Added

Whether you are an old or new player, the nuance of Roleplay between cultures on Ryzom is a subject that has been object of much debate..

The new players, released on Silan, often do not understand what makes Ryzom different from a normal MMO.
We regularly have the case of players who are confronted for the first time with Roleplay in around channel
not knowing how to respond, not knowing how to interpret the actions or words of other players, the interaction becomes weak, even catastrophic.

Not being aware of the rules that some roleplay players maintain in chat channels.
Some players may take Roleplay as personal, or even not understand whats happen, which can often cause discomfort.
And this is all the more true since the merge of servers, where different Roleplay cultures (or non-roleplay) must coexist together
(this topic will please Gidget, because I said the word "merge", he will love it <3).

Roleplay players on all sides often do not take the time to explain their actions, embed in their role to play, and live their game experience to the fullest,
while players who do not know the basics or simply do not roleplay, remains in total confusion between the mix of around channel, universe or region, and the tells.

This post aims to inform and prevent in order to avoid any bad IRL reaction and enrich the RPG part of MMORPG.

The idea:
It would be nice to have an educational warning message in the around channel at the connection for all game customers.


[18:24:29] Welcome to Ryzom!
[18:24:29] This channel is used by some players for Roleplay interactions only.
[18:24:29] Roleplay rules can be found <link>here</link>.


The link will open a post on the forum explaining what Roleplay is and how to use the around channel..
How to act or react, usage and codes (like (comment) type), and how to make emotes etc

However, the rules of behaviour and the Code of Conduct are to be applied even in the around channel,
Especially in a case where you have to interact with a player -> character you don't know much about.

As a result, players who play a MMORPG are aware, from the beginning of what is RP in the game.
They are informed, and therefore will not be surprised, or even take things personally in the case of a Roleplay interaction.
Interaction that can be positive in the best case, or "negative" (faction play, or other more extreme roleplay history-based such as drugs, conspiracies, politics or murder).

Most players do not read the 150-line windows that pop up on their screen as soon as they arrive on Silan,
and just want to play the game as it is, a simple 2 lines message in around, can avoid a lot of confusion later on, and even create vocations!

Important here too, the information system is not to be taken into account.
The around channel (being itself the main subject) is the most concrete, knowing that system info is very rarely watched by the newcomers,
and the discovery of the system info may come way much later in the game (and never for some).

Constructive comments and trolls are welcome, a vote is also available.
You are also encouraged to tell us how you were personally confronted with your first Roleplay interaction on Ryzom if you like.

(Yeah.. the last sentence is like AA meeting.. i admit it :P)

I really like the idea. and, yep, that would probably makes new comers understand how Ryzom RP work ( and, maybe some players who already play for years, but don't get much what is really RP).

About the link for the RP explanation, it could be very cool if it can be done by a Lorist ( Kind of the Namcha post on an another post about the differents RP style, maybe a bit more explaned, tho ) to make the post being neutral on how it works.

And, for the link itself... Will it be enough? Will we aim max people with it? Have we another options?

I would see a Pop UP with a short explaination and the link? It don't need to be a long message just to tell you can read on forum the post as Revvy said.

[18:24:29] This channel is used by some players for Roleplay interactions only.

to:

[18:24:29] Use this channel to chat with those around you, some players will use it to engage in Roleplay.

___

I actualy never seen people roleplay, mayb once or twice but so long ago i can't recall.

@Magez : your account surprises me, because around channel is also used by official RP events.

As a RP player I used around channel at every session. It's true the usage of it has some rules you learn observing the others. Back then on silan someone introduce it to me using a tell.

A official text to explain it seems good idea. I wonder if someone has already done it @Rev, you should dig in forum.

Why not putting a warning window equivalent to the window of Univers channel?
There is a wiki page in the FR Wiki explaining the different uses of the channels
https://fr.wiki.ryzom.com/wiki/Chat
But if you look at the equivalent page in the EN Wiki, there is nothing about this.
Perhaps we can start from this and harmonize the different wiki, asking for ryzom team agreement if needed?
This shows the different ways of playing according to the connexion time because in european hours, you can find frequently players using the different channels in the "good way".

Bonjour, je m'appelle Mermaidia et avant je communiquais en langage sms sur quasi tous les cc... Pô bien !
Ensuite j'ai découvert le Roleplay, lors d'un event de recensement des guildes fyros à Pyr (je me demandais ce que je fichais là à la base mais j'avais bien compris qu'en tant que chef de guilde même "parachutée", il fallait que j'y sois) et depuis je suis accro :D

Merci pour ce post Revvy, c'est une très bonne idée, en espérant qu'il soit suivi

Great thanks for that little story about your first roleplay interaction Mermaidia, it really made me smile :)

@Kyriann This show mainly the difference between the culture of Ryzom, highlighted in my first post.. and i think adding 2 lines in the around channel will prevent and teach people about it

And well, we need to live together anyway, so the goal is really to prevent, and explain the thing directly to everyone, some people (or young one) may take roleplay story too seriously, or like we have already seen with Americans, mixing IRL and IG.
(In addition, it may create vocations for roleplay, by curiosity.)

@Zendae Someone ot not, i made this post exist, since the idea forum, is way too abandonned..
It has got picked up to date only recently, so it may be good to renew/repost important idea :)

If this existed when I first started playing Ryzom, many unpleasant experiences could have been avoided.

I'm very guilty of not reading stuff on Silan. I tried, believe me, but it was just way too complicated, small font, typos and long paragraphs.
I had no idea what MMORPG is. Simply just wanted to run around and whack things.

Around 6 months later I joined marauders since no other faction felt right for me, and was confronted with accusations of doing it all wrong.
Still I got no info on what RP is, how it works in here and how it was relevant for my faction choice.

This first impression and the following very unpleasant months built a very negative image about RP in my head.
Over a year later a patient homin did take time to explain me the background of my faction and all the things that had confused me so much about the RP.

I had played long enough in the mara camp to see RP scenes happening around me and had slowly gotten a grasp of how it works.
A little spark grew into a flame and now my gameplay is based on roleplay decisions and I enjoy the little scenes I can create when bumping into other homins on Atys.
Still, even though all ended up fine for me, I would have preferred a smoother dive into the world of roleplay. It would have saved me from lots of confusion and IRL grief.

I don't think it's the other players' job to teach newcomers how the game works.
Right now it depends on who you end up playing with, whether you find out about the roleplay or not and how you're taught to relate to that once you do.

It's a small adjustment that Revvy did suggest but the positive changes it might bring are significant :)

Also I have talked with several newcomers and it's very common to hear "Oh I had no idea it was roleplay" or "What is happening on around channel? :o".
Let alone all the times when players, me included, were upset when taking roleplay as IRL.

I'm friends with the players who I once hated for bullying me, when the issue was confusion between IRL and RP.
No, I was not brainwashed, I simply learned how things work and found the playstyle that feels comfortable.
This chance I'd wish for each new player who pops on Silan.

I too was more fully introduced to RP in Around by a few notorious marauders. ;)

Voted yes, and would do so 100 more times if I could.

Off topic:
I didn't mean anything by it when i said i never encountered roleplay, i usually play 1-2 hours anywhere between 14:00 and 05:00 depending on what day it is UTC+1, but i don't recall seeing it.

As for events i do see the in character talk of the organizers of the event in around. i generally only pick out words and sentences pertaining to the event that would direct me to objectives and things i can do with the game elements themselves, not so much the people playing around me.

On topic:
I do notice the replies to this topic to shift focus to, around = rp only, while it is merely 'one of the' ways you can use the channel. That is why i proposed a change to the text in my previous post, my suggested text includes rp as something that can happen in around not as its main function but something to keep in mind for when you do encounter it.

I agree to the notice/warning suggested by revvy to new players. even if i haven't encountered it myself i can easily see some new people getting confused or annoyed not knowing why people keep talking seemingly weirdly 3rd person. A note/warning would greatly help them understand/realize and mayb even intrigue them enough to click the link and dive deeper into it themselves.

+1
its not something i personally care too much about because everywhere ive been that is "rp inclined" has known that around is RP

however, if this helps, certainly I support

many don't know that around is typically for "in character" (IC) as opposed to out of character (OOC)

cheers.

@Magez (and others) -- Not everyone does roleplay in 3rd person. (Though the /em command does, of course.)

@Magez -- I agree. No more than Universe is used strictly for Help inquiries should there be any attempt to enforce a restriction on Around = RP. However, if the informational article is ever written, it might include a note that if people *are* doing RP it might be regarded as courteous to move off a small distance if your talk is not RP.

The article really need to include something about the different degrees of RP. Faction/Religion intensive RP is not the only kind. As far as I'm concerned organizing a trek for a newbie can be a form of RP, expecially if the team leader is giving instructions like, "Horgan, you stay close behind me and don't even think about hitting anything. You're too weak to do much damage and you'll attract attention. If you get hit, don't ressurect, we'll be back for you."

It's not high-ton RP, but every little bit helps.

Meh, I'm just used to RP'ers responding to my non-RP comments in around with confusion and dismissal:

/em has no idea what Placio is speaking about.
/em thinks Placio says some strange things.

:)

Wish even that happened to me too, back at Zoraï events I just got ignored. Once the hardworking translators got my line translated, we were already talking to different subjects =D

+1 for the idea, "warning" label. Also I would really want to read the rules, as I probably break many of them without meaning it. There could also be "warning" that not all are up for RP, so better not expect anything from anyone, but to enjoy everything you get ^^

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