But role playing just feels so incredibly..... fake.

I interpret role playing as choosing a role; i.e. "The Dragon Princess" and then following through with that role. As in, to become a princess.

But the truth of the matter is that people are not likely to interpret you, even if you write a backstory for yourself, as what you write. Some of them might try to, if they like the novelty of the situation, but even those must interpret you as a person beyond "The Dragon Princess". Instead, you will be judged based on how you come across.

So lets say that I'm sitting there in Haven with my biogrpahy written up about my fantastic tales- of the people inspecting me, you've got the merchants whom are interested in how they can sell me, you've got the new players that just see you as possible free crowns/Help, and then you've got Mawashimono and co. who read what you've written and legitimately enjoy it for what it is. Then you go to inspect the merchants, and they've got something like "WTS VH CTR BTS WTB WTS Acheron WTS WTB CTR ASI Med PST" in their profile, or it'll be blank, and so on.

Deep down, we may all want to roleplay, because we all think that having a holy sword or being a tech knight or a space marine or what have you is pretty neat. The trouble, is that our war isn't against the construct or the gremlins, and we aren't going along with Feron or any of that. We can't all be the protagonist, and most of us are so far past the story that it doesn't even pertain to us any more.

Instead, you see a lot of people going off and making their own guilds, making their own identity. It isn't really them, but its something nice to hide behind once in a while, and it makes them feel secure. OOO cannot stop it, and while they cannot hope to facilitate it (the mission system crushes it by making the game cut and dry), it is and will remain the value of their game-- not pretending that you're part of some kind of strange spiral knights army.

What Mawashimono is asking for, is beyond the scope of what the developers have proven capable of accomplishing.

Adding in-game constructs would be nice, but people have been role-playing in much simpler MMORPGs (and well, actual role-playing games) for a long time. I can think of one I played that was so simple in terms of player interface that it didn't even have a trading system (item "drop" trading, so thieves with invisibility were a real threat, haha) and such.

The whole RP thing is really up to the community. Granted, the game I was thinking about actually had an RP server, but that was just so people who wanted to RP had their own community/characters separate from people who weren't really into it. It's just a little weird to see a clash between a roleplayer and someone who's disconnected from the game world and being themselves or what have you.

Actually, without such in-game constructs and with more manual things you have to do to maintain it, I think the role-play becomes much more engaging. Kind of how oldschool-gamers used to be engaged with drawing out maps in adventure video games because they weren't provided in-game.

Here on the forums, I state my true opinion and thoughts on things. I say what I would really want to say. Basically, I am "me" or in role play terms, "out of character."

But when I'm in game I do quite a bit of role playing here and there. 50% of the time I am role playing as a Recon Ranger. I even have 2 sets related to it. One of them is a completely all purpose layout that puts up a fair fight against everything. Another set is made for recon patrols which I use when I abruptly join into a party, fight with an auto gun for about 2 minutes (Even in tier 3 elite mode. I'm only there for 2 minutes, the worst that could happen is a lost ER), then salute and leave. I do this when I have to stop playing within the next 30 or so minutes. Open your parties in the arcade up and you may just get a visit from me. :D

The other 50% of the time I will equip my new Twilight Wolf set and go around acting like a furry. It ticks off one half of the community, but the other half seems to love it! Plus, it gives me an opportunity to use the Iron Slug. In most of my layouts, it is boring to use and unpractical. but in furry mode it matches me perfectly and actually turns out to be rather useful. Then of course, I for once actually pull out my long forgotten Skolver Cap. Even though I'm sick of Skolvers, for this particular layout it gives me just the offense and defense I need. So using this layout doesn't make me totally weak.

But as much fun as I have in these 2 role playing forms, every now and a then I just need to pull out my good 'ol Ironmight Plate, Sudaruska, Callahan, and Irontech Destroyer to just go and start tanking down the clockworks. Because I can run around all day long shooting Vanaduke with a Nerf gun or spinning rapidly around in Haven as a furry shouting "woof woof!", but being able to get hit by a lumber in tier 3 and only take 4 out of 23 pips of damage is really, REALLY satisfying.

Generally, the player controls a central game character, or multiple game characters, usually called a party, and achieves victory by completing a series of quests or reaching the conclusion of a central storyline. Players explore a game world, while solving puzzles and engaging in tactical combat. A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities, and characters are typically designed by the player. RPGs rarely challenge a player's physical coordination or reaction time, with the exception of action role-playing games.
Role-playing video games typically rely on a highly developed story and setting, which is divided into a number of quests. Players control one or several characters by issuing commands, which is performed by the character at an effectiveness determined by that character's numeric attributes. Often these attributes increase each time a character gains a level, and a character's level goes up each time the player accumulates a certain amount of experience.
~WP

Regardless of what you'd "classify" Spiral Knights as, it's a Role Playing Game. An MMOARPG to be precise.

Aside for my lack of ability to do RP, I agree with the fact that there's almost no detailed lore. I would happily join if there were a strong base to support my character, but right now everything is so... undefined? I mean, I have this knight. It never saw the skylark crashing/exploding/whatevhappenedtoit. It reached Haven just "crossing the chasm". The only artifacts it knows are the Recon modules.

My point is, the game has went through big changes, and is still changing. I can't make a RP backstory based on what I know, as it might change the next update...

A suggestion? Create a set of rules, define a base-story. Eg: can people join the Recon squad? Can you be Feron's friend? How do armors affect us (ice queen)? I don't know, I'm throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks...