I spend an awful lot of time sifting through the various forums for quality candidates for Forum Post of the Day.My usual suspects were pretty lackluster today, so I ventured into some unknown territory.As I flipped through some of the posts in the Role Playing forum, I was briefly reminded of folks running around game shops with their arms crossed at their chests saying something to the effect of "you can't see me."I decided to give it a shot anyway.
Yitrana of Twisting nether began an in-character plea for peace between the Horde and Alliance forces.The story begins with a note posted in he World's End Tavern in ShattrathCity:
David Bowers lightly ribbed me earlier about being too lazy to read quest text. Avid role-player that he is, he considered skipping quest text a capital offense. He went on to tell me about some folks that even made sure to read every readable book or object in the game, like A Steamy Romance Novel or those books lying around in Stratholme. Role-players pride themselves in immersing themselves in game lore and the environment. I don't think I could be so involved or keep in character so well for so long. I thought to myself just how hardcore that was. On the other hand, some people would probably consider my dropping 375 Mining to level up Enchanting just for the ring enchants for PvP to be hardcore. I certainly think what Nihilum did by having a majority of their raiding crew take up Leatherworking just for the Drums of Battle was incredibly hardcore.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that a lot of people are pretty hardcore in their own way. I mean, my wife continued to raid with us while she was pregnant, healing us through Serpentshrine Cavern while lying down on the bed. She would log on to fill our roster when we were short even though she was bedridden because of doctor's orders. One of her friends in-game who was also pregnant played a Druid and was actually tanking a Heroic 5-man when she felt contractions come on and had to excuse herself midway through the instance. It turned out to be a false alarm, but I think these women are pretty hardcore for playing in their condition.
Zach Yonzon covers for David Bowers, who regularly writes All the World's a Stage every Sunday. While David is away on vacation, Zach sneakily mixes RP with his favorite thing: PvP.
One of the first choices that you make when you start to play the World of Warcraft is to pick a faction -- the mighty Horde or the proud Alliance? This choice largely determines the "role" you play, with an implicit animosity between factions that often bleeds out into real life. More than most things about the game, loyalty to one's faction is perhaps the most role-played characteristic that players exhibit. You don't need to be on an RP server to feel not so much a love for one's own faction, but rather an intense dislike for the enemy. As it is far easier to hate the enemy than to love one's faction, cries of "the Alliance are such noobs!" or "Horde suck!" in each faction's respective channels or Battleground chat are standard fare.
This begs the question, then, of how one can role-play this animosity towards the enemy when communication between factions is extremely limited? It's easy to play the role of a battle-hardened Orc, for example, while recounting war stories by the Battlemasters in Orgrimmar. The role of a spaced-out, Bloodthistle-addicted Blood Elf can be played while wandering the streets of Silvermoon City in a psychedelic daze. A womanizing, ale-guzzling Dwarf can make passes at all the ladies (and Night Elf men, for that matter) in Ironforge. With several channels to talk in -- the easiest avenue for role-playing -- as well as a variety of custom /em emotes, it's easy to get into character and show it to members of the same faction. But what about the enemy? Exactly how does one act out a role to an audience that doesn't understand a thing you say?
Tipster Shewa sends in this interesting forum discussion from an RP-PvP server (Defias Brotherhood - EU) about what, exactly, is in bounds on such a server. Is it griefing to attack an RP function? Or is it okay as long as you're in character as, say, a malevolent Alliance warrior who hates all blood elves and attacks them whenever he can, even when they're peacefully congregated for (as a possible example) a picnic in the woods?
I tend to be more in line with poster Rumbalt in this page of the thread, when he says Perhaps I expect to (sic) much of people, when stuff like this happens I have no trouble weaving unexpected stuff like this into a storyline, an a mass of the shadow being attacked by a violent and dangerous Horde guild. Back when I played on RP servers, I didn't wait for other people to roleplay, I played and let the chips fall where they may. Other posters point out that, since you can't communicate with the other side anyway, it's effectively impossible to know if they're attacking you in or out of character and so you should just always assume they're in character and ignore stuff like forum posts and message boards that would ruin the RP illusion anyway... since you're already missing one gloriously amethyst eye anyway. (I kid, but it's a good comic strip and deserves to be linked.)
I suppose I fall on the side of the 'it doesn't matter what they intend by attacking, you're on an RP-PvP server, role play your PvP response and just move on'. But it's an interesting debate. What are your thoughts?
It's time once again for Ask WoW Insider, wherein we publish one of your questions for our readers to answer. Last week we looked at Bar AddOns, and this week we concern ourselves with how to get into RPing. Thomas asks:
I have always wanted to get into a RP server but none of my friends are into it, so I find it hard to find anybody else to RP with. Do you have any suggestions as to what I could do to get into a good RP guild? Also, are there any essential mods that are commonly used on an RP server? Any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
What advice do you have to give RP noobs, or folks interested in getting into role-playing in WoW? Do you have any hardcore RP guilds or servers to recommend? Tips and tricks on imaginating your character or proper RP etiquette?
We need your questions! Send your submissions for Ask WoW Insider to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
I know the first time I started my World of Warcraft client, the option of roleplaying servers surprised me. Never having been a roleplayer myself, it wasn't what I'd bought the game for, and while I've spent a little time attempting to play on them, but never really had a good feel for how to interact with players there. However, Manovan from EU server Scarshield Legion has written up a good guide for a beginning roleplayer - providing a good start for players who don't know where to start.
From an out-of-the-way inn my guild
uses for meetings, to the time I finally managed to watch a race in the Shimmering Flats, Azeroth has many well-kept
secrets. How many times have you stumbled across a location or piece of scenery and wondered what on earth it was there
for? Aside from the game's easter eggs, which are
fun to track down, some places seem to hold unfulfilled potential.
I've found that RP gives me a whole new
outlook on these places; every one suddenly suggests several possible storylines, although I've acquired the habit of
dismissing a lot of the empty-looking content by saying "oh, that's only for RPers". Do you think this is
true? Are the deserted buildings and empty locations there for RP enjoyment alone, or to lighten the hearts of the
players who love running around into every nook and cranny? Have you found a particular spot that surprised or
delighted you?
I spend an awful lot of time sifting through the various forums for quality candidates for Forum Post of the Day. My usual suspects were pretty lackluster today, so I ventured into some unknown territory. As I flipped through some of the posts in the Role Playing forum, I was briefly reminded of folks running around game shops with their arms crossed at their chests saying something to the effect of "you can't see me." I decided to give it a shot anyway.
It's time once again for 
From an out-of-the-way inn my guild
uses for meetings, to the time I finally managed to watch a race in the Shimmering Flats, Azeroth has many well-kept
secrets. How many times have you stumbled across a location or piece of scenery and wondered what on earth it was there
for? Aside from the game's 
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