So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

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So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Azunara »

Roleplaying Q/A

This is a quick, simple Q/A thread on roleplaying, optimal servers, how it’s done, and tips for character development.

Roleplaying, RP, what on earth are you talking about?

Roleplaying, or RP, is when you immerse yourself and pretend you are your character. They act as you think they would in Azeroth, and act appropriately to situations. If you think they would hate death knight, then obviously they wouldn’t like to associate with a death knight very often.

Okay, so I want to RP. Where do I go?


Well, there’s obviously this forum, as well as Wowhead’s Lore and Roleplaying Forum is a good place for RP. But in game RP is a whole different ball game. Common RP servers would be Moon Guard or Wyrmrest Accord. However, Cenarion Circle is also a decent place for RP. Some servers have roleplaying channels as well, and if you poke about you can find out more. For example, CC has “HearthstoneIC” as their RP channel. Tap into that and you now have an easy access RP channel.

However, there are some places that are notorious for darker ERP, a nastier form of Roleplay that is very commonly frowned upon. Such places can be Goldshire or Silvermoon City, and usually want to be avoided.

What about good RP hot spots, you ask? Well, I’ve found SW is a great place on Cenarion Circle, but mileage may vary per server. I recommend you find yourself a spot in the most popular capital and just go. A simple,

“/e makes large amounts of bandages. They are piled around their feet, spilling out into the streets.”

This can draw quite a bit of attention. You just have to GO for it.

Alright. I have a spot and I have an idea for a character. But everyone thinks it’s stupid! What is wrong with having a dragon/vampire/werewolf/demon/titan? I think they’re cool!

You have made a rather common mistake: A Mary or Gary Sue. These are when you make your character “uber” special, giving them abnormal traits that make them better. Be it “they have fangs protruding from their mouth. They enjoy drinking blood” to “They are a dragon that tends to roast their enemies to death,” you will have a bad character.

What does this mean? Time to give your characters some flaws. Limit them so they can’t burn Stormwind to the ground, or that they can’t one shot Varian, and then dance on his corpse. Every character needs characteristics: flaws, likes, dislikes. It gives them depth.

So, my character is bad? Well, what do you mean? How do I limit them?


Give them fears, weaknesses or traits that make them normal and you’ll have a better character. See example:

Susie is a beautiful human girl. Her blonde hair looks like golden silk streaming down a perfect body. Her dark eyes pierce your soul, and she makes you instantly nervous. She also has wings from her back, and when she says a word, you explode on the spot. She can’t be killed, and she can’t be hurt. She is a dragon, and also the secret love child of Thrall and Jaina.



That, there, is a Sue. A nasty one at that. They make all RPers who have some experience facepalm, and you will get mocked and laughed at. Usually. So how do you fix…that? Easy.

Susie is a human, and she looks somewhat pretty. Her hair is a golden color that falls to her shoulders. She has dark brown eyes, and she seems very confident of her power. She tends to focus on healing herself instead of fighting, making it seem like she can’t be hurt. She tires very quickly however.

See? We toned down the nutty adjectives, and better yet, we still have some of the old elements, but made them more practical. We even added a few flaws, “She tires very quickly…” to make her less over powered.

Someone told me I ‘god-moded’. What on earth is that?


God moding is when you take control of someone else’s character and hurts them or puts them in a condition impossible to get out of. If you use your powers to lock someone in a “XYZ” situation that they can’t get out of, that’s god moding.

How do I prevent it? When does it happen mostly?

God moding is frequent in battles. Here, an example:

“Azunara leaps at Saturo, and tears apart with her claws, dancing on her corpse.”

Ta-da. I just forced the other person, Saturo in this case, into a situation they can’t get out of: Death. However, if I did this instead:

“Azunara leaps at Saturo, aiming to tear out her throat.”

Saturo still has a chance to dodge, strike back, or if she wants, let the attack hit. It’s up to her, and you haven’t cross any lines.

Okay. Duels aren’t fair. How do I RP fight?

In-game it’s rather easy. You do a /roll 1-80 for whatever (Or whatever your level is.) and say an attack. The other person rolls. If it is higher, it misses. Lower, it hits. Example:

“Azunara leaps for Saturo.”
Azunara rolls 1-80: 42.
Saturo rolls 1-80: 63.

Here, Saturo would dodge Azu’s attack because she has the higher number, however, if I rolled a 74 instead, Azunara’s attack would hit. Ties are easy, either reroll or have it a barely hit or barely miss. It depends on both RPers.

Another thing to keep in mind is practicality: Your scene, your class, and your injuries. If you are in the middle of Stormwind and break out into a fight, the guards will intercept. If you are a paladin, don’t leap easily through the air like a winged ballerina. And if you’ve been smashed by an axe numerous times, you aren’t going to be an effective fighter than if you were fully healed.

And lastly, one last tip: Keep it fair. Think it through. Someone will lose. If you are bleeding, scratches in numerous places, and an arm is dislocated, while you’re opponent has a few gashes, you’ve lost. Accept it with grace and move on!

Okay…Any last words?


Sure. You are only bound by your imagination and logic. If you can HONESTLY justify a dragon, by all means RP one. But don’t go around shouting you are one. In WoW, dragons are feared and you don’t want people knowing this. If you are a demon, again, keep it secret. People shouldn’t know this, because you would be killed.

Remember to put a few flaws, but don’t forget to make them a few talents. An all flawed character is just as boring.

And it’s okay to start out small, with a brief history and a few traits. In fact, it’s better because it allows you to grow and adapt. See below a good example for a starter RPer.

Name: Azunara
Class/Race: Druid, Night Elf
Traits: Confident, Easily Manipulated, Childish, Proud.
History: Has a severe paranoia over gnomes. She hates them with a passion.
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Saturo »

Excellent guide, Azu. I'd just like to advice everyone on popular RP servers. What YOU like will vary. Different people like different servers. You can never say that "this server is best!", because it will vary, both depending on the time you play, and on your preferences. Believe it or not, some people like RP in Goldshire, and others will hate it completely.

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Gumballs »

Great guide, though I feel I have some points to add. I'm not very good at writing in the question/answer format so I'll just write 'em up here. :)

Don't tie yourself to lore characters.

This falls under the mary sue category, but some people my not find this overpowered. However it is a rookie mistake that will cause veteran RPers to not take you seriously. No, you did not train for shamanism directly under Thrall or Drek'thar. No, you didn't deliver the killing blow to Arthas. No, you aren't Jaina Proudmoore's top apprentice. And no, you aren't related to them in any way.

It's better just to stay away from major lore characters except for in certain situations such as a war in an RP and someone important is giving you orders. It can make a normal, well developed character turn into a mary sue very fast depending on the circumstances so generally it's best to avoid it for the most part.

If you are uncomfortable, say so.

So let's say you are in the middle of an RP with someone, and both of your characters are very close to eachother. Or maybe your character is drunk and things start to get a little out of hand. RPing is basically acting, and to be realistic things such as sex, love and relationships will most likely come into play at some point or another through your RP career.

Now, it's all in what you prefer, but generally forum RPs require more tasteful sexuality than personal, in game RP. I have RPed sex scenes on forums before that were not explicit (mostly lots of kissing/touching) because that is what I am comfortable with. However, if things with your character are beginning to get a little more personal and you are uncomfortable with RPing a sex scene (or anything else really), simply say so. No one is going to force you to do anything you are uncomfortable with in RPs, even if it would be in character. You can do a time skip to imply that they did get closer instead of actually RPing it or you can skip it all together. :)

Language is key, in character and out.

I know not everyones native language is english, but if you are posting in forums I'm sure you know the difference between actual english and 'l33t sp34k'. Grammar and spelling aren't always as important, but trying your best to actually type out your 'you's and 'are's instead of 'u's and 'r's will allow people to take you more serious in RPing, as well as interpret your posts better.

Also, don't forget about in character language. If your character has an accent or particular style of speaking, try your best to portray that when they speak. Also remember what languages your character has learned, and why. For example, I have troll siblings who's parents were merchants, selling to lots of different people. The younger daughter stayed at home longer and managed to pick up some simple common, and she is fluent in orcish and zandali (because she is a troll). Her older brother however lived on his own for a long time so only knows orcish and some zandali because he was not taught for as long nor did he pick up some other words from his parents. It's all in the backstory.

Language barriers can be a pain in RPing some times but usually someone else can interpret for your character, or it could turn into a really amusing (and frusterating!) game of sherades!

Well, that's all I have for now. ^_^ I might add more later if I think of some more tips/tricks for RPing!
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Aweena »

Any chance on a petopian rp guild getting made on the eu servers we could go make a tread here to rp in as the free/open rp stuff and really nice guide makes me want to rp all tho i never was good at it

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Pokerfase »

I could probably contribute some pointers as well.

RP Outfits:

Keep these matters in mind when choosing an RP outfit (although there are some exceptions):

-Unique: A way to create a truly notable RP outfit is to create a distinctive outfit. Find one or more items that you like and base an outfit around those, or connect an existing set to pieces that blend well with it. I would recommend steering clear of goggles, face masks, and Cursed Vision of Sargeras (Goggles are overused but could be excused on actual Engineer characters, face masks are also popular but can work on classes that would actually wear them, and Cursed Vision is popular among the RP crowd but runs the risk of being used for "speshulness" rather than the desire to actually make the character blind. Oh, and a Hunter wearing it makes no sense.)

-Matching: At least for lore characters, all the items of your outfit should look like one unified set instead of a mash-up of items that have nothing to do with each other. Colors and patterns should blend together. For an extra challenge (and a boost to creativity,) try matching up similar-looking pieces from more than one armor class (after all, some Mail items do look kinda like Leather and some Mail items could blend in with Plate.)

-Fitting: Your Hunter would probably not be running around on the battlefield in purple silken robes and wearing a blindfold. He/she would be wearing furs and/or chainmail, though. Your character's outfit should tell something about them, such as their class, their spec within the class, their profession (in-game profession or their job in-character), or their in-character personality (i.e. your character might actually wear mismatched armor IC if they had an eccentric personality, which is an exception to the Matching rule.) The outfit should also fit the character's race unless they have an IC reason for wearing something nonstandard for their race.
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Azunara »

All of these are very, very valid points. Thanks for adding input, I was tired when I wrote that Q/A, so you all really have helped me out. Thanks! :)
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Ket Shi »

If you want to roleplay in-game, there's an addon called MyRolePlay available on curse.com. What's it do? Firstly, it lets you fill in several fields of information about your own character. You can set up some brief information about your character's full name, weight, height, eye color, land of birth, etc. There's also a couple larger fields provided for a physical description and for character history if you wish to fill them out (though, a lot of people use these poorly; I'll give tips later.)

What's all this information do? If anyone else on your server has the addon installed, they can read your information. More importantly, if they're chosen to fill out their information, you can see their character description too! Just by mousing over them, you can tell they're using the addon because of the extra text that pops up under their nameplate. It's an easy way to tell if a person's interested in roleplay. The newest version of MyRolePlay isn't compatible with older ones, so currently RP servers may look a little bare because people have not updated.

Now, this is a handy tool for roleplay, but be careful to use it appropriately. The newest version comes with some built-in advice, but some people barrel ahead anyways. I've made a hobby of collecting dismal MyRolePlay profiles and will link a few; their mistakes might help you guys prevent some of your own.

1. Get a rough feel for the timeline. The unofficial one cobbled together at Wowwiki says it's been about 33 years since the First War began. Until then, orcs and draenei were living on the intact Draenor, Darkspear trolls were exiled on their little island, dwarves and humans were busy with their own politics, night elves and tauren in isolation, high elves in tentative contact with humans. Azeroth's changed enormously in the space of less than two generations; the current state of alliances, and even some parts of the world itself, is a brand-new one. It's okay if you fudge it a little thanks to the unreliable sources, but try not to overdo it. There's not going to be fully-grown night elf/human hybrids running around if they've only known of each other's existence for 8 years.
Bad: See this profile: a human/Forsaken. How?!

2. Try not to be too wordy. I've seen profiles that describe every last minute detail of a character's clothing that go on for several pages. If you give a description or history, try not to make it so long that readers need to scroll down to read the full thing. Less is more!
Bad: Uh, this thing.

3. Don't try to force your readers to react to your characters a certain way. I've seen descriptions that try to tell readers that they're instantly seduced or terrified upon just looking over their character. It's no fun to be railroaded, as Azunara explained earlier.
Bad: "Orcwarlock carries a dark aura that inspires fear upon all that look upon his terrifying visage."
Good: "Orcwarlock carries a menacing scowl on his face, as if he could lash out at any moment. His spiked armor flickers with ominous fel energy."
Here's another sample of how you shouldn't try to force others to react a certain way: You've fallen in love with this guy just by laying eyes on him!(Warning: contains creepy tauren roleplayer that gives too much information)

4. If you're going to include a history, it's in bad taste to actually go and tell the reader everything. Why? Well, how is the reader supposed to know this in character? By giving a full history, you're giving the reader an infodump that they can't realistically use to play in character.
"So, you had a horrible childhood where you got abused by your adoptive father, Bobby Joe, so you murdered him and took on a new identity? And you needed a heart transplant last year?"
"Yes... How did you know..."
"Um..."
If you're going to include a history, make it brief and just give a taste of a character's full history. You could set it up as a rumor that others might have possibly heard.
Bad: "Bella grew up in Brill as a simple maid. When the Plague of Undeath swept through her town, she was reduced to a mindless zombie for two years. Bella was saved by her best friend, John, who snapped her out of her trance and taught her the ways of a priest."
Good: "Bella holds herself with a prim and proper stance, rumored to originate from her original calling as a noblewoman's maid."
On a final note about that, be careful not to let history spill into your general character description, or you may end up with something really muddled-sounding.

5. Finally, try to avoid having a profile that looks anything like this! It's the gold standard of doing everything wrong in your profile. No structure, horrible spelling, playing as an exotic race, spilling out the character's whole backstory, ignoring the setting (do high elves even have college?), mixing the character description up with the character history...
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Wassa »

Wassa's List of RP Addons.

So, you decided to roll on an RP server and try out RP, but are having trouble finding RP! How can you show to others you wanna RP? Using these popular addons can help you flag yourself as an RPer and help you find RP faster.

All RP addons have these features:
~Adds a flag to your character (IC, OOC) to show off you are an RPer to others.
~Show your level of RP (beginner, normal, fulltime, mature).
~Add first name, last name, and title.
~Add a description of the outward appearance of your character.
~Change the tooltip. If you use another tooltip mod they could cause errors. Most of these addons have a "light" tooltip that works better with other tooltip mods or you can turn them off.

You only need to download one of these addons. All of them read the same basic info they give using an in-game chat channel. Using more than one will give you errors. Pick one based on what features you like to use. Again, only download one of these addons!

FlagRSP
The first RP description addon.

Pros:
~Uses only one chat channel.
~Description is in one window that stretches for the full length of the description. No scrolling down or switching windows to read it all. Easy to screenshot.
~Enhanced friend list to add players and guilds as friendly or foes.

Cons:
~No history tab.
~People with ungodly long descriptions will stretch off of your screen.
~Cannot search descriptions cached on your server.
~As the first RP addon, it has the least amount of features. However, if you just want to show yourself off as an RPer and don't need extra features, use this.

FlagRSP2
Pros:
~Uses only one chat channel.
~Description is in one window and caps at a certain length. Longer descriptions can be scrolled through so they don't stretch off the screen.
~Can search your server for flagRSPs that you have cached.
~Can set descriptions to show on mouseover instead of having to click on people.

Cons:
~No history tab.
~Some people don't like to scroll down to read longer descriptions. If you screenshot descriptions (like me) this is a pain to take a few screenshots to get the whole thing.
~No friend list that original flagRSP has.
~Mouseover descriptions can be annoying in major cities with players moving around quickly. This can be turned off though.

MyRolePlay
Pros:
~History tab plus extra info such as birthplace, eye color, hair color, and mood.
~Windows scroll so longer descriptions don't stretch out of your screen.

Cons:
~Uses two chat channels! This is what you get for the history tab and extra info. If you don't care to read people's backstories and need that extra chat channel, you might wanna try flagRSP or flagRSP2 instead.
~Two windows so you have to tab back and forth to read info.
~No friend list.

ImmersionRP
I haven't used this one yet! Help me out here with it's features on what it has and doesn't has.

Total RP
Pros:
~All the bells are whistles you want in an RP addon. Not only can you set a descriptions for yourself, but for your mounts, pets, create items (like GHI, more info on that addon down below), play sounds (to others with the addon), and a ton more.

Cons:
~MEMORY! All those bells and whistles can lag you if you have an older computer. If you don't care for all these extra features, use another RP addon.
~As the newest and largest RP addon, it can be buggy and have lua errors.


Other addons that help with RP:

Tongues

Features:
~Ability to speak every language in game, plus others made up for the addon.
~Able to make your own language if you know a bit of lua coding.
~Petspeak. You can make your pet talk.
~Will not allow you to speak cross-faction though, as that is against Blizzard's EULA.

Pet Emote
Being hunters I'm all sure we know what this one does. Moving on.

GHI
Features:
~Ability to make items. You can trade these with other players that use the addon.
~Lots of other fun little stuff. Check out the homepage for more details.

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by VelkynKarma »

Very good stuff here. I don't really role-play in game, but I do design backgrounds and such for my characters, and I've done a lot of RPing with friends using AIM. The advice given here is spot on.

I'd like to add a link to help out. I've read this for a while; like Ket Shi did, this person collects REALLY bad examples of RP descriptions and reviews them. Some of the things people write are depressing and facepalmy, but it definitely teaches you what not to do REALLY fast. Plus, the reviews often give insights of good ideas and things to keep an eye out for (not to mention, there are a few very well-written ones listed too).

Just be warned. Some of the things people have come up with for their characters are a bit...uh...dicey. And slightly disturbing. Not all of them, but some. Xx;

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Azunara »

Ah, I was thinking about this site the other day. I'll admit, it's amusing to sit and mock a few of those. Now, don't mind me as I spend the next few hours snickering...
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by VelkynKarma »

Yeah I wander back every once and a while and spend a few hours reading them. Sometimes they make me laugh. Sometimes they make me facepalm. Sometimes I kinda just die a little inside because I can't believe people think this sort of thing is good.

But mostly lol. A lot. XD

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Wassa »

You can also check out The Roleplayer's Lament and Warcraft Sues as other sites for what not to do with your RP descriptions.

I also have a nice collection of over 100 bad, funny, and random flagRSPs I screenshotted that I could post a topic on.

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Aweena »

I have a question im pretty sure i have figured it out my self but id like to hear what the pros say

1- What is the difference between being original and being the spechul snowflake ? i see these two have a fine line for when they get called something and when they do not and i have been wondering how do you find the line

2- Half breeds they do exist in lore why should you not try to play one ? this is also a fine line how do you manage can you say be half wildhammer dwarf and half bronzebeard ?

3- What channels are mostly occ or icc ?

4- Any EU players point towards a realm that actually is rp populated Moonglade seems a bit slow atm

Thanks for having patience with a rp noob :)

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azuith it.

Unread post by Saturo »

1. "I come from a rich, powerful family in Lordaeron!" as opposed to "I'm the grandson of king Terenas."
2. Half breeds are VERY popular among bad RPers. Personally, I would never RP one, but there's nothing wrong with it. Just remember that it might bring prejudice against you as a roleplayer.
3. /1, /2 and /3.
4. Sorry, I can't.

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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Azunara »

1. Well. Original just means you can take an idea and put a spin on it, or just be different without being special, I.E. Mary sue.

Example, Having a Falconer, for example, or a hunter who takes care of only birds would be orginial. I have never seen that idea RP'd before, yet it's within lore lines and it's just new. Special would be if you're Thrall's cousin, or you look absolutely beautiful, or you have dragon blood in you. All of these have been done and will get you laughed at.

2. Half breeds are doable, yes, but only certain combos are, and a half breed is usually shunned, so you won't be playing a bold, careless character. You're going to end up a character that gets laugh at a lot because frankly, ICly to the other factions, you're a mismatched abomination. I know that human/orc is doable, but something like draenei/BE is not doable, or human/NE. And ergh. Demon/anything. If you want a demon, play one. Just don't make it obvious to the world. I knew someone who RPed a demon, yet kept it disguised and no one knew except the few people she told.

3. General, trade, party, raid and bg are usually OOC. Say, yell and whisper are usually IC.

4. Can't help there. US servers only for me.
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by TygerDarkstorm »

Azunara wrote:1. Well. Original just means you can take an idea and put a spin on it, or just be different without being special, I.E. Mary sue.

Example, Having a Falconer, for example, or a hunter who takes care of only birds would be orginial. I have never seen that idea RP'd before, yet it's within lore lines and it's just new. Special would be if you're Thrall's cousin, or you look absolutely beautiful, or you have dragon blood in you. All of these have been done and will get you laughed at.
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Kryte »

Aweena wrote:I have a question im pretty sure i have figured it out my self but id like to hear what the pros say

1- What is the difference between being original and being the spechul snowflake ? i see these two have a fine line for when they get called something and when they do not and i have been wondering how do you find the line
It is, as you note, often a fine line between "original" and "speshul". Oftentimes, the thing that can make or break the concept is how it's RPed. Strictly speaking, it's not wrong or impossible to play a dragon. But it is very, VERY difficult to do so well, and thus extremely ill-advised. I honestly don't recommend it to even experienced RPers. There are a couple things you should look at when designing your character in order to make sure they don't fall into the "speshul" category:

1) Is it within the lore?
A character that doesn't fit within the setting will be instantly decried as a Mary Sue. Taking concepts or creations that aren't a part of Warcraft is to be avoided. For example, vampires as they're portrayed by Buffy or Twilight (or even typical vampire lore) don't exist in Warcraft, so playing a character that sucks blood and turns others into vampires is out of the question. It's important to make sure that your character is plausible within the setting. Many people assume that, because Warcraft is fantasy, anything goes. But even a fantasy setting has its own rules and limitations. Familiarize yourself with the lore so you can figure out what's okay, what's not, and areas have potential "grey areas" that you can take advantage of.

2) How does this affect other people?
The biggest problem with Mary Sue type characters is how they affect other people. Because a Mary Sue is SO special, SO beautiful, SO badass, SO powerful, or what have you, their character steals the spotlight of every scene. It reduces other characters' ability to participate in the scene; it's a kind of more "subtle" god-modding. If you claim your character is the prince of Stormwind, people are generally only given the choice to ignore you, or to accept that your character has every power over them and should be reacted to with demure subservience. Try to avoid characters that would force certain reactions in this way. Roleplaying is a team effort, and there isn't a "main hero" of the story.

3) WHY do you want to play this character?
If your only reason for picking up a certain kind of character or trait is because it would be "awesome", it's probably best to avoid it. If you want to play a high elf/ human hybrid simply because you want your character to have elven features and elven grace, you may want to reconsider. If it's because you're interested in exploring how this character would deal with a split heritage and prejudice, that's more reasonable.

4) Playing it out.

Don't give your characters 'special' traits that stand out too much. As I said before, a lot of it comes down to how it's played. Special traits should be icing on your cake, not the foundation of your entire character. If your father was killed by orcs when you were a little boy, don't go spouting out your angst to every random tavern-goer you meet. Make people work for it. Back to the vampire example -- there are several lore-viable substitutes for vampires in the game. Blood elves suck the magic out of other creatures. Or maybe your evil cultist enjoys a fine glass of blood every now and again. That's fine... BUT YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD NOT BE DOING THESE THINGS IN PUBLIC. Negative things should be occasionally hinted at but otherwise be kept hidden. Maybe your cultist accidently spills a little bit of that blood on the collar of his robe one day. When asked about it, he brushes it off, saying he must have cut himself shaving. Positive traits should not be overwhelming, and should not control the overall flow of the RP.
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Bubbleme »

Aweena wrote: Any EU players point towards a realm that actually is rp populated Moonglade seems a bit slow atm
A nice cosy place I RP on is Earthen Ring. Not too many people, but not many 'bad' RPers either. We have a fine quality here :)
Then, there's Argent Dawn and Steamwheedle cartel. Some of the people on there really can help you out and are very kind. Such as Felthias - but he's just a great friend of mine :).
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Mozag »

I hope this is the right place for me to post! If not, please go right ahead and move this to the appropriate place. :)

I've been keeping myself aloof from your RP threads, mainly because I take a little while to muster the courage on a new forum...but I have a question, provided you lot would like to have someone else along as well for some WoW RP, of course.

I've been skimming through some of the posts in your roleplays, and what strikes me is how short everyone's responses are. Is this a prerequisite of RP on the boards here, or can one respond with really long, overflowing posts (which are the kind I'm used to)?

As an example, this is a shortish post of mine from a Star Wars RP I was engaged in some time back, where I played the two characters depicted here (please ignore the subject matter, it was the shortest, though not best, of the posts I could find from that RP! Sadly, all my previous WoW RP stuff was deleted along with the old forums, but I think many of my posts were about this length, and often more. Is that not allowed in your Roleplays?


As the sounds of battle died around them, Arwa surveyed her handiwork impassively. The moaning men and women were crawling around aimlessly, amidst the corpses, trying to find their limbs. The weeping and cursing rose in a crescendo, and the Mirialan wondered briefly whether it was more merciful to kill after all. She shrugged off the thought, knowing that these soldiers would be glad to live another day once their wounds would cease to give them pain. They could go on to have families and make useful livings of a different sort, but they would never do battle again.

Rasho found her lost in her musings, and lightly touching her unharmed shoulder he glanced around with a vague expression of disgust. Clearly he didn't approve of her methods.

“You have stripped them of their pride.” he said quietly and somewhat censoriously.

She raised blue eyes to his face, flushed a little from his earlier exertions.

“When their companions, slaughtered by you and the others, are buried, they will thank me for my mercy.” her response was cold “And if they do not, they are welcome to take their own lives. They do not need my assistance for that, surely?”

The man found no answer to this, for he knew the futility of explaining the way of a warrior to Arwa. He was remarkably composed for someone who had just been in the midst of the fray, and the Mirialan wondered again at his skill. It was obvious that the blood was coursing through his veins rapidly, and that the call of battle was still on him.

Rasho nodded his head at the other Jedi. “We should follow, there's nothing for us here anymore. And I, for one, don't want to be left behind.” he treated her to one of his irresistibly glittering smiles, and without further ado, she nodded and followed after him.

The others had managed to dispatch their opponents, and nothing further remained for the two Jedi to do but follow their brethren as they ran through the scattered bodies around them. Arwa stopped in mid-run, but before she managed to do what she had to the previous soldiers, Rasho had grabbed her by the wrist and looked at her now with a silent plea in his eyes.

She hated that her friend made her feel like a brute, but nodded quietly and started moving forwards again.

“We'll regret it, you know.” she grumbled to him.

The golden head lowered as he looked at her worried face. A flood of love doused Rasho, and he responded quietly. “It doesn't matter.”

“It will matter once they get new weapons and come to assault us again!” her voice was annoyed.

“They were unarmed.”

Arwa fell silent again, knowing that he was right, but resenting the gentle rebuke she heard in his low tones.

They ran forward, at the heels of the others, but upon reaching the stairs, the pair came to a sudden halt again, as Arwa skidded to a stop. She had caught the traces of one of the life-forces which she had come so close to previously, before her capture by the Shadow Being. She repressed the sudden urge to gag, as the tendrils of dirty red, dark and deep as an infected wound wound their way towards her like the stench of some rotting animal. The corruption ran deep indeed in this one, and the jagged spikes of command and power were palpable even from a distance. The Mirialan looked at Rasho, who was shifting his shoulders uncomfortably, though he could not see what she did. This was no mere apprentice or regular Sith, but something far more dangerous and worrying.

Almost as if in a dream, the pair turned to look at the stairs that were leading down. There was an irresistible lure in that life-force for Arwa. Horrible and titillating, like looking at a corpse. She glanced quickly round at where the others had gone, and knew that she and Rasho would have to hold off this enemy, no matter what it cost them. The Force had decided that they were to be sacrificed for the greater good.

She and Rasho shared a look, deep and full of unspoken words, and almost simultaneously headed down the steps.

As they descended, the persistent sound of metal tapping against metal filled their senses, getting louder the lower they went. Arwa closed her eyes before they reached the bottom, unwilling to see what awaited them.
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Re: So You Want to Roleplay? A Q/A by Azu

Unread post by Saturo »

Short posts are definitely not a requirement! The reason we use short posts is to keep the story moving and make sure that everyone feels like they play a part in it, writing a novel together kinda'. If you want to write long posts, nobody's stopping you. :)

I also exist on DeviantArt.
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Moderation note: Saturo is banned from all forums except the RP forum, and only allowed there until the current RP thread ends.

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