Online RolePlaying?

[Kanti]

Has anyone ever roleplayed online before? RP I guess?

I used to do it all the time but I was wondering if any of you guys did it too?
I think I need to brush up on my writing abilities xD

[MerEmma]

You bet! I roleplay with only really one friend of mine I met on another site and we've been at it for three and a half years now, pretty much non-stop. It's really fun and I'm fairly decent at it, although I'm 100% sure I'll never be as good as my partner, lol. I love to role play a LOT and I do it as much as my daily life allows it to. :P What do you tend to role play in (fantasy, history, etc.)?
Currently my friend and I mainly do modern-day roleplays but we have one fantasy and we're planning on a few new ones to come up soon. We currently are in three, I think. We focus a lot on them. We've been the same two people in one of them for three and a half years and it's still going. xD

[Kanti]

I love old-timey stuff. Like fantasy I guess xD
Me and my sister play DND (well it's another version similar enough) and it's nice and all but I really like
typing it out and writing a story.

Do you use Gaiaonline?
I actually like using that but I haven't been on in a while.
I don't know many other forums o_o

[MerEmma]

Old-timey role plays would be really fun and we've wanted to do one but choosing the right time period is difficult (cavemen would be very interesting though, ahha). Typing it out allows you to compose your thoughts for a bit, so I much prefer it.

Nope, never even touched it. xD I go on animalcrossingcommunity. It's a site for the Animal Crossing Nintendo game but that's how my friend and I met and we're just used to it. We've tossed around the idea of creating a forum just for ourselves and different roleplays but we've yet to find any software that suits our needs. I've been on some other forums but it's hard to find a good place to really role play on.

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

I'm obviously a big fan of role-playing.

I just (finally) finished updating the pantheon on the "What Would you like in a Mer RPG" section... I still have more details (about game mechanics, mostly) to hammer down before starting everyone to making characters, though.

[Kanti]

Yea I mean, Gaia isn't really an ideal place but I have a lot of gold on there so I actually have a guild.
It's somewhat of a "dressup" combined with a forum so you have a character rather than an icon which is
sort of annoying but eh whatever.

[Kanti]

@Joy - when you finish that I'd be so down to join it~

[Merman Dan]

Since 2007 I have been running "Heirs of Turucambi", an undersea 3.5e D&D game run in a chat room on Sunday nights.

[Blondie]

I love old-timey stuff. Like fantasy I guess xD
Me and my sister play DND (well it's another version similar enough) and it's nice and all but I really like
typing it out and writing a story.

Do you use Gaiaonline?
I actually like using that but I haven't been on in a while.
I don't know many other forums o_o


I use Gaia to rolepaly! I LOVE it! I highly recommend it!

[MerEmma]

Yea I mean, Gaia isn't really an ideal place but I have a lot of gold on there so I actually have a guild.
It's somewhat of a "dressup" combined with a forum so you have a character rather than an icon which is
sort of annoying but eh whatever.


Yeah, I'm not a fan of that so much either. I have so many characters in different role plays it'd be really hard to choose which to use. Do you tend to use girls or boys more frequently? My partner has a tendency of using boys more often and myself more girls but we're both going out of our comfort zones lately. I still need to figure out how to make an appropriate sexist pig character though for one plot we're doing. xD

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Um, when I played Everquest as a teenager, I tried making characters of a bunch of different classes and races and an equal number of male and female characters. They all got about equal time played (though I admit the troll shadowknight wasn't a favorite of mine) but I gradually found that, though I tried to give each of them a different personality, I ended up making most of the girls especially flirty (almost downright slutty) whenever I teamed up with any of the hunky tattooed barbarian guys or the cute elf boys... I am possibly the only person I know who came out of the closet thanks to online role playing games.

[Taniira]

I used to play on rpol.net, which is message-board based and I really enjoyed when I played, but I don't really have time for it anymore. I also have some friends that play on roll20.net, which I haven't really explored but based on a 30 second glance at their home page looks like RPG Skype.

[Merman Dan]

I tried to migrate my players from IRC to roll20, but I was outvoted. ;) Granted, chat works well for the format I prefer; loosey goosey that's role play-heavy and combat-light with an emphasis on story over statistics.

[Kanti]

I use Gaia to rolepaly! I LOVE it! I highly recommend it!

I have a guild that is not being used for anything. Do you wanna turn it into an RP of some sort?
I had it for an original RP I made up but I guess no one liked the idea because no one participated in it :/

[Kanti]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of that so much either. I have so many characters in different role plays it'd be really hard to choose which to use. Do you tend to use girls or boys more frequently? My partner has a tendency of using boys more often and myself more girls but we're both going out of our comfort zones lately. I still need to figure out how to make an appropriate sexist pig character though for one plot we're doing. xD

Hahahaa I dunno I guess I'm more likely to choose a boy but I like playing girls as well.
I just think I have more of a guy-ish attitude so I think I fit the character better a lot.
I recently got into DND and my character is a half-elf named Nicolaiis Caiige haha

[Merman Dan]

Which edition of D&D are you playing? I'm sticking with 3.5e instead of 4e, as my players prefer the older ruleset. Granted, 5e (D&D Next) has my attention. In the interim, there's always Pathfinder, which has an excellent undersea supplement in Cerulean Seas.

[Blondie]

I have a guild that is not being used for anything. Do you wanna turn it into an RP of some sort?
I had it for an original RP I made up but I guess no one liked the idea because no one participated in it :/

What kind of RP is it? I'm a tad particular as a role player xD I gravitate towards realistic role plays because I write well for them. Plus I typically use real people for the pictures of my character. I'd love to know more about your RP idea!

[Kanti]

Which edition of D&D are you playing? I'm sticking with 3.5e instead of 4e, as my players prefer the older ruleset. Granted, 5e (D&D Next) has my attention. In the interim, there's always Pathfinder, which has an excellent undersea supplement in Cerulean Seas.

3.5 sort of.
It's actually 3.75 supposedly. It's called Pathfinder and they're some sort of separate group but they made a bunch
of addons and stories that you can use for 3.5 so people call it 3.75.

[Merman Dan]

Since you are already familiar with Pathfinder, you would definitely enjoy Cerulean Seas (http://www.rpgnow.com/product/86538/Cerulean-Seas-Campaign-Setting?term=cerulean) if you fancy the notion of roleplaying in an undersea setting.

http://www.alluriapublishing.net/cerulecover.jpg

[Drowning]

Looks like an intrguiging setting, but I'm one of the few who prefer pre-WotC D&D. Or maybe Savage Worlds - 50 Fathoms

[Merman Dan]

Looks like an intrguiging setting, but I'm one of the few who prefer pre-WotC D&D. Or maybe Savage Worlds - 50 Fathoms

I was working as a TSRO (TSR Online chat rep) when WotC bought TSR. So much for the "We don' need no steenking card games!" jabs. ;)

Other undersea supplements I have used for inspiration include The Deep (Mystic Eye Games), The Sea Devils, Sea of Fallen Stars, and of course Stormwrack. My first undersea D&D game was a play-by-post I started in 1998, using the 1e rules. That game and my current one use The World of Greyhawk campaign setting.

[Mermaid Kelda]

Don't know if this'll be relevant to everyone, but I roleplayed for many years on host sites like invisionfree and jcink. There are directory sites like rpg-directory.com which list heaps of different individual sites with different genres and settings etc :)

[Alveric]

I like Pathfinder. I'm intrigued by Savage Worlds ​but I haven't played it yet.

[Spindrift]

I did DnD like twice for kicks. I played Pathfinder and was a Pokemon trainer. :D

[Kanti]

What kind of RP is it? I'm a tad particular as a role player xD I gravitate towards realistic role plays because I write well for them. Plus I typically use real people for the pictures of my character. I'd love to know more about your RP idea!

Well right now it's a fantasy RP with a few races I made up.
So it's like an old-timey island with elves, drow, some mermaid hybrid things, etc.

[Kanti]

@Aeolius: O: that looks badass!!
I'll definitely show my sister. Thank you!

[Drowning]

Savage Worlds gives you the character options of D&D 3.x and Pathfinder, but in one book. Rules can be learned in about 10 minutes, and it handles combat, including larger skirmishes, very quickly. Has a more pulp or swashbuckling feel.


I like Pathfinder. I'm intrigued by Savage Worlds ​but I haven't played it yet.

[Kanti]

My sister is the one who handles all the DnD decisions so I'll probably let her know about Savage Worlds it sounds cool! Really anything does but everyone tells me DnD 4.0 is really weird and resembles more of a Warcraft feel or something like that. I'm not sure, I don't play Warcraft and I haven't tried 4.0

But do you guys RP on forums and type things or do you do them in person?
I personally like typing because it helps me think about what I want to do more and I can describe things better

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Blood-Dimmed Tides from the old World of Darkness is also pretty awesome, and some of the newer games offer some interesting underwater creatures and options as well, though no actual setting as of yet.

I do like Savage World's simplicity, but for sheer options, Mutants & Masterminds is probably the way to go (and Blue Rose, by the same company, features playable "sea people" and dolphins).

[Drowning]

I like Blue Rose... especially thesea folk, who are mostly bisexual ;-) But I would adapt it for Savage Worlds, as I am not a d20 fan

Blood-Dimmed Tides from the old World of Darkness is also pretty awesome, and some of the newer games offer some interesting underwater creatures and options as well, though no actual setting as of yet.

I do like Savage World's simplicity, but for sheer options, Mutants & Masterminds is probably the way to go (and Blue Rose, by the same company, features playable "sea people" and dolphins).

[Drowning]

I only roleplay in person. I enjoy sitting around the gaming table with friends, doing voices, and looking people in the eye as I roleplay. It can be an intense and intensely fun experience, as player or GM.


[SIZE=1]do you guys RP on forums and type things or do you do them in person?
I personally like typing because it helps me think about what I want to do more and I can describe things better

[Merman Dan]

I personally like typing because it helps me think about what I want to do more and I can describe things better
I ran a play-by-post for years. While you do get a greater level of detail and a more polished product, I found it was more time consuming for the DM, than a chat-based game.


I only roleplay in person. I enjoy sitting around the gaming table with friends, doing voices, and looking people in the eye as I roleplay. It can be an intense and intensely fun experience, as player or GM.
My last face-to-face game was in January of 1995. I tried to get my face to face group together via a play-by-post game I started in AOL's RPG forum, but it was a lost cause. So I started the campaign, "Into the Land of Black Ice", with new players I met in the RPG Forum and TSR's fledgling forum on AOL. As my family grew (I now have seven kids) it simply became more practical to get my gaming fix with play-by-post and chat-based games.

Yes, I miss the interaction and especially the silly voices and accents (yeah, I'm one of THOSE DMs) but it woudl be difficult for me to spend a few hours in the evening away from my family on a regular basis.

[Kanti]

I probably have to be better at it then. I'm practicing and getting better, I guess I'm just used to typing it out~

[Tasha Mermaid]

The only type of RP game i play is WOW (World of Warcraft) i have a bunch of characters from different races......i would LOVE to play a WOW type game but of mermaids where i could design my own mermaid (to resemble me) and travel across the "world" crafting things and fighting things and talking with other etc.....but have never come across one :(

[Kanti]

I dunno if playing an online game is persay RolePlaying is it?
It's more of a videogame. I was referring to more of a like, actually pretending to be your character via tabletop or play-by-post

[Tasha Mermaid]

I dunno if playing an online game is persay RolePlaying is it?
It's more of a videogame. I was referring to more of a like, actually pretending to be your character via tabletop or play-by-post

Oh got you now lol just woke up :P .....well then no, wow wouldn't be the same......but on Facebook me and a friend every now and again like to make up a rp type story (its actually on my chihuahuas Facebook) where we are special ops trying to catch this christmas elf who is a psycho....that can go on for a few hours...always fun lol

[Drowning]

I agree. To be truly Roleplaying, it needs to be done in the flesh, not over a computer. Online may be a good substitute if that's the only way you are able to game, but a lot is lost that way.


I dunno if playing an online game is persay RolePlaying is it?
It's more of a videogame. I was referring to more of a like, actually pretending to be your character via tabletop or play-by-post

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

I tend to feel that hard definitions for generalizations are a bad idea, and tend to result in hurt feelings and exclusion of some actual creativity. The above might better be summed up in points as follows:

1. World of Warcraft and other games of that sort (the only ones I've played recently are City of Heroes and DC Universe Online and Shadowbane, though I have experience with the original Everquest and Istaria) do allow and have places for strict roleplaying, though it is largely personal choice about how much to interact with others even in those settings. Ignoring these people is gamer hauteur.

2. The things that gamers find fun about MMORPGs are generally not actually fun to a lot of people in a more fast-paced, graphics-free setting. Nobody cares about crafting things in real life (showing off items that you've made, or magical objects that come into your hands, sure, but the actual process of crafting is pretty dull/tedious/irritating, even in MMOs), for instance. Similarly, going on a quest to kill five sahuagin and come back with their fins really isn't going to make sense in a larger story.

3. Message Board role playing games can be a lot of fun, allow great creativity, and can fit into anyone's schedule. However, they can also die out much more easily if someone (or several someones) become important to the plot and then stop posting or any length of time (usually permanently). Also, they tend to be very rules-light, which is great for ease of play... but also means that 1. a bunch of people who don't bother learning rules join and therefore are not particularly committed to staying, 2. the game isn't really game-like anymore since there are no rules, and can be un-fun or dissolve into directions uncomfortable or uninteresting to players, 3. there is less diversity and intriguing character concepts and little in the way of character development, because rules provide a framework upon which to grow.

4. Drowning, it is all roleplaying... tabletop pencil-and-paper, skype and other online chat roleplaying scenarios, WoW and other MMORPGs, LARPing, etc. You do not get to define what is roleplaying... you only get to decide what is fun for you. Be more careful about your statements.

[Merman Dan]

I realize that my undersea D&D game is a tad eclectic. I run my games a bit loosey-goosey, role-play heavy and combat light, with an emphasis on story over stats. Admittedly, that style is not for everyone. When you spend days tweaking a character sheet and end up in a game where the PCs occasionally chat with NPCs for hours with nary a die roll in sight, there can be a clash. Plus the fact that most of the NPC protagonists in my games are hags, coupled with the fact that most of the NPC antagonists in my games are hags, added to the fact that most of them are somehow related, can overheat the noggin in a hurry.

With that in mind, I am not opposed to "lurkers", if someone has Sunday nights free and wants to watch an undersea game in action. A note of caution, my players are all adults. Some teeny-boppers might find themselves lost in themes of romance, intrigue, mystery, and suspense with nary a sparkly vampire in sight.

[Kanti]

Sorry if that seemed confrontational, I didnt mean to suggest that WoW wasn't roleplaying I suppose I just think of it less in the sense that I do consider it more of a videogame. When people play WoW I don't really think they're really "role playing" at all because they're just sort of being a character, not really acting out what they'd do, say, etc. When it comes to games I consider "RPG"s to be "a game where you can make your own character" because they usually allow you to make decisions on your own and go your own path.
But I consider ACTUAL RolePlaying to be tabletops or online forums where you are actually acting out your character.

[Mermaid Enhydrina]

I rped for a while on the roleplay forum on figment.com, but that's it.

[Drowning]

I'll be sure to check with you before I have an opinion about RPGs, babe! ;-)


Be more careful about your statements.

[Traveling Merman]

Does guild wars count?