I was reading some of the older posts on character/character, and character/GM roleplaying, and as I recall and have mentioned this, perhaps no as succinctly or precisely as before. At least I hope I can be more clear and concise with all due respect, and hope to be heard... The overall problems facing the richness or RPing has do to not only with how one does it, but in how one is perceived and or rewarded in doing so... currently, as it has been all along the system only allows for a reward when a GM is present and observes. And then it is a heightened sense that only pays off wen you return to the mundane of hunting/gathering, perhaps to use the word mundane is a bit strong....as the mnemonics of the game center around that activity most. Of course their is the post that spoke of how hard or difficult it is to RP to richly in public... specially if you attempt to tie your RPing into existing story lines that make up Elanthia as a whole. Even the GM's that said they encourage this, balk at that, and of course there are parameters that must remain in tact, or else every one might be inclined to RP themselves into royalty in the lands. Even this, if done with integral respect for the story line should not be discouraged but rather encouraged, and there are so many others that would RP themselves into a story line in a variety of lesser roles but still in the integrity of the story line if it was something that was not only richly encouraged, but actually richly rewarded........oh there is my point after all!

Now that being said and exposed, how does a GM do such? Well they have a plethora of means to actually do so, as they use many of them all the time i.e... games, contests, votes, etc... As well as the good old way of awarding RPing. Instead of just a heightened sense for when you hunt, how about actual exp points for the reward? Instead of just the GM's, use the whole of Elanthian population? Submit and vote on excerpts of RPing that are turned in as contests, voted on not only by GM's but by character players as well....this would stir more interest in what GS was really about, and had been promised so long ago.

Just saying, as always... talk means nothing unless actions support it... and really until actions are rewarded the RPing will remain isolated and only for a select few diehards..... of course maybe that isn't what GS is really about, then what I have said is merely fodder for the rest of heap...

Certainly I am not opposed to rewarding people for roleplaying, but I tend to agree that in some sense it can become a popularity contest. There is already the RP nominate verb for plays to "vote" for other players. Also, there are some different types of RPAs. Most of them come with a nominal amount of direct experience, too (and some are only direct experience). So without intending to be overly harsh, it's not clear that the OP demonstrates a sufficient understanding of the present system to fairly critique it (or things were omitted by accident or under the assumption that all readers will already know the additional things I've pointed out here). Anyway, I totally agree that the reward of an experience multiplier kind of encourages people to go power hunt after they finished roleplaying...which is sort of opposite to what one ought to do.

If there's one thing I'd like to see changed, though, it's the back-end mechanism that prevents an RPA from being applied to characters who are not logged in. I've directly missed two RPAs this year literally because I was quite involved with happenings, but had to attend to some things in real life and was logged out basically after all the RP was finished but before the RPA got applied. One "practical solution" for many people is they go sit AFK at a table in case an RPA is handed out. Naturally, I realize there is a reason this mechanism exists, but people already know the system and work around it by doing what can only be considered the exact opposite of behavior we should reward.

>and really until actions are rewarded the RPing will remain isolated and only for a select few diehards.....

I dunno, it's a roleplaying game. If a given person doesn't want to roleplay without being rewarded and wants to power hunt, I'm not really sure we should think to reward them for the off-chance that they do. To the extent that it already happens, intermittent positive reinforcement is exactly the way to go about it, because it's scientifically demonstrated that by this reward mechanism, the behavior is encouraged even when there is no reward, which means it's an effective way to introduce people to regular roleplaying behavior. If we turn it more into a direct reward for each time a person roleplays, then the players with initially little interest or experience that are attracted would literally begin to only roleplay for a reward and not without a reward. This is just basic psychology and we shouldn't move from a proven effective system to a known ineffective one that fosters an environment that doesn't properly encourage the behavior we are seeking to foster in the first place.

Despite my statements where I disagree, there's no doubt about it that getting more people roleplaying, or giving more suitable rewards, is a positive direction for the game, and I'd be surprised if anyone involved with this game will say otherwise.

As a very simple and isolated example, it isn't uncommon that players get RPAs for attending uncommon rune teaching events hosted by Lord Vathon (GM-Q). I joked privately OOG after the last one that instead of an experience RPA, for anyone not mastered in Illusions should have been awarded +1 illusions ranks instead of an experience modifier. I can't say anything from the backend difficulties that might be involved in effectuating that award, but it's absolutely more relevant in that instance I believe. More "customized" awards like this (for instance, the feature alterations people got in Cross Into Shadows if they had a vision) are entirely the way I'd like to see things move. A feature alteration is a roleplaying reward for roleplaying, which to my mind is perfect.

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>An officer of the Sorcerer Guild arrives and glances around. "Ah, there you are, Vathon!" he says in a slightly agitated tone. "I have come to formally declare that your membership privileges have been revoked."

>>Instead of just a heightened sense for when you hunt, how about actual exp points for the reward?

RPAs do give immediate experience and fame, regardless of any accompanying "boost" while gaining more experience.

~GM Liia
Team 3P, Paid Events Guru