Putting on a Jumpsuit...Role-playing in New Eden.

New Eden-
I am Phox Jorkarzul. I am a Capsuleer in the New Eden Universe. I attended college at the Universty of Callie before joining the Federal Navy Academy at Dulipant, in the Crux constellation, Essence Region. 

Shortly after I joined a Caldari corporation The Farmers Co-Op, and from there began to make ISK running missions for the Peace and Order Corporation. Over time I helped fund a new corporation in Axiom Alliance, the Axiom Navy. There I was second in command and charge with insuring that members were training the correct skills and planning fleet operations. Several months later I created my own corp and moved to Low Sec where I became a pirate and looted, killed, and scammed other capsuleers in New Eden in the Forge region. I move from Forge to Cruse then to Placid and Syndicate where I sought a new life that I could make a living and use the skills that I gained a pirate to my advantage. It was while in Syndicate that I heard the cry of fellow Gallente Pilots in the Militia and their struggle against the Caldari. So I decided that I would join the effort. I created a new corp to do so, Deep Void Merc Syndicate. We fight for justice, freedom and the Federation. While we do not always agree with the Laws, we fight to uphold the moral truth that all people are born free. 

RP-101

    OOC, out of character, for bit. In the small college that I attended if they had a Role-Playing class I would have taken it. I love role-playing and role playing games. The first role-playing game that I played as a game call Chorno Cross. This was great game that had different variables that changed different aspects of the game. Then of course this lead to me playing Final Fantasy VII-XIII, I loved them all, and other RPGs for the Playstation family of games. The first Massive Mutiplayer Online RPG, I played World of Warcraft, seven days, then Guild Wars, 3 years. I liked these games cause I was able to interact with other people around the world, together we defeated enemies of the world. But over time the people that I played with started to do their own thing and those connections drifted away. 

     That is when I found table top RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars RPG. These games were great, because they are true sandbox. Almost anything that you want to happen in the game can all you have to do is imagine it. It wasn't long that I have every D&D book I could get my hands on and reading D&D wiki and lore trying to learn more about the world. I was a player character and Dungeon Master. It was after that that found EVE Online, and online sandbox that I have made my home. 

      But what is role-playing? Role-playing is changing ones behavior to assume a social role unconsciously or it consciously change ones actions to act out a role or character. The simplest RP in the world is done every day by children make believing that, they are doctors, Ninjas, pirates or space pilots.  Though many of the players in Eve Online are over 25, and its high definition graphics, we still are playing pretend just with 1 million other people in a digital space sandbox. 

     So by the nature of a MMO you are role playing, if only lightly. For the more intense RPer you have to put on your wizard robe and hat, or in EVE your jumpsuit and helmet. The first thing to look at is what kind of character are you going to be playing, what is their alignment? This is a good article that better explains the 9 traditional Role Player alignments. For my toon Phox, I have chosen a Chaotic Good to Chaotic Neutral alignment. Phox follows his on conscience and seeks his Independence 

     Once you have an idea of what alignment you want to play, you now have to right a back story that fits that, and try to play to that. You back story should make sense to why you act the way you do in the game. If for example Phox was Chaotic Evil then he would not have joined a Militia, and if was Lawful Good then he would not engage in piracy, but as Chaotic Good he joined the Militia to help its causes as well as to pursue justice in his own way. So take some time create a back story that you can follow. You want your back story to have some details, while also being loose to mold your character's actions in the game. This will allow you to draw from that experience.
    We have the our alignment, and our back story, now what? Now it is time to read. Simply going to the Eveopedia and spending 30mins reading the racially articles can go a long ways for a RPer in EVE. If you want to be more in depth then you need spend more time reading. EVE is a different game cause there is not 'true' narrative that you have to follow. Every pilot creates his or his own. While there are live events that take place in the universe a player doesn't have to follow them or attend. I know several players in EVE that role play the Intaki Liberation. This a narrative that has not really been looked at buy the game developers.

    After some time on the wiki then hit the Chronicles of more in depth stories. This allows you to get a inside view of NPC toons and what they are thinking.  Then you need to check out the New Feed. For stories that are happening in the world. These are mini narratives that pop up and take play in New Eden.  You last stop after you have some knowledge under your belt is the IGS, InterGalactic Summit. The IGS is a forum board for the Role Players in EVE. All post must be RP post and trolling and OOC Posting is heavily watched. In this thread have been many declarations of war, question policies, and calling other players on their actions. I would advise to tread lightly here with some people as they can get worked up. 

     Now all that is left for you is create your own narrative in New Eden. Get out there and become the pirate or the hero. It is all up to you. I recommending role playing a game like EVE cause it gives the gamer greater depth than just logging in. If you have a pirpose or reason you do they things that you do in game then you will find that you long into the more and get more out of it. In a later post I'll take a look at the EVE Meta game and how it is different than Role-playing.