Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsNethaera talks about supporting roleplayers
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 7th 2008 at 3:30PM
There's a huge forum thread over on the forums right now (though it's been going for the better part of a month) about Blizzard putting in more for roleplayers -- player housing, surnames, and "a more interactive world" are all asked for, and much later in the thread, Nethaera does weigh in with a nice long statement about how Blizzard is dealing with all of this stuff. The bottom line, as always, is that there's only so many hours in the day, and Blizzard has to prioritize what gets worked on. And as of yet, neither player housing nor surnames or any of the other suggestions have made their way to the top of the list.Which makes sense -- as many roleplayers as there are, nobody would really call them the primary audience of the game. There are definitely other games out there that are much better for defining a character. Which doesn't mean that we'll never see these things ingame -- player housing has been wanted (and promised) for a long time, and surnames are something that's common in almost every MMO but World of Warcraft. Neth just says that it's a matter of time, and that while player housing is still on the horizon, the world of Northrend will be more immersive and interactive than the rest of the game so far. Which is good news not just for roleplayers but for everyone else as well.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Expansions, The Burning Crusade, RP
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Silet Oct 7th 2008 7:36PM
And you're a douche.
Eternauta Oct 7th 2008 5:37PM
I'd like the surnames thing. Or at least allow spaces on names, and more than just twelve letters.
unigolyn Oct 8th 2008 10:31AM
"I'd like the surnames thing. Or at least allow spaces on names, and more than just twelve letters."
I'm Hugh Jass and I approve this message.
Talisker Oct 7th 2008 6:00PM
I recently spent some time playing Lord of the Rings Online, an MMO that caters to RP'ers far more than WoW currently does, and I was pretty impressed. They allow surnames (as well as the ability to make other players part of your family) both guild and personal housing (which are instanced and well executed) a barber shop and the outfit system. (allowing you to not look like a hobo or a clown while you level) With the exception of player housing, I can't imagine that any of these features would be terribly difficult to add to WoW. (Yes, I know the barber shop is coming.)
The Hammer Oct 7th 2008 6:26PM
I'd like to say that, recently, on my realm, the Sha'tar EU, we've been experiencing lots of interaction from GMs during big events. That's a great thing! Even if GMs just showed more commitment to RP, it would make a big change for the players, as they would feel that the devs actually cared for their experience.
Hoggersbud Oct 7th 2008 6:34PM
Priorities for RPers do not include Surnames or Player Housing. We can work around that with addons for the former, and the plethora of empty buildings across the game. No, the problem as already mentioned is the anti-RP crowd.
Do something about that Blizzard. Ignores only go so far.
Sean Riley Oct 7th 2008 6:39PM
Oh, hey! It's TonyMotorola! Man, it's been ages since you've trolled a role-playing thread. Where have you been, man?
Arkkoran Oct 7th 2008 8:59PM
I like the RP elements in Everquest II.
Player housing.
Changeable last names.*
Clothing/armor choosing (stats of one armor, look of another)
A section where you can write up a description of your character that shows when people inspect your armor.*
In game RP "flag" - makes your name glow pink so other Roleplayers can easily pick you out in a crowd of non roleplayers.*
All things I'd like to see in WoW, it would be fantastic. But of course, as others have said, none of this matters if Blizzard won't inforce the RP rules that got me into RP in the first place.
I've been highly considering going back to EQII, but I figured I'd give Wrath a chance to impress me before I make the switch.
*Available in WoW through addons. If people can make these addons in their spare time, why the hell can Blizzard not do it as a huge company?
Grisch Oct 8th 2008 2:38AM
@Sean Riley
That 'condensing' of the RP servers idea is the best I've heard yet.
I totally agree there are too many RP servers, they're not being enforced properly and the rp player base is too diluted. After looking at the success of Moon Guard where roleplayers have just formed up and slowly pushed out the non-rpers I really think a stronger concentration of RPers would do wonders.
Simply reduce the RP servers slowly. Allow two choices of transfers from each server. One to an RP server, one to normal.
State your goal as wanting to consolidate RPers. And then for god's sake add a friggin message that pops up when you roll on an RP server for the first time stating that it's an RP server and that it's subject to different and more intensive rules and regulations.
CorishMG Oct 8th 2008 8:29AM
Moon Guard is probably the last bastion, based on what I've seen on a few of the other RP servers. Unfortunately, it's seen a population boom in the past 3 months and now has regular queues to login during peak playtimes.
Personally, I've tried playing on some of the regular PvE servers. I get completely turned off and disgusted by the immature player base and really stupid names on the other servers. And because they're regular servers, the rules are extremely lax and you can't get a GM to address the issue. I refuse to play WoW on anything other then an RP server where I can petition the GMs about non-RP (or simply stupid) names and other behavior.
(I report at least one name per week, sometimes one per day. The GMs have taken action on at least 90% of those petitions. Especially if you indicate which portion of Blizzard or RP naming policy is being violated. For example, "Legollass" is against the trademark portion of the Blizzard naming rules.)
Crowlei Oct 8th 2008 8:43AM
Just a thought which i havent seen here yet:
I would like to get a surname for the sole purpose of knowing which alt ppl are on.
i have 9 alts , lots of people in my guild have multiple alts too.
It gets to be a pain in the butt to try to remember who is who. So for us a surname would save the trouble with short memory- constantly having to update note etc.
So give us a surname
Juliah Oct 8th 2008 12:17PM
I am a dedicated roleplayer. Have been playing MMOs since DAoC, which had the surname option.
I'm very much against adding surnames, as it will add to the bad naming problem on RP servers. People will use it to make "sentence names" even more than now because they'll have more space/room. Blizzard doesn't police worth a darn now; why give them more to not do?
I would like to see player housing.
ThorinII Oct 8th 2008 2:02PM
I don't really RP, but I'd like to have a lot of these things. Personal and guild housing, surnames, and stuff like that would be cool for everyone.
gridwerk Oct 8th 2008 2:51PM
Not for having nuthin' to do with nuthin' but it would be kinda neat to have a small hovel somewhere with some kind of way to "mount" older favored weapons or armor in a showcase of sorts. You know, like the BG swords before you decided to level your twink that cant be sold or DE'd- have them on a wall in a small place in SW or IF.
It could look like the armor and weapons you see displayed in the vendor shops and maybe even be "clickable" showing what it is and some other little factoid whatevers. You could also set your hearthstone to your own house and maybe even have the ability to buy portals like mounts to major cities and have a chest like in Diablo or similar to the bank.
They could sell the "real estate" for actual currency too making it profitable for Blizz to reserve the server space and setup the graphics/interfaces.
I hate to draw the comparison to Second Life but if ever there was a "world" that could financially and technically benefit from currently existing technology, WoW is it.