(11-17-2016, 01:11 PM)Thunderbolt300 Wrote: It seems to me that in a lot of cases, folk tend to shy away from slice-of-life / tavern-RP where the potential to encounter character development is fairly low, so there's not a lot of incentive to engage in that. Meaningful character develop occurs through conflict, events, and having an antagonist on-hand, and none of these things seem to be greatly plentiful in the community-at-large. At least, events of this nature are kept to silos, aren't advertised well, or are by invite-only. Still, slice-of-life / tavern-RP certainly has its place in the RP ecosystem- but it's filler, it's not the main content.Â
I would not put slice-of-life/bar-rp down to being just a filler, it really depends in what kind of roleplayer you are and what you expect to get out of your roleplay of course - but character meaningful development of your character doesn't exclusively come from dramatic plots and the likes. I find that most characters can get meaningful development from various slice-of-life situations, playing off the traits you've put in the character that aren't just related to battle etc.Â
There's some cliché examples like a cold-butt soldier meeting a person that softens his heart, the interactions between those two people don't have to involve anything other than the daily day in order to have some development that could end up affecting the soldier next time he's in a fight.Â
It *does* mean though, that you have to be willing to follow through and not just leave a tavern encounter to being a tavern encounter. Don't just talk about the weather, get into the juicy bits (over time/several encounters perhaps) - if you say your character is loyal, of a kind heart, or something negative like being intolerant towards lalafells (sorry lalafell!) then test it. Figure out how far that loyalty stretches, just exactly when does the kindness stop, and are all lalafell actually bad or was it just a few. At one point or another it may have some effects on how your character acts in the next plot-arch, going into this endless loop of consequences of consequences.Â
And I would also say that for fresh characters, getting some exposure to tavern RP and events where you take on the social aspect is rather important. I find the grindstone to be a good example of how you have an event where the main focus is on fighting, but have you seen how many spectators it draws in? Personally, it's been a great place for my character to get some exposure, meet some people and establish friendships. It is those connections that are going to and already have dragged her right into plots and dramatic moments, where there's even more development to be had. But on the scale of meaningful, both kinds are just as meaningful. At least for what I am concerned, things have to be in a balance - if I get too much drama, plot and shenanigans I end up disinterested, and vice versa.
