A walking tour around the Roleplaying realms

The sights range from the disgusting (you get offered to cyber by just being a lowbie and hanging around Elwynn, apparently), to the boring (there is some really, really bad vampire RP), to the fascinating (some of the character descriptions are very well written, and use some commonplace ingame gear to portray a character's backstory very well). There's no judging involved -- it's basically a (pretty) objective survey of what RP players are doing on RP servers lately. Even if you're not an RPer, it's an interesting read (though some of the images and situations are NSFW, depending on where you work).
There's more info in a Q&A on the journal, including a plan to possibly do some group RPing, but just the idea of surveying what's out there is cool. There is so much happening on the realms (in terms of RPing and grouping and PvPing), and even here at WoW insider we can only document so much of it. Definitely cool to get another look inside what players are coming up with (no matter how weird or boring or wild) on the realms.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
serf Jan 12th 2009 6:24PM
veco is 4 fite
Andreith Jan 12th 2009 6:28PM
LOL! She featured my Rogue Andreith on the BlackWater Raiders review. Glad that Trade macro was effective :D
nate Jan 12th 2009 6:42PM
all of the RP servers should be eradicated without delay
Daniel Jan 12th 2009 6:47PM
I play on Silver Hand which is *supposed* to be an RP server. The truth however is the Bliz refuses to do anything to help make it that way. RPing is next to impossible when trade is slammed with Chuck Norris jokes or discussions of Sarah Palin.
Overall, the state of RP on the various servers is next to nothing compared to games like LOTRO. And I blame Blizzard. If they are going to call a server an RP sever then they need to enforce RP rules on it, including banning accounts of those who don't RP.
nate Jan 12th 2009 6:50PM
banning accounts of people not RPing? Hahahahahah wow
Melody Jan 12th 2009 7:00PM
Penalizing those who don't roleplay? How fascist of you.
How about encouraging server transfers? Banning people for that offense is silly and it will NEVER happen.
Plastic Rat Jan 13th 2009 12:19AM
Incoming horde of: "I CAN PLAY WHERE I WANT 2!!!"
It's quite funny, people will complain about being ganked on a PvP server and everyone will mock them. People complain about roleplayers WHILE playing on an RP server, and everyone takes them seriously.
Sean Riley Jan 13th 2009 3:58AM
I nominate this comment for [1. Local]. That is a very astute observation.
I wouldn't go quite so far, but the gist is true. Complain about being ganked on a PVP server, and the remarks are, "Well, don't roll PVP then, noob." Complain about a non-role player on an RP realm, and the response is, "They're allowed to play where they want..."
Aglaril Jan 13th 2009 6:22AM
I've always thought that it would be more in Blizzard's best interest to avoid policing the RP community on an RP server (aside from enforcing standard ToS, cracking down on ERP, etc.). I play on Farstriders so that I can be with my wife, and I barely RP at all. If Blizzard had a "mandatory RP on RP server" type of policy, I wouldn't have rolled on my current server to begin with. (I don't have any problems with RP, it's just not my forte).
Daniel, you might consider /leave-ing the Trade channel and/or filtering it into a separate chat window (both of which are supported in the default UI). It's an easy way to avoid the headache and should leave you with more time to focus on RP (if you so choose).
Arkeband Jan 12th 2009 7:01PM
It's hard to *make* people roleplay - what about the players that stay relatively quiet? Would you make a requirement of 'you must roleplay THIS much to avoid being banned'? Though you're right, players on RP servers have a lot of work to do with roleplaying, mine included. The bad thing is, it gets an awful reputation when more than half of the roleplay is "so i hear ur a princess..." "yes, i come from a far off land".
Roleplay within the boundaries of the game you're in, people!
schm0 Jan 12th 2009 7:21PM
I decided to read this post in hopes of finding something more... interesting. Unfortunately, after reading that the scathing report on Moon Guard I realized one thing: You will find little else than ERPers on any RP server if you are only going to stop in SMC or Brill. (Well, maybe not so much in Brill, unless you're into that whole undead bondage thing.)
Either way, I'd like to say on behalf of Moon Guard that ERPers only make 60, maybe 75% of our total population. The rest are just there to cyber.
All joking aside, I don't think this sort of "Level 1 noob looks for RP" thing will work. While RP is abundant (and suprisingly good, most of the time) on MG there will ALWAYS be those who are simply there to spooge on their keyboards. (Can I say spooge?)
Seedcake Jan 12th 2009 8:09PM
I think you just did.
Eddy Jan 12th 2009 8:53PM
I bet Ravenholdt is still the worst for ERPs. We always are.
Nephilym Jan 12th 2009 8:54PM
I'm more curious about that mod being shown in the image. I'll admit, my first server was Argent Dawn, though I seldom role played. If something was said in the /say channel, I'd say it as the character would have. Anything else was just normal MMO chatter.
So, anyone know what that mod is? I might give the RP a try again..
Sean Riley Jan 13th 2009 4:02AM
The one with the physical descriptions? That's MyRoleplay. There's a very similar one called FlagRSP2. Both have fans.
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info9584-FlagRSP2.html
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info4990-MyRolePlay.html
mattereaterlad Jan 13th 2009 2:50AM
Not too surprised about Moon Guard Allyside -- the times I've made toons in Elwynn, it's been pretty nuts. Hordeside isn't much better, though the Silvermoon inns seem to do less brothel-ing when I'm there and more slave-trade shenanigans. And, of course, lots of belf chick paladins in plate hotpants.
It's a bummer that the tourer didn't have a chance to spot any of my favorite trade advertiser: Hlalakar's Magic Imporium! (His spelling, not mine.) His ridiculous, in-character ads for things from normal to mundane to pointless are consistently hilarious.
I will say that when I started on Moon Guard a few months back before moving there full time, RP of the good variety seemed to be everywhere I looked. The Dalaran Underbelly at least is still pretty fun to hang out in, especially Crows & Cantrips.
Teresa Jan 13th 2009 3:13AM
Its either RPing with a sea of blood elves, or Goldshire. Pick your poison.
But really, I hope nobody takes goldshire rp seriously, everyone goes there to troll or laugh at the bad role playing.
Alderkin Jan 13th 2009 9:54AM
You're not going to get any sort of accurate idea of the state of a server's RP just by wandering through the starter zones. A lot of dedicated RPers avoid those areas due to the exact sort of things mentioned on the "tour".
The only thing 'exhaustive' about the tour is that tired feeling you get from reading about the same things people have been complaining about on RP servers since they first opened.
Mastique Jan 13th 2009 10:41AM
I was a bit disappointed in this persons "tour". Seems to be a lot of defensive attitudes and not much else. And how she laid into the poster that had a different opinion about a group of RP'ers. Doesn't really make me want to go back and read more. At least there is value in what WoWI puts out there, not so much here.
I personally love to RP, when I have the time. I have however noticed that there is an air of superiority by a lot of my fellow RP'ers. Not sure if this is due to the desire to avoid "bad" RP, or if its just the personality type of most RP'ers, but on more than one occasion, on more that one server I have noticed the "snubbing" because someone is not in the clique. Ah well, take it where you can get it I guess.
Neil Jan 13th 2009 11:15AM
I have never played on an RP server, but the idea has appealed to me for quite some time.
Is it just the starting areas that are filled with idiots? Or are Shattrath and Dalaran just as bad as Goldshire?