I want to start WoW RP (any advice would be amazing) and I was wondering if there are any sort of unspoken rules or etiquette that I should know of or follow? I want to be an archeologist (probably dwarf, but up for other suggestions). Sorry if you all get posts like this a lot, if there is a good answer elsewhere that I should look at instead please link me to it.
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Welcome to the wild world of RP, friend! One of our former residents wrote up a lovely guide for getting started, which you can find here: [Guide] Roleplaying FAQ
If you have more questions or find that something isn’t covered, feel free to ask around here as well–we’ve many knowledgeable denizens and veteran RPers that would be happy to help!
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Morician’s link has some good info.
Something I would add is to stay far, far away from anything that would break the Code of Conduct and ToS. Also anything that could be deemed illegal is generally frowned upon.
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Always remember the golden rule… if it is something you don’t want done to your own character, don’t do it to others. Always seek consent before making decisions that involve another’s character.
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I would say just start writing and you’ll be surprised what comes out. Do a brainstorm of what your characters likes, dislikes, appearance, there are no bad ideas.
Then set him or her in the story of the past events and how your character might relate to them. At least that’s what I do. I’m more of a “Power Fantasy” story writer then a RPer, but I sure would like to read what you would come up with.
Lastly, I’m not sure why you’re looking for unspoken rules, you’re only limiting yourself. The RP and Fan fiction community should support you in creatively expressing yourself and helping you learn to use your imagination.
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First off. Welcome to WoW RP! I hope you have a lot of fun creating a character within this wacky and insane world. If you have any ideas for a character that you want to run by people, the forums are open and we would love to help you shape a character.
As far as unspoken rules, my first piece of advice is do not expect RP to come to you. More often than not you will probably end up disappointed. Most if not all (I’ve never seen an RPer against it) players are open to Walk-Up RP. Just take a moment to find something that would cause your character to interact with theirs and go from there. If the first one doesn’t work out, try again.
Second, RP is pretty much an Opt-In system. This means the RP only happens if everyone involved agrees as such. This means that if someone is doing something in RP that you don’t like, feel free to walk away. You don’t have to RP with anyone, and the reverse is the same. No one has to RP with you.
Which brings me to my next advice. The WoW Community is big enough you can certainly find a group for ANY kind of RP or character. The issue is, how long do you want to look and how many people are you willing to have shun you. I am a huge fan of dragons and as such I have a lot of Dragon characters. There are people who will not RP with me for that fact alone, while there are others I have found that are ok with that idea. Just have to find the type of people willing to RP with you and your character.
Last piece of advice, Be reasonable. I wholeheartedly disagree with Perfectia’s post above. The RP and FanFic community is under no obligation to support you or your ideas. I don’t know of anyone who pays $15 a month solely to teach people how to be a creative writer. 9 times out of 10 people play this game for entertainment. Like I stated, you can find a group for anything, but a exceptionally large number of people (myself included) are not going to give ‘the long lost son of Genn Greymane, wielder of 5 Artifact swords, who single handedly slayed Sargeras, and wooed Lady Jaina with a single wink’ the time of day. You are going to have an exceptionally hard time getting RP with a character like that. Keep your character reasonable and you will find more opportunities for RP.
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100% this. We all have our own ideas and will disagree with each other. My rule of thumb is:
- If a single person thinks I’m wrong, then that’s their problem.
- If a lot of people think I’m wrong, then that’s my problem.
- If I don’t care what people think, I have no one but myself to blame for any backlash I get for terrible ideas.
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Oh. One more thing.
Avoid tying your character too closely with major lore characters or major events. There is a huge difference between being one of the soldiers that stormed the Icecrown Citadel, and an entire other thing to be THE ONE who brought down Arthas. Most RPers simply say some nameless hero did the things that we do as the player to allow for everyone to exist in the same continuity. IE, if your character is the wielder of Ashbringer, and MY character is the wielder of Ashbringer, then our characters logically cannot exist in the same universe so its generally agree between RPers that a ‘Nameless Hero’ is the wielder of Ashbringer and we come up with our own badass weapon to wield.
The second thing is more of something the community heavily frowns upon, but do not closely tie yourself to lore characters. An example I heard once is that it is canon for King Anduin to visit the sick and wounded in the hospital. Therefore it is possible for him to have sat at your character’s bedside and talked with them, but when Genn adds more paperwork to Anduin’s desk, its not going to be your character’s face he is thinking of as he toils in the candlelight. To try an establish your character as such is to suggest that your character is as important to the lore of WoW as much as Anduin is and will, in most circumstances, be viewed as Power Gaming, or making your character better than everyone with their mere existence which goes back to the ‘be reasonable’ advice from before.
The most notable exception to this is having your Demon Hunter personally trained by Illidan… because it is a canonical fact that being trained by Illidan is the primary way Demon Hunters were made.
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There is a difference between knowing by association and actually knowing. Going out to dinner and private parties with high lore characters is different than being part of their general forces. Most druids have met or know Malfurion, but not many would be invited to have tea with him.
Everyone is different and you may find a group that doesn’t care one way or another. That is a nice thing about RP. No matter what unspoken rules there are, you can usually find a group that doesn’t care either way.
I generally live by 1 major rule, which I stated before. I only hold personal power over the stories of the characters I have created. Without the author’s consent, I don’t use their characters. Lore characters I just know by association if it is appropriate. Like Tolbyas knowing Wrathion or Kersia and Malygos.
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I will echo this statement, and this applies to all creative endeavors, really. It’s the responsibility of the artist to create a work that will attract interest, if they wish it. Under no circumstances is the audience obligated to give your creations attention–assuming otherwise is not only counterproductive, but is incredibly rude and reeks of entitlement.
That brings me to my next point–high quality work will generally attract more attention from the audience than low quality work. While your grammar doesn’t need to be perfect, what you write should be legible enough to be easily understood. Tying into that is the content of your creation–in a general public RP setting, it’s expected that you will adhere to the setting’s lore and keep your character’s power within reasonable limits. Claiming to be or have direct relations to important lore figures(long-lost lovechild of Arthas and Jaina), claiming ownership of important lore artifacts(wielding the Ashbringer), or claiming to have been the one to have accomplished important tasks is frowned upon(delivering the killing blow to the Lich King rather than simply being present as part of the strike team). Keeping within the lore parameters of the setting helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and makes it easier to interact.
That being said, breaking the lore is perfectly fine too, but best done in a more private setting with a group of friends. This way, everyone is still on the same page and you won’t need to expend effort convincing strangers to accept your idea. The higher level of trust present also means that you can wield more power or do things not normally done. For example–I was involved in an RP with some friends were we all played as major WoW villains and attempted to summon Sargeras. It was silly, fun, and definitely not something that would be accepted in the public circles, but doable due to our friendship.
Switching gears now–not all RP you do has to take place in-game either. There’s a good chunk of RP to be found right here on the forums, although it has a different format than what you’ll find in-game. In-game RP is fast-paced, with posts having a short maximum length limit and the timing between posts being anything from a few seconds to a few minutes. Forum RP, on the other hand, requires a paragraph or two at minimum for a good response in most cases, and the time between posts can be anywhere from a few hours to a few days(a few minutes is a very fast response on the forums). Forum RP also requires more description of your character and setting, as there isn’t an interactive environment available like there is in-game.
The final point I wish to stress harkens back to my earlier point about writing quality. It’s incredibly important that the driving force behind your creation is your own. Plagiarism(taking others’ work and claiming it as your own) is never okay, and one of the fastest ways to ostracize yourself from a creative community. It not only shows that you don’t care enough about your own work to utilize your own ideas, but it also indicates that you have no respect for the effort other people put into their work. Therefore, make sure that you have permission before using someone else’s work, and are citing the original source so the creator receives proper credit. It’s something that shouldn’t have to be said, but I’m saying it anyway because I’ve seen plagiarism actively encouraged by other people before. I repeat–do not do this!
I will note that taking inspiration from other works and using them to generate ideas though is perfectly okay, and something every artist or writer does. The important thing is that the result is your own content, and not a frankenstein of pieces ripped directly from other people’s work.
Anyway, to summarize–at the end of the day, you are free to RP however you wish, but adhering to general guidelines and etiquette will net better results.
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