03-24-2012, 06:23 AM
Hey there.
Now, I'm a bit of an old-timer when it comes to RP addons: I still love FlagRSP, and GHI for character descriptions and scripted items, or whatever you kids call them those days.
I got TRP2 a few months ago to see what I was missing. What made the most impression is how shiny the interface is. You've got individual places to write your character's personality, background, physical appearance, temporary changes. Character directories too, Creations to replace item-making - and for those who like customization and visual aids, there are States, pretty new icons to use, and so on. There are even profiles for your pets. It's a rather nice way of mashing several addons together.
But there is a problem with this, which I'm getting to. State misuse, on the side of the user, and metagamer, on the side of the reader.
1. State misuse.
Why, why, why did the creator of the mod add invisible states like 'Happy', 'Trustworthy', and 'Curse of X' to the list?
Those all have things in common: none of them are things your character should tell by looking at someone. Those are things you should be finding out through good, descriptive emotes.
Say, for example, that you see someone with a 'Happy' State, and they're sitting around morosely, and acting like a jerk to everyone they see. Yet when you ask OOCly, they're happy. Is the person behind the character guilty of using a crutch to RP? Definitely.
Part of the fun of roleplaying is not knowing how other characters think or act. You have to learn their hows and whys when you play with them. If that's all being handed to you as soon as you meet them (along with some inadequate RPing), where's the fun in that?
Sometimes, things like this lead us to the related problem of forcing opinions on the player.
My hypothetical person in this example has a Trustworthy state, which means they look trustworthy to others. Do I think they look trustworthy? Does my character think they look trustworthy? Maybe not. If it's a human in shiny gold armor with a huge sword and a nice happy demeanor, maybe other humans would find that trustworthy. But on the other hand, I should think that a Night Elf or Orc would be annoyed or even aggressive towards the same person.
What if there's someone who behaves suspiciously, wears dark and covering clothing, yet they have a Trustworthy state? Will I trust them? Should I trust them? Hell no. And yet, there's the assumption about your character again.
Someday I'll roll a villain with a Trustworthy state. I swear I will.
Not to demonize the users. There's also..
2. Metagaming
Also known as 'Gaming like Meta', or the favorite pastime of trolling characters. Anyhow.
If you're being presented with all of this information on age, dwelling, personality, history, and States, what's to prevent you from using it? If it's being placed there, someone obviously intends for you to benefit from it. There are probably some people out there who make a habit off this. I don't know.
More dangerously, this metagaming can happen without you trying to do it. If someone has a State (yes, I know, more State Hate) of 'Smells like Flowers', or 'In Love', and they're not showing any signs of those statuses, then aren't you, as a good roleplayer, supposed to notice the details of the character you're playing with? Smell the flowers, so to speak?
Wrong. Unless you're a Night Elf, Worgen, or Tauren, you're probably not going to smell a thing. And if you're standing close enough to do it realistically, you'll just end up looking creepy.
The same thing holds true for all 'invisible' states. You feel like you should notice them ICly because someone took the time to add them, and yet, doing so is metagaming.
All you can conscientiously do in a case like this is ignore it ICly, and/or tell the player. Both of those can be hard. In the latter instance, it can feel like a personal attack.
To sum it up..
TRP2 is great. But don't let OOCly-given information influence you, and definitely don't expect States and such to replace beautiful, informative emotes. Therein lies the death of roleplaying as we know it.
There are also abuses of character description here and there, which I'll ignore for now since they're not unique to TRP2. But if you do notice them, you know what to do. I know I'll be doing the same thing.
[/super serious rant]
Now, I'm a bit of an old-timer when it comes to RP addons: I still love FlagRSP, and GHI for character descriptions and scripted items, or whatever you kids call them those days.
I got TRP2 a few months ago to see what I was missing. What made the most impression is how shiny the interface is. You've got individual places to write your character's personality, background, physical appearance, temporary changes. Character directories too, Creations to replace item-making - and for those who like customization and visual aids, there are States, pretty new icons to use, and so on. There are even profiles for your pets. It's a rather nice way of mashing several addons together.
But there is a problem with this, which I'm getting to. State misuse, on the side of the user, and metagamer, on the side of the reader.
1. State misuse.
Why, why, why did the creator of the mod add invisible states like 'Happy', 'Trustworthy', and 'Curse of X' to the list?
Those all have things in common: none of them are things your character should tell by looking at someone. Those are things you should be finding out through good, descriptive emotes.
Say, for example, that you see someone with a 'Happy' State, and they're sitting around morosely, and acting like a jerk to everyone they see. Yet when you ask OOCly, they're happy. Is the person behind the character guilty of using a crutch to RP? Definitely.
Part of the fun of roleplaying is not knowing how other characters think or act. You have to learn their hows and whys when you play with them. If that's all being handed to you as soon as you meet them (along with some inadequate RPing), where's the fun in that?
Sometimes, things like this lead us to the related problem of forcing opinions on the player.
My hypothetical person in this example has a Trustworthy state, which means they look trustworthy to others. Do I think they look trustworthy? Does my character think they look trustworthy? Maybe not. If it's a human in shiny gold armor with a huge sword and a nice happy demeanor, maybe other humans would find that trustworthy. But on the other hand, I should think that a Night Elf or Orc would be annoyed or even aggressive towards the same person.
What if there's someone who behaves suspiciously, wears dark and covering clothing, yet they have a Trustworthy state? Will I trust them? Should I trust them? Hell no. And yet, there's the assumption about your character again.
Someday I'll roll a villain with a Trustworthy state. I swear I will.
Not to demonize the users. There's also..
2. Metagaming
Also known as 'Gaming like Meta', or the favorite pastime of trolling characters. Anyhow.
If you're being presented with all of this information on age, dwelling, personality, history, and States, what's to prevent you from using it? If it's being placed there, someone obviously intends for you to benefit from it. There are probably some people out there who make a habit off this. I don't know.
More dangerously, this metagaming can happen without you trying to do it. If someone has a State (yes, I know, more State Hate) of 'Smells like Flowers', or 'In Love', and they're not showing any signs of those statuses, then aren't you, as a good roleplayer, supposed to notice the details of the character you're playing with? Smell the flowers, so to speak?
Wrong. Unless you're a Night Elf, Worgen, or Tauren, you're probably not going to smell a thing. And if you're standing close enough to do it realistically, you'll just end up looking creepy.
The same thing holds true for all 'invisible' states. You feel like you should notice them ICly because someone took the time to add them, and yet, doing so is metagaming.
All you can conscientiously do in a case like this is ignore it ICly, and/or tell the player. Both of those can be hard. In the latter instance, it can feel like a personal attack.
To sum it up..
TRP2 is great. But don't let OOCly-given information influence you, and definitely don't expect States and such to replace beautiful, informative emotes. Therein lies the death of roleplaying as we know it.
There are also abuses of character description here and there, which I'll ignore for now since they're not unique to TRP2. But if you do notice them, you know what to do. I know I'll be doing the same thing.
[/super serious rant]