Recommended Playing Times

[Avril]

In Luir's, it's always a RPT.
This is true on many levels. People have all kinds of fun in Luir's. People die in Luir's. More importantly, people always end up crammed into the same tavern - from the highest-ranking PC Kuraci advisor to the cheapest mercenary or passing dune-trader, they're all there at one point or another, because there's nothing else to truly interest them inside the outpost. They're attracted to it because that's where they expect to do most of their role-playing - it's a social spot, with the added perks of costly drinks (which nobody cares about) and tables (which add to the social potential of the place). It's always recommended to play inside Luir's, because you'll always get some kind of company. Half the point of "social" playing times, like the traditional Fale parties, is to encounter other PCs (some of them for the first time) in a festive atmosphere. The possibility of the host getting poisoned, kryl showing up or some other spectacular event isn't what draws people to them. A party basically acts as a fancy stage for people to act out on, taking advantage of the fact that they've all been coralled together. It serves as a powerful beacon, an incentive to come over and have fun, much like those taverns where nobody buys anything. A similar thing happens in a regular bazaar, which brings in a variety of traders and stray shoppers, who might not even have a clear reason for visiting. There are, of course, differences between the two. One could note a problematic difference between the bazaar and party: the crowd in the party tends to be consistent. People don't just pop in for a few hours and leave, and once enough have gone, the feeling that the party's died down tends to pull the rest away. For an event scheduled to start at a precise moment and destined to last only a few hours, this is inevitable.

As it is now, most RPTs take place over only an hour or two, sometimes three... Rarely anything more consistent. Suppose, however, that you set up a festival that offers to run for a whole week. Suppose the host won't be attending the whole time, but has a special two hours set away for this. This would be the core of the RPT, a "CRPT", so to speak. It would tell people when the thick of the event was, while making it available for other players, in other timezones, to congregate and enjoy each other's company, if not the hindquarters of some immortal-animated waitress. Going to some cool event early, even if there's nothing coded there to entertain you, gives you a better chance of finding other PCs than hanging around the Gaj or Sanctuary, simply because that event looks more attractive than the dusty tavern they've been idling in for decades. People are going to come and bring their friends along just for the opportunity of RPing at a party, and while they might not overhear Lord Porcupine's essay on modern fashions, they'll still enjoy the experience.

There - a cheap, easy-to-implement idea for making RPTs available to us minorities. It might be useless for military RPTs and the like, but who wants to stay up late just to get his character spam-killed, anyway?

[Adhira]

I've actually done something like this  :wink:

A week long festival with multiple events. Turnout was.. mixed, to say the least.

[EvilRoeSlade]

Heh, I say it's about time to make even military RPTs a drawn-out, taxing event rather than just a brief battle with wildly unrealistic casualties.

[Hicksville Hoochie]

While one of the two RPT's Ive attended recently in the past month or so was just horrid IMO, I tend to find an enjoyable mix of rpts at all times within the game.

I remember the RPT Adhira is talking about, it went on endlessly for a week's time, and had an event or two added in for each day to draw the populace, while even during off-times, there was plenty to interact with.

Then there's the shorter ones that happen quite often, if you're in the right places at the right times. This includes military rpt's as well. A clan I was in months back had one that took place in increments over several months, but what was all due to a single set of ending possibilities.

The RPT opportunities out there are -very- available to the minorities and quite common if you look around; and if not, you can always plan something for the imms to make notice of through email and logs, and see your hopes come to life. =)

[Tmp]

Heh, I say it's about time to make even military RPTs a drawn-out, taxing event rather than just a brief battle with wildly unrealistic casualties.

In some cases it depends on what you make of it. Given an example where you were sent to Place X a few RL days ahead of time and were suppose to defend it against "something", and you know something big is going to happen because an HRPT has been announced ...

A whole bunch of people were consistently hanging out there 5-6 hours before the scheduled start of the HRPT, worrying about the attack, sending people out the scout, or just nervously playing the waiting game, and generally just adding immersiveness to the situation. Others just came in for the show and fight, flashbang and everything's done. It was a matter of choice (and the free time you have to play).

Of course it ain't applicable in all situations, but I'm just saying that the 5+ hours of pre-game made that particular HRPT the best I ever had and will have.

[sarahjc]

I really liked the week long thing that happened. I would like to see that again. It was most likely a lot of work for a lot of Imm's. But it gave a really cool social element to the place. And seemed to bring said place together and give it a very "city" or "culture" like feel. It would be nice to have something like this once a year for each city.

But that's just my opinion.

[Avril]

I'd like to see another week-long RPT myself, though as Adhira says, there aren't many others who join in. I might start a poll on this, just to see where the players stand. And I don't think it would be best to repeat the event, whatever it was - part of the reason people come is so they can get out of their musty old taverns and role-play in a  fashion.

Adhira, I'm really curious how well that you mention RPT went, and why it succeded/failed - so curious, in fact, that I'm almost tempted to pay for the statistics. In raw, truth-serum-flavored booze. Of course, "statistics" also means seeing what *kinds* of players went, and what else they went to, which makes me think I'll need about two barrelfuls to get you to talk.

Also, let me know if you're ever planning something like this in the future. I'd be delighted to provide room echoes, actual rooms, and just about anything else you can think of.

On a slightly unrelated subject, I could also write up a few little tragedies or dramas, based chiefly on emotes and says. We've got shows in the Sanctuary and Tembo, so why not have some coded plays in the Uaptal Theatre? Since watching some ridiculous act in the Entertainment Hall, I've stopped solo RP-ing in the main room, simply because it's a lot more fun to think things over when the code gives you inspiration.