MG- Most unfriendly RP server?

Moon Guard
#1

Hello! I’d like to preface this by saying I typically wouldn’t make a post like this, but I’m sincerely at a loss of how to feel and what to do. This is no means meant to be senseless venting regarding Moon Guard, but rather exhaustion.

I’m not a Moon Guard native. I, like a lot of others came over from other roleplay servers. I came over after being told how active, friendly, and immersive the community was. This was three years ago. Since? I’ve made perhaps 12 different types of characters, all various races, classes, backgrounds. I’ve given each character weeks to months, attempting to make progress. I was told I needed to get out there to get solid roleplay, so I did. These are the issues I’ve been running into the last three years, on many characters:

Ninja Logging
I walk up constantly. I prefer walk-ups more than any other type of roleplay. I usually walk up to people whose characters seem interesting and are looking for long-term. I want to say, nearly half of my interactions have resulted to someone logging of in the middle of roleplay without a single OOC heads up. I have never had this happen on any other server, in eight years of roleplay. It continues to be an issue, every time I return back to Moon Guard. It does not matter the type of character either. I can only assume it is when it’s clear ERP is probably not on the table.

Guild Favoritism
I’ve joined I believe around six minor and major guilds on Moon Guard, in hopes of keeping a storyline. It all begins the same: They’re interested in my character, but OOCly talk to me as if they are superior. They act interested in my character, impressed by my liking for lore, then the moment my character is accepted, they no longer exist to be more than a number on a roster. I’ve joined three of the ‘major’ guilds here, who seem to only go to major server events, and expect you to try to infiltrate their years-long cliques and if you cannot? They usually respond with: “We don’t hand hold.” There is a fundamental difference between hand holding, and offering a space people can actually include themselves in. I’ve recently tried again, to be informed in order to join a guild, I must attempt to track when their officers log in and hope I can snag one for an interview, despite the fact they have me on discord and could arrange from there. I do not stand the want for new members, then the resilience in allowing them to be in your community. Mind you, this post is the farthest ‘trouble’ I’ve ever made, usually I just politely dismiss myself, after requesting roleplay a handful of times.

Main Character Syndrome
Personally? My favorite trope is roleplaying the quirky comedic relief side-character, or the villainous voice which stands beside a leader. These characters are looked over and drowned out by ‘main characters’ who are typically a lustful narcissist, with a secret hidden darkness, roleplayed by someone who usually says they’re kind and supportive, but still manages to speak down to you.

I’ve found an abundance of these. I find them nearly everywhere, and when I ask to be given a chance, I am usually given a list of what my character can do to basically ‘earn’ their way into casual interaction. I am told what my character’s can do to catch their attention. The sad part is? I’ve tried it, several times I’ve used these hooks which just feed into the ego of a character, only for them to eat up the attention, and shrug at my characters who do not attempt to yank the spotlight.

I cannot say if my side characters are just ‘boring’, maybe they are? Although, the second I try them in cross-faction, or on other roleplay servers, suddenly the issues vanish within minutes. Which leads me to believe it’s Moon Guard’s culture. Although, I could be wrong.

Why not make your own guild?
I’ve tried. I’ve tried four times. Every time, people from major projects like SLP have reached out to me. I accepted twice, each time my guildies were treated like actual pawns. I spoke to a leader of a project once, who had decided to write out how my guild was suppose to react to something, and basically hand me a script to convey to my guildies who are the time were also new to Moon Guard. I’ve tried creating ones on both Horde and Alliance; both times I’ve been bombarded by larger projects who speak down to us or attempt to use as props in a campaign instead of allowing us to just become part of a community.

This is no spite to SLP either, I have several friends who hold positions there, but it comes to no surprise as I’ve also vented to them regarding it. I eventually gave up after creating my last guild, in which I just simply didn’t have the will power to attempt to make it work.
__

Overall? I’m tired. I see such beautiful events, I see a community that absolutely does have some diamonds in the rough. - But for a community which prides itself on its open nature, world events, and kindness, I’ve been met again and again with just being treated like the dork in school trying to sit at the popular kids table. I want to love roleplay again. I want to sincerely immerse myself in lore, storyline, and bring that sidekick energy to others roleplay or guilds, but it seems like the best answer I’ve gotten is: “Try WRA Horde.” - Which I have. Went well. I just like Alliance races more.

I apologize for the length and rant. It really is out of character for me to make a post like this, but I’m at a total loss. If someone can tell me what I’m doing wrong? Any advice? Anything that can make Moon Guard a viable server to someone like myself? Thank you.

25 Likes
#2

Roleplayers can be fickle creatures.

Half of us are passionate about the material, the other half are only Roleplaying as therapy for our own IRL issues. There’s often overlap with both highs and lows.

Roleplay is what you make of it. I don’t believe any guild will ever be a perfect fit for you or anyone. Every person and group deal with trials, challenges, and limitations of their character story, and not every obstacle will be IC.

Roleplayers can also have a darker nature with ulterior motives of erotic pursuit or power-fantasy ego trip.

I would not for a moment subscribe to an exaggeration that Moon Guard is the “Most Unfriendly RP server” but with any large population, the duality of man becomes highlighted.

Moon Guard has something for everyone. Don’t give up, Keep searching.

18 Likes
#3

Very well said. I go through periods of time where it feels like RP on MG is losing something, so I can sympathize.

To Sunwick, there are diamonds out there. If you’d like to RP sometime, hit me up! Malfeasant is my main character, so you can reach me on her. Sadly, the process of finding long-term connections, or even just something that’s fun, usually involves bashing your head against RPers who range from boring to outright gross. I hope you can find friends to RP with!

3 Likes
#4

Pats WRA

This baby can hold so many good things!

3 Likes
#5

Fun fact. This character I was actually putting into your guild LOL I just wound up getting distracted by IRL

1 Like
#6

IRL definitely comes first :smiley:

1 Like
#7

This is exactly how I have always felt whenever I’ve come back from a long break and needed to reestablish myself in the roleplay community over the last 15 years regardless of server. All my meaningful long-term rp experiences have come from some random circumstance.

Once, I was leveling a random velf alt on WrA and met someone in the dungeon finder who just started a velf guild here so I rerolled and was there for over a year.

I saw an ad in trade chat for a guild whose name paired perfectly with my character’s name and was in it for 5 years.

Again on MG, I went to some event announced in trade and ended up making a friend who invited me into their personal story line and then later I put an alt in their guild that I ended up playing for 3 years.

I also had someone randomly whisper me about my mrp and I ended up an officer in their guild for 2 years.

But every time I’ve made an actual effort to meet people and make connections, I’ve experienced exactly what you’ve described. So I don’t have any advice other than just keep putting yourself out there which probably that helpful. Just kind of posting for solidarity.

3 Likes
#8

Over time, I’ve personally, personally found the structure of guilds to be not really for me. There’s too many people who all want different things and different kinds of stories, you can almost never make everyone happy and fulfilled as a storyteller GM.

I’ve personally found a LOT of fulfillment in the roleplay that I have with a very small group - me and my two besties. Between the three of us, we mush all our billion characters together in events and plots that, because it’s fundamentally a small group and there’s time to spare with just a few people, really get places, affect change, provide dramatic character arcs, and keep us busy and creatively fulfilled.

There are plenty of other people that we interact with on the peripheral of our characters’ core group, separately and together, and sometimes an ‘outside’ character might get some guest focus, but for me personally, three people (with an extended network of characters between us) is like the perfect sized group to tell the kinds of stories that I want to tell.

I’m definitely not saying that that’s the “right” way to go about things and that there’s also therefore a “wrong” way. I definitely waded through a lot of ninja logouts and snubs and fundamental mismatches in tone and style and what people wanted out of RP before I found my friends.

I say this a lot, but what it comes down to at the end of the day is finding the people who want the same things from RP as you, who enjoy your stories and you enjoy theirs, no matter where you find them - MG Alliance, WrA Horde, vice-versa, other games entirely, wherever. But the more specific what you want is, the more traction you want to be able to have without feeling like you have to push for it, the better it works with a smaller group in my personal experience.

2 Likes
#9

Your assessment is pretty spot on, tbh. You just have to decide what it is YOU want to do. If you go against (and I use that word loosely, as I doubt that is the actually intention of most people.) the grain, you are met with heavy pushback. Though, if you can endure it, you will breakthrough and facilitate some fun interaction and relationships.

In reality, many people on MG take things way too serious and try to enforce non-existent rules that they often do not follow. I would suggest creating or finding a community that suits your style/objective and keep track of those who indulge and those who do not. That will allow for your to have a much more enjoyable experience.

You will have your share of fun police/RP police who will self insert themselves into the fray, masquerading as IC. Those people are not to be taken seriously as they have blurred the lines of IRL and the video game.

Do not lose sight of the objective, which is to have fun.

5 Likes
#10

Buncha meanie Jerk Faces! angrily makes rude gesture with hand, yet ignorantly uses ring finger instead

All of the things… yes. And best quote to describe MG: “A person is nice, put people are jerkos!” yes yes, I’m paraphrasing… sheesh… lol. (see, that’s when the majority of players would chime in and go out of their way to interact with you, when they see an opportunity to belittle, correct, of just be mean over something mundane.)

I really have no advice. Just sympathetic hugs. You echo us all, and that stinks for the RP community as a whole.

I will say this though… I have had more RP enjoyment from bouncing around multiple RP Social Communities than I ever did relying on Walk-up or Guild affiliation.

Example: Through a LF RP Ad I answered, I was introduced to a cross-faction guild and their Merc story base. (my character was the nanny, not a merc btw). Even though the initial story arc since faded, my association with that group remained throughout “Yveti’s Life”, carrying it over into other communities she has joined, such as Orphan Matron of the SCA Discord’s orphanage as well as administrative assistant to governmental official… all maintaining continuity between the two separate RP entities. And recently, I have joined a “Dreanei Social Group” for Yveti’s personal social life. Not to mention being a part of so many other Discord Communities, even if only minutely, it still gives “YOU” a more fulfilling experience for your character. At least that is what I have experienced.

intrusive, extroverted, no-concept-of-personal-space, emotionally happy, stranger hugs! :two_hearts:

5 Likes
#11

gives Yveti a big hug

The key, I think, is remembering this:

You can’t and won’t be loved by the masses, nor need to. You just have to find the few with whom you really click, and enjoy the hell out of them.

Or into them, if that’s how you roll.

5 Likes
#12

I can’t say I have experienced much of what you have, other than some of the project-based stuff. I came to Moon Guard in 2015 after my original server, Twisting Nether, was done for. My one character, Persefani (although I have her in a few different classes of her for mogs), has been around since 2005. While Moon Guard has a lot of cliques, good o’ boy clubs, and many other things; I still find the server overall friendly and great.

Sure, there are dry spells, but I am paying for a lot of game, not just a chat room, so I take a few weeks to go chase some achievement or work on a collecting mogs or mounts or anything in terms of content and come back and see what is out there.

And maybe it is because I have one character that I stick with, or I am just an old school RPer as there is an apparent generational gap in how RP is done now, but so many people expect attention because they spent days writing out their novels of a TRP. And when they don’t immediately have it, they roll a new character. Consistency is lacking, but that isn’t a Moon Guard thing.

Also, this expectation that everything must be long-term. Again, I feel this is a generational thing. Have people never gone out to a tavern or a bowling alley, hell even as kids to a community pool or roller rink and met some other people that you chilled with for the day or evening and probably never saw again because that is just how it was?

Not every interaction must be designed for long-term. I never look for long-term. It is about living in the moment. If I come across the same person again, fantastic! But I don’t count on it. And TRP notes are great for remembering who I have interacted with and what I learned, so if I do run into them again, even months or years later (you can turn off database purging), it is like running into someone after meeting them at the bar weeks or months before, “Oh yeah, I remember you now… x y, and z.”

So just a different perspective. Stop caring about long-term and just live the life of your character day by day. Things will happen.

4 Likes
#13

I appreciate your advice. Although, I’m not referencing dry spells; as I don’t have these issues on other servers, even during periods of dry spells and burn out. I’ve been around during times roleplay was active and during said dry spells. Everything I discussed experiencing as been Moon Guard exclusively, and not various other servers. I don’t expect everyone to have the same experiences and not everyone will look for the same out of roleplay.

I typically don’t walk-up to someone and expect long term. When I mention long term, I’m discussing people who specifically have that want listed in their TRP, as in they are actively looking for it. Not nessicarly that I’m expecting it from slice-of-life roleplay.

Formally, I was a GM for 4 years, on a single character I mained for 5 years, on another server. I never switched, I never made all these alts, the difference was sincerely the server culture. Additionally, your name is known, as your guild has been suggested to me several times actually. I’m not going to assume what roleplay you have, or attempt to bunch you into something, because that’s just silly and rude. But it does somewhat support my point, that there’s a lack of experiencing these things when you’re considered a core part or known name in the community. (That is absolutely not to down play your experiences/advice/opinions, more as it is fitting the narrative I currently see.)

4 Likes
#14

Yeah I’ve had my fair share of problems on MG on the alliance. (Using my Horde character because i cant figure out how to update to my main.)

I will say that people are a bit cliquish on MG-A especially when you get down to the brass tacks of it. Worse if you rp as something that goes against the grain if you will. Which makes it hard to even have the desire to roleplay.

My advice is to power through it. As others have said you’ll find some diamonds in the rough.

3 Likes
#15

As someone who has been around a long time on both MG and WrA, I can say that you are spot on in so many ways. However, I would assert that these things don’t happen only on MG.

The RP community itself is rife with these issues. At the point I’ve reached in my life and participation (or lack thereof) in this hobby we call roleplay, I’m convinced this is just how it is. Put a bunch of human beings together, and you’ll inevitably see many of the same behaviors surface every single time.

As for why you see what you see on MG and not on other servers, perhaps it is a function of both the size and popularity of MG. The Alliance community on MG in particular is arguably the largest remaining segment of the RP community as a whole. So with such a large population, it becomes more and more likely that you’ll not only observe a particular behavior but observe it more often. Server culture also has a part to play no matter how large or small. Also consider that as the most popular and populated server/faction (MG-A), people will tend to congregate there simply because it’s “the place to be.” On servers will smaller communities, people tend to play and remain on those servers for more specific reasons and may also be less likely to do things like ninja log because they are more eager to embrace what interaction they do find when it isn’t so abundant as it is on MG-A.

Of course, you also mentioned you’ve had the same issues on MG Horde-side as well. Specifically, you mentioned the server projects when bringing up trying your hand with the Horde. That’s an issue that could likely be its own post and that I won’t begin to assume I have much knowledge of. I will say that in a smaller community that is guild/project/event-centric, it isn’t terribly surprising that not conforming to those structures, for whatever reason, could leave one with few options. And that’s not to say you didn’t try to conform with those structures and all the others you’ve interacted with. It’s simply to say that it’s difficult to find that real sense of belonging when you don’t mesh for whatever the reason may be.

I guess at the end of the day, all I can say is this is just how the RP community, and by extension humanity in general, operates. Cliques form. Insincerity abounds. Most interactions find themselves fleeting. People come and go. Relationships wax and wane, rise and fall. Inflated senses of ego and self-importance are around every corner. The vast majority of interactions result in nothing. We all sift through a lot before we find what really works. And so perhaps the best advice has already been given. Find those with whom you click and stick to them above all else. Lower your expectations of the greater, general RP community…a lot lol. Know that you are not alone in what you’ve observed. And if after all that you find that the effort and what it produces are just not for you, there’s no harm in pulling back and directing at least a portion of your energy to other hobbies and things you enjoy.

4 Likes
#16

moon guard is the worst rp server except for all the other ones

having been in a few rp communities spanning multiple online games, servers, etc, the horrible traits assigned to moon guard are not exclusive to the server. turns out roleplayers in general can be horrible due to the anonymity granted unto oneself by playing pretend with an online persona. most rpers are younger people yet to know themselves, i.e. their flaws and personalities, which can lead to a lot of growing pains when surrounded by a bunch of other angsty young people going through the same problems. you then get to witness which of these people overcome their problems and become better, and which of them decide to double down on achieving social notoriety on a roleplay server through any means necessary

the most tangible advice i can give is to keep shifting through the mud until you find those rare individuals who actually possess a sense of morality and self-responsibility and hold onto them like the diamonds in the rough that they are

7 Likes
#17

Greetings,

I have only been on Moon Guard for maybe a little over a year? But I have personally found a lot of what you say to be true. The only exception for me has been this character, whom I made strictly for RP purposes. For whatever reason, this character has caught part of the community’s attention, with many embracing him. In fact, It’s strictly due to this character’s success that I am still making the attempt on Moon Guard. With him, I have been lucky enough to have quite a few fun Rp encounters. Sadly though, I have not found the same success with any other characters I’ve attempted. I’m very happy that many in the community have welcomed this guy so well. I just wish I could find success beyond him.

Side note: apparently the new human heritage armor is not displaying on characters profiles or in the forums. I swear I only haunt “with” my armor. It’s a blizz bug.

3 Likes
#18

You really don’t want my opinions on WrA. It ain’t gonna be pretty

Anywho, unfortunately I don’t really have any good advice on this overall topic. Mind, in my many, many years here, I’ve basically mostly avoided guilds as a thing. Buuuut, I am oceanic timezone which. Doesn’t really get any of the big events.

Unfortunately it all just comes down to the people you run into. That’s how RP be, its going to always be super dependent on who else you run into

3 Likes
#19

I do :rofl:

1 Like
#20

They probably mirror my own for MG :stuck_out_tongue: