Square: You need to open servers before this community is slowly choked

[Kaethra]

So a newbie to rp isn't an RPer? Huh, I wonder how RP even got its start. Did you spring from the ground fully formed and programmed with the knowledge already?

As others said, newbie RPers are RPers. Non-RPers are Non-RPers. Its a simple either you are or you're not.

When I first played Everquest and saw Fironia Vie (Roleplaying Preferred) on the server list, I had never RP'd on a MMO before, never even saw RP on a MMO before. I still knew what the server was even before I played on it. I didn't have to login to it to experience it first.

If someone doesn't want to be like a missionary and convert NonRpers to RPers, they shouldn't feel like they need to. Just like statics shouldn't feel like they should gear up and train every applicant. Some groups even require RPers to be somewhat experienced in RP. Nothing wrong with that either. Just like Newbies can learn content together, newbie RPers can learn to RP together.

[DeaconMoore]

As others said, newbie RPers are RPers. Non-RPers are Non-RPers. Its a simple either you are or you're not.

When I first played Everquest and saw Fironia Vie (Roleplaying Preferred) on the server list, I had never RP'd on a MMO before, never even saw RP on a MMO before. I still knew what the server was even before I played on it. I didn't have to login to it to experience it first.

If someone doesn't want to be like a missionary and convert NonRpers to RPers, they shouldn't feel like they need to. Just like statics shouldn't feel like they should gear up and train every applicant. Some groups even require RPers to be somewhat experienced in RP. Nothing wrong with that either. Just like Newbies can learn content together, newbie RPers can learn to RP together.

So you RPers do just spring from the ground fully formed and ready to go then? 20+ years now, I must have been doing it all wrong...

A non-rper is someone that's never rped before or doesn't like it and doesn't care to do it. A newbie to rping is someone trying it for the first time. A newbie rper is someone that's tried it, liked it, and learning. See, there's normally a transition from non-rper to rper, well for us mere humans anyway.

I never said you or anyone has to go out there like a missionary to convert people either. I was just saying that if someone sees a group rping and they haven't experienced it themselves before simply being exposed to it in that fashion can potentially lead to the creation of a new rper.

Now as far as newbies learning together, well, you do understand why we have schools in the real world yes? Without some form of direction sure they could muddle through it amongst each other. And they may indeed have fun doing so. The results of that kind of learning when it meets an experienced group though... those poor noobs is all I have to say about that. Yes you don't have to take them on yourself if you don't want to, no one's going to force you too. If you always push the newbies out though your community begins to dwindle.

[Kaethra]

So you RPers do just spring from the ground fully formed and ready to go then? 20+ years now, I must have been doing it all wrong...

Maybe you were doing it wrong.

I knew what a Roleplaying Preferred server was nearly 20 years ago. My only experience prior to that was rolling dice in HS. And I know without having to look it up that Balmung is the 'unofficial' RP server since SE didn't tag one. I've seen Non-RPers over 20 years and over a dozen games say why they typically join RP servers even though they don't themselves RP.

If you don't get it, I don't know what else to tell you.

An RPer Roleplays.
A Non-RP doesn't.

Its not hard. You become a Roleplayer via a desire to Roleplay. You don't need to be taught how.

You didn't need to be taught how to use WASD or Control stick to move did you? No, you didn't.

[DeaconMoore]

Maybe you were doing it wrong.

I knew what a Roleplaying Preferred server was nearly 20 years ago. My only experience prior to that was rolling dice in HS. And I know without having to look it up that Balmung is the 'unofficial' RP server since SE didn't tag one. I've seen Non-RPers over 20 years and over a dozen games say why they typically join RP servers even though they don't themselves RP.

If you don't get it, I don't know what else to tell you.

An RPer Roleplays.
A Non-RP doesn't.

Its not hard. You become a Roleplayer via a desire to Roleplay. You don't need to be taught how.

You didn't need to be taught how to use WASD or Control stick to move did you? No, you didn't.

Seriously?

Well when I first encountered a game stick at the wee age of 3 when my dad brought home a brand new Atari 2600, I did in fact have no clue about its function until it was demonstrated to me. We humans have to actually experience things, learn and be taught. Our preprogrammed instinctual knowledge doesn't cover things like language, computer use, rp etiquette and conventions, what server 20 years later is unofficially tagged an rp server etc. Its just basic stuff like breathing, holding your breath underwater, pain means bad, etc, that we get preprogrammed with. All that other stuff is learned and taught to us.

[Kaethra]

Seriously?

Well when I first encountered a game stick at the wee age of 3 when my dad brought home a brand new Atari 2600, I did in fact have no clue about its function until it was demonstrated to me. We humans have to actually experience things, learn and be taught. Our preprogrammed instinctual knowledge doesn't cover things like language, computer use, rp etiquette and conventions, what server 20 years later is unofficially tagged an rp server etc. Its just basic stuff like breathing, holding your breath underwater, pain means bad, etc, that we get preprogrammed with. All that other stuff is learned and taught to us.

That's where you're wrong. As humans we created the control stick to serve a purpose. Just like Roleplay, no one had to teach you as a child to go out and pretend to be something when you played. You just did. Because its simple creativity. An attribute that cannot be taught, refined with discipline and practice. But cannot be taught.

[Lewtskie]

One person or group of persons, who's experiences and understandings in life, come up with the ideas for tools. And when they do, not every entity on the planet instantly knew and understood the purpose and function of said tool. When seeing a tool for the first time, you are not instantly filled with the knowledge of what it is and it's use, you need to either experience it first hand with experimentation, or be taught by being shown or told.

A child with an active imagination will often wish to play out a scene or story they have heard or experienced. A child doesn't just do, there are factors leading up to that. Likewise, other means of playing out roles or 'pretend' doesn't just come naturally. You don't instinctively know what roleplaying on the internet was, through forums or games or chats. There was a step before that leads you to it, and before that step was one before it.

I was an imaginative kid growing up, I would roleplay with my toys or whatever all the time, but I didn't just know of roleplaying in any sort of form online. I didn't know to just look either. I remember seeing the old forum RPs back when for the first time, and was fascinated by them. Never realized RPing in a game was a thing either until I played Tera once upon a time. And not being someone who actively seeks it out, but on seeing it, was interested in giving it a try.

[DeaconMoore]

In a few rare cases that may be the case, but for the majority of RPers they got interested by reading about RP elsewhere (on a forum or whatever.)
Watching other people RP is very ofte quite boring, so the only ones likely to do that are the ones already interested in RP.
In other words, "exposing" people to RP is not useful as a recruiting tool.

...Huh? In your very own example here someone talked about RP on a forum and a person reading about it got interested in it as a result. In other words you exposed people to what RP is, and potentially recruited them as a result...

That's where you're wrong. As humans we created the control stick to serve a purpose. Just like Roleplay, no one had to teach you as a child to go out and pretend to be something when you played. You just did. Because its simple creativity. An attribute that cannot be taught, refined with discipline and practice. But cannot be taught.

Humans did indeed create the control stick to serve a purpose. We mere humans didn't just will it into existence like all knowing gods though. It's creation by humans was the direct result of knowledge learned and taught being applied through trial and error to create the first control stick to fulfill this need for one. And after these meek creatures called humans finally created it, they then had to teach others how to use it properly and make more by teaching them.

A human child does not go out and pretend to be an indian or a cowboy without first learning what an indian or a cowboy is from somewhere. Nor do they have any idea of the interaction of said "cowboys and indians" without being exposed to knowledge from an outside source of some kind. They imitate what they see, hear and learn and it's pretty basic to that.

Now imitation and RP are related yes but that's not just what it is. Another word we humans usually use for RP is "Acting". We actually do have schools that teach this skill. Granted not every actor or actress coming out of said schools is going to win an Oscar or Academy Award, but by the same token I've borne witness to some pretty cringe worthy rp. A little more learning for some couldn't hurt.

[Nezerius]

...Huh? In your very own example here someone talked about RP on a forum and a person reading about it got interested in it as a result. In other words you exposed people to what RP is, and potentially recruited them as a result...

I'm assuming you're talking about Naunet's post on how they were introduced to roleplaying? That doesn't really sound like a passive way of someone getting into RP. That sounded more like the roommate going out of their way to suggest/show something.
But seeing as one example apparently discredits the words of the one you quoted, despite the fact that rare cases do exist, let me throw in an example of myself.

No one showed me what RP was, when I started playing WoW in 2006. It's not something that was on my mind. Over time, I started thinking about how my character would react to situations they were facing in the game, stuff that defines characteristics, the way they'd act. Since I started on a normal server, there weren't any roleplaying people to passively show me about RP. Eventually, I looked at the realm list, and noticed realms with the RP tag. After some research, I ended up transferring to one of the popular EU RP realms, and spent years playing/RPing on it.

[MistakeNot]

...Huh? In your very own example here someone talked about RP on a forum and a person reading about it got interested in it as a result. In other words you exposed people to what RP is, and potentially recruited them as a result...

There is a difference between exposing people to RP, and exposing people to talk about RP.
Getting interested in RP after initially hearing people talk about it (or reading discussions about it) is fairly common. Getting interested in RP by listening to/seeing other people RP is far less common - that is something one might do after the interest has been awoken and more information is sought after.
.

[Naunet]

Its not hard. You become a Roleplayer via a desire to Roleplay. You don't need to be taught how.

I just want to say... I had no idea what roleplay was when I was first introduced to it back in 2008. Heck, I didn't know what this game "World of Warcraft" was that my roommate told me about and encouraged me and my other roommate to play. I didn't even know what an MMORPG was. Without that roommate, I probably would to this day still not know, as those things simply were never on my radar. My own entry into roleplay (beyond childhood games of pretend) was very much dependent on someone going out of their way to show me.