Dark Age Of Camelot: The Roleplay Reich

When I first came to Dark Age of Camelot, I spent some time in Warcry's guild database, searching through all the roleplay guilds for one that I thought would suit me. I sorted through forum after forum, site after site, seeing what caught my eye. I thought I'd come upon the right one when I found a forum full of activity, some good roleplay discussion, and what looked like friendly people.

Then I read their charter. They disallowed using tell/send to find groups. They disallowed asking anyone in the guild to resurrect you, because your character could not do such things. If it even made a nod towards out of character, it was against the rules. I blinked a few times, rereading the document to see if I'd misunderstood. No, it all read the same.

I looked elsewhere.

I will be the last person around to criticize any roleplaying guild. Even though I did not agree with this guild's rules, I respected their dedication to roleplay and commitment to remaining in character. It did, however, get me thinking about my own boundaries. What do I consider the line between "enough" and "too much" roleplay?

By nature, a roleplaying guild's focus should be on remaining in character in public channels. Out-of-character speech begets more of the same, until your guild has degenerated into a group of people whose only nod towards roleplay is saying "Aye" instead of "Yes". Anything that can be said in a roleplay style should be.

The fact remains that I play this game to enjoy myself. I never lose sight of my enjoyment of roleplaying, but I like the other aspects of the game as well. Without those pesky levels, I will never see combat on the Frontier, nor will I aid in slaying a dragon. I cannot ignore certain in-game mechanics, and I really don't know that I should. After all, we all bemoan the lack of roleplay in the game, and we all know that we roleplayers must stick together. I want the ability to enjoy myself with the game itself if all others like me have gone to bed.

Harsh roleplay rules seem good at first glance, but they can intimidate those who have just started to learn the art. More than one casual roleplayer has become more involved with that aspect of the game by contamination, and by playing around those who don't much break character. If we do not make ourselves accessible, we will never sway those who waffle between roleplaying and not.

Now that I play a Cleric, I would find it frustrating if members of my guild did not let me know somehow that they'd died near to me and needed resurrecting. I play a Cleric to help people, and being powerless to do it by dint of guild rules would vex me. To me, a guild is like a family, and I always want to be there for those wearing the same tag.

As roleplayers, I think we have all met members of the "Roleplay Reich". People who see no need at all for out-of-character speech in the game, who will mock or scold if you break character, and who make even the most diehard roleplayers wince with their standards. My own personal opinion stands that too-harsh standards can only hurt the efforts of those of us who seek to encourage more quality roleplayed interaction.

This line of distinction is a personal thing. Even as a hardline roleplayer, I feel the need to qualify some things out of character, while in other cases, I feel my character would not ask something that I, as a player, need to know. I like to communicate out of character, to at least a limited degree, with those I interact with, to make certain we are all on the same page. And I admit, I like knowing the people behind my character's friends. I've made some good real life friends that way.

I have seen some very clever workarounds to the issue. Some guilds (you know who you are, Kobolds of the Dred server) have created pieces of a new language which include words for linkdeath, experience, and other innately out of character concepts. Others have adopted what seems like the standard: beasts do not "con purple", they instead have "purple eyes", you do not have "two bubbles to a level" but "two moons to a season", and the like.

My own opinion is that I will never be able to talk about some things in character without feeling silly. If Mythic "nerfs" my Smite line, for example, I don't believe I should need to say "God no longer answers my call for His wrath with such ferocity" because this is not right. My character's deity had nothing to do with it; it was all about game balance. Now, if I choose to make it a piece of my character, that is another thing entirely.

Yes, we can find a way to say every little thing in character. For some people, this will not be enjoyable. Others will breathe it like air. What we must maintain is respect for each other's opinions. I will not join your hardline roleplay guild because I respect your rules, just as I will expect you to treat me well even if I do not roleplay as much as you might.

This kind of give and take really makes a community.

Valentine's Day is coming up, my friends, and I intend to get into the spirit with a piece on love between characters. Have a love story? Got an in-game sweetheart? Tell me about your romance, why you attached your character to them (or want to!). Let's have a look at why we have such a fascination for in-game romance. As always, send your stories and comments to blackbird@warcry.com and let me hear what you have to say!