Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Dev Discussion #53 - Roleplaying
Glorious Ashes community - it's time for another Dev Discussion! Dev Discussion topics are kind of like a "reverse Q&A" - rather than you asking us questions about Ashes of Creation, we want to ask YOU what your thoughts are.
Our design team has compiled a list of burning questions we'd love to get your feedback on regarding gameplay, your past MMO experiences, and more. Join in on the Dev Discussion and share what makes gaming special to you!
Dev Discussion - Roleplaying
What systems and features make roleplaying fun? What features help remove hurdles and barriers?
7
Comments
If I make a Rogue character based off of Kirito, and I want my name to show to others as "Kirito", it would suck for others to see my characters nameplate above my head as "Kirito 'LAST_NAME' ". It would be fine to be able to click on my characters profile and see my full name, but at least for what appears over my head, I would be like to be able to control.
We have a very wide range of emotions that we would like to express, go nuts, please!
Personalized emotes (I have slain the formidable (toughest thing I have beat), Stop complaining! I have been killed (number of time the player has been killed) times! and you don't see me whining!)
Seasonal/holiday emotes
Class/Race specific emotes
Emotes that change according to our character's mood, like if I'm wearing the angry face the emotes reflect that.
Character interaction emotes, one character starts and other may join for different effects, could be a prayer circle to a god or synchronized dance, or story telling with accompanying music, me and another character actually dancing together rather than us dancing next to each other, etc.
Don't allow people to turn off emote sounds, i hate that, this is AoC, if you don't like it, drop party and fight me.
When people perform, others should be able to tip them, like, if you approach them a button appears to tip them a coin.
Have npc's react to some emotes.
The biggest hurdle is the convenience of using emotes, let us assign to an action bar, or assign them to a keybound radial menu.
It might be fun for performances to be played as minigames by the performing player, maybe their best attempt gets saved and they can replay that without the minigame.
I would love to be able to go to a comedy Tavern to learn new jokes, or a dance studio to learn new dances, or an acrobat academy, to learn some tumbling.There are a lot of performers that we don't often see in games such as , actors (plenty of those in UE), poets, mimes, jesters, acrobats, etc and I would love to see a lot of variety in what a player chooses to do, and not all players being able to do all performance arts.
Random event emotes, like hiccups, sneezing, burping, and farting.
Allow players to use negative emotes, like insulting another player, but give the insulted player a chance to make a witty reply to the insult, like maybe a 2 sec reply button, similar to the tip button.
I want to add, because many other players have mentioned it, that I am NOT in favor of purchasable emotes. Don't paywall the fun in your game. You don't need to wring every last cent out of your consumers.
And also, I too think it is very important for RP focused players to have a dedicated RP server.
If the quests tell me that I am Most-Import-Person-In-The-World#556878 without explanation for the other ones then no suspension of disbelief can happen.
Storyteller tokens allowed players to create scenes and place npcs, elements of effects, music and so forth. Very much like a Dungeon Master at a table you could do all this and even load the custom scene into a Schematic which could be later dropped and give players a unique playground to enjoy with one and another. It was fantastic as it allowed the storyteller operator to speak through NPC props and really run it like a true event and gave players the ability to be creative!
The lack of proximity text in games like New World presented devastating challenges to the roleplay community. One of my favorite executions of proximity text has been
/whisper 5 meters
/say 20 meters
/yell 100 meters
Proximity voice chat is what makes roleplay in games like GTA and Red Dead immersive and fun.
Party or Group Chat is fantastic for groups that want to be insular but it's not as immersive as having proximity chat. In games like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV the ability to come across and converse with complete strangers is what makes the world feel truly alive.
Thank you for asking! The Roleplay community is very important, and Roleplay brings a layer to the MMO genre that just can't be replaced. I'll divide my post to answer the questions in detail.
Detailed and Multiple Emotes: Emotes make Roleplay more fun. The ability for a RPier to do something that is animated is a top priority.
Character Sheets/Biography: A way to examine or review a players profile, besides the game stats. A place a Roleplayer can type out their character bios and stats that reflect their character. This is crucial for RPiers to connect and get a first hand glance at one another.
Clothing/Armor/Attire variety: A large selection of clothing. It's not just about armor that gives you stats. Sometimes you just want a simple shirt and pants for an outing. Maybe something more fancy for a party. Creative clothing choices is key, and have them unrestricted.
Housing: Furniture that can be used, not just for looks. Tables to sit at, Chairs to sit in. Beds that can be laid on. Couches and Seats that can be lounged on. Cooking stations and other furniture that display actual animations and movement. Turning on and off lights/candles. The little subtle animations, sounds, and effects mean the world to us.
Customization: Customization and choice in everything within reason. Color coding outfits. Deep customization for our characters to include hair styles (that can be changed with a quick trip to a npc or other system), everything that can be customized that won't break the game or lore.
Holidays: Verra will have various seasons and traditions. Holidays and other celebrations that can be universally recognized in game with their own unique quests, rewards, outfits, and more are big for Roleplay.
Games: I've seen a few post, but mini games! Cards in a tavern, or Dice in a street corner. Fishing competitions. Hunting competitions. Things that we can do, that could even double as side quests, but will bring the Roleplay community together.
Ships with Accommodations: Galleons, Frigates, and Merchant vessels should have all the fixings. Captain Quarter, Crew Deck, Galley, Storage, ect. Doesn't need to go into insane detail, but enough for a Roleplay to be done on a ship. Even if the waterways aren't safe, a RPier will love the simple features of going down to the galley or visiting the Captain in a furnished quarters.
Group Finder: Add a feature where someone can find RP groups. It doesn't have to always be a PVP, PVE, search. Sometimes someone is seeking a RP encounter. Allow RP groups to post up as a way to invite others to events and sudden RP encounters.
Chat Bubbles and Chat Limit: Please ensure there is no hard limit on chat. "Para-RPiers" or individuals who post paragraphs at a time, exist. A hard chat limit will stunt these individuals and force them to post multiple times instead of one long read. Chat Bubble can cutoff at a certain limit, as long as the full text can be read in the chat window.
Node RP Areas: Not everything in a Node has to serve a mechanic purpose. Including a gazebo, random park bench, a water fountain, ect. All these little areas in a node can be used for a Roleplay scene, and add to the immersion of the surrounding node. Besides the Tavern, of course.
Do not limit the Bard!: Let that Bard sing, and make music! Bards should be able to jam out anywhere, anytime. Allow non Bards to play music, but have hardcore/advanced music for Bards to specialize in. Create animations and emotes to not limit them as well.
(Will edit more as I think. Once again, Thank you Intrepid. The very fact this discussion exists shows me, my guild, and the RP community that you do care. It is good to know our developer is actually asking this.)
Another aspect that enhances roleplaying is the integration of animations into typed dialogue. For instance, when a player types "Haha, that was a good one," their character would laugh through the accompanying animation. This integration adds a visual component to communication, making interactions more expressive and immersive.
Fluid animations and sitting animations, as seen in games like Black Desert, contribute to the overall enjoyment of roleplaying. Realistic and smooth character movements help players feel more connected to their virtual avatars, allowing for a greater sense of presence in the game world.
Certain addons in MMOs can also assist in removing hurdles and barriers to roleplaying. For instance, a backstory panel that keeps all of a character's information in-game, instead of requiring players to constantly alt-tab to external resources, is a valuable tool. This feature streamlines the roleplaying experience, ensuring that players can easily access and manage their character's backstory and details within the game itself.
Additionally, the /emote command in World of Warcraft (WoW) is a noteworthy feature. When players utilize this command, their character's name is included at the beginning of the dialogue, such as "Thorbis leans back and looks up into the starry sky." This command enhances immersion by providing a clear and descriptive format for character actions and expressions.
Dünhold Discord
Dünhold Website
Its features like glances, custom names, color configs, profile icons, characteristics (like the two aspects i.e. Truthful vs Deceitful, or Lawful vs Chaotic, that you can pick a spectrum of on your profile, and even add your own dualities and pick your icons from any in-game icon available and add your own custom colors [custom colors add a LOT!], incredible customization please devs check that addon out in detail!!) are incredible for making a very unique profile and character.
On top of that the addon features a map where you can track active players, of course you can disable if desired.
Custom emotes and maybe even emote interaction, like giving a high-five together? would bring it to a whole new level I think.
I think this game would benefit a lot from roleplaying features, especially since it has housing!
I guess the question is if that feature of roleplay character profiles will be natively implemented, and if they're on on default. Probably not since most don't make use of such a feature, though of course on a dedicated roleplay server it'd be a different story!
Or maybe it will also be an addon added later created by players? I don't remember exactly if you decided to implement the ability to create addons for the game, my memory vaguely says you did but I'm not sure ^^''
Anywho I think that's all, as someone rather new to the RP world, having tried it in WoW and also on WoW RP privateservers such as Epsilon (which brings customization to a whole new level), I just hope to add a good starting point for dev discussion!
Toys like in WoW add a lot as well, I have a rping as a druid added a lot to situations using Mylune's Call.
Thank you for reading!!!!! Thank you for making this game!!!!!
Edit: Oh, an event calendar would be incredible too!
Having a place to inspect other people and get information about them.
World of Warcraft had a popular mod that roleplayers used to be able to add information about backstory, type of roleplay, full name, etc
Ease of Connecting with other roleplayers
Final Fantasy XIV has the ability to set a public note, join linkshells that are player created and maintained to find link-minded people (Useful for more than just RP but is heavily used by roleplayers), and the ability to set tags about yourself one of which being RP so you could search for fellow roleplayers.
I like what star citizen did with its facial camera allowing you to use your webcam to mimic facial expressions ingame real-time.
Voip and jaw/mouth movement:
As well as with voip to be able to see your jaw move when you speak even if its as simple as gta v.
Full control of character animation joints
i think as a roleplayer it is important to think as a character and as such embody your character and to be able to fluidly express it. I know characters use joints and would be cool to see if doable or allowed to use a webcam or personal green screen to animate our characters ingame with poses or dances out of game. That probably isnt said right but im sure you can figure out what im grtting at. =P . As far as i can tell it would be a first in gaming. I assume anyone doing something stupid could be minimized by not allowing finger control for such things as trying to flick someone off. And pretending to hump the air might be considered innapropriate and a offense. Just a idea im unsure if doable. But i can see lots of people going viral in good ways from murdering dance crews to the friendly tavern bard making a performance. As well as allowing people to express themselves. As your most likely aware, most communication is done through the body not words.
Pantomime mode:
Think of it like keywords or strings when said that play a emote. So if i say to someone “i love you.” I might blow a kiss or show hearts floating above my head. Emotes dont always have to be just with the body. The hearts showing you love something can also tell people around you how you feel with eavesdropping, and in some cases may inspire intrigue. Certain emotes may not work with this but alot can in the conventional sense like actual body poses as well as using fx and animations.
Character rp gear limitations removed:
Also being sure that storyline that is explicitly for amazing gear does not bar certain roleplayers from getting a certain item or creating items equal to in its own way for certain races to acquire as well as religions if deemed necessary. Im not saying however if lore states something to try to grey wash but to allow options where applicable. As well to be able to fit in and look the part of the npc’s from guards to cooks depending on race to be able to acquire is important in roleplay. Im not talking different but exactly the same look. Perhaps with crafting dying can make you choose later or before different unique colors variations.
Housing:
Im not too sure how this plays into rp itself but since everyone else seems to be talking about it here you go. Swg style decoration movement. To be able to place where we want minus certain areas like blocking doors or stairs. A permissions list with different access levels. A ability like asherons call to be able to place decoration outside or on apartment/house/any building with a player owner doors that others can see such as legendary items or pets and/or mounts. Think lawn ornaments and or even better pets/mounts that stroll around within the boundary.
Ingame holidays religion/race/city/other and pvp: add events and or holidays that allow rp players to celebrate together without organization between each other. Could be a dunir holiday with specific festive themed quests to complete for rewards. Or a city anniversary/node anniversary. Something like collect items for festive event to set off a ingame event further like fireworks and town decorations. These items are not always rp specific as they are often seen as special events and people who are collectors like to collect these things. Rp does not have to be so pve oriented as others suggest. A certain race might begin to take issue with another starting a race war that give bonuses for one race killing another. Say a city that is dunir themed comes in conflict with a node that is kaelar. Or perhaps after a certain amount of one race gets killed in a certain node they get a buff from a race war mandate. Im not sure how that would balance out but just another idea. Or a dunir npc would start trying to strengthen said dunir node by showing up and giving out pvp quests and in return the kaelar would have a envoy giving out quests against the nodes creating conflict. Could be done with religion also.I would not see this crossing the line as this is a fantasy world with fantasy races but just a idea.
Interactive NPC's
I am pretty sure this is already planned. It's hard to keep track of all the updates throughout the years. But anyhow npc's that travel or stroll through the world that signify events or give out unique titles or opportunities. More like a easter-egg npc's then a normal quest giver. Could be a npc that has a chance of encountering a certain mob like goblins and by chance could leas to having to rescue him. This is unique content that happens by chance. Or a npc that walks from player tavern to tavern causing trouble with players by being rowdy or getting drunk and trying to provoke them. Then you could attack him/her/it and get a unique reward or loot from it. I'm thinking chance quest givers in a sense. You may encounter it once or twice in a month to a year depending on rarity. Kind of like those npc's in WoW that sell unique goods but with more chance so people have a tough time if not impossible time finding the timing cycles. Something more DnD chance where you may encounter said npc but there is no absolute chance of said event to give quest or interaction.
In a sense a mmo is already a soft rp even those who say they dont roleplay. You are already roleplaying by being involved in the world whether you actively thinking about it or not… the real questions i have for you are how ambitious are you and what do YOU consider hardcore rp in your game.
List of things that help roleplay:
Partner or group emotes:
While emotes can often times be gimicky it is cool to have emotes which people can opt into that range from dancing to being knighted while kneeling, cheering as a group, playing a catch or other sporty options, the opportunities for a quality emote list is endless.
Complex unique customization options:
Roleplayers pride themselves on not only being able to customize their looks whether they are on a characters physical appearance, what they wear, the colors of their attire, or the homes that they build. Roleplayers like to have unique looks and a massive range of options is a good way to ensure roleplayers feel they have the ability to truly be immersed in a world where they get to have their character come to life through their choices.
Housing:
Giving roleplayers the options to not only place various items in their homes but putting as few restrictions and limitations on item placement is important. We want the ability to make a space that feels like our own and not just a copy paste of what every other player has. This can come in the form of allowing us to place bottles and papers on the floor instead of a table or desk. Pillows in a window to make a small nap cubby, placeable fireplaces, items that have numerous variants instead of one and done such as a regular bed also having a canopy variant that can have the sheets and curtains be dyeable.
Tagging:
It is important for roleplayers to know who is in character and who is not. While having a roleplay tag in game can be abused by some bad actors it is overall beneficial to roleplayers as a whole so then you can initiate more walk up roleplay with others and people who are Out Of Character can avoid an area where roleplayers are having a story being told. A good example of this is the total rp mods in WoW that people can see who is a roleplayer and if they are in character at the time.
Captain's Cabins:
Ships are huge for roleplayers but what I think would give an additional immersive feel is having a captains cabin on ships large enough to have it. It does not have to be much more than a space that could fit a desk, chair, and bed. But the purpose is so it gives roleplayers who want to roleplay the life of a merchant sailor, naval officer, or pirate the ability to have a space they could call "home" on the seas.
Ability to furnish a ship:
Allowing players to place down items on ships to give them some more unique character to the players desires. You could grid off the areas of high traffic so players do not abuse the ship pathing. But the idea is giving players the ability to put down tables, hammoks, books, barrels, and more to give them that little bit more of customization.
Heraldy:
Guild tabards, cloaks, flags, armor, and more are great but it would also be cool if people could rep the colors of their family and give players the ability to have a way to show off their family more than just a floating tag above their head.
Bound key to open up emote lists:
Simply a key that when held opens up a list of saved emotes to be used on the fly.
For me, the best facilitator of roleplaying is immersion. For example, a good chunk of my heavily modded Skyrim install is built around adding little features that improve immersion. Things like NPCs reacting with surprise if you turn invisible, freaking out if you have a reanimated minion or summon following you, things like dynamic taunts in combat based on your race, etc, are all things that naturally pull me into the game, and from there, roleplaying comes naturally.
It's the little things, like having animations for gathering ingredients, or drinking potions, or interacting with furniture. It's little things like being able to spontaneously hug your friends, or pet dogs, cats, horses, or whatever other mounts and friendly beasts exist. It's little things like "seeing your character wave in a friendly way when they greet a child".
Animation based immersion can apply in combat, too - things changing your movement animations when you're really injured, low on MP, or tired, to reflect your weakened state.
Things like seeing your character look wet in rain or after swimming, or maybe sweating a bit during really hot weather, or bloodied when they're injured, also help.
Beyond that, things like having some NPCs inside a food shop actively cooking behind the counter, or seeing NPC fishermen, or really NPCs just generally living their lives outside the scope of what the player does is a big help. Having some NPCs who just don't actually give a hoot about you and are just, you know, patrons at an inn or whatever, is pretty great, since not everyone's lives should revolve around you.
When spread throughout a game, little features like this become more than the sum of their parts, and they combine to form an experience that's great at drawing the player into the presented world. And once you've achieved that, roleplaying comes REALLY naturally. When I feel immersed in the world, I'm not just "going to talk to X NPC to spend money on some potions for this dungeon run". Instead, I'm going to visit the local shopkeeper to stock up on supplies for a risky expedition later. And in practice? There's a big difference between those two feelings.
One thing I miss a lot in most mmorpgs and builder/survival games is interaction with objects in/around the house. It's nice some games allows you to use/interact with beds, chairs and tables, but things like desks, bookcases, fireplace, etc. are usually left out.
It would be nice to place an open book on your desk that you can read if you sit on the chair in front of it or place your own books in the shelfs/bookcase. This would also work perfectly with scribing, allowing for people to make their own books, stories, diaries, etc. other than just the scientific nodes library. Making a simple/basic word/paint spread shiet for people to use to write/draw in those books would allow for a lot of creative freedom and rpg.
It would also be nice to light up your fireplace, place some logs in from time to time and just lie on the couch/floor in front of the fireplace to just watch it burn.
These are just a few examples of housing stuff that I felt is left out, especially as rpg related stuff but there could be more like giving water to plants and such.
Tavern:
When it comes down to taverns, I would love to see things like dice games, card games and other social stuff/events you could do/participate. Taverns should be both a place to just sit, enjoy your meal and have a blast with your friends, as well as a place to play some games with your friends or other visitors. These games don't have to be complex at all but could be expended upon after launch in future updates. You could even ask players what they want at that time or give players the tools to make their own.
1) players will need emotes so that instead of typing they can be animated.
2) players who are rowdy/hostile/abusive the owner of the tavern needs to be able to kick them from the tavern (just like real life when the bouncer says you have had enough and kicks you from the club)
3) customizable atmosphere. like housing in FFXIV people need to customize their freeholds to make it more theirs then some prefab (tavern4) skin. if the locals destroy a boss wouldn't a trophy from boss be a cool thing to display, then the local guild that took down the boss can say "hay remember when we took that down?" when holidays roll around the ability to quickly do a setup (say a saveable function for decorations the owner can quickly click if they like it) so holidays can be easily switched (lets say over the week I get my Halloween decorations perfect. I can save the interior/exterior as "Halloween" so that each year i can change it to that décor and each year maybe change a thing or 2 and save it for next year.
4) programable macros so that people can make custom animations/cheers/celebrations instead of "cheer""yell""spin" *wait 3 seconds "cheer2"cheer4"*wait 2 seconds"passout" or something
5) reactions. lets say i have a spicy dish on the menu, instead of regular "eat emogy2" the act of eating a food has an animation to it with a reaction to said food. you might even be able to make a long animation say "dinner 4" is a hearty meal that takes IRL 30 minutes for people to eat, people can sit, start eating (animation of people eating takes over) and the player can focus on conversation or quick emote (like laugh) that then goes back to the eating dinner emote instead of starting all over again and the food and drink can slowly disappear as if the character is eating it.
I'd like to put that in bold because I feel it is an under appreciated game design lesson these days. Immersive game play is as much about NOT getting in the players way as it is having systems to facilitate immersive interaction.
For example, videogame terminology in your world building makes your game less immersive. This is why things like Tank as a class name are really egregious. It doesn't matter how you try to dress it up. It is a trade off to do so. I don't care how you dress the lore. It doesn't stop being unimmersive and mildly confusing if there are ever other builds that can tank that are not main tank.
Non-interactive gameplay is another big pet peeve of mine. I don't play games to watch my character or npcs do things for me. There needs to be a certain amount of movement and allowance for flow. If my character is doing things for more than a couple of seconds without my input, it breaks my immersion and makes the entire flow feel dissociative.
Menu based game play is another problematic area. There are exceptions to this. If my character would reasonably be interacting with a book, computer, or bulletin board to perform the immediate action my character is taking (e.g. writing a ledger for a market place order) then menu based interactions are fine. Any other time you better have really well written npc interactions and dialogue or figure out a way to make your character do it in a consistent to world build way. For example crafting in FFXI is largely menu based but it's implemented in a way that makes it feel like the character is thinking their recipe up and casting a spell to synthesize the item in question and that there is some skill to it.
Zoom distance is another huge problem for me. In order to be maximally competitive in a PvP game you MUST play at max zoom. Max zoom is therefore the end all be all for a competitive PvXer like myself that also heavily role plays those moments. The more zoomed out, the more video gamey and dissociative the interaction. Currently, Ashes is out right terrible for roleplayers like myself because your max zoom requirements are too far out and lack any closeness to the character.
Tl;dr: Minimize video gamey terminology, have immersive gameplay that doesn't disconnect me from what my character is doing, minimize menu based game play especially when the action would reasonably be performative such as crafting, lower the current max zoom possibility.
Systems you can add that would increase my immersion
Full freedom of expression in color pallet choices relative to hair color and cloth based gear. (Feel free to stay away from colorful metal since this breaks other people immersion, but magic makes those things pretty easy.) Preferably with as large of a variety of hairstyles as possible.
Have female and male equivalents for all outfits. Nothing stops a guy putting on a dress or a girl putting on heavy armor. I'm not asking for hard work here just 'let people be ugly'. It's not your job to police what other people find beautiful as game designers.
Emotes or interactive household materials and furniture such as being able to sit in chairs, lay in beds, wash your hands, etc add a lot to immersive gameplay. Decent eating animations, toasting emotes, reasonable crafting animations are other large areas of immersion.
I do not use it, but having the ability to have chat text be in a 'default' and a 'script' color is quite helpful. Having black non-italicized text for standard messaging and an italic script with a separate color setting can be quite useful for in game gming text for such sessions. I don't think players should be able to force other people to see a rainbow of colors, but the 'script' text should have a different color decided in your own viewing ui options.
Emotes:
Like others in the thread, emotes and animations to help convey emotions or to paint a scene is incredibly important in MMORPG's where communication with other players is a key factor to the game. Having a customizable emote wheel or some other function would be the best, but at least having a multitude of emotes would be great to help convey these scenes with other players.
Proximity Chat:
Not something I think about often, but the absence of proximity chat is jarring for an MMO. If there are "Secret meetings" or rambunctious taverns bustling with patrons, that should be contained in it's own area. I understand that this is much more difficult when discussing VOIP, but in a perfect world, having proximity based VOIP for the entire world would be amazing. At a minimum, the text chat should be proximity based to contain these scenes.
Housing:
You guys seem to have a great gasp on the housing game so far, so i'm not too worried about this, but I would hope for a level of customization to be present to really make our player homes our own.
Seasonal Holidays and Events:
I LOVE the idea of seasonal holidays, having the world feel living and breathing is important, and this can be highlighted with seasonal holidays.
User Created Image Content:
It's important to be able to accurately represent your colors/flags. This could help really make people feel like they are a part of a community outside of just the game itself. Having warring guilds and factions face off with their standards and banners held high can really bring immersion to the game. I know this was mentioned before, but I think it's important to highlight just what it could do for the RP community.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk
Housing with the ability to furnish it yourself, ideally with one or several crafting sub-classes that can make furniture and other things to embellish your house.
Animations for whenever you talk, as well as idle animations and standard ones such as waving, farewell etc. If you could create co-op emotes that would be great, so you could target a player and write /hug and the opposing player would get a prompt if they want to accept and then they actually perform an emote together. A co-op /dance emote would be very fun as well.
Running a business I think I read you can already own an inn/tavern in this game, so if you could housing customization as mentioned above with regular housing. IF you got the energy than the ability to set prizes and hire/fire NPC or even players to work there, so set salary etc.
First impression tab be able to write a first impression tab where you can write physical description, mood and general things people would notice about that character.
Create mundane RP items Create simple items that have no real function in-game, but for RPers it could really enhance RP. Items like this could diaries, trinkets, jewelry etc.
They avoid content, when they do content they don't learn or do mechanics so you need to carry them, In fact in FFXIV I was the Bard who helped Blacklisted carry many of the server through Titan, when there DPS got tried, meanwhile I was playing from New Zealand @ 360ms Ping after release Which alone proves my point in Stone! They ERP in hidden areas using public chat & its at sickening levels.
So to my point I have zero respect for RP'ers, Do us all a favor give them an Official RP server so we are not stuck with them & cater RP events AWAY from the rest of the player base!
I wouldn't say rpers don't do content. I think that's a gross over exaggeration. Though I am used to rp-pvp servers which won't exist in Ashes.
1.) Wide variety of emotes
2.) Having a good /roll system for a wide variety of situations for story telling and sometimes RP combat
3.) The ability to read stories in game written by other players
4.) Immersive sound design ala tavern music that is different at various locations, ambient music that is specific to certain areas, hearing conversations from NPCs as you walk by.
I really like the adventure you are diving in to in the RPG genre. I've been playing Lineage 2 since Chronicle 1, Warcraft, Diablo, WoW and many more. What makes gaming interesting and special to me it's that other world which provides you with many different options to enjoy like - questing, dungeons, raid bosses, mounts, epic pvp battles. Would love to see many different Legendary items to craft for every style of play and build as these are always hard to get and in many games as they were available for specific classes only. Hoping to see what Legendary Dual Weapons you could craft with special effects or stats on them. The treasure maps and quests could be really interesting and different way for a person to get more currency or loot, different then crafting and staying in one zone. Guild Castle, house, skills and epic battles is one of the best things you could have in a game.
Thank you for asking!
RP specific- Realm
Proximity voice chat
Whispers, Say, Party chat
Plethora of free emotes (dance, hug, wave, kiss, cry, flex)
Housing- So they can invite those they meet to their home that they have decorated.
In game activities: such as jumping puzzles, parlor games, mazes, trivia games, etc.
Transmog- being able to mix/match for a party or do a theme event.
Having Buildings,Gardens, etc. Where there is plenty of seating- head of the table, chairs by a fireplace, benches for a wedding, or logs by some fishing hole. Places where they can just sit and relax talking about whatever they like....and it feel like Intrepid created that space for that purpose.