To RP or not to RP (Part 1)

Have you ever been intrigued by RP servers and considered rolling on one just to check it out? Have you recently rolled on one but aren’t sure where or what to do? I’ve been in your shoes. I’ve always enjoyed RPGs, especially the old Squaresoft SNES titles (FFVI, Chrono Trigger), and when I came to WoW I always thought that storybook element was missing.

Sure, there is lore in the quests but you don’t actually BUILD your characters personality. That part is entirely up to you and RP servers give you that chance to give that toon that you spend so much time with an actual storyline.

The purpose of this post is nothing new – to give those of you in this position an idea of what to expect, what to look out for and how to build your character. I’m not a pro at RP and I haven’t been at it a long time but I do enjoy the RP that I get myself in to.

IC or OOC?
IC stands of In Character while OOC stands for the direct opposite, Out of Character. Some RPers are die hards and never play OOC at all. The general rule of thumb is to assume that anything said in “/say” is IC unless it’s in the ((OOC brackets)). Every server is different and it’s best to check their server forums to see if general chat is IC or if there are any custom made RP-only channels to /join.

Wow, that guy was a prick!
Keep in mind that people RP as “good” or “bad”. Not everyone is a hero and the villains won’t hesitate to let you know that. If you walk by someone and you get spit on, laughed at, heckled, don’t freak out and think you’re being griefed.. it’s most likely just that persons character. My Priest, for example, finds Tauren repulsive and doesn’t hesistate to mention how the odor in the air changes when one walks by. I also like to heckle a guild Hunter who is a male Blood Elf by refering to him as “Huntress” because he thinks male Belfs look like girls and act like sissies. It’s all in the character.

So, whats up with the walking?
Again, you’re playing the role of your character. Does your character run everywhere? Of course not, no one does. Most people save walking for cities – 99% of players don’t walk out in the open world. Who wants to walk from Org to TB?

LOL, ROFL, WTF?
These are OOC terms and should be left out of IC chat. If your character thinks something is funny, target the person and /lol.. don’t say LOL unless you enjoy being made fun of. “I don’t understand the meaning of the word.. is that Thalassian?”

Nice gear, bro.
A lot of people enjoy dressing up their toons for RP and save their “real” gear for battle. You won’t see a lot of people around town RP’ing in their Naxx gear unless it either looks cool or matches an outfit. Tailors make a fortune selling shirts and dresses and you’ll see a ton of people wearing a mix of low level gray and white gear to make a “casual” outfit. My Priest RP’s as a member of the Royal Apothecary Society so I collect a lot of black gear and any main hand/offhand/wand that looks like something “apothecary-ish”. I use a mace from ZG that has a skull and snake heads on it and I have an off-hand from a Hinterlands quest that looks like a vial of poison. Getting RP gear is half the fun.

I just got whispered asking to ERP?
Ah, ERP. ERP is short for “erotic role play” and is quite popular on RP servers – especially in inns. Falconwing Square is an ERP mecca on Sisters of Elune. I, personally, don’t do it nor have an interest in it but ERP is a big thing.

The “F” word.
By “F word”, I mean “Futa”. Futa is short for a japanese term that, in a nutshell, means a female character with “man parts”. Yeah, take that in for a second.. it took me awhile too. Why would anyone want to RP as Futa? I have NO idea but, much like ERP, it’s a big thing on RP servers. If someone tells you they RP as a futa, think of the final scene in the movie “The Crying Game”. Anything and everything can happen on RP servers.

Wow, RP servers are full of perverts.
Not so much, no. This isn’t stuff that happens right out in the open. RP servers attract a more mature and adult audience and some people RP EVERYTHING.. just not in /say. It’s not like you’re going to go log out in the inn and walk in to a massive orc orgy. It’s a part of RP that you decide for yourself if you want to take part in. If not, you won’t even notice that it exists.

So where DOES RP happen?
That really depends on the server. On the Horde side of Sisters of Elune, a majority of our RP happens in Silvermoon City – more specificly in The Bazaar, the inns & Falconwing Square (for the ERP’ers). I haven’t come across much RP in Orgrimmar or TB and there is very little in UC.. it just seems like Silvermoon attracts a majority of the RP’ers (even the non-Belfs). A lot of people RP out in the open in Silvermoon but if you want to get in with a group of people, it’s probably best that you search for an RP guild that is accepting of new people as the more hardcore RP guilds require and IC interaction interview that you won’t be ready to do as of yet.

So, who is RP’ing?
Every RP servers have their griefers. What interests a person in joining an RP server ONLY to make fun of RP’ers is beyond me, but it does happen from time to time. There are addons that you can get (MyRoleplay comes to mind) that give you the ability to add a mini biography to your character screen that ONLY MyRoleplay users can see. It also allows you to flag yourself as RP’ing full time, RP’ing but currently OOC or that you’re new to RP. It’s a very cool addon that I had a lot of fun filling out. If you decide on an RP-PVP server, there are addons that can tell you what other guilds your current guilds are alligned with, which players to KOS (Kill On Sight – someone corpse camps a guildie, they mark that player as KoS, your addon shows you and you give that person payback. It’s a great idea.), etc.

RP sounds kind of lame.
It’s not for everyone, I admit. I only rolled on an RP server to play with some friends and eventually got sucked in to the RP element of the game. I’m still not a heavy RP’er and most of my time online is spent OOC. RP is no lamer than D&D (which I enjoyed) or LARP (Live Action Role Play), but thats up for you to decide.

Sounds cool. So what server is the BEST!?
I have no idea. Your best bet is to check the offical forums and see for yourself. Some servers have guild alliances, their own government system, server-wide RP events and some are either heavy Horde or Alliance population. My advice is to pick the one that sides with your faction, as you’ll have more people to RP with, and log in with a noobie toon to check out the environment. Head in to a major city and ask where the RP is. If you get heckled, chances are the server is just full of griefers and it’s time to find somewhere else to go.

So do you just sit around playing pretend all day or what?
Lol, no. A lot of people still focus on PVE raiding content while a lot of people also focus on PVP. RP isn’t all candy and nuts – people still play the game to play the game, RP is just an added bonus. Sure, some people have RP as their top priority but we have guilds that downed Kil’jaeden and people in some of the higher ranked arena teams.. they just happen to RP in their free time. Sisters of Elune had guildes clear all current raid content within a week of WOTLK being released and my guild, for instance, has cleared Sartharion, Archavon and some of Naxx just by being a casual raider.

Alrighty, I’ve found my server, made my toon, now how do I build my character?
Easy. You wait for part 2 of this post =).