Roleplayers, their classes, and you

[Solmage]

So basically:
Roleplay for fun? Sure.
Play an unusual build? Sure if you are still efficiant and usefull.
Use roleplay as an excuse to run a useless toon? No.

/QFT

Actually, most of what I've read on the forums seems to indicate that (post-level 10, anyway) if you can't get your AC over 40 [..]

Well, considering that 42 was the AC of my ranger at level SIX, why, yes, you might imagine that at level 16 it might not be particularly useful. But just because you're a barbarian doesn't mean you should ignore damage mitigation, nor is it impossible to reach a decent AC. (enhancements that help you get more healing out of each cast (human), displacement (elf), DR docents such as defiance (WF), etc)

Having said that, yes the barb armor was a particular bad example from Venar. A better one would be one in which he doesn't use magic weapons because he's scared of magic. About as fun as the "wizard who got traumatized in an experiment and doesn't cast spells, just swings his quarterstaff", etc.

[branmakmuffin]

When I put together a PUG, my only real goal is to get the quest done. Having a good time in the process is a definite plus

I can't believe you wrote that. Think about what that means (yes, I know I snipped it, but not out of context). You're saying getting the quest done is the most important thing, and if it's also fun, then fine. That implies that if it's not fun, that's also fine.

If the game is not fun 100% of the time, why do you play it?

[Draccus]

True roleplaying, in any game system, requires a human DM. DDO is a fantastic approximation of tabletop RPGing but the lack of a human DM is the glaring reason why true roleplaying won't work here.

A human DM's job is to cater the encounters to challenge his players and make the game fun. If one of his players is an un-optimized, non-standard, unique character, he can easily adjust any aspect of the game to make it enjoyable for the party.

As an easy example, when I was a kid and playing 1st Edition D&D, we would have very different sessions if, say, the cleric couldn't join us that day. He could tailor the encounter to our current party, mood, or roleplaying attitude on the fly.

DDO can't do that. A human DM could probably make a non-healing cleric work but DDO can't...and shouldn't be expected to.

[VonBek]

For Example:

An Evil Cleric who concentrates on melee/tanking and harming magic, instead of healing.

Wat a minute, I run with this guy!

EDIT: direct answer: I would not generally boot someone for less than ideal play.

A few of us got together to build our own experience within DDO (the purple part of my sig). We wanted to build for our own idea of fun rather than min-maxing, optimizing, loot mongering, whatever... When someone outside of our group runs with us, we ask them how they like to play, and let them play the way they envisioned.

That evil cleric heals from time to time. But he's no healbot, by any stretch.

FWIW, It works pretty well when we run at an easy pace. It allows us to relax and read the DM text, admire the artwork, and pick some flowers.

[branmakmuffin]

A human DM could probably make a non-healing cleric work but DDO can't...and shouldn't be expected to.

What, you're saying we shouldn't expect any improvements over what we have now in the area of AI? We have reached the pinnacle of AI? So we'll never get to meet HAL, or WOPR, or Colossus, or C3PO?