[daslog]

Originally Posted by vorlon31

As an example of how I see things working well, I would recount the RP on the eu server where I captured a Sentient Eel and using some fandoooozie fingamejig targeted wormhole tech, (unable to recreate in our universe now due to fundemental PPlant constructional changes) transported it to my POS in the cornea sector.

Then I leaked images of the captured and contained eel via another account to a member of the "flux huggers" who in turn used another account to infiltrate my pos. This then allowed leaks and counter leaks of info and denials that built the rp via the forums.

Inside the pos and for the purposes of RP the eel was being kept alive in a micro gravity vacuum field and tortured via the use of PP discharges and even before the details of said rp began to filter into the public attention my pos was visited on several occasions by singing sentient manta who circled it mournfully.

That was great fun, once I remember fighting a flux hugger pilot called blackdog AND the sentient manta in the cornea sector it was good. Other times the sentient would appear and people would f4 me and Id have to race across space to defend the pos against the sentient, and then others took up guarding the pos.

Ultimately the sentient, trained and set to track and kill 1 particular pilot (totalNooB leader of the flux huggers) then an NPC called Brikkor, was released using the same targeted wormhole tech and a Mightygames OP flew it in Quantar core (wholey rubbishly I might add LOL) to its destruction.

That entire thing, spurred from player RP and assisted by Jumpgate officials to lend it weight went on for a good few weeks and had quiet the crescendo, but it was only made possible by the MG setup of GM's and OP's working with the community. It just wouldn't of happened on the us server with its cannon's on the use of Sentient flux.

Imagine the conversation:

GMK I want to capture a sentient
No, it cant be done
OK, I will pretend I have, but can you have a sent flip around my pos and shooting at anyone who approaches from time to time?
No, it cant be done.
etc etc etc

The basic problem I have with this: If the game mechanics don't support it, I don't consider it a "supported" RP.

Examples:
1) Players want to blow up a Sol Core. The game mechanics don't suppport destructible stations. RP = NOT SUPPORTED.

2) Players want to cut off production at Sol Core. GM provides a missle that stops all production at Sol core if it hits the surface. Players shoot missle, it it's Sol Core, and all production at Sol Core ceases. RP = SUPPORTED

3) Players pretends to be from Amananth. RP = NOT SUPPORTED


The distinction is important because asking GM's to participate in RP that is not supported results in a lot of unsatisfied customers and a lot of expenses.

[WileE]

That is true to a point, but I think it depends on exactly what part of reason needs to be suspended.

You can suspend belief for small things, if the overall story is helped from the necessity. It is a slippery slope, however, and critical that all understand what is going on, and why.

Personally, the wormhole bit I have a problem with. While very creative, it presents a possible mechanical problem (I want to capture a pilot ship ). Given that, there are some other things that could be done to propagate that story...at least the essence of it. Here again, however, it is the limitation of a part-time GM. That said, I prefer events that are congruent and lead to something epic rather than "a bunch sents attack and shut down this production".

[vorlon31]

All scifi's have their occasional bout of beyond belief moments, huge holes in plot lines and fantastical things who's workings are just glossed over for the sake of entertainment. Stargate positively swam with them, even the new bsg has them in buckets.

My wormhole tech did at least have a basis in Jumpgate rp, KEY was utilising one the undesirable properties of the old 'matter converters' (used then, in the construction of powerplants) in conjunction with the abundant energies contained within a jumpgates anomaly, a TRI /home pod and a pwd's energy release to trigger the whole thing off, allowing (with some mad genius like thinking, some tinkering and a lot of luck) for the creation of a temporary wormhole that hoovered up the eel and deposited it at the pos's containment chamber. (and vica versa later in the rp). 2 uses and never again.

Shortly afterwards, matter converters were removed from space forever, under the rp guise of preventing tears in the fabric of space etc.. so any number of stacked powerplants no longer held the potential to create the conditions necessary for wormholes to occur, which is just as well because I don't think another Great Collapse would be too popular amongst the galaxies pilots, even if immediately before it, they could wormhole their enemies off into distant incarcerations.

I probably got my timeline mixed up, further up ^ because it was only after the forum buzzing began that sentient activities in and around my pos began to occur. The RP was never a mainstream, full on and official plot line, it just happened. I think the first few sentient interactions were initiated spontaneously by the GM's/OP's as a reaction to forum events.

But the fact remained that it was a sideline event that on the grand scheme of things mattered not a jot to the universe as a whole, but a lot to those embroiled with it. And it was helped along by people willing to help entertain the players and not halted in its tracks by someone saying 'not possible' on reflex.

And it is going to be that can-do attitude for small side events that will bind people to the Jumpgate Evolution universe when it arrives, an attitude that allows players to play for rp's and stories of their own creation woven in, around, along side, above, below and beyond all official story arcs.

Not everything needs to make sense and be 'real', and so the engines of cylon raiders can scream and screech through the vacuum of space as they fly past the galactica time and time again.

[GrimGriz]

Vorlon, your problem has always been that you want to be a GM, not a player. You want to be the author of the book, not a character in it.

For example, say you want to capture a conflux sentient.
DON'T: OOC PM GM_K saying "I wanna capture a conflux sentient"
DO: IC PM some conflux specialist guy (the name slips my mind) and say you're interested in assisting conflux research and that you'd think it'd be beneficial to try and capture one.

[Nanaki]

Ultimately, the players need to determine the outcome. The thing that is most troubling about that to most GM's is you can spend hours building the perfect encounter, only to have a player find a loophole and sidestep the whole thing. There is nothing more frustrating. Alot of GM's I know, in that situation (myself included the first time I tried my hand at GM) try to force the encounter back to where you wanted it. All that does is kill the story.

That is ultimately the problem. The GMs dont like when players try to throw wrenches into the cogs of their game's machinery. Even though they -should- be expecting that.

The basic problem I have with this: If the game mechanics don't support it, I don't consider it a "supported" RP.

Except in Jumpgate, anything affecting the universe in a lasting way required the GMs to wave their magic wand. Players had no real control over production, or creating/destroying stations, or anything. The most they can do is blockade, and unless it was some huge, 24/7 blockade, it wouldnt really affect things all that much.

[GrimGriz]

Originally Posted by Nanaki

Except in Jumpgate, anything affecting the universe in a lasting way required the GMs to wave their magic wand. Players had no real control over production, or creating/destroying stations, or anything. The most they can do is blockade, and unless it was some huge, 24/7 blockade, it wouldnt really affect things all that much.

But one of the things that made Jumpgate rock was that the GMs would wave their wand. I guarantee you that's not going to happen in WoW. I think one of the main reasons EU was able to keep higher online numbers was because they had more GMs waving more wands.

[daslog]

Originally Posted by Nanaki

Except in Jumpgate, anything affecting the universe in a lasting way required the GMs to wave their magic wand. Players had no real control over production, or creating/destroying stations, or anything. The most they can do is blockade, and unless it was some huge, 24/7 blockade, it wouldnt really affect things all that much.

Which means most (but not all) RP in Jumpgate wasn't supported. Which really isn't that unusual for a MMO.

[Lordopic]

Originally Posted by GrimGriz

Vorlon, your problem has always been that you want to be a GM, not a player. You want to be the author of the book, not a character in it.

For example, say you want to capture a conflux sentient.
DON'T: OOC PM GM_K saying "I wanna capture a conflux sentient"
DO: IC PM some conflux specialist guy (the name slips my mind) and say you're interested in assisting conflux research and that you'd think it'd be beneficial to try and capture one.

Like that would matter when speaking to a wall.

As for vorlon31 being a GM, I think V has more imagination in his little fingers nail then any GM I have seen here.

Although GM_Phobos did have some cool ideas but alas I got a PM from him saying that he couldn’t do a lot of them due to the people higher than him saying no, which stopped one that I was working on dead before it had even started. I cant quote the words as they are in -Melkor- who isn’t active.

[Lordopic]

Originally Posted by GrimGriz

I think one of the main reasons EU was able to keep higher online numbers was because they had more GMs waving more wands.

We had GM’s and Opps, that cared about the community, rather than their mates and ego.

Magic wand, sometimes but add to that a dynamic and rolling story lines with interesting forum posts, FM’s that meant something to the extent of people feeling that they were part of something greater, and a great community because people would log in and have fun because of the above.

[GrimGriz]

Originally Posted by Lordopic

which stopped one that I was working on

Unless your secretly a GM, this is a perfect example of what I mean. It's especially irritating as you and vorlon were particularly fond of complaining about the lack of RP, but really you were just upset you couldn't write it.

You're a player not a GM. Your job is to say what your character would say and do what your character would do. Your job is not to invent some non-existing pretend device to capture a sentient conflux. That's the job of a GM. Your job is to interact with other players and RPCs as your character would.

I guess you need actual pen and paper RPG experience to get this concept. A lot of first timers back when we used to PnP would make the "i'm the GM too" mistake.

[Smegit]

Vorl I remember that RP, was a cool time.

Remember the time the flux took over Hyperial?? That has to be the best example of GM led RP ever. The amount of times I jumped into hyp and escaped with minimal amour during that. Did down my first sent tho.

Proves it can be done. And you can do RP outside the game mechanics. My old squad did it on a number of occasions.

And just because a player wants to perform his/her own RP doesn't make them want to be a GM or the writer of the book. How many times have people said they want to make a difference in the Jumpgate universe. Well I'm sorry but people could and regularly did on the EU. Again not a criticism, just a fact.

Smeg