The purpose of this thread is to give a description of what RP is and how it should be done on the server. Recently, I've seen many players attempt to RP, which is good, but it's at such a low level that I think there needs to be some guidelines laid out to assist in improving the general RP.
Cause and Effect
The main issue I've seen since launch are players making up things in roleplay. These include instantly finding information that wasn't given to them, accessing a locked console without attempting to unlock it first, conducting brain surgery, and even making time pass for 10 hours on the spot. These are examples are poor RP and powergaming. If you don't already know, powergame is forcing a certain scenario to happen without there being a firm basis behind it happening in the first place. For example, during bunk inspections, one of the STs was going up to everybody and doing a /me search and then rolling. If they rolled high enough, they "found" some sort of contraband on the clone, even if it were an officer. The players being searched were not aware of this made up contraband and thus were not included in the RP process. If both parties are not aware of the RP scenario, then it is an abuse of RP and thus not allowed. Perhaps a clone of lower rank could have smuggled an augmented blaster pistol they found on a planet during a mission in RP (you can't just say you have one). Then maybe they would contact staff (more on this later) to initiate an RP scenario with ST and a roll sequence to see if they are caught or not. This is an example of cause and effect. There must be a foundation for the RP to build off of instead of it just coming out of mid-air. RP is supposed to be intricate and highly rewarding if done properly. Consequence is a big part of it. There will be winners and losers. You can think of it this way if you come from a PVP based server and want some sort of objective. However, this is not an excuse to make up things that aren't plausible. If you are a player and encounter a scenario that you feel is fabricated or feel you are being powergamed, feel free to use staff chat (@ or /a) to contact a staff member to observe the passive RP senario.
Events
During events, clones will be given objectives to clear. There will be a natural element of hand holding from the GMs, but we want as much of the RP to stem from the players as possible. Events are usually set up to have multiple avenues that are possible, which should be explored. This requires a level of intuition from the players (mostly the officers in charge) in order for it to be executed properly. During events, we encourage players who think they have found something of interest to the event to use staff chat (@ or /a) to contact a GM to come and observe the RP. *There are many players, and there may be some waiting periods. If there are multiple things going on in an event, the GMs will have to stretch themselves to make sure every RP scenario is properly explored by players, so please be patient. This isn't fast paced action like in MRP.* For example, say you find a console that you think may be part of the event. use staff chat to say something along the lines of /a I found something, tp to me when available for /me. A GM will tp to you and will explain the circumstance of the object you found. You will then do a /me (preferably a detailed one and maybe even more than one) to describe what you decide to do, and the GM will guide you from there. You could do:
/me inspects the console and notices a screen with many options on it.
/me navigates the console and looks for anything that might be of use.
Here, the GM will explain what your options are. Eg. You see three menus. Two seem to be miscellaneous categories while one is called "Administration" and is locked with a password.
For this, there would probably have been something set up somewhere else in the event that may have provided the password assuming things went well (somebody else found a tactical droid and did good /me's with a GM to search its memory banks and successfully rolled to acquire some passcodes). You could ask the battalion that found them (unless it was yours) for them to give the passcodes and try them in the console. From there, the RP would resume with the GM.
/me's
This one is something really simple to help improve RP. Lots of players have been getting it wrong or doing it poorly. /me's are expected to have value and some sort of thought put into them.
Bad examples:
/me 10 hours pass by
/me Yes sir, I will do what you order.
/me hacks console
Good examples:
/me grabs his rifle from the ground and puts his helmet back on, still shells-hocked from the crash.
/me sits down at the table and plops his lunch tray down.
This is a basic guide to roleplay. These are the standards that must be followed at minimum to encourage a good roleplay environment that everybody can enjoy.
