Dark Age Of Camelot: A Stitch in Time

Let it never be said that roleplayers do not care about their art. Let it also never be said that they are not intelligent, literate people. The letters I received this week proved both of these statements, and I have all of you to thank for seven days of excellent reading.

The level of opinions and suggestions based on personal and peer responsibility for quality of roleplay and enjoyment of the game impressed me the most. Honestly, I expected (and in truth, rather hoped I wouldn't get, given my very pro-Mythic stance) a flood of letters saying, "Mythic sucks! This is Mythic's fault!" Instead, I got a passel of well-written and often enjoyably lengthy e-mails talking about how the players hold the responsibility for roleplay.

Granted, we haven't absolved Mythic of all wrongdoing here. A number of people still pointed out that the company has rules in place, and thus should enforce them. I cannot disagree. People feel tangible disappointment when they investigate the game, see the roleplaying server rules, and expect Mythic to uphold a policy of enforcement, only to find that it rarely happens. I know more than a few people who left the game in disgust, to go back to other games where they'd at least established roleplay groups, simply because Mythic had not upheld their part of the bargain.

Perhaps they should choose one server to truly police. This would give them less area to watch, while providing the environment the rules promise. I admit, I get greatly annoyed knowing that policies exist to prevent some of the things that happen on the roleplay servers, yet nothing occurs to clean the place up. Would I feel better if the servers merely had "roleplaying" labels and no rules to go with them? Maybe. At least then, people wouldn't get their hopes up.

Now here came my first real surprise. "I am here to tell you that you do not need a Role-play server to role-play. I would argue that you Role-play where ever or whenever you wish regardless what game or what server you play on." The author of this statement went on to point out his guild, on the Andred server, is, "...a Player Killer guild that Role-plays. Yes, there is such a thing. Every game we have played, we have dominated with style. ...Its not your environment that determines how you play, you choose how you will play."

Well pluck my feathers and color me impressed. I hadn't even thought about roleplaying on the 'Dreds, but so far, I have had no fewer than two guilds on the Player vs. Player servers pointed out to me who are strict and excellent roleplayers. I hold great admiration for these people and honestly, they should serve as an example to the rest of us.

In fact, another person pointed out that guilds should enforce roleplay themselves. "...I feel that enforcement of role-playing should come from inside the guilds. Guild GM's should really stress the importance of role-playing and make rules strictly prohibiting the use of standard everyday chatter on the open channels and if the player doesn't like it then they can be removed from the guild..." I looked at the websites and message boards of every roleplaying guild pointed out to me, and the strong leadership willing to take charge of the membership always stood out as the thing that made the guild successful.

"The real problem? People who claim to roleplay, but don't do so. As Einstein showed us, nothing ever dies-- it just moves or changes. You ask where the roleplayers gone, but you already know the answer. It's you. It's me. I'm the catalyst for my own complaint. The question isn't 'where have the roleplayers gone?' but 'why have I stopped roleplaying?'"

The quote above came from an extremely lengthy and well thought out letter that had so many good points in it I wish I could print the whole thing. It echoed and resounded the most common sentiment I read this week: We, the roleplayers, are mostly at fault for the lack of roleplay on the servers.

Let me give you the words of your peers, as sent to me, on the topic.

"Given that, I'd even go as far as to assert the non-roleplaying portion of players on these servers are essential. A church is not its priests and preachers."

"First, I consider roleplay to be an exercise in imagination. Moreover, I consider roleplay an attempt to pay respect to not only the game as a whole, but to those around you. We dress up for church, funerals, weddings, and the like as a sign of respect for the occasion. We do it to remind those around us that we care enough about them and their entertainment to put on a performance."

"I will not group with people who consistently abuse it (OOC communication) either. I feel that if they can't at least try to stay IC then they have no business being on a RP server and I won't interact with them. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying you can't talk about your favorite sports team, movie or a current PC issue you're having. All I'm saying is that there are things set up so you can talk about these topics without involving others who are not involved and don't want to be involved with your conversation."

"For starters, get into the habit of using 'Realm-speak' all the time. It's not really as cumbersome as it seems at first glance, you really do get used to it after awhile. It's also hilarious. 'Forsooth, good sir, and yet these foul creatures are verily strong! Shall we join our forces as one and do good slaughter?' A bit hammy, yes, but fun! In any case, after you commit to role-play (which you should have done as soon as you joined a role-play server, tsk, tsk.) use it in your groups and chats. I figure that the reason few people do RP is because they rarely see anyone else do it."

"Mainly I think it's all in how you interact with your roleplay environment. You can react positively to others that are also roleplaying. But you can also react negatively to someone who is not roleplaying and making it difficult for you to stay in character. Maybe this is a key to understanding how to maintain an RP atmosphere."

"A 'roleplayer flag' would help groups find other roleplaying members (and vice versa). The same way we can toggle options like 'looking for healer' we could select 'looking for roleplayer'. If guild leaders could set a 'roleplay flag' for the guild, this would also help. If a roleplayer knows where to find an entire guild with the same play style, perhaps they would be less shy about it in general. ...These flags could also be displayed in the Camelot Herald.'" (Blackbird's note: this flag would have to have no useful value past denoting a roleplayer, or DAoC would end up like EverQuest.)

I got far too many excellent letters to post pieces of, so if yours was not quoted, please don't feel bad. Frankly, I didn't get a single "bad" letter this week.

In the end, we have the answer in our hands. We should strive not to grow lazy about our roleplay. As a community, we should work for change. I hope we will have Mythic's help, but do we really need it? Ask the people on Andred who run highly successful roleplaying guilds. Ask the guild leaders on the three roleplaying servers who, no matter the size of their guilds, refuse to compromise on their rules and expectations.

We cannot let the ninnies, doods, and l33ts get us down. We should roleplay despite them, because when people see us having fun, they will want to join in and play along. If you run a guild that used to roleplay but no longer chooses to, please update your web page information, or go back to the rules you founded your guild on. Go the extra mile to write a plot, or a story, or flesh your character out a little bit further.

Or, as one reader put it, "One very simple solution. Roleplay. It doesn't matter what s/he is doing, you've paid your money every month to enjoy a world of fantasy and imagination. Roleplay. Don't lead by complaint, lead by example."

By popular request, I will be working on guides for roleplaying in general, and roleplaying for each realm. Likely, I'll do columns on those topics as well at some time in the future. I had several letters from people asking if I'd put some up, not only to teach them but also to give a reference for people to point at when asked. Ask, and ye shall receive.

Next week, I have a look at undaunted roleplaying guilds. What's the secret to their success? If you know of an excellent roleplaying guild, write me at blackbird@warcry.com and give me name, server, realm, website or forum if one exists, and tell me what you feel the reason for the success is. I'd love to hear from guild leaders on the pitfalls and hints they've found, too. Let's learn from the masters.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who, like me, will be chowing down on turkey and counting blessings come Thursday!