@Lisse24 said in +wantrp Command Suggestion:
To get more specific: We've created an environment in MUs where it's hard (not impossible) for people to break out of RP cliques and for new people to break in. We expect people to act in a way that is not in line with human nature and then bemoan the results. I think this command will be used because it will appeal to the people who are not on this board - the people who want RP, but who come onto games and struggle to get it, and don't know the crowd well enough to page or who feel self-conscious about it.
Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, I suppose, I find myself siding with @Thenomain. The tools are there, but no one seems to care to use them.
Take @mail. I check these every time I log in. This is how we used to let people know that we wanted to RP with them, back in the '90's.
Take wikis. I check these occasionally to see which new PCs have been made. I use them to figure out if there's someone out there I think my PC'd RP well with. And then I use @mail to check with the player if I can't page them.
Take +bboards. I actually read these too, especially the Wanted Concepts or RP Wanted boards. I @mail people to see if they want to link up, if I think my PC would bump into them.
Here's the issue I see: doing any of the above takes initiative. You can make a million tools, but they will be useless if no one takes the initiative to use them.
Take Skew's suggestion. I like it, and there's an incentive to it. I'm generally against the idea of baiting people with tangible rewards (XP) for a behavior, but this will favor active, all-day players over casual players. Still, it's an idea, but it's not one I would implement.
Take your idea -- a flag system that reminds you when someone wants to RP with you. I don't see how this will help a player not feel guilty about not RPing with a PC, and that leading to the PC's player fading away from a game. In fact, that might make it worse. Otherwise, I do not see how this is functionally different from @mail, which I look at every time I log in.
Finally, the shy player. Making new code is not going to suddenly change how that player feels about reaching out to others. It is difficult; it can be painfully difficult; and I do not mean to belittle them. That said, I do not see how new code is going to help them, especially if the target player ignores them. They might think: 'well, I sent them something that reminds them constantly that I'd like to RP with them and yet they are still ignoring me.' The unintended consequence of making a player feel even more insignificant is substantial, in my opinion.
Jumping off from Skew's idea, RfK had a system where, if you RPed with someone random, you got an extra beat. If you implement something similar via +wantrp, where you got 1 extra beat per week for completing at least one, that might be acceptable in my "I HATE POLICIES THAT FAVOR PEOPLE WITH MORE FUCKING TIME ON THEIR HANDS THAN ME" world.
