[Narcissistic-Ego]

Here is what it says in the newsletter about what they will be doing about the RP servers......

Q. Do you plan to add moderators/GMs on RP servers to help enforce the RP rules? If you feel strongly about this and want to help out making – among many other things – the RP servers "pure" you can apply for the "Followers of Asura" here ... This is a great way to come behind the scenes of a MMO company, and we know that a lot of people really enjoy being part of this program. I also want to add that we shall never "police" people trying to roleplay by saying "you don’t play well enough". It is the unwanted shouting to global channels in l33t speak that would be examples of something we could talk to people about. It is very important to me that people do not arrive in a closed society when logging into a RP server with secret rules which you might get kicked out if you don’t follow. The definition of RP is very flexible. Still, while we do not plan to police it, RP’ing is something we do take seriously, so we naturally plan to continue working on features which can be of interest to the RP community as well.



Sounds nothing like the "strick ruleset they promised..

My wife and I are wondering if it is worth playing much longer when we are interested in a RP server and hate seeing all the lame names out there like laserblaster, glock, piksnopkme ect......

The guildnames are no better.... if they are not going to "police" these things than I would have to say the RP community will be very unhappy. I for one am not going to stay where I am not wanted... if they dont enforce RP server rulesets than they are howing us that RPers are not wanted.

[Janice]

I don't see anything in there that says they will not enforce the naming rules.
All I see is they'll not police RP into "good" and "bad" RP, which is good actually. I've seen it often enough what is terrible RP to some is just perfectly fine and fun for others, and both are legitimate ways to RP.

[RikiWataru]

No real point in having rules without enforcement.

There doesn't seem to be any. Naming violations are the easiest thing to police on an RP server and they don't even bother with those it seems.

[Bretholomew]

This has been hashed out on the Wicanna forums. All they are offering (albeit without proof of deed... yet) is:

• Volunteer support to curb leet-speak.
• Naming policy.
• RP-fostering elements in the game (which they have actually added more).

Why must we insist on more? The only thing left is to police what is RP and what isn't RP. That's not something they can really decide, and believe you me that you don't want someone else telling you how to RP.

Their policy in-game (whenever there's an update) also states that just because they haven't enforced a policy doesn't mean they won't. If you don't have faith in this and desperately need it, there's the door.

Why does the quoted statement upset people so? What exactly are they reading into it? It's actually stating that, instead of telling you how to RP, they're going to try to curb leet-speak, which is more than what we've had from them so far. All they need is the staff to support it (which they've also stated).

Stirring the anthill with a positive comment makes no sense to me.

[Darcon]

Originally Posted by Bretholomew This has been hashed out on the Wicanna forums. All they are offering (albeit without proof of deed... yet) is: Volunteer support to curb leet-speak. Naming policy. RP-fostering elements in the game (which they have actually added more). Why must we insist on more? The only thing left is to police what is RP and what isn't RP. That's not something they can really decide, and believe you me that you don't want someone else telling you how to RP. Their policy in-game (whenever there's an update) also states that just because they haven't enforced a policy doesn't mean they won't. If you don't have faith in this and desperately need it, there's the door. Why does the quoted statement upset people so? What exactly are they reading into it? It's actually stating that, instead of telling you how to RP, they're going to try to curb leet-speak, which is more than what we've had from them so far. All they need is the staff to support it (which they've also stated). Stirring the anthill with a positive comment makes no sense to me.

The part that bothers me is "volunteer support to curb leet-speak". Volunteer? WTF. All I care about on RP servers are name enforcement and chat channel enforcement. From what I've heard from people of the RP servers is that Funcom is doing neither currently. Exactly what powers do volunteers have to stop kiddies from spamming regional channels with gibberish?

[Bretholomew]

Originally Posted by Darcon The part that bothers me is "volunteer support to curb leet-speak". Volunteer? WTF. All I care about on RP servers are name enforcement and chat channel enforcement. From what I've heard from people of the RP servers is that Funcom is doing neither currently. Exactly what powers do volunteers have to stop kiddies from spamming regional channels with gibberish?

Don't know yet. If you wish to assume they can't do anything, then that's your choice. It makes no sense to give support no power whatsoever even if all the volunteer support gets is merely the ability to escalate an issue with higher support. Such an ability with volunteer support would be a lot better than nothing. No?

Funcom doesn't have the staff for this kind of support. They're admitting it. They're also saying they're trying to rectify the situation.

If the volunteer support for curbing leet-speak is all that's bothering people, then they've made an assumption for the worst and there's no helping that.

[Valfrekr]

Here's the problem I see: No matter what MMO you go to, the rp server rules are not enforced. In WoW I was on the Silver Hand rp server which had a lot rp, but there were alot of folks who didn't rp; and worse were grievers. I thought AoC would change things around, but they currently have alot of issues on their plate to take care of. I would suggest that if people are on the rp pvp servers, and dont roleplay, and worse grieve, and gank the rpers; they should be taken off the server and placed on a proper pvp server. WoW does that when a server is over populated, AoC can do that to regulated the rp servers.

[Darcon]

Originally Posted by Bretholomew Don't know yet. If you wish to assume they can't do anything, then that's your choice. It makes no sense to give support no power whatsoever even if all the volunteer support gets is merely the ability to escalate an issue with higher support. Such an ability with volunteer support would be a lot better than nothing. No?

How's the volunteer thing working out for GM assists? LOL. Why does a volunteer need to be the one to elevate a complaint about a name or chat channel spamming? Any game where devs have a clue gives players the ability to report these things on their own.

Originally Posted by Bretholomew Funcom doesn't have the staff for this kind of support. They're admitting it. They're also saying they're trying to rectify the situation.

More failure on Funcom's part. "Sorry, we didn't think anyone would actually expect us to provide the robust RP experience we promised". What, they forgot they had RP servers? Having RP servers then not having any enforcement just turns off customers.

Originally Posted by Bretholomew If the volunteer support for curbing leet-speak is all that's bothering people, then they've made an assumption for the worst and there's no helping that.

What has Funcom said/done that you wouldn't assume the worst about their service?

[Bretholomew]

Originally Posted by Darcon What has Funcom said/done that you wouldn't assume the worst about their service?

The fact they admit it and say they're trying to fix it? The fact they have added RP elements and said they're going to add more?

Dunno. As I said, your choice to be pessimistic. It'll really affect your game, though.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Darcon How's the volunteer thing working out for GM assists? LOL. Why does a volunteer need to be the one to elevate a complaint about a name or chat channel spamming? Any game where devs have a clue gives players the ability to report these things on their own.

They can filter out unnecessary complains already, or talk to the offender, it's not always on purpose or to grief that people don't follow some rules, sometimes its they simply don't know or it was a misunderstanding of some sorts, then simply talking helps, no real need for a GM there.

I think its a step in the right direction, but sure if you just looking for a reason to say "this game/funcom sucks" go ahead and don't let the door hit you on the way out