Atlantic Roleplay Community Boards

[Arahim]

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Theres no need to apologize, you spoke your mind. Sometimes people have to be confrontational to get a reaction. You got one, and I think your post and Dealth's were both more useful than most of the posts in this thread. We shouldn't be afraid to ruffle feathers. I think a huge failing in this community is the overbearing need to be vanilla and foster the idea that we're all friends, and everyone writes and rps well.

Icqs and PMs and private conversations knock that idea all to hell. And this is why we don't hang out much as a community.

Its not location, its the people. Its the rp. And I'm more guilty of that than anyone.

We'll go ANYWHERE if the rp is interesting, but saying, "Here is the hub." and then being subjected to lovestruck vampires bearing fangs every two seconds, drunks shedding their clothes, and overbearing orcs stepping on your rp will only attract the same people over and over again. It'll just be another Tavern Night. Your diversity will lack, and your rp will inbreed until it completely peters out.

And I don't have a solution. I seek out a handful of people whom I rp with, and then try to connect them in some way. I have run events, but all too often people don't attend them in the spirit they are offered. They don't rp the event, they rp another tavern night. (see above) Thing is, in spite of all this rah-rah community, its obvious this is what we're all doing.

Want to improve the community? Be more respectful to each other. Rp within context. Be open to criticism, and change when necessary. The second event night is a nice thought, but I fear it will just be Tavern night rp over and over, no matter what theme or event is put forth.

[Pia Longlimbs]

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Thank you Arahim.....

I believe you spoke more succinctly than I.

[Marius]

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Well put Arahim, Very well put.
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No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.
George S. Patton

[Gnarlug Varguk]

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If you don't want to rp with orc's...drunks....or vampires....youre going to be lonely....

And we're talking about Luna fairgrounds...not luna bank.....all the leetspeak and golems aren't at the fairgrounds....maybe judging people by their clothing dyes is what got arpc in this situation....good luck woot SWTOR in 8 days
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Inkari 1:02 AM Where you been man?
?????? 1:03 AM Technical difficulties.....
Inkari 1:05 AM Virus?
?????? 1:05 AM No, that pic you asked ppl to make with the boy and girl in a fantasy setting....i tried...started to look way too much like child porn so I had to light my harddrive on fire.....

[Marius]

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Nah, what got the ARPC in this mess is everyone wants to play in the sandbox, with friends. It's hard to call the ARPC a Community an actual Community. It's more a splintered cell of Communities. This was one reason V|O Pulled out of it. I still rp with people of the ARPC and I am having fun now without all the drama. Everyone has pointed out good things in this thread, but also has shown where the problems lie. Role Playing with those you only want to rp with, shows the cells. PMS, and out of character complaining is the other that destroys role play, and causes feuds. To be a community you must no matter what you feel of the person, at least role play with them if the situation calls for it, Not "get the hell of my lands." The ARPC in my view and many others I've talked with is dying. To save it people must try to interact with each other, and let the feuds go. It's just a game, but when I GMed in the ARPC it felt like I was working a 40 hour a week and over job. I tried to have fun, but all it really was, was a headache. It's a he said-she said oh look what he wrote me in icq drama quest. I really hope you guys can come to terms on a neutral city, and make the city where you can all come to roleplay for fun, not get the hell away from me; this is our spot by the bank. I will help in anyway I can, try to give ideas, and help any of you with this venture, but this post is my opinion, and I didn't post it to start a flame thread. I am being open and honest about it, and attacking it will show what I just said above is right. Great things happen when people talk, even if you don't like hearing what they have to say. Everyone has their right to an opinion, and if everyone would respect each other's in this thread, you might get this going, instead of holding it back. It would be nice to see that happen.
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No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.
George S. Patton

[SunWolf]

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None of this is any of my business but I always kind of felt rp should be rp with and around ultima's history and current path. In the past with anything we decided one or tried to did we always thought about the actual game, are we counter anything or is it open enough that anyone from anywhere can understand what the guild or organization means and what the purpose is in a town. As for a nuetral town for evil and good, would say something like Delucia or Papula, or even the area around Hanse Hostel again (since seems some returning rpers goes there cause it is what they remember) PRetty much it is hard to rp or understand the arpc with anyone who actualy plays or rp's ultima online.

250 A.C. (3,442 S.R.)
 Britain, Trinsic, Yew, Serpent’s Hold, and Skara Brae sign the Treaty of Unification, which forms the cornerstone of the Kingdom of Britannia, recognizing Lord British as the monarch of the Kingdom, and each city-state as a sovereign member.

Year 253
 Magincia signs a mutual defense treaty, the Maritime Alliance, with Ocllo and NuJel’m, staving off any planned invasions from Trinsic.

Year 262
 Jhelom joins the Kingdom.

Year 271
 Moonglow joins the Kingdom.

Year 279
 Magincia joins the Kingdom and alliance as the city of Pride, which they argue to this day is superior over Humility.

Year 280
 The hordes of Akaz, an orc chieftan, ravage southern and central Britannia. They are defeated south of the Fens of the Dead by the Trinsic legions.

 Paws is destroyed by the hordes. Only a few survivors escape, including CrawWorth, the ex-Captain of the Guards in Trinsic. The dikes of Paws collapse, and the swamp swallows the ruins of the town within a few months.

Year 293
 Minoc is granted full city status, and becomes part of the Kingdom.

300 A.C. (3,492 S.R.)
 Present day, beginning of Ultima Online.

[Marcus Draven]

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Going with Lucian and SunWolfs posts...

I would have to agree to some extent. Personally, I have felt our guild has been on the "outside" overall. So we are talking our time with interacting with the community. I just found it very sad really when we try to create a sort of actual RP base for trade only 2 people contacted me OOC and were interested or supportive. One being Sunwolf who isn't even in the ARPC, and Deathager (sorry if I butchered the name). So I would like to thank them for at least showing interest. We are taking our time to set it up and be something worthwhile. I understand if people want to wait to make a decision, but when I made a post about my interest in starting this company the only initial response I got was essentially bad mouthing.

Now I am not saying everyone here or anything. But it has been quite noticeable. There are a few people within the ARPC that have been very open to our guild in one form or another. Either with the vampire side, or in one of our front companies such as the trade group. For those groups or individuals I would like to thank you for going that little bit to at least try and make us feel welcome.

But anyways, our guild is doing great and honestly to my own surprise has got a lot of attention from people outside the usual group within the ARPC. The majority of people in the guild seem to be people recently returning to UO, changing shards, or those who are either new to UO or RP. We have a number of members that were already in the ARPC and that's great too. We seem to be getting more people every week that we can actually take in due to our lore of the process. We are active and growing... I can usually log in and there is always someone in the castle somewhere hiding under a chair... they know what I mean.

My guild is just RPers. We will RP with any group out there really. One thing that shocked me when SunWolf contacted me interested in not only trade but future plot lines between our guilds, was he said it was ok if we couldn't due to our guild being in the ARPC. Is that the image this community has put out? I wont speak for other individuals or guilds, but to me this is really messed up. We will RP with groups outside the ARPC, and to my knowledge this is not to be considered against ARPC rules. How could it?

With Sunwolf, I would have to agree totally that the lore of UO should be recognized. Those towns under the control of the crown should be recognized as such. If groups want to RP within it, that is great! But its hard to swallow that they fully run it. I actually love it when guilds RP as citizens of existing towns (for example Mag.. i know there are more). I think it adds a lot to the overall game because there are actual people RPing in actual existing towns. Separate player run towns I think should be allowed to decide their own path obviously.

Anyways a little off the topic of the thread so Ill add something to it.

Is the community smaller than it use to be? Obviously, this is apparent on every shard that is why so many have come to Atlantic to make it a more centralized RP location across all shards.

Do we need a centralized hub within Atlantic? Possibly, my personal views are sort of different coming from Catskills. It was a lot less every guild get together and RP and more along the lines of most guilds were in groups of alliances which often fought each other for a number of IC reasons. And Catskills was more along the lines of everyone fights everyone with very very few alliances (as in I can only think of one that existed). To me it seems it will become another Tavern night thing. With a few guilds providing the majority of people that show... and no not EVERYONE with the =HD= tag is vamp Many will just be a unsuspecting/unknowing human that works for us without realizing it.

Will the ARPC ever agree to a location? Well, 5 pages and 65 posts later suggest no.

Is there so much drama we cant get along? Who knows, I do not involve myself in it. I am willing to RP with any group out there and our guild is set up so it allows it in one form or another. In the 12 some years or however long its been of playing UO I can count on one hand the number of people that I will simply not interact with ever... and that's across 3 shards. And this is not due to IC interaction or RP. But based off OOC dealings where it is just a lost cause to hope for any sort of civil interaction from them.

From coming to Atlantic until now, from everything I have heard and seen makes me think one thing. That a lot of people are sick of drama and it reminds me of something that happened in Catskills and believe it will likely happen here. Guilds in mass will split off from the ARPC and create a 2nd community. To my knowledge this has already happened and I know of 2 other RP communities out there. Either this will happen or a regime change. People will get sick and tired of the OOC drama and either move guilds or create their own. Its just a simple fact because of one thing... this is a game. People are paying to play and therefore want to have fun when they log in.

Anyways, just my thoughts... *goes back to searching under the chairs in the castle for lost little newborns*

[Grignag]

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I don't think Pia is wrong on a particular part of that rant. Specifically the part about "ego trips, powertrips, whatever", though not in the fashion she perhaps intended. Earlier on (or in another post related to this matter) it was mentioned that a lot of groups are starved for interaction, conflict (possibly leading to PvP)being high on the list. Generally speaking, the community being what it is, this isn't the best idea with the way things are now. There is a mindset that pervades the community as a whole and it is what fractures it into smaller groups that can't interact. And that mentality is simply this: too many would-be "winners" feeling entitled to being eternally victorious.

Far too often the reason why relations break down isn't because someone actually pulled a jerk move, or the other side "cheated" or "hacked" or that a player is sleeping with all the femmies in your guild. It is because people don't want to lose. I can empathize with everyone's desire to be a hero in their own personal story that happenes to involve the rest of us. But when this idea that the game is only fun when YOU are the winner, then all outcomes that aren't that drive you away from interacting with a group that doesn't let you win.

Let me give you an example. It involves my first real roleplay guild. The Stormreaver Orc clan. As some may be aware, the Orcs had set up "tribes" as internal quirks (back when [Orc] had about 30-40 active members). Basically groups of like-minded Orcs that could develop each others RP towards certain aspects and compete with other tribes. For awhile they worked marvelously. We created our own community within the community and could have fun with our own guild when the rest of the ARPC was out of the picture for whatever reason. We had internal plots, competitions and loads of interesting impromptu interaction between tribes. However, things turned sour when certain individuals began to take things too seriously and became obsessed with their own tribe (or their own character) always being the best. They started taking advantages that the guild didn't allow (certain types of items, magic, etc.), ignoring people that proved them wrong and gossiping/backbiting (OOC wise) those that could beat them in a fight. And the more they did it, they more they dragged people into it. By the time the tribes came to an end there were members of Orc that had been friends a few months ago would refuse to speak to each other. The result was that [Orc] hemorrhaged members and had to shut a perfectly good system (tribes) down because people were self-absorbed nitwits.

The Orc tribes are a microcosm of the RP community as a whole. When people are out to simply enjoy their part in the story, add pieces in where they can and simply do their best, it is awesome. But as soon as you let the mentality in that you should usually (if not always) end up on top by the end of the plot you stop being an RPer and you become a twink. Simple as that.

A similar example would be with the Orcs when faced with several opponents. Orc vs MTC, Stormguard or Sanctus. When Orcs lost: MTC was cool with us, Stormguard was cool with us, Sanctus was cool with us. When Orc won: MTC was (usually) cool with us, Stormguard was cool with us, Sanctus, far too often, raged about it. The result was that OOC relations with MTC and Stormguard were usually just fine. They tended to be pretty poor with Sanctus and it showed. A lot of fun could have been had with a group of paladins, but it always devolved into bickering (OOC), KOSing, hurt feelings, peacing and then lack of contact for a couple months. And all because there were some within Sanctus (and yes, Orc too) that didn't like losing. I've seen this happen in Orc, DRW, OES and several other guilds from within their ranks and a lot of guilds from outside their ranks. People dropping out of RP with others because they are unhappy about losing a battle.

My recommendation? Stop expecting to always be on top. Start thinking about big stories that can be retold for years to come and that let others determine how it turns out. The Second Yew War started out as a skirmish between the Stormreavers and the Army of the Frontier. It evolved into a showdown between all the forces of the Light and Darkness and changed the map in more areas than just Yew proper. The Orcs started it, we lost it, but we loved it.
So start an adventure and see where it goes. Don't have an ending already planned where you are the champ. You'll either railroad people (who won't thank you for it) or it'll get derailed by someone who wants to get involved and then a hissy fit will follow. The ARPC is essentially a tangent story with each of us as a writer. If you keep yanking the page away from others because you don't like how their paragraph interupts your awesome piece of prose, the community will end up broken apart. Let everyone write, instruct those who are poor writers how to do better and enjoy what comes out of it.

The end note? Locations are irrelevant. Because the community has shrunk I can see why having central locations is a good idea. It does let people meet up. But people will gladly come to your doorstep if they think a good time is to be had there. If they think only QQ and OOC drama awaits? They won't even go to public places.
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Femmies?! HOWAH!

Can't we all just get along? No? Excellent.

[Marius]

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[Grignag]

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[Inkari Northwind]

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Grignag's post is



URK APPROVED


I think this matter has been discussed enough, lets do something. If we're not doing a central location or a tavern night rotation

Im JUMP STARTING THE ACTION

That means RAIDS folks...Orcish raids are coming and not the friendly kind, so get your gear in order suck up to your alliances because its going down.
SO THAT WAY WE ALL GET TO HUG
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"Life is but an Image, Of what honor truly is"
-Inkari Northwind

AKA Kurbda' PwNub

[Joanna Weaver]

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My wedding was big and public. Lots of non roleplayers were there and at the end, the reception was crashed by Virtuebane. Just sayin.. it happened and it wasn't ten years ago.


Host it and they will come. Nike - just do it.
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"Art and architecture must combine to create something larger than either." ~ Robert Campbell

[Judas D'arc]

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I've been following this thread with some interest, and after reading some of the posts, I thought I'd post some thoughts:

I am an old-time UO player from Catskills, and was heavily involved in the role-playing community there. I've recently to the game after about 8 years away. I chose the Atlantic shard because it seemed the most active, in terms of both role-players and overall population. I met SunWolf at an EM event a few days into my return, and ended up joining the Town of Yew guild because it was a good fit for my character's history and for me as a player. Since then, I've been attending ARPC tavern nights, and I've been having fun with the characters and players I encounter.

I'm in agreement with SunWolf that the "Ultima" in Ultima Online should be emphasized. Ultima does have a very interesting fiction, and while it hasn't always been utilized well by the developers, it's definitely present to be used as a background. Of course, one of the great things about UO is that we're able to create our own fiction, but I think for a community to exist, there should be some standards of fictional consistency. Not only between members of the community, but with the overall game itself.

For example, I strongly question ARPC's land claim system. I don't mean to insult the people who put time and effort into it, but I think it's actually detrimental for a number of reasons. First of all, some of these claims are fictionally inconsistent with the fiction of the game we claim in. Guild X can claim to be the Kings of Minoc, but it's a statement that's clearly contradicted by the game fiction, and is potentially contradicted by the next UO storyline that indicates Minoc as part of Britannia. I realize consistency with UO's fiction might not be important to some, but I think it's off-putting to potential new role-players. Let's say I wanted to create a Tinker from Minoc, who follows the Virtue of Sacrifice. Yet according to the RP community's accepted fiction, the Kings of Minoc are a separatist kingdom who worship monkey demons. How does my Tinker possibly fit in with these monkey demon worshiping Kings of Minoc? The fact is, he doesn't and can't. But if the Kings of Minoc are part of the ARPC, then by default, all of the APRC guilds recognize him as so. Which means my Tinker might be fictionally consistent with UO itself, but not with ARPC.

Second, there simply aren't enough players or guilds to support the ARPC land claim map. It's not a realistic representation of what's actually in game, and a guild with only a few active players and a handful of part-time players simply shouldn't make that large of a claim. And again, this can be off-putting for a new player.

Third, with a shrinking community, a system that separates everyone over four land masses isn't sustainable. There have been a lot of great ideas put forth about consolidating people into one area, and I think the land claim system goes against that. Why is the leader of a guild that claims 3 parcels of another facet hanging out at the Skara Brae tavern every night? I'm not saying they shouldn't be welcome, but if a guild concept is separated from the land claim system, it will probably make more sense.

Fourth, we are all role-players, and I think that we're all creative enough to come up with conflict that's more than just land claim based. To that end, I think it's a handicap.

Fifth, I question the player-based need for land claims. UO allows for us to buy up property and create our own little fictional kingdoms. And if you are able to do that, and create your own kingdom, then more power to you. However, a UO/NPC city should not be an acceptable substitute as your own personal kingdom if it conflicts with the game's fiction and mechanic. Also, and I don't want to stifle anyone's creativity, but sometimes it seems like everyone wants to be a King, and no one wants to be an average guy. Or in other words, if everyone's special, nobody really is. A land claim system encourages people to create guild concepts that are inclined towards land seizure and in-character power grabs. If you want to create a guild for the ARPC, it seems like you need to think in terms of your territory. It leads to a world where the normal Britannian is very much in the minority. Obviously the game mechanics regarding skills are what they are, and after playing for years, you're going to be a Legendary such and such, but it'd be nice to have some more down to Earth characters around. I have no problem with people wanting to play non-humans or royalty or what not, but I think interesting interaction can be created from the bottom up as much as from the top down, and sometimes people forget that.

I don't know how much weight my input carries here, because I'm not a member of an ARPC group. I think I'm the type of new blood this community would want to attract, I stay in-character 100% of the time and usually try to play along with whatever comes my way. In his post, Marcus Draven raised the issue of ARPC's image concerning how in-depth they can interact with non-ARPC guilds. And to be honest, I was under the impression that there might be some limits. I've really enjoyed my time back in UO, and I've even been trying to convince some of my fellow ex-UO players from Catskills to come over as well. But when I'm asked about the role-playing community on Atlantic, I have a lot of difficultly summarizing things for them.

[Bryelle Vaughn]

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To begin with, The land claim system does need tweaks. But it doesn't need to be totally removed. The issue with removing it is that you have a lot of crappy people in the ARPC along with the good ones who have no issue with tromping all over rp. Case in point: Someone claims a town and then goes out of their way to actually improve it (Ie: a stable, a tavern, a healing center, etc... all rp'd and player owned) and then you have some guild.. and I can name names here but I won't say... "Oh well the people love me and not them." What they are doing is stepping on rp because that second person hasn't done crap for the land they say they are loved by. The catch to this is if you have someone who claims land and is effectively that second person. In that instance I though a challenge should be made and your point proven that they haven't done squat for that piece of soil. And at one time there was a rule that if you had only so many guild members you could claim just your home base and one other section of land. Ideally the land expands with the guild.

Secondly, Ultima is just that.. its a backdrop. And Grignag is right. We are not going to adhere completely to it just because that's how the developers demanded we do it. Do we use it, Yes. Do we make it our bible, no. Nor should we. If we, as roleplayers, can't be creative enough to take what we had and expand majorly on it, then you might as well take this off as an MMO and make it one of your little stupid shooter games that have a concise endpoint. After all the whole point of being an MMO is to allow us to craft our vision and see it through while mixing with other people.

Third, there are a LOT of us who play down to earth characters.. Soren was a blacksmith, Tati is a tailor (among other things), Meegs a fisher, Arahim a fallen Paladin, Ceza a theatre owner, Lexi a treasure hunter. Not all of us portray kings... queens or leaders of towns. And the ones that eventually elevated.. did NOT start out as leaders of towns.
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Ariana Lenoir[3:53 pm] She has all the subtlety of a rampaging elephant.

[Marcus Draven]

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