Nethaera talks about supporting roleplayers
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 7th 2008 at 3:30PM
There's a huge forum thread over on the forums right now (though it's been going for the better part of a month) about Blizzard putting in more for roleplayers -- player housing, surnames, and "a more interactive world" are all asked for, and much later in the thread, Nethaera does weigh in with a nice long statement about how Blizzard is dealing with all of this stuff. The bottom line, as always, is that there's only so many hours in the day, and Blizzard has to prioritize what gets worked on. And as of yet, neither player housing nor surnames or any of the other suggestions have made their way to the top of the list.Which makes sense -- as many roleplayers as there are, nobody would really call them the primary audience of the game. There are definitely other games out there that are much better for defining a character. Which doesn't mean that we'll never see these things ingame -- player housing has been wanted (and promised) for a long time, and surnames are something that's common in almost every MMO but World of Warcraft. Neth just says that it's a matter of time, and that while player housing is still on the horizon, the world of Northrend will be more immersive and interactive than the rest of the game so far. Which is good news not just for roleplayers but for everyone else as well.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Expansions, The Burning Crusade, RP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Naix Oct 7th 2008 3:38PM
Role players are a creative bunch.
Caustik Oct 7th 2008 3:42PM
They are promising a lot nowadays.
Anyway the problem on RP servers is not the lack of such features, but rather the childish behaviour of lots of people.
Tarbh Oct 7th 2008 4:23PM
Hmm, I don't RP, so I don't know if a system exists already, but just a random idea. Maybe if you can 'flag yourself for RP' you auto-'ignore' anyone not flagged, if they flag themselves and don't rp, then a 'report afk' like system kicks in, if they annoy enough people to get a few reports, then they forcefully get de-flagged for 30 or so mins.
It's probably been suggested before.
futurebiblehero Oct 7th 2008 3:44PM
I'm an avid roleplayer and perhaps it's my experience from other games speaking, which offered very little in terms of bells and whistles, but I think WoW capably provides a good environment for roleplayers in it's current state.
A good half of roleplaying is imagination, and I think they've done a decent job of meeting us half-way. As for surnames and such, it's not terribly difficult to download the MyRoleplay addon.
Whowho Oct 7th 2008 3:58PM
/love Myroleplay addon! Wow may not give us a Role play tab on our character box thing, or surnames, but I don't think it's fair to critisize Wow because of it, because of how easy it is to sustain the Addons.
On a diffrent note, I think I don't like Rp servers because people are not on there purly to Role play, they have content to see.
rick gregory Oct 7th 2008 3:47PM
This is what they always say and they should probably just be blunt about it - the next expansion and content patches that affect everyone will ALWAYS take precedence and push guild housing etc down. I mean, look at guild banks... a first implementation and then really nothing despite the fact that they could use some controls on them to prevent one person being able to ninja everything.
Jurgi Oct 7th 2008 3:49PM
Surnames would be easy to implement. Mandatory or not, make them in the same format as titles so that you can hide them if you wish. This is something I've wanted since I started playing WoW. I was actually shocked that it wasn't there.
I've bounced that idea off of a couple of friends, since it would allow for two characters with the same first name but different last name, or same last name but different first name. They figured it would hinder player targetting, like when hunters give their pet their character name. The solution would be to have the targetting function *include* the surname in it, and then not allow two players to have the same first *and* last name.
Player housing is a bit of a stretch, I think. If it's instanced, it would take up a lot of server space. If it's not instanced, such as in Ultima Online, you would run out of room. Perhaps instanced guild housing would be workable, though you'd either have to make it cost a lot, such as guild banks, or have some other requirement. Perhaps having X amount of people in the guild, or the guild has to have been around for Y amount of time.
Something that could be easily added to the game would be a roleplay mod such as FlagRSP or MyRoleplay. They could expand upon it too, say by removing the option to add a customized title until you get a certain amount of achievement points, or the like. It could get out of hand I guess, when you see someone with the name and title "Troggdoor teh BURNiNATOR" or "Ovar Ninethousand", but people have silly names at the moment anyway.
TLDR: add surnames ffs, meh to player housing, add roleplay mods to the standard UI.
-P
Coram Oct 7th 2008 3:49PM
I left WoW about a month ago now, i still check into this site, it had a dismal roleplaying community. If they get a better roleplaying community or put something in to allow roleplaying to be a bit more versatile say adding dialog to your charcter and not just let the quest giver chat, i may consider quiting EQ2 and come back.
Zunaj Oct 7th 2008 3:51PM
A thing Blizzard seems to ignore, is that most people who do not roleplay, still use most of the roleplaying tools out there. They use RP items(as in, items with low/no stats, focused on graphics or effects), they take part in seasonal activities that give no PVE/PVP-related rewards they spend lots of time/money on mounts that give no different stats than other mounts, and so on. I think, for example, player/guild housing isn't going to be something ONLY roleplayers use. Personal tabards(which has been mentioned in a different post) will probably become popular among non-roleplayers as well.
Just like roleplayers use PVE/PVP content, PVP and PVE players often use RP content.
futurebiblehero Oct 7th 2008 3:55PM
I agree with that too, though. Instanced guild housing would be nice for everyone. Even my non-RP guilds often find it a pain in the ass to find a secluded spot to hold a gathering.
Mitawa Oct 7th 2008 9:40PM
As a roleplayer, I can't say I like the personal tabbards idea. That's a normal thing, not an RP thing.
See, the idea of having a tabbard is like you're wearing a uniform, or a flag. It's a way to align yourself and be recognized as part of a larger whole. Having a tabbard to represent you... and only you... is like saying "Look at me! I'm so awesome I can be my OWN guild/country/faction!"
Good thing for people who love vanity mounts and crazy looking weapons to stand out from the crowd, bad idea for roleplayers who actually want to fit -in- with the world. Totally opposite goals there.
I'm not really fond of the Blizzard stance that if something has absolutely no practical application at all, it should make a roleplayer happy.
ThorinII Oct 8th 2008 1:56PM
I agree with what Zunaj said about tabards. I would like to design my own just because I use it to hide my ugly outfits. If something were added like dies to color your clothes to match personal tabards wouldn't be needed. Well, by me anyway.
PeeWee Oct 7th 2008 4:12PM
"And as of yet, neither player housing nor surnames or any of the other suggestions have made their way to the top of the list."
How hard is it to fix surnames? Add a text field on the character sheet, add a textfield in the character database.
Roxton Oct 7th 2008 4:15PM
I'd like to see surnames, though I can see them getting a bit out of hand.
But what I'd really like to do is be able to put my RL titles on my character. "Lord Roxton, Earl of ______" would be a lot more fun, especially if I'm planning to roleplay.
Heilig Oct 7th 2008 4:21PM
I think, I would be happy with being able to use two titles at the same time, one prefix, one suffix.
"Ambassador Heilige, Guardian of Cenarius" has a nice ring to it.
Jenny Creed Oct 7th 2008 4:32PM
Titles, smiteles. Just allow spaces and uppercase letters in character names, and maybe maybe more than twelve letters.
Eversor Oct 7th 2008 4:39PM
Just enforce your goddamn RP realm policies Blizzard and I will be happy. Fancy toys rarely help.
Of course, from RP perspective, I like where Wrath is going, since it is very rich with lore and phased quests only add more of that epic feeling.
Sean Riley Oct 7th 2008 5:20PM
Hear, hear. The biggest problem right now is not fancy extras, but too many RP realms (Yes, too many -- The RP base is diluted) and a very inconsistent approach to RP from GMs -- Half of them clearly understand the needs and react accordingly, the other half clearly don't get it and see the RPers as just endlessly complaining.
Controversial though it would be, I'd support halving the number of RP realms, and offering free transfers for anyone on an RP realm that was being cut, with a stated logic of trying to 'condense RP'.
Nati Oct 7th 2008 4:46PM
"Better part of a month"? Mike, I started that thread over a YEAR ago. ;)
I never expected it'd grow that big though, or get featured on WoWInsider. A cool thing about it is that apart from a few trolls, it's nearly entirely positive feedback, discussion or added suggestions. We had our post limit extended twice. I'm kinda proud of the thread, actually :)
TonyMotorola Oct 7th 2008 5:07PM
Roleplayers are serious fruitcakes.