Custom Bio/Backstory for RPers?

[NeverLoseGuy.3894]

Greetings.

 

With the recent thread about RPers getting trolled receiving a rather mixed result, understandably due to the nature of the idea itself, I want to give out my own ideas that not only could benefit RPers and possibly non-RPers, but also relatively simple to make (in theory), and that is custom bios/backstory.

 

Basically, it's more or less just an in-game document page for players to edit/write/do whatever in there. This would allow us to express our characters better without having to rely on external addons, which people may not be aware of. It could also be used to tell about you, the player, should there be any descriptions needed for others to be aware of.

 

I imagine this could replace the "I am (character name)" page of the journal (only apply to the player editing), which would be fitting since that page is supposed to tell you about *your* character. If you want to see other people's bio, you could right click their names to inspect their bios which will bring up a new window telling their stories. Additionally, ANet could also add a feature to inspect the gears and dyes of other players in the same page.

 

Please let me know if this is a brilliant idea, or it's a waste of ANet's time or resources.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I liked it when City of Heroes had it, but admittedly most people didn't use it. Also, Anet has been reluctant with the option to inspect players.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

It's been suggested as far back as 2012/2013, and shows up occasionally.

I don't think 'inspection' is very popular. It would have to be an option, and would probably just fuel more conflict between players.

As far as players inputting text, it may be a technical/storage issue.

 

Good luck.

[Kulvar.1239]

Which would need an other layer of moderation for breaking of the EULA/TOS/...

[Danikat.8537]

Ultima Online had this when I played and it's something I've often wished existed in other games too. Some people would use it to write an RP background or in-universe description of their characters. Others would use it for practical information like which areas of the game they played most or what items they have available to trade. Or you could just leave it blank if you wanted. Of course it needs to be covered by the same rules as chat, character names etc. and you could report players for violations, but I think the benefits would out-weigh the downsides, especially since it's most likely to be people you're in a small group with who take the time to read it so there's not as much incentive to use it to troll people.

 

I'd rather not see it tied to an inspect option however. If you want to know what skins or dyes someone is using you can just ask. If you want to know what stats they've got, then actually it's almost certainly better to ask than to just look at the result because then they can explain how it works. Otherwise what you get is not just additional pressure to conform to meta builds but a need for obviously self-explainatory meta builds because anyone inspecting players as they join a group will expect to be able to make a decision about their suitability for the group or a role based entirely on the info in the inspect window.

 

I had a bit of that in GW1 because I'd use Conjure Flame on my ranger and every single time someone asked me to ping my build I had to interrupt them lecturing me on how I'd done it wrong and that skill was useless because rangers don't do fire damage to explain that I also had a fiery bow string, so it worked exactly as intended. In the end it proved easier to make up a name for my custom build which sounded like something fan sites would use for their builds and just tell them that's what I was using. No one ever questioned the fact that they'd never heard of it before, as long as it sounded like I'd copied it from someone else it was clearly ok.

[lokh.2695]

Adding the workload of monitoring the fanfics of hundreds of RPers just isn't worth it. Just use a google.doccloudforumthingy, if RPers are interested they will go and look up your character's awesome and unique backstory.

[hugo.4705]

Why not? A similar system currently: Guilg hall monuments. Instead of imputing the text on a deco/asset it would do it on a item. Frankly, you add an item called clipboard or datapad and here you go. If you need to share infos, you use a print option that create a tradable sheet of paper. No need for a mini server/database regrouping all stories.

[Randulf.7614]

Lotro - one of the more rp focussed mmos to be released - has it, but few seem to use it. It isn’t a bad idea, I just doubt many RPers will use it long term.

 

 

[AgentMoore.9453]

Gonna have to second Kulvar here and say no.

 

I'm a roleplayer and I have never seen in-game bios do anything but cause trouble. Some people use them for their intended purpose, but when even pet names in GW2 are used for nefarious purposes, I don't want to give disciplinary devs more to worry about.

 

At the moment, there are a number of websites out there for players to post up character profiles as well as guild adverts and other networking resources. These websites all have their own moderation and rule sets that keep things in line without impacting the ArenaNet workload. Having this information outside of the game also encourages RPers to go in and interact with one another instead of browsing bios and discounting people automatically or slapping down a bio and assuming their work is done.

 

Ideally, you should _want_ people to put themselves out there in the RP scene, as that's a much better showcase of what you're dealing with than the bare bones of a bio.

[hugo.4705]

What I would be really interested by would be to know precisely how many rpers are playing. Couldn't they be counted based on, like, they stayed at the same place for 3h and sent 180 sentences in chat? They could do an in game poll with npc but dunno if everyone would answer/answer seriously. There is as example an lfg category called rukington fountain but nobody here: surely a beacon indicating to any trolls to come where you are.

 

But agree about the moderation point.

What about an addon, that show on your playing screen, the bio file you attached?

That way no moderation needed, and the role is fullfiled.