Portalarium vs. Role-Play

I realize the subject title is a bit provocative but the intention is simply to raise awareness in regards to things said (mainly by Richard) and how it actually reflects on role-play itself. I hope the good folks at Portalarium will indulge me as I try to articulate my thoughts on the matter.

Let me begin by saying that in terms of intention, I am in full agreement with Richard in the hope the players should play 'honestly' and not use multiple characters to meta-game. To this end, Richard describes the idea that even though you have many characters they all share the same soul.. this is where the agreement ends. For it is statements like this that sabotage role-play by (among other things) attempting to define unbelievable lore with game mechanics. (ie all characters on the same account sharing reputations and family name etc).

To get to the crux of the matter, Portalarium's approach both in Richard's statements and with current story elements in-game amount to assigning a pre-defined role to each and every character. That despite any measure of creativity or individualism on the part of the player.. they MUST be the 'YOU' from Earth.. regardless of how many characters are at play.

So I'll just run down the list of the major issues I have with all this.

1: Believability.

If I have 3 characters on one account I'm supposed to believe that all of them are an incarnation of the same person with the same soul? With no supporting lore and a history to the contrary in Ultima? I.... don't think so. Even without the Ultima background the very notion is absurd.

1a: Meta-gaming through shared knowledge.

The whole idea behind the shared soul notion is that we don't want someone meta-gaming to their advantage. The classic example being playing a good character to set up another player to be a victim for their evil character. This practice is not RP.. it's just abuse of the system and other players..

BUT.. the shared soul notion encourages meta-gaming via shared knowledge also.

A practiced and serious RPer should.. in my opinion at least.. practice the separate of knowledge between characters and the player.

1b: Everyone is THE one and only Avatar from Ultima.

I brought this up in another post but.. having the game tell each and every player in a multiplayer setting that they are the Avatar from Ultima.. ie having visited the Lands of Lord British many times etc etc.. cannot possibly be accurate.

What's wrong with being a first timer or just leaving the character's history ambiguous?

2: Consistency.

Now we can't say "this is Ultima X" and all that but even references in-game now make it pretty clear that.. well it kind of is. So previous.. unspoken lore still applies. Yes there are inconsistencies but we shouldn't introduce them willfully.

Ultima IX.. the Avatar appears in Britannia.. goes back to Earth and returns to Britannia. All without changing bodies. Other opening sequences show the Avatar clearly, physically entering moongates and such.. the whole soul transference / embodying a new form between worlds etc.. never happens.

2a: Lore vs Mechanics.
What is basically going on is history is being ignored and lore shaped to explain mechanics that are intended to discourage the afore mentioned meta-gaming. This is both unnecessary and makes for bad lore.

2b: Enforcement is impossible.
Part of the intent is for players to have a mindset which will drive them to play honestly. For the mass majority this just isn't going to happen.

Most role-players want to play their own characters. Any story elements that do not allow this will be ignored. Once more, these people should be consistent with their characters anyway. Which is what we want. Non-role players just don't care to begin with. Both will play as they see fit.

What's left are the folks who really buy into the idea of honest play.. for whom the intention is enough.

Invention of new lore to accommodate multiplayer mechanics is just not needed. If I might draw an analogy. It's like putting a functional ecosystem in play and expecting players to not wipe it out.

I've said this many times.. you cannot force behavior through mechanics. You certainly can't through lore. Even more so in multiplayer. Which is what shared family name and reputation is an attempt to do.

Let me reiterate. I understand, respect and agree with the intent here. Honest & consistent play. I just think the approach is all wrong.

 

I should bring you along whenever I have an argument with people about games like Witcher 3 and Final Fantasy being RPGs. However, I'd say that "most RPers" want a place that they can suspend their dis-belief and be in a tangible fantastical world; more so than anything other mechanic or option.

As someone who's tired of RPing next to hundreds of Legolases, Gandalfs and [insert non-creative iconic character here], Richard Garriott's current approach is a breath of fresh air (you seem to agree as well). It also prevents people from giving themselves titles in the game without actually earning them.

"I'm a vampire that lived for thousands of years!" <- no. I'd rather you say that you turned into a vampire than try to make me believe that you were in the first place.

I'd say that your major issues are merely nit-picks.

How is this absurd? Why do you need an Ultima game to confirm what's happening now? I must be missing something critical.

I must've missed that dialogue. Who says that? Last time I checked I was just a dude from another world...

...called "Rainbowland"

... yes, I lied!

 

This is Arabella greeting you on the Isle of Storms.

3 people sharing the exact same soul memories? What's not absurd about it? Even in a fantasy realm that goes beyond over the top unbelievable when it has nothing to back it up but a game mechanic.

 

Getting sucked into your computer and becoming an immortal avatar is ok. But becoming more than one At different times is obsurd?

Deserves it...

/facepalm

 

I don't recall the intro saying you actually get sucked into your computer... nor did I imply anything one way or another about the intro which has it's own share of problems.. Not the least of which is the timeline and the intro's definition of 'ancient'. Considering the information regarding the last 400 years of New Britannia history is less than 20 years old in Earth time.

 

I don't roleplay, but I did buy a second account so I can have one character follow the path of Order and one follow the path of Chaos. I'm not happy with the restrictions on multiple characters on a single account but I can live with this solution.

 

Well I don't feel like you can role play all 3 characters being the same character or soul. Like in UO I had majoria the rebel woman running around without shoes and having fun. Then I had majoria miner who worked all the time. If I wanted to be playful I'd get majoria out. She hated to work.

 

This is not Ultima. This is a game with the same feel.
We are all Avatars, because that's the concept.
The original concept was that we have one character that is us. The backers demanded more character slots per accoutn, so the compromise was that we get three characters, but they are just different incarnations of the same soul. That is the concept for this game.
We have all visited New Britannia before, because that's what the story says. It's a nod to Ultima, but is not Ultima.
Play along with Richard's intent, or don't. Portalarium is not obligated to change their concept to meet your expectations.

 

Not Ultima by name.. but tell that to Arabella and the elf historian in Vertas. If you want to get tied to the legal issues behind it that's your choice but they'd made a conscience decision to include references to Britannia history in the context of New Britannia history. Saying "it's not Ultima" doesn't change how the devs have intentionally set up the world.

 

I knew someone with two other personalities inside her. There is nothing absurd about it to me. So I find it quite possible in a fantasy setting for a person to have a Split Soul (Split Immortal). Specially in a world which experienced a gigantic catastrophe that warped all magic, changed the physical landscape, and quite possibly had a backwards ripple effect . A magical backlash which affected any worlds connected by Moongates.
Yes I have been thinking about this for two years.
No I don't have a flowchart....or a newsletter for you to subscribe to...

 

The devs have intentionally set up the world to be different.

 

Did this person have 3 different bodies? Different personalities is not the same as different bodies. We're not talking about split personalities here. We're talking not just "split soul" but shared soul.. shared memory and essentially identical personality. The metaphorical equivalent to a human hive mind basically.

 

You're right, they never should have had multiple character slots. I, and many, thought it was an excellent way to introduce an important dynamic to the game about decisions and consequences. Unfortunately enough people complained about it that they changed their initial stance while trying to weave on some of the initial concepts. I really would have liked to have seen how people played a game differently if their actions were more permanent.

 

That's awfully vague. Just like "it's magic" or alternate reality excuses. It's several hundred years apart.. of course it's "different".. but when you have characters asking you about their world's history that just happens to include famous characters I shan't mention because.. well.. spoilers.. from Britannia.. I think that's a pretty solid indicator that you're not going to get around by saying "it's different" or "because lawyers say so". Just because the game itself doesn't explicitly say "this is the future of old Britannia" doesn't mean we the players can't even acknowledge it.

Besides, we're straying quite far from the original point here. Which isn't a legal definition of what is or isn't Britannia as defined by the real world. But Portalarium's approach to enforcing the concept of honest play it's resulting implications for actual role-play.

I am not here to tell anyone how they each should approach their own gameplay. If you want to take Richard's explanation blindly as law or if you want to disregard it entirely or anything in-between. That's up to each individual player and that is how it should be. But I think Portalarium should also understand how their approach is perceived by RPers.

I was already aware from past discussions of your opinions on the matter and neither one of us is going to change the other's mind I can pretty much promise you that.

 

Bowen is spot on here.

 

It's entirely impossible to imagine one soul that is able to have three bodies to choose from.
If you want to play different people, get different accounts.

They should never have allowed extra character slots. People are unable to grasp the concept of their actions mapping out their completion of the story, and being unable to escape consequences of their decisions.

 

There are no 'take backs' in online play. When a second account is an affordable $45 with no on-going costs I really don't think you would notice much difference in how people treat their own game. But we've yet to see any real consequences implemented to begin with.

There are those who care.. and those who don't. For those who don't, none of this is going to mean a darn thing. Therein is where the issues lie.

Take me for example. I care about my RP and my individual characters. Each one is played consistently as an individual. They don't share knowledge. They don't share banks or gear.. They're completely separate in every meaningful way. That's my choice. I am not compelled by any game mechanic to play this way. I also don't play evil characters so technically.. apart from sharing a visible last name.. none of this effects me personally.

Someone who doesn't care.. has no issue with a good and evil character and meta gaming them regardless and it's highly unlikely they give a rat's backside what the Oracle says or what their shared reputation is. and if it becomes a problem.. $45 one time charge.. no more problem.

 

Role playing can be playing the role you are given, or making up your own role.
In this game, you are given a basic framework role. You are a hero, returning to a world you visited before.
What you are doing is basically rejecting that role, and insisting on creating your own.

In my opinion, if you accept the role you are given, Portalarium's lore and the story make sense.

 

Oh and.. just for the record I do have a 2nd account now.