I was going to continue this on a previous comment on the "pretitle and login message" or whatever it's called, topic. Then I decided this warrented it's on topic, so here it goes:
I think the main problem with RPL's was the fact they couldn't do much that really affected the game. Without a lot of prep work, they could use the room echo to make it look like something happened that didn't really happen. With a lot of prep work, they can do a lot - but they have to involve some IMM who also has a life and has to have their arm twisted to build rooms/items for them and then set it all up in game. And the last few years no-one's really responded to the "lots of prep work" rps very well. It's like you have to twist the players arms to play. Riley had some really neat roleplays that took time to build and set up and we were able to force about 5 people to go through it and play along.
And yes, I know everyone has a life and with all the different timezones to cover, it's really hard to be able to have the RPL's on when needed/wanted always running events.
If I could, I would have an RPL from each time zone and be working with them. But, as noted with the above changes going in to help RPL's be able to do more, there has to be a lot of trust put into the RPL and because of that, it's not just for anyone and there may not be people in every time zone (or even every other time zone) that's right for the job.
I'd also like RPL's to have their own "working" area in the build port - this makes it so they don't have to bug an IMM to build their stuff, they can build it how THEY want it, though of course there would have to be a check over the items/rooms/mobs/etc to make sure they still fit our guidelines. They would still need an IMM to put it in the game though. This means that most RPL's probably should be able to build - at least hook a few sentences together that makes sense - but I won't require it for everyone because if you can create very good roleplay situations on the spot and don't really have need of all the big prep things, you may still be a good choice for an RPL.
Most of all, I want RPL's to be able to help the roleplayers have fun. We've been getting quite a few people looking for RP, but they also don't want to be forced to have to roleplay ALL the time. What's the fun of making friends if you HAVE to be in character with them and you can't talk to them like a real person some of the time? But that's just my opinion.
I guess what this all boils down to is I've basically made myself the head of Roleplay Leaders (whether or not someone else wanted the job) and am looking for a few good people. If you're interested, give me a holler. If you don't hear back from me, you may have to poke me to remind me you asked about it. And if you get a "I'm not sure you're a good fit", don't hold it against me. I'll be asking other IMM's for their thoughts as well because trust has to be a universal thing for us to give out the title of RPL.
