Active Roleplay Tags

Ambivalence

Let's face it, while RP may be one of this game's primary draws, it isn't what the majority of the playerbase is actively doing at any given time. Being that Aetolia, like the other IREs, is such a mechanically driven game (not unlike an MMO) that caters to differing interests, why not take a page from the latter and allow players to toggle on/off a "looking for roleplay" tag? This would add their full names (titles included) to a list similar to "nwho," (LFRP or RPWHO?) and optionally their location, allowing folks seeking interaction to find one another with ease.

To prevent abuse and offer the same convenience to combatants- not to mention, weed out some of the griefing- a "PKWHO" list could be implemented as well.

Moirean

This would be great. It wouldn't be organic, sure, but it'd be an option. God knows how many times I've sat around with a POSE setup or trying to emote at afk people. Do like!

Xenia

Oh man, I'm really torn on this one, leaning towards not a fan of it. I prefer the organic approach far more, and am content to have to figure out who I can interact with as opposed to just being provided a list. I mean, in a sense, if I see someone sitting the The Lover's Fling, or perhaps a bar, or some other known, social place, then I assume that they're probably looking for interaction.

Edit: PKwho, though would be a good implementation.

Aryanne

I feel like a lot of people don't know about SPAR WHO. I mean, I guess it isn't technically for PK exactly, but sparring.... But it isn't that different.

That said, I do kinda like the idea, and am similarly torn with @xenia. I dislike the inorganic feel of it, but plenty often, I've pestered people on skype/etc. to be sure they're up for RP being harassing them IC anyway.
While a decent rule of thumb for finding people is "who is POSEd while alone in a room", some people don't know about POSEing. And even for those who do if you're just ALL sitting in your own rooms waiting for someone to walk by, unaware of who else on WHO is also sitting there anxiously awaiting interruption vs idling afk.

Teani

I've found that simply POSEing in a room won't necessarily get you any RP, even if you happen to be posing in a public and popular room. Randomly emoting at people standing in a public location can also be frustrating a lot of the time because there are quite a few idlers out there. Maybe I'm boring to RP with or I just have bad timing though. I don't know!

Having an option where you can at least check who have listed themselves as available would be nice. It doesn't have to make it unorganic. It just provides you with a quicker way to find fun, rather than running around searching for it.

Emelle

I don't think it's inorganic at all, actually. That's exactly what we're doing when we check WHO with thirdeye trying to trawl for RP. It would certainly benefit those of us (me!) whose characters don't always like hanging out at traditionally "social" venues, and would make it easier to keep from running around emoting at people who are afk or, as @Aryanne said, sitting around waiting for somebody to approach them.

Or maybe we should just have an idle list.

Zsadist

I'm not well known for RP, but occasionally in the rare times that it fancies me, I will RP. However, I think it would be a decent addition to Aetolia as a whole if there was a way to add yourself to a list of active RPers who actually -want- to RP. I really cannot count how many times I've heard in clans where people ask other people if they are busy/want to RP.

As it is, we have SPAR WHO, SECT WHO, WEBWHO, Orgs, clans, etc.... If we can have a SPAR WHO, something in my opinion is hardly ever utilized because most of us tend to just send a spar challenge through tells to known combatants, then why not implement an RP WHO? Doing so would allow the vast majority of people who prefer to RP the chance to RP during their time online, rather than sit there twiddling their thumbs and alt tabbing to a notepad to build tailor/food/wood designs while they wait for some random passerby to RP with them. Not only would it assist with that, but it would also allow the RP-clique mentality to dissipate because then you could just look and go, "Oh look, 'insert darkie/lifer name here' is available to RP with. Cool!" And now you get to RP with someone who you might not have known RP'd or might not have had the chance to RP with because of 'insert excuse here'.

Synopsis: RP WHO would be a definite great addition to the game, regardless of if you RP alot like @Teani or @Aryanne or @Gwenith (to name a few) or RP very little, like myself and a few others I may not know about (because we don't RP much.

Elie

I can definitely see the trepidation about this, but I think that it would be worth the slightly immersion-breaking solution for the massive benefit it would provide.

Aldric

Ehh, the immersion-breaking thing doesn't really cross my mind so much when you really think about it. If you're looking for roleplay, you're in RP mode, which leads me to believe you're not going to be like, "tell Elie Hi I see you're on the RP list, can we do some creepy insectoid stuff?"

I'd foresee it more as something like:
rpwho
Elie

>Okay, Elie is looking for roleplay! Let's see where she's at.
farsee Elie
Elie is standing within the Lover's Fling!

>Sweet, it makes sense for my character to stop by the Lover's Fling and grab a drink there.

I sashay my way on into the Fling, emote sitting down at the bar and asking for a drink, and conversation/interaction magically blossoms from there. Bam, RP that's still quite genuine.

tl;dr While your motive for actually seeking said person out in the first place might be completely as a result of the rp list, it's up to you to make the interaction something genuine, and I've got plenty of faith in the community (or at least those that'd be even utilizing this in the first place) to make it that way.