Would anyone really mind if GMs could RP dragons as characters?

[flammos200]

I would really mind if GMs RP-ed Dragons as characters as opposed to event NPCs.

GMs are players like the rest of us, that have volunteered to take on more responsibilities to help out the server they love. They can freely take care of the story-environment by DMPC-ing all sorts of creatures, from Dragons to the servants of Old Gods, to whatever, as long as it provides awesome for the players to participate in. But those are DMPCs, not PCs.

However, if they want a character like that for personal use, they simply go through the CMC channels, just like the rest of us.

I don't see why this all's an issue or has to be discussed. It's been like this for years. Don't fix what isn't broken.

[DaveM]

Event NPCs, fine, but make them highly realistic ones, not PC-game ones.

What do I mean? Avoid the cliches atttached to powerful NPCs.

-They don't (neccesarily) automatically fly off at the end of the event, show up right before it.

-They can sometimes be reachable outside of the event.

-When approached about non-event-related issues, they might engage that other issue.

-They might just be coming for tea, then leaving, because tea with the mortal kids is fun.


It's not important what you call them NPCs, characters, semantics.

I, selfishly, as a player, want powerful figures that are flexible enough to do the things above (and things I haven't thought about). So that the worlds feels at the same time more cool AND more realistic.

[Krent]

The current GMs are story tellers. We really don't need another rank to the point where staff outnumbers the amount of players we have.

If this is the case then I definitely would like to see more of it. People may still disagree with me, but the stagnation of the server as of current is leading to what seems like an overabundance of tavern RP and idle chit-chat RP and more prevalent OOC chatter in the OOCC (Out of Character City ;D.) With, of course, the occasionally story-less tourney in the arena.

I'm not saying this is bad; if people wish to have mostly these sorts of RP, then more power to them! It's not really the kind of RP I find myself enjoying as of late (I literally cannot get into any sort of idle tavern RP right now, it seems) and I really do wish something epic could happen that, at least for a while, would change the world and the way things work. If even by the end of such an event, things are back to normal and ready for Cata, by all means let it all be rectified at the end of said long and poignant storyline. I personally feel that something big needs to happen to spark avid RP again-- to make people remember what it was like when you could walk through Stranglethorn Vale and Duskwood to find cults, battle, ambush, and intrigue. I know I was not here for this, and some do not look on it fondly as I understand, but things like the Sin'sholai.

I am not quite sure why we are so very set upon sticking with the lore of Blizzard aside from remaining prepared for a Cataclysm change-over, when this universe we've based our own stories in is near limitless with potential quests and journeys that simply cannot be done due to the constraints of this distant and yet uncertain cataclysm. I know we've veered off-topic, and for some reason I'm writing in a style that... feels odd and slimy when I reread it, but I'm tired and have no time to rewrite it in a different way, I hope my point gets across and I do not offend.

At the end of the day, it has become increasingly difficult to spur random RP. Everyone has begun to, whether noticing it or not (including myself), form cliques and inadvertently divided the server. People don't just RP anymore; it's got to be an event for anything aside from a few bros in a tavern joking around for consistent and random RP to occur. It's almost as if, apologies if I'm jumping topics, we need another Heretic Circus or even (despite the drama involved at certain points) White Sun Covenant (although I was admittedly more fond of the RP spawned by the Heretic Circus.) Perhaps I'm looking back on those days with rose-tinted glasses, because I really do wish I wasn't as jaded (yeah, I feel jaded it's weird) when it comes to RP. Back in the day I could RP with anyone, and despite the fact I know I may've left a bad impression because of my nubbery then, I didn't seem to care, y'know? I'm totally rambling, but whatever. I miss when it didn't really matter what I thought about what people thought of what I was doing, because it seemed to make everything more free. For some reason now, I worry whether or not I'm coming across as a good writer, a good RPer, an intelligent person, interesting character-wise and kind OOCly.

I don't know when, or how, but everything seems far more complex than when I first began RPing and I feel almost like it's ruined, because I have a hard time getting into RP without being hypercritical of myself, or of others.

[/endrant]

Sorry, that was really unusual. O_o

I agree with ya on most everything you've said, but I just wanna say that this is the way that things have always been on COTH. And not just on COTH, but on every other RP server in general. I think you may be falling into the trap that all of us oldies have fallen into; the seductive lure of nostalgia. It's a very easy thing to talk about the "good old days," but hard to really examine them. You'll come to find that the RP of then isn't better than the RP of now, and that the server has always been 'stagnant' and 'unmoving.' It creates a sense of bitter loneliness and isolation, of alienation and frustration.

You just want to move away from it all. Move away from the stupid little cliques and their stupid little memes and the constant parade of OOC drama and reliance on events and constant showmanship and all of that. You want to wash your hands of it all, say to yourself "I won't spend all my time chatting away in OOCC. I won't contribute to the problem. I'll rise above, and RP solely for the sake of RP'ing."

But this disconnect only exacerbates the problem. You don't fall into a clique, you don't have any characters that fit in nicely with the "Guild of the Month," you refuse to make a throw-away alt to 'fit in' somewhere, and you won't have anyone to RP with. Tavern RP does little to facilitate a significant connection between characters. Yet, you'll find that the sheer number of people participating in events leaves little, if any room, for your character to develop.

You become faceless. And unrecognizable. Another blip on the radar. And it just creates this...bitter, lonely, yearning personality.

I'm only speaking to you this way because this is what's happened to me, in my four-or-so years here. I wish I could offer a solution (believe me, I've thought long and hard on the subject) that could shake away with this creeping disconnect. But I can't. All I can suggest is to just keep going on. Keep going into the taverns and hope that somehow, someway, you'll find a connection somewhere. But it isn't easy.

The good news, I guess, is that if you're feeling this way...you can officially call yourself a 'veteran.' Because we all go through that. Exactly that. Isolated and ostracized.

Yay?

Also on the subject of dragons, I don't really care much. If RP'ing a dragon can help further RP, go for it. If not, don't go for it. Dragons and the such should be treated like the other important lore figures; tools to be used sparingly to further the narrative.

[Ural]

- being sworn to a dragon, you'd hope to see them every now and then -

I think I would sooner see people playing their own Dragonsworn patrons, or people being allowed to apply for the position on a 'Storyteller CMC' basis.

I think dragons could potentially be involved in more minor events and have a little more personal time with their Dragonsworn...

Would I mind if GMs could RP dragons as characters? No not really, but they have enough alts as it is.

[Rigley]

But damn, this thread has shown me an incredible lack of faith in our existing users, GMs and even the people who might join at some point in the future.
I thought that if the community itself were to give staff permission to do so, the notion that it were an elitist privilege would be a non-issue. And I never suspected that people would think that a GM would use any roleplay opportunity to turn the server into a lorebreaking clustercuss...

I'm just really disappointed by this mess... :/

In my own personal reasoning this is less a matter in faith within the team or community and more a lack of really wishing to see this happen outside of their already determined bounds. I do believe that we're already somewhat at what you're asking for, only that we just don't RP these characters -enough- for any impact to be left. I know that Krilari has been the only one to RP the red flight dragon, I believe, and I do believe other GMs have made drake NPCs using the same system as we currently have set-up for smaller interactions.

I do want to say that I do not necessarily hold this viewpoint because of a lack of faith in anyone, and I find it a bit disheartening that to not agree with a certain point is to display that. I don't want to cause an argument over this here, but since this question was posted just as that-- a question, you have to expect that there will be people who disagree, for a variety of reasons.


The matter is, on another note, that we are going to self-police, because that's partially what is expected of us. And in that vein I just don't find the idea of dragons being used outside of events appealing to me. I'm not sure if I've phrased this entirely as I mean to convey things since I've just woken up and are slipping my fingers all over this keyboard, but I do think there are valid reasons not to want a move past the current set-up.

[Dae]

But damn, this thread has shown me an incredible lack of faith in our existing users, GMs and even the people who might join at some point in the future.
I thought that if the community itself were to give staff permission to do so, the notion that it were an elitist privilege would be a non-issue. And I never suspected that people would think that a GM would use any roleplay opportunity to turn the server into a lorebreaking clustercuss...

I'm just really disappointed by this mess... :/

I do want to say that I do not necessarily hold this viewpoint because of a lack of faith in anyone, and I find it a bit disheartening that to not agree with a certain point is to display that.

I never said that. Its the idea that people here have assumed the worst possible intentions and outcomes over this. Its that people here have said that GMs would destroy the integrity of this server if they ever were allowed to have just a little more control over NPC characters. That existing players would be unable to handle dragons being played. And that we couldn't dare trust future players to do a little investigation to understand why we've made a choice on the server, nor would ever be able to discuss ideas to change existing policies.

That it isn't healthy for lore, that it sets an unhealthy precedent for GM policies in the future, that changing the existing dragon policies would ultimately ineffectual and the notion that dragons can be played at all being alienating are all very valid and relevent points. But the way several people have responded to the thread just feels like fearmongering.

This thread was supposed to be a nice thing. I mean, its not really even up for debate. It was just, "Hey, is this cool? Y/N. And why?" I never thought it would make everyone fear for the server like this.

And its quite clear that there's way too much drama surrounding this subject for there even to be a change like this, it looks like most relevent arguments have been addressed in some form, and this thread is not making anyone happy. I don't see a point in continuing this discussion. Lock?

[Loxmardin]

Locked by request.

As a reminder for the future to everyone involved; Take a step back before entering a discussion of this kind. I do feel the initial purpose was strayed from very early as people jumped to conclusions left and right (we're all partially guilty of this). A breather and some extra read-overs never hurt.

Cheers!