Sebaya Keto posted Mar 14, 12
-
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 Feb 22, 12
-
Author: Sebaya Keto, Balkito, Bieldywyn, BioWare, Darth, EA, Electronic Arts, FreelanceWizard, Jedi, Jerax Teral, LucasArts, MacButt, Mai Cash, role-play, Roleplay, RP, RP-PvP, Sendra, Sith, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Darker Side of Life, The Old Republic, TOR, WingedThing
Admit it: when you meet someone new, chances are you peek at their level, and maybe even open up the inspection window to look at their stats. In this week's edition of The Darker Side of Life, we're going to be diving into this issue. Does your character's level and gear matter in roleplay? On one hand we have a group that I like to call the Earners. They say that characters are what they earn. If you want to RP a Darth, get to 50 and get the Darth title. If you want to RP a powerful duelist, get some PvP gear. Characters that have had that effort put into them are more deserving of respect, right?
Not so counters the other group which I like to call the Storytellers. Respect is something a character should earn through solid roleplay, and good storytelling. If a level 10 character can play the part well, why not let them RP a Darth? Any monkey can make level 50 and get PvP gear given enough time, so why not respect things that matter more to roleplay? These are the two sides in this battle, one we're going to comb through in detail and try to work out some answers.
Join me as we take a look at your responses and attempt to dig through the issue. Does your character's level matter in roleplay? Should a player have to get their character to level 50 to be taken seriously in roleplay, or is it just a form of metagaming? Once again we're back on the same tangent of game mechanics in roleplay. Hold on tight and keep your arms and legs inside the car until we come to a complete stop, because it's going to be a wild ride.
Sebaya Keto posted Dec 7, 11
-
Amaranth, Author: Sebaya Keto, Bielduwyn, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Coruscant, Daren Mar, Darth Malgus, Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo, Jedi, Jedi Knight, Korriban, LARP, Mandalorian Blockade, Overseer Harkun, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Satele Shan, Sendra, Shinzar Durile, Sith, Sith Inquisitor, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Darker Side of Life, The Old Republic, TOR, Xzenivar
When you think about a BioWare game, the first thing that comes to mind is usually its story. The Old Republic is no different. It has been touting as adding a new fourth pillar to the MMO genre – story. But is the addition of a story for our characters really a good thing for roleplayers? In this week's The Darker Side of Life, we dig into the issue, and using your responses try to find a measure of understanding in the chaos.
Most of you reading this have played TOR's beta already, so you've had a chance to see the class stories in action. Don't worry, nothing will be spoiled for you. Snape kills Revan. The stories themselves though have gotten a lot of attention. They're fun, and for the most part on par with something you would expect the folks at BioWare to have written. While that may be great for the game's success, how many Bounty Hunters are going to win the Great Hunt? How many Jedi Knights can be Orgus Din's apprentice at once?
In one of the first issues of The Darker Side of Life we discussed the use of companions in roleplay and ran into some very similar problems. In the end the consensus seemed to be you could always use them as extras, different characters, or just not at all. In the same way we've seen Sith Inquisitors offer up different backstories as to why they were enslaved, but will it be enough to differentiate them from the pack? Can you really build a strong character off the class story? Can you add a planet to The Old Republic? Read on and we'll find out
Sebaya Keto posted Oct 26, 11
-
Adlai, Amaranth, Atreiyu, Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, DSoL, Duke Nukem, EA, Electronic Arts, Emotion, Hermione Grainger, IC/OOC, Imperial, Jor Doneeta, LucasArts, Mandalorian, Mary Sue, Mishka Kalrook, MMO, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sendra, Sith Lord, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, Sven Pek, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Darker Side of Life, The Old Republic, TOR, Twi'lek, Twitter, Voc'khan
Welcome back everyone to this week's The Darker Side of Life. In this edition, we will be discussing our characters and how we create and become attached to them. The two main issues here are called Mary Sue, and the IC/OOC divide. Mary Sue refers to the complexity of a character, their balance, and how much of ourselves we put into them. The IC/OOC divide is a term for how we keep ourselves as players separate from our characters, sometimes not always successfully.
When I think of Mary Sues, I like to think of Duke Nukem. He represents an unstoppable killing machine bubbling over with testosterone that is out to kick ass, get the ladies, and nothing else. When it comes down to it though, it's not much fun to be in Duke Nukem's universe if you aren't the king himself. Mary Sues tend to put other roleplayers in a similar position, since they are often all powerful or unstoppable. The question is, where do you draw the line? How much is too much?
The IC/OOC divide is an even more convoluted topic. We often put a bit of ourselves into our characters, but again, how much is too much? How do you know when you've become so attached to a character you cannot bear to see them harmed? Every roleplayer has become too attached at some point, and the question here is more how to deal with it when it happens, otherwise it can be a problem for everyone around you.
|
