I’m not trying to preach to the choir, so if this seems painfully obvious and unnecessary to you, the reader, please just let that go.
I am now seventh level Horde, Makaga. Unfortunately, I cannot post as this character yet. Today while questing in Durotar I looted an uncommon, two-handed axe from a slain troll. A thought occurred to me that this was a particularly valuable weapon to a fifth or sixth level warrior, having high damage and granting a buff to stamina, and I decided to gift it to someone.
It then occurred to me that I could choose who to gift it to based on RP interactions. I attempted to hail one warrior on the islands who ignored me. Then, by the shore on my way back to Sen’jin, a sixth level warrior shouted a greeting as he passed by. I followed after him, helping him finish off a crawler, and asked him if he might be able to use the axe I had found.
He was grateful to have such a useful weapon. At this level we have little to offer one another but the odd item and gratitude, but that was quite enough. He was the recipient of a Severing Axe of Stamina, which will be one of the better weapons he can obtain for at least a few levels.
For me this was a bit of an experiment, but I will continue to go out of my way to encourage RP on Grobbulus using similar means of random generosity. Many players are open to roleplaying and can be encouraged in that direction. It is often clear who the experienced roleplayers are and who is somewhat green or inexperienced, and I count myself in that group. However, I am here to roleplay and it will be a work in progress.
Positive social interactions are what cemented MMORPG’s as one of my favorite genres. Those types of experiences happened much more often in character than between random arcade-type players. It’s something I miss about the old-school RPG’s, and something I hope to build and recapture on Grobbulus.
33 Likes
Keep going young one and you will get there. Yes, sharing items in RP fashion is a great idea when out there fighting.
7 Likes
the only rp i see in wow is pvp and killing enemy faction npcs for ages but thanks to layers it’s super shallow for 2 weeks now
i don’t understand the appeal of rp realms when there are gmod rp servers
In my humble opinion, this is the best kind of Role Play there is. Organic in character interactions while out in the world.
Scheduled events are good fun too, but nothing beats being a part of a living world while out and about.
8 Likes
Thats an awesome story, well done Xav!
6 Likes
I had a very similar interaction on my troll hunter! There was a level 40 orc wandering around the crossroads, RPing at anyone that would talk to him, and offering supplies for various people.
For my hunter, he gave her a 12 slot bag because, “Many are the pains of quivers.” He then bade me to continue on the tradition, and pass the bag off to someone else when the time came. 11/10 great way to have some RP interaction to break up the leveling experience.
6 Likes
I bumped into my warrior friend again later in the day, and we greeted one another with a cheer… Blood and thunder! For the Horde! It was a great feeling to see him. I didn’t think to look if he was wielding the axe yet. He will have to have received training in Orgrimmar, in any case.
For my hunter, he gave her a 12 slot bag because, “Many are the pains of quivers.”
Brilliant, I love it! 
6 Likes
You will have to log out of your forum account and back in to post as any characters you’ve created since. It’s an odd bug that appears to only be affecting classic.
1 Like
You will have to log out of your forum account and back in to post as any characters you’ve created since.
I gave that a stab, as rogues do, and I am still unable. Maybe I need to log out of my accounts in all browsers, phone and desktop? I’ll try that next.
1 Like
It seems that reaching tenth level was the ticket to being able to select this character, but it could be a coincidence.
Agreed. Was having some fun banter in Auberdine yesterday about how the Dwarf fisherman was selling us defective bait to catch Darkshore Groupers. People were trading their extra groupers in spite of him.
3 Likes
Waiting for boats is also a great place to strike up some random RP, or at the Blacksmith/forge.
As long as you’re not in the Trade District, there’s plenty of RP to be had
1 Like
One of my first IC interactions in Classic was waiting in Tirisfal for the Orgrimmar Zeppelin to hop over to Kalimdor the first time, and having Beckett see a tauren waiting too for the first time.
He was so shocked, he couldn’t not react to this cow-person suddenly standing beside him. That was fun.
2 Likes
I think especially at low levels people are not that motivated to RP. They just want to reach a couple of levels and get to play the real game. It is easier to RP once you are 20 or above I would say, at least that has been my experience.
5 Likes
I had the pleasure of finding some random RP that last few days. Once everyone finishes leveling I am sure we will see more of it.
4 Likes
So far I’ve continued to have small IC exchanges just by casually seeking them out.
Today I hailed down a warrior outside Orgrimmar to say hello, and we parted ways. I said… ‘I wanted to wish you luck. May you fare well today…’
An hour later I went to turn in a quest and he was standing near the quest NPC having stepped away from the game and he was being attacked by a Scytheclaw, and I ended up saving his life. A fun coincidence… I wished him luck and then got to be a part of his good fortune. I’m loving the little RP twists.
For anyone who thinks RP isn’t happening… Look for it and create it! You might just be missing the action, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.
6 Likes
Ha, I can see this happening. A cow-person!
3 Likes
Stepped onto the Zep to UC last night and an undead told us “cows ride below deck” I responded with “Undead get thrown off Zeppelin”.
It is little exchanges like this that help define our characters! Now, if I could have just picked him up and tossed the bag of bones off the zep 
5 Likes
I only buff people with RP friendly names.
7 Likes
I have been encountering a lot of Random RP lately. Very exciting to see.
2 Likes