Admittedly this is a personal choice but as a person who has studied storytelling in roleplay for 30 plus years starting with good old table top to 12 years on the net role play as well on wow for 6 but only actually watching and participating in the roleplay for 3 I have already come up with some consistent bad tropes that appear to be pursued with a passion and so common it gets hard to actually avoid. I think most sane people who want good story and a relaxed atmosphere to do so might want to consider running at the first sign of these tropes in no particular order I would like to share some I have observed and lead to horrible insane drama if you continue interaction with said people:
The Goldshire addict whoâs venturing out of Goldshire: The easiest to spot, sometimes itâs transmog that can cue you in. Almost always barefoot, scantily clad and more likely a female character than not. This is a problem the minute we see it. Mind you some Mogs that are similar might have a purpose but this creature is almost always in the same mog, low level and thirstyâŠso very thirsty. You meet you RP even straight up with no flirting and they âFall for youâ and need release. They almost always âSweat at the sight of youâ in record time. If they get into your OOC life they are drama incarnate, they are fantasy extra far. They need all your time all your love, and in some times all your gold. Also their backstory usually is another trope within a trope, some horrible calamity is in their past. The TRP also has cues, narcissistic authorial intrusions that donât just describe but lavishly describe all they beauty and sexiness in exquisite detail. Mind you this person OOC will also fall âIn Love with youâ as they say and want to see you to the point you canât do anything else. This one is RP only as far as its all soap opera drama. From this type are related tropes. As they are always in danger, need rescue, or always thirsting for affection
The Baby Momma: AKA. The breeder. This is a character that no matter what the story has to be preggers. No matter if they are too old, a class, or race coupling that makes such things questionable. They will have your babies. One way or another with permission or without they will spawn NPC babies or have people play them out of no where. (Miracle grow babies is a thing, literally they can grow to adulthood in months.) This is the RP that can be so cringeworthy that you feel like you are stuck in an animal trap and have to gnaw your leg off to survive. They spawn babies whether you fade to black or not. Some actually sell you a previous baby and ask pretty please if you can be the father. Usually the OOC story is the father was a jerk and they want their NPC baby to have you, cause you are a MUCH better daddy than them. Sometimes they are so insistent people let them have their way to shut them up. Then if you falter you are in for a ride. Its like getting an arrow to the knee, your adventuring days are done. First they will show off how âCuteâ it is to have a new mommy/daddy for their spawn.( Mind you a subset of this is the adopter, the adopter is like a baby momma but they chain adoptâŠeveryone.)
Then the misery can begin cause everything has to revolve around you playing Barbie and Ken forever. And showing your visible or emote only spawn to all The Baby Mommaâs friends. Then if you say you are out. They will have a fit if you delete the babies, from your TRP. They will show up public places playing the abandoned mother and child that you just happen to be and act like you didnât OOC tell them âNo you are a nut.â And pretend you are somehow responsible for NPC child support. Or they start as an NPC and with the help of miracle grow they get a friend of theirs to play your suddenly grown âBabyâ
The Adopter: âMore often or not this is done by Draenei cause somewhere in lore its been given the idea that Draenei are nuts and serially adopt children adult or not to be theirs like some psycho. I guess the plus 20k years of life really gets to you mentally right? Mind you it all starts normal regular conversation, normal interaction with them. They could even be a good RP partner for a while. Then like a sleep agent they strike. They see a druid or some other âCuteâ character and adopt them. The sad part is they have like a special radar for the players who like to actually BE ADOPTED. This is when you need to run away. Cause as crazy as adopters are the adoptee is worse much, much worse. Its sometimes best to just log off wow and retcon when you come back its as easy as it gets. Cause these ones if you put them on ignore have a horde of adopted children, and they will find you IC. Also most of the rest is like the baby momma. Also, they are always super old and the second most popular to do this outside Draenei are Illidari, and well after that I hate to say it. Druids.
The Bad Seed: I was almost going to say child RPERS in general but some actually pull it off. But no, this is the one that makes the bad rep child RPers have. They can range from being some edgy, to obnoxious, and like the other tropes thus listed they want all your attention, Their child character is always emo, super troubled, and OOC not much better. Usually they jump from guild to guild , parent to parent, just to be a burden and do weird stuff. Sad part is they often get âKid glovesâ because people harbor some bizarre instincts towards children IC or not. Not many come down on them hard, they are often indulged, so not sure if this one is all their fault or the enablers who let them do what they do. See Baby Momma and The Adopter. Honest those three types make an strange IC unholy trinity of symboitic RP thatâs terrifying. OOC most are very crazy too. I make this rule, never RP with a child Character unless you know and are OOC friends with the person and have laid down ground rules even then. Also the worst of the bad seeds, are often worgen, or human. Elves are actually sort of OK as children so are Draenei. But worgen, or human children beware. And hate to say itâŠDruids again are like the class that does this the most. Usually they use a cat form to make female roleplayers âSquee.â If you are just even observing. RunâŠrun quickly your stomach will thank you for it. Usually they do as I said attract the Baby Momma/Adopter.
The trapdoor spider priest: Yeah priests are freaks: Itâs a clichĂ© but a lot always have been and most of the worst STAY in Goldshire and never level beyond that they can get their fave scantily clad mog. One they almost always play virgins till you get trapped by them IC. Mind you they were virgins with the 12 other RP partners they had, but no matter. The obvious types are in Goldshire easy to avoid. Now the Trapdoor spider, they work in a legit RP place. Like the Cathedral and play the quintessential good girl. Then you say to yourself after a few weeks of normal RP, âHey Nixxiom was wrong priests are ok.â Wrong. Now there are early potential signs. One they might be noble as well a priest. Even though most people who play any holy order copy medieval ideas of clergy and decide that you can hold titles as well. They dress conservatively at first, even wearing a mask outdoors, But then thereâs a few blips or warning signals. One no matter who or what they heal, they pass out IC after. Every time. So, lets get this straight, you are blessed with the light, you have been trained and you still push yourself so far you end up needing another healer to heal you. Druids by the way donât just use the light to heal and give much more detailed healing. Like most priest players are ignorant of basic anatomy, or how to recover after. Usually they recommend bedrest even if actual medical practice involves getting out of bed. No, they HAVE to play nurse or hospital roomie and have your time interminably. Either tending you or you being indebted to them for passing out, (again)after healing you. Also, they just heal you with the light thereâs no focus on anatomy or anything. Sometimes the non-virgin priests endanger an unborn child while healing you, or just do self-destructive healing in general. This is usually the first sign of danger. Soon your IC relationship with a priest involves odd things. Like them going to every trouble spot IC in the city that will get them shot, kidnapped, assaulted, brainwashed, or even sexually assaulted, and they set up these scenarios to be rescued. Or better yet they take a bullet for you or a mutual IC friend, when the situation is completely under control. Often this is in the name of peace. Unfortunately, if you try to let them die IC they donât. The trap-door spider is often part cockroach it seems. Of course, if you are dumb, bored or drunk enough to keep role-playing with them they will go âshadowâ priest. Shed those robes and let you touch the void. Then they often become: Baby Mommas, AdoptersâŠor both. And they will serially get in trouble, even if you try to guard them. And last but not least they will cheat on you if you donât give them IC attention. Usually with a Worgen.
The Curious Caster: Mages the smartest of the smart IC right? They ideally explore the unknown seek out new lifeâŠwhatever. Its odd how a lot of these are only curious about one thing though. The Kama Sutra.
Clothies having the most scanty mogs tend to use them, apparently with great power comesâŠNO RESPONSIBILITY! You can have the more curious ones. The experimenter who are selling a device or an arcane construct of themselves, they themselves do not engage in such activities but they will through basically a construct they made of themselves, cause that makes it ok. Or The mage is all about collecting those notches. They can talk only confusing and pointless âarcanobabbleâto lull you to boredom and next thing you know they shed those robes, let their hair down and wellâŠbecome a himbo or bimbo. The edgier version of this is just warlocksâŠsame stuff just all Goths and Emos. Really.
The Parasite/The Mob Ruffian/The instigator/The guard: So Stormwind is basically Texas, lots of IC beings armed to the teeth with a lot of angst and hair trigger tempers right? Well this is the person who escalates any feud and gets the âMobâ of Stormwind involved in your RP. Sometimes they themselves play characters people wonât openly kill, young teens, children. Most of them are rogues or worse yetâŠDrunken socialites. Oh yes beware those ones. They are a type of parasite role player. They donât do much on their own but they eavesdrop and somehow get involved in your RP again and again on very weak premises. âBoredomâcoughs Is the number one reason for this. Cause they donât make much story of their own. Sometimes they are a semi good rper who is just trying to escape Baby Mommas and Adopters. Maybe they escaped Goldshire and see the brightness of Stormwind and are all âWhats this?â
They are not hopeless but they feed of others like role-play vampires and beyond an occasional quip or dum argument they donât have a lot of range. The other forms of the parasite are sometimes the guard who get involved in the most petty squabbles that leads to 6 guards being present for like someone cursing or farting too loud and then try to recite laws and PC nonsense to validate it. Honestly a lot of Guard RP I suspect is run by SJWâs they are so PC for a police force I mean they get involved in stuff and some just lurk waiting for something to happen. Weird interpretations of the SLP or something follow. Usually though the guard is not needed most of the time. Sometimes the good guards have the good sense to leave cause usually they get called in and then see whatâs going on and leave. Some âdo gooderâ guard virtually cover and double dip in three guilds or more just to get action so they can harass someone. Usually for bottom level RP thatâs justâŠblegh.
Anyway this is just a starting classification of weird experiences I have observed or heavens forbid been victim of. Enjoy and add to the list. Funnier the names the better.
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