RP with pickup teams

My characters always have a full story in my head. I usually type some of this if it fits in the bio

Last night I got a pickup team for a Posi 2.  I immediately made some snarky comments about needing the dam badge and everyone was happy

I did not realize my home comp had grabbed the lesser of my two weight-if and so I got mapserved as I was going through base to faultline. I told the team when I got there sorry comp issues. I got mildly very mildly rebuked for not using parentheses. 

This is where things got slightly odd. At least it seemed so to me.  I explained that I meant my base computer had teleported issues

Then I ran the last few missions saying things completely in character.  Nothing rude just talking about my past with Cot and how stupid Posi was. My character is a dark brute skull head ex magician with an axe to grind against the villain leadership and so is on Blueside to obtain power. And ER help people yeah. 

The team made a few comments but it mostly fell flat. So. If you say specifically you are a RO team then people talk about life in the City and their character arc and 

Okay I am rambling. It just left me confused. Are we grinding or TOing. Good team new.  Just left me feeling my efforts were not appreciated. I want applause darned it lol

Not all of us have the coordination or manual dexterity to both conduct an extensive in-character conversation *and* play the game at the same time. (Heck, some of us can barely do that while our characters are standing still! Ask anyone on the RP channel what my typing is like. XD) So, they may not have been ignoring you or avoiding doing the IC-thing. They may have just been concentrating on kicking goon butts and not becoming Veng-bait. 

I've noticed that with two exceptions, every PuG, and TF I've been on has been more focused on moving thru the mission quickly than bantering along the way.  It might have always been that way, even on Live, and I just don't remember it, but I definitely wish I was on more teams that would move a little slower thru the content and spend more time role-playing (or hell, just chit chatting) than tank/blast/buff, lather, rinse, repeat...

Just a wish, not an opinion or commentary

I banter a lot on teams, but there is a careful balance depending on what AT I'm playing and the opportunities for more than a remark or two. I usually throw out a couple of quick ones to see if anyone will chime back. If you directly name someone you have a much higher chance they'll respond, but even on an RP-ish server, there's not always someone in the mood (even if they like doing it most of the time).

How HOT the team is running, the mood of everyone, how specific and inviting the RP thread you have in your head is... all those things matter. But I'm glad I get it as often as I do, if for nothing more than color. It's never going to be a D&D session around the kitchen table. Though maybe in Pocket D or something it is.

I write bios for my characters, too! I don't often RP, though - I try to make characters that don't speak much! lol

Character bios are one of the unique aspects of CoX that I love.

When it comes to prioritising Gaming and Roleplaying on missions, I'm always focused on the gaming aspect. You can't roleplay effectively when you and your team-mates are face-planted on the floor. But because I tend to be shy in new groups anyway I don't RP often on mission teams, even RP ones, because it's always an 8-man optimized grind, effectively only leaving room for banter only. If I wanted to just banter I could be OOC and use my own brand of humour to the situation, and it would come up more natural with more opportunity to be meta.

People can say 'oh you can just say/open up to RP groups' but for me I can tell when Roleplay is going to be natural or forced and personally I don't like forced. If it were smaller groups, 4 max, then they'd be more of a chance to focus on individuals instead of getting lost in the back. Like in your typical 8-man teams, four will be doing most of the work, 2 will be mopping up and the other two are just hanger-ons, and in terms of Roleplaying it's the same thing. 4 will be important, 2 will be supporting characters and the other 2 will just be extras.

I remember being on a few TFs back in the day that lasted really long because we ended up RPing a lot, with the same core people in the TFs. Fun times and made a lot of the TFs less of a slog and more enjoyable. Now I just wish I could find the chatlogs and comics I made about them.

I remember being on a few TFs back in the day that lasted really long because we ended up RPing a lot, with the same core people in the TFs. Fun times and made a lot of the TFs less of a slog and more enjoyable. Now I just wish I could find the chatlogs and comics I made about them.

I should point out that I am in the vocal minority on long TFs (especially Dr Q. or even ITF if it isn't a speedrun merit-farm) If I'm going to be here for hours I want to enjoy myself. I think it is a HUGE mistake to put your head down and just "grind" the longer TFs... adding just a few minutes (in the big scheme of things) to banter and role-play actually makes the thing FEEL much shorter and more enjoyable.

I remember being on a few TFs back in the day that lasted really long because we ended up RPing a lot, with the same core people in the TFs. Fun times and made a lot of the TFs less of a slog and more enjoyable. Now I just wish I could find the chatlogs and comics I made about them.

 

I should point out that I am in the vocal minority on long TFs (especially Dr Q. or even ITF if it isn't a speedrun merit-farm) If I'm going to be here for hours I want to enjoy myself. I think it is a HUGE mistake to put your head down and just "grind" the longer TFs... adding just a few minutes (in the big scheme of things) to banter and role-play actually makes the thing FEEL much shorter and more enjoyable.

I'll add my voice to yours...I really hate just grinding thru TF's...It's so much more fun (in fact it's only really fun) if you stop along the way to smell the sewers and chat about it.

I am very new to role play in online situations.  I mostly just banter in character.  Part of my character design is knowing the character story and motivations.  One reason I am so picky about power sets is it HAS to fit or I junk the character in a day tops.  I tend to run a lot of Robots and undead because the storylines make a lot of sense to me in the Cities.  Then as I banter I am fully in character.  But it is banter.  At most I give a rousing speech in character showing off my knowledge of the story and giving an opinion about the AV or the TF etc

I RP all the time, every time, because RP is fun. It boggles my mind that people can't RP and play at the same time. Seriously? It's a role playing game. If you treat it like that, it shouldn't be a problem. Then again, I will wager those people who have that problem likely have never played an actual role playing game like D&D a single day in their life. RP is fun. I love RP'ers, brand new, old RP'ers, it doesn't matter. I try to be down to earth and accepting of everyone. If you ever want help don't hesitate to call me. I love helping too. @Marshal Valor is my global. :)

RP during missions is much, much easier on some ATs and set combos than others. I main a Grav/Kin controller, and he's very clicky and fiddly and requires a lot of attention to play effectively, especially with Teleport as his travel power. This isn't to say I never RP him during missions - on the contrary, I love doing it; I can't get enough - but in the past, I've made a SR/StJ Tank alt of him and let me tell you it is a huge difference in terms of how punishing it may or may not be to take a second or two to type out and send a message, being on a non-squishy. Yes, Controller vs. Tanker is just about the biggest difference you can get in terms of survivability in general, but if I'm devoting my full attention to the mechanics of playing a Controller, I don't faceplant very often; I've had him for a very long time and I have a good sense of How Not To Die While Optimally Contributing To Fights. The few moments necessary to type out a message can mean a missed opportunity to hit Fulcrum Shift or Transfusion, or letting enemies go unmezzed - or worse, faceplanting. A melee AT or an AT who's built to operate exclusively at range (he's not; Kinetics needs to be in melee to benefit from half its own boosts) doesn't have that problem. And, ESPECIALLY if I'm RPing, I don't want to be facedown because the Hour Thief is supposed to be elusive and impossible to kill.

Tl;dr - I love RPing during missions, and I almost always prefer it to not RPing during missions, but I also know from experience that it's not always totally possible.

I wish I could find some teams doing missions that would be more willing to RP a little along the way.

I wish I could find some teams doing missions that would be more willing to RP a little along the way.

I have a hard time as well Tungsten...For me the first time I play CoH back in Issue #2, I got really lucky and just tumbled into a group that was big on the Role Play (I had never done it before) and it just really resonated with me.  Add to that, those people became in-game friends and we would always be pinging each other to team up...

Hasn't happened to me in this revival...yet...

I have no advice, except maybe, keep teaming, keep trying, and you never know what'll happen

I ended up in a TF that was RPing in every mission, it was much fun!

Usually, I'll make a few IC comments when I do join teams, and that tends to encourage other RPers in the group as well.

When keeping an eye on LFG and Broadcast, for what I'm looking for, I'll jump more quickly to those that are incorporating RP into their recruitment pitches.

I RP all the time, every time, because RP is fun. It boggles my mind that people can't RP and play at the same time. Seriously? It's a role playing game. If you treat it like that, it shouldn't be a problem. Then again, I will wager those people who have that problem likely have never played an actual role playing game like D&D a single day in their life. RP is fun. I love RP'ers, brand new, old RP'ers, it doesn't matter. I try to be down to earth and accepting of everyone. If you ever want help don't hesitate to call me. I love helping too. @Marshal Valor is my global. :)

Don't make assumptions. I've been an RPG player and GM for many, many years. (My first tabletop game was "black box" Traveller, if that gives you any idea-) I'm currently running Exalted and playing 13th Age.

When I say I can't play the game and RP at the same time, it's not a lack of experience in either. It's completely an issue of manual dexterity. I find it very difficult to type out a conversation while also using my keyboard controls to control my character. It's as simple as that.

So... yeah. Watch it with that broad brush, Valor. Not everyone is a nimble-fingered multi-tasker with flawless coordination.  :-*

snip

Don't make assumptions. I've been an RPG player and GM for many, many years. (My first tabletop game was "black box" Traveller, if that gives you any idea-) I'm currently running Exalted and playing 13th Age.

 

When I say I can't play the game and RP at the same time, it's not a lack of experience in either. It's completely an issue of manual dexterity. I find it very difficult to type out a conversation while also using my keyboard controls to control my character. It's as simple as that.

 

So... yeah. Watch it with that broad brush, Valor. Not everyone is a nimble-fingered multi-tasker with flawless coordination.  :-*

Any game that can kill you during character creation is a real game :D

I typically roleplay a mission oriented character. So my character will happily discuss tactics and plans but doesn't chat while busy.