I think a lot of the posts here have made great examples of the stereotypes from the perspective of other RP realms… So I’m going to mention some that, in my experience, I encountered from non-RPers. I’ve got quite a few non RPer friends, mostly people I know IRL, who played WoW with me over the years, and to who I had to explain why the heck I was online in some obscure location for two hours… xD So I’ve had some interesting discussions on it. Anyways, here go the stereotypes, in order of the most common to the least!
ERP.
Everyone I’ve spoken to who is not an RPer thinks RP servers are places where very obese, yet very horny individuals gather to have internet sexytimes. They usually imagine large, sweaty men, living in their mothers basements, pretending to be female blood elves and typing smut with one hand. I’ve always found this stereotype rather funny, but largely inaccurate, as most RPers tend to actually care about building stories and adventures, not just sexytimes. It’s always the first and most amusing thing I have to explain. I usually compare it to dungeons and dragons, and while people think I’m a total nerd, they’re less creeped out than they originally were when I said I was an RPer.
You have to RP all the time in RP servers
I’ve heard this one a surprising lot. Non RPers I’ve met seriously do think that there’s really strict rules imposed by Blizzard on RP servers. In the eyes of these people, if you talk in raid chat, it has to be IC. If you run around in Stormwind, it has to be IC. If PvP, it has to be IC. And so on and so forth. I had one friend who was tempted to try RP but didn’t want to RP all the time, and was genuinely afraid Blizzard would ban him if he just did some dailies OOC or something. It was kind of funny, but seems to be a legit stereotype.
Everyone has mental health issues
I’ve had it said to me that people on RP realms are never emotionally stable or well-balanced people. In the estimation of people who hold this opinion, they tend to be clingy, emotionally attached, severely depressed, or utterly unhinged. An interesting thought, I suppose. I feel that you get a sampling of the best and worst of mental health in any community though so I personally don’t agree with the stereotype. But there it is!
Everyone is gay
Weird one, right? But I’ve had 2 people say this one to me. One had heard of WRA and seemed genuinely fearful that he, as a straight man, would be treated poorly if he tried to RP on Wyrmrest Accord.
So there you go, those are the three stereotypes that I’ve heard, at least the ones that came to mind.
Our past time is acting out storylines of elves, orcs, goblins, gnomes, and sometimes pandas in a fantasy world with complete strangers for hours on end. Some who can convincedly suspend disbelief on a level that would give hollywood a hiccup.
I don’t remember that one but when I first joined in Cataclysm I did hear “Womynrest Accord” and the other allegation that if you’re not a girl who likes girls in character you’re chased out of town.
Trust me when I say this, no one in WoW outside 13-16 year olds care what server you are from. Esp in the PvP community. Being on WrA since BFA launch and have never had anyone say anything about it and I been pushing 2500+ in 3v3 and 2v2s.
Based on what I’m reading in this thread, I’m fairly certain I check every box on the “this type isn’t welcome on WrA” list. I’ve never felt anything but at home here.
Funny thing about life. “Don’t be a jerk to other people” is a pretty good vibe to live by and nets you kindness in return.
If MG players did something against the erp and trolls on their server, I would go over to it. WrA may be elitist but I rather have that then weirdos bugging me.
I’ve seen a couple people who left WrA say it’s got too much drama.
But I honestly think that is more a reflection on personal experiences in crowded RP realms than on WrA specifically, so I think there’s some self-delusion involved. Especially because I see people from MG say the same thing when they come to WrA.
When you leave a place and meet new people, you’re gonna be less aware of the new place’s baggage by default. Plus, there’s perception bias and self-fulfilling prophecies.
I think the ‘‘gay server’’ reputation may come from the numerous guild adds saying LGBTQ+ friendly. I think many (maybe i’m wrong,just my opinion) just assume by default all guild should be open minded usually so seeing guild add yelling that may seem odd to them.
Otherwise, usually what i know is often second hand information everyone probably already know, more casual/walkup rper on moon guard while for wra, if you want roleplays, usually finding a guild so you can enter a clique seem a common trend. Both server often host public rp event open to all but i think moon guard run more of these regularly which may help give a more open feel for newer roleplayers?
Just my 2 copper about what i noticed as a minor difference between my home server moon guard and wyrmrest accord.
