The Lord of the Rings Online Developer Diary
-
Category: News ArchiveHits: 865
Should a game attempt to cater to role-players via dedicated game rules or systems? I am of the opinion that games should not. For one thing, any game distinction between "role-players" and "typical players" is often a magnet for griefers. RP chat channels, visual indicators of RP or Non-RP players, RP "ranking" systems, and RP banning policies all introduce more problems than they solve for RPers, for they are all accessible to people who like to disrupt them. Even RP servers generally fulfill their roles with mixed success: many players join them solely to interfere with the serious role-players, or often simply for network latency or server population reasons.