone. Keep reading; it gets better!
Sebaya Keto posted Feb 21, 12
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Alderaan, Author: Sebaya Keto, Bounty Hunter, Credits, Force Reflection, Jedi, Nar Shaddaa, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Wookieepedia
Rich or poor, credits have to come from somewhere. When we're roleplaying in most cases, we don't usually think about where credits come from. Most people generally have an idea of how many credits their character has. Smugglers tend to be poor while an Alderaanian Nobleman might have a great deal. We could debate for hours how rich characters should be, or if you have to back that up with OOC credits. But I thought this morning it might be more fun to take a different spin on it. Regardless of how many credits your character has on average, how do they earn them in The Old Republic?
My character Sebaya is fairly rich, but most of her money is tied up in business. She often has to look to other sources to fund some of her more expensive and sadistic hobbies. Currently, she's thinking about using her shipping assets to sell cheap spice through contacts on Nar Shaddaa. Since all corners have been cut to save on costs, there is the unfortunate possibility that any player's characters will suffer horrible side effects from use of the spice. Well, hopefully no one traces it back to her, but that's the risk of doing business!
Tell us about how your character earns their pay. Does your Bounty Hunter RP out jobs to keep their crew paid? Or do you keep moneymaking activities in the background? While we're at it, I've always wondered where exactly Jedi and Sith get their money from. Is it like a salary? Jedi can't exactly go burn and loot a planet for credits like a Sith could. See if you can answer that one as well. Also that picture is one of credits from Wookieepedia. I always wondered what exactly a credit chit would look like...
Sebaya Keto posted Feb 8, 12
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Author: Sebaya Keto, Balkito, Batty, BioWare, Black Talon, Bounty Hunter, Dromund Kaas, FreelanceWizard, Huttball, Iamillerg, Ilum, Imperial Agent, Imperial Fleet, Jedi, Jhantiir, Kaon, Korriban, Lord Adraas, Lord Zash, Mordecia, Nar Shaddaa, Niatara, Ord Mantell, Rakghoul, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Sith Empire, Sith Inquisitor, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, Taris, Tatooine, The Old Republic, Tisiphonie, TOR, Trooper
In this week's The Darker Side of Life, we're going to be going into a topic that many RPers struggle with and argue over. Just how much of the time can you be in-character? In the article on roleplaying BioWare's story, we touched on using the class stories in-character. This time we're going to dig deeper and include the rest of the game too. There is more to the game than just the stories. If you happen to be standing around the Galactc Trade Network on your faction's fleet base, are you still in-character? Some players refuse to use voice chat, not because it might give away that your busty Twi'lek waitress as some hairy guy, but because once you know what a player sounds like, their characters might start sounding like that in your head too, instead of whatever accent they may be trying to portray.
For those of us that have been around RP communities a long time, there are also the people we've run into that refuse to communicate OOCly with other players as well. All they do is roleplay; everything else is shunned. Is that the apex of heavy roleplay, or a dangerous lack of communication that will lead to unnecessary drama? The question at the heart of this week's column really might be how much of our community is OOC.
Read on as we break down different activites and review community responses from The Darker Side of Life thread on how people feel about doing those activities in-character. Through this we'll attempt to find a line that can be used to guide people about what is IC and what is OOC. After all, once you've finished levelling, many players will find that their time is spent doing different activites like PvP warzones that don't lend themselves as well to roleplay as a Flashpoint might. How do we deal with it? Read on and we'll try to figure it out together.
Kovani posted Feb 3, 12
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Anakin, Anakin Skywalker, Author: Kovani, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Datapad Notes, EA, Electronic Arts, Imperial Agent, Jedi, Leia, Leia Organa, Leia Organa Solo, LucasArts, Luke, Luke Skywalker, Padme, Padme Amidala, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith Order, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, Tatooine, The Old Republic, TOR
Everyone knows there's a thin line between In Character and Out of Character interaction; a very clear, and distinct point. You might be Daniel, a married Dispatch operator living on the New York bayshore behind the keyboard. At the same time, however, once you enter the game, an abrupt change occurs: you're now Dinals'otinparki, a savage Inquisitor for the Sith Order, with a compulsive habit to flirt with anything that will let her. And yet, usually, you can log off. The two personas are distinct. At worse, you might get upset at someone's constant harassment of your character, but it's never too distressing. But as the Jedi might say, attachment messes up with a person's neutrality. Another person's hunt for a boyfriend to compare Star Wars trivia with might lead to them getting overly attached to someone; the person on the other end might be a little bit disturbed at how it affects their marriage. Romances are complicated enough in the Star Wars universe, without dragging how complex real human beings are. After reading through the responses to the recent Force Reflection, I felt obliged to contribute something towards the issue, particularly since a few responses have helped me. In this article, we're going to look at the point where IC and OOC meet in a romance. We're going to look at the points where it's acceptable, even something more, the parts when it gets vaguely odd, and that very distinct line you really shouldn't cross.
Ganden posted Jan 18, 12
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, EA, Electronic Arts, Force Reflection, Han Solo, Jedi, Jolee Bindo, Kreia, LucasArts, Mantra, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
Codes, morals, and philosophies influence our choices and actions everyday. Most people have a solid set of morals, though holding true to them is a different story entirely. We're continually tested by temptation, and without the willpower to stick to our guns, all that mental and spiritual conditioning falls down into the bottomless pit of failure and regret. Sex, drugs, unhealthy eating habits, and laziness are some of the sins we can all succumb to without a unique mantra to help guide us through our daily challenges.
The Jedi code is made up of one-line mantras. The Jedi live by it. Every decision they make is influenced by the code. And it is no different for the Sith. They have devised their own code which also influences their day-to-day activities. But it doesn't end with Force sensitives. Smugglers, Bounty Hunters, and even top secret Agents could quite possibly have their own one-line mantras to assist them with their activities, whatever they may be. Han Solo is quite famous for his cheeky one-liners, as are Jolee Bindo and Kreia with their cryptic analogies.
As roleplayers, it is probably safe to say that our characters will never truly be regarded as finished products of our imaginations. There will always be bits and pieces to fill in, and with a virtual reality and a story as large as The Old Republic's, we have quite a task ahead of us. We want to continue with that character building task by asking you what your character's one-line mantra is. No matter what class your character is, what is their mantra? If you haven't thought of one, why not make one up? That is one task you can now cross off your to-do list. Post your answers in the comments.
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