Anime Role-playing vs. avatarism

[Jools]

I larp even in race, plataformer and soccer games.

 

[CryptRat]

I think you use an ultra simplistic idea of roleplaying (good vs evil, stealth vs combat vs dialogs).
In a PnP the most fun part of roleplay is more about phobias (no, my Ice Elve won't go to a volcano), Tolkien-like racism (he's an elf, I don't give a shit about what he has to say), etc...and reactivity of the GM and the teammates.
In a cRPG I don't mind speaking to an elf if a dwarf is in my party, or I don't mind go for the very-well designed stealth road for a certain quest even if my character is more of a diplomat. I really think that wondering what would I do or what would my character would do is terribly not fun, there. On the contrary choosing an appopriate/weird/funny choice and testing the game's reactivity is more fun.
For example, I like choosing the good way and solving many problems by dialogs, killing the worst guys, etc...It's nothing related what would I do or what would my character do, unless you think that the multi-classed diplomat/anarchist(boss killer)/paladin is an archetype.

 

[Jaesun]

Didn't the first U7 have a male gay option at a brothel?

I was thinking there was a guy that will hit on a male avatar but the Avatar just basically says r00fles! and then leaves. But no, I was checking some old screen shots I took and yes, you CAN have a..... sleep over with a guy. It's not as explicit as Serpent Isle is, but it is there.

 

[Lurker King]

I larp even in race, plataformer and soccer games.

It is embarrassing, I know.

I think you use an ultra simplistic idea of roleplaying (good vs evil, stealth vs combat vs dialogs).

I really don’t. Please have in mind that we are talking about role-playing in games, not PnP. I tend to choose a chaotic evil not just because I want to be the evil guy that will rule the world, but because most games have a manacheistic world in which the actions that don’t make you a saint make you evil, which for me makes the evil option more interesting by default. But I also play as good character, etc. It depends on a lot of factors, including how many times I played the game, the gravity of the situation, etc. For instance, in PS:T I wasn’t capable of selling any one of my companions into slavery. I just couldn’t do it. The different comments shows how this subject is too complex to be answered by just a few paragraphs.

 

[Maldoror]

I cannot, for the life of me, comprehend as to why anyone would want to min-max or "get the best loot" while disregarding in-character choice or roleplaying. It basically detracts the point of playing a role-playing game in the first place. It's fundamentally robotic and mathematical, instead of imaginative. Just play a rougelike or something.

 

[Maldoror]

I larp even in race, plataformer and soccer games.

Likewise. Once I've played through a game like Jak and Daxter for example, I create little narratives/interactions and whatnot, playing them out in my head.
Of course, I no longer do this as often as I did when I was younger, but it's still fun to do so. I spent 30 hours or so in New Vegas just playing pretend with one short-story.

 

[Catfish]

Follow the obvious lawful/neutral good path for playthrough 1. If the game is worth it - get to know the setting and feasible backstories and set up basic motivation and alignment for subsequent runs. Generally the more runs of this kind feel fresh, the better the game is. Also, powergaming just sucks out all the fun, never got the appeal.

 

[Grauken]

I larp even in race, plataformer and soccer games.

Likewise. Once I've played through a game like Jak and Daxter for example, I create little narratives/interactions and whatnot, playing them out in my head.
Of course, I no longer do this as often as I did when I was younger, but it's still fun to do so. I spent 30 hours or so in New Vegas just playing pretend with one short-story.

Are you sure you're on the right forum, Neogaf is just one click away

 

[Maldoror]

Are you sure you're on the right forum, Neogaf is just one click away

Neogaf doesn't have MCA as its editor in chief.

 

[LeStryfe79]

The only two RPGs I tried to be evil in were Jade Empire and Skyrim....

Fuck Bethesda.

 

[Ismaul]

Look, you can call me a retarded, but I LARP the hell of every game I touch. I throw a fireball and shot “Die, your filth scum!!”. I larp even in race, plataformer and soccer games. Of course, I barely play these games anymore, but I know that I would larp them if I played them. I can’t help myself. I also imagine a lot of additional stuff that my character has in the game world, in every game. I just can’t help myself.

I don't see shouting invectives as larping. Otherwise everyone watching sports would be larping. That's just being enthousiastic / cheering for the team.

LARPing in cPRGs is when you make choices that aren't supported by the game. Like pretending you have a relationship with a certain character, and doing things like bringing them presents of whatever dumb shit people do, while there's no indication of it in the game (not saying that kind of shit is cool if supported in game, Dragon Age Origins did all that and was fucking retarded).

 

[Arkadin]

I cannot, for the life of me, comprehend as to why anyone would want to min-max or "get the best loot" while disregarding in-character choice or roleplaying. It basically detracts the point of playing a role-playing game in the first place. It's fundamentally robotic and mathematical, instead of imaginative. Just play a rougelike or something.

because

 

[Dorateen]

I run a party of pnp characters. And if a computer product does not provide the infrastructure for me to do so, I immediately disqualify it as a role-playing game.

 

[FeelTheRads]

I larp even in race, plataformer and soccer games.

Likewise. Once I've played through a game like Jak and Daxter for example, I create little narratives/interactions and whatnot, playing them out in my head.
Of course, I no longer do this as often as I did when I was younger, but it's still fun to do so. I spent 30 hours or so in New Vegas just playing pretend with one short-story.

Sounds pretty sad. Do you imagine the NPCs reacting to what you pretend? You might need checking.

 

[Lurker King]

I don't see shouting invectives as larping. Otherwise everyone watching sports would be larping. That's just being enthousiastic / cheering for the team.

LARPing in cPRGs is when you make choices that aren't supported by the game. Like pretending you have a relationship with a certain character, and doing things like bringing them presents of whatever dumb shit people do, while there's no indication of it in the game (not saying that kind of shit is cool if supported in game, Dragon Age Origins did all that and was fucking retarded).

Really? Ok, then, so I don’t larp. I shout and keep saying stuff impersonating the character, etc., but that is about it. I play the game like most people do.

 

[Cadmus]

There have been some rare cases where I actually tried to create some sort of a personality for my guy but it goes downhill once I'm presented with a character choice that's detrimental to my success in the game. Also as DraQ said, I'm not a fucking actor and can't pretend to be an evil vampire lesbian very well so I just usually end up with a mix of self-insert/min-maxed shit. I just can't fucking bring myself to say: IM A ONE HANDED SAILOR WHO HATES MUTANTS in Fallout 1, get my hand wounded and proceed to blindly attack every fucking mutant. I don't even know how to deal with role-playing a character once that role can't really progress in the game because it's so gimped because of some idiocy.

 

[Metro]

I always had this funny thought where you tell the newfags that the Ultima games already catered to gays since at least U7.

Ultima VII: The Serpent Isle is the only Ultima game where you could engage in a lesbian sex scene. I'm not a Lesbian.

You could have gay (bro-on-bro) sex in Ultima VI. That you didn't know that is a shocking revelation of your lack of incline knowledge!

 

[MilesBeyond]

Usually I'll do avatar-ism my first time through a game, then roleplay different character designs for any subsequent playthroughs. I find this also helps because for me it's tough to think up a cool character concept before I've really seen what the setting, engine, and mechanics have to offer.

My favourite is still my second runthrough of Fallout 1, where I played a thuggish, hot-headed psychopath modeled after Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas. Heh. Good times. Keep meaning to take him over to Fallout 2 as New Reno is perfect for that sort of thing, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[Luzur]

I just do what i would have done if i was the character i am in the game.

 

[NotAGolfer]

I think you use an ultra simplistic idea of roleplaying (good vs evil, stealth vs combat vs dialogs).
In a PnP the most fun part of roleplay is more about phobias (no, my Ice Elve won't go to a volcano), Tolkien-like racism (he's an elf, I don't give a shit about what he has to say), etc...and reactivity of the GM and the teammates.
In a cRPG I don't mind speaking to an elf if a dwarf is in my party, or I don't mind go for the very-well designed stealth road for a certain quest even if my character is more of a diplomat. I really think that wondering what would I do or what would my character would do is terribly not fun, there. On the contrary choosing an appopriate/weird/funny choice and testing the game's reactivity is more fun.
For example, I like choosing the good way and solving many problems by dialogs, killing the worst guys, etc...It's nothing related what would I do or what would my character do, unless you think that the multi-classed diplomat/anarchist(boss killer)/paladin is an archetype.

So much this.
I also tried to roleplay chars in a lot of games but in the end curiosity is stronger (try out some cool sounding approach that doesn't fit my char) or the game just isn't as much fun for the char I chose so I have to mix it up etc..
Doesn't have anything to do with minmaxing, or maybe it has, minimizing frustration because the game doesn't react to my in character choice properly and maximizing the entertainment value per playthrough because I wanna do everything that's fun and not restricted by C&C (you can call it the life is short approach if you want).

 

[Brutan]

I role play a neutral evil character. That means I use the law as a shield to protect me against do gooders and ignore it completely when there's nobody around and pays to break the law. Basically, I put my interest first above all else and I use companions and the law as tools to further my goals. In the few RPGs that give me the chance I also take the cruel route.

A long time ago I used to play like I would react in to those events but I got bored really fast (helping all those people, fighting for good, not asking for rewards etc). THe Walking Dead Season 1(yeah, I know it's not an RPG) got me interested in playing the game more to how I would have handled things.

 

[Khorne]

Never could get into the whole "immersion" business, it's just a unit on the screen from my point of view:
The unit you build is a tool used to achieve victory in a computer game, nothing more.
Roleplaying this unit would be like roleplaying any other tool, and if I did shout "Bow before the allmighty disk destroyer, sir Maxtor" everytime I cloned a disk, everyone around me would think I was completely insane.
Similar example would be a roleplaying craftsman. Does one think to himself: "This nail shall bend the knee before the King Hammer, or face eternal damnation" while hammering some nails? Is that a sane thing to do by your standards?
Anyway, regardless of the game setting, I just roleplay an armchair general, looking at my pixel army and issuing orders, telling them where to go and that sort of thing.
If my unit dies, it's just a minor inconvenience to me, though IC the developer efforts to immerse me in their world by declaring things like: "YOU have DIED".
Some games often do that, but I never really give a fuck about a dead unit. It will always be "unit lost" as far as I'm concerned, and I will never shed a tear because it's just a pixel on the screen, regardless of developers' take on the matter.
I guess I'd have to be religious to think a character in game is a representation of me in some sort of alternate universe, but fortunately I am not.
Though I realize that some people will always form an emotional bond with their characters, and I can respect that, but I would never support the claim that everyone should.

 

[Serus]

Khorne
Your post made me laugh but tell us - whose alt are you ?

 

[Ismaul]

I don't see shouting invectives as larping. Otherwise everyone watching sports would be larping. That's just being enthousiastic / cheering for the team.

LARPing in cPRGs is when you make choices that aren't supported by the game. Like pretending you have a relationship with a certain character, and doing things like bringing them presents of whatever dumb shit people do, while there's no indication of it in the game (not saying that kind of shit is cool if supported in game, Dragon Age Origins did all that and was fucking retarded).

Really? Ok, then, so I don’t larp.

Wipe that sweat off your face son, your honor has been saved - by definition sperging.

 

[undecaf]

Specific character, most often.

I rarely find it fun to play a "me" character, or just look at evertyhing as a bag of numbers and icons to collect in order to win.