There’s a fundamental difference between co-existing on an RP realm and co-existing on a “regular” realm: on the RP realm, it’s understood that that is the norm and that the non-RPer is something of a “guest” there in that community. To be a jerk is to risk being ostracized, because you’re being a jerk to somebody for doing RP as an RP toon on an RP realm in the mmoRPg.
On non-RP realms, it’s the RP player who is the “guest” there - there is no existing expectation of RP occurring, because that’s primarily for RP realms.
Yeah, I acknowledge that you had a good experience on DD. Many non-RPers did. It also had RP posted on the door, and that act alone attracts a lot of the RP types who otherwise find the grind of blasting to endgame prebis and raiding boring. That’s the point - having a sign on the door that says “this is where the RP is” does a tremendous amount of good in consolidating that otherwise easily fractured community. It doesn’t mean it’s where RP MUST be, or that you MUST RP there, but it’s good to have that little nerd-bat signal so this particular, peculiar community can coalesce around something.
RP also makes servers inherently more sustainable with smaller numbers, because there’s more to the game than raids and playing the AH, and in fact does very well with comparatively smaller populations, just like DD did this past spring/fall/summer. You didn’t RP, but it was posted on the door, and it was happening all around you whether you noticed it or not, and that kept it alive.
Wasn’t the DD Project the movement for a simulated fresh? Personally, I don’t think that’s a good judge of population fluctuations considering it only works as an opt-in and has to upheld by an honor system.
There’s a lot of excitment over these fresh servers, with the knowledge of BC coming, with dual spec and QoL changes, and with a renewed opportunity for people who missed the original Classic launch in 2019. Having three servers will hardly be an issue, honestly.
There willl be dips and lulls, obviously, but adding a RP-PvP server to have a total of 3 regular (read non-HC) realms will not split the playerbase too thin. As for having a RP-PvP server in the first place, it’s just more welcoming and suited for those seeking RP… Yes, we could/will make a community on the regular PvP server if thats the only option, but having the tag sets a precedent.
As a final note, if you haven’t just seen the regular PvP-US Discord, that place is already a freaking cesspool of unregulated n@zi and anti-LGBT memes, so… it’s not a really welcoming environment that I’m sure a lot of RPers want to stand out in.
Was there ever a significant amount of roleplay on any non-RP server? I don’t recall hearing about anything beyond a small group on Bleeding Hollow that existed before RP-PVP servers did. But I’m honestly just eager to see a solid example of this sort of community persisting on a regular PVP server?
I would be really interested to hear how the folks against a realm for the reason of “roleplaying being possible on all servers” think roleplaying on a standard PvP realm would go, because I really just can’t imagine how such an effort could be largely successful.
What is the difference between a non-rper being a guest on a rp realm vs a rper being a guest on a non-rp realm?
While I understand, and appreciate, your bat signal analogy, that alone is not worth fracturing the community, in my eyes.
Also, I wouldn’t say DD was ever self sustaining, at least not in the same way Grob was. Especially, considering all the swiping unphased did to get the KT kill and Roflcopter leeching all of the horde mats for alliance. Guilds broke up when they realized they had to be self sustaining, players outright quit. It happened with many guilds, including bluffwatchers.
One reason I always go RP-PvP. I loathe raid-logging which is what most realms succumb to. There is usually always something going on in a RP-PvP realm.
A non-RPer on an RP realm is a regular player who just doesnt engage with a portion of that server community.
A RPer on a non-RP realm is an anomaly that has a higher likelihood of being harassed because people don’t want to see “cringe pretend” in their game. Just take a look a few posts up.
Blizzard is fully aware of what the streamers did to CS in SoD. They know the RP-PvP realm was always FULL and one of the most successful realm type over the long-term.
Netflix’s Remarkable Life of Ibelin will have loudly reminded of this. Having a guaranteed steady FULL realm of subscribers that don’t leave after the first month is worthwhile for them.
I would give high odds that an RP-PvP realm will be announced the day of or before launch.
Best-case scenario right now is that they might have already decided to make an RP-PvP realm but are delaying announcing it to try to avoid a repeat of the Season of Discovery situation.
Not trying to be rude, but the era community shouldn’t be hedged on trying to bring in retail players, as that would become a revolving door, minimizing meaningful interactions. Era/ fresh servers should cater to the longevity and sustainability of era/ fresh server for people who are passionate about classic era. Someone who would be dissuaded by a lack of rp realms does not fit the target audience of fresh, as they are no passionate about classic era.
I didn’t say anything about getting retail players. I’m talking about classic RP players who may very well not bother coming back for fresh without an RP option.
Hmm interesting. The question is, how large is that player base, classic rp’ers who wont play fresh if there are no rp realms? Given that there is currently no successful era rp realm (Grob cant even begin to compete with WMC or Mankirk cluster), I would think that # is extremely low.