To my understanding, RP'ers on Ebon Hawk engage in role play on general chat. A lot of people will find this to be weird, dumb or a good opportunity for trolling. This will naturally cause conflict and trolling. In so far as RP'ers should be allowed to RP, and in so far as Bioware needs their money, it is therefore stupid to allow this to occur.

Therefore, the easy no-brainer common sense solution is to have some kind of reasonable accommodation to prevent these clashes. It could be a separate RP instance that is augmented by enhanced ignoring and squelching options on that instance.

The wrong thing to do is BW's unfortunate modus operandi of sailing straight into something stupid without showing that it has an interest in averting said stupidity in the future, as well as failing to take prompt action to avoid said stupidity.

P.S. As a player on Harbinger, I would also add that adding role players to Harb is just not going to work and all Harb players know that they won't be able to RP in gen chat.

They are not on the matter, which is a call for RP'ers need to be accommodated. They don't have traction in so far as they are not focused on the need to implement a policy change. I am not interested in merely talking about the issue, but in advocacy of a policy change, and so this thread is appropriate.

Does that mean you want a discussion with the community or want to suggest it to the Devs. If it’s a discussion with the community, then the other poster is right. There are multiple other threads going regarding RPers and the coming changes. If it’s to ask Bioware to change their policy, have you thought about posting it in the suggestions area?

Nobody RPs in gen chat...

They are not on the matter, which is a call for RP'ers need to be accommodated. They don't have traction in so far as they are not focused on the need to implement a policy change. I am not interested in merely talking about the issue, but in advocacy of a policy change, and so this thread is appropriate.

Yeaaa... no it's really not. There are already threads for this topic, discussing those things and BW already said they're looking into it.

They are not on the matter, which is a call for RP'ers need to be accommodated. They don't have traction in so far as they are not focused on the need to implement a policy change. I am not interested in merely talking about the issue, but in advocacy of a policy change, and so this thread is appropriate.

Policy change? It just sounds like you guys need QOL additions like an RP instance or RP channel in chat. Anything beyond those two items would require separate RP servers which won't happen as it would run counter to the rationale for server mergers.

So basically , RPer's will be going from a server where their roleplaying on Fleet is protected by nothing but convention, to a server where their roleplaying on Fleet will be protected by nothing but convention. And they're complaining about it.

^^^That was my exact thought process as well. It seems like the RP players are making an issue where there is nothing...where the possibility of the unknown is more terrifying than the current known situation. This server merger could very well be a boon to the RP community where you have a big influx of RPer but they won't know until the merger happens.

Policy change? It just sounds like you guys need QOL additions like an RP instance or RP channel in chat. Anything beyond those two items would require separate RP servers which won't happen as it would run counter to the rationale for server mergers.

Exactly lol

Does that mean you want a discussion with the community or want to suggest it to the Devs.

Both. I reject the false choice you present.

If it’s a discussion with the community, then the other poster is right. There are multiple other threads going regarding RPers and the coming changes. If it’s to ask Bioware to change their policy, have you thought about posting it in the suggestions area?

No, the other poster is wrong. As I mentioned recently, I am making a specific proposal here, not looking to merely talk about this or that poster's take on what life will be like for RP'ers after the server merger. You seem to be implying that a thread advocating a specific policy is not done in general discussion and I find that suggestion to be highly dubious. Given that the thread is already posted and I do not have powers to move threads, nor would it make sense to re-post the exact same thread in a different sub-forum, your suggestion that I do so is misleading.

In my experience on EbHawk, RP is conducted through /say and /emote, rather than general, which is considered an OOC channel, so non-RPers ((and folks just not currently in a scene)) have a place for their chat. As to the convention to convention protection... historically RP-based servers have at least a plurality of the population who joined for the purpose of being around or participating in RP, whereas attempting to RP on other servers can often be met with player-bashing, trolling, and such; no one likes AFKers in pvp who just sit around and trash talk, same goes for RP activities and folks spamming abilities and making crude remarks/ covering everyone in vehicles.

The main fear, founded or not, is that the consolidation removes the social contract of ''I join this server knowing that it is meant to support an RP community, and I don't mind them being around and doing their thing''. Is it official? No, not any more, with the removal of server tags, but it is still the general consensus on an RP server to report/ not actively encourage trolling of RPers, whereas that support network can be absent in other servers.

Policy change? It just sounds like you guys need QOL additions like an RP instance or RP channel in chat. Anything beyond those two items would require separate RP servers which won't happen as it would run counter to the rationale for server mergers.

A separate RP instance is a policy change. A separate RP server only runs counter to a cartoonishly oversimplified rationale for server mergers, much like believe that people would primarily use quick Uprisings to get gear and be content was a cartoonishly oversimplified rationale for the initial launch of CXP.

I am thinking this might help RPers a little bit:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=612#anchor13

 

* /create [channelname] [password]- Create an Channel and an optional password

* /cjoin [channelname] [password] - Join an already made channel also including a password if needed

* /cleave [channelname] [password] - Leave a custom channel also including a password if needed

* /lock [channelname] - Allow only invited players to join the channel

* /unlock [channelname] - Allow all players to join the custom channel

* /cinvite [channelname] [player] - Invite someone to the custom channel

* /password [channelname] [password] - Set a password for the channel

* /password [channelname] - Clear a password from a channel

* /ckick [channelname] [player] - Kick a player from the channel

* /ban [channelname] [player] - Ban a player from the channel

* /unban [channelname] [player] - Unban a player from a channel

* /mod [channelname] [player] - Give a player the moderator status in the channel

* /unmod [channelname] [player] - Remove mod status from a player

* /mute [channelname] [player] - Remove the ability to send messages on the channel

* /unmute [channelname] [player] - Grant the ability to send messages on the channel

* /moderate [channelname] - Set the custom channel to only let moderators speak

* /unmoderate [channelname]- Set the custom channel to let anyone speak

* /channellist - List all custom channels you are on

* /list [channelname] - List the players on the custom channel

Create your very own, password protected, chat channel!!!

^^^That was my exact thought process as well. It seems like the RP players are making an issue where there is nothing...where the possibility of the unknown is more terrifying than the current known situation. This server merger could very well be a boon to the RP community where you have a big influx of RPer but they won't know until the merger happens.

I disagree with your opinion and your factually incorrect assumptions. Although you imply it, I am neither an RP'er nor terrified of the server merge. This server merge could be many things. Many things could be a boon or a bust, but why do something dumb and ignore common sense precautions?

So basically , RPer's will be going from a server where their roleplaying on Fleet is protected by nothing but convention, to a server where their roleplaying on Fleet will be protected by nothing but convention. And they're complaining about it.

By this logic everything is nothing more than a blob of conventions, so anything people do is just a change of conventions, and so no change has any meaning because it just trades one set of conventions with another.

I am thinking this might help RPers a little bit:

 

 

Create your very own, password protected, chat channel!!!

Channel commands have been broken for years. I believe the only channel command that actually work are cjoin cleave.

In any case, bottling RP'ers up in channels might be such a rollback of their experiences on EH and any other RP servers and thus lead to the loss of RP'ers from the community and the revenues of this game.

Policy change? It just sounds like you guys need QOL additions like an RP instance or RP channel in chat. Anything beyond those two items would require separate RP servers which won't happen as it would run counter to the rationale for server mergers.

Pretty much this.. One guy came up with a great suggestion in that they create an RP instance.. In order to enter that instance your character has to be in a guild that has a Guild Master only option of defining it as an RP guild. I think it is a great idea. Another would be to create an RP chat channel that only users who are members of RP flagged guilds can chat in.

Both of these would solve 99.9% of their player griefing issues.

In any case, bottling RP'ers up in channels might be such a rollback of their experiences on EH and any other RP servers and thus lead to the loss of RP'ers from the community and the revenues of this game.

Channel commands have been broken for years. I believe the only channel command that actually work are cjoin cleave.

According to a post just back in February of this very year, they were working again...

They actually fixed custom channels... sort of. You can create and invite people to them again now but the person never actually receives the invite.

According to a post just back in February of this very year, they were working again...

You should try it.

And report any bugs you find that aren't working

Custom channels seems like something they should prioritize fixing now that they are merging so many server-playstyles into one, people need some freedom and control over who they interact with

Am sitting on Harb Imp Fleet chat and something I saw reminded me of this thread:

So a well-known troll on Harb (for months or longer) says this on fleet chat: "look at this f****t rper here. role playing as a girl. what a f*g."

I'd name him, but it's probably against the rules.

Who said anything about bottling them up? I simply suggested a way they can RP in 100% peace.

You did, by suggesting channel commands as the solution. In any case, like I mentioned 95% of those commands are probably broken anyway.

You should try it.

No, you should. It's a terrible idea, but it's your terrible idea. It says a lot about you that you make a suggestion that the solution is channel commands and you have no interest of even informing yourself if those channel commands actually work.

You did, by suggesting channel commands as the solution. In any case, like I mentioned 95% of those commands are probably broken anyway.

I never said any such thing, I offered a possible solution, which is a helluva lot more than you've done. And like I mentioned, last post on this subject they seemed to be working, but please don't let facts stand in the way of your whining.

I am thinking this might help RPers a little bit:

 

 

Create your very own, password protected, chat channel!!!

Or instead of having to refer to a list of 19 slash commands just to play the game the way they want to, give them their RP instance already.

In my experience on EbHawk, RP is conducted through /say and /emote, rather than general, which is considered an OOC channel, so non-RPers ((and folks just not currently in a scene)) have a place for their chat. As to the convention to convention protection... historically RP-based servers have at least a plurality of the population who joined for the purpose of being around or participating in RP, whereas attempting to RP on other servers can often be met with player-bashing, trolling, and such; no one likes AFKers in pvp who just sit around and trash talk, same goes for RP activities and folks spamming abilities and making crude remarks/ covering everyone in vehicles.

 

The main fear, founded or not, is that the consolidation removes the social contract of ''I join this server knowing that it is meant to support an RP community, and I don't mind them being around and doing their thing''. Is it official? No, not any more, with the removal of server tags, but it is still the general consensus on an RP server to report/ not actively encourage trolling of RPers, whereas that support network can be absent in other servers.

Yes this is well said and to the point best post I have read for what the RP community faces.