NationStates Jolt Archive

First off, I'll let you know that I grew up with my own definition of the word "roleplay". I have been playing pen & paper RPGs for about 10 years and never refer to computer or video games as RPGs (I use the term "action adventure" for Baldur's Gate and FF).
The variant of freeform roleplaying practised here is not a unique phenomenon. In the occasional epic campaign, it is not uncommon for a player in a pen & paper RPG to take the role of an entire nation for a while. This, however, takes a great amount of experience and roleplaying skill.
By skill, I mean only the ability to relate to the environment in a believable manner and to narrate interesting and surprising events which fit into the overall setting.
Some frequent posters here seem to have a different idea of roleplaying "skill".
After a few posts screaming godmoder a good RPer will come in and totally smash the n00b with only a quarter of the n00bs troops and equipment.
The above is not an example of RP skill as it is traditionally known. We're only dealing with a variant of freeform strategy gaming here. In "real" RPGs, many times a good RPer will willfully lose a fight to demonstrate an in-game weakness.

So, illuminate me, what does RP skill actually mean in NationStates?

NS RPing is different as the rules are essentially free-form with none of the binding rulebooks like D&D or limitations of action adventures. While rules exist, they are more "general" and the scope of NS RPing can be confusing.

That wasn't really my point. Pen & paper RPGs have a lot of freeform, diceless action as well. At least most of the sessions I play in are resolved with very little mechanics.

I'll put my question in different words:
Does a good NS RPer gain more in-game victories?
Or is good RPing the same thing in NS as it is in D&D, for example?

There are no winners or losers in pen & paper RPGs, so a good player is only defined by his ability as an actor. It makes not an ounce of difference whether he actually manages to complete a mission or not.

NS RPing is different as the rules are essentially free-form with none of the binding rulebooks like D&D or limitations of action adventures. While rules exist, they are more "general" and the scope of NS RPing can be confusing.

Without intending any offence, in my opinion, you are missing the point of the original post.

If my understanding of what was being suggested is correct, then Lagrange_4 was positing that RP *skills* are independant of RP *rules* and the presence, or abscence, of any defined rules in a game should have no bearing upon how the players play out their roles ... and thus the proposition that the example given was one of poor RPing skills is an insightful comment and an accurate observation

I too feel that the story is paramount [1] and that *good* RPers will seek to maximise the validity of the immersive state of belief in the world, characters and described in the concensus reality created by themselves and their fellow players ... even at the apparent expense of their own advancement within the confines of the dramaturgical game being played

We are telling stories, fables, tales of adventure, derring do, tragedy and triumph ... mythic in their proportion on occasion, but the mundane also has it's place ... the tales of the little people, of failures and loss are as important as those of victory and success ... without them, the stories lose their impact as they become an arms-race to create en ever-spiralling feel-good factor

Like a DJ, I feel it is our responsibility as creators of the experience to consider the needs of the vibe we are creating ... to vary the mood and pace, to maintain interest ... not simply grandstand our technical wizardry and collection of this weeks greatest hits, at the expense of the audince

Just my opinion


[1] all the more so in a freeform environment, where there are few, or no, rules to determine the outcome of any given sequence of actions or events