Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

Often, while playing Dom2 with friends we all roleplay. Not necesarily in the actions in the game world other than ones demanded out of decred relation, but via the Messages and communication between eachother. We've thought that this had always added another unique quality to the game, and helped it to remain fun during lulls.

Is roleplay typical of dom2, or are we just oddballs? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not sure about dom2 (yet) - I've found roleplaying to be common in wargaming among ... roleplayers. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Way back when, a bunch of AD&D/RQ/EPT/DQ players used to roleplay in an ancient game called Warlords. (That would be Warlords 1, except there wasn't a number 1 yet.)

Since the only multiplay was hotseat, we'd drink ale and mead (and cheap beer) while often carrying on in-character conversations, waiting for our turns. Making alliances, threats, talking trash - there wasn't a message feature in the original Warlords (best of them all, imo - the most personality / character, but that'd be a different, and probably OT, thread).

Even before that - in the, blood and bone, 1980s, there was a text-only space game called Anacreon, and I recall some limitted RPing. (We'd stay at work (in a early Marine Corps computer office) and have about 5 or 6 games going at once on different computers, plus some running the original Wizardry, so people didn't have to wait for turns too much. Some people thought we were dedicated, staying at the office after duty hours. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif )

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

I'd go for it, but the undead aren't exactly known for their personalities. Also, the Dominions II message system isn't exactly conducive to such a thing, and I'm not playing on Mosehansen's server until they fix the battle replay incompatibilities.

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

IRC is plenty good for talking trash in games that are not 1/day type of games.

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

I usually tend to roleplay in appropriate games. This one I think is just beging for it.

BTW what's wrong with battle replayes on msoehansen's server?

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Mosehansen's server runs Linux. That means that battle replays are incompatible when viewed on Windows machines, and the result you see will not bear any relationship to what actually happened. This tends to render them rather useless to look at it.

Illwinter is aware of this bug and might even fix it in the next patch.

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Ditto in regards to myself and my friends, though we've only had about a game and a half thus far, and I'm sure we'll grow out of it. Besides, typing in a Hungarian accent is tricky, and people get annoyed when you play Pythium in all caps, with "V" instead of "U". AVE, MYOPIA!

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

Also, when roleplaying, be sure to play a cold hearted bastard. Otherwise, your blood slave economy will grind to a screeching halt, and pillaging'll be right out. You could always be a great big hypocrite about it, though.

Update: A typo! Have I learned nothing?!

[ March 19, 2004, 03:38: Message edited by: Vicious Love ]

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

I participated in a couple of pbems, and the Messages sent ingame are far more often in-character than not.

I personally tend to adapt a language I find suitable for the nation I play - Marignon with all its fiery passion for the unbelievers, R'lyeh cunning and subtle and shifty, Ermor laced with dark poetry coming from the Mouth Of Doom... And I only drop it when the replies don't come likewise. So far, though, the results are pretty satisfactory, roleplaying wise. I don't think I'll grow out of it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

I like to roleplay in most of the strategy titles I play.
And Dom2 just begs for it. There is a certain satisfaction involved when you cry out "An outrage! I shall smite the infidells! Disease their lands! Take their virgins! To arms!"


(If you think thats rough, you should hear what my wife promises to do to my troops...)

[ March 19, 2004, 15:11: Message edited by: Tricon ]

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

'course, none of us are implying we've gotten any genuine, semideep RP outta Dominions, are we? Strictly thematic, stylistic stuff, a bitta superficial flavor.
Fun as all hell, but while I'd never pass up an opportunity for some good RP, I'd be willing to waive this stuff for most games. I suppose, theoretically, it'd wear kinda thin after a while. Theoretically. Boy, insulting people's mothers in Latin is fun.
Still, big difference between an RPG(Not CRPG, please do note the difference) supplemented by a wargame, and a wargame with subordinate RP elements. Apples and oranges, mind you, sweet, sweet oranges.

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Hypothetically speaking, would any of you mind if an opponent spent a few dozen paragraphs describing a Tien Chi diplomat's hollow affectations and diplomatic niceties? Beats dealing with Ermor.

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

I dunno - Dom II has it all: Character development (what more development than someone becoming a god!), colourful history ("...back when I was a swamp guard I remember..."), cultural differences ("they ride spiders iin Machaka, isn't that gross!!"), etc. Not to mention ways of playing to suit every taste - from the bloodthirsty Mictlani to the cold-hearted Ermorians, to the beneficient guardian of nature (Pangaea), to the rigid code of honour (Tien Chi), etc.

The main thing is to make sure that you are roleplaying a good general, rather than someone who is a strategic and tactical klutz. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Agreed. That said, I think the Dominions world could make a decent back-drop for a roleplaying game. (In the same way that the world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles miniature game makes for a decent roleplaying setting.)

"He is a lute-wielding bard from the mist-shrouded forests of Man. She is a succubus from the seventh level of hell. Together they are: Spies in Tien Chi"

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Mosehansen's server runs Linux. That means that battle replays are incompatible when viewed on Windows machines, and the result you see will not bear any relationship to what actually happened. This tends to render them rather useless to look at it.

Illwinter is aware of this bug and might even fix it in the next patch. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">This, IMHO, is just some minor compensation for all of us Linux geeks who have to live with the Windows battle replays of other games... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

Ahhh, that's what was happening. Thank you Norfleet, that explains some strange things that I've noticed in Mosehaven's game that we've started this week. Any ETA on 2.09 patch by any chance?

As for roleplaying - personally I consider Dom2 to be Wargame/RPG hybrid. Agreed, there is more of wargame in it, but RPG elements are very strong. You (pretender), your leaders, unlimited abilities for customization of them with all different skills, magic schoolls, items, et cetera. It is defenetly more than just wargame with some RPG elemets tacked in to add flavor.

Since these two genres (RPG and strategy/wargames) are by far my favorite genres in all comuter games, you can see why I fall in love with this game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Regards,
Stormbinder

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

Norfleet, I've used mosen's server twice for games with friends and stuff and I've never had problems with replays. Despite having a windows computer. Perhaps, this isn't OS related like you think...? I'm running windows XP.

Also, on a more topically accurate note, well its certainly nice to know that we aren't the only ones that RP. I guess Dom2 is in some respects more of a old-style board war game, where stuff like RP would thrive.

[ March 20, 2004, 15:36: Message edited by: Spacepain ]

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

I also use WinXP for playing the games. AND I have a linux server for running the games. Ihave seen battle reports that dont match but as far as I can remember it doesnt happen if I am viewing the game on the same OS-type as did the hosting. I could test by playing games with WinXP as a server or with Linux as a server but I havent heard if they need any more verification of this bug.

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The replay bug will manifest when MR checks are involved, since that's where Illwinter believes the bug is situated: Windows will interpret the MR check rolls differently, and as a result, if a unit fails an MR check or passes an MR check that it passed or failed on the server, then what you're going to see will rapidly diverge. If you see your commander pass a Soul Slay and live, whereas the server says he failed and died, you're likely going to see your troops run over the enemy and win, whereas on the server, the authoritative Version, your commander died and your troops routed as a result, and you lost.

[ March 20, 2004, 23:36: Message edited by: Norfleet ]

Re: Roleplay and Dominions 2
 

Roleplaying in Dom2 is well...IMO alot more fun and adds alittle extra to the game. Its just plain fun =)

Since there is no thing called diplomacy in the game thats seems to be the only way you can do it (I like diplomacy) its fun signing pact and joining up with an allied to fight the heretics..or something (only to stab them in the back or rather in my case....be stabbed in the back http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif ). But its just a game and meant to be fun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ March 20, 2004, 23:53: Message edited by: AztraGoth ]