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Post by Gibbon on Jul 12, 2012 10:44:21 GMT
With the way a lot of games are these days, it seems players prefer quite a bit of roleplay or RP in their games. Now personally it's not my thing as i believe Freelancer was always about doing your own thing, when you want to do it. Having said that, with a few more active members on the forum (at least ones willing to post lol), the question has to be asked, do you guys want some form of roleplay on the servers when it goes live?
The reason is a simple one. While i'm not trying to compete with other servers in any way, the facts are that it's the RP servers that seem to draw in players. Now i'm not talking the restrictive kind of RP that say the main Discovery server has, although many seem to like it, but something with clearly defined roles that players can get into and be that character with some mild restrictions, or RP.
As an example, someone contacted me on my MODDB page and asked about a Nomad role on the server. Now i hadn't given it much thought but it got me thinking, marauding packs of Nomad players could be an interesting twist as long as there's some control.
So i've made available the Nomad fighter and gunboat as flyable ships, they come with a full complement of Nomad accessories, including cloaks, and they will have bases they can dock at in various systems (not every system). Now the equipment i've made for them can only be used on Nomad ships and this would be policed vigorously with a days detention in the prison system and confiscation of any excess Nomad equipment.
Now as long as players know this and stick to it, it's a simple RP role and i would be happy to have that concept in play, especially as i've spent a day adding in all the Nomad stuff.
So the question is, do you guys want more of this? Give me some feedback and suggestions as i'm hopeless at all this RP stuff
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Post by Geraldine on Jul 12, 2012 11:15:39 GMT
I think this a great idea Gibbon. Depending on what ship you fly will determine what weapons you have access to, what faction you fly with determines what goals your trying to achieve or what cargo you most highly prize.
Yes, roles could bring a lot of structure to an online game. Some players within one faction might join up with another faction (covering each other's weaknesses and complementing each other strengths) to take down something big and bad and split the spoils, only to end up fighting one another again over them.
Also some roles (in this context I am thinking about various ship classes as I used to play them in Homeworld) would be better suited to certain tasks in a game. For example small light fighters could form a picket screen for a main battle fleet or vis-versa for heavy ship to ship engagements. One thing I would say though Gibbon is you have to be careful how much of a role play element you want to bring to the game.
Too much can be a bad thing too as it can make players feel restricted. Remember at its core Freelancer (like Elite) is fundamentally about the player being multi role. So some flexibility when it comes to roles ought to be considered also.
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Cygna
Rhino Pilot
Posts: 66
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Post by Cygna on Jul 12, 2012 11:28:50 GMT
With the way a lot of games are these days, it seems players prefer quite a bit of roleplay or RP in their games. Now personally it's not my thing as i believe Freelancer was always about doing your own thing, when you want to do it. Having said that, with a few more active members on the forum (at least ones willing to post lol), the question has to be asked, do you guys want some form of roleplay on the servers when it goes live? The reason is a simple one. While i'm not trying to compete with other servers in any way, the facts are that it's the RP servers that seem to draw in players. Now i'm not talking the restrictive kind of RP that say the main Discovery server has, although many seem to like it, but something with clearly defined roles that players can get into and be that character with some mild restrictions, or RP. As an example, someone contacted me on my MODDB page and asked about a Nomad role on the server. Now i hadn't given it much thought but it got me thinking, marauding packs of Nomad players could be an interesting twist as long as there's some control. So i've made available the Nomad fighter and gunboat as flyable ships, they come with a full complement of Nomad accessories, including cloaks, and they will have bases they can dock at in various systems (not every system). Now the equipment i've made for them can only be used on Nomad ships and this would be policed vigorously with a days detention in the prison system and confiscation of any excess Nomad equipment. Now as long as players know this and stick to it, it's a simple RP role and i would be happy to have that concept in play, especially as i've spent a day adding in all the Nomad stuff. So the question is, do you guys want more of this? Give me some feedback and suggestions as i'm hopeless at all this RP stuff Hi Gibbon, RP is a good thing to have, it all depends on the rules put in place by you that will affect the person that is playing that character. For example: If you want to play as a Pirate, then this means that you can attack anyone that isn't and demand tax. OC there has to be a ruling with this, If say I am trading which I would do most of the time as its the best way for me to fund for my ships, then the Pirate player can only demand tax if I have my cargo hold full of stuff to sell, then its a reason for him/her to tax me as I have something to lose. There are oc other roles which demand the player to act out, like Police, Merc (Bounty Hunter), and one that I don't see alot . Freelancer: A person who can do what he/she likes while in character as long its within the Freelancer rules. You can be attacked by pirates, but you can't go a hunting for them otherwise this would make you Police or Merc. Also it would be nice to have a Miner and Trader Licence, which makes you almost neutral to all Npc factions but not the Pirate factions. Yes indeed its a grey area, but for the better part RP is good to have in your mod as it makes it more fun to play, but not tooo excesive otherwise it would scare ppl off of the mod. I don't like Disco much as I think its gone abit OTT. Crossfire seems to have the balance right to a degree, but thats my opinion. If you are having trouble with RP, when it goes live I can show you how it works, its fun and can have great results, but too much and it becomes annoying. So some RP is my vote, the level is down to server rules. Without it, you'll have a MP- SP mod, if u get what I mean. Cygna
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Post by Gibbon on Jul 12, 2012 12:58:21 GMT
Can of worms springs to mind. Keep the suggestions coming people as i really need to decide sooner rather than later if i'm going to adopt the concept. One thing i thought of regarding some of the various roles would be to have licences. It would be like something you have to display to be that character. It would end up as a mounted piece of equipment in your cargo hold which you could transfer between ships. Examples would include TRADER LICENCE - For all budding Freelancers. This would allow you to go anywhere, do almost anything, without the licence, human police players would fine you for driving without a licence. All traders would have to have one. Available from all commerce bases POLICE LICENCE - Obviously you work for the Police, enforcing the 'RP rules only' in game, these would not include the server rules, a separate thing entirely covered by the server admins. Duties include checking players for correct licences, confiscating contraband, shooting all non-compliants, except new players under a certain level. Available at all police stations or police run planets. BOUNTY HUNTER LICENCE - This means you can only hunt wanted criminals on the server. Wanted criminals would be advertised on the forum in a special section. Bounty Hunters would be expected to only go after these players. To not make it too boring a role, a Bounty Hunter could also be hired to kill another player (a valid licence required). On termination of said player, contract would become null and void, picture evidence would be required to be posted on the forum in the contract section. Payment can only be made on this evidence. Licences available at all Bounty Hunter bases. PIRATE LICENCE - To be a fully fledged pirate you need one of these. Now with all the love shown between each pirate faction in game towards each other, these would be made available on Junker bases only as these guys are neutral with most pirate factions. Without one of these you would not be a valid pirate. 'Shoot on sight' by all factions until permit is bought. Shoot on sight by all other licence holders except fellow pirates, unless it's clan related and then all hell can break loose NOMADS - Those wishing to be a Nomad are exempt from having to have a licence as to become a Nomad, you would have to fly a Nomad ship, at which point everything becomes clear to all the other players as this role means death to all humans Your reputation would also be altered accordingly, meaning you would be red to everyone except the Nomads. Flipside is you get a cloak on both of your ships All these roles would require you adding your role to the end of your name in game [T] = Trader - Example, Gibbon[T] [POL] = Police - Example, Gibbon[POL] [BH] = Bounty Hunter - Example, Gibbon[BH]
= Pirate - Example, Gibbon [ADMIN] is something entirely different. Used only by the server admins. Not to be abused in any way by another player as this can lead to deletion of the character from your account, or a possible ban Only one licence to be mounted at any one time on your ship. You won't be allowed to display an incorrect licence. Either sell the old one or hide it somewhere Thoughts?
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Post by Crassie on Jul 12, 2012 15:23:27 GMT
I just wonder if i come on as a player just to play the game, would i be forced to RP or not? Will there be a freedom of choice as to if i want to RP or i don't want to RP?
I'm not against RP but i am a player that want to choose when to RP and when to not do so. Normally i would choose my none clan character to not RP and my clan character to do RP.
Just my thoughts about it Crassie
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vardek
Patriot Pilot
Posts: 42
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Post by vardek on Jul 12, 2012 18:46:15 GMT
Hi Gibbon I am very eagerly awaiting your new Genesis mod and am currently playing your Hellgate mod which I only just discovered...Hellgate is Great its wonderful to be flying a Cobra Mk 3 again!.As far as Roleplay goes I am like you "Freelancer: A person who can do what he/she likes while in character as long its within the Freelancer rules. You can be attacked by pirates, but you can't go a hunting for them".I think you should be able to go hunting for pirates and get a bounty as you kill them as it was in the old days of ELITE its a great way to earn credits and learn combat skills.I don't really like RP but it seems many do,ELITE had no RP but it was still extremely addictive,bring on the Thargons and fuel scooping,freedom to do what you fancy when you fancy..!"A young boy with stars in his eyes shooting the rapids of Heaven".Keep up the good work. Vardek Read more: gizmostudios.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=genesis&action=display&thread=622#ixzz20Qz6i6Xp
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max
Patriot Pilot
Posts: 38
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Post by max on Jul 12, 2012 22:36:50 GMT
Well, the NBS are traders. We trade anything AND everything. Put simply, come close enough to us, and you're dead! hehe.
I think tho, that everyone should have a choice. To RP or not RP. Those players who don't want to participate in RP could quite simply add [nrp] to their names, signifying "Non Role Play", and then everyone else knows to leave them alone.
Also, I have noticed on other servers that if "killers" or your Nomads go on a killing spree, they should play their RP well and make their intentions known first to the players they attack..........eg, [Nomad]- "Now, you die!!! Mauhahahaha". [Player]- "Bring it, scum!"
That's RP! hehe. However, if someone doesn't want any of that, they will have time to say so, or if they wear the "NRP" tag, they can be left alone.
Anyhow, just a couple of thoughts.
Cheers, Max.
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Post by Gibbon on Jul 12, 2012 23:37:41 GMT
Think Max might have nailed it there with his [NRP] option. That would kind of sort out those that don't want to do RP from those that do. Nice idea Max!
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Cygna
Rhino Pilot
Posts: 66
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Post by Cygna on Jul 13, 2012 1:02:33 GMT
Can of worms springs to mind. Keep the suggestions coming people as i really need to decide sooner rather than later if i'm going to adopt the concept. One thing i thought of regarding some of the various roles would be to have licences. It would be like something you have to display to be that character. It would end up as a mounted piece of equipment in your cargo hold which you could transfer between ships. Examples would include TRADER LICENCE - For all budding Freelancers. This would allow you to go anywhere, do almost anything, without the licence, human police players would fine you for driving without a licence. All traders would have to have one. Available from all commerce bases POLICE LICENCE - Obviously you work for the Police, enforcing the 'RP rules only' in game, these would not include the server rules, a separate thing entirely covered by the server admins. Duties include checking players for correct licences, confiscating contraband, shooting all non-compliants, except new players under a certain level. Available at all police stations or police run planets. BOUNTY HUNTER LICENCE - This means you can only hunt wanted criminals on the server. Wanted criminals would be advertised on the forum in a special section. Bounty Hunters would be expected to only go after these players. To not make it too boring a role, a Bounty Hunter could also be hired to kill another player (a valid licence required). On termination of said player, contract would become null and void, picture evidence would be required to be posted on the forum in the contract section. Payment can only be made on this evidence. Licences available at all Bounty Hunter bases. PIRATE LICENCE - To be a fully fledged pirate you need one of these. Now with all the love shown between each pirate faction in game towards each other, these would be made available on Junker bases only as these guys are neutral with most pirate factions. Without one of these you would not be a valid pirate. 'Shoot on sight' by all factions until permit is bought. Shoot on sight by all other licence holders except fellow pirates, unless it's clan related and then all hell can break loose NOMADS - Those wishing to be a Nomad are exempt from having to have a licence as to become a Nomad, you would have to fly a Nomad ship, at which point everything becomes clear to all the other players as this role means death to all humans Your reputation would also be altered accordingly, meaning you would be red to everyone except the Nomads. Flipside is you get a cloak on both of your ships All these roles would require you adding your role to the end of your name in game [T] = Trader - Example, Gibbon[T] [POL] = Police - Example, Gibbon[POL] [BH] = Bounty Hunter - Example, Gibbon[BH]
= Pirate - Example, Gibbon [ADMIN] is something entirely different. Used only by the server admins. Not to be abused in any way by another player as this can lead to deletion of the character from your account, or a possible ban Only one licence to be mounted at any one time on your ship. You won't be allowed to display an incorrect licence. Either sell the old one or hide it somewhere Thoughts? I totally agree with your post Gibbon, but its not opening a can of worms at all !! I would like to see these put in place, as you get a good choice of what character you want to play. The thing I noticed while playing another mod is that your licence become's your tractor beam with a larger range, as you start with a bog standard one, which you have to transfer it when you change your ship,otherwise you will lose it, something that may help you there. I can understand what Max means by [NRP] but I feel that may be away to abuse that player/s Character. What I mean is, say i come on as Cygna_[NRP] I then go and buy a nice trader with a big hold, then using the [NRP] tag to make more money by trading as i know that no one will bother me why i make my millions. To me i say " Whats the point of doing that ". If i wanted to play like that I might as well just stick to Single player, cos in fact that is what you really are doing, playing on a Multi-player server as if it were Single player. Also it would give you an unfair advantage to get all your ships sorted out for say your clan or whatever. To me, a MP server is what is says, lots of different people playing different roles. What you also could do, if say i was trading and a pirate taxed me, i would pay the tax, then he/she couldn't tax me again say for a period of time, like 12 hours for example. NRP to me opens too many avenues for extortion. One idea that i thought of, is it possible to have multi chars in Single player, was wondering if this was possible with the current Freelancer software as the X series does, I know,, different software programing, but worth mentioning. A relaxed Role play Server would be nice, but a big thumbs down for NRP. Just my thoughts. Cygna
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Cygna
Rhino Pilot
Posts: 66
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Post by Cygna on Jul 13, 2012 1:31:45 GMT
I just wonder if i come on as a player just to play the game, would i be forced to RP or not? Will there be a freedom of choice as to if i want to RP or i don't want to RP? I'm not against RP but i am a player that want to choose when to RP and when to not do so. Normally i would choose my none clan character to not RP and my clan character to do RP. Just my thoughts about it Crassie Hi Crassie, Its nice to see a Lady on here, to get rid of all that testosterone that us guys put out everyday. Welcome. Well if Gibbon decides to make it a relaxed RP Server ( fingers crossed ) Then there will be some RP in game to do. There has to be some reason to play this in Multi-player, otherwise, whats the point of it. If you are like me, a medium level of RP would be fine, but as we know there are lots of Heavy RP Servers out there, that tend to be a bit tiresome, and for the better part I avoid them. They are only for people who want to PvP all day long to prove to the others that they are the best in a Dogfight. No-one will force you to role play, but in my experience in playing mods, if you are not in the mood to fight off player pirate, pay the tax and then he will sod off, then back you go trading or what not, he will soon leave you alone as most of these people want to fight, pay them then they say " Thank you, you have made a wise decision today " then hopefully you wont get bothered for a long time. RP started and ended in 30 sec's. Simple's We have to have some sort of RP between each other to keep things interesting. To choose not to RP is what Max said about the [NRP] tag idea, ok its fine but, a bit of a grey area, well for me anyhow, too many loop holes with that. But saying all that, its not my decision anyhow, its Gibbons, I have an opinion, so i say whats on my mind, but not to offend mind. See you in Space soon. Me Lady ;D Cygna Edit: Sorry Geraldine, I just saw there was another Lady within this thread.. Welcome
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max
Patriot Pilot
Posts: 38
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Post by max on Jul 13, 2012 3:14:05 GMT
Some good points there Cygna!
Also, Crassie made some good points too.
I do feel, however, if we want to make the server interesting for all types of players, RP or not, there should be a significant difference made between character types. [nrp] has worked elsewhere, and Crassie's idea of "non - tagged" characters has worked as well. I do see Cygna's point of cheating between characters. On other servers, this has been overcome by server ops keeping an eye on things, as well as other players getting to know everyone and also keeping an eye on things.
It doesn't matter what is done here, certain people will always try to abuse the system. A rule would have to be in place to stop this sort of thing. One rule that works well is....There can not be untagged characters and tagged characters on the same account.
Or......we can just say...Stuff it! People will eventually learn and get to know who wants to RP and who doesn't. I know I say hello to everyone who's on and it doesn't take long to understand each others gameplay. See how that goes for a while?
Also, I like Cygna's idea of tractor licenses. Maybe make one a "nrp license"? The possibilities are endless.
Cheers.
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Post by Gibbon on Jul 13, 2012 7:44:39 GMT
Nice ideas being thrown around people, i was hoping this would develop like this. I can see both points of view, RP or no RP.
For some of the hardened veterans of FL, some prefer just flying around for a few hours after work, do a few missions, have a chat with some friends and that's it. For them the whole concept of RP is alien, but i also don't want to lose them, so a [NRP] tag would be ideal and keep them safe.
For those born a bit later, maybe the RP side of things is the way to go. Now i've already stated i refuse to have strict RP, none of this you can only say things in character in the chat channel or any of that old bollux. So clearly a simplified RP, but with clear definitions and guidelines is maybe the way to go.
One thing i'm really against is the word TAX. It's something even i won't pay in game, never have, never will. So let's picture the scenario, and to keep things simple, here's an imaginary encounter in Omicron Gamma.
Pirate: Stop trader Gibbon, you're in pirate space Trader: Up yours! Pirate: Let's get Gibbon Trader: Gotta catch me first
BOOM... Gibbon dies.
Now this is what i'd like to see, no taxing anyone, if you're mad enough to fly through pirate territory in a trade ship, face the consequences. A pirate can ask for the cargo, but most times it will be refused, so a battle then happens. As it should be. Two clearly defined roles, with players acting accordingly.
One reason i don't want things too complicated is the language barrier. English will be the main language on the server/servers. We're bound to get non English speaking players, and trying to explain a tax rule will just be too much for my tiny brain to handle. Simplicity is the key if we do this, but i want clearly defined roles, with guidelines that even our cats could understand. This should keep the RP brigade happy and also the non RP brigade.
Rules to be vigorously enforced by the ADMIN team, what there is of them so it really shouldn't be that difficult. With most of the player base from this forum, most players are a bit older, so maybe they can help out a little in game once i decide which way to go with helping the new players out if the admins are not present.
As a test, i made some licences last night as a mountable piece of equipment (Armour), so that clearly works ok. Once you bought it, it stays on your ship and is easily transferred. Lose it, buy another one. The intention is to make the licences easily accessible and cheap to buy, just in case you do lose it. Remember in this mod, when you blow up, you lose everything not mounted in your cargo hold. So if you're carrying some cargo and equipment and go BOOM, so does your cargo.
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Cygna
Rhino Pilot
Posts: 66
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Post by Cygna on Jul 13, 2012 11:13:20 GMT
Gibbon Quote: Now this is what i'd like to see, no taxing anyone, if you're mad enough to fly through pirate territory in a trade ship, face the consequences. A pirate can ask for the cargo, but most times it will be refused, so a battle then happens. As it should be. Two clearly defined roles, with players acting accordingly. Yes very true, But sometimes you use pirate systems to take a shortcut for your trading route, oc this is entirely up to the player to take this risk, but sometimes risk's make it more exciting. Right i am gonna back peddle a bit here so bare with me... I agree about being able to play without RP due to just coming home from work and you just want to trade a bit and maybe take missions, and i know it would be hard to police trader chars if using the[NRP] tag, i am really up for that, as most times its what i do, so yeah why not..lol a nights sleep cleared my head on this one. But i have another suggestion that you may want to concider to include. On a certain mod i have played in the past, you had the ability to set a join message when you came on to the server. It was in the Flac help command menu. As the same as like /givecash but as /setjoinmessage. So if you don't want to RP, set it to /setjoinmessage " Sorry no RP " So when you come online it would read. New Player: Cygna_[T] " Sorry not in the mood for RP " or New Player: Cygna_[F] " Gun ports open, Ready for action " or whatever you like really. Also you can use this for advertising, like " Clan recruiting, are you up for it Pilot " So it has many use's, good thing to have really. Comments ? Also by F1 out and selecting the same ship, it would display your join message again, so you woudn't really have to have the [NRP] tag. And lets be honest here, Trading is mostly only done to get your BIG dream ship, or funding your clan ;D Its amazing what a nights sleep does to your thinking processes. Cygna
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Post by Gibbon on Jul 13, 2012 11:21:42 GMT
Already have it Cygna. Had it for some time tbh lol. The [NRP] tag would still have to be attached as what about players who didn't see you join? So any message generated by you joining would, could, be ignored, intentionally or otherwise
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scarz
Rhino Pilot
Scarz's MoJo
Posts: 57
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Post by scarz on Jul 13, 2012 11:45:37 GMT
Wow! Great to see so many with great ideas for Genesis. I only have a couple of thoughts to add.
RP should be generally optional but should be mandatory if hostile intentions are forthcoming. Some players have a tendency to go over the top with RP and others tend to do none and attack others without notice. Either extreme tends to put me off of playing the game.
Having a Nomad presence is fine as long as it is not unbalanced and so strong as other players as though they come on the game for Nomad killing pleasure. I am not a balance freak but do feel that all players should a chance to enjoy the game at different levels and styles of play.
The license idea works well on other servers for ID purposes and does give each player a chance to see where allies and enemies are. Since our cargo space has been so limited in the past, I would rather see the ID taking up the installed tractor beam space as opposed to cargo space.
See you all in Genesis space soon...
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