IT’S A GAME. THAT YOU ROLEPLAY IN. WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT THIS? [Author: Snowspinner]
Ignoring the fact that a roleplay server is a stupid idea (Let me save you time in the discussion forum here, actually. “Players want it!” “Players don\’e2\’80\’99t know what they want. Players will spend 5 minutes on the roleplay server, realize they don\’e2\’80\’99t have any friends there that they can talk to, and go back to their main servers.”), this is mind numbingly stupid.
The goal of a roleplay server is, one would assume, to allow people to play the game while roleplaying characters. Two simple things. Roleplaying, and game. Instead of providing these, though, Verant\’e2\’80\’99s Amazing Wonder Crack\’e2\’84\’a2 has produced a scheme that erases all trace of a playable game in favor of having the players smash their heads into the wall.
Quoth Absor from a later discussion on the matter:
Actually, that’s rather the goal of language restrictions. Races in Norrath are rather insular. We want people to spend their lower levels dealing primarily with people of their own species. This promotes community among the races and means that those that can communicate with others outside their race have spent the time and effort to do so. This is exactly what we’re looking for.
Sure, some people will find it frustrating that they have trouble grouping with and communicating with people outside their species. That’s unfortunate. But, just like many of our alternate rules servers, the idea here is to make things different in order to promote certain play styles. Here we want to make it harder for people that don’t care about the race they have chosen to play as much as they care about getting experience in the most efficient group.
So, at least in this area, frustrating is just fine.
Let me rephrase: “We\’e2\’80\’99re going to make the game frustrating as hell so you can only roleplay with your own race. Why? Because you can only roleplay with sprites that look like you.”
Now does someone want to tell me what this achieves? Cause I\’e2\’80\’99m not seeing it. It doesn\’e2\’80\’99t seem to make the game any more fun. It doesn\’e2\’80\’99t seem to encourage me to roleplay. It seems to make it so that much of the time I won\’e2\’80\’99t be able to find a class I really need, because none of the clerics speak Lizardman.
So I can sit and bitch about the lack of clerics with the other Iksar. “You know, Sslar, I think if Cazic-Thule were really all that hot, he\’e2\’80\’99d give us a class that could heal.” “STFU N00B! U GOT PLAT?”
Welcome to roleplaying.
News-flash to Verant: A hack n\’e2\’80\’99 slash video game is not the forum where great roleplaying will occur!
If I wanted to play out grandiose tragedy against the backdrop of fantasy, I\’e2\’80\’99d be playing White Wolf. I\’e2\’80\’99m not. I\’e2\’80\’99m playing EverQuest. And I\’e2\’80\’99ll wager, like most EverQuest players, I wanna wade into a dungeon, kill some monsters, and crack some jokes about how I\’e2\’80\’99m an atheistic paladin.
I could start in on how the planned removal of the NODROP tag trivializes accomplishment in the game, but why overwhelm my flamers with stuff to respond to?