I think an RPR system like Arelith has is a bad idea. I've never liked it. Even if the system was perfect and all players could be observed and judged by a panel of DMs at all times, it would still suck. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effecthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome - bad RPers think they are good, good RPers think they are bad, and an evaluation system leads to resentment and accusations of favouritism.
I'm leaning towards two mechanics right now to encourage RP and RP-like behaviour:
1) We track how often players run versus walk between kills, and give an exp bonus on kill depending on the time spent walking. (no punishment for running - just a bonus for walking). If we were to track the last 5 minutes of activity, we might increase the exp by 100% for each minute spend walking in the past 5, so 5 full minutes of walking might result in 500% exp from that kill, whereas 1 minute of walking would or less would just give the normal exp. The "walking count" should reset with kill so people don't feel encouraged to walk during combat. Obviously these numbers would need to be tweaked. The "next kill" might be a bad idea because people might feel forced to walk around for 5 minutes between tough mobs. Maybe a flat exp % increase should be added instead, and the total time shouldn't be reset between kills, it should just stop tracking during combat. The goal is to ensure that the xp/hour rate is equal or greater when you walk compared to when you run.
2) We add an automated system that gives a flat skill exp boost depending on how many IC lines (emotes or chat) in the last time interval. This mechanic should be hidden - players should only know "being IC gives me more exp" and not understand how it actually works so they can't game it.
How do we encourage RP?
I think an RPR system like Arelith has is a bad idea. I've never liked it. Even if the system was perfect and all players could be observed and judged by a panel of DMs at all times, it would still suck. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome - bad RPers think they are good, good RPers think they are bad, and an evaluation system leads to resentment and accusations of favouritism.
I'm leaning towards two mechanics right now to encourage RP and RP-like behaviour:
1) We track how often players run versus walk between kills, and give an exp bonus on kill depending on the time spent walking. (no punishment for running - just a bonus for walking). If we were to track the last 5 minutes of activity, we might increase the exp by 100% for each minute spend walking in the past 5, so 5 full minutes of walking might result in 500% exp from that kill, whereas 1 minute of walking would or less would just give the normal exp. The "walking count" should reset with kill so people don't feel encouraged to walk during combat. Obviously these numbers would need to be tweaked. The "next kill" might be a bad idea because people might feel forced to walk around for 5 minutes between tough mobs. Maybe a flat exp % increase should be added instead, and the total time shouldn't be reset between kills, it should just stop tracking during combat. The goal is to ensure that the xp/hour rate is equal or greater when you walk compared to when you run.
2) We add an automated system that gives a flat skill exp boost depending on how many IC lines (emotes or chat) in the last time interval. This mechanic should be hidden - players should only know "being IC gives me more exp" and not understand how it actually works so they can't game it.