[Poruku]

In d&d, there's this idea that some players are more proactive, while some are content to be spectators. To follow the story set out before them, or to use it as a playground for their own ideas. In d&d, a variety of player styles is ideal, and you certainly don't want too many "proactives", otherwise they might clash. Some players need to be "spectators" as well.

SL2 is a different ballgame, where there is no dungeon master. There is no set story, aside from Eventmins. However, events only serve as an occasional injection of content that can stimulate roleplay, without being the main bulk of the game. Without guidance, one is left to wander this vast world.

People interact in many ways in SL2, but most prominent of all is conversing randomly with people. Go to a place with people, get into a conversation, maybe order a drink. Public rp is the bulk of sl2 for the majority of players. Of course some make their own group, and context. But most of what they do is still mostly talking. There's also sparring, which is a good way to stimulate some rp and have fun at the same time. Or maybe do some grinding and talk in the meantime.

But that's not all we're here for, right? What about the "good shit"? Those rp scenes where ideals clash, rife with emotional moments, crying and rage? Where awesome things happen? Well, it can come in a few forms.
- Developing a character's personal story
This is when someone's character has a certain story tied to them, that is set up in a way that can develop over time. Perhaps they have trauma to resolve, unfinished business, things they desire and could attain. Flaws they need to fix? In all these cases, the character might interact with other people and drag them along. As people grow closer to the character, they may unravel layers of the story, and progress it. This is a style that keeps finding success, and I highly recommend it. At character creation, just ask yourself, not just what the backstory is, but where is this character going? What things need be resolved? What hooks can you give people? Sometimes just having an idea will really push your character to the next level when it comes to enjoying the game. In some cases, there's even events tied to it.
- Internal Conflict
When two characters have strong convictions that are opposed, it may cause conflict organically. A small disagreement on how to handle a situation can turn into an amazing scene, in some cases. To reach this point, you need to have characters with strong beliefs and convictions.
- External Conflict
This is either events or antagonists that cause things to happen to characters without them requesting or writing it.

In the browser video game Sigrogana Legend 2 for PC and Mac, these types of occurrences are few and far between. In most cases, a long time will pass without any of these occurring to your character. That is, unless you do it yourself.

Now, let's come back to the topic at hand. That is, "actors" and "writers".
It is a sandbox game where anything can happen. And you need writers to make things happen in order for the actors to participate. I think this balance is certainly skewed towards "actors" at the moment, and I don't blame them for it of course. Just look at traditional roleplaying games like D&D... They have a DM there, constantly offering content and conflict. In sl2, we must grow content to have simple conversations. And you know what? In many cases, you can have a very fun conversation.

Personally, I'm more of a proactive person. I like to create conflict, the third category of my aforementioned, arbitrary list. Though it doesn't always end up in the "good shit" territory, I am so hopelessly addicted to that feeling, I will keep trying and trying and making content and bad guys and have things happen, until it happens again, and again. That's why I play the way I do! I am butting my head against people until shit sticks to the wall and we get something great on our hands. And perhaps I can progress someone's personal story at the same time, get them things to rp about it in downtime as well.

Though I want to mention something, I feel like this style of playing the game has made me oddly isolated. I don't know if this is the case for others, but, perhaps since I'm so inconsistent, I feel like I have very few deep connections in terms of the ooc landscape. I'm just a guy passing by, dropping little evil dudes in random places. I shake a lot of hands, and have fun with many, but ultimately end up moving on as soon as things slow down. I am kinda jealous of people who have found their place and little in-group. I wish I had a little group of people I rp with all the time and we play off of each other and make new stories when the river dries up. But I guess in a way, that's what the entire sl2 community is to me... I love you guys! Anyway.

Something To Add
SL2 is definitely a game that could benefit from having a fourth starter of deep roleplay: simulation! We live in an extremely static world, in sl2. There's simply nothing that changes without players specifically doing stuff. I think roleplay could happen organically through merely game mechanics... It's something I've wanted from this game for a long time. We focus too much on events as a source of conflict, but I really think there's a million avenues that are unexplored. Resources, territory, contested things, goals to work towards, etc. In the past, people have taken simple in-game occurances and turned them into massive groups and stories. Look at the black beasts in G6. We had this thing where militias were formed, and we also had that one fire-themed group that was mercenaries that exterminated them, and it was a whole thing. There's something to it! Maybe we can supplement the sandbox element with more ways for people to simply... "Actor" their way through the video game. Food for thought!