People complaining about RPing on an RP server?

[Greycat]

OK, so there's no flag on server selection that says "Hey, this is the unofficial RP server!" but... this is just odd, to me.

 

At least twice in recent MSRs, we've had people complaining or putting down the fact there was RP going on before the raid at Point du Hoc. One was angry because people asked him to stop spamming buffs because of it breaking emotes and such, the other just poofed.

 

Is this a recent thing I've just been missing elsewhere, or limited to MSRs (maybe hamis, haven't been on those as much as I'd like for a while) because people are looking for "the XPs?" It just seems *really odd* to me, given RP is pretty evident most everywhere on the server... it's like walking down a city street and complaining about all the buildings and cars, to me. Are we getting an influx of players who don't know?

 

Or is this just my perception?

[Ruin Mage]

It is just people not reading the room and getting upset at something harmless.

Far as I'm aware, this isn't happening elsewhere.

[The_Warpact]

I think it would be strange if you were on a team for w/e and someone just started RP.

If it was labeled as a RP team then yeah justified complaint but, if it was a group of strangers and you just started RP then that would be weird.

I dont RP yes now I know its the unofficial RP server but when I first came on I didn't know.

 

The only time I get annoyed is when I'm in AE and we get a group that starts doing local RP. I call them out and tell them to take it to team, especially when I'm trying to have a discussion on our team and can't see our discussion because of all the local speak. 

 

I get that Pocket D is a totally different beast, but, having conversations in local and/or bc should be frowned upon because, now your interfering with other people discussions.

Of course people spamming buffs are annoying period, at least to me.

[Arctique]

1 hour ago, The_Warpact said:

Of course people spamming buffs are annoying period, at least to me.

 

It's annoying and disruptive to spam buffs/heals when people are just trying to RP or even just chat, but generally I just see spamming buffs as completely pointless anyway. If people aren't actively in combat, they don't need buffs or heals. With an exception for maybe something like Speed Boost for people that are actively going places, why would somebody think I need more def or res while I'm just standing next to a trainer making tweaks to a build or costume? There's just no point to it.

 

As for the actual topic... I never understood the thought process behind any sort of anti-RP mindset. Somebody RPing on a team that was never advertised as being RP-oriented can be awkward, and shouldn't be forced on people that have no interest in the activity, but that's about the only situation I can see complaining about it being warranted. Like, getting annoyed and complaining that people are roleplaying is essentially just getting mad that people are having a conversation in earshot of you that does not involve you in the slightest. Using /ignore or temporarily removing Local from your chat tab are options if people roleplaying in your earshot for some reason bothers somebody that much.

 

Honestly, Everlasting being the "unofficial RP server" is irrelevant, if there's people that decide to RP on any server, they aren't exactly hurting anybody by doing so (aside from the obvious exception of if their RP's content is NSFW in which case, RP server or not that needs to be taken into private), so let them have their fun. I don't enjoy PvP in this game, but I'm not going to make a stink if I see people making arena matches on the server I decided to play on. I don't watch any sports IRL, but I'm not going to complain if I hear somebody talking to each other about their favourite sportsball teams in the same room as me. Other people's interests and ideas of fun don't relate to me in any way, so what is there to complain about?

 

What I understand even less is people that go out of their way to harass people that are RPing. It's silly enough to just feel the need to complain about somebody else's way of having fun, but then taking it upon yourself to try and ruin that fun for them is a level of pettiness that I just don't comprehend. I had a recent experience in another game where a group of friends and I were just trying to roleplay in a totally out of the way location on what was recognised as that game's own unofficial RP server, not "bothering" anyone as we'd settled ourselves in a spot far off the beaten path that wouldn't be in any other players' way. Then came several players who decided it was acceptable behavior to start following us around intentionally disrupting our play with rude remarks and commentary on the conversations our characters were trying to have. When we tried to pack up and take our RP to another location, they followed close behind us to just keep trying to annoy our group. Several members of our friend group ended up just logging off completely to avoid the harassment, leading to our chill fun time with an activity we all enjoyed being completely ruined by a small handful of people that decided that activity was "cringe" and worth taking time out of their day to bully people for engaging in it.

 

That's only the most recent example for me as well, there have been plenty of times I've seen people on CoH that aren't RPers go out of their way to go into Pocket D and be intentionally disruptive to people that are just trying to relax and have simple IC conversations there. I'm not expecting everyone to "get" RP or why people enjoy it, I can absolutely understand people finding it to be weird and having no interest in it, but the simple fact is there are people that do get it and find it enjoyable, so just be respectful of that and let them have their fun. If you want to snicker to your friend in private messages about how weird you think RP is, then whatever. But when it gets to public complaining about others enjoying a thing you find weird, or intentionally disrupting and harassing them over it... Well, just stop and ask yourself why you seem to despise such an inoffensive hobby that doesn't effect you, so much.

 

okay rant over, tl;dr don't be jerks to people that are just trying to enjoy the game in a different way.

[Triumphant]

I just find it ridiculous that players gripe about RP on the server that is RP-focused.

 

You didn't know it was an RP server when you joined?  Okay, maybe you should have spent 5 minutes reading the forums/discord and inform yourself before choosing the server.  Also, maybe you should quit bitching and just switch to a different server, since you can do that for free.  🤦‍♂️

 

[The_Warpact]

51 minutes ago, Triumphant said:

I just find it ridiculous that players gripe about RP on the server that is RP-focused.

 

You didn't know it was an RP server when you joined?  Okay, maybe you should have spent 5 minutes reading the forums/discord and inform yourself before choosing the server.  Also, maybe you should quit bitching and just switch to a different server, since you can do that for free.  🤦‍♂️

 

If you hadn't noticed a large chunk of the player base do not get on the forums.

Out of my VG I am the only one out of 7 that get on here. To most it is a game and treat it accordingly. 

That being said, it does not condone any behavior that bashes on anyone's fun.

I didn't know when I first joined because it was just a game and I didn't frequent these forums. Obviously that has changed but, then again RP doesn't bug me because its none of my business how other players want to have fun.

[Bastille Boy]

I haven't seen anyone complain about roleplaying on Everlasting. And "Always IC" toons are a thing.

 

I'm a regular in Hami raids, and I go to MSRs occasionally. There's a tradition of OOC banter in both events, though lately (since streaming became legal, I think) the Hami raid leaders have been asking people to keep league chat focused on the raid. It might be slightly awkward to have IC chat when a lot of other people are having OOC conversation. But I've never seen anyone object to someone speaking in character.

[Triumphant]

1 hour ago, The_Warpact said:

If you hadn't noticed a large chunk of the player base do not get on the forums.

Out of my VG I am the only one out of 7 that get on here. To most it is a game and treat it accordingly. 

That being said, it does not condone any behavior that bashes on anyone's fun.

I didn't know when I first joined because it was just a game and I didn't frequent these forums. Obviously that has changed but, then again RP doesn't bug me because its none of my business how other players want to have fun.

 

My post wasn't directed at you specifically, but at "you", the people that do these things and then complain about RP on an RP server.

 

I just wanted to clarify that, lest you think I was singling you out.

[Kelri Irris]

I'm almost 50 irl, and I can tell you that this is completely normal. There seem to be people who think they have a right to tell others what they can and can't do (and where!), and there also seem to be people who just go about their business and leave the beeswax of others out of their purview. This, in my opinion, is what the /ignore function is for. And, now that I think about it, what moving unwanted channels out of one's chat tab is also for. 

 

To be clear, I'm not calling out those who are annoyed by RP. I've been yelled at by RP'ers and non-RP'ers alike who have all seemed to take offense at me just being me. Bossy, judgey people are everywhere. Just...please do yourself a favor and remember that you are in control of one thing - YOU. Maybe, stop trying to control everyone else. It never works. 

[_Kai_]

6 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

The only time I get annoyed is when I'm in AE and we get a group that starts doing local RP. I call them out and tell them to take it to team, especially when I'm trying to have a discussion on our team and can't see our discussion because of all the local speak. 

 

Hi! We do that in Brickstown AE all the time.  We've found some fun new people that way because open world RP is a great time.

You might want to set up a tab that separates out team and local if its a problem for you, as having what we're doing out in the open is kind of the point.  Or at least avoid Brickstown AE 🙂

[The_Warpact]

1 hour ago, Triumphant said:

 

My post wasn't directed at you specifically, but at "you", the people that do these things and then complain about RP on an RP server.

 

I just wanted to clarify that, lest you think I was singling you out.

No no I was just responding to you as a possible alternative train of thought, if I'm not tagged or quoted then its not directed at me.

[Crystal Dragon]

Okay so I did notice this last time I was on for a MSR run around 10pm EDT a few nights ago. That person did get called out and pointed towards checking the forums to see what type of server they are on, and the rest of the league was absolutely content to ignore the guy casually and continue doing their own thing IC and OOC. I'll just put it to terms: You do you, we all have our thing that we enjoy doing, if you don't enjoy it, don't bitch about others enjoying it for themselves. If there's a serious issue with it, move off shard, or find a group that does things YOUR way. No one here is going to bug you or harass you into getting into character, how you play is your thing entirely. But this is how WE do things around here. AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY. 

[UltraAlt]

On 9/28/2021 at 11:33 AM, Arctique said:

I just see spamming buffs as completely pointless anyway

 

I find buff/heal spamming annoying out of combat RP'ing or not.

Honestly, I find it annoying in combat if it isn't needed at the time.

 

Heck. If someone is spamming buff/heals non-combat, I move far enough away from them so I'm not getting hit by them.

if they ask why I keep moving away from them, I tell them it is because they are spamming buff/heals in a non-combat situation.

 

On 9/28/2021 at 1:38 PM, Bastille Boy said:

I haven't seen anyone complain about roleplaying on Everlasting. And "Always IC" toons are a thing.

 

Well, I wouldn't think that they would complain about you RP'ing on Everlasting as it is the unofficial PVP server ... and the RP'r are usually the ones complaining about the non-RP'rs versus the other way around.

 

On 9/28/2021 at 8:30 AM, Greycat said:

Are we getting an influx of players who don't know?

 

It could be new players that don't know what Roleplaying is. They may have no idea what emotes are.

It's a matter of how you approach the subject without making the player that isn't in-the-know feel like they are being attacked.

 

I have had multiple occasions where other players felt there was some globally known convention that they were using and that I was highly offensive by ignoring that global convention - that I have never heard of since I started playing just before the drop of episode 2 of City of Heroes (I did not play the last year before the Sunset because I felt the game was going downhill in multiple ways) and I've been playing on Homecoming for almost 2 years. These people with a complaint jumped on me about it. Just a random person out-of-the-blue. Not multiple people - no one else complaining. Just being told by that one person how rude I was for breaking their unspoken rule(s).

 

So if you see this happen, try to be more understanding that they may just not know what is going on.

Ask them if they know what roleplaying is and if they would like to join in the game play.

You can explain that you use emotes while RPing and how to use them. Then let them know that autofire buffs disrupt the use of emotes.

[twozerofoxtrot]

On 9/29/2021 at 12:33 AM, Arctique said:

ruined by a small handful of people that decided that activity was "cringe"

 

Just here to say: imagine thinking roleplaying is 'cringe' in an online roleplaying game.

[Crystal Dragon]

12 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

 

Just here to say: imagine thinking roleplaying is 'cringe' in an online roleplaying game.

[DoctorDitko]

Is it maybe time to make the unofficial Roleplaying Server... Official?

Or at least flagged as the unofficial RP server? A GMOTD when logging on, a note on the server selection screen, might go a long way toward mitigating such behavior.

 

The reasons for the commercial game not to do so are gone.

And, as mentioned above, only the top ten percent (ahem!) of players visit the forums.

 

(A little more prominence/explanation for the Roleplayer "warning flag" might help, too. At least newbies could be made aware that there are RPers in the game.)

 

And, yes, editing your chat channels is a wise move. It can't bug you if it's happening in another tab (or no tab at all).

[Magairlín]

I'd be opposed to this. The server isnt currently specifically for RPers, and there's quite a few established non-RP SGs that can't be moved. Having a short note about each server on the selection screen would be good for new players, though.

 

I've never actually seen behavior like this; people who have are more likely to post about it here than those who haven't. 

[Ruin Mage]

Making a server officially an x type of server invites a slew of issues. It does mean making new rules catering to that server type.

However, a means to note (when logging on or selecting the server maybe) what server is the community chosen "x" server isn't a bad idea.
 

[Dazl]

Well if RP’ing bothers you, server transfers are cheap and easy.

 

Virtue was my home server on Live, so I’m glad to see it’s spiritual successor here.

[WanderingAries]

The only thing I can add is to simply make sure everyone knows that the group is doing RP when inviting and if someone doesn't know what that's about. Give them a gentle introduction so that they can decide if that's what they like or not. 😕

[Crystal Dragon]

I'm the weirdo that enjoys teaching new players how to roleplay and it's different aspects. I'm also the weirdo that will defend roleplayers enjoying their game time when they please, where they please, so long as it doesn't break the TOS and COC, but I am also that roleplayer that can and will contact a GM if I see behavior that's breaking the COC without hesitation if the players is asked to stop, and they don't. I'm not going to allow my fellow players to waste their time dealing with harassment, whether it's game mechanic wise, or in chat, trying to get rid of their harasser.

[Grey-Ghost]

On 10/1/2021 at 10:26 PM, Magairlín said:

 The server isn't currently specifically for RPers, and there's quite a few established non-RP SGs that can't be moved. Having a short note about each server on the selection screen would be good for new players, though.

 

I agree a short note about servers on log-in would be great. I certainly would not advocate non-roleplayers leave.  I did check out servers on the forum before I joined, so I knew this was the unofficial RP server.  I had never done RP on an online game before and I wanted to try it.  Even then it took me about a year before I was brave enough to try it.  It turns out I really like it and it has made the game that much more enjoyable because of it. Yes, I now like it more than I liked Live, because this was the element that was missing for me.

 

While I understand that some people may not want to see RP, it is a lot easier for them to filter it out than for a group of people to move a scene. Likewise, before I got involved with RP I was intrigued by the stories that the RPers were telling and it made me more comfortable to try and get involved.  When people come along and shoot it down or sabotage it, it make it that much more difficult for initially shyer roleplayers to feel comfortable getting involved.  

 

So again, I do think an (unofficial RP server tag) on log in would be  a good idea to at least let people know that a lot of RP will be going on.

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Grey-Ghost
changed don to down

[decomposey]

Adding (Unofficial RP server) or even (Unofficial PVP server), (Unofficial EU server), (Unofficial Old Man Yells at Cloud server), (Unofficial Etc server) tags to the server choices you get could go a long way towards helping people figure out where they want to be, and reduce the chances of them ending up in a place they aren't comfortable with. But keep them tagged as unofficial, so that way the devs and GMs don't have to do any more work catering to the server with rules or events. Basically just let people know without having to log into the forums how the community has decided to sort themselves out.

 

I don't think anyone is advocating to force any non-RPer off of the server. It would be a huge loss for all the non-RPers to leave! They are by and large wonderful people who contribute a great deal to Everlasting! But an unofficial tag would also mean if someone for some stupid reason -did- want to say the server was RP-only, well, non-RPers would be well withing their rights to tell that fool to shove it 😄 Nor do I think an unofficial tag would make people leave, as in many other MMOs I've had conversations with Non-RPers who chose to roll on official, clearly marked RP servers for many various (non-trolling) reasons and were very happy with their choice.

[Arctique]

Personally I feel like adding an "unofficial RP server" tag to the server select screen might undervalue the other servers in a small, subtle way. Sure we could give similar tags to the unofficial PvP server and EU server(s), but then what about other servers that don't currently have that sort of "unofficial ___ server" identity? To me at least having half the servers list some defining part of their community (RP, PvP, etc) while others don't kind of gives the impression that those other servers have nothing that defines their community and makes them worth choosing over any other server. But then if you decide to figure out some defining trait for every server to be listed as the "unofficial ___ server" for something, then even though they all say unofficial it still might seem like every server's too focused on a particular thing.

 

Maybe rather than a singular identifier for a server like "unofficial RP server" or "unofficial PvP server" the devs could do some sort of player survey for each server to determine what say, the top 3 most popular activities among those server's players are, and list those with each server? Something like that might do a better job of communicating to a new player the different communities each server has, while also showing that for instance Everlasting isn't just an RP server. And with it being decided through some sort of poll/survey given to players, it also avoids the potential of a label just getting slapped onto a server that its players might not agree with ("My server is now the 'unofficial raiding server?' I don't want to be part of that.")

 

Then again plenty of other MMOs out there have no problem labeling their servers as specifically meant for RP/PvP/etc both officially and unofficially, so maybe I'm just talking out of my ass and theory-crafting a solution to an problem that never existed.

[Crystal Dragon]

Why not create a marker for them all?

"Official EU server" "Official RP server" "Official PVP server" and "Official PVE server" and so forth.

 

I'm not saying the idea is bad, but official anything advocates for possible rule changes for EACH DIFFERENT SERVER TYPE, and this is a volunteer ran thing. Unofficial gives the community room to grow, shift, and change with the times, and the population for each shard. If anything special server typing on other games DID create massive problems; Trolling, abusive gameplay as a whole, and obstructive gameplay. (And yes, this are a very real issue on other games with RP specific servers.) If the players deem THIS server THIS type, let's roll with it and keep it that way. Let the players manage the server typing rather than the devs or GM's. The staff have enough on their plate in this regard, and sometimes more than they can handle. @GM Kal Just notifying ya to help fill in the gaps in understanding on this subject, I wasn't sure whom else I could ping about this.

Edited October 5, 2021 by CrystalDragon