Ellis

I don't RP on non-RP teams because I do it for the interactive-ness between the characters. I do use the ((OOC)) thing, though, because it's a 1-key shortcut and I'm so much into the habit of using it. I do know some folks who don't RP because they just don't.. they don't dislike it, per se, they just don't get a story in their heads.

RP has never been dead for me, but I lucked out in having a good, active RP SG. We even use the MA to make weekly plots to run, and then TFs are run in character over the weekends.

It's good to hear Dayn's doing ok. Happy Birthday (belated).

And there was much rejoicing.

We had that happen in our group, and it wound up being Adamastor causing it. We substituted a custom mob and the error stopped and we were able to play the arc.

As someone said before: each player's opinion is worth a pile of beans.

Your mileage will vary in this game. My main is an energy/energy blaster that nobody has complained about because I learned how to control the kb and even do a sort of Babe Ruth with it and aim. You can knock stuff to a tank, just as well as you could knock it away. Same with Storm Defender; you can play it badly and have everyone angry or you could take time and learn how to have finesse with it.

The "5" that the earlier poster talked of is still not necessary for you, if you don't want to do it. Choose what appeals to you and then learn as you go.

One of the beautiful things about CoH is that, even though there's archetypes, you don't have to have one of each thing in 99 percent of the game. You don't need to stand and wait for a "healer" or "tank", nor do you need to be a "pure healer" etc. Some stuff might be more difficult, but it's almost always finishable (excepting the really hard stuff like Statesman Task Force).

That said, think about what you like to do the most, as someone said: melee? ranged?

I normally tell someone brand new to make a scrapper: they do the most damage, but also have a decent survivability. That said, my own first character was a blaster. I don't mind getting creamed.

You really can't mess up the character to the point of unplayability here, which is nice. The choices of all the primary, secondary, four power pools and Epic Power Pools winds up letting you customize your character (now with power colors for the primary/secondary!) and enhancements that you put in that further customize you. Example: I put in a lot of range to my energy blaster, rather than damage.

Controllers can be really hard in the low levels, but when you get up in the 32+ area, you are like Unto a God.

So don't worry about "what to get". Get what you think looks fun and what you would like to play with. You also get more slots. Most of us have many alts, and each one makes for a different experience.

You're joining this game at a great time.

I have 3 different groups that use the MA for RP-based weekly events, and not for farming, and it's wonderful. Players log in with enthusiasm on the nights that these are run, and some of the "GMs" write plots that run a month long, with them making a 4-part mission arc each week for it.

Does it matter if it adds to our XP, if we're enjoying our gaming Experience?

Yeah the editor isn't perfect, but good gravy, nothing else lets you make these.

While I don't get depressed about double XP weekends, neither does it excite me. It is nice, though, to have the free reactivations, so I can see people again who have left the game for whatever reason before.

I do know a few folks with dyslexia, but that usually takes on a different look (and is consistent) and opposed to people who just want to write "ur" instead of "your". When I went to school, there were no computers (except big punch card ones that took up whole rooms), and it was part of the curriculum to learn to type on typewriters and get your wpm up as high as possible. This was especially important if you were female, in those days, since most of your job prospects would include being a secretary. (Yay, no longer true!)

Like someone mentioned, it's faster for me to type out the whole word. It took me 6 months when I first joined CoH to learn what people were saying. The first time I teamed with someone who did short-text, he kept saying "inc". After about the tenth time, I asked him "What does that mean? Are you incorporating?" He explained it meant incoming. (Mind you, I could see the Vahzilok slowly approaching even without his warning.)

I'll do a TF PuG or something with folks who use the shortspeak, but sorry, I don't RP that way, or with anyone using those abbreviations ICly unless they have a supremely tight concept that has them doing so. (Again, it's obvious to me whether someone is lazy or not.)

On the forums, though, where you want to elucidate your point in the best way possible, shortspeak is not great for communicating.

I guess I'm lucky, as the SG I've been with since July 2004 is still very active. So, to me, the state of CoX is like always. Neither Aion of Champions Online have reduced our numbers from here. However, we are not into gear, loot, leveling and farming; the main thing for us has been to "write" the story of our characters and our supergroup with roleplaying (and now heavy usage of the AE to create specialized missions that do this.)

Super SK has been a boon for our group. Anyone can play any of their alts, and we don't have to sit there with a calculator and spreadsheet, trying to figure out who needs to be on which team for a mentor.

So if CoH is stale for you, you need to really find good solid folks to play with, not just hop on and hope for a PuG.

There is an excellent stickied guide to RP in the Virtue Forum.

Here's also a little tip I use: RP (especially online) is like dancing with someone. It's only going to be good if both of you are aware of what the other one is doing and are in proper step with them.

I've done RPvP, as well, but yes, it is hard to find other people willing to both at the same time.

The D is such a poor place to go to find quality RP, I feel that RP shouldn't be judged by the type found there. I mean, that's like going to an X-Rated movie theater and deciding most moviegoers are sleezy and most movies have dumb plots.

I'll admit I'm blessed with good folks who do high quality RP, so I don't need to frequent the D.

From my own self, I have one "psychic" of sorts, but I never bring up that he actually reads anyone. I leave that up to people I RP with to decide whether Ali senses anything or not.

I'm not a farmer, so I don't think the AE is "dead". In fact, there's been no change whatsoever for me and my friends, who use the AE to make special plots that we run through each week.

For us, it's alive. If it's dead for you, maybe you weren't using it right.

It's the proper thing to ask someone OOCly, if their character is going to be featured in a plot. Especially in the example given, that character is now going to be treated differently.

However, it does depend on how well you know the player and how much they trust the "GM" (in this case, the person running the plot).

While you lose the surprise of the framing and the urgent feel in RP, an ounce of OOC Prevention is worth a Pound of OOC Drama.

Get well soon, Posi, from the woman in the green hat. Lots of bed rest and fluids.

My main beef with the Name@uniqueglobal that Champions Online has is that they don't allow you to change it. It's a very minor chance that someone with the same name that you chose will also be an RPer and then also be in the same SG as you.. but if that did happen, you can't pay to have your name changed.

Also, there's a griefing SG who are all Goonling@uniqueglobal. While you can check who is who, when you're just looking around Club Caprice, all you see is Goonlings griefing the RPers.

So there's some downsides to the naming thing.

Tried it, but the game needs too much twitch, and I also get some kind of headache from the graphics. (I've tried turning them down, turning off black outline.)

But I also didn't find the game fun. If I hadn't played CoH solid for 5+ years since its beta, and been there through it all, Champions Online might seem new to me, but it felt like I was being served twice-baked leftovers that someone hadn't bothered to even disguise with spices.

To all who like it, have fun over there on Shard #7 (The Unofficial RP Virtual zone instance).

After the brief sidetrip for a Pocket D debate, I think we can answer the OP in that, yes, there are some folks who are doing the kind of RP you like. The problem with our style of RP, though, is that we don't have a "hangout".. because we don't RP hanging out, usually.

So, we'd just need a hub or something.. some way to recognize each other.