RPR and Taboo

[Penwize]

Role Play Rating is a subject that is regarded with a lot of mistrust and fear and I'd like to offer a tiny essay to suggest something to soothe those feelings. What follows is a summary of what it is and what it's for, then a positive opinion that might mean something to a few people.

RPR is a ranking system "that measures your demonstration of good Role Play and gamemanship, perceived by the DMs." Go figure! Starting at ten and generally going upwards, it's a reward system. The higher your rank, the more experience your characters gain during server ticks. Purely positive, there's no downside to gaining a rank. "Responsibility" isn't a downside, silly.

Obviously with ranks comes promotion. What exactly is being promoted by RPR? Well other than players, server health. A player's Role Play Rating reflects their willingness to do good for the Arelith environment, players, and server in general. It's as simple as that. Players with higher RPR can be relied upon to bring positive experiences to the server. Purely positive, there's no downside that Arelith need fear from having someone gain rank.

RPR is a reward system that encourages behavior that positively affects the community and server. Focused on roleplay and gamesmanship, its overall objective is to fuel a cycle of good experiences and player wellness. End summary!

For something that's all about wellness and positivism there is a lot of uncertainty and unhappiness to be found when a conversation turns to RPR. Concerns of worth, of need, of attitude, of motive, of reputation. I think that we ought to examine any such concerns and be able to discard them for the benefit of this cool world.

Don't be afraid to earn a promotion. Be happy for others who want one too. Dismiss the idea that nobody "needs" RPR - Arelith needs players with RPR. If a player says they want RPR because of the experience boost or because they want to keep up with another successful player, they're on the right track and ought to be cheered on. That's what ranks and rewards are for: to offer even more motivation to do good.

Get that RPR! Help others get it! Maybe don't shove it down peoples' throats, but never forget that we're all here to enjoy this world and playing our part in making it better is something to be proud of.

Not saying that we need to stick RPR on our forum status or signatures, not saying everyone deserves a promotion. Just hoping to remind people that official systems in place built to do good ought to be enjoyed thoroughly instead of feared. Play on!

[xanrael]

When you use the term "promotion" my mind immediately goes to work at a company. Perhaps you didn't mean it in that way as you spoke about promoting the betterment of server but I think people have viewed it in the same terms as getting a promotion/raise/bonus at work and that can be an issue.

Barring certain exceptions, people work in part to get paid. Things like promotions, benefits, and raises directly affect your way of life outside of work. Put in effort at work, receive money.

Arelith is a game to play for entertainment. Getting RPR has no bearing outside of the game and has minimal impact within it.

There is a fine line between "striving for a RPR increase" and "basing your fun on getting a RPR increase". Much of the dissatisfaction comes from people going for the former and accidentally falling into the latter.

A DM/Admin doesn't have the same responsibilities to a player as a company does to its employees either.

I'm not saying that players shouldn't strive to better themselves and the play experience of others, we should. I think RPR should be viewed as an unexpected reward as opposed to expected payment though.

[Tarkus the dog]

Controversial but yet somehow popular opinion: RPR is neglected and flawed. In fact, it is so flawed that some 40 RPR player want it out of the game. You should talk to them if you are curious about specifics. That said I think your post is incredibly charming if it is indeed genuine.

[Ork]

Controversial but yet somehow popular opinion: RPR is neglected and flawed

Agreed. Let's remove it. I do like the change of wording you share, however, Penwize. It would be good to know who can be helpful in game to questions that you might encounter. The -ECL & more XP per tick is nice, but the higher RPRs don't need an incentive to keep playing the game. Chances are, they're already hooked and know the ins & outs of the server.

Our new players need to receive more incentives and feel less excluded by the thought of RPR, or that their roleplay is being judged constantly by the invisibile DMs. Once you've interacted with a fair share of DMs, you realize they're just like anyone else. But, I do recall when I first started the pressure of being "observed" by a DM as if a police car was riding my Snuggybear.

[TimeAdept]

Ignore RPR. We all hit 30. RPR does nothing at 30. RPR stands for Rolling Player Reward. It is for people who make alt after alt after alt, to ease their grinding.

RPR does little but breed jealousy and bitterness in the have-nots, and paranoia and worry in the haves who fear it being taken from them.

[CptJonas]

Btw...one more interseting bad side to RPR....
I just started to play with my GF, created new PC, and start doing writs, going on adventures, etc, etc...
I noticed I am basicly all time atleast 1 lvl ahead of her, bcs of RPR time ticks

[MissEvelyn]

Ignore RPR. We all hit 30. RPR does nothing at 30. RPR stands for Rolling Player Reward. It is for people who make alt after alt after alt, to ease their grinding.

RPR does little but breed jealousy and bitterness in the have-nots, and paranoia and worry in the haves who fear it being taken from them.

As pessimistic as this sounds, it's sadly true.
I'd like it if RPR at least garnered some collaborative gain, for example lowered everyone's ECL in a party if you're partied up with a higher RPR. Or better chances for loot. Or something that wasn't only directly tied to experience points, because once you hit RPR 40, in theory, you have no reason to not go it solo.

That's obviously hypothetical and all, but I can absolutely see the thought process behind what you're saying, TimeAdept.

EDIT: To add to what everyone is saying about not worrying about it. Yes. Don't worry about it. None of us came to Arelith because we heard of an RPR system. We came and stayed because of the amazing roleplay experiences.

[lakhena]

Thanks for making us peons who haven't ever hit lvl 30 feel weird.

Moving on to constructive feedback, I do like seeing the delayed adventure bonus that comes with the higher RPR. It allows me to role-play longer without having to go adventure and reminds me when I do need to get out of town when the adventure xp is nearing 0.

But aside from that, I generally like hanging out with higher RPR folks, as they help me up my RP game.

The only issue I find is when playing with higher RPR folks is that they very quickly outpace me in levels so we sometimes can't do the same writs together at the lower levels, even though our PCs have started at the same time. I would love to see a way to turn off the RPR xp gain or keep it banked for post-epic levels, when the xp/level divide isn't so glaringly obvious.

[TimeAdept]

Ignore RPR. We all hit 30. RPR does nothing at 30. RPR stands for Rolling Player Reward. It is for people who make alt after alt after alt, to ease their grinding.

RPR does little but breed jealousy and bitterness in the have-nots, and paranoia and worry in the haves who fear it being taken from them.

As pessimistic as this sounds, it's sadly true.
I'd like it if RPR at least garnered some collaborative gain, for example lowered everyone's ECL in a party if you're partied up with a higher RPR. Or better chances for loot. Or something that wasn't only directly tied to experience points, because once you hit RPR 40, in theory, you have no reason to not go it solo.

That's obviously hypothetical and all, but I can absolutely see the thought process behind what you're saying, TimeAdept.

I don't say it to be pessimistic, I say it to be liberating. Enrich the world and the server. Make everyone's, and yours, experience better through the actions you do on the server. Have fun and help other people have fun. Who cares about the number, ignore it. Go forth and grind, have a good time, do RP, do plots, foil plots, win and lose.

Forget it exists. Don't look at kudos topics and get jealous. Don't worry about numbers going up and down. Just keep focusing on the experience you have and you create, as best as you can.

[Ebonstar]

Ignore RPR. We all hit 30. RPR does nothing at 30. RPR stands for Rolling Player Reward. It is for people who make alt after alt after alt, to ease their grinding.

RPR does little but breed jealousy and bitterness in the have-nots, and paranoia and worry in the haves who fear it being taken from them.

no we dont all hit 30 got 20 my first week here and not a change since in years

[CosmicOrderV]

In a perfect scenario, with DM's everywhere seeing everything, like at a tabletop, I think RPR would be awesome. Unfortunately that doesn't happen. Not only that, but DM's make mistakes; they're only human after all. Throw in a gradually adapting environment where accepted norms and rules periodically change, often times in the past, changing without even being explicitly listed. Then it all does is foster a confusion, which in turn begets frustration, and sometimes bitterness, towards a system that is meant to reward players for being 'good' roleplayers. I've seen plenty of folks go unrewarded. RPR could do with a face-lift.

[strong yeet]

Enrich the world and the server. Make everyone's, and yours, experience better through the actions you do on the server. Have fun and help other people have fun. Who cares about the number, ignore it. Go forth and grind, have a good time, do RP, do plots, foil plots, win and lose.

Forget it exists. Don't look at kudos topics and get jealous. Don't worry about numbers going up and down. Just keep focusing on the experience you have and you create, as best as you can.

This 1000%. RPR is a meme. Stop caring about it. Play the game and enjoy it for what it is -- not some meaningless cookie given to you.

no we dont all hit 30 got 20 my first week here and not a change since in years

he is talking about mechanical character levels, dude...

[Crookedblossom]

Yes, you are being watched. Yes, you are being judged constantly by both the DM’s and your peers. It’s true, the DM’s are players and they’re just like anyone else, but they are there to ensure and enforce the quality of role-play on this server.

RPR is just a bonus given to someone who at the least has shown aptitude at remaining in-character while playing, and at the most, fosters a healthy RP environment both IC and OOC while also working to really change the face of Arelith. The latter often takes more time and dedication, but can still be achieved even with minimal play-time.

Your RPR may not make it beyond 10 or 20 in weeks, months or years, depending on how active you make yourself in the community. Regarding time put in, quality surpasses quantity.

That being said, it literally is nothing more than a gold star for getting an A+. If you get your paper handed back to you and you don’t see that A+, don’t hate on the kid next to you who got one. Accept what you have first, then analyze what you can do to build something better off that.

Honestly, it makes me a little sad to see negativity revolving around this topic. This is your community, guys. If someone gets a pat on the back, be happy for them. Because by proxy, you will benefit in your experience of this game when quality role-play is fostered and encouraged.

I know it's really easy to get the feeling that the effort you're putting in just isn't enough, or that it may never be enough. It can be easy to forget that you're playing in a world where you're not the main character. You're an NPC in someone else's story, everyone is.

I’m sorry if that all sounds a little harsh, but when you start turning this into “us and them,” you’re not looking through the lens of community anymore. And that will bleed over into the care you put in your role-play.

Ask not what your community can do for you, ask what you can do for your community.

Enrich the world and the server. Make everyone's, and yours, experience better through the actions you do on the server. Have fun and help other people have fun. Who cares about the number, ignore it. Go forth and grind, have a good time, do RP, do plots, foil plots, win and lose.

Forget it exists. Don't look at kudos topics and get jealous. Don't worry about numbers going up and down. Just keep focusing on the experience you have and you create, as best as you can.

Also, this. 100 times over, this. If fretting over RPR is causing your fun to lessen, then the best advice to take is "stop worrying about it."

[Basementfellow]

RPR seems like an odd legacy mechanic nowadays, especially with the ease at which experience can be accrued through writs and adventure exp. I'd just drop it entirely and have adventure exp trickle at a flat rate of 50 for everyone, maybe doubled in taverns and such. Leaves no room for envy or discouragement due to something that doesn't really contribute to the game.

[Sea Shanties]

RPR seems like an odd legacy mechanic nowadays, especially with the ease at which experience can be accrued through writs and adventure exp. I'd just drop it entirely and have adventure exp trickle at a flat rate of 50 for everyone, maybe doubled in taverns and such. Leaves no room for envy or discouragement due to something that doesn't really contribute to the game.

+1... I think the RP rating made a lot of sense when it served the purpose of encouraging people to RP when the game was much more mainstream and popular 10+ years ago. Now NWN is such a niche game (even with the EE revival), most everyone is here specifically for the RP and not stumbling in looking for an arena server or whatever.

Of course 10+ years ago I was still in school and used to being graded on everything I did. Now that I am supposedly an adult I admit it's a little weird to be graded on how well I perform in my leisure time hobby. But it's very easy to tune out the RPR system completely, which I do.

[Halibutthead]

Ignore RPR. We all hit 30. RPR does nothing at 30. RPR stands for Rolling Player Reward. It is for people who make alt after alt after alt, to ease their grinding.

RPR does little but breed jealousy and bitterness in the have-nots, and paranoia and worry in the haves who fear it being taken from them.

tfw you've been on this server since '06 and are still a 20

[Ork]

I’m sorry if that all sounds a little harsh, but when you start turning this into “us and them,” you’re not looking through the lens of community anymore. And that will bleed over into the care you put in your role-play.

Ask not what your community can do for you, ask what you can do for your community.

I agree with you, but I identify with the sentiments TimeAdept & others have voices about a discontent with being judged on the value of their roleplay. The system, while not intended to function in this manner, creates castes of players. The "haves" & "have nots". I have learned over time that RPR is best to be ignored, but not everyone feels that way or will feel that way when they join the server.

[Vincent]

I'm sure people with 30, 40 RPR deserve it, but I'm also sure there's plenty of people with 20 or less than deserve it too. It just doesn't seem fair on those people who clearly haven't had as many interactions observed by DMs.

[The Rambling Midget]

I'm sure people with 30, 40 RPR deserve it, but I'm also sure there's plenty of people with 20 or less than deserve it too. It just doesn't seem fair on those people who clearly haven't had as many interactions observed by DMs.

Do your best to recommend these people so that the DMs can make a point of watching them and getting them boosted.

[Shadowy Reality]

People are not all the same, some people have more aptitude for Roleplay than others. To be honest, I have not seen any PC in a very long while I thought was entirely out of character. But anyone with some objectivity can see that there are players that have a talent to engage others. Be glad we have these people in our community, they are awesome.

I don't know anyone's RPR besides my own, and I have never had anyone ask me what my RPR is. Is that a thing? Some of you make it sound like there are many backroom conversations about people's RPR.

[The GrumpyCat]

Firstly, Penwise

1) Rpr effects very little nowadays. It means that some people level faster, true, but beyond that I do not believe much beyond Assassin and Pale Master PRCs are 'gated' behind rpr. And even those merely require a 20. Oh and 40 rprs can recommend others quicker, and raise 10's to 20s automaticaly. Which is nice, but not the Best thing Ever.

2) There is basicaly no way of telling what someone's RPR is unless they gloat about it. And that is on them, not the server. Even then, people have been known to -lie- about their rpr. So keep that in mind.

3) RPR is not a perfect system. It does rely on yes, us noticing you. I'm not claiming it is, by any means, the Best Thing Ever. But as I've mentioned before, it is perhaps better than some other alternatives.

4) Why do you care what someone elses rpr is anyway? So they can now level a little faster. So what? Are you having fun? Yes? Great. Carry on. If you want to level a little faster and get a higher rpr, then by all means ask us for feedback and/or for us to monitor you. If you think someone else deserves a higher rpr? By all means shoot us a message. It's apprecaited.

5) What RPR does is act as a gentle encrouagement to the sort of behavior we want to see on the server. It's private, it's a nice little bonus, it's a bit of encouragement. It over all I hope is a nice 'thanks' to players who are working to make fun story for others, who are willing to play by the setting, who are generally, if not active aids to Dms, then at least not hampering us. LIke Penwize says:

RPR is a reward system that encourages behavior that positively affects the community and server. Focused on roleplay and gamesmanship, its overall objective is to fuel a cycle of good experiences and player wellness. End summary!

That's a good thing to encourage IMO.

6: One small aspect I do humbly dissagree with Penwise on, is that there are no downsides to a high rpr. At the end of the day, 30+40 RPR has a style to it that isn't for everyone. It requires a willingness to loose, an 'relaxed' outlook for the most part, a desire to give the spotlight to another, to make your own plots, to be second fiddle, to respect the integrity of the setting, to have your character be -wrong- about things too. Things these things frankly arn't for every player. And y'know what? That's fine. You don't -HAVE- to have a high rpr. If you do that's awsome, but at the end of the day what matters most of all is you a) Have fun and b) Try not to ruin the fun of others. That's it. If you can do more than that, and you enjoy more than that? Brilliant! And heck, I would certainly -encourage- you to do more than that by all means! But I wouldn't demand it, it shouldn't be considered 'obligatory'. So basicaly - if you have a 20 rpr or even a 10 rpr, and you're having fun, and generaly obeying the rules? You're probably fine. Go for that higher rpr if you want, but if the aspects involved in it sound miserable to you - then that's absolutly fine. Again, so long as you're roughly following the rules, and not making life miserable for other players? That's all that matters.

7) A lot of this seems to be on the line of 'X says they have a nice thing. I don't have a nice thing. I think I'm better than X. Why can't I have the nice thng? I feel bad. Let's ban the nice thing.'
I can sort of see that sometimes, if there's a very limited supply of 'Nice Thing,' but truthfully there isn't. As has been said, If you feel jealous and put up on and inferior by someone who says 'wow I have a 40 rpr!' then that's well... kinda on you. Not on the system. Though honestly someone bragging about their rpr is in slightly poor taste, IMO and shouldn't even be taken at face value.
If someone tells me they live in a mansion, or have a nice job, or a handsome husband, or anything like that, I may, at worst, think 'Wow I wish I had that..' but I'd never -Begrudge- them what they had, so long as they weren't taking it out of the mouths of others at least. Instead of feeling bitter and angry at someone elses joy, be happy for them, seek out your own happyness, and be kind to one another.

[WinkinBlinkin]

40 RPR is that kid who's running for school president and who works their little tush off to make sure everyone loves them. 20 RPR is the kid who has three best mates and doesn't give a shit.

Who do you really want to be? Live that life and love it.

[Cerk Evermoore]

I always just assumed the difference between 20 and 30 is how you RP when nobody is around. I have 20 rpr personally because i hate slow walking when no one else is around. I accept i am an inferior scrub and reached a point where i accept that is the price i must pay.

Edit : Doesnt mean you shouldnt try.

[Sailormoon~s No1 Fan]

40 RPR is that kid who's running for school president and who works their little tush off to make sure everyone loves them. 20 RPR is the kid who has three best mates and doesn't give a shit.

Who do you really want to be? Live that life and love it.

This right here. I’ve been stuck at 20 for years and it’s where I’d like to stay. Anything higher would only add pressure to my laid back approach to rp/gaming in general. But I do agree getting noticed is difficult and I make a habit of hitting up the dm channel to help great rpers get noticed. Do the same!

[The Rambling Midget]

I always just assumed the difference between 20 and 30 is how you RP when nobody is around. I have 20 rpr personally because i hate slow walking when no one else is around. I accept i am an inferior scrub and reached a point where i accept that is the price i must pay.

Edit : Doesnt mean you shouldnt try.

In my experience, what you do when nobody's around isn't that important, as long as you're not being stupid. It's all about what you do when people are around.

0 - You did something real dumb, or maybe this isn't the place for you. (and that's okay)
10 - You exist and are not toxic.
20 - You stay in character at all times.
30 - You stay in character at all times and actively draw people into narratives, offering them the spotlight.

I've seen 30s running around when they think nobody's watching, with no issue. The difference is that, unless they have some RP reason not to, they'll slow down or stop to interact with people they run into, if only to give depth to the setting, rather than continuing to sprint in the direction of their favorite grind spot. The upper ranges of RPR are about making a character that's not only fun and interesting on its own, but also a part of the overall backdrop for everyone else.