General Discussion

I recently watched the opening cinematics to World of Warcraft.  I was thinking about what a great game the cinematic-quality animation would make - in another 10 years.  Certainly there are lots of other high quality animations out there, and I'm sure I'd have a similar reaction to them, but I can perhaps more easily imagine a game when I see World of Warcraft characters on the screen.

Imagine a game with cinematic quality animation, with full physics, collisions, cloth and hair simulation, wind, weather and top-notch lighting.  It would be absolutely phenomenal.

Until the players showed up.

They'd still be saying and doing the same sophomoric things that they always do.  The naked dwarves would be passed out drunk in the streets - in beautiful cinematic quality with flakes of snow gently falling on their inert forms.  The gnomes would still be jumping off the highest buildings to see whether they could kill themselves - in beautiful cinematic quality with blood and gore as femurs drive up through torsos.

Is there any point in pursuing an ever more realistic presentation of a themed setting when the players themselves actively ruin the setting?  It's a bit like trying to watch a movie in a public theatre while the guy behind you keeps yelling out advice to the silver screen hero.

Would you sacrifice flexibility in the control of your character if it meant that all player characters in the world remained consistent with the theme of the game?  So your character would refuse to strip in public places.  It would refuse to jump to its death.  It would refuse to sit on the mailbox, block doorways and otherwise be annoying.  Your character would, in short, follow the social conventions of the game setting.

Taken to an extreme, if the king shows up, everyone bows.  Including your character.  You might tell your character to cross the street in front of His Royal Annoyingness, but it won't, because the social conventions of the game insist that your character respect the king.  There's no point in calling him king if everyone /insults him and dances naked in front of him.

This would all mean that when you trundle down the street of town, you'll see NPCs and PCs, and they'll all be behaving like citizens (or visitors) to that town.  People will walk in and out of shops, never jumping out windows or walking their horses into town hall.  And so forth.

I'm not a roleplayer, but I'd sure like to be able to walk through a town that seemed like a town.

I see your point. However,  as much as I would like less immature behavior ..in the end, I also do not want some draconian ruleset telling us what we can and cannot do.

What I find, is the main cities...just silly. However, the out of the way cities are much more enjoyable

The idea is okay. It would force the 24y old bullsh crowd to do Roleplay for a second.

It could be problematic if I wanted to roleplay a character who didn't like social conventions, but I can do that in any other game, so there's no reason to insist all games allow me to do so. For such a game as this, I'd just adapt by roleplaying a character that fits the limitations and enjoy the serenity and immersion of the overall experience.

All of my characters from basically all games i have ever played have never never been "nice"

helpful to others but sheathed in a back story of deceit and mystery never a good a guy guy.

heh my favorite role is somewhat of a rogue who is mostly a mystery to other people anyhow

Okay, have you been on a LoTRO server in the last 4 months?  When LoTRO first came out it was innundated with people who played it because it was the 'latest new thing'.  Now that its been out a year and is "old hat", I very seldom see people passed out drunk  (unless its the festival and they are playing the hobbit tavern run or have had a drink of the special keg of brandy which is mainly fun because you wake up in some random, determined by the computer, place.) or seeing how high they can fall before dying.  Its a fairly mature community.  But then I can't claim to have been in ALL areas, so your milage may vary.

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Originally posted by JB47394
I'm not a roleplayer, but I'd sure like to be able to walk through a town that seemed like a town.

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Everything you wrote before this sentence is roleplaying. Only roleplayers want that sort of thing, nobody else, for the simple fact that it's roleplaying to want the town to seem like a town and want your character to follow some obtuse rules set by the game devs.

Sorry, this thread just really confused me because everything you said, prior to what's quoted, is roleplaying. Roleplaying is wanting the game to feel more like another world rather than a game. Everyone else.... just wants to play a game.

Granted, the less mature crowd does irk me at times in the chats, but most games have a way of ignoring them in some way shape or form.

I'm just throwing it out there, it's kind of a crazy thought though. But, why don't you go try an RP Server? I'm not meaning to sound like an ass. I have nothing against RPers, I wish I was into it. I'm just saying, you might like it.

Having those silly dances and carebear emotes don't help either. How can people dance when theres supposed to be a WARcraft  going on hah!

What I like with MMOs is the freedom; you can do the stupid things you've always wanted to do but never felt like you could do: ride around with a horse in the town, jump like a bunny and so on. While I don't always abuse my ability do these things it's still nice to know that I got the freedom to do so if I want to. When I play MMOs I don't want the realism I can find in reality - I want another world, where I am someone else than in reality. For me MMOs are like a dream, and in that dream I don't want to be under the rules of those in the real world.

Of course all problems you mentioned could easily be solved, while still maintaining the realism and the freedom to some extent. Implementing something as simple as police that arrest you and throw you into prison would allow some kind of order in town. The army can block the path to the king and attack anyone insulting him or equal.

Of course there is also one last important aspect to take into consideration: the fact that realism makes people behave realistic. When you play WoW do you feel that you are really in that game? Probably not. But when you play a game that feels as realistic as our world does then you will probably feel that the character you are controlling is real enough to you that you don't want to bring shame on yourself by doing stupid acts.

/uninstall

Originally posted by Blackfoot-3

 

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Originally posted by JB47394
I'm not a roleplayer, but I'd sure like to be able to walk through a town that seemed like a town.

---

 

Everything you wrote before this sentence is roleplaying. Only roleplayers want that sort of thing, nobody else, for the simple fact that it's roleplaying to want the town to seem like a town and want your character to follow some obtuse rules set by the game devs.

Sorry, this thread just really confused me because everything you said, prior to what's quoted, is roleplaying. Roleplaying is wanting the game to feel more like another world rather than a game. Everyone else.... just wants to play a game.

Granted, the less mature crowd does irk me at times in the chats, but most games have a way of ignoring them in some way shape or form.

I'm just