I've been on both sides of the equation, I've been the RPer who Raids on the side, and the Raider who RPs on the side. I was an officer in a large RP guild, at the same time, a raider in one of the more successful 25 man groups on the server (hurrah for raiding communities!) Nowadays, I am in a guild of players who are mostly non-RPers, but are mature enough to understand and respect the RP policies and RPers in general. Still in the same raiding community, and there's at least 4 RPers including myself there, and we're making steady progress through HC Dragon Soul (25)

Personally, I never struggled to find a balance. I had X, Y and Z nights dedicated to raiding, every other time was free for RPing, and was able to keep that happy medium. Perhaps that was because I did keep the two as separate entities, as I always carried my PvE Gear with me, and wore my RP gear around town.

The RP Guild I was in when I started raiding is dead, and as previously mentioned, I'm in a non-RP guild, but I pass my story off as retiring from military duty and signing on with a mercenary company. Did I personally help in the killing of the Lich King/Ragnaros/Deathwing? No. Did I assist in the battle to enter Icecrown/Firelands/break the siege of Wyrmrest? Of course. I mean, I can be heroic without being glorious.

But what strikes me most is the venomous attitudes some (and the number is dwindling) of people on the "Only RP" or "Only Raid" camps about the other kind of player. I've had people from "top raiding guilds" of my server tell me "RPers can't raid, you're all a bunch of noobs" and I've had RPers look down on me for raiding (One classic tale was an RPer who ranted at me for a good ten minutes about how using my "The Immortal" title wasn't "Good RP", and I should use an appropriate title. Yeah, how *dare* I be proud of using a title I got during relevant content!) - there's no written law saying you can only do one, or the other. But a good chunk of that wall is starting to break down, especially with raiding becoming more accessible to players these days.

But I agree with Anne, you can do both. You can enjoy both. In fact, there's one guy in my raiding group, he RPs, PvEs and PvPs with one char, and loves doing all three. There's no reason to sit at the table and only eat from one pie, when there's many tasty flavours on the table.

So make mine a slice of RP and slice of PvP.

No custard.

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