Guild Wars 2

[Tmon]

Hell maybe they should label about half their servers rp and half free for all and moderate them both exactly the same way. 

[Ratman_tf]

My one experience with an RP server was WoW, and that's because it was an existing guild that I wanted to join.

It was indistinguishable from a regular server. Same retarted names, same idiotic world chat.

RPing in a MMOG is pretty daft IMO anyway. It's like RPing in Quake. (That analogy never gets old.)

[Lantyssa]

RP servers in WoW were near worthless.  That RP servers were (still are?) put on the recommended for low population list and no real rules enforcement played a large part of it.

[Nevermore]

Given a choice, I *always* try to opt for the RP servers.  They're by no means perfect, but I have found them to be much better than regular servers.

[Ingmar]

Yeah in retrospect I wish we had gone for an RP server in WoW, and now it would be waaaaaay too expensive to get everyone to move. 

[Koyasha]

Interesting observation: The one game in which I actually see a lot of RP on the RP server is one where the RP server is an unofficial designation.  City of Heroes/Villains.  Pretty much every other game I've played, the RP server makes little to no difference.

I've also never really seen any enforcement of any rules for the officially designated RP server in any game.  At all.  A lot of them have rules that say you're not supposed to talk out of character in /say and such, but these rules are never enforced.  Naming rules seem enforced purely by GM whim, and most of the names I see changed would be changed on normal servers anyway, purely for being 'offensive'.

[Numtini]

I agree, there's a ton of roleplaying in COX. Actually, now that I think, a ton in COH. I never met a single rper in COV, even on Virtue. At least not that I can remember. I think comic book heroes lend themselves to easy roleplaying and I think the people who got into COX seemed to really get into COX as a world, not a game. Maybe it was the lack of end game. There was also a good amount of roleplaying on DAOC, which was the game that created RP servers. At least there was on Nimue/Albion. And I saw a ton on Anarchy Online, although that's where I think I really noticed RP getting really heavily being about cybersex. Maybe because everyone involved in the RP community went clubbing at the Reets and generally one goes clubbing to get laid. But that seems to be all RP is about now. I'm not sure there was a single bit of RP that wasn't cybering in EQ2.

[Modern Angel]

All I've ever noticed on RP servers is a bunch of self-important nerds bragging about how they reported Optimus Smooth for a naming violation. The only thing worse than that guy named something dumb is the beardo getting some Z grade power trip chain reporting him.

[Lantyssa]

CoH has been good for RP, though I'm not in the right areas or channels anymore, as the lower game seems mostly dead.  And in case anyone isn't paying attention to the Graveyard, CoX is giving away a free week.

[Malakili]

My one experience with an RP server was WoW, and that's because it was an existing guild that I wanted to join.

It was indistinguishable from a regular server. Same retarted names, same idiotic world chat.

RPing in a MMOG is pretty daft IMO anyway. It's like RPing in Quake. (That analogy never gets old.)

It actually makes sense if you can actually impact the game world at all.  But now that the game worlds are effectively static - no such luck.

[Nevermore]

Yeah in retrospect I wish we had gone for an RP server in WoW, and now it would be waaaaaay too expensive to get everyone to move. 

Actually, if you picked Silver Hand it wouldn't cost me all that much since that's my original server and I still have all my original characters there. 

[Ratman_tf]

It actually makes sense if you can actually impact the game world at all.  But now that the game worlds are effectively static - no such luck.

"Forsooth! Mine parents were killed in an auto accident, dude! That's why I became JazzMan!"

"... Ok, let's run a mission."

"... Ok."

(Or cyber in goldshire. I think that's RPing too.  )

[Sky]

"Forsooth! Mine parents were killed in an auto accident, dude! That's why I became JazzMan!"

"... Ok, let's run a mission."

"... Ok."

Roleplayers can't run missions? And yeah, if your idea of roleplaying is using spotty elizabethan english, I can see why you think it's daft.

[Lantyssa]

Lion's Arch Video

Looks very, very nice.  Lion's Arch is now independent and rebuilt after being flooded by the rise of the elder dragon in Orr.

[Modern Angel]

Boner.

The story of what you're doing in GW always left me dry but the actual WORLD was so well realized visually. I have a thing for Lion's Arch.

[Ratman_tf]

"Forsooth! Mine parents were killed in an auto accident, dude! That's why I became JazzMan!"

"... Ok, let's run a mission."

"... Ok."

Roleplayers can't run missions? And yeah, if your idea of roleplaying is using spotty elizabethan english, I can see why you think it's daft.

*sighzors* I can't even make a joke about the poor improv skills of supposed RPers, or that the game has no relation to what they're typing in chat.   

[Hawkbit]

Hmm.  Very pretty, but looks like a helluva lot of walking.  Hopefully there's a zipline system or something.   

[Engels]

Back in the day we used to have to go to Burned Woods via the Overthere and we LIKED IT.

[DLRiley]

http://www.arena.net/blog/shadows-in-the-water-the-krait
http://www.arena.net/blog/the-legions-of-the-charr#more-4939
http://www.arena.net/blog/the-wisdom-and-power-of-the-kodan

[Murgos]

Back in the day we used to have to go to Burned Woods via the Overthere and we LIKED IT.

Freeport to Qeynos run, bitch!

[Hawkbit]

F to Q was terrible, but at least wrought with danger.  Running through huge cities that aren't even populated with meaningful NPCs or stores is just frustrating. 

[Numtini]

I realize that it's not as realistic, but I really get annoyed at convoluted or empty city zones. At least there's some game challenge point to the danger in something like a F/Q run. A big confusing city gives you nothing.

[Sky]

I really hated the city they put in for the dragon race in EQ2. What a horrid layout.

[Hawkbit]

I really hated the city they put in for the dragon race in EQ2. What a horrid layout.

That is a shining example of how NOT to make a city.  Unless you're filling it up with useful stuff, just gut it.  Take Stormwind, for example... or any major city in WoW.  It is the quintessential quest hub - it should be teeming with hundreds of quests in every nook and cranny that take you out into the world.  Instead, it's just wasted space for the most part. 

[Ingmar]

I realize that it's not as realistic, but I really get annoyed at convoluted or empty city zones. At least there's some game challenge point to the danger in something like a F/Q run. A big confusing city gives you nothing.

Never go to Lothlorien then, it will make you go . And it isn't even all THAT big.

[caladein]

Caras Galadhon even gives you a deed/title that highlight its pointlessness!

[Hawkbit]

Oddly, LotRO is the one game I cut some slack in that regard.  I still think they could put more chain starters in major cities/hubs, but w/e.

[Count Nerfedalot]

Here's a thought, what if those big cities (and specifically the taverns in them) were used as meta-quest hubs, with breadcrumb quests leading you out to the regular quest hubs, anywhere with quests suitable for your level which you haven't completed.  Ideally with easy access to some transportation accelerators as well.  Then it could be a natural process of getting your group together at the tavern (right next to the bank!) Chatting up the NPC waitstaff for ideas on where to go adventuring tonight, then piling on the griffins or whatnot for a quick ride out to the starting point, and then start adventuring.

If you or your group is already out in the field you just pick up where you left off, but if you are at a loss for what to do next, maybe you missed some breadcrumb quest or bypassed a quest hub or something to explore, this would get you back on track (and back on the tracks, I know, but that is a different debate).

[Murgos]

Or, at least instead of having to rely on an out of game leveling timeline if the NPC's could give you a hint.

"Any news?"
{If level 40-50 and completed quests X,Y and Q but not R and T}
"Oi, you look pretty tough.  I heard there was money to be made by a man of action in the Razorback Hills, check in with my friend Buzzy near the Mailbox on the main road into the town."

[Hutch]

I really hated the city they put in for the dragon race in EQ2. What a horrid layout.

That is a shining example of how NOT to make a city.  Unless you're filling it up with useful stuff, just gut it.  Take Stormwind, for example... or any major city in WoW.  It is the quintessential quest hub - it should be teeming with hundreds of quests in every nook and cranny that take you out into the world.  Instead, it's just wasted space for the most part. 

To be fair, a lot of the space in WoW's capitals are occupied by vendors and trainers and such. Some of them even give quests, but that's usually not why one seeks them out.

Regarding getting on and off of quest rails, I do appreciate the big breadcrumb posting boards. There's at least two of them in Org, one in UC, and therefore I assume they're in all capital cities (but maybe only one per landmass?). They offer level-appropriate breadcrumbs, to kick you to the starting quest hub of one or more zones. This way, when I'm leveling up my goblin, who's getting 145% xp due to heirlooms and guild perks, I don't have to grind all the way through a zone to get the breadcrumb for the next.

[Mrbloodworth]

Your avatar is highly distracting to me.   

[caladein]

Every capital has a board and exit breadcrumbs are based on level for the most part instead of quest progression.  So, if I just leveled, I might be a able to pick up a quest or two from the innkeeper to go somewhere else and go do it then or when I get done with the zone.

[Koyasha]

I like big cities, the trick is making them feel alive.  Even if there's nothing directly useful in 3/4 of the city, as long as the buildings aren't 'just for show' I still sort of like it.  Consider Freeport, which was one of my favorite cities back in the day.  Yeah, it was a little big.  Once in a while, having to cross three zones, sometimes multiple times, to get some things done in town, was a little annoying.  But most of the time I liked it.  It felt like a proper city to me, and this was with the very limited amount of NPC movement and such they had back in EQ in those days.  Qeynos was even better as far as feeling alive goes.  Every building was real, there weren't any show-buildings that you couldn't actually enter, like in WoW's cities or those of most games I can think of these days.

I am happy to deal with a big city if it seems like a city.  If it feels fake, then yeah, I want as much stuff concentrated into one small spot as possible, because it already feels fake, so making sense isn't high on my priority list anymore.  Maybe that's why in WoW, I like Darnassus better than Stormwind or Ironforge - because since the architecture is all open, it doesn't have fake houses/buildings with doors that can't be opened everywhere.  It's less fake.

[Murgos]

Decent interview here: http://guildwars.incgamers.com/blog/comments/guild-wars-2-interview-part-1

[Sheepherder]

it doesn't have fake houses/buildings with doors that can't be opened everywhere.  It's less fake.

See, I get in trouble whenever I do that.  What's your secret?