Inspired by another thread, i would like to use this thread to start searching for an community for very special "roleplay" hearts of iron 4 games. I postet something similar before, but was unsatisfied with it, so here a redone version.
This thread is long, but everyone who is interested in roleplay might want to take the time and read it.
I decided to start searching now, because plan is to start right with the release of the game.
Plan is it, not to "play" and enjoy Hoi4, learn its mechanics/e.g, but to use the Game as "Roleplaying Platform".
How would it work?
First of all, all nations of relevance will be given to players:
Germany, Japan, Italy, Britain, America, Sowjet Union, China, British Empire
Each Country will be played by 3 different players, for the Axis and Sowjet Union that is:
1 Political Leader & 2 Generals
For Democratic Countrys, all 3 Players will share all roles. Dominions of the British Empire will be played by 1 single player each played dominion, and can influence the Empires foreign politics. Foreign Politics decisions of the Britain must therefore be voted for by the majority of all players within the British Empire.
All Players of one Country / Empire will be useing the same teamspeak channel. It is up to the team / channel members if they talk "in role" or not, however it is appreciated if members stay in role during the game - for that purpose there will be both, one in role- and one out of role channel.
For Diplomacy between two countrys or factions, there are dedicated teamspeak channels, in which each participant has to act in-role.
All Countrys/Teams also have one AAR writer each, that is dedicated to write down the chronicles of the match, as well as adds notions and flavour text.
The respectful country leaders of sowjet union and axis country have to make sure that they can play weekly, whereas the teams of democratic countrys can change from week to week, if players lose interest or dont find the time. Axis leaders can also demote and promote their team members, but cant be kicked out of the game entirely and must be given the chance to redeem themself.
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How would it look like? This example is under the assumption, that Hoi4 multiplayer will run better than eu4 multiplayer and therefore enable 20+ player matches even when the origin countrys of players vary much, and therefore enable 5 Player countrys.
Example 1: Germany.
Player 1: Fu
Player 2: Chef Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
Player 3: Admiral der Reichsflotte
Player 4: Generalfeldmarschall I
Player 5: Generalfeldmarschall II
1. Lets look at where the players probably are on the Teamspeak channel:
Teamspeak Channel
- Führerbunker
* Player 1
* Player 3
- Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
* Player 2
* Player 4
* Player 5
2. Now lets look what they talk about! (They, of course, speak in character).
Player 4: Chief, the II Army is stuck in an ongoing battle with sowjet forces near the city of XYZ, we request immediate air support as well as reinforcements, or we cant hold the position.
Player 2: The line must not fall. Air support out of question. General X (Player 5) will be send with the 4 Army as reinforcements as soon as possible.
Player 5: Reinforcing the II Army impossible sir, huge sowjet formations approaching, need to dig in or the position cant be held.
Player 2: I will immediatly check with the Fuhrer.
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Teamspeak Channel:
- Führerbunker
*Player 1
*Player 2
*Player 3
Player 2: Mein Fuhrer, dire news, the II army is stuck and about to be circled by sowjet forces. We need to retreat or the army will be lost.
Player 1: What about the 4th Army?
Player 2: The 4th Army is currently immobile my fuhrer. (Explaination).
Player 1: How can it be, that two armys are about to be cornered by the bolshewikis? What have you done with the wehrmacht you imbecile? How dare you! How dare you even consider retreating!? The position must be held under all circumstances!
Player 2: But my Fuhrer!
Player 1: Silence Mongrel!
Player 2: *silently submitts*
Teamspeak Channel
-Führerbunker
*Player 1
*Player 3
-Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
*Player 2
*Player 4
*Player 5
Player 2: I just contacted the fuhrer. The position must be held at all cost. Retreat out of question.
Player 4: *silently accepts*
Player 5: *silently accepts (or disobeys orders and lives with consequences).
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I guess after this example, everyone should understand whats meant by "in role communication".
Of course you can make up your positions within your faction and act according to it.
For instance: While one Great Britain player might be the prime minister and act like it, other players might be the leaders of canada, india or australia and communicate IC about trade and ressouce allocations, as well as reinforcements and expiditionary forces. American players might have two Generals, an Economy and Welfare Minister and a President, where (in peace times), the conversations between president and his ministers come along to talks about trade.
Eventually i am sure that there will be a lot of options for in-role communication between the players - especially when it comes down to politcs between the countrys.
Of course this is a rather "complicated" project, so starting early with finding participants is a must.
If we find the interest, we would (me and the team), would not only provide the teamspeak, but also establish a dedicated homepage and probably even an youtube channel for high quality AAR´s, provided we find someone who would enjoy doing a youtube Commentary of our game - of course with flavour notes.
Eventually the goal of this project is, to not only "play" the game, or "roleplay" during the match, but also to create an extensive alternate history scenario with huge amount of flavour. Thus, if we success, watching our AAR or listening to certain In-Role Teamspeak discussions shall feel as authentic as possible and shall feel more like reading a book, or watching an alternate history video / audiobook instead of an AAR.
To Participants/Interested People
Its needless to say, that this project will take a lot of time, and its not meant, nor should be taken as a simple Multiplayer Party/Event, especially because of the roleplaying aspect. Instead we would like you / the participant to view this project more like an club or sports activity instead of an "game", so that you/the participant will retain the necessary mindset for this project - the mindset to appear weekly upon a set time to play 3-5 hours of HOI4, even on days you might not feel like it (of course - illness and important occasions like wedding are exceptions and accepted excuses) (Note: This Rule of Appearing Each week does ONLY apply to positions of special importance, like Fuhrer or President, if your schedule isnt fixed, but you would like to participate, you could join as "volunteer", however in that case, you wont be able to play an important position.
So in short: Time Requirements:
Special Importance Position: 3-5 Hours Each Week Match Time, Probably Sundays. Must be sure to have time. Irreplacable. - Has a fixed Spot.
Important Position: For instance: Oberkommando Wehrmacht, Commander of Allied Forces: Must make sure to usually have time on set day for 3-5 Hours, - can however be replaced by the country leader if necessary (So if a player suddenly cant make it to the game anymore, he will lose his position / be demoted by the country leader instead of beeing kicked out - and replaced with a player that has more time at hands. - Has a fixed Spot.
Normal Position: For everyone who usually has time on the set weekly date, however without the need to stay all the time/be there every week, if he finds "replacement". - Has a fixed spot.
Volunteer: Basically Volunteers that want to participate, - are searched/permitted frequently, are not in the group and therefore do not have a fixed spot in the group.
Experience Requirements:
Basically everyone is welcome, who wants to give it an honest try, however people with pen and paper or other roleplay experience are welcomed and appreciated. But if you have never done something similar, dont feel shy to try it out. However you must bring the ability to differenciate "Real talk" from "In-Role" communication, since it might be possible that certain People will, in their roles, treat you disrespectfully or even outrageously - be aware that that does not imply that those people dislike you, even if they bring it out realistically, they might only be very into their role.
Language Requirements
For English speaking countrys, you are required to speak fluent english, however if you intend on playing a non english country, it is up to the country-leader what language is spoken in the team, as long as the team has an english capable faction/country leader.
Therefore you might be able to participate without english skills, or invite people without english skills, if your country speaks in their local language. If however a country team decides on a certain language in their country´s Teamspeak/in chat, important events must be translated into english afterwards.
The AAR must be written in english.
The Countrys and Positions:
(If you are interested in participation, state your country of interest, as well as the position you would like to participate in (Special Importance, Important, Normal, Volunteer). Note: The Majority of detailed Positions will be given to players by the respective country leaders during the game (promotion/demotion).
Germany
(Language Requirement: German)
1. Fuhrer: Takeo92
2. Position of Importance:
3. Normal Position:
BoooooogieMan
4. Normal Position: Taken
5. Normal Position:
Japan
1. Position of special Importance: Achmed242242
2. Position of Importance: Big Nev
3. Normal Position: DiegoVaz
4. Normal Position
5. Normal Position
Italy
1. Position of special Importance: Taken (Pending)
2. Normal Position
3. Normal Position
Closed Slot
Closed Slot
Rumania
1. Normal Position: Aederic
Hungary
1. Normal Position: Hunterheimlicht
Spain
1. Normal Position: Anzeginame (pending) or BBBD316
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13 needed Positions in Total, 3 Optional Positions.
Great Britain
1. Position of special importance
2. Normal Position: Risker34
3. Normal Position
4. Normal Position (Canada):
ErichVManstein
5. Normal Position (Australia): Gorganslayer
6. Normal Position (India - Optional)
United States
1. Special Importance: Magnus Imperator Rex
2. Normal Position:
3. Normal Position: Poh
4. Normal Position
5. Normal Position
Poland (Optional)
1. Normal Position
France (Optional)
1.
Pieman90
2. Normal Position
3. Normal Position
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10 needed positions, 5 Optional Positions
Sowjet Union
1. Position of Special Importance: Denkt
2. Normal Position
3. Normal Position
4. Normal Position
5. Normal Position (Optional)
China
1. Skyhascheese
2. Normal Position (Optional)
3. Normal Position (Optional)
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5 needed Positions
Volunteers:
Lifthrasil, Noobeless
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Total: 28 needed Positions, 12 Optional positions (of which 4 could be given out if needed).
Since the Game enables matches up to 32 Players, we would try to find players for as many positions as possible - and afterwards (depending on the game´s stability) calculate how many people can participate without the game running out of synch. If we have to cut players, we would probably cut out minor factions, france, and reduce the amount of max players / country to 3. If we have to "remove" players due to stability issues, the removed players can form a new group and will be supported doing so. (Basically 2 16 player sessions).
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So, if there is interest, feel free to participate. If we find enough interested people, we can grow this project together.
While there are already some interested people/a small group, no positions have been given out yet (except for germany and italy).
Also: If you think you can contribute to this project, feel free to tell us why: Are you dedicated youtuber? Experienced making high quality AAR´S? You are an Actor? Or are you an dedicated Modder and would like / be able to contribute with using your modding capabilitys to enable / realize new custom ingame events/decisions/options?
Looking forward to hear from you guys
Important: I guess it is important to note that we will play on speed 1 at all times, simply to the fact that if we play faster than speed 1, there wont be time to really "talk" and play your role. Playing speed 1 will provide you guys with the time to not only play your roles, but also, if you feel like it, work on other related things simultanously, like writing war plans, designing peace offers, write down documents, make up some flavour files or write a shortstory about an interesting battle.
Its basically up to you. So instead of letting the game "tick" its way during "calmer" times, you may make up a story of your own, like ranting with your felllow generals over the enemy´s propaganda, or reporting from a battle.
There are many, many ways to make the roleplay vivid, its just important that you are interested in it and see it as fun. For instance: Talking in speaking in-role, and talking in teamspeak in-role, while having bombs explode in the background is an totally different story immersion wise. (of course it shouldnt become too annoying).
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