Refused

Really? Ranger faction developed in parallel through the efforts of players and a couple of event team members. The traditions and ideas of the Ranger faction were then chopped up and modified by the Lore Team when it was made official. I wish that it had stayed unofficial.

"Real life" vs. "In game life." Define "real". Society on Earth is a construct, either imposed from above or agreed upon amongst the people. This applies to all scales of society from National down to the level of clubs (or Man United fans). At the lowest and most vibrant levels it is a function of small group dynamics and interpersonal agreement. In my opinion that is the level at which Ryzom operates. The Lore is background, and most of it is ancient history. The player can cling to it, or use it as a backdrop. That is just the same as in the real world, where a person can either cling to the Lore of his/her nation or religion or can step aside from it.

Let me use myself as an example. Yes, Bittty has a lot of my RL personal attitudes, but that is reasonable, since it is very difficult to play a convincing role that is totally opposite to one's outside beliefs/attitudes. However, he also has a complete and consistent history and complete and consistent roleplay in Ryzom/Atys.

Bittty's attitudes were formed initially by his childhood in a tribe in the Prime Roots, and his abandonment by the homin he thought of as a father. He reacted against the Kami because his father was a Kami and the Kami took him away. So he became a Karavan adherent, but if the Karavan are here to help homins, well so should he. (There is also the matter of one time that he felt the spirit of Jena fill him with love, but he doesn't talk about that much.)

His beliefs were then thrown into chaos and self-examination by the horror of the Second Swarming, when it became clear that neither the Karavan nor the Kami could control the Kitins, and that the national factions obstructed unified homin response. (Aris) It was only the coordinated actions of the Rangers and the Trytonists who set up the Refuge that saved the bulk of hominity until the activity of the swarming kitins died down. Even that was not without consequence, as it was the Trytonist "rainbows" that caused the fusion of the Rivers of Time.

It is thus reasonable that Bittty would trend towards the ideal of the Ranger and do so for many years before he was finally allowed to advance. He hunts and harvests, helps homins and observes the natural world of Atys, and shakes his head at the posturing of the Nations and the religions. He is mostly at peace as he approaches late middle age. (He still worships the reality of Jena, but She is not the Karavan.)

THERE is roleplay without your insistence on conflict. Conflict between homins is not needed for that roleplay. There is enough danger in Atys to give excitement. And it is all within the Lore. The culture of aid that springs from the Guild of Phaedrea's Tears, Spirit of Alervinda, and Cercle du Bois d'Amalti, and others, IS "a development in parallel."