Smuggler Archive

My former SW GM (d6 tabletop type rpg) and I were talking on the phone this morning about the fabled smuggler revamp, and JtLS. We're rp'ers from way back, and he's easily the best gamemaster I've ever gamed with. It's safe to say that he really loves the universe, and works well within it.
I've master half the classes in the game, and even though smuggler is (imo) has the _least_ fidelity to its profession's 'vision', it's the most fun to play.
His contention is that it's the most fun to RP because it's the closest to something actually in the movies, a thing we have some concrete examples of, and a real genre-maker. I'm beginning to agree with him.
I can't slice reliably.
I can't fly a ship.
Nobody wants the 'illegal' goods I produce, because pie is better than drugs.
I smuggle nothing.
I enjoy the atmosphere of the seedy, criminal element. I like RP'ing the whole noble-thief kind of mystique. Am I crazy? Am I alone in this venture?

I have set up some emote for when I take drugs now, and /aliased the mood in and everything. It seems wierd to take drugs for no reason, and the vomitfest later on isn't all that accurate of recreational drug use, but it's still amusing.

An RP-only server would be interesting. I can't stay in character all the time, but it might have merit. Imagine: fights without 'no db k?' chats, weapons without stats posted in the name, houses without 'doc buffbot inside', people without 'spazmonkey junklover' as their names, guild tags without 'BALLZ' somewhere in them, players that spoke their native tongue, nobody afk spamming...
oh God, it brings a tear to my eye. Unfortunately, there are 2 limiting factors (that I see)
1) There's probably 3 servers worth of people willing to try out an RP-Server, maybe 10. Sure, lots would taper off, but I can see an unusual number of folks running a low-level character there _just_ for RP episodes.
2) Management. SOE doesn't have the CSR's to answer even simple help-tickets within 24 hours. They certainly aren't going to have enough folks there to police the morons and children that refuse to do RP on an RP server. I'd love some sort of peer-review or RP-skill ranking system, but it's too easily abusable, and our Dev's can't or won't code anything non-jtls for the next year.

We can dream though, I guess.

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Lixosskzzo wrote:

(aside from the smuggler revamp, which I'd REALLY like to see, but I've classified it in my mind along with the yeti)

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hee hee.

I've been trying to get into RPing on my server, but since this is the first time I've ever really done it with an MMORPG, it's proving slightly difficult. Made all the more difficult because RPers are such a minority.

Nice idea, sounds sharp. I like the theory behind an invitation only kind of server, hadn't thought about 'pre-screening' the players. If you put a mandatoy 5-day wait, I'm betting you'd lose a bunch of hotheads by attention span defecit only.
Peer policing could work, if it was moderated by CSRs. Otherwise, you end up with popularity contests and exploitable rank structure.

God, can you imagine an RP server where Jedi actually acted like Jedi?
*shudder*

No...but I can imagine a town. Lol. I'm setting one up on Kettemoor, that's harbouring (hear that? Harbouring. That means they're hiding) a Rebel cell...and we're trying to rope in a Jedi friend to help. One of the few Jedi RPers it seems (appologies if I offend any others who I don't know about). I've also got a few little unguilded mini-groups around the place that I'm trying to set up, (on Chilastra and Wanderhome) where Rebels will actually ROLEPLAY being the under-dogs in the war. Galaxies as a real MMORPG? Scary, huh?

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FrankLee wrote:
2) Management. SOE doesn't have the CSR's to answer even simple help-tickets within 24 hours. They certainly aren't going to have enough folks there to police the morons and children that refuse to do RP on an RP server. I'd love some sort of peer-review or RP-skill ranking system, but it's too easily abusable, and our Dev's can't or won't code anything non-jtls for the next year.

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Better idea than peer review. To police it, we have an elected "Militia" or something, that gets selected by the RPers...with enough votes, they get the ability to "sign up". They're the characters who voulenteer for their local security force. There'd be some on all planets...perhaps one per player city, and a few in the npc cities. They get voted for. If you see someone you think should be a Militia man, you /vote for them. If you don't like them (either for their skills, or just because you don't like them), you can't do anything. If someone isn't roleplaying, you /tell one of the on-line militia men. They can help out new RPers, filter through some of the complaints, talk to the people involved (to try and explain what's wrong with their character/attitude), and then report to the CSRs with the serious cases. Also, perhaps the RP server could be by request/invitation only? You'd have to come on the forums, and submit a character description or something, that shows the RP community how good you are. Its the sort of thing a proper RPer could handle, but most wouldn't bother with, because of the effort.

To extend the "Roleplaying server, run by the Roleplayers", some of the senior militia people could get elected into a planetary tribunal, or perhaps a galactic one. They could oversee the running of the militia (they'd have CSR representatives), but also could control things like the founding of cities. If someone wants to set up a city, they have to collect a list of the names of her new citizens (the ones that will make her qualify for Outpost, or whatever), submit a location, and then let the tribunal decide if its too close to another city (they'd discuss with that mayor to see if they minded), if the name was too silly...that sort of thing.

Intermingled would be a few CSRs...not many. They'd just need to log on, and look through a nice straight-forward list that the Militia provided. A lot of work for some players, I know. But, it would solve a number of problems. It'd have to be voulentary, true. But, it would ease the work for the CSRs. It would mean that you ensure there are some characters who aren't "just there for kicks" - it'd be a sizable commitment. These Militia would be able to, between them, organise all sorts of roleplay things, like guild vs guild fighting in an RP form, faction battles that actually seem like battles (where you have to fight using tactics, sending the right members of your "team" up against theirs), smuggling runs, etc.

On top of that, you could add in the possibility of people having "jobs" with regards to roleplay. You could have people who actually were local security enforcement...like city militia, but on a planetary scale. Stormtroopers could actually do proper Stormtrooper jobs. You could have people picking professions not because they're the most powerful, but because they fit. I have a Rifleman/Ranger...not the most potent combo, but his history says he used to be a Ranger in the planetary militia he was in, so I made him like that (thats what you get for recycling characters you created for fan fic...:/). You may well find tailors who are just tailors and merchants...not pistoleers on top. You could get proper trade going on, and all sorts. It'd be cool.

A lot of work, and it'd never happen...but I can imagine...