RP SG's...where have you gone?(also, lore.)

Your dual blessings excuse only applies to one or two enhancements, not the entire system as originally argued by Xanatos. Pedantically explaining a tiny fraction in no way justifies his zealous "GAME MECHANICS ARE LORE DEAL" rhetoric.

But eh. Only so many times it can be pointed out people like him only want the convenient bits of a story to play with, rather than all of it.

Quinz: i've had similar concerns and experiences as you in the past. i found the solution to my problem was a static team.

static teams of up to 8 tend to meet regularly and because it's a small number of players it's easier to get to know everyone and for everyone to be on the same page, or even hop in and out of stories as RL dictates.

so why don't you see about giving that a try? IMO, static teams are the SG/VG i was looking for from the very beginning.

good luck! i'm sure there's a place out there for you, too, just don't give up! =)

Yes please let us reduce all game mechanics and rigidly push them into all aspects of RP.


Sometimes, folks, you just need to turn a bit of a blind eye, or deaf ear, or laminated tongue.

(QR)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrandX How long ago do you consider long ago? The Teen Phalanx (possibly a bit of a shameless plug, but not really meant to be a shameless plug) is coming up on it's 3rd year. Mod-Heavy RP SG. In fact, most members would rather RP than actually level. Great group of people.

The Young Phalanx is experiencing a big of a revival, after having gone dormant for awhile, and we'd love to have more people show up. Head to Pocket D on Tuesday nights around 9pm Central and look for Back Yard Boom or Necril.

Also, the KGB Special Section 8 is still around, with regularly scheduled Wednesday night meetings and practice (also at 9pm Central).

Hey chat is this KGB Blue or Red?

KGB Special Section 8 is the premier home of heroic Communists on Virtue.

Nice.
You guys online?

Certainly. Send a tell to @Smersh or see our website (in my sig) to fill out our online application.

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion based on my own observations and conversations I've had with others.

I think the decline in large and open RP SGs goes hand in hand with the general decline of RP as a whole on the server. Yes there are still a handful of people playing in Atlas and people RP in the D, but it's become a very small percentage of the Virtue population, and it's continuing to shrink, not grow. Four years ago, just about everyone was using ()'s to denote OOC speech in broadcast, now no one seems to bother.

What RPing is left also is incredibly cliqish, with few opportunities given for new players or characters to get integrated, and the reason for this is pretty simple and will probably draw no small amount of flames:

The vast majority of RP to be found now is just terrible. It's inane, mind-numbing, and rather than help immerse a player into the City of Heroes universe, it detracts from the game setting. The gimmick characters and SGs (e.g.; The Twilight and Vampire: The Masquerade toons and groups) don't really want to play City of Heroes, they want to play whatever gimmick they're running, and are just using CoH as the vehicle for said gimmick. The attention seekers (the Walking Wounded toons that whine when they're healed but never seem to die if they aren't, the drama queens, the level 5s that start fights with 50s but claim they're just as powerful) ruin any kind of theme or mood in their demands that everyone worship at the altar of their anti-Awesome RP. The soap opera crowd also aren't really playing CoH, they're again using it as the vehicle for their terribly written, melodramatic, bad romance-novel fantasies.

And unfortunately, those few who are playing City of Heroes and RPing to further the immersion of the game have to be very cliquish in order to keep the larger morass of garbage players from ruining that immersion, and large SGs don't lend well to that.

Personally I stopped looking for worthwhile RP a while ago, and when I get the urge to try again, I only need to go sit in Pocket D and realize that the only concept not being played is the concept of a hero/villain in a city of heroes/villains and I'm reminded why I don't see any prominent RP SGs anymore.

I've been pretty sparse in game lately for a variety of reasons, but I think there are a few things that are in play here.

After nearly 3 years of leading an RP SG on Virtue (Gods of the Golden Age), one of the problems that really began to strike me is the rapid turnover of characters.

RP, especially any kind of Medium to Heavy RP is built on relationships. I'm not talking about "adult RP" or anything of that nature. It's built on connections that are built between characters. Friendships, rivalries, and yes, romances are also included in that.

Yes, the core of CoH is being a Hero (or villain as the case may be), but the core of RP is in dealing with other people. As heroes, as friends, such and so. You can emote all the nasty things you want at Recluse when you see him, but it ends up being a one sided conversation.

The problem begins when alts become part of the mix. It's certainly possible to juggle 2-3 alts, and still set up a vibrant "relationship web" for those people, that they have a pattern of interactions with other characters that keep them interesting. However, after that, you're spreading your time (and yourself) just too thin, and you'll end up unable to keep those webs living and active.

What's more though, is when people set alts aside when they hit 50. That was to me one of the most destructive things in an RP group that I ever saw. Someone who abandons a 50 (or at least backburners them) doesn't only affect themselves, but also sends a ripple effect through the entire "web" of a RP SG. Captain Shinypants just doesn't fight crime any more (come in game), and now, Mister Aboveaverage, (his old partner) just doesn't seem as fun to play any more... so he goes away as well. You keep that going, and soon the core of an RP group starts to look rather thin.

Now, with PLing becoming faster than ever, and Rest XP and all of those things, that effect has gotten even faster, even more pronounced.

wow I am sorry to hear about all these people not enjoying or not able to find decent RP. I stumbled across a great RP SG just over a year ago and have had the best time of my gaming life with them. When I'm not hanging out with them I try and RP in PUGs and have come across other great RPers and the ones who dont RP with me dont ridicule me or try and prevent it.

I guess I've just been lucky or I'm just having too much fun playing this great game to notice the bad stuff.

Please look me up if any of you want someone to RP with...although I am not a great RPer I do it to help immersion and escape from the everyday for awhile.

@Manny CS

I'm in a full RP SG ( United Sentinels of America ). I also RP in every PUG and TF I run. I'm an action-RPer, I don't usually go in for sweeping stories, I just log in, RP, say hey to people, and it works for me.

Some of the groups i've RPed with in the last year have been ( actually, the list of SGs that I know of that RP ) are as follows. I"m sure I'll forget some too, so forgiveness please!

United Sentinels of America
Gods of the Golden Age
Legacy of Valor ( new but rising )
Teen Phalanx
All-Star Teen Sentinels
Dauntless Reverie
Hyperion Force
All Creatures Clan
Sinners and Saints ( have not seen them lately but they were fun)
Ravencroft Manor
Paladins
Panther Legion
Guardian Force ( good RPers )
Tavern on the Edge
Paragonian Knights

Please feel free to add to the list, I apologize to those that 'carry the flag forward for us RPers' if I don't know you or forgot you. I know i've forgotten tons.

Those SGs that are 'RP Friendly' but don't RP, i'm sorry, I have not listed you guys. This list is for RP-only unless you put quotes around it. (( like this!! woot!! ))

wW

Full RP SGs are still around, as far as I can tell... My SG and VG are at the year and a half mark (a Virtue continuation of an RP SG on Pinnacle that's been around for years). It's not exactly massive, though - something between one and two dozen active players.

I RP plenty... with my friends/SG.
Go to the D, or Atlas? Pfff.

Ashtur's remarks above about the rate of alt turn over being destructive to RP rings true to me. I create characters and play them to fifty with the expectation I'm going to keep them for the long term and develop a shared story and experience with others around me who're doing the same. When an otherwise excellent RP'er retires their fifty to start a new character, it does take the RP wind out of my sails too -- in a way, I put effort into that person's character too, and it then just disappeared. It's always a bit of a downer, and is the sort of thing that could create a chain reaction to break up an otherwise healthy group.

Does this mean that RP SG's become less active, or dry up and dissolve faster than before? I'm not sure. I've been in a position of trying to find an RP SG a few times, as I am again now, and it does feel as though it's more difficult than before -- the RP groups don't seem to advertise as they did a year or two ago. It may well be there's just as many and just as active, but to me they seem harder to find.

Perhaps they're closing in on their core membership to those RP'ers who just want to rapidly turn over alts in an RP-environment; perhaps the influx of vocal non-RP'ers causes the RP community to close in a bit. Maybe we just need renewed effort in connecting RP'ers to each other. I do feel that most RP communities have a few core players who sustain it. Those who're naturally outgoing and engaging and who bring new players into their fold and make them feel part of the group -- the sort of activity that replaces players who've had to leave with fresh roleplayers.