CREATOR OF THIS GUIDE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE.
http://i.imgur.com/hWTW7.pngHey there, I'm Aeiron, a Human Paladin. But first and foremost, I'm a Roleplayer.
After writing the 1st Basic Guide to Roleplay, I decided that.. creating a guide that would illustrate the rules as well as the level of involvement of a Roleplayer in the game would also be useful.
It inspired me to make this guide.
PART 1:
You create the RP of others, not yourself Wait, what? That doesn't make any sense, does it?
Oh, but it does! Example time!
Quote:
http://i.imgur.com/trWzz.png
This is Thrall.
He says he's the all powerful leader of the Horde,
and that everyone should be impressed by him.
And most people are.
But what if they weren't? http://i.imgur.com/nJtiC.png
What if everyone laughed, as soon as Thrall tried to give orders?
Would he still be the big and impressive leader of the Horde?
No he wouldn't.
He would just be some poor orc with a too big ego.
The same goes for other kind of characters.
The Elf lady won't be beautiful, unless the people around think she is.
That funny forsaken isn't funny unless the other players decide to laugh at his jokes.
However, you can still affect other players by making a good impression.
A nudge in the right direction, such as a well-written emote (/me) will go a long way, and most RP players will happily play along.
PART 2:
The only character you're in control of is your own
Now, hang on a minute! Didn't you say the opposite in PART 1?
Yes. Yes, I did. And both are true. Let me explain why.
We already established that what makes your character in to who it is, is the reaction of others.
Then it would be tempting to try to control the actions of others, but that is strictly forbidden and not to be done.
This chapter is about the do's and don'ts of emoting. I assume that you are already aware of the possibility of making custom emotes by typing /e.
Quote:
http://i.imgur.com/38vXm.png
Which of these emotes is a bad one?
"Krohlm takes his rune-covered sword and pierces the heart of the vile bandit."
"Krohlm takes his rune-covered sword and swings at the vile bandit, aiming for his heart."
Correct! The first one. In that one, Krohlm took control of the bandit character, deciding that he had no chance to dodge or otherwise avoid the attack, thus robbing the player of the control of his character. Don't do this!"
There are of course exceptions to this rule, times when it can be alright to take control of someone else's character, but a good rule of thumb is to always ask permission OOC before doing something to someone else's character that they might object to.
PART 3:
Good RP comes before everything else
Even your own character.
No really, it's true! Your goal while Roleplaying should ALWAYS be to make the RP the most fun and interesting possible, for everyone involved. This is the most difficult rule to remember.
It is very easy to get caught up in your character, and start seeing the character's goals as your own. While this might make your character happy if you succeed, it does not mean that you will be, or your fellow roleplayers for that matter.
Quote:
http://i.imgur.com/f3rjI.pngGamlot has snuck into Undercity to spy on a certain group of Forsaken. He wants to find out what they are planning, so they can be stopped.
This is what Gamlot wants to happen. But what does Gamlot's player want?
If Gamlot succeeds in stopping them, what will happen then?
Will anything happen at all?
Perhaps it would be more fun if Gamlot was to fail, if he got discovered and caught by the Forsaken?
Or is there something else that could happen?
It can be difficult to allow your character to fail, or make a fool of themselves.
But for the sake of the story, it can sometimes be the best thing to do.
Always remember that the goals of your character aren't necessarily what yours should be!
PART 4:
The lore and your character
Some people enjoy studying the Warcraft lore, reading everything about what happened in the world in the past, and then using it while roleplaying.
Other disregard the lore altogether, and use WoW as an open world to create whatever stories they feel like.
Yet others use some of the lore, but make their own fantastic addition.
All three of this types of players are annoying when roleplaying.
The first one seems to know every tiny detail about everything that has ever happened, no matter what kind of character it is.
The second simply doesn't make any sense and is impossible to relate to, since the character in fact exists in whatever world the player created in his mind.
And the third (often claiming to be Arthas' long lost, secret half-elf sister or somethingalong those lines) will annoy people because of their attempts to bend the lore to a tool for making their own character important.
Now, how to avoid becoming one of these people?
Three things:
- Try to keep track of at least the details of the lore that would concern your character.
- Remember that just because you know something, it doesn't mean your character knows it!
- Feel free to fill in the holes in the lore, making up what's not there, but remember to try to make it somewhat realistic, and don't use it as a means to simply boost your character's "coolness level". (Also don't expect other players to magically know what you made up, or be offended if they don't like it.)
Quote:
This is Emeline. Before she became undead, she was the wife of a farmer in a tiny village somewhere in what now has become the Plaguelands.
When she first woke up as a Forsaken, she knew almost nothing about the world. Having lived all her life in the middle of nowhere meant that she didn't know much of the events that lead up to what caused her death, and even less about what happened after.
This is an easy way to get away with not knowing much lore, and it gives a lot of freedom.
And while we're already of the subject...
PART 5:
Your character's knowledge vs Your own knowledge
There is a term called "mgt". That's short for "meta game thinking". It is commonly used in RP about when a roleplayer is abusing his own knowledge to make his character gain an advatange.
Example time!
Quote:
http://i.imgur.com/urblh.png
Jay has offended the leader of her guild, and felt the need to escape and hide.
In the guild's OOC chat channel, she talks about where she is hiding.
One of the other players also uses /who to find out where she is. He uses this knowledge as if his character knew it, and fifteen minutes later, Jay is caught.
This is almost and always the wrong behaviour. The other player can of course make up some other reason for his character traveling to the place where she is hiding and "accidentally" finding her.
It is tricky thought. Sometimes it can be useful to use your own knowledge to nudge your character in the wrong direction, to get the story to move on. There is no simple answer to when it is alright or not.
Or, wait... There is.
Before acting, ask yourself:
"Will what I do now move the RP forward in a way that makes it more fun and interesting for everyone involved?"
If the answer is yes, then go ahead.
Note that it says -everyone- not "for me". If you are unsure, ask the other players what they would prefer.
That simple question should be enough to solve almost all problems you may run into while roleplaying. Keep in mind, and you should be fine.
PART 6:
The way it goes, the way it flows
LeonaBR
