Many people have various ideas on what exactly the word roleplay means. We’d like to put all of them aside for the sake of argument and say that the following definition is as it pertains to Dark Age II and the expectations of roleplay placed on all the players that play here.

Roleplaying can be defined as taking on a personality which you yourself created, and playing your character’s goals and motivations as if they were your own. It means playing your character realistically by responding to situations as your character would, as per your character concept, and not as yourself. Your character is not you with stats, it should be a separate entity, with its own goals and motivations. Your character should grow, his view of the world may change over time given enough stimulus, but his core outlook on life will most likely never change.

Meaning that a good natured person will not, even under the most stressful circumstances become a bloody butcher of women and children. That just doesn’t happen, unless of course the person is mentally unstable. But, that’s something we’d like to leave to the real world, and not bring into the game.

There is more than just playing your character according to your concept. The trick is to play nice. What is playing nice? Playing nice is when one player respects the other, and both want to enjoy the game, without infringing on another’s fun. This can be a very confusing subject, because at one point or another, someone will be ‘miffed’ about something that happens in the game to their character.

The key here is to respect the fact that someone else is controlling a character at the other end, and they, just as yourself want to see their character grow and prosper as much as anyone else. Grief players, also known as PKs (player-killers), seem to be totally blind to this fact. They simply play to gratify their own needs, without a single thought about another player. This is why you came to play on a private shard, to avoid the grief players and PKs, is it not?

Another important thing is that Dark Age II is a labor of love. It is not work, the staff nor anyone else make any money from it. It is free to play, and the staff only invests their free time to making it fun and enjoyable for anyone who wants to play here. In return, we expect that our experiences in the game will be just as enjoyable as anyone else’s, this is after all why we created Dark Age II. Once the game becomes a chore to maintain and no longer fun, it will cease to exist...

Every player who comes to play here will have the same expectations. They will want to enjoy their stay and become part of the virtual world we create here. Should their experiences turn sour, they will leave to play elsewhere. That will be a loss for both Dark Age II and the player who invested the time to make a character here.

Roleplaying really means not doing what you would do, but doing what your character would do. That’s probably the simplest and straightforward definition of the word. But consideration for others is also a big factor. Why kill someone when you can hurt them bad and then gloat over your victory. Having them live with the shame of loosing to you will not only be sweeter, but now they will be cowed into believing that you are superior, and probably not risk combat again. The risk of Final Death hangs over every player’s head. Eventually you will loose your character, it is a matter of time. Just as you don’t want to loose your character, neither does the other player. Killing just because is lame, not only from a character/item loss perspective, but from a roleplaying with style perspective.

We are not advocating that PvP (player vs player, combat) is wrong. After all, full PvP with no restrictions exists on Dark Age II by choice. It is a tool for roleplaying the conflicts that inevitably arise in a strife-ridden setting. What we are saying is that PvP should be used as a tool of roleplaying and it should be an option when your character (not you) feels that it is the right time. Much is at stake in PvP. You can loose your items, and more importantly your character.

At times, PvP will be unavoidable, like during PLOT events when two sides clash, and players happen to be on either side. PvP will occur, but there is a story behind it, and it is for a greater reason that just to kill the other side. Other times two players may meet who are naturally opposed to each other, like a Templar of Larani who runs into a Necromancer of Maguun. They will not say “hi” or shake hands, they will assault each other mercilessly and to the death. But that is also story driven, for their character’s views of the world are much different, and the Templar’s code demands that he destroy the necromancer with all his wrath. This is a black and white example, but it gets the point across.