Posts with tag roleplay-event

All too often, I hear stories of roleplay realms with dwindling roleplay populations -- realms that can't seem to get back on their feet and make roleplay flourish. These realms try everything under the sun to cultivate roleplay, from creating roleplay websites dedicated to providing roleplay information to having monthly meetings discussing the roleplay situation on the realm. Yet there's still something that keeps people from rolling characters on these realms and sticking around for the long term, while other realms continue to flourish.

That something is present on these flourishing realms in abundance, and it's the reason people flock to these realms and stay put. It's roleplay, pure and simple -- available in every tavern, every Auction House, every city and every town. Hundreds of players run around with roleplay addons that advertise their roleplaying status, and you'll see characters happy to speak to each other in /say, having intriguing conversations and in general, just being a presence.

If your realm has lost the throngs of roleplayers it once had, how do you get them back again?

So, you're a roleplayer. You may be a deep immersionist, an escapist, or a light roleplayer. But, for whatever reason, you've decided now is your time to go that extra mile. You're not only enjoying what roleplay has to offer but you now want to gather up a group of roleplayers to interact all at once. And you don't just mean in the same Guild. You want to gather them in a single in-game location, at a single in-game time, and all play together. You want to host your own roleplay event.

A lot of the best roleplay events happen spontaneously. The best roleplay event I've recently intended was entirely accidental. Three or four folks were squatting in front of the Eventide bank in Dalaran, chillin' on their riding bears while waiting for the next instance. I thought it was funny, and parked my own white riding bear next to them. And then someone else did. And someone else. Within a few moments, there was a horde of forty or so bears walking through Dalaran. Someone asked "WTF are you guys doing?" Thinking fast, the leader of the procession said "This is an in-character mourning parade, in honor of the fallen Alliance hero." I can't say the name of that hero for fear of spoilers, but I'm sure the readers of ATWAS get the idea. It was awesome, and spontaneous. But that's not usually how events happen.

Usually, someone has to invest time, effort, and even money into formulating the idea, building the event and agenda, and then executing the whole shebang. And don't think that a successful roleplay event doesn't take a lot of time. You'll get out of your event what you put into it. So, let's take a moment this week and talk about what you can do to build your own successful roleplay event.

This isn't the first one we've seen, but I love it when we get trailers for roleplay groups or roleplay events. The Warsong Defensive on Shatar (EU) is holding a roleplay event from February 8th until February 15th. As the story goes, a disgruntled Scourge fellow named Paggorn is stepping up to the plate at Wrathgate, and ready to lay some smackdown on the Scourge. You can find more about the event on the official forums. This is the trailer for that event, cunningly titled Warsong Defensive Event Trailer.

The author apologizes for letting the music drown out some of the narration, which I have to admit is probably the most distracting part of the trailer. Other than that, the whole thing was pretty good, when viewed from the lens of something to get you roleplaying. The movie has equal parts effects-stylization and raw in-game graphics. I think when you're putting together a roleplaying trailer, you can't stray too far away from in-game graphics, because then you're distancing yourself from the immersion you want to feel in game. The music is pretty solid and motivating.

I think the only criticism I'd really have is that the trailer should do more to promote what's happening at the event. It's a pretty awesome video, but it does leave me wondering what will happen at the event itself. Still, it does make guess about whether I can get a character ready in time for the event, which probably means the movie succeeded.

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ..

Here's a roleplay event, nicely timed to take advantage of the brain-munching Zombie plague. The Scourgebane Resolute on Shadow Council are holding a rally tomorrow (Saturday, October the 25th) to kick off their withdrawal from Outland, and re-focus their miiltary efforts toward Northrend. And like any good military body about to launch a strike, they want to convince the community of Azeroth that the Scourgebane are in the right, they have a plan, and everyone should go with them.

The leader of the rally will be providing an inspirational speech, which is also recorded as an audio file. You can get a copy on their their Guild's website. And while they don't provide any information about other, structured activities, you can probably expect a plethora of roleplay, duels, and discussions about what the Scourgebane will be up to in Northrend.

Since this event is taking place on the fringe of Brill, Alliance characters could drop by and hang out, also. It's on the way to the Wicker Man, which makes it easy for you to visit and say "Howdy!" (Alliance are invited, and since this is an RP server, you don't get insta-flagged for wandering nearby.) The Scourgebane don't explicitly say they'll be ganking zombies on sight -- but they are called the Scourgebane. Brain-munch at your own risk.