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World of Warcraft General Article: Trying the Waters: Role-Playing
MMORPG.com EVE Survivor Guy tries his hand at surviving in another medium as Adam Tingle makes his first forray into the world of role-playing... with mixed results.
By Adam Tingle on May 11, 2010
Given the fact that you are perusing the pages of a website solely focused on the MMORPG genre, I will accept that you undoubtedly have a love of this addictive, opiate like, social life consuming, bone chillingly brilliant entertainment source. From World of Warcraft through to Eve Online, this is a genre that devours our free time with reckless abandon; its depth is our undoing, its many facets of game play- our mistress. My personal love affair with MMORPGs started with the game EverQuest at the turn of millennium; since then I have enjoyed the grind, the questing, the exploring, the player battling- I have joyously reveled at it all except for one element; an element in the very title of the genre; an element almost intrinsic to the experience: Role-playing.
Like many of my kin, I am a straight laced, stiff upper lipped, tea drinking and no nonsense English man. I scoff at the wonders of the Internet and sigh with resignation at those thespian sorts, I have no need for silly antics- it just doesn't wash with me. When it comes to approaching role-playing on the various MMORPGs I have frequented, I have shuffled away in embarrassment; when asked to discuss "the rumblings in the south" or the "dangers the Litch provides in Northrend" I simply spit on the metaphorical floor, mumble something about "not on my land" and wander away in an angry and anxious daze. I am an angst-filled, nervous and uncomfortable sort when I act normal; force me to take on the personality of an Elf and discuss my beginnings as a Druid and I would melt into the fabric of reality, screaming and proclaiming I am indeed the "Lizard Queen."
Putting all of this aside however, recently I have been wondering about the element of the genre that is role-playing: the true gateway to immersion and virtual escapism. I often find myself bemoaning and grudgingly complaining how games of this generation no longer offer the devouring adventure that earlier titles offered; surely they do but just in another form? Maybe through a different medium of gaming approach? My once strong resolve to steer clear of such nonsense was beginning to thaw, maybe in the name of science I could dabble for a while? Report my findings and discuss debate and inquire with you, my audience.
In the name of journalism I decided to take up this task and see what it was all about; choosing World of Warcraft as the site of my experiment I spent some time crafting a character, advancing to level 7 and finally introducing myself to this new world. I was Trevorr the mage, perhaps I was a righteous sort who championed good deeds, maybe I was an evil cannibal who answered the calls of an imaginary goblin by the name of Kizzwazz; I hadn't decided yet but I was about to dip my toes into the role-playing waters and find out.
I sat in the Inn in Goldshire, possibly the most uncomfortable and awkward I have ever been; to the left of me was a bear dancing on a table requesting tips and adulation; to the right of me were four men mumbling about their evil deeds and scandalous plans. I was in an alien place. Where were the constant Chuck Norris jokes? The constant and infinite Duel requests? This wasn't the game I knew and here I was sat in the middle of my perceived madness, inviting conversation and trying to really get into the spirit of it all.
After sitting in the Inn for about half an hour soaking in the atmosphere I decided to approach the four evil doers and challenge them; feeling a little brave I decided on a course of taunting "you are not evil" I proclaimed "go away" came the response, I grew bolder "I am Trevor, minion of Kizzwazz the goblin, your so called evil antics are pitiful, watch me as I wreak destruction" at this cue I let off a firework in the inn, smirking in reality at what a virtual bastard I was; "Is this guy serious?" came the thoroughly unimpressed response, " I am totally for real Kalid" I replied in defiance, this was my mistake "Oh he's a loller, he said my name, go away loller" what followed was like a scene from the Wild West, I was ushered from the Inn by all, spat at and hated.
I think the biggest misconception about role-playing is that it is a little devil-may-care and random in inception. I had come to my character without an idea or clue what I was doing and simply going with the flow so to speak; to my ignorance many of the players who indulge in this element of gaming craft their characters, realize a story for themselves and take it quite seriously; and rightfully so; my first dozen interactions with people resulted in myself being titled a "loller" and one only there to poke fun at people simply enjoying what they are involved in. The last thing I wanted to do was tease the players as I admired the fact they could find the joy in something I could not allow myself to do through idiotic embarrassment and misplaced self awareness. I decided to try again but relocating to Stormwind City and its relative safety.
Although trying to take this all seriously, I had a tendency to lapse into the moronic and my voyeuristic study of role-playing was fading away into a ginger bearded man running around in his pants proclaiming to all that sexual adventure could be had in the Slaughtered Lamb Inn. I was seriously trying to partake in the game but in doing so I was hiding behind a cloak of humor and silliness, this was the only way I was going to ease my way into role-playing and to my surprise, I was actually enjoying myself and the various interactions I was receiving.
The one thing that had struck me in my time on the role-playing realm was how functional Stormwind City was everywhere else; the auction house and bank was the mechanical centre of proceedings and literally everything else was ignored until its purpose was fulfilled; now as I ventured through the city I found players sat around on usually desolate benches, dwarves fishing off of various jetties; once abandoned pubs filled and brimming with activity. Although in a sense this was all make-believe, I really appreciated just what the players here where achieving, the game had become more immersive than thought possible; people conversed and socialized, events took place at regular intervals; I was used to playing a game filled with thousands of players but with all social interaction cancelled down into a few "Heal Plz" and "Noob tank". This was enlightening to see.
I pressed on pushing the boundaries of my comfort as I came across a solitary figure sitting alone in an Inn at the centre of Stormwind. "Hello, I am Trevorr, Kizzwazz bless you" I nervously anticipated response, "Hello, who is Kizzwazz?" at last, my imagination was paying off "my goblin master, he is sat next to you" I was beginning to get into this now "Oh, I don't see anyone, thank you for talking to me, I have been so down since my father was murdered by the scourge" I was sensing that a friend could be made here, "That sounds awful, of course Kizzwazz ordered me to eat my father to obtain his power" this guy was cool, we were probably going to go dancing after a small chat, "that is awful! You're a monster! Why did you do that? Get away from me!" with that the man left, I was downtrodden, perhaps a cannibal psychopath wasn't the way to make friends, in any case I took down the man's name and decided that I would mail him with various snippets of my inner mental issues.
)
After my conversation of family regicide and feasting, I wandered down to the Cathedral of Light with devilish intent. Outside were a number of players, mainly Priest and Paladins and I decided upon my course of action; "Just how do we know the Light exist?" My human atheistic tendencies were puncturing through to WoW. What followed was muttered response of "What?" and a few demonstrative heals and buffs with the proviso that here is your proof. I would merely respond "human witchcraft and trickery" and watch the ensuing debate and chaos, people really get touchy when you question their virtual faith I can tell you. This interaction was ended with my proclamation "you are living a life of lie" and I ran away cackling to myself.
I progressed through the day in a similar manner, sometimes I would converse for a while, other times I would be ousted as a "loller' and chased away. To my surprise I was really enjoying playing, the sheer amount of interaction with others I had received had probably surpassed all that I had encountered of three years of playing World of Warcraft. There was a real friendliness to be obtained here and it reminded me of my beginnings playing EverQuest way back when. Everybody seemingly wanted to interact and the only rule was not to poke fun or be moronic. I felt like I had discovered something, overjoyed that the genre was not as lonely as I perceived to be of late.
I had only tasted a day's worth of roleplaying but I wished to progress and develop further my study of this element of gameplay; I wished to obtain a more serious view and lose my façade of idiotic ramblings. One more trip into the world of Trevorr was in order and I hope you will join me once more.
Glad to see your experimentation with roleplaying went more smoothly than did Jaime's. It's possible to find decent roleplayers to interact with. Keep it up and they might even become actual friends.
You've had much better luck than I. Any RP server I try to play on, the RP is largely dead and gone.
I don't think there's a worse game and location combo you could have picked for your first role-playing experience. :)
RP can be found in WoW, but it's far better to stick to the less frequented areas of Stormwind/Silvermoon for it (such as the elven quarter in SW and Murder Row in SMC). Server selection is vital as well - Moon Guard is still the premier RP hotspot, so far as I'm aware.
However, if you really want to jump right into RP I'd recommend joining Landroval in Lord of the Rings Online. It has some of the most solid RP I've seen outside of Neverwinter Nights (which will forever remain in my mind as the pinnacle of online roleplaying).
AoC at the least used to have good RP, not sure how it is now. Personally, I've had aweful experiences with WoW RP and though I am a person who absolutely loves RP, and Do play WoW, I will never, EVER try to mix those two again.. ^^
As stated, LotRO has good RP as well, or so I've heard. :) Never liked the game much though. ^^
A shame for you that you missed the high tide of Biowares Never winter nights, that was the pinnacle of online Role play in a video game, nothing will come close or emulate it now because it simply would not be profitable.
Wow's RP is a fleeting thing, on a server where the RP is good expect it to last a year before it starts to degrade, its worse now because of the "Ease of content" means people who previously would Play and Role play now have more to do when "Playing" so less time to spend Role playing.
Enjoy it, but there are better games for RP, there are worse ones too, but there are better.
Sadly NWNs time has passed the few RP servers left are full of insular people who refuse to welcome a new comer to the fold, also stay away from Goldshire and Silvermoon if you want roleplay. Stormwind and Ironforge are not much better but atleast the stormwind park and mage district have some sanctums for this style of play.
Once you get into the RP, travel around and engage in RP on the go, nothing was more fun than random RP in Winterspring or even Darnassus/Thunderbluff which are fantastic cities for RP as they are low population and have amazing vistas and backdrops.
Enjoy.
I just love how the first group tore in to him... Makes me ashamed of being an RP:er. Saddly many thinks like this... "my character exists in a bubble and there is no way anyone can know him or her from anywere in the world. " a good friend of my used a whole LARP setting upp events that would take place about two weeks after the larp has ended. That is realy thinking like you character. Not like this elitist snobs.
He roleplayed a dick...he got treated like a dick...wow.
Yes but the point was... he got treated this way OOC... Not IC. A very big difference in my mind.
He got treated that way because no one took him seriously. He came off as someone making fun of RP and they treated like someone mocking it. Who goes around saying they ate their parents in real life without being locked up. Then he says he is going to start emailing the person about his "mental issues". He mocked the whole purpose of RP to create a realistic character that fits into the gaming world. Instead he created a dick personoa of extremes and then expected people to treat him in a realistic RP fashion. In the World of Warcraft setting if some guy said he killed and ate his parents because of a demon goblin....well quests in the game to kill people have been done for less. I would not give that kind of crap the time of day and I would treat him like crap for his percieved mocking of RP.
Hm.. On another note, it never hurts to check out a few RP guides that are on the net. ;) I'm sure you can find some good ones after a quick google and it always helps if you are completely and utterly new..
Has he been the tramline yet ...
thats where all the usual 'RP' happens
On the server I mostly play on, the 'RP' is mostly cybersex, and they don't do it in private channels a lot of the time. Wish the GMs still enforced the channels.
geeeeze!!!!! calm down horusra!!! first time rp'ers arent all knowing when it comes to the art of roleplay. and if you have read the online comic LFG then you know wow mentalities can be of that nature.
ive tried rp'ing a few times and its hard as fuck to get into if you havent been doing it since you were 15 in your parents basement playing D&D. and myself and others usually do create kinda off kilter personalities for our toons when we do try to get into it. not to mock your precious rp'ing but to try to get ourselves into while still finding fun in the fact.
so take your smug stick out of your ass and dont be such an elitest. especially in WOW, a demon goblin thing could make a mage eat his parents for power. hell i would!
Well the good news is that if he's moved on to embarrassing himself in WoW, he must be through embarrassing himself in EVE Online.
I'm looking forward to reading Adam's 7-part series on how he tried to cook a meal with his microwave oven.
I am happy to say that I am half way through that article and I can tell you, it isn't easy.
In regards to the comments that I was roleplaying a "Dick" in fairness I am new to this- I have researched it to an extent and as pointed out in the article, I approached it with a layer of humour in attempt to partcipate. This doesn't come natrual to me, the sillyness is just my way of dealing with something alien to my personality like this.
it's allright to be silly, just remember that everyone is supposed to get a share of enjoyment. roleplaying is inherently social experience. it's not good enough if only you are laughing.
I enjoyed the article and see nothing wrong with the effort made. Roleplayers - at least the ones not full of themselves - can have a sense of humor. Actually they are my favorite kind. And if they do not enjoy your humor, there are ways to address that, in character, without insulting someone, having a snit and walking off.
Unfortunately the favorite game of some roleplayers is the "you're not doing it right" game. What is right? The way they are doing it. Oh and you also have to be them lol. It's basically that they roleplay, you are supposed to be impressed, and then they explain why your roleplay sucks.
So keep going and write more. Don't change a thing. You will eventually find a very fun group of people who will enjoy what you are doing. You have already shown you have an imagination. As opposed to "the scourge killed my parents" nonsense. I'll bet she stayed up all night thinking that one up.
OMG! This article had me CRACKING UP!
Dude, do you realize how awesome you are at RP ALREADY!
My first RP character was an emo Elf Paladin hellbent on desroying an evil vampire assassin guild from the inside, but falling in love with one of the vampires and eventually accepting the guild.
It was the stupidest RP character...ever...but I had so much freakin fun. I just can't seem to find that anymore. The last time I really enjoyed RP was when I created a character that was a dragon hunter and went around bonking whelps on the head and insisting that they leave Silvermoon.
Let me just say, if you let your character get too real and too serious, you'll lose the magic. If you log on and aren't having fun with your character, you need to make him fun. For the longest time now I have been saying to myself "If I just make a serious RP character and get in a good guild and...blahblahblah" yah...no. YOU have to make the RP. Always remember that. Very rarely will you have RP made for you. Just have fun with it and play a character that YOU enjoy. If you let others dictate your enjoyment, you'll mope around Stormwind unhappy, bored, and not having fun.
Yeah, personally I rather liked the idea of some crazy mage. Mages in other games tend to have familiars, yours just seems to wish he was born an imp instead.
The first group of people were just elitest pr***s, and instead of trying to offer any advice, or comment on the use of items to try and add flair to your post, they just told you to essentially "GTFO".
That second one, not quite the most original back story, but his response was more tame, and most likely came from his character's personality and not some elitest attitude.
And I applaud the action taken towards the foolish paladins and priests of the alliance! Believing their power comes from some holier-than-thou omnipresence, when the true paladins derive it from the Naaru themselves.
I'm surprised that you picked WOW to try RP-ing out. I haven't played it in a few years and I DID RP on it when I did (I love RP, old school Pen & Paper and MUDer here) but my impression was always that it's one of the worst environments for RP.
I play LOTRO now (Elendilmir) and that game has a pretty good RP environment.
If your new to RP it can help to start out with a little less outlandish character to test the waters. Nothing wrong with RPing an outlandish character...or frankly RPing any sort of style you like. People need to be a little less judgmental....but the more outlandish you are, the tougher it can be to pull off well.... especialy if you are just starting out.
I think I tried RP for a while when I was younger and enjoyed it. Tried it again on WoW because I am an active player. Honestly, it was not enjoyable at all. I picked a Priest to player around, and some person randomly starts talking to me and how to play my priest, knowing that I have been on WoW for a good 4 years.
So I don't see myself going back to RPing any time soon. =/ The enviroments in WoW are great and if I could find the perfect start to begin RPing I know I could have some great fun.
watch out for Pornshire
This guy sounds exactly like the kind of person I want to RP with. The biggest downfall for RPers IMO is the ones that take themselves WAY too seriously. Isn't the point to have fun?
Hm, I always thought RP servers were full of awkward moments and sarcasm, which, aside from the fact I already have my mage on another server, deterred me from going to them. This may because on my first hour on an RP server I got detered severely by the equivelent of WoW chatroulette.
What puts me off from MMOs these days is... well, I guess the demeaned social interaction that takes away all personality that you spoke of. I don't want to be part of some machine, fulfilling a role robotically. If I do I at least want to have fun doing it (BFBC2). Really, RP servers, for someone like me who is a writer and has forum RPed, and has a library of characters, some based on WoW, with completely full backstories and personalities... I could really get into this.
As long as I don't have to get told off by a 12 year old for whatever reason, or be pressured so I don't get told off by said 12 year old.
On the issue of loller... I do know that if you ask for help, saying you're new, someone's bound to help. Another thing I like about RPers: they may be serious, but they're not assholes. Well, there's alot less of them per server anyway.
Give RP a go, like the OP you may be surprised at how good it can be. Sure there are issues, is there anything we do in life that does not have issues? At its best RP brings a MMO to life, until you have tried it you don't realise your avatar has not yet been born.
I admire that you're trying to look at this as seriously as one who has never RPed before can, and it's only natural that faux pas can happen. As you've probably figured out now, names are a touchy subject in character. Just because the meta game has a name helpfully floating above the avatars' heads doesn't mean you know it out right. I tend to be more lenient about that, but one way to look at it is conversation fodder. Simply asking someone's name can lead into an interesting interaction.
One piece of advice I can offer that'll really help is to try to stick with the context of the game world. Read up on Alliance race lore-- heck, even ALL the lore if you're really into reading. There's tons of it available. That'll help ground you in the context of your character's settings. That's not to say your idea of being a member of a cannibal cult of one is bad per se, but it's kind of out there. Reign it in a little since you're a novice at this, and don't try to be so "unique" that you come off as a so-called loller. That's one of the tactics of people who really are making fun of RPers. They go waaaay overboard on purpose to try to get a negative reaction. Basically trolling for attention. I can see how maybe some of the people reacted the way they did because they thought you were trying to set them up "for the lulz", as they say.
I'll be interested in reading your next entry. Roleplay can really be enjoyable if you find people you're able to bounce off of on the fly. Some of my best times in WoW has been in the Pig & Whistle tavern in Old Town just rattling off stories and otherwise interacting with other people who really got into their characters. That was on Wymrest Accord, so your mileage may vary depending on the server.
Awesome post. It really makes me want to get involved in my games more in terms of role playing and what I do in the worlds. What I really like was when you said that it made MMORPGs seem more social again, like how they are suppose to be. When people start mimicking real life anti-social practices in games( i.e. looking at the ground as they pass by without saying hi or even a smile, or even being able to look at anothers eyeballs walking by) I start to lose hope in the world. What's the point of the unconnected self-conciousness? I am guilty of it too though. We all make this world what is and the same goes for virtual worlds.
WoW imho was always very limited on RP and their most of the few that did RP only interact with a select few and only during certain days of the week it seemed. I strongly believe that Lotro has the largest and most friendly RP community out there, specificly on the Landroval server.
Right. The rule in RP is to always stay IC, even if somebody annoys you or if the person doesn't fit in your storyline. So the Goldshire taverners were the real rule-breakers here.
It's great that somebody just jumps in and starts playing his character. It would create more variation and perhaps diminish RP elitism if more players would do that.
(On my EU server Goldshire is the retard/cyber pit, and it's in fact the place where people are 'allowed' to jerk around and be OOC)
So in researching something you instantly take the most extreme anti-social approach to bring about negative responses from people? Your silliness is extactly why you brought about a negative response. People like to RP because they like to get away create another person not themselves that can function in the society of the world they are playing it. Be it an eccentric collector or scholar that has to stop and read every book, a gold hungry halfling that tries to steal everything, an undead looking for redemption, an orc looking for a human lover even. But in then end while flawed they are acceptable into the game because they are understood. You played a mentally handicapped wizard with psycho-social attitudes that instantly will make people think you (the person behind the keyboard) are mocking them or you really are socially handicapped. It is like in a non-rp world making a priest and telling everyone that you will only tank. Instantly no one will like you or give you a chance unless they knew you in the real world.
Rp'ing, which is a failed experience in games, is not about creating the most extreme personality and making others accept it. Extreme personalities in the real world tend to live lonely lives, the same as it will be in the game. Instead make a character. Create a background. Give yourself a flaw and work from their. Most people do not go around talking about their flaws. Instead let others try to figure it out. If you are going to make a psycho character people are going to treat you like they would a psycho in the real world. Would you stay in the room with a person that admitted to killing and eating their parents to "gain their power"? Probably not.
RP is about escaping. It is usually not about being an ass. People think it is elitism because they can not come in with their extreme personalities that would never work in the real world and have people accept them. Instantly they say "those people are pricks." When in truth you were the prick trying to have fun at their expense even if you did not intend it.
I have to agree with Horusa on this one. Just because it wasn't meant as an insult doesn't mean it wasn't. You wouldn't dress like a hasidic jew on the first day you asked about judaism. And if you did, then the community would be right to question your sincerity.
The easiest way to roleplay is to imagine what YOU would do in that exact same situation. It's already tough enough putting yourself in the shoes of someone that see's Orcs and the Undead every day. If a zombie clawed his way up through your office floor right now you wouldn't roll a dice to see what happens. No, you'd either piss yourself or you'd take your chair and go to work on his face ... or both.
As a real human, you do the first. But as a roleplayer, you look past the dice (or the random number generator in the game) because its result is no longer what is important. What's important is that you just saw a zombie. That your friends are under attack. And you have tools you've learned to help defend them.
But the good news is that you've stumbled upon a fact very few mainstream players ever realize. Players make it a game. ROLE-Players make it a world. And if it isn't a world, even the 'typical' player will feel like it is missing something.
One thing that everyone needs to understand is, Rping isn't this basement dwellers, weird, adult playing make beleave thing. It is an art of story telling, an art of the imagination. It is the art of improvising, improvising and synchronizing your true tallent with anothers artist imagination. To me it's like people playing beautiful music together. Perfectly synchronizing improvized ideas from feeling and imagination. It is a skill and a gift. This guy going into a game like WoW and telling people a goblin told him to eat his parents and then writing a story about how he rp'ed is poor journalism. It's like him saying, "hey im going to try playing guitar and write about how i made music". You didn't make music, you just picked up a guitar, hit abunch of strings at random, and made very insulting noises.
I know im going to get alot of people talking crap about my post, but im going to say it because people need to know what real RP is.
Well said. :)
That isn't RP, that is playing make beleave.
Rp must be much different today than it was from the days of Textbase MMOs. Maybe that's why people feel it is a joke nowadays..
In some ways you are more limited in your RP when the visual is provided. You have to work in the constraints of what you are given. There are only so many ways you can make your character look in modern MMO's and that look might not fit what you wanted. Also the roles are more defined and less flexible. Back in PnP games you could be a wizard with only illusion spells and be very kick ass if the game master or DM worked with you. You really can not do that in the constraints of games today.
What server? I dont see a Trevorr on any RP server, Maybe he deleted?
Interesting to get a non RP-ers take on things. I have RPed a bit in WoW. Not much to be had, but the few times I got to, it was pretty fun. Had a great Forsaken Rogue that I never got to RP...
In a MMORPG? Essentially, yes. When there's no dungeon master or set parameters that define a character's personality (stats like Charisma, Constitution, etc.), you pretty much have to play it off the cuff. I'd love to see a more structured RP environment in a MMORPG, but I just don't see how it'd be financially successful. A game needs to turn a profit, after all.
NWN persistant worlds are about as close as you can get to a Computer RPG experience that mimics the good old days of Pen & Paper.
I would agree with this statement. I have played WoW on RP server and is was alright for about six months, then it slowly turned into a OOC mess like any other normal server. I think part of the problem is WoW lore isn't that deep anyway, and the players who sub for the game long-term just end up playing it as a social kind of thing.
Glad you tried RP. I've wanted to but the intimidation factor of either standing there going ahhhhh or getting told to GTFO, has made me not try.
Look forward to reading more.
/signed
People are pretty funny, aren't they?
I can concede that this is a first-time RPer, and as such would not know the niceties of such behaviour. But please be serious. Every example of interaction noted in the article is a prime example of someone acting like a giant dbag. Anyone who has played Warcraft, of any fantasy based game, should be well-aware that anyone that admits to doing the kinds of things Adam's character admits to, or even just throwing fireworks into someone's face, is going to be regarded as an unpleasant person. I had a character in WoW long ago. She was not righteous, really, but if she had encountered someone who claimed to have eaten their father at the behest of an imaginary (or invisible, such things are possible in WoW), I would have RPed extreme hatred and would probably have let fly more bile-laden comments that did the person Adam encountered.
If you say you are doing something in the name of journalism, perhaps you should understand that before you go undercover, or try to fit in with a group that already exists, you should do some research so that you have at least a base understanding of the concepts involved.
What you did, Adam, because you had no understanding of the RP world, was make yourself look like a moron or a jerk. And the fact that you say you enjoyed this so much makes me very concerned. This behaviour, and the results, have nothing to do with role-playing, and everything to do with you making a fool of yourself, deliberately.
Edit:
I thought I was done ranting, but apparently I am not. It is downright infuriating to me that someone that professes to love MMOs as much as Adam does (and thus we are to assume knows something about them), who actually writes in a relatively coherent way, and an Englishman to boot!, is so obviously and painfully ignorant of the most basic of precepts for an entire relatively large subset of the MMO playerbase. I am bursting at the bolts with this. I cannot fathom such ignorance. I have to hope this is an ill-conceived joke of soem kind on Adam's part.
Edit:
I have now read the thread through, and I have to say, Horusra is taking a much more moderated approach to the upbraiding than did I, and I agree with the points made.
The best RP community is by far the one you find on Argent Dawn (EU). As with everything in WoW you will find a huge amount of kids who seem to think WoW is made is made for them solely but that realm has a lot of good RP guilds and many events.
Well at least the OP isn't trying to speak middle english with his RP!
He must have been on Wyrmrest, Wyrmrest Accord and Moon Guard are the only RP servers that are still alive (others fall apart from in fighting and big time leaders quiting) and Moon Guard is known for having lots of ERP'ers in Goldshire, which he would have no doubt commented on.
To anyone who does try RPing, if you go on Moon Guard, stay away from Goldshire and Stay away from the inns in Silvermoon, you'll get a bad experience.
Like many of the others, I hadn't seen that kind of thing in the RP servers I tried. Trade chat was just as bad as PvE servers, names and even guild names still broke the ToU shamelesslessy - they were a mess. I gave up on RPing in WoW.
Perhaps, though, I gave up to soon! Thanks for the article, I have a bit of new hope! Not that WoW is a great background to support RP, the lore doesn't hold together under much scrutiny. Of course, we have TV to train us not to expect a universe to make sense one episode to the next anyway, lol so that's not totally unlivable.
;)
I play on PvP servers but I like a bit of RP (silly RP that is).
I once had good fun while sitting in the goldshire Inn... I pretended my butt was glued to the seat and any one who walked in and played along I would send them on a quest (I would make it up on the spot) to collect some ingredients to make a solven to unglue me. One guy I sent out and got some stormwind bree another I sent to westfall to get some eggs. It was a fun 30mins.
Now maybe these low level toons did it for the 1gold I promised them or maybe cus they thought it was cool.. I dont know.
Insulting me for misspelling and then making no sense.. My narrow-minded, rarified view of whatever i think? Well if you read my previous post to that (which i bet anything you didn't read) if YOU actually knew what rp was you would agree with it. Yes, children running around "OMG ZOMBIES ARE ATTACKING ME, HELP SWAT THEM OFF!!" is just playing make beleave. Role playing is playing the role of a charecter which usually follows with a story.
WOW is great for role playing. You can pretend you are not a 13 year old virgin who never has and never will see a girl naked.
You can pretend you have real life friends....and no skin problems. You can roleplay that you are not a chronic masterbator... and that you are not a loser.
Great role playing fun.
I think it is a good thing that 13 year olds are virgins,
and second, people who use those kinds of arguments are immature themselves in my opinion.
Roleplaying is an aspect of a game you can attend to, just like PVP or PVE...
You should try roleplaying a person that is not a moron and I will try to roleplay I care about you.
JthX, role-playing is make believe (see how I spelled that?). What do you think it is? Of course it is make believe. It is playing pretend in an imaginary world. Of course, as you say, it is the art of telling a story, which is somewhat more advanced that what most children do, but it is still playing pretend.
What whpsh says is a pretty accurate assessment of role-playing as well. That is the easiest and best way to begin role-playing for a new person. In fact, I usually have a character that is the essentially the same in every game. Dubhlaith. She is not me, but she is damn close in most ways. She is usually a rogue or ranger type character, and while I am not an expert archer or a stealthy assassin, I assimilate aspects of myself into a character that is those things. Dubh, she would throw a few daggers or shoot something at the zombies. If that didn't work, she would probably be looking for a way out of the situation that did not involve her becoming zombie food. That is roleplaying, even if it is not a deep story, as you seem to enjoy.
Explaining a long and involved story would have been difficult and would not have helped Adam understand the concepts involved. I think whpsh did a good job explaining the basics of role-playing in a concise way. You may not like that it is not a complex story, but I have dealt with rpers like you. You have a too-serious, self-important story to tell, and if it does not go the way you want it to, you are upset. That is not role-playing. To RP is to take on the personality of another person and exist in the world in which you are playing. I pretend to be that rogue, or a pompous mage as I sometimes do, or a wicked warlock or necromancer, but I take on that role, and then I exist in the world. I am not trying to tell some grand story, because that is not how the world works. I exist, and things happen to me. That is the story, and that is what makes it beautiful.
Adam, as a note for you, when I play an evil character, such as my wicked warlock, I do not go around advertising that I am a warlock and/or that I am evil and like to kill things. For more characters in the world, as for most people in the real world, that is a one-way ticket to being hated. There are evil guilds, of course, and evil people, but most evil characters to not let people see how evil they are, at least at first. When the second thing out of your mouth is that you ate your own father, expect to be shunned. But if you act mostly normal, except for when you seem to talk to someone that isn't there, or even if you declare that there is a goblin nearby that no one can see, people will be intrigued by your character, and want to chat. Think about your experience with the person in SW who freaked when you said you ate your father. They were interested and engaging in conversation until you dropped that bomb.
I am searching deep in my heart to care wether you approve of me or not..........Nope...I am not that good of a role player.
Your Mom is calling you to bring her your dirty laundry.....hope she doesn't find those crusty socks..........heheh
This is funny, and while typically, I would ignore a troll like this outright, I have to comment on this one.
Firstly, I think it is a good thing that 13-year-olds are not having sex. That is way too young. I am thinking 17 is the lower-end of the spectrum for when that should happen, maybe 16.
Secondly, your generalizations of people that play WoW is ridiculous. In fact, most of the people that fit your description would be more likely to:
A) Play a more "hardcore game," such as Darkfall.
B) Not really play any game, and simply complain about them all.
C) Troll on forums and make fun of people that play games they do not like.
Thirdly, chronic masturbation is not a bad thing. While I date casually, and sleep with men on occasion, when I am attracted to one, and while I have had serious, long-term, extremely sexually active relationships in the past, I masturbate on a very regular basis. I know what I like, and I can do it just right. I have a large vibrator, and that is always a good thing. I can do it when I want, for as long as I want, and I do not need to go out, or dress up, or pretend to be interested in what some guy has to say. (Side note, guys, many women are interested in the same thing men are, getting some.) It just works for me, and I feel better afterwards.
And the thread takes a turn.
*Make that thread in the poll*
So what is a good WoW server to roleplay on?
I'd like to know as well. This sparked my interest in starting up a Forsaken Death Knight/Warlock onto a rp server. I've always loved the forsaken, and loved hanging around in the undercity. And on occasion, had dreams about being a Sylvanas bodyguard =p.
Looks like whatever one Dubhlaith is on. I almost resubbed when I read her post.
I just did lol
I do not think I understand...
Argent Dawn used to be great for RP. I think it still is alright at least in RP guilds, it is a European server I should point out.
I think the divergence in what defines roleplaying is based on the medium. To me, a MMORPG is more of a canvas for-- yes it's true-- make believe. For the most part, there really isn't a classic roleplaying system in the game, so you're left with having to play out a character in what amounts to an interactive fiction that you and the other players write. It's disorganized and messy, and leads to all sorts of problems with god moding and meta-gaming if the participants don't know what they're doing. It's based on a trust and assumption that they do.
Classic roleplaying is derived from the pen and paper style, where a character is defined by a list of attributes and can only act in a way that those attributes define. A Dungeon Master serves as both a facilitator to the game and a referee of sorts to make sure the players don't go "off script" and do something their stats would not allow.
I think this distinction needs to be made, because unless you've got people willing to play a MMO like a PnP RPG, complete with dice rolls and someone taking the role of DM, all you're really going to be left with is off the cuff storytelling as described in the first paragraph. Unless a game is specifically tailored to the PnP style of play, you can't really expect that players will treat it as such.
How did this ever make it past an editor and into published form?