Making RP work in SL
I've been spending a lot of time doing medieval RP in Lumindor, a sim in Second Life. And it's been extremely up-and-down, except for the time I've spent with our own faction, the Dark Knights. I've had trouble figuring out what exactly is not clicking.
This is going to be long-winded, because I'm using this post to help refine my thoughts...
First, the problem. Lum RP is, on the whole, tedious. People do try to stay in character, but they just yammer on and on. Supposed confrontations aren't exciting, or even an exercise in diplomacy; they're mostly some bluster, and they don't even end in a satisfying fight. Interesting enemies appear, then turn up as friends in the next scenario, so you don't know how to treat them next time. Nothing seems to have any consequences. Roles are amorphous... besides the king and queen, I couldn't tell you what anyone else's position is supposed to be.
Now the analysis. The overall problem, I think, is that no one really has a good idea on how to use SL for RP. SL is lousy for looting and monster encounters, and pretty bad for combat. Typical scenarios are "someone asks for sanctuary and their enemies come searching for them" or "the queen has been abducted" or "giant wolves are attacking". Or, more and more, "Faction X is having a party." And parties, I'm sorry to say, suck in SL.
It also doesn't help that the SL economy can't easily be co-opted for RP. That's a pity, because without an economy, there's no scarcity, and so no one has much motivation to do anything. I'm a rogue, for instance, but I can't actually steal anything. We were trying to negotiate a price for something with the queen last night, and... well, we don't really need anything, and it seems weird to ask for L$.
Beyond this, I think most participants are just not very good RPers. I've played in SL with some very good ones, so the difference is striking. For instance, I've played out a science fiction scenario with Kata and with (T). Those went very well-- each time, both of us had a character in mind, and I had a simple 'plot' to get through, but no predetermined path, so everybody's moment-to-moment choices mattered. The sessions were not too long, and very intense... no feeling of wasted time.
RP is a form of improv, and a good improv actor is not just conscious of their character, they are constantly reacting to others and building the story. You don't have to have a story worked out beforehand; but you have to be have storytelling skills: know your goals, create conflicts, create opportunities for others to react to, suggest human depth. Kata is good at this-- as an example, when the king proposed a few weeks ago, she RPd being extremely jealous but hiding it... something that not only adds drama (and comedy), but creates story lines and avenues of interaction.
Most of the Lum folks can stay in character, but they don't have the storytelling skills. They don't provide hooks for other people to add to the story; they ignore well-crafted openings like Kata's, they don't know how to advance the story. So they fall back on said yammering.
If anyone's played D&D, this is basically the level of RP most players can handle: react to the story the DM produces, and that's it. It's a rare group that can really RP more than basic negotiations with shopkeepers.
What to do? I don't know yet. I suspect we have to take more control... provide some stories or events ourselves. Maybe figure out how to use L$ to represent money. Maybe hold some RP seminars?