OK folks, please endure my little rant tonight, I am gonna be blunt and this post / thread is full ooc as per my definition.
Tonight (CEST time zone) I tried to join the tryker meeting in Fairhaven as my third RP event. Pretty much all who know me also know that I am still a Ryzom noob, started late April this year.
Since I am not patient right now and quite a bit disappointed as well, I put the conclusion right at the top:
As things are (my experience so far) it is absolutely impossible to get started into RP. Now let me explain this my opinion.
#1 Language. Most know I am German, speak English sufficiently well, and a bunch of French words. That's already bad enough, since the main language is French. Don't get me wrong, Krill and Nilstilar both did an amazing job in translation - until things got busy, hectic, confusing. I tried to piece things together from what I understood, but failed at some point.
#2 More language. Yes, I did not forget the in-game languages. Four of them. Which I do not know at all yet. And which I may never know either. Easiest way to learn them: I bet it's by picking them up in RP. But how to get started into RP without knowing them?
#3 Attendance. Was it part of the RP that half of the homins were dribbling in until half an hour after the set time? And some had to be fetched even? If it was part of RP, it's NOT acceptable judging by the importance of the meeting. If not, it's just annoying.
#4 Twists. Yeah, I have no background knowledge (how could I?). Yes, I mentioned the language issues before. Still I managed to grasp that the whole thing took some strange, to me totally inexplicable turn. From a court trial to some higher politics, and a kidnapping, if I got that right. How is a noob supposed to be able to follow these turns?
#5 Flow. This one is very much related to translations and attendance. These events felt like sticky gum to me. Ofc translating takes time, and again I am thankful to have had most translated. But besides, there were so many breaks and interruptions that had nothing to do with translations. And then, the next moment, three people talk at once, making it almost impossible for the interpreters to deliver a good translation in time and right order.
There were one or two more points I wanted to mention but forgot over the course of calming down and writing the above. But what makes ne both sad and disappointed is the fact that this is not the first attempt I failed in. That Pyr event I attended before went along the same lines. The botanical excursion in the Lakes was a different thing though, went much smoother and was kinda fun. Probably so because it was more of one homin lecturing (and the others maybe asking questions) than the much more complex interactions of the other two events.
Now that I unloaded my thoughts, let me try to find solutions to the 5 issues mentioned.
#1 and #2: I have no idea. Since I don't need them outside of Ryzom, I won't be able to learn either French nor the 4 ig-languages just like that.
#3: It's important: Be there in time. It's not, and you're late: stay absent. It is, and you are late? Sneak in, excuse yourself, have a seat, and DON'T personally greet and bow to the 20 other homins attending.
#4: That's really hard to resolve imo. Leaving the twists out would simplify things, but not resolve the underlying issue: How can a noob get background information, get the essential knowledge of things, and also names mentioned, that are neccesary to follow the course? That's one question you have to answer, since I can't.
#5: Try to keep things going smoothly. One thing I saw was talking bilingual where possible. Takes away the time needed to translate, and even if hectic you can still re-read in its original context and order. Though I feel bad asking for that since I, in turn, cannot do it myself.
Did other newbies join in there recently, or have all the RPers been around since beta already and know things by heart anyway? If so, how did others manage to join in?
My personal conclusion is to keep out of roleplay for the time being. I was not into it before, got interested and kinda failed.
Please let me know your thoughts, don't shred me to pieces, and if you have ideas on how to get me started, please let me know as well, they are appreciated!
Now have fun, keep going, I found it interesting in the very beginning!
CU Mcnoob
Tonight (CEST time zone) I tried to join the tryker meeting in Fairhaven as my third RP event. Pretty much all who know me also know that I am still a Ryzom noob, started late April this year.
Since I am not patient right now and quite a bit disappointed as well, I put the conclusion right at the top:
As things are (my experience so far) it is absolutely impossible to get started into RP. Now let me explain this my opinion.
#1 Language. Most know I am German, speak English sufficiently well, and a bunch of French words. That's already bad enough, since the main language is French. Don't get me wrong, Krill and Nilstilar both did an amazing job in translation - until things got busy, hectic, confusing. I tried to piece things together from what I understood, but failed at some point.
#2 More language. Yes, I did not forget the in-game languages. Four of them. Which I do not know at all yet. And which I may never know either. Easiest way to learn them: I bet it's by picking them up in RP. But how to get started into RP without knowing them?
#3 Attendance. Was it part of the RP that half of the homins were dribbling in until half an hour after the set time? And some had to be fetched even? If it was part of RP, it's NOT acceptable judging by the importance of the meeting. If not, it's just annoying.
#4 Twists. Yeah, I have no background knowledge (how could I?). Yes, I mentioned the language issues before. Still I managed to grasp that the whole thing took some strange, to me totally inexplicable turn. From a court trial to some higher politics, and a kidnapping, if I got that right. How is a noob supposed to be able to follow these turns?
#5 Flow. This one is very much related to translations and attendance. These events felt like sticky gum to me. Ofc translating takes time, and again I am thankful to have had most translated. But besides, there were so many breaks and interruptions that had nothing to do with translations. And then, the next moment, three people talk at once, making it almost impossible for the interpreters to deliver a good translation in time and right order.
There were one or two more points I wanted to mention but forgot over the course of calming down and writing the above. But what makes ne both sad and disappointed is the fact that this is not the first attempt I failed in. That Pyr event I attended before went along the same lines. The botanical excursion in the Lakes was a different thing though, went much smoother and was kinda fun. Probably so because it was more of one homin lecturing (and the others maybe asking questions) than the much more complex interactions of the other two events.
Now that I unloaded my thoughts, let me try to find solutions to the 5 issues mentioned.
#1 and #2: I have no idea. Since I don't need them outside of Ryzom, I won't be able to learn either French nor the 4 ig-languages just like that.
#3: It's important: Be there in time. It's not, and you're late: stay absent. It is, and you are late? Sneak in, excuse yourself, have a seat, and DON'T personally greet and bow to the 20 other homins attending.
#4: That's really hard to resolve imo. Leaving the twists out would simplify things, but not resolve the underlying issue: How can a noob get background information, get the essential knowledge of things, and also names mentioned, that are neccesary to follow the course? That's one question you have to answer, since I can't.
#5: Try to keep things going smoothly. One thing I saw was talking bilingual where possible. Takes away the time needed to translate, and even if hectic you can still re-read in its original context and order. Though I feel bad asking for that since I, in turn, cannot do it myself.
Did other newbies join in there recently, or have all the RPers been around since beta already and know things by heart anyway? If so, how did others manage to join in?
My personal conclusion is to keep out of roleplay for the time being. I was not into it before, got interested and kinda failed.
Please let me know your thoughts, don't shred me to pieces, and if you have ideas on how to get me started, please let me know as well, they are appreciated!
Now have fun, keep going, I found it interesting in the very beginning!
CU Mcnoob