Ro-states

[[File:State of Firestone Stapleton County Scene.jpg|thumb|A roleplay scene in Stapleton County, Firestone, an experience associated with the ro-state State of Firestone.]]
Ro-states, also known as ro-nations, ro-countries, ro-cities, and ro-counties (depending on the political entity), are a type of roleplay group found throughout Roblox, where users roleplay as citizens, emergency and public services, and government officials of a real or fictional political entity. The vast majority of them have dedicated experiences for roleplay sessions, though some may use other roleplay games that suit their group's necessary interactions. Typically, the emergency services, public services, and government official roles are held by group members (or "department" subgroups linked to the main ro-state group), who are trained in their roles and have certain in-game abilities, such as job access or higher pay. They are similar to café groups in that users roleplay jobs they do not actually hold, in entities that do not actually exist.
It is unclear when the first ro-states were formed, though they are believed to have evolved from war clan groups. They first rose to prominence around the mid-to-late 2010s and were once very popular, with some ro-state experiences attracting hundreds or even thousands of players (as well as trolls and exploiters), but over time they began to decline with shifting user trends and the rise of popular experiences that facilitated similar dedicated gameplay, such as Emergency Response: Liberty County's private server system (where groups similar to ro-states exist, using ER:LC sessions in lieu of dedicated experiences). Notable examples of ro-states include State of Firestone, State of Mayflower, State of Ridgeway, and USA The United States of America. The first ro-states, State of Rockport and State of Amherst, were the most popular until Firestone creation.
== Gameplay ==
Gameplay in ro-state experiences generally centers around roleplaying life in a certain location. This location usually depends on the entity the ro-state roleplays, but it is typically the capital city, surrounded primarily by rural areas (typically out of technical interests; realistic urban areas are harder to traverse and are laggier unless the map is made very small, while rural areas are barren but more expansive). In the experience, players can roleplay life, interact with others, and act out scenarios that do not violate the group's rules.
If group membership is encouraged, members may be "citizens", while non-members are "tourists"; citizens are typically allowed to get civilian jobs, own vehicles and houses, and have higher pay, while tourists are essentially "guests" to the experience and typically have few privileges aside from roaming around and partaking in roleplay scenarios that affect them. Government and departmental positions such as law enforcement agencies, military branches, fire and rescue services, emergency medical services, transportation agencies, and government positions, typically require membership of external groups, an application form, and the completion of a training program. Many ro-states center their activities around these departments and their interactions with civilians. Depending on how strict the group is, these may require members to purchase uniform clothing items, attend events, and complete weekly or monthly shift quotas.
Ro-state experiences are typically heavily moderated and have at least one moderator attending each session. Players who commit fail roleplay (FRP; willful or unintentional violations of roleplay rules), troll, or exploit are usually kicked or banned.
== Behavior ==
Ro-states are known for having varying degrees of strictness, control, and external reach. Most ro-states have moderated sessions and heavily use external communities such as Discord servers. Users are typically required to have realistic-looking avatars and act as someone would in real life, with numerous rules dictating what can and cannot be done in roleplay sessions.
Some ro-state experiences are monetized and "gamified"—open to the public, with gameplay tasks to complete, and offering perks from passes (such as team access without group membership or powerful weaponry on civilian or criminal teams)—while others are more roleplay-focused and may only be accessible to group members.
How seriously the ro-state takes itself also varies; some members (usually high-ranking officials) may present themselves as "real" people, with their own portraits and even dedicated social media accounts, while others are more laid-back and may exist solely as a hobby for a smaller group.
Rarely, ro-states that roleplay countries may declare war on each other, though this is typically done on organized terms (making them essentially organized cross-group events, ranging from permitting state-sanctioned organized crime events to disrupt other states, to dedicated experiences for roleplayed battlefields, to group-versus-group tournaments on external fighting games such as Phantom Forces) and prohibits any major "underhanded" actions such as raids or Roblox Terms of Use violations.
Category:Communities by type