My wife and I actually have a couple questions about chatting and RP on MG:
Is there an addon you all use for chatting?
Is it considered rude / weird / awkward to do a walk-up and begin a conversation in /s ?
2b) Is there a standard protocol for initiating a walk-up?
Thanks all.
As far as I know there is no chat add on. I know the only add on most say to have is trp. As for walk up it should be fine as long as you can see them and it’s not like they are in an alley or a room at an inn.
Two I recommend are:
A) Listener: Lets you focus on specific people in a crowded area; also lets you have a window to see what your focus/mouseover target has recently said.
B) Emote Splitter: automatically breaks up long /e texts (not /s, though) into chunks the system will accept.
Nope! Have at!
I look for things that would be compatible with the character I’m on, or signs that our characters might have some common experiences. I also tend to look for profiles that have interesting and well-written bits in them, but don’t require me to read a novella…if we know each other, there’s time for that later.
The addons I use are Emote splitter for the multi paragraphs, WIM for whispers, and TRP3 (with extended) for Profiles. Listener is a good one for large groups
Walkups is how Rp gets started! You find someone interesting you walk up and start a convo! (as for walkups sometimes some might ask for a courtesy whisper to ensure they are IC and paying attention maybe?)
As far as Toon profiles go? Just keep in mind what some put might be out of character info and to gloss over that unless its mentioned in the Roleplay done and your character has been given In character knowledge about it. always “if unsure always ask” is a good adage to stick by too!
Many thanks to all three of you, you all answered exactly the questions we had. We’re really excited to jump in and get to know folks.
There’s different types of RP that exists within Moonguard but walking up to someone is not considered any of those! That’s how RP starts just like you would start a conversation irl.
Just picture yourself in your character’s shoes and act out his/her part.
You’ll want
In addition to the great responses above, I say not to worry about much and dive right in! I think we’ve all made some embarrassing mistakes when we first started on moonguard 
As suggested above, listener and emote splitter are often used to make the chat more readable, especially in busy areas.
Like everyone else said, using trp, listener and emote splitter are good. Also have elephant and set to like 5000 lines is good as well. Just in case you miss something or can’t see something because of how wow’s chat is set.
I normally will do a quick glance at someone’s trp. Or just be like “hey how are you doing?” kind of small talk when I’ve rped in Stormwind. I’ve kind of stopped rping in sw. I only will rp with guilds I’m in cause it’s the only way I get world rp and I’ll only be in Stormwind if we’re recruiting.
not rude at all! if i’m walking up to someone and haven’t seen them talking or moving though, i usually do a /look or a /smile to test the waters and make sure they’re not afk or anything. if they have listener (which i highly recommend) it will ping them, too.
Cheers.
(1) Quite a few people have chimed in with advice, and I will say that many people I know utilize TRP3, Emote Splitter, and I think Listener. I can vouch for those being used.
(2) One of the things you will notice is that despite there always being people there? Stormwind can seem oddly populated by people standing on ledges or sitting on benches in absolute silence. Long enough taht you might think of them as statues, until they jump to break AFK status. They are usually looking for a walk-up.
It is not at all considered anything negative to initiate a conversation, so long as you exercise some basic social etiquette and situation reading. I will perhaps suggest that you have something in mind, though, just to avoid too much tedium. It can help to have a short term goal and a long term goal for your character in mind: Where to get lunch versus how to find your missing cousin. That kind of thing.
(2b) One of the things you can do is send the person a whisper if you are uncertain. OOC messages tend to be in parentheticals, so something like this:
(Hey, I read your profile. Do you mind if I walk up to chat?)
This isn’t strictly necessary, but if you are feeling a bit apprehensive, this can help.
(3) One of the things to keep in mind is your entire character history does not need to be contained in any kind of profile. That is largely the kind of thing that would come out while RPing. While you can certainly list key points you find important, you should also understand that the other person may not have an unlimited time to go over a multipage thing.
I would recommend focusing on things that are important, or relevant. Or amusing. Like with most things, write with a purpose.
Also, on TRP3, there’s something called ‘At A Glance’. Please…understand that this is ‘at a glance’. This is useful for conveying quick information, like if your character has visible weapons, or they look healthy/athletic, or if there’s something unique about them.
This is not…the time to go into the history of why the dagger you have was carved from the rock that was gifted to your grandfather’s best friend back during the war, only he didn’t know at the time, but it was actually a fossilized qiraji egg, dating back to the era of J’kuls, First of His Name; called First of His Name due to an unfortunate accounting error that L’jhar of Numbers was far too shy and anxious to bring to the attention of the actual First of His Name, resulting in a pie-eating contest needed to resolve the issue: The pie was boysenberry, and this is reflected in the constant drip of what people thought was ichor from the edge, but it is actually a boysenberry preserve that is a touch too sweet–
I am being slightly facetious. But I have been sent a screenshot of ‘At A Glance’ that was…hefty.
But it’s a fun time. Go ahead and dive right in. The last thing I’ll suggest is letting people know (or putting it in your TRP) that you’re new to RP. People tend to be very kind about that. Good luck!
It is, after all, “At a Glance”, not “Upon Staring Until Your Eyeballs Dry Up and Fall Out”. 
That was a delightful read and it made me chuckle a couple of times. Cool, thank you, that’s useful info. I think I might take your advice to heart and prune some of my trp backstory…
Mere guidelines to a novelist 
Ha. Well, I’m happy to help. If you’ll allow another suggestion? It’s not so much that you have to, yourself, prune your character’s backstory. It’s more about setting realistic expectations for yourself, and for other people.
I kind of want to avoid having new RPers (and seasoned ones alike) in a situation where they feel like no one’s paying attention to the work they put in, or understanding where they’re coming from. This is especially true with newer RPers. I understand how daunting it can be to try a new thing, and how it can take the wind out of your sails if you feel like you’re being ignored. I don’t want people to have to go through that.
Putting something in a profile doesn’t remove the responsibility of actually RPing it. Think of it like this: A profile backstory is like frosting. You still need the cake, which is done through RP. Don’t expect just frosting to do the work alone.
That’s what happened with L’jhar of Numbers. Don’t be like L’Jhar.