While World of Warcraft Classic already had a burgeoning Hardcore scene, Season of Discovery brought back players who were otherwise disinterested in losing their characters and progress permanently after an untimely death. The servers were packed to the brim once it launched on November 30, 2023. The MMO became utterly unresponsive when I tried to log in and create my character as soon as it went live, but I managed to make it through what would become a dense hundred-plus-player queue on the RP server Lava Lash.
The group I play World of Warcraft with decided on this server in a vote that was nearly tied, but we picked it due to how relaxed RP servers are by comparison to more PvP-focused ones. Once I created my Undead Mage, Branthony, and the opening narration began to play accompanied by a wide-shot of the starting zone, I saw more players congregating in a starting zone in World of Warcraft than I’d seen in most MMORPGs.
The chat was bursting with conversation; players looking to party up for shared kills in the starting zone, others complaining about the congestion in the area. It was everything you’d come to expect from being in an MMO after a new feature or update patch has launched. There was little to no RP going on, which wasn’t all that surprising. But me being me, I decided to make my own fun while crafting bags in Brill. I typed out in the General Chat that I was giving out free linen bags in Brill as long as people brought their own materials, and I was immediately swarmed with players. The first one that approached me was an Undead Rogue, and as I queued up making spools of linen thread, I asked him, “Was the life you lived a fulfilling one, friend?”
He shuffled in place for a bit before stepping closer and said, “No. I was a thief.” I watched as a few other players congregated around us, silent. “Do you enjoy the life you live now?” I inquired while moving on to properly making his set of bags after acquiring some coarse thread. “I do. I no longer have to steal to survive.” I was surprised at his answer or that he played along with my questions, and as I gave him his bags we exchanged a shared farewell. “May the Dark Lady watch over you.” He bowed and ran off in the direction of the Undercity.
My next client stepped forward, and I asked him the same question. He told me that he was a farmer before he had died, but that he was freshly risen and excited to see what undeath had in store. Another told me that she had missed the small pleasure of eating food in life, that cheese no longer had the same flavor and that it was hard growing accustomed to eating flesh. I listened to these stories as I crafted bag after bag, asking questions here and there to get players to talk more about the characters they’d crafted in their head — about who they wanted to be.
And before I knew it, the people around us had begun to role-play as well, seemingly encouraged to write out their own stories with one another as they traded items or sat in line to speak to NPCs. A friend of mine joined in as well, effectively making sure that everyone remained orderly while they waited to complete their objective as he pointed and ushered the queue along. Soon, at least for a short time, this bled into the General Chat that had been otherwise filled with casual conversations. Instead, Undead Warlocks talked about their decision to turn to Fel magic; Priests discussed their innate connection with the Light despite their status as Forsaken.
This created a more immersive experience as I traveled from Brill to the Undercity and westward to The Barrens. I met a pair of Tauren Shamans who were struggling to fight enemies in Durotar that I accompanied into the next area over. I asked them what their journey had been like. “Long.” One replied. The other said little, but told me about their search for Runes, which is the gimmick in Season of Discovery. But they did so in context to the experience of the world, fleshing out interaction and making it all the more immersive.
It’s hard to find role-playing of the “open world” variety on Retail, which is mostly just called “World RP” by the World of Warcraft community. You see it rarely on Moon Guard, which has become my home server for my Death Knight, with some events organized on Wyrmrest Accord by various Horde groups. But on a fresh server, where players are more or less taking the same path of progression, it’s easier to slide into role-playing with one another. Striking up the courage to do so is still something I’m getting used to, despite being a veteran role-player myself in other MMOs like Tera, but the scene in World of Warcraft seems relaxed enough to make it easy and even exciting.
MMORPGs have role-playing experience baked in by nature. You assume the role of a character, one that you dictate for the most part in terms of how you interact with the world, but seeing people RP in the open world and participating in it creates a more immersive experience. It’s one that becomes more exciting as you react to questions about your character and how they interact with the world, or even casually chat on the airship ride between continents. It’s meeting new people, learning potential elaborate stories about them and their unique motivations. MMORPGs live and die by their player base, and RP servers keep this experience alive and entice players to log on outside of leveling or engaging with the game strictly through its mechanics.
There are several things keeping me tied to Season of Discovery, this being one of them. And I hope it continues, even if pockets of players leave the game, just so others can experience just how immersive this can be.
