I think for me the most important thing available for roleplayers is chat limit increases or ways to post multiple 'paragraphs' at once.
I think this is one of the reasons that RP communities in World of Warcraft have endured all of these years due to the use of addons that could 'extend' the chat limit so that longer emotes and writing can be facilitated.
Where as in other MMOs the RP communities have either struggled or dealt with issues where the chat limit is hard set and there's no way to get around it.
I get wanting to prevent chat spam in various ways, but this is definitely one of those features I hope you consider the pros and cons on.
I played FFXIV on Balmung the "Unoffical" RP server from release & I just want to say for an unquestionable fact that RP'ers Ruin MMO's,
Fully disagree with your statements. Especially since RP players tend to be the ones that keep games alive, they know the lore, they also enjoy the content in a fundamental way where the game comes first. They enjoy the content their way and thats what gaming is about. Don't demote an entire area of players just because you don't enjoy it.
Especially since Rp servers tend to be far more active and are more than willing to help each other out for content conquests. I've never had a bad experience in an RP server, I however have had terrible experiences with players in other servers.
I might not RP but if available on release, I'm going to be playing on an RP server, whether it has active PvP or not. Because I want to enjoy my content as a game, not an endless job like WoW retail has become.
I think looking at what the GTA community has put out would be super helpful. I was never into it but that's mostly because the hurdles were a bit much at the time for me to get invested in.
Rather then just having a RP designated server. Create servers with bigger rules. Almost might want to allow some sort of Mods specific to roleplay and then plan on incorporating those mods into the server rule set. If not, allow the community to vote and request certain features that you can patch in.
I think with the growth of GTA and how popular it is and has been for a while. This type of support would be massively popular and almost like GTA, create a game inside a game. Would also answer your question.
I believe RP servers on GTA are player run. I actually haven't played GTA Online, but some people I used to like watching streams/vids of did. And given the abuse of admin powers witnessed at times. Them being player run seems to be the only logical explanation.
I don't think that'll be an option for Ashes.
Well I am not advocating for repeating it exactly but looking to it for Inspiration on what players want.
I used to enjoy roleplaying, but it ended up going away as often it just wasn't engaged with or encouraged on servers. So, to help with I'd love to see the following:
1. Dedicated role-playing server - I think having a bit of separation from the different types of folks that want to experience the game differently helps. Having a server where the 'norm' is to roleplay will help encourage it.
2. Chat Options - Normal, In-Character, and Character Thought/Actions, each utilizing different coloration. This would allow us to chat out of character, chat through our characters, and describe things our characters are doing.
3. Emotes, Emotes, Emotes - with themes. What helps bring our characters to life is having enough ways for them to physically emote. First I'd say to ensure there is all the standard most used ways to express (yes, no, I don't know/Maybe, point, laugh, grunt, angry, disappointed, cheer, dance, etc. etc.). Next if you really want to take things to the next level, put these into theme packs. This could be things like Dangerous, Bubbly/Cheerful, Heroic, Stoic, Devout, etc. These would tweak all the emotes to match a character style. (And would be something I'd spend real money on to unlock the right pack for my character).
4. World Interactions - Having the ability to sit in a chair, drink a mug of ale, lean against a wall, warm hands on the fire, stir the cooking pot, play instruments, etc. These little nuanced interactions give a sense of living in the world.
5. Finally, Group Interactions/Emotes. This is something I've always wanted to see done in a game. For example - you can have different instrument options (drums, lute, singing). A person can use these individually, but if they are in an area with another player, they can choose to sync up with them to play the same song (and create a form of band). This could be explored in different ways, such as the ability to actually dance with another person(s) (instead of each just doing their own thing). Maybe a Priest wants to start a group prayer/worship, or someone wants to do a group cheers (something can pop up asking players if they want to participate in group cheers), or even you can set your characters to idle chatter with each other (which would be a form of idle animation where they are talking to each other). It could open up a whole bunch of different options.
The possibility of being able to interact more with NPCs, with almost all NPCs. But also being able to interact more with the objects and furnishings of the game environment.
To have an NPC companion who follows you and actively helps you, perhaps the possibility to COURT an NPC and start a family, like in Skyrim (and The Elder Scrolls Online) or like in Star Wars The Old Republic.
All of this would make the solo stages much, much more fun.
What systems and features make roleplaying fun? What features help remove hurdles and barriers?
I am going to break this down into Must have's, Nice to Haves, and Groundbreaking RP IMO:
Must Haves
1. An RP Server/s - I believe the gap is just too different.
2. Proximity VOIP - The number one thing that brings the RP experience and social mesh to life
3. In-lore seasonal holidays, traditions, rituals
4. Character background and first impression panel - Descriptions and context for players + RP type tags
5. In-depth Guild system as the core of player-driven RP factions.
6. Emotes driven by text (say hello/hi/hey/howdy = wave haha/laugh/hilarious/funny = laugh etc etc)
Nice to Haves
2. Party / Social / Group / Guild Emotes
3. Tavern Mini games for people to barter and challenge.
4. Crafters can add their Siganture to items (in the item stat block) processors can stamp their produce.
5. Notice Boards people can put LFGs on.
6. Node Newspapers that are mainly game generated but with slots people can buy to share content or ads.
Groundbreaking RP
1, 'Conversation mode' close-up face-to-face conversation driven by webcam/iPhone real-time face animation. (ref Star Citizen)
Closing Notes
I believe that RP and MMOs are a match made in heaven it's just traditionally the features and tech haven't supported it. AoC is making strides in the genre with the Node system, and the realism provided by the risk/reward dynamics of deeply integrated economic and social design systems. RP is an untapped aspect of the genre on par with these other systems. To date, RP has been a niche aside because it hasn't been particularly compelling. With the recent resurgence in interest for TTRPGs (popularly helmed by Critical Role and others) there is a huge appetite to try this way of playing. If AoC can find exciting ways to support the RP experience more people will try it and therefore more people will find enjoyment and stick with it. It could build an incredible scene and be another USP for this game that crowns it the genre's new royal standard. I am someone who enjoys ARPGs so by no means am I a die-hard RPer however I do have that desire to enjoy RP and I think AoC as an MMO can provide a unique opportunity to the market.
Hello Ashes of Creation. English is not my native language, so please be understanding.
I've been roleplaying for 15 years and I've done it on many, many different MMOs. Of course, some have their advantages in this aspect where others were poorer. Some were in between. I can give a few examples.
Guildwars 2 has a great world to roleplay in. Maps are good, cosmetics are shared through the player's account. But the emotes are not in the menus. There are commands to know and type, and that's why most roleplayers didn't use them. From my point of view, even though the world was immersive, the way the character was controllable was not appealing for roleplaying, or at least not that much. As far as I know today, roleplaying is dead in Guild Wars 2.
BDO does it surprisingly in its own way. Characters don't have a lot of emotes and can be quite rigid in their movements, but you do have that ability to change your character's pose. Leaned against a wall, installed at the edge of the roofs, ... The world and the map are attractive. No teleports, so more immersion. A horse to protect, to travel. And some tents that you can use anywhere. But again, maybe too rigid.
The perfect choice for today's role-playing game when it comes to features is clearly FFXIV. It's the little things that make role-playing important on this one. When you select another character, yours will turn its head if it can and look at it. The eyes and the head both have a tracking system, but limited to the twist and the skeleton of the characters and also a max distance. There you can also change your pose with an emote or command. There are 6 in total if I remember correctly, and each race has different poses. So do weapons, the way you hold them. Females and males do this differently and have an alternate pose to use with the same command. And again, you have those facial expressions. Smile, doze, sad face, you have a ton of face emotes to use where there are also classics. Again, there are a ton. This system of choice of poses applies to the situation sitting on chairs and lying in bed.
The combination of all this already makes roleplay and the proximity you can have with your character something close to an in-game cinematic. And that's not all. Housing is also the most developed. I encourage you to find videos on this to see what can be done with all the furniture there is. But also with glitches. There's nothing you can't do there. Finally, I have to say that roleplaying definitely benefits from modding. A few months ago a program came to this community to provide a way to share any mods that users may have installed with others. It makes modding live for those who share friend code. It was quite a revolution for role-players. My thought is that if there is a way, one day, to let people modify this game, you should encourage it with some limitations.
To be quick, FFXIV should be your inspiration for Roleplay. I mean, really, go get some videos you won't be fooled on this one.
As someone who has been RPing for almost 20 years across several games.
I strongly disagree with peoples comments about proximity voice being needed for quality RP. If this is a feature it is one I will not be using.
But this is my preference. When I RP, I am writing or playing as my OC. My OC is not myself. Similarly, when I interact with you in RP (RP, not casual daily gameplay), I don't want to be going through some adventure with -you- personally, I want to be writing and interacting with your OC.
For me, voice chat comes too close to breaking the fourth wall between the game universe, and real life.
Side note for some of the FFXIV balmung hate... What? Lol. Maybe you just walked through the area where kids go to openly erp and never once actually observed players telling a real story. If you want a example of some real life RP, go to your local comic book or trading card shop on nights they play tabletop games and just watch how they tell the story of their figures making their way across the tabletop map.
As someone who has been RPing for almost 20 years across several games.
I strongly disagree with peoples comments about proximity voice being needed for quality RP. If this is a feature it is one I will not be using.
But this is my preference. When I RP, I am writing or playing as my OC. My OC is not myself. Similarly, when I interact with you in RP (RP, not casual daily gameplay), I don't want to be going through some adventure with -you- personally, I want to be writing and interacting with your OC.
For me, voice chat comes too close to breaking the fourth wall between the game universe, and real life.
Interesting.
I totally agree that it should be able to be easily paused or turned off completely if desired which can be indicated simply with a UI icon.
If it was on a mixed server then it would be very immersion breaking I agree, however, on an RP server I believe it has great potential when it becomes the norm to speak in character.
Interactive emotes, high five, fist bump, various dances with ability to accept or decline the interaction.
The ability to set mood/personality similar to ESO. Haughty, jovial, menacing, brooding etc. This is a fantastic feature for helping the world come alive for players, even those who don't RP are likely to use this feature. Have this feature not only impact passive stances also but passive sitting. It's a horrible experience to walk into a tavern and see a bunch of stiff bodied people sitting in chairs like lifeless statues.
The ability to quest and learn rare entertainer type emotes. Swallowing a flaming sword, miming, juggling, acrobatics, magic tricks, or a performing pet would be good examples. If everyone can swallow a sword it loses it luster but if it requires effort to acquire it becomes as epic as a rare item, perhaps more so to some.
Taverns and shops and ships need the ability pick their signage and have it be visible and prevalent. If I am at the Drunken Crow Tavern or Deep Mountain Forge I want to know it. There should be symbols to pick from and the ability to select from a wide variety of names to string together. A well named Tavern is the hallmark of nearly every great story.
Taverns should also be able to pick from several songs. The ability to acquire new songs should also be an option either via quests, or currency. If I am in a Dwarven tavern run by a thick bearded women the song should not be the same as that in a eleven village on another continent.
The ability to have interactive events during Holidays. If I want to gift wrap and item and give it away or hide eggs with fresh goods from my bakery, I should to be able to do it.
Items that are crafted should have the makers name in the details of the item somewhere. If you make the most amazing swords, dresses, or armor it's nice to have your brand on it and it helps with becoming renown at your craft.
SWG is still talked about for the freedom it gave players to decorate, name items and interact. People made scavenger hunts, put on plays and performances. Sometimes people put on elaborate shows to unsuspecting audiences (the original flash mob). Give people the tools and they will help bring the world to life.
I know this is beating a dead horse but a marked RP sever is still the right choice. Not for a separate set of rules but just so those who want that experience know where to find it. I understand the concerns of marking a server and the risks inherent in that, they are not unfounded. I simply believe the good out weighs the negative in this instance. I have seen the decision go both ways and nothing does more damage to RP than struggling to find that community of like minded people.
First of all, I would like to talk about the basics, but which should not be ignored.
Having voice chat enabled in certain areas or groups helps a lot with roleplay, such as in taverns or town squares, temples or guild halls.
The use of interactive emotes between players also has a very positive impact. And that extends to events between players, like weddings, I expect something big and difficult to accomplish in game.
Going a little more advanced.
About events in the world of Verra it would be very interesting to see different events depending on the locality, with references to the deities depending on which region of the world you are in and with festivities not related to the irl.
I intend to have a tavern so it is a point of great concern to me. I envision the tavern as an area where I will hold events for my entire guild community. It should be a point to gather groups before raids, but always with a level of roleplay to boost morale. A leisure point when my team is expecting a member. A place where there are several indoor games, such as bar fights, a stage for performances, a place for a pet fight, the possibility of an external area attached to the tavern for some events... Even the possibility of distributing advertising for disclosure of the name of the tavern, so that it becomes known, with signs on the roads guiding people to the place or a pamphlet in the city showing a clipping of the map and guiding to the establishment.
Overall, I expect to see a lot of interaction between players, different emotes for races, unique emotes between characters of the same race and I see the taverns as a central point for players looking for roleplay.
Hi all!
First off, I would like to say thank you for taking the time to incorporate Roleplay communities and their thoughts into your project. This means a lot, as most devs do not take the time to do so. I have about 4 years extensive roleplay experience in various other MMOs and I would like to share my thoughts with you that I gathered from others as well.
Profiles/RP Tags
Having a way to mouse over a character to click on them to see a sort of profile or card to indicate a sort of character profile helps a lot with RP. As roleplayers usually mouse over other characters to look at first looks, bg, hooks etc when approaching another character. At least a spot where you can put a link to a character website of sorts as well. An RP tag in game too, to show whether or not your in character, or simply just OOC and playing the game. TRP addon for WoW is huge for that large RP community for instance.
RP Realms
This gives RPers a place to flock to so they don't end up split or sparse when it comes to realms. Having an official RP server gives those who adore writing and character building in their MMO gameplay will be able to gather.
Chat, UI, and text limit
It's important to a lot of RPers to be able to change the colors of their chats, also having a way to edit chatbox size etc makes RP a lot more friendly. Having a way for people to do multiple paragraphs or not have a text limit is huge for those who need to make bigger posts. Having a UI that is easy on the eyes and easy to access also makes for much smoother RP. For instance, WoW's text and UI is MUCH more friendly than FFXIV's.
Targeting
A lot of RPers will be standing still for typing etc, so having a way to target other players and the character looking at them. You click on the character you are talking to and your characters looks at them and turns their head to them.
Emotes/Continual emotes/Changing poses and stances
This is a big one for a lot of people. Since most people will be typing for their RP, it's nice to have the characters do something while standing. Looping emotes are big - like drinking and talking, dancing, smoking, sweeping, singing, playing instruments, leaning, sitting, laying down, sleeping, flipping a coin, flipping a dagger, sharpening a weapon etc.
Also, having group or couple emotes would be huge. Like an approval system where you can engage with someone and they accept it. Be it a hug, dancing, carrying, Holding someone at the waist, maybe a kiss, or perhaps a crutching and helping someone walk if RPing they are injured. Like escorting an injured comrade. Playing instruments together or cards even! Small tavern games or plenty of instruments. Singing would be a great addition too.
Being able to change your stance and the way you sit and lay down are also nice for RP.
Marriage System/Heirs
I know a lot of games implement this already, but it's a huge thing for those who wish to continue their story. Marriage and perhaps even NPC kids for the Freeholds would be pretty neat. As most knight or royalty RPers eventually want to extend that into family etc. Its an interesting thing to think about adding when it comes to the depth of RP!
Tents/Campfires
Having little things like campfires would be nice when traveling. As RP your characters while you traverse the world can be great! Stop and make a camp and tell stories etc.
Thats all for the big things and I hope that it helps when considering what to add to make it all a more immersive experience!
I think it's interesting to add some RP elements to the religion mechanics
I would like there to be the possibility of existing holy wars influenced by the game system proposing
Religious leader assassinations such as hunting down some members of the opposing religion to increase the contribution to the religion's ranking
Roleplaying is at its most fun when actions actually matter and players are really playing with meaning, and in many ways this happens without the stat blocks rather than playing off them, in that it is your character's conduct and quality of actions that matters more than their single highest attribute or prospective DPS.
Other than that, representing one's character is kinda important, and for others to do it in a meaningful way as well. 420BurritoBong is already breaking immersion a bit, and their long and snarky explanation for why their character has that name isn't roleplaying as much as trying to angleshoot and rules lawyer so they can continue to be a walking meme.
But more to the context of the post here, the massive piles of emotes and poses seen in modified RP sandbox games (Like GTAV Online) open up the door for a greater amount of roleplay. Those games also tend to be more of a sandbox though, so handcuffing a player and searching their pockets is fair game in those, that's definitely far beyond what RP in Ashes should mechanistically facilitate.
Something else that really can't happen in an MMO environment is the slowness and pacing of a TTRPG encounter. To see other potentially-friendly characters in the distance and immediately plan to attack them unprovoked--unless you are a more neutral evil/chaotic evil oriented team--is pretty well unfathomable, but that's exactly what PvP looks like. There is no way around this. There is no forced "you must negotiate before you may attack them" system. For the scope of being a character existing in a living and breathing world, the constant threat of immediate unprovoked player attacks, and the increased penalty for NOT fighting back, really create a double-whammy that hampers everyday roleplay outside of any given town.
To that extent, I suppose roleplay should be seen more as an in-town and otherwise "what deeds you accomplish in questing" sorta thing, rather than something like a TTRPG where roleplay is (hopefully) more important than seeing anything that moves and rolling for initiative.
Not as a "refill lost attributes" system like SWG, but more of a "gain ablating buffs before you go out" system, I'd like to see the inclusion of performance in roleplay. Observe entertainers, get buffs, the buffs last indefinitely, until death or until they slowly chip away while in-use. Take a bit of damage, the bonus max HP diminishes a bit. Hit something with a spell, the magic damage bonus chips away a bit. It could even be as little as a 5% bonus overall that is guaranteed to go away in an hour of functional gameplay. This can be enhanced with food and possibly playing parlor games.
Books, newspapers, pamphlets, other print media, could be a fun way for players to keep locals informed, or to get reports about what is going on across the land. Player-made or NPC made. I could even see a postal/news network type NPC business existing to constantly give players missions to investigate sites or deliver information parcels upstream to headquarters or downstream to local printers across the region.
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DygzMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
Roleplaying is at its most fun when actions actually matter and players are really playing with meaning, and in many ways this happens without the stat blocks rather than playing off them, in that it is your character's conduct and quality of actions that matters more than their single highest attribute or prospective DPS.
I kind of disagree. I think RP is at its best when the character conduct reflects not only your stats but also the rest of the character build. Of course, stats are not just highest stats. Lowest stats are also important for great RP.
Also, for me, RP is also best when its supported by what we can actually see and appear to do in the game - rather than have some kind of (disturbingly) recursive RPG session nested within an RPG.
Personally, I'm not a fan of there being dungeon masters trying to dictate their own imaginary story...
But... most of the stuff that will support that style of gameplay will also help everyone stay well-immersed in our characters and help minimize OOC talk (for those of us who strive to minimize OOC talk).
I rather have the neighbors I typically live with in my Node verbalize what happened while I was gone than read it in a book or newspaper.
Libraries will be a thing though, so... books to read is frosting.
Personally I am looking for roleplaying as a pirate or mercenary who earns for living by skilling up in open world PvP and never crafts or gathers.
There won't be too many of those dedicated to this role if risk vs reward system adequately punishes unsuccessfull PvP outcome but rewards successfull.
I would like for RP to be encouraged through systems within the game. In other words, I think there should be a HIGH priority on RP being intertwined with systemic progression (even if indirectly)
For example, mini games being available within taverns. People being able to incorporate 'entertainment' into freehold business. Quests that encourage citizens of divine nodes to evangelize. Significant advertising in game for becoming a bounty hunter.
Basically, even if some of it is indirect, I want the events/systems in the game to serve as an intuitive foundation for imaginative thinking BETWEEN players.
Lastly-- and I know this is probably not something that can change at this point-- but I want Tulnar lore to be very, very significant. I don't know how you could do this while keeping all races equally viable, but I think the fact that tulnar have been living in verra this whole time should lead to many, many interactions on a quest/general narrative level, but also give tulnar players a HUGE foundation upon which to roleplay and for non tulnar players to feel to some extent like outsiders. Sure, all these races are returning to verra, but it's been MILLENNIA. This is the Tulnar's home.
Roleplaying is at its most fun when actions actually matter and players are really playing with meaning, and in many ways this happens without the stat blocks rather than playing off them, in that it is your character's conduct and quality of actions that matters more than their single highest attribute or prospective DPS.
Well said, I’ve read too many times on the forums that people think that RPG has to be tab based and its not true. Tying a role to stats is myopic in it’s scope as people play roles irregardless of what game it is people play roles in shooters even such as Apex.
If I’m a guild leader, I’m always in that role. If I’m a frontliner like a Wildblade leading my crew and calling the shots, I’m constantly in those roles. I don’t magically fall out of them because of a character sheet and I determine the role, not the statistics.
Good combat enhances roleplay, especially on a RP PvP server, it doesn’t diminish it.
Other than that, representing one's character is kinda important, and for others to do it in a meaningful way as well. 420BurritoBong is already breaking immersion a bit, and their long and snarky explanation for why their character has that name isn't roleplaying as much as trying to angleshoot and rules lawyer so they can continue to be a walking meme.
I am a huge proponent to naming conventions. Burrito Bong just needs to not be a name in game.
But more to the context of the post here, the massive piles of emotes and poses seen in modified RP sandbox games (Like GTAV Online) open up the door for a greater amount of roleplay. Those games also tend to be more of a sandbox though, so handcuffing a player and searching their pockets is fair game in those, that's definitely far beyond what RP in Ashes should mechanistically facilitate.
I do not agree, I think Ashes should have those emotes and have those places in the world that actively encourages an immersive and role playing experience.
Something else that really can't happen in an MMO environment is the slowness and pacing of a TTRPG encounter. To see other potentially-friendly characters in the distance and immediately plan to attack them unprovoked--unless you are a more neutral evil/chaotic evil oriented team--is pretty well unfathomable, but that's exactly what PvP looks like. There is no way around this. There is no forced "you must negotiate before you may attack them" system. For the scope of being a character existing in a living and breathing world, the constant threat of immediate unprovoked player attacks, and the increased penalty for NOT fighting back, really create a double-whammy that hampers everyday roleplay outside of any given town.
To that extent, I suppose roleplay should be seen more as an in-town and otherwise "what deeds you accomplish in questing" sorta thing, rather than something like a TTRPG where roleplay is (hopefully) more important than seeing anything that moves and rolling for initiative.
I could stay in character as I was farming out in the world on a RP PvP server no problem. This really wasn’t an issue.
Not as a "refill lost attributes" system like SWG, but more of a "gain ablating buffs before you go out" system, I'd like to see the inclusion of performance in roleplay. Observe entertainers, get buffs, the buffs last indefinitely, until death or until they slowly chip away while in-use. Take a bit of damage, the bonus max HP diminishes a bit. Hit something with a spell, the magic damage bonus chips away a bit. It could even be as little as a 5% bonus overall that is guaranteed to go away in an hour of functional gameplay. This can be enhanced with food and possibly playing parlor games.
I think the best place and most enhanced place to be buffed is in towns, maybe through increasing potency or duration.
Books, newspapers, pamphlets, other print media, could be a fun way for players to keep locals informed, or to get reports about what is going on across the land. Player-made or NPC made. I could even see a postal/news network type NPC business existing to constantly give players missions to investigate sites or deliver information parcels upstream to headquarters or downstream to local printers across the region.
Asherons Call had town criers and the ability to write books and parchments in game. That could be something to consider for Ashes.
I played FFXIV on Balmung the "Unoffical" RP server from release & I just want to say for an unquestionable fact that RP'ers Ruin MMO's,
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.
While I think they're oversimplifying the issue, I definitely can get behind the sentiment. However, in my opinion that's a GENRE problem, not an RPer problem. Specifically, MMO's should SYNTHESIZE RP with progression. Why on earth are they separated? This should be a fundamental feature/expectation of games in the genre. I know we're all used to them being antagonistic approaches to gaming at this point, but I see that as a FAILURE of the medium, rather than a FEATURE.
This is why I think there should be plenty of ways that player interaction founded upon imagination and vulnerability will contribute to systemic progression within Ashes. This primarily means direct or indirect links between RP and node development, RP and market fluctuations, RP and questing, RP and pvp, etc. This way we can start to normalize a game that isn't JUST about optimization or JUST about RP. And I think the player driven, dynamic world of Ashes is the perfect framework within which to revolutionize this aspect of the genre.
1. I will own a tavern and Im VERY grateful you've allowed this fantasy.
2. Please add a variety of display name options (and don't do restrictions) eg You can just have first name or both. But also display name varys based on your name settings and your relationship with other players. eg starts anonymous till you type your name to them (you could opt in to show your title eg tavernkeep or dragonslayer etc). friends know your full name but can vary what it displays as eg just john instead of john smith. Make it dynamic and meaningful play into thew RPG make people have to interact to know who somebody else is. You could have guild members but not know there names potentially if your in a big guild etc. (global chat or guild chat wouldnt apply this as you need to put a name to the face)
3. Crafting make VERY (I mean VERY) rare resources from bosses etc that require high proficiency crafting to also be put in BiS territory so crafting weapons and armour can mean something at true endgame. again more interaction more RPG (NPCs cant craft for you etc)
4. Proficiencys are locked at a certain point (every person can have a max of 2 proficiencys excluding combat eg they could be a great cook and brewer (yes make em seperate) etc to force players into some form of interaction (no 1 person can be the best at everything) and enlist crafting energy of some sort at top tier so players are forced to manage there economy in a RPG style manner (not spam crafting based on resource amount)
Idk just some ideas
What systems and features make roleplaying fun? What features help remove hurdles and barriers?
1. Enabling Player Expression
Customization-
I think there should be levels of custimization at least as much as the mmo "Warframe" has. You can customize so much of your cosmetics and your build in that game.
Skill trees-
speaking of customizing your build, I think its important that there is a lot of opportunity for min-maxing and fine-tuning whenever there is opportunity for customization. A lot of people hate when skill trees that are very complex with small percentage boosts, but I think its important to include those tiny boosts in any kind of "tree" customization system. As long as you have the more meaningful/impactful branches in the tree as well, then its also fun to have the smaller decisions in-between along the way.
Utilize mechanics for empowerment, rather than for restriction-
I think its extremely important to be able express yourself through your actual gameplay. This goes for every system in the game, but as an example ill use combat specifically. You should be able to very expressive in how you move and how you fight and interact with enemies. This requires having a lot of options and tools at your disposal. If you look at the mmo "Warframe", the amount of movement options you have and ways of fine-tuning your movement as you close the distance on the enemies, traverse the area, or try to get to cover, really adds to the level of expression and immersion, which really sells the role and fantasy of being a space ninja. Things like wall-running, bullet jumping, sliding, rolling, air-diving, and even slow-walking, just feel so cool and fun to do. I've also talked about this in the past in terms of things like giving players a huge variety of ability options. A deep level of expression can and should be be applied to any system.
This isn't just a benefit to role-play, but also to just being more fun and engaging in general, which can give a unique "game-feel" and experience to that particular system, which draws players back to it, and acts as a unique "role" itself that players want to interface with and immerse themselves into.
I think this is because the more options for expression you have, the more you are able to fullfill the role of being yourself (or someone/something else). I think this should be priority with any system, by adding depth and options for players to express themselves without being held back by the limitations of the game mechanics.
Animations-
I think actually animating whenever possible goes a very long way. If that means doing real-time animations on screen, instead of doing a cutscene, that can really help players feel immersed into the role of whatver is going on in that moment or in the story.
Leveraging animations could also mean providing a bunch of different emote animations as well.
In general, having a lot of specific animations for different niche circumstances within the various systems can be really good.
Voice/emotes-
I think voice chat is a big part of role-play as well. I think forced proximity chat has its uses, and coyld be leveraged to help facilitate very fun and interactive role-play and social gameplay in general. It would be cool if there were "voice changers" where there are actually different sound options that influence how you sound in the voice chat. So if you want to Role-play as a tulnar, there can be a voice that makes you sound more animal-like.
I think this would pair really well with some quality of life chat options as well, like speech-to-text and text-to-speech support.
-Regarding emotes, I hate having to memorize and type commands, it would be cool to have an easier way of doing emotes and other expressions
- I want the opportunity to be socially awkward through emotes. There should be emotes that are absolutely hilarious when used in socially unacceptable situations, like a butt squeeze, a kiss, etc. It would be hilarious to do something like that during a celebration after defeating a world boss that threatened the server.
2. Immersion
Immersion is a very important aspect of role-play. The more believable the world is, and the more ways you can interact with it and the npcs inside it, the better role-play experience it will be. There should be very immersive and in-depth worldbuilding, through things like having very believable npcs with personalities and various ways of interacting with and influencing them.
3. Delivering intended fantasy/feeling
On top of there being a huge variety of different roles/playstyles, they should all execute well on the overall fantasy and feeling that is intended for that role. For example, some non-combat activities like card games, dueling, betting, etc., these are not only additional gameplay options themselves, but they also serve to provide an overall feeling of filling an adventurer's role. I think its very important to have this overlap, by prioritizing gameplay, but also having that extra layer of immersion and executing on the intended fantasies associated with those systems.
4. Assymetrical modes for role-play
- An example of both role assymetry, and playstyle expression, would be the idea of being a spy, where you are trying to sneak into an area with important node leaders, in order to overhear their strategies/plans for an upcoming siege, in proximity chat (for example). One side is trying to gain info, the other side is trying to keep info secret.
Or, the idea of being an assasin hiding inside a node, where you are trying to figure out how to kill the mayor and get out safely to complete an important quest for a rival node. One side is trying to kill, the other is trying to survive and figure out who the imposter is (something like the game "among us").
These types ideas are fun little "game modes" that offer unique experiences where different sides are performing different conflicting roles. It is also simultaneously adding more types of role/fantasy options to the game for those types of players, as well as adding complexity to emergent gameplay through adding additional gameplay options and new dynamics that can clash together to affect the state of the world in different ways.
5. Establishes and develops player reputations and relationships
-There should be an emphasis on letting things "play out" as much as possible, when it comes to player reputations and relationships.
- there is opportunities build reputations and capitalize on them, in various different ways, such as having events that have "trials" or other competitions to "show off" and are opportunities recruit players into your group or guild.
- there are opportunites to establish and develop relationships with other players, with fun things to do when hanging out together, or for more negative relationships, having ways of expressing that you dislike each other or letting rivalries play out in different ways. Things like scribes being able to recount the history of the server from their own perspective, or painting leaders in a bad light for their own personal gain, or other ways of letting politics play out like your watching a really interesting movie, are really fun ideas for roleplay.
- It would be cool if players could favor/discriminate against each other, to create additonal points of conflict, such as a mayor giving certain players tax breaks (might be a bad idea, but just as an example)
-It would also be cool if players could earn or grant each other specific titles for accomplishments (like adding "the brave" to the end of your name)
6. Conflicting player motivations and emergent experiences
I feel like if the actual gameplay is dynamic and emergent enough, and there is enough focus on delivering a unique story and personal experience to each player, this helps them "role-play" organically to an extent, because players wouldn't have to "do the heavy lifting" to get that experience, as long as the game is already presenting organic unique story-like experiences in the standard gameplay.
In other words, I don't have to act like I have a home to defend from a dragon, if I ACTUALLY have a home to defend from a dragon.
- based on this I think doubling down on the emergent stories, and politics between (players/players) (players/npcs) and (npcs/npcs), through things like factions with different motivations and things that allow for social conflict, would create a very solid foundation for role-players. Things like actual morality and value systems associated with the different "religions" that players can get invested in and relate too, or other things like compelling story arcs that immerse the player into the role the story has them playing. Things like that could go a long way in supporting role-players, I believe.
7. Supporting a variety of gameplay types, playstyles, and strategic approaches.
- A huge part of role-play is not only providing many forms of expression, but supporting those different playstyles across the whole game. This means it should be viable to have a different playstyle. If you are a crafter, you should be able to craft 100% of the time (obviously you can still reward players who take risks and invest time into engaging with multiple systems, such as players who both craft and do raids could be rewarded more than a player who only does one type of content).
- This could apply to any system/mechanic in the game. If it is an option to specialize in "stealth based playstyles" then that should be a viable way of interacting with the content. Same goes for strategies revolving around dialogue, traversal, etc. There should be a variety of strategies and roles to fill, while still rewarding the more well-rounded players who embrace the complexities of enagaging in the multiple different roles/gameplay systems.
Basically you should support players who want to play their specific way in pretty much any aspect of the game, from both large scale systems, down to small scale mechanics that they like, as much as possible, while still encouraging and rewarding players who step out of their comfort zone.
8. Options and possibilities
Really, I think thats what the majority of roleplay boils down to. Its about having a ton of options/tools to express yourself from both a gameplay perpective (different gameplay systems that test different skills and ways of thinking/have different pacings and levels of tactileness/elicit different types of emotions and feelings), and having options from an aesthetic perpective (emotes, customization and other forms of self expression). Then, giving players the freedom to use these options dynamically, and emergently- while watching how these options clash/interact with each other to facilitate interesting and unique stories. I think this is a core aspect of what makes good roleplay.
What systems and features make roleplaying fun? What features help remove hurdles and barriers?
1. Enabling Player Expression
Customization-
I think there should be levels of custimization at least as much as the mmo "Warframe" has. You can customize so much of your cosmetics and your build in that game.
Skill trees-
speaking of customizing your build, I think its important that there is a lot of opportunity for min-maxing and fine-tuning whenever there is opportunity for customization. A lot of people hate when skill trees that are very complex with small percentage boosts, but I think its important to include those tiny boosts in any kind of "tree" customization system. As long as you have the more meaningful/impactful branches in the tree as well, then its also fun to have the smaller decisions in-between along the way.
Utilize mechanics for empowerment, rather than for restriction-
I think its extremely important to be able express yourself through your actual gameplay. This goes for every system in the game, but as an example ill use combat specifically. You should be able to very expressive in how you move and how you fight and interact with enemies. This requires having a lot of options and tools at your disposal. If you look at the mmo "Warframe", the amount of movement options you have and ways of fine-tuning your movement as you close the distance on the enemies, traverse the area, or try to get to cover, really adds to the level of expression and immersion, which really sells the role and fantasy of being a space ninja. Things like wall-running, bullet jumping, sliding, rolling, air-diving, and even slow-walking, just feel so cool and fun to do. I've also talked about this in the past in terms of things like giving players a huge variety of ability options. A deep level of expression can and should be be applied to any system.
This isn't just a benefit to role-play, but also to just being more fun and engaging in general, which can give a unique "game-feel" and experience to that particular system, which draws players back to it, and acts as a unique "role" itself that players want to interface with and immerse themselves into.
I think this is because the more options for expression you have, the more you are able to fullfill the role of being yourself (or someone/something else). I think this should be priority with any system, by adding depth and options for players to express themselves without being held back by the limitations of the game mechanics.
Animations-
I think actually animating whenever possible goes a very long way. If that means doing real-time animations on screen, instead of doing a cutscene, that can really help players feel immersed into the role of whatver is going on in that moment or in the story.
Leveraging animations could also mean providing a bunch of different emote animations as well.
In general, having a lot of specific animations for different niche circumstances within the various systems can be really good.
Voice/emotes-
I think voice chat is a big part of role-play as well. I think forced proximity chat has its uses, and coyld be leveraged to help facilitate very fun and interactive role-play and social gameplay in general. It would be cool if there were "voice changers" where there are actually different sound options that influence how you sound in the voice chat. So if you want to Role-play as a tulnar, there can be a voice that makes you sound more animal-like.
I think this would pair really well with some quality of life chat options as well, like speech-to-text and text-to-speech support.
-Regarding emotes, I hate having to memorize and type commands, it would be cool to have an easier way of doing emotes and other expressions
- I want the opportunity to be socially awkward through emotes. There should be emotes that are absolutely hilarious when used in socially unacceptable situations, like a butt squeeze, a kiss, etc. It would be hilarious to do something like that during a celebration after defeating a world boss that threatened the server.
2. Immersion
Immersion is a very important aspect of role-play. The more believable the world is, and the more ways you can interact with it and the npcs inside it, the better role-play experience it will be. There should be very immersive and in-depth worldbuilding, through things like having very believable npcs with personalities and various ways of interacting with and influencing them.
3. Delivering intended fantasy/feeling
On top of there being a huge variety of different roles/playstyles, they should all execute well on the overall fantasy and feeling that is intended for that role. For example, some non-combat activities like card games, dueling, betting, etc., these are not only additional gameplay options themselves, but they also serve to provide an overall feeling of filling an adventurer's role. I think its very important to have this overlap, by prioritizing gameplay, but also having that extra layer of immersion and executing on the intended fantasies associated with those systems.
4. Assymetrical modes for role-play
- An example of both role assymetry, and playstyle expression, would be the idea of being a spy, where you are trying to sneak into an area with important node leaders, in order to overhear their strategies/plans for an upcoming siege, in proximity chat (for example). One side is trying to gain info, the other side is trying to keep info secret.
Or, the idea of being an assasin hiding inside a node, where you are trying to figure out how to kill the mayor and get out safely to complete an important quest for a rival node. One side is trying to kill, the other is trying to survive and figure out who the imposter is (something like the game "among us").
These types ideas are fun little "game modes" that offer unique experiences where different sides are performing different conflicting roles. It is also simultaneously adding more types of role/fantasy options to the game for those types of players, as well as adding complexity to emergent gameplay through adding additional gameplay options and new dynamics that can clash together to affect the state of the world in different ways.
5. Establishes and develops player reputations and relationships
-There should be an emphasis on letting things "play out" as much as possible, when it comes to player reputations and relationships.
- there is opportunities build reputations and capitalize on them, in various different ways, such as having events that have "trials" or other competitions to "show off" and are opportunities recruit players into your group or guild.
- there are opportunites to establish and develop relationships with other players, with fun things to do when hanging out together, or for more negative relationships, having ways of expressing that you dislike each other or letting rivalries play out in different ways. Things like scribes being able to recount the history of the server from their own perspective, or painting leaders in a bad light for their own personal gain, or other ways of letting politics play out like your watching a really interesting movie, are really fun ideas for roleplay.
- It would be cool if players could favor/discriminate against each other, to create additonal points of conflict, such as a mayor giving certain players tax breaks (might be a bad idea, but just as an example)
-It would also be cool if players could earn or grant each other specific titles for accomplishments (like adding "the brave" to the end of your name)
6. Conflicting player motivations and emergent experiences
I feel like if the actual gameplay is dynamic and emergent enough, and there is enough focus on delivering a unique story and personal experience to each player, this helps them "role-play" organically to an extent, because players wouldn't have to "do the heavy lifting" to get that experience, as long as the game is already presenting organic unique story-like experiences in the standard gameplay.
In other words, I don't have to act like I have a home to defend from a dragon, if I ACTUALLY have a home to defend from a dragon.
- based on this I think doubling down on the emergent stories, and politics between (players/players) (players/npcs) and (npcs/npcs), through things like factions with different motivations and things that allow for social conflict, would create a very solid foundation for role-players. Things like actual morality and value systems associated with the different "religions" that players can get invested in and relate too, or other things like compelling story arcs that immerse the player into the role the story has them playing. Things like that could go a long way in supporting role-players, I believe.
7. Supporting a variety of gameplay types, playstyles, and strategic approaches.
- A huge part of role-play is not only providing many forms of expression, but supporting those different playstyles across the whole game. This means it should be viable to have a different playstyle. If you are a crafter, you should be able to craft 100% of the time (obviously you can still reward players who take risks and invest time into engaging with multiple systems, such as players who both craft and do raids could be rewarded more than a player who only does one type of content).
- This could apply to any system/mechanic in the game. If it is an option to specialize in "stealth based playstyles" then that should be a viable way of interacting with the content. Same goes for strategies revolving around dialogue, traversal, etc. There should be a variety of strategies and roles to fill, while still rewarding the more well-rounded players who embrace the complexities of enagaging in the multiple different roles/gameplay systems.
Basically you should support players who want to play their specific way in pretty much any aspect of the game, from both large scale systems, down to small scale mechanics that they like, as much as possible, while still encouraging and rewarding players who step out of their comfort zone.
8. Options and possibilities
Really, I think thats what the majority of roleplay boils down too. Having a ton of options/tools to express yourself from both a gameplay perpective (different gameplay systems that test different skills and ways of thinking/have different pacings and levels of tactileness/elicit different types of emotions and feelings), and having options from an aesthetic perpective (emotes, customization and other forms of self expression). Then, giving players the freedom to use these options dynamically, and emergently- while watching how these options clash/interact with each other to facilitate interesting and unique stories. I think this is a core aspect of what makes good roleplay.
Your 6th section pretty much nails it on the head for me. Build your game to incorporate opportunities (or even the occasional *necessity*) for role playing from THE GROUND UP!
There's a lot here I agree with, but I figure you may be looking for general consensus so I'll add my thoughts. I've played MMOs and I've played RP enforced MUDs--both for...wow, 28 years...and inevitably the text environment has always allowed for more realistic RP simply because you can control (depending on systems) in a very detailed way emotes and how they sit with the conversation and environment. Here's some thoughts on how that could/should be done with a visual medium:
1. It has been said many times: proximity chat and proximity ambient sound. If I go to a tavern a murmur of chatter in the background until I get closer. The clink of glasses. If a bard is in the corner playing, that song being heard at different volumes throughout. If there's a dice game in the corner, I hear the dice rattling as I come closer.
2. Detailed facial emotes. I made a post about this awhile back Having the ability to smile, frown, squint, raise an eyebrow, grin, laugh, chuckle, chortle, so on and so forth is big. There are subtle variations to this that allow for more meaningful emotion to be achieved. Having facial recognition software (as has been mentioned) is great. In lieu of that though, having an intelligent text box parser is better. If, for instance, I'm chatting and type into the text box laugh loudly, or smile sadly, or lean wall and cross arms and it can handle that and flow with my voice and what I'm saying, that would be amazing.
3. Activities, and the systems to allow it. People have talked about mini games. An elaborate dance system (where you can dance in different styles with people) help parties become more of an entertaining thing. Music, instruments, cards, dice, board games, sporting activities (knife throwing, archery, sparring, jousting, feats of strength) are all tools that an RPing player population would utilize heavily.
4. Potentially RP only servers. The reality is that the best RP can be spoiled by folks intentionally in a variety of ways, my guess is that an RP only server will do two things:
A. The server, node systems, and environment will develop very differently from a more traditional hack and slash server.
B. The player population of these servers will allow for a wealth of ideas of what could be added (big things, small things) as the server lives which can be taken and created/adapted to the rest of the servers to make the game better. It'll be a petri dish for this kind of content.
C. The streaming on these servers might be very interesting and help gather even more folks into the fold.
5. Customizable character accoutrements. Clothing, tattoos, jewelery, so on and so forth.
6. A book system--where books can be created and approved through a staff review process and added to the in game content. Libraries.
7. Player run businesses. This is already planned, but many systems for supporting this--the freehold presentation pointed to a lot of the manufacturing side of things, but store fronts in cities, a robust mercantile guild system (something that I believe is planned) and so on.
8. A system to allow for players to build their own mission content (with staff review and approval). This takes a lot of the onus off of the staff, and allows people to build their own quests that the rest of the player base can use--either as an ad hoc one off, or a long term piece of the game.
When it comes to role playing I enjoy character creation , create a story for my character in these case I hoping to play as twins that are opposite of eachother. I love housing, religion , profession to give have a more immersive experience. I do love small groups created solely to rp to do class quest or class mounts which I hope are in the game. I am not a fan of emotes or nothing that can get me out of my immersion like selfies (in game) and stuff. I love pvp videos where people can get inmortalize like so many in other mmos.
I'm not a huge roleplayer but i've always thought having unique titles is very cool for immersion. For example. You could have a continent wide Pvp Duell Tournament once per month. The winners could get the Title "Champion of Elyrium/ Champion of Vandagar" until the next month when theres a new tournament to decide the new champion. So only 2-4 ppl per month would have this title which would make it meaningfull instead of being a "complete the main story" title that everybody has anyways which makes it pretty meaningless. As for more common titles i still like them to have a meaning. For example im more of a pvp player. As i play pvp id like to ris through some kind of systhem like "recruit-Soldier-Commander" (more then 3 would be nice) same with ship content. "Landrat-capitain-admiral" for example. With dungons it could be like "Arriver-Explorer-Raider" or something like that. And with crafting also there shuld be titles that reflect a players profession in what they do. Also i would like that u can only have 1 of those titles. Meaning if im a comander lvl pvper i cant just use the recruit title to fool other players. and if im a master lvl woodcutter i cant use a low lvl woodcutter title. Ofc its fine if some quest give a title but i dont like these games where everybody has the same 50titles just from going through the lvl experience. Another cool way to give out titles is by kill count. Just one dumb example but if someone kills 10k gobins he could unlock the title "goblin slayer", 1k goblins would be "goblinhater" or something like that. So in conclusion, meaningfull titles that kinda make sense and tell me actually usefull inforation about a player/his playstyle/profession.
just something I'd like to add for immersion, it also ties into the current housing design, would be awesome if when players logged off while interacting with beds/chairs where they can get rested XP, their character persisted in the world with an icon/nameplate indicating that they are offline/sleeping
I always felt it was really cool to login in Rust/Ark or any survival games and see all your friends sleeping in your base/house idk it adds an extra layer of immersion to have people in their homes/guild halls or taverns/inns sleeping or resting even if its just in beds/chairs I think that would also add to the whole RP experience - a performant character model with fewer details and no collision would also be acceptable given it's just representing the character sleeping
when I play a game I need to be able to immerse myself in the world around me
hear the sound of the bird's wing as it flies away
locate a waterfall with the sound of flowing water
hear the sound of my footsteps and twigs snapping under my feet
the sound of wind and rain, of my skis when I use them ambient sounds (immersive) are just as important as beautiful graphics or fun gameplay
this implies being able to deactivate background music, because forcing people to play with music all the time puts a strain on the nerves, and destroys the desire to play.
this simple function wasn't available on the alpha one, and telling people that all they have to do is turn off the sound is an idiotic response, because who'd want to play a game without sound?
simply allow us to adjust the volume of the music independently of the other soundtracks
allow us to dislike it and turn it off!
Baron of Shadows
Graveyard's Grin
Your bones dance to my rhythm
Comments
I think this is one of the reasons that RP communities in World of Warcraft have endured all of these years due to the use of addons that could 'extend' the chat limit so that longer emotes and writing can be facilitated.
Where as in other MMOs the RP communities have either struggled or dealt with issues where the chat limit is hard set and there's no way to get around it.
I get wanting to prevent chat spam in various ways, but this is definitely one of those features I hope you consider the pros and cons on.
Fully disagree with your statements. Especially since RP players tend to be the ones that keep games alive, they know the lore, they also enjoy the content in a fundamental way where the game comes first. They enjoy the content their way and thats what gaming is about. Don't demote an entire area of players just because you don't enjoy it.
Especially since Rp servers tend to be far more active and are more than willing to help each other out for content conquests. I've never had a bad experience in an RP server, I however have had terrible experiences with players in other servers.
I might not RP but if available on release, I'm going to be playing on an RP server, whether it has active PvP or not. Because I want to enjoy my content as a game, not an endless job like WoW retail has become.
Well I am not advocating for repeating it exactly but looking to it for Inspiration on what players want.
1. Dedicated role-playing server - I think having a bit of separation from the different types of folks that want to experience the game differently helps. Having a server where the 'norm' is to roleplay will help encourage it.
2. Chat Options - Normal, In-Character, and Character Thought/Actions, each utilizing different coloration. This would allow us to chat out of character, chat through our characters, and describe things our characters are doing.
3. Emotes, Emotes, Emotes - with themes. What helps bring our characters to life is having enough ways for them to physically emote. First I'd say to ensure there is all the standard most used ways to express (yes, no, I don't know/Maybe, point, laugh, grunt, angry, disappointed, cheer, dance, etc. etc.). Next if you really want to take things to the next level, put these into theme packs. This could be things like Dangerous, Bubbly/Cheerful, Heroic, Stoic, Devout, etc. These would tweak all the emotes to match a character style. (And would be something I'd spend real money on to unlock the right pack for my character).
4. World Interactions - Having the ability to sit in a chair, drink a mug of ale, lean against a wall, warm hands on the fire, stir the cooking pot, play instruments, etc. These little nuanced interactions give a sense of living in the world.
5. Finally, Group Interactions/Emotes. This is something I've always wanted to see done in a game. For example - you can have different instrument options (drums, lute, singing). A person can use these individually, but if they are in an area with another player, they can choose to sync up with them to play the same song (and create a form of band). This could be explored in different ways, such as the ability to actually dance with another person(s) (instead of each just doing their own thing). Maybe a Priest wants to start a group prayer/worship, or someone wants to do a group cheers (something can pop up asking players if they want to participate in group cheers), or even you can set your characters to idle chatter with each other (which would be a form of idle animation where they are talking to each other). It could open up a whole bunch of different options.
To have an NPC companion who follows you and actively helps you, perhaps the possibility to COURT an NPC and start a family, like in Skyrim (and The Elder Scrolls Online) or like in Star Wars The Old Republic.
All of this would make the solo stages much, much more fun.
2) Good combat. Some of us are from RP PvP servers were warring is a massive part of the RP.
3) Art Continuity and Integrity - appropriate color schemes and art design is huge.
4) More darkness, Diablo does this very well at appropriate levels.
I am going to break this down into Must have's, Nice to Haves, and Groundbreaking RP IMO:
Must Haves
1. An RP Server/s - I believe the gap is just too different.
2. Proximity VOIP - The number one thing that brings the RP experience and social mesh to life
3. In-lore seasonal holidays, traditions, rituals
4. Character background and first impression panel - Descriptions and context for players + RP type tags
5. In-depth Guild system as the core of player-driven RP factions.
6. Emotes driven by text (say hello/hi/hey/howdy = wave haha/laugh/hilarious/funny = laugh etc etc)
Nice to Haves
2. Party / Social / Group / Guild Emotes
3. Tavern Mini games for people to barter and challenge.
4. Crafters can add their Siganture to items (in the item stat block) processors can stamp their produce.
5. Notice Boards people can put LFGs on.
6. Node Newspapers that are mainly game generated but with slots people can buy to share content or ads.
Groundbreaking RP
1, 'Conversation mode' close-up face-to-face conversation driven by webcam/iPhone real-time face animation. (ref Star Citizen)
Closing Notes
I believe that RP and MMOs are a match made in heaven it's just traditionally the features and tech haven't supported it. AoC is making strides in the genre with the Node system, and the realism provided by the risk/reward dynamics of deeply integrated economic and social design systems. RP is an untapped aspect of the genre on par with these other systems. To date, RP has been a niche aside because it hasn't been particularly compelling. With the recent resurgence in interest for TTRPGs (popularly helmed by Critical Role and others) there is a huge appetite to try this way of playing. If AoC can find exciting ways to support the RP experience more people will try it and therefore more people will find enjoyment and stick with it. It could build an incredible scene and be another USP for this game that crowns it the genre's new royal standard. I am someone who enjoys ARPGs so by no means am I a die-hard RPer however I do have that desire to enjoy RP and I think AoC as an MMO can provide a unique opportunity to the market.
I've been roleplaying for 15 years and I've done it on many, many different MMOs. Of course, some have their advantages in this aspect where others were poorer. Some were in between. I can give a few examples.
Guildwars 2 has a great world to roleplay in. Maps are good, cosmetics are shared through the player's account. But the emotes are not in the menus. There are commands to know and type, and that's why most roleplayers didn't use them. From my point of view, even though the world was immersive, the way the character was controllable was not appealing for roleplaying, or at least not that much. As far as I know today, roleplaying is dead in Guild Wars 2.
BDO does it surprisingly in its own way. Characters don't have a lot of emotes and can be quite rigid in their movements, but you do have that ability to change your character's pose. Leaned against a wall, installed at the edge of the roofs, ... The world and the map are attractive. No teleports, so more immersion. A horse to protect, to travel. And some tents that you can use anywhere. But again, maybe too rigid.
The perfect choice for today's role-playing game when it comes to features is clearly FFXIV. It's the little things that make role-playing important on this one. When you select another character, yours will turn its head if it can and look at it. The eyes and the head both have a tracking system, but limited to the twist and the skeleton of the characters and also a max distance. There you can also change your pose with an emote or command. There are 6 in total if I remember correctly, and each race has different poses. So do weapons, the way you hold them. Females and males do this differently and have an alternate pose to use with the same command. And again, you have those facial expressions. Smile, doze, sad face, you have a ton of face emotes to use where there are also classics. Again, there are a ton. This system of choice of poses applies to the situation sitting on chairs and lying in bed.
The combination of all this already makes roleplay and the proximity you can have with your character something close to an in-game cinematic. And that's not all. Housing is also the most developed. I encourage you to find videos on this to see what can be done with all the furniture there is. But also with glitches. There's nothing you can't do there. Finally, I have to say that roleplaying definitely benefits from modding. A few months ago a program came to this community to provide a way to share any mods that users may have installed with others. It makes modding live for those who share friend code. It was quite a revolution for role-players. My thought is that if there is a way, one day, to let people modify this game, you should encourage it with some limitations.
To be quick, FFXIV should be your inspiration for Roleplay. I mean, really, go get some videos you won't be fooled on this one.
I strongly disagree with peoples comments about proximity voice being needed for quality RP. If this is a feature it is one I will not be using.
But this is my preference. When I RP, I am writing or playing as my OC. My OC is not myself. Similarly, when I interact with you in RP (RP, not casual daily gameplay), I don't want to be going through some adventure with -you- personally, I want to be writing and interacting with your OC.
For me, voice chat comes too close to breaking the fourth wall between the game universe, and real life.
Side note for some of the FFXIV balmung hate... What? Lol. Maybe you just walked through the area where kids go to openly erp and never once actually observed players telling a real story. If you want a example of some real life RP, go to your local comic book or trading card shop on nights they play tabletop games and just watch how they tell the story of their figures making their way across the tabletop map.
Interesting.
I totally agree that it should be able to be easily paused or turned off completely if desired which can be indicated simply with a UI icon.
If it was on a mixed server then it would be very immersion breaking I agree, however, on an RP server I believe it has great potential when it becomes the norm to speak in character.
Great to hear different opinions
All the best
The ability to set mood/personality similar to ESO. Haughty, jovial, menacing, brooding etc. This is a fantastic feature for helping the world come alive for players, even those who don't RP are likely to use this feature. Have this feature not only impact passive stances also but passive sitting. It's a horrible experience to walk into a tavern and see a bunch of stiff bodied people sitting in chairs like lifeless statues.
The ability to quest and learn rare entertainer type emotes. Swallowing a flaming sword, miming, juggling, acrobatics, magic tricks, or a performing pet would be good examples. If everyone can swallow a sword it loses it luster but if it requires effort to acquire it becomes as epic as a rare item, perhaps more so to some.
Taverns and shops and ships need the ability pick their signage and have it be visible and prevalent. If I am at the Drunken Crow Tavern or Deep Mountain Forge I want to know it. There should be symbols to pick from and the ability to select from a wide variety of names to string together. A well named Tavern is the hallmark of nearly every great story.
Taverns should also be able to pick from several songs. The ability to acquire new songs should also be an option either via quests, or currency. If I am in a Dwarven tavern run by a thick bearded women the song should not be the same as that in a eleven village on another continent.
The ability to have interactive events during Holidays. If I want to gift wrap and item and give it away or hide eggs with fresh goods from my bakery, I should to be able to do it.
Items that are crafted should have the makers name in the details of the item somewhere. If you make the most amazing swords, dresses, or armor it's nice to have your brand on it and it helps with becoming renown at your craft.
SWG is still talked about for the freedom it gave players to decorate, name items and interact. People made scavenger hunts, put on plays and performances. Sometimes people put on elaborate shows to unsuspecting audiences (the original flash mob). Give people the tools and they will help bring the world to life.
I know this is beating a dead horse but a marked RP sever is still the right choice. Not for a separate set of rules but just so those who want that experience know where to find it. I understand the concerns of marking a server and the risks inherent in that, they are not unfounded. I simply believe the good out weighs the negative in this instance. I have seen the decision go both ways and nothing does more damage to RP than struggling to find that community of like minded people.
Having voice chat enabled in certain areas or groups helps a lot with roleplay, such as in taverns or town squares, temples or guild halls.
The use of interactive emotes between players also has a very positive impact. And that extends to events between players, like weddings, I expect something big and difficult to accomplish in game.
Going a little more advanced.
About events in the world of Verra it would be very interesting to see different events depending on the locality, with references to the deities depending on which region of the world you are in and with festivities not related to the irl.
I intend to have a tavern so it is a point of great concern to me. I envision the tavern as an area where I will hold events for my entire guild community. It should be a point to gather groups before raids, but always with a level of roleplay to boost morale. A leisure point when my team is expecting a member. A place where there are several indoor games, such as bar fights, a stage for performances, a place for a pet fight, the possibility of an external area attached to the tavern for some events... Even the possibility of distributing advertising for disclosure of the name of the tavern, so that it becomes known, with signs on the roads guiding people to the place or a pamphlet in the city showing a clipping of the map and guiding to the establishment.
Overall, I expect to see a lot of interaction between players, different emotes for races, unique emotes between characters of the same race and I see the taverns as a central point for players looking for roleplay.
First off, I would like to say thank you for taking the time to incorporate Roleplay communities and their thoughts into your project. This means a lot, as most devs do not take the time to do so. I have about 4 years extensive roleplay experience in various other MMOs and I would like to share my thoughts with you that I gathered from others as well.
Profiles/RP Tags
Having a way to mouse over a character to click on them to see a sort of profile or card to indicate a sort of character profile helps a lot with RP. As roleplayers usually mouse over other characters to look at first looks, bg, hooks etc when approaching another character. At least a spot where you can put a link to a character website of sorts as well. An RP tag in game too, to show whether or not your in character, or simply just OOC and playing the game. TRP addon for WoW is huge for that large RP community for instance.
RP Realms
This gives RPers a place to flock to so they don't end up split or sparse when it comes to realms. Having an official RP server gives those who adore writing and character building in their MMO gameplay will be able to gather.
Chat, UI, and text limit
It's important to a lot of RPers to be able to change the colors of their chats, also having a way to edit chatbox size etc makes RP a lot more friendly. Having a way for people to do multiple paragraphs or not have a text limit is huge for those who need to make bigger posts. Having a UI that is easy on the eyes and easy to access also makes for much smoother RP. For instance, WoW's text and UI is MUCH more friendly than FFXIV's.
Targeting
A lot of RPers will be standing still for typing etc, so having a way to target other players and the character looking at them. You click on the character you are talking to and your characters looks at them and turns their head to them.
Emotes/Continual emotes/Changing poses and stances
This is a big one for a lot of people. Since most people will be typing for their RP, it's nice to have the characters do something while standing. Looping emotes are big - like drinking and talking, dancing, smoking, sweeping, singing, playing instruments, leaning, sitting, laying down, sleeping, flipping a coin, flipping a dagger, sharpening a weapon etc.
Also, having group or couple emotes would be huge. Like an approval system where you can engage with someone and they accept it. Be it a hug, dancing, carrying, Holding someone at the waist, maybe a kiss, or perhaps a crutching and helping someone walk if RPing they are injured. Like escorting an injured comrade. Playing instruments together or cards even! Small tavern games or plenty of instruments. Singing would be a great addition too.
Being able to change your stance and the way you sit and lay down are also nice for RP.
Marriage System/Heirs
I know a lot of games implement this already, but it's a huge thing for those who wish to continue their story. Marriage and perhaps even NPC kids for the Freeholds would be pretty neat. As most knight or royalty RPers eventually want to extend that into family etc. Its an interesting thing to think about adding when it comes to the depth of RP!
Tents/Campfires
Having little things like campfires would be nice when traveling. As RP your characters while you traverse the world can be great! Stop and make a camp and tell stories etc.
Thats all for the big things and I hope that it helps when considering what to add to make it all a more immersive experience!
I would like there to be the possibility of existing holy wars influenced by the game system proposing
Religious leader assassinations such as hunting down some members of the opposing religion to increase the contribution to the religion's ranking
Other than that, representing one's character is kinda important, and for others to do it in a meaningful way as well. 420BurritoBong is already breaking immersion a bit, and their long and snarky explanation for why their character has that name isn't roleplaying as much as trying to angleshoot and rules lawyer so they can continue to be a walking meme.
But more to the context of the post here, the massive piles of emotes and poses seen in modified RP sandbox games (Like GTAV Online) open up the door for a greater amount of roleplay. Those games also tend to be more of a sandbox though, so handcuffing a player and searching their pockets is fair game in those, that's definitely far beyond what RP in Ashes should mechanistically facilitate.
Something else that really can't happen in an MMO environment is the slowness and pacing of a TTRPG encounter. To see other potentially-friendly characters in the distance and immediately plan to attack them unprovoked--unless you are a more neutral evil/chaotic evil oriented team--is pretty well unfathomable, but that's exactly what PvP looks like. There is no way around this. There is no forced "you must negotiate before you may attack them" system. For the scope of being a character existing in a living and breathing world, the constant threat of immediate unprovoked player attacks, and the increased penalty for NOT fighting back, really create a double-whammy that hampers everyday roleplay outside of any given town.
To that extent, I suppose roleplay should be seen more as an in-town and otherwise "what deeds you accomplish in questing" sorta thing, rather than something like a TTRPG where roleplay is (hopefully) more important than seeing anything that moves and rolling for initiative.
Not as a "refill lost attributes" system like SWG, but more of a "gain ablating buffs before you go out" system, I'd like to see the inclusion of performance in roleplay. Observe entertainers, get buffs, the buffs last indefinitely, until death or until they slowly chip away while in-use. Take a bit of damage, the bonus max HP diminishes a bit. Hit something with a spell, the magic damage bonus chips away a bit. It could even be as little as a 5% bonus overall that is guaranteed to go away in an hour of functional gameplay. This can be enhanced with food and possibly playing parlor games.
Books, newspapers, pamphlets, other print media, could be a fun way for players to keep locals informed, or to get reports about what is going on across the land. Player-made or NPC made. I could even see a postal/news network type NPC business existing to constantly give players missions to investigate sites or deliver information parcels upstream to headquarters or downstream to local printers across the region.
Also, for me, RP is also best when its supported by what we can actually see and appear to do in the game - rather than have some kind of (disturbingly) recursive RPG session nested within an RPG.
Personally, I'm not a fan of there being dungeon masters trying to dictate their own imaginary story...
But... most of the stuff that will support that style of gameplay will also help everyone stay well-immersed in our characters and help minimize OOC talk (for those of us who strive to minimize OOC talk).
I rather have the neighbors I typically live with in my Node verbalize what happened while I was gone than read it in a book or newspaper.
Libraries will be a thing though, so... books to read is frosting.
Personally I am looking for roleplaying as a pirate or mercenary who earns for living by skilling up in open world PvP and never crafts or gathers.
There won't be too many of those dedicated to this role if risk vs reward system adequately punishes unsuccessfull PvP outcome but rewards successfull.
For example, mini games being available within taverns. People being able to incorporate 'entertainment' into freehold business. Quests that encourage citizens of divine nodes to evangelize. Significant advertising in game for becoming a bounty hunter.
Basically, even if some of it is indirect, I want the events/systems in the game to serve as an intuitive foundation for imaginative thinking BETWEEN players.
Lastly-- and I know this is probably not something that can change at this point-- but I want Tulnar lore to be very, very significant. I don't know how you could do this while keeping all races equally viable, but I think the fact that tulnar have been living in verra this whole time should lead to many, many interactions on a quest/general narrative level, but also give tulnar players a HUGE foundation upon which to roleplay and for non tulnar players to feel to some extent like outsiders. Sure, all these races are returning to verra, but it's been MILLENNIA. This is the Tulnar's home.
Well said, I’ve read too many times on the forums that people think that RPG has to be tab based and its not true. Tying a role to stats is myopic in it’s scope as people play roles irregardless of what game it is people play roles in shooters even such as Apex.
If I’m a guild leader, I’m always in that role. If I’m a frontliner like a Wildblade leading my crew and calling the shots, I’m constantly in those roles. I don’t magically fall out of them because of a character sheet and I determine the role, not the statistics.
Good combat enhances roleplay, especially on a RP PvP server, it doesn’t diminish it.
I am a huge proponent to naming conventions. Burrito Bong just needs to not be a name in game.
I do not agree, I think Ashes should have those emotes and have those places in the world that actively encourages an immersive and role playing experience.
I could stay in character as I was farming out in the world on a RP PvP server no problem. This really wasn’t an issue.
I think the best place and most enhanced place to be buffed is in towns, maybe through increasing potency or duration.
Asherons Call had town criers and the ability to write books and parchments in game. That could be something to consider for Ashes.
While I think they're oversimplifying the issue, I definitely can get behind the sentiment. However, in my opinion that's a GENRE problem, not an RPer problem. Specifically, MMO's should SYNTHESIZE RP with progression. Why on earth are they separated? This should be a fundamental feature/expectation of games in the genre. I know we're all used to them being antagonistic approaches to gaming at this point, but I see that as a FAILURE of the medium, rather than a FEATURE.
This is why I think there should be plenty of ways that player interaction founded upon imagination and vulnerability will contribute to systemic progression within Ashes. This primarily means direct or indirect links between RP and node development, RP and market fluctuations, RP and questing, RP and pvp, etc. This way we can start to normalize a game that isn't JUST about optimization or JUST about RP. And I think the player driven, dynamic world of Ashes is the perfect framework within which to revolutionize this aspect of the genre.
2. Please add a variety of display name options (and don't do restrictions) eg You can just have first name or both. But also display name varys based on your name settings and your relationship with other players. eg starts anonymous till you type your name to them (you could opt in to show your title eg tavernkeep or dragonslayer etc). friends know your full name but can vary what it displays as eg just john instead of john smith. Make it dynamic and meaningful play into thew RPG make people have to interact to know who somebody else is. You could have guild members but not know there names potentially if your in a big guild etc. (global chat or guild chat wouldnt apply this as you need to put a name to the face)
3. Crafting make VERY (I mean VERY) rare resources from bosses etc that require high proficiency crafting to also be put in BiS territory so crafting weapons and armour can mean something at true endgame. again more interaction more RPG (NPCs cant craft for you etc)
4. Proficiencys are locked at a certain point (every person can have a max of 2 proficiencys excluding combat eg they could be a great cook and brewer (yes make em seperate) etc to force players into some form of interaction (no 1 person can be the best at everything) and enlist crafting energy of some sort at top tier so players are forced to manage there economy in a RPG style manner (not spam crafting based on resource amount)
Idk just some ideas
1. Enabling Player Expression
Customization-
Skill trees-
Utilize mechanics for empowerment, rather than for restriction-
This isn't just a benefit to role-play, but also to just being more fun and engaging in general, which can give a unique "game-feel" and experience to that particular system, which draws players back to it, and acts as a unique "role" itself that players want to interface with and immerse themselves into.
I think this is because the more options for expression you have, the more you are able to fullfill the role of being yourself (or someone/something else). I think this should be priority with any system, by adding depth and options for players to express themselves without being held back by the limitations of the game mechanics.
Animations-
Leveraging animations could also mean providing a bunch of different emote animations as well.
In general, having a lot of specific animations for different niche circumstances within the various systems can be really good.
Voice/emotes-
I think this would pair really well with some quality of life chat options as well, like speech-to-text and text-to-speech support.
-Regarding emotes, I hate having to memorize and type commands, it would be cool to have an easier way of doing emotes and other expressions
- I want the opportunity to be socially awkward through emotes. There should be emotes that are absolutely hilarious when used in socially unacceptable situations, like a butt squeeze, a kiss, etc. It would be hilarious to do something like that during a celebration after defeating a world boss that threatened the server.
2. Immersion
3. Delivering intended fantasy/feeling
4. Assymetrical modes for role-play
Or, the idea of being an assasin hiding inside a node, where you are trying to figure out how to kill the mayor and get out safely to complete an important quest for a rival node. One side is trying to kill, the other is trying to survive and figure out who the imposter is (something like the game "among us").
These types ideas are fun little "game modes" that offer unique experiences where different sides are performing different conflicting roles. It is also simultaneously adding more types of role/fantasy options to the game for those types of players, as well as adding complexity to emergent gameplay through adding additional gameplay options and new dynamics that can clash together to affect the state of the world in different ways.
5. Establishes and develops player reputations and relationships
- there is opportunities build reputations and capitalize on them, in various different ways, such as having events that have "trials" or other competitions to "show off" and are opportunities recruit players into your group or guild.
- there are opportunites to establish and develop relationships with other players, with fun things to do when hanging out together, or for more negative relationships, having ways of expressing that you dislike each other or letting rivalries play out in different ways. Things like scribes being able to recount the history of the server from their own perspective, or painting leaders in a bad light for their own personal gain, or other ways of letting politics play out like your watching a really interesting movie, are really fun ideas for roleplay.
- It would be cool if players could favor/discriminate against each other, to create additonal points of conflict, such as a mayor giving certain players tax breaks (might be a bad idea, but just as an example)
-It would also be cool if players could earn or grant each other specific titles for accomplishments (like adding "the brave" to the end of your name)
6. Conflicting player motivations and emergent experiences
In other words, I don't have to act like I have a home to defend from a dragon, if I ACTUALLY have a home to defend from a dragon.
- based on this I think doubling down on the emergent stories, and politics between (players/players) (players/npcs) and (npcs/npcs), through things like factions with different motivations and things that allow for social conflict, would create a very solid foundation for role-players. Things like actual morality and value systems associated with the different "religions" that players can get invested in and relate too, or other things like compelling story arcs that immerse the player into the role the story has them playing. Things like that could go a long way in supporting role-players, I believe.
7. Supporting a variety of gameplay types, playstyles, and strategic approaches.
- This could apply to any system/mechanic in the game. If it is an option to specialize in "stealth based playstyles" then that should be a viable way of interacting with the content. Same goes for strategies revolving around dialogue, traversal, etc. There should be a variety of strategies and roles to fill, while still rewarding the more well-rounded players who embrace the complexities of enagaging in the multiple different roles/gameplay systems.
Basically you should support players who want to play their specific way in pretty much any aspect of the game, from both large scale systems, down to small scale mechanics that they like, as much as possible, while still encouraging and rewarding players who step out of their comfort zone.
8. Options and possibilities
Your 6th section pretty much nails it on the head for me. Build your game to incorporate opportunities (or even the occasional *necessity*) for role playing from THE GROUND UP!
1. It has been said many times: proximity chat and proximity ambient sound. If I go to a tavern a murmur of chatter in the background until I get closer. The clink of glasses. If a bard is in the corner playing, that song being heard at different volumes throughout. If there's a dice game in the corner, I hear the dice rattling as I come closer.
2. Detailed facial emotes. I made a post about this awhile back Having the ability to smile, frown, squint, raise an eyebrow, grin, laugh, chuckle, chortle, so on and so forth is big. There are subtle variations to this that allow for more meaningful emotion to be achieved. Having facial recognition software (as has been mentioned) is great. In lieu of that though, having an intelligent text box parser is better. If, for instance, I'm chatting and type into the text box laugh loudly, or smile sadly, or lean wall and cross arms and it can handle that and flow with my voice and what I'm saying, that would be amazing.
3. Activities, and the systems to allow it. People have talked about mini games. An elaborate dance system (where you can dance in different styles with people) help parties become more of an entertaining thing. Music, instruments, cards, dice, board games, sporting activities (knife throwing, archery, sparring, jousting, feats of strength) are all tools that an RPing player population would utilize heavily.
4. Potentially RP only servers. The reality is that the best RP can be spoiled by folks intentionally in a variety of ways, my guess is that an RP only server will do two things:
A. The server, node systems, and environment will develop very differently from a more traditional hack and slash server.
B. The player population of these servers will allow for a wealth of ideas of what could be added (big things, small things) as the server lives which can be taken and created/adapted to the rest of the servers to make the game better. It'll be a petri dish for this kind of content.
C. The streaming on these servers might be very interesting and help gather even more folks into the fold.
5. Customizable character accoutrements. Clothing, tattoos, jewelery, so on and so forth.
6. A book system--where books can be created and approved through a staff review process and added to the in game content. Libraries.
7. Player run businesses. This is already planned, but many systems for supporting this--the freehold presentation pointed to a lot of the manufacturing side of things, but store fronts in cities, a robust mercantile guild system (something that I believe is planned) and so on.
8. A system to allow for players to build their own mission content (with staff review and approval). This takes a lot of the onus off of the staff, and allows people to build their own quests that the rest of the player base can use--either as an ad hoc one off, or a long term piece of the game.
There's more, but the above is a good start.
I always felt it was really cool to login in Rust/Ark or any survival games and see all your friends sleeping in your base/house idk it adds an extra layer of immersion to have people in their homes/guild halls or taverns/inns sleeping or resting even if its just in beds/chairs I think that would also add to the whole RP experience - a performant character model with fewer details and no collision would also be acceptable given it's just representing the character sleeping
hear the sound of the bird's wing as it flies away
locate a waterfall with the sound of flowing water
hear the sound of my footsteps and twigs snapping under my feet
the sound of wind and rain, of my skis when I use them
ambient sounds (immersive) are just as important as beautiful graphics or fun gameplay
this implies being able to deactivate background music, because forcing people to play with music all the time puts a strain on the nerves, and destroys the desire to play.
this simple function wasn't available on the alpha one, and telling people that all they have to do is turn off the sound is an idiotic response, because who'd want to play a game without sound?
simply allow us to adjust the volume of the music independently of the other soundtracks
allow us to dislike it and turn it off!
Graveyard's Grin
Your bones dance to my rhythm