Problems in Randland

[Temanin]

I was sitting here trying to figure out why it is that the RP section down here never really took off. I mean, a couple members joined in order to role play, but it usually fizzled out fairly quickly. I even found myself losing interest in my story lines, even though I really liked the characters that I created as well as the paths down which they were traveling.

I believe that a lot of the blame can be placed upon the world (because I like to shift it from myself, obviously). Honestly, though, I feel that the setting and the way in which people interact with the world contributes. For instance, take traveling from one point to another. It can take quite a while if you want anything to take place along the way or if you want to maintain time continuity. And with people being permitted to create a character from just about anywhere, we have what is a very large, empty world in which characters aren't very likely to bump into one another. This dissuades the casual RPer from playing here, as RPs are very self-motivated. You're probably only playing with one or two other people, if any, and there's a small chance of that changing. But enough from me.

Basically, the purpose of this thread is to list the reasons why you think it's difficult to RP here. And don't say laziness, as that plagues every known RP system. I'm looking for game mechanics that feel prohibitive and such. We'll work on coming up with solutions to these things once we get a list of problems.

And that's all, folks. Away you go.

[Tony]

I think there is a lack of an overall goal for RPers to RP for. Say, for instance, everyone was going to Tear to get Callandor. That would make things interesting because everyone is set on one goal. If we could come up with a goal for everyone, they can come from where they originate and unite and play together.

[Victor]

Well, for me it's a matter of largely losing interest in the series. Also, if one wanted to have a Wheel of Time RPing experience, I'm sure there are better established places on the internet with more active members to seek out.

Furthermore, the roleplaying here has tended toward disjointedness and unconnectedness. You're really only roleplaying in a small group, with other small groups popping up in other parts of the world which really don't have any influence over your group. Furthermore, your group has no say in what the other group does, nor does anybody else but that group itself. I guess I mean to say is that it's simply disorganized, with no central threads binding the different RPs together.

[Temanin]

I'd have to agree with you there, Victor. We've all caught up with the series, there hasn't been anything new, and so we're disinterested. And there are many places with high traffic and strong RPing communities. Dragonmount and Silklantern both have an RP section, not to mention such things as WoTMUD.

But that brings up a good point. Because we're very much stuck in Randland and the world is so well-defined as to what can and can't be done, it's hard to keep it interesting without the large community base. Furthermore, as both of you hit upon, the major in-game problem comes from the lack of direction and coherence. This is something I would have to agree with.

So here's the next big question: what do we do about that?

[Tony]

Try and bring in new members somehow.

[Temanin]

Obviously, yes, we need active players. But what I'm getting at is this: do you think that there are any changes that could be made to the fundamental way in which RPing is done here that will allow it to be more readily accepted and continued? For instance:

We could only have a few key cities/towns in which people could gather and socialize, each of which is connected to an operating section of the Ways. This would allow people to gather together and just sit around and shoot the breeze and also travel from Caemlyn to Cairhien to Tar Valon in the blink of an eye. Then quests could be launched with a group that would travel out into other areas and...do whatever it is you do in quests. It's sort of your "MMO towns with instanced fields" concept. We could also limit what it is your character can be with loose "Profession" classifications. That way we can make sure that most everyone is at least fit to go out and fight a group of Trollocs if they wish. As it stands, we can have a bunch of seamstresses who wouldn't be of much real use. This would give all players a purpose, I suppose.

We could also lean more heavily upon the Portal Stone World concept and bend this place to our liking. Need a band of Trollocs down near Ebou Dar? Just say that the Trolloc Wars didn't completely decimate their numbers, leaving my traveling war bands to roam across the countryside. As mentioned above, the Ways could be opened up or portal stones could still be in common use, allowing people to move about with much more freedom. Want a bunch of male channelers? Make saidin clean or make male channeling acceptable with laws governing how long men are permitted to channel before being sent to a care facility near Tar Valon, where the Aes Sedai could watch over them.

The staff could have more of a hand in the goings-on of the RP world, creating events, quests, prizes, and the like. Basically the focus would shift more from the long, involved story lines that lean heavily on strong character development to short little outings with the majority of your characterization going on in the towns, talking to others.

Now I indent all of that because it's not quite a true suggestion, but more of an example of the kind of thing I'm looking for. Yes, we need more members and yes, we need them to stay. I'm looking for ways in which we can get them to like our RP system and stay, not how to get them here.

And that's enough from me for the time being.

[Tony]

If that is what you want go and do it. I'll help you as much as I can. Just let me know what to do and I'll do it. The system sounds better than what I have right now and I think if we can get enough people interested they would join and stay and play.

So, what do you want me to do?

[Temanin]

Well again I'll note that what I wrote there was just sort of an example of a suggestion, if that makes any sense. Not that I don't like it now that I think about it, but I don't know. I was actually hoping that at least a few other people would comment, but oh well...

I guess what you could do is pick the parts that you like, the parts that you don't like, etc. It's a start, anyway. *shrug*

[Tony]

I would rather you tell me what you want to do than me decide what I want to do and leave the rest to you and others.

[Temanin]

Well that's what I'm doing. Go through my above idea and tell me if there was anything there that you didn't like or some idea that you think would be better. I can't have a one-man show here. I may like whatever I come up with but others may see it as a monstrosity. Input is very helpful. ^^

[Tony]

I do have one problem with it. As a Portal Stone it won't be drastically different. It's going to follow our current story and what happens there. It is only a Portal Stone to allow very few interactions with the main characters. Like seeing them from a distance or dressing up as a servant for a mission and they happen to serve tea to them. This also goes with saidin. It will stay dirty until it is cleaned by Rand and male channelers will be outlawed.

Now, to keep the interest of people we should release "Expansion Packs". For each Pack we could release new areas for people to go to and more job classes. It would follow the books, as I've mentioned. So when we release the first Pack the new class could be Thief-Sniffer because of that guy in The Great Hunt. Asha'man would become a class when the school is created in whatever book that was.

See where I'm going?

[Temanin]

Actually, Portal Stone Worlds can be extremely different. For instance, when Rand and the others go through the Portal Stone, they see a world without animals . There were swaths of burn marks a mile long, running east and west, tapering to points. Rand also sees contrails. But that's neither here nor there.

So yeah, I see where you're going and I like it. Slowly open up the world as people and the story advance. Very cool. ^^

[Tony]

Thanks.

So what is our first step going to be then?

[Temanin]

Well, if I had to pick something it would probably be...the basic "professions" list. We want it to be extremely flexible and yet still sort of restrict individuals to a more adventure-esque feel. Not to say that we can't have the politicians, as that's an important part in WoT. Hmm. Maybe we could consult the d20 book on this to get some ideas... *cough*

[Tony]

Well, nuts. I had just given Victor back his d20 books. I'll see if he can look up the classes for me.