RP is more important and potent that UE.
This is great and I believe it for the most part. It is inspiring in a vague kind of way.
At the same time I have read statements written in support of this that come down to something like "There was this one character that pretty much owned half of Red X days after immigrating." This is where I start to frown in confusion and get lost. I just don't see how! I want to. I get all excited when I read these things but I have no idea how it is even possible.
I mean, a new character has little UE, little money, no contacts, and a general lack of information. How can one go from this to being a badass in just a few days via roleplay? How do they even know who to talk to? How do they get others to invest in them? How can they get things done? I just don't see it!
Not to complain but my most recent character is four weeks old and they are still largely a nobody. They have learned the names of a few other characters, scored a job and the like but that's about it. I find myself wondering, what could I have done differently to make my experience more like those I read about on the boards? What am I doing wrong?
What I try to do:
- Get out. If I think I will have more than an hour of playtime available, I get out. I hang in my place of work. I hang on the streets. I run crates. I ride the lev. I go to bars/restaurants/gyms/places.
- I try to stick around a bit when I see other characters present. Not so long that it is odd but long enough to give things a chance to start up.
- Reach out to other characters, especially when we seem to have a common interest.
- Explore new places.
What I think holds me back:
- I have a hard time finding a good IC goal for my character. Something concrete and actionable. I keep searching but have been trying to jump on as a supporter in another character's goal until I can come up with something solid of my own. Even when I do think of something (usually something fairly unimaginative and lame) I feel that my character is so weak, and so lacking in contacts and information that there is no way to get it done.
- I know that UE and money shouldn't mean much but I get scared to think that I might lose some of what I have earned. It feels like I have so little that losing anything would be a huge setback. I continuously strive to get past this on a daily basis.
- I suck at hanging around an chit-chatting. It's not my thing and it is hard to run a character who does this. At the same time it makes it hard for my character to develop contacts I think. How can they trust him enough to bring him in and involve him if they don't know him?
- Finding an IC way to say "I just really want to help you do your awesomeness right now because I suck at coming up with creative goals on my own" to another character in an IC way.