There are online MU*s that exist for the sheer purpose of providing an arena for players to hunt other players' characters. Others are merely the framework for a player to climb as her character stacks up gruesomely powerful stats and powers. However, most online RPers actually want to roleplay. How can a game's staff encourage this sort of environment?
A good start is to establish policies that reward sociopolitical gambits while making combat and PKills difficult to accomplish and subject to consequences. Want to murder a competitor? Fine, just be prepared for all the forensic evidence and random witnesses that can point a finger in your direction. It might be safer - and more fun - to run his business into the ground somehow... Concrete rewards in the form of experience point bonuses and influence help push players to find a creative solution.
Take a look at your character generation and advancement systems. Is there a broad variety of non-combat skills to select? Are detailed backgrounds required for approval? When a player wants to spend XP, do they have to support their requests with IC roleplay?
Use the in-game newspapers or other media to affect the characters' reputations. Code a rumor system for players to manipulate. Encourage the formation of coteries by offering groups extra influences within the social environment. When the groups form, ask that each submit a weekly activity log. This not only helps you plot tailored storylines, but also points out exceptional roleplay that deserves a bonus.
Aarinfel's god made these suggestions:
Names that don't fit the world's setting interfere with the suspension of disbelief that has to happen for good roleplay to occur. Also, it helps weed out the twinks right at the start, as most won't or can't think of a creative, original name.
This introduces newbies to the basic commands of the codebase and makes sure everyone is familiar with the MUD's theme before hitting the grid. Aarinfel's god points out that there'is another, subtle goal here as well. Suspension of disbelief takes time. Going through the school immerses the player step by step into the fantasy rather than dumping it on them at once and losing power.
In roleplay, anachronisms in the environment can be lethal to that all-important suspension of disbelief. The OOC mind picks up on the inconsistencies until it convinces the IC mind that it's a boring fraud of a game.
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