I’ve been struggling with something most of my RP life, and I’d like to know if anyone else feels the same or found a way out of this.
I love casual/walk-up RP. Some days, I’d like to just log in, walk around Stormwind and talk all afternoon/night. No specific days, just… Any day I feel like.
But whenever I do that, I see people RPing with friends or in groups. I feel discouraged, because I’m too shy to just approach a group of strangers who are already having fun. I’m not extremely shy, but I get too anxious about approaching people with no specific reason, just wanting to talk, or grab a drink at the tavern.
Guilds always seemed like a solution, but the guilds I’ve been are usually active only when there’s an event.
I’m not sure if there are any active communities or guilds around for people who are searching for casual RP everyday, since I’ve been away from the RP scene lately… Any suggestions? Anyone who’s shy and managed to get through this?
Keep one key thing in mind. Everyone has started somewhere, and I know more than a handful of people who have been in the same boat, myself included at times.
Most people won’t jump down your throat about little mistakes. You could try some music to get your mind off the thoughts of messing up or even give you some courage.
At worst they say “no” or “not right now”, and that happens, if it gets worst than that that’s what the wonderful ignore function is for.
I’m not sure if there is an Alliance-side version, but if you were Horde they have a discord for helping out people jumping over to the red side.
You’re absolutely right in that, yeah, a guild is (in theory) the easiest way to make connections-- The same goes for communities, discords, and even some IC events specifically designed for these meetups (the latter of which will be my fall-back recommendation. Namely the weekly market; those guys have a good thing going). However, there’s a certain je ne sais quoi to a natural walk-up and to use one of those other avenues of contact, you almost hurt the element that makes these encounters just so dynamic and potentially special.
You’ll find that quite a few people are in the exact same boat because, yeah, it is absolutely intimidating to initiate a walk-up, particularly when it’s a group like that (i.e. “Am I interrupting?”, “Am I welcome?”) and, yeah, there is absolutely a certain layer of context that should be taken into account. That said, in general, it’s like the guy above said: You’ve just gotta stumble into it best you can and you’ll always improve.
For a piece of more concrete advice, I recommend going into a conversation with a purpose. Even if it’s nebulous, having something that your character is actively doing or struggling with or wants to ask about really helped me to get the initial heebie-jeebies out of my walkups.
Another recommendation, if you’re just looking for more confidence or practice, is to try rolling a character that is self-sufficient in that sense. I have a Gnome alt, and I pride myself on being able to ramble and inquire about random elements of a scene, and that tends to both interest people and keep people going in the context of a walk-up.
Anyhow, I hope that was somewhat clear advice-- Good luck!
Walk-up RP like you’re describing is a little like fishing. You’ll throw your line into the water over and over again, coming up with nothing a lot. Sometimes you’ll catch something, but it’ll be so small that you’ll have to throw it back in. And then here and there, you’ll find something good that you can keep.
Shyness is something that a lot of us deal with with regards to walk-up. I know I’ve felt the exact same way you say you do on many occasions. One solution is to just steel yourself and try approaching people here and there (casting your line). It’s not always easy. It’s not something you’ll feel up to doing every time. But it’s almost certainly guaranteed to give you more shots at good interaction than waiting for people to walk up to you.
That said, is this lightforged the character you RP on mostly? I usually love chatting up lightforged and find the interaction between them and my void elf pretty interesting. I hear what you’re saying about guilds, and I know you’ve posted over in the Hard to Guild Characters thread. But perhaps keeping your feelers out there will net you something good in time?
Edit
Just wanted to edit my post to say this is fantastic advice and something I myself have used as a tool to break the ice on more than one occasion.
Volke nailed it on the head. Walking up is something I’ve long since stopped doing, but not out of shyness. I simply RP more socially reserved characters now, but I always interact with anyone who approaches.
If you haven’t done so already, there are some public Discords for MG that have “LF Contact/RP” channels. It is easy to get lost in the crowd there, though, but you never know! Check out this master list of RP servers. Some are inactive, but the main MG RP server is packed and always hopping. MG Discord Servers List.
However, if you wanna try some random interaction, our guild holds a regular tavernkeep RP in the Pig and Whistle. It’s part of our IC facade as thugs, but anyone is welcome to come by. Lot of activity there as well. Join us some time!
This is excellent advice. If you go into a group of people and just wave or say “hi”, you’re going to feel awkward no matter what. But if you ask for help, or offer to sell something, pass off an observation, be looking for someone, whatever…that’ll add to the conversation and you’ll instantly become a part of the scene.
Volke brings up a very good point when it comes to walk-ups and it’s something that is difficult to think of for sure. However, it’s something where once you got an idea that works, it can go a long way to approaching people. One of the best things in regards to this is if you nail something that is unique as well, you might end up with a long-term contact.
No denial though that this is not easy though, as I myself have struggled with this type of thing, especially with specific characters such as this mage. It’s not easy, though you can’t give up. Find a purpose that interests you in regards to your character and make it shine. Once you get comfortable, start adding little details and you’ll eventually have a really interesting character and one that is unique to yourself. Even if you’re not sure if it’ll work in a walk-up scenario, give it a go. RP is all about creativity and some of the best walk-ups in the past for me have been from things I wouldn’t of expected at all. Overall don’t give up and you do you in the way you want to be!
This is all excellent advice, I am suffering from a lot of issues the OP has as well and am glad someone has placed all the info in one spot for like minded people to find and help them out as well.
