So, I found a home on City of Heroes on the unofficial official RP server, Virtue. I was scrolling through and couldn't find if anyone had asked yet, but are there plans to have Rp servers/shards? The role play capabilities and the absolutely FANTASTIC community of role players in CoX is what kept me playing from the time I was nine years old until I was almost seventeen years old (almost exactly a month short of my seventeenth birthday). I grew up on CoX, the community and the support it offered to new (and extremely young) role players gave me the confidence to continue Role playing even now at twenty three years old.
Loyal CoH/CoV player/Roleplayer from:
June 5th 2005 to November 30th 2012
Virtue server
@Spiritual Shell
Techno Mistress, Victoria Craft, Lil' Wolf, Spiritual Shell
Good to hear you had a great RP experience with CoH. :)
Turns out CoT will be working differently than CoH did in that regard. Unlike CoH that had predefined physical servers that you specifically logged into (i.e. Virtue) CoT is basically going to act as if there's just one big single "server". Because of this there will be no way to really have a special "RP server" because there's not going to be "servers" in the way CoH was organized.
You can still have a bunch of RP friends and do whatever you want with that. It just means that everyone will be effectively "lumped" together. To be technical about it there will be "shards" that'll seamlessly handle the load of a bunch of people playing the game all at once. But the idea of manually logging into individual servers will no longer be a "thing" in CoT.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
One plus side of having a game that is trying to continue many of the things that made CoX great is that one of those advantages was making it really easy to naturally fit into the world. Certain games and settings are easy to get into. Everyone has imagined being a super hero.
Another game that did an excellent job of making roleplaying feel natural and easy to get into was puzzle pirates. It actually went a bit further than CoX with an ingenious addition: the default language filter, rather than just bleeping out swear words, turned them into hilarious pirate themed words. Swears would turn into things like "blistering barnacles!".
It was subtle and did an amazing job of helping players fit into the world whether they were trying to or not. As a side effect, even players that started out with zero intention of roleplaying naturally enjoyed it and began playing up the cartoon pirate theme. Many players chose to leave the default language filter on as it felt like a benefit to gameplay. It turned the often hostile and caustic behavior of people online into silly and adorable additions to the flavor of the world. Even when people tried to be cruel or insulting it would often come across as cute and hilarious.
While a swear filter that is "comic themed" might be more difficult to pull off, having optional but default features such as this can go a huge way to improving the experience not only for dedicated roleplayers but for everyone involved. In theory you could have a variety of chat filters players could choose from that work off the same scripts and simply pull from different lists of replacement words. CoT will have a starting advantage just like CoX did in that the comic motif will naturally be easy for people to adhere to. Having additional nudges that encourage players to act in a manner that adds to the intended experience for everyone is a good thing.
My wife would disagree with you on that. ;-)
Spurn all ye kindle.
Actually, the default swear filters are already comic-themed in that the practice of replacing swear words with random %&#@ing characters has been a staple of comics for decades.
But it would be hilarious to have people randomly using phrases like Adam West's Batman or the Tick would.
"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation."
Yeah, this is kind of what I was talking about. It would be more difficult since the flavor of characters is all over the place. Puzzle pirates had an advantage that it had a silly cartoony feel and everyone played basically the same character, a cartoony pirate expected to say vaguely silly and nautical things.
Something like this could be done for CoT but it would take a bit more effort. As mentioned previously having multiple filters players could choose from would be one approach to that, especially if players can set that for their *own* character to fit their feel. This way character could pick a silly adam west batman or tick list of phrases, as per your example, but also phrases that fit different themes. There are plenty of settings (especially during the 80s and 90s) that made up goofy swear words. Shadowrun is a perfect example here of slang and swear words made up for the setting that could be used.
Giving players the option to pick a chat modifier for themselves that can fit their character theme would be something players would likely enjoy. Give players the option to turn chat swearing filters on or off for incoming chat text, but what filter is applied can be chosen to fit each character.
Doing this might really help CoT stand out. The best part is that it is little more than a list of words in text files, something that doesn't take a great deal of technical expertise to produce.
edit: It could also help the CoT setting if the lore crafters of MWM come up with their own set of made up slang and sweat words specific to CoT. This would allow the game to just use a single filter.
Why have a roleplay server? Why not make every server a roleplay server by default by not designating specific ones? People should RP when they feel like it and not feel forced to be IC all the time.
All the mmo's I've been in, and all the rp servers, whenever there was one, people have never been IC 100% of the time. You had people were IC often, some occasionally and plenty not at all and just wanted to hang around rp'ers and see what was happening. It's just a way to know where to find other roleplayers, there are several reasons for having an RP focused server. It's never forced.
Sorry for contributing to a thread necro, but an idea just occurred. Why not let RPers flag themselves? This idea may well be to late for launch, but perhaps in an update? Basic idea would be somewhat similar to player notes in CoH. Just allowing an option to flag a toon for RP and to see other toons so flagged. Not certain if that should be one or two steps. I may not RP, but I'm a big fan of letting folks play how they want. (Within the rules and TOS of course.)
My understanding is that we're going with the 'One Megaserver to Rule Them All' model, so no RP server and no PvP server, no Localized Language server.
That said, I've seen people RP in ways that made the game fun. I've also seen people RPing in ways that made me want to vomit and light them on fire. Okay, my most reasonable reaction was a desire to banish them to a private room with lead-lined walls. Sitting around in a public place, airing out your genitals, or clogging the emote channel with... um, Stuff, is not my idea of game-play, but something that belongs in a private channel. Not something I should have to deal with while Banking, shopping, or visiting the Market.
However, I also try to be sensitive and let other people play the game however they want. So, let them have a private room/instance Or let people who are passing by and do Not want to experience a bunch of monkeys having a picnic, put a temporary squelch on other players, without having to add them to Ignore, or something permanent. Perhaps we can vote them ONTO an island.
Be Well!
Fireheart
Assuming the mega-server w/ sharding, would it be possible to have certain shards set aside for RP, and if you flag yourself as RP you'll go into one of those (only one in use to start, then more if that one ever becomes over-crowded). A similar system could probably work for PvP as well, though I think they've already got a solid idea how they want PvP to work.
~ DariusWolfe
Errant, TNT, Vibrant and Fluxion on Liberty
I see where you're going, but I also see an issue. What if an RPer also wants to PvP at the same time? That's why I said just let them be able to identify each other and sort themselves out. PvP will already have a separate phase. But I'm not sure RP would require that.
Shards are auto-created as the server population grows. No way to set aside shards for specific use.
Depends on what you mean by "specific use", but they can be created with different rule-sets like PvE or PvP. By this they can create a rule-set named RP that is not actually different from PvE and RPPvP that is not different from PvP, leaving enforcement up to mods which ime is the much more common way to handle this.
We are trying to avoid too many “rule set versions” and sticking with pve and pvp for now. Role play can occur anywhere and there are no definitive rules as to what constitutes “role play” out side of very basic concepts but from there it can vary far too much to provide cohesive experienced that is actually codify and enforce necessitating a separate phase of the city. Basically the two phases are easily adaptable environments for people who want to role play without us having to enforce a placement for it.
[hr]I don't use a nerf bat, I have a magic crowbar!
- Combat Mechanic -
[color=#ff0000]Tech Team. [/color]
Of course, of course. Was more pointing out to Stellar that you already have two "specific use" shards, and that it would be relatively simple to create more via rule-sets [b]if[/b] you ever see a need for it.
Remember that the existing "shard" structure that is currently being talked about is bases on PvP and PvE flags on the characters. At this point in time there is no "RP" flag. That may of course change in future updates
Difference here is that you can’t have open PvP in PvE. The coding enforces the separate phases. With role play we can’t enforce anything, creating a separate phase serves no purpose since players don’t have to go to he “RP phase” in order to RP.
Put simply, you can choose to role play anywhere.
[hr]I don't use a nerf bat, I have a magic crowbar!
- Combat Mechanic -
[color=#ff0000]Tech Team. [/color]
I think it's more about helping roleplayers find each other. With no 'Rp' flag, it can be difficult to find people. There's no unofficial server of them to band under and if there's something RPers love, it's being able to see others RPing out in the wilderness. You wouldn't need to enforce anything, it's just a way for them to say 'hey, I'd like to see other RPers more'. FFXIV has no official RP servers, but with separate servers the community was able to choose 2 to be unofficial ones. CO and ESO with megaservers have no such tools.
The point of an RP "phase" would be similar to why RP servers exist in games like WoW, or how Virtue became an unofficial RP server on CoH; Because Roleplayers aren't the majority, and it can sometimes be hard to find each other without clicking on and reading every single profile as people run by or linger around. Chat, even just "Local" chat, can often be super busy being spammed by various things, OOC conversations, WTS/WTB from people who can't figure out how, or just don't want to use Trade, etc. An RP server, or even just an RP phase helps create a quieter space where all* of the people you see are roleplayers and are possibly open to walk-up roleplay.
Yes, you can absolutely roleplay anywhere. We did it in CoH all the time. But having a phase/shard for RPers would still be a really, really nice feature to have.
[h6]* read: most, since there's nothing from stopping non-RPers from checking the flag anymore than logging in to an RP server[/h6]
~ DariusWolfe
Errant, TNT, Vibrant and Fluxion on Liberty
I'm not "anti-RP flag" here - seems like it might be worth the effort for the Devs to consider at some point.
But just in case that [i]doesn't[/i] happen we can just consider that CoH had "[url=https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Pocket_D]Pocket D[/url]" that became generally known as the main in-game place for RPers (of all kinds) to find and meet each other. It's quite likely there will be a similar place in CoT that becomes the "main" place for RPers to gather. People can always use that in lieu of a dedicated "RP flag".
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
Yeah, absolutely. We will definitely manage with or without sharding or an RP flag. We've been doing it since Ultima Online at least, and pre-graphical before that.
But if the devs would be so kind as to implement something like this, I know that *I* would surely be grateful.
ww
~ DariusWolfe
Errant, TNT, Vibrant and Fluxion on Liberty
I understand the intent. We have some very heavy role players in our team and when we discussed such issues certain compromises must be had.
You see a role play phase isn’t “enforceable”. It is only serving as a gathering place. It doesn’t stop non-role layers from entering and thus “cluttering” the “rpnphase with no. RP people”.
There are no set “role play mechanics” which govern when and how to role play.
And aince people can role play in any phase, then what is really needed is a way for them to cummnicate and coordinate with each other. A role play flag which grants access to a server role play channel can provide that. However, it doesn’t prevent no -role players from flagging, entering, and messing around in the RP server channel.
Hence it will need to be up to players to set up global channels so they can moderate them. Players who can decide on locations to gather. Players who may make user generated content maps to gather and role play with select groups.
Virtue didn’t become the “unofficial role play server” because the devs made it into one. It was an emergent result of player action organically. Players will find a way to connect and gather together without directly being enforced by us devs. we just need to provide basic tools, such as glocbal channels, spaces that can be accessed which are in the city map that are free from regular combat, instanced maps which are designed for gathering locations.
[hr]I don't use a nerf bat, I have a magic crowbar!
- Combat Mechanic -
[color=#ff0000]Tech Team. [/color]
Player made missions I was aware of, but this tidbit sounds new to me! Assuming of course these aren't just missions with no enemies and only a team allowed in.
Hold the phone. Did Tannim222 just CONFIRM GLOBAL CHANNELS? Freaking AWESOME! Note that in fairness he didn't say when. (He's so nice to keep on communicating with us! I have to give him some wiggle room.)
I will be quietly and patiently awaiting any other global channel tidbits you may decide to give us and promise to eagerly celebrate when I see you do it. :)
I guess I just assumed there would be global channels af start all along.
Hi. I'm Hope.
To be sure I felt it was a safe bet. After all the Devs were players. This is just the first official word I have seen in many years of being alert for it.
Really? I could have sworn they had mentioned previously that the chat was going to be similar to how CoH/V was, except for the whole character_name@global_name difference. I freely admit I may be mistaken.
I do know locations are being set up for role play. Much like the pocket D but more intertwined in the world.
I do like the idea of (redacted). Those should be good spots for Roleplay. So far I haven’t seen anything to contradict what I knew from before I left the project. Way back in the Plan Z/ Phenix project phase.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP