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RoleplayJun 6, 2015 2:00 pm CT

Role Play: Getting along on roleplaying realms

Roleplaying is one of those activities that not everyone actually participates in — in fact, the majority of people playing World of Warcraft are simply playing to do PVE or PVP content. Roleplaying is kind of niche content in that way, and although it isn’t actively promoted by Blizzard, they do have realms available for roleplayers. While there’s nothing stopping you from roleplaying on a PVE or PVP server, you’re apt to find a lot more roleplayers on the realms that have been specifically designated for that purpose.

Keep in mind though that the RP tag for those realms is essentially a secondary tag alongside the realm’s purpose. In other words, if you create a character on an RP-PVP realm, you’re going to be flagged for PVP just like you would be on any PVP realm. If you create a character on an RP-PVE realm, the rules work the same as any PVE server. The only real difference between these realms and others is that the RP tag pretty much guarantees you’ll find plenty of other people who are there to roleplay just like you.

wrahorde_rpGetting along with roleplayers

Getting along with other roleplayers is pretty easy if you happen to be a roleplayer yourself — it’s just a matter of being polite. If you want to RP with someone, hop in and start roleplaying. If they’re obviously engaged in roleplay with someone else, ask if you can join in. If there’s an obvious event going on, don’t disrupt it — but hey, if you want to sit and watch a public event, there’s nothing stopping you. If someone says they’d rather not roleplay with you, or if they’re busy, shrug it off and go find someone else to roleplay with. There are two really important things you should take note of when you’re roleplaying:

You aren’t required to roleplay with everyone. You can pick and choose your roleplaying partners — and if you decide you don’t want to roleplay with someone, just move on. You should never, ever feel like you have to acknowledge someone in-character, or that you have to participate in storylines or scenes that you aren’t comfortable with. You’re the one that’s paying $15 a month to play a game, you should be able to pick and choose how you have your fun. If you’re not having fun, there’s absolutely no reason you need to stick around.

Nobody is required to roleplay with you. Every other person on that server has a choice about whether or not they’d like to roleplay with you, too. It’s easy to get offended when you’re turned down for RP, but there’s really no need to. If someone doesn’t want to talk to you, they don’t want to talk to you. Arguing the point isn’t going to make anyone want to RP with you, so you might as well just move on. You’re not the only one paying a monthly fee to pick and choose your fun — that’s exactly what everyone else is doing, too!

Having a roleplaying addon can make it a lot easier to determine who is and isn’t looking for roleplay — most addons have an indicator as to whether or not someone is IC, in character, or OOC, out of character. People that are IC are generally open to being approached for roleplay, people that are OOC aren’t. Again, roleplaying addons aren’t really a requirement for roleplaying realms, but they make things a lot easier, which is why I bring them up so often — they’re a really useful tool to have around.

MG_alli_RP

Getting along with non-roleplayers

RP realms do not enforce roleplay. They are designated as being good places to go to find RP, but just like you aren’t actually required to PVP when you create a character on a PVP server, you aren’t required to roleplay when you create a character on a roleplaying realm. Chances are good that if you’re on a PVP server, you’ll find yourself exposed to PVP whether you like it or not — the same applies to RP realms as well. You might not actually be a roleplayer, but you’ll often find roleplaying happening around you. So why would you bother rolling on a specific type of realm when you don’t want to engage in that content?

It’s the same as any other server — you might not be interested in PVP, but your friends have all created characters on that server, so you’ve followed suit. The same goes for RP realms — maybe you aren’t a roleplayer, but your friends are and you’d like to play with them. Whatever their reason, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being on an RP server when you aren’t a roleplayer, as long as you’re being polite about it. This means following the same guidelines as any other roleplayer — don’t interrupt obvious roleplay events, don’t harass people that are roleplaying, and in general just try to be polite to everyone you meet. If someone tries to engage you in roleplay, politely explain that you’re not a roleplayer and move on. Conversely, if you’re a roleplayer and you’ve accidentally tried to RP with someone who isn’t a roleplayer, apologize and move on.

Being a non-roleplayer on an RP realm isn’t a terrible thing — RP realms are generally friendly, fun places to be. They aren’t typically at the top end of raiding or the top end of PVP, but they don’t really have to be, either — being on the bleeding edge of progression isn’t usually a high priority for players on RP realms. If you’re looking for a realm that’s full of creative people, an RP realm isn’t a bad choice, but you have to be aware that RP is actively encouraged on these realms, and even if you aren’t a roleplayer, you’re still expected to treat people with respect.

rpeventDealing with problematic players

Eventually, you’re going to run into people that aren’t friendly. Let’s face it, this happens on every realm in the game. Maybe that player is just having a bad day, maybe they’re just not the friendly type, or maybe they just really like irritating people. If someone’s being rude, don’t engage them. Ask them to stop, and if they persist, throw them on your ignore list — that’s what it’s there for! If they persist in harassing you, you can also report them, but keep in mind that you’ll never really see the results of that report — reports are kept between Blizzard and the problematic player, not you. If they continue after that, report them again, and make sure you mention that this is a case of ongoing harassment in your report. Blizzard keeps an eye on these things, and if a player is being repeatedly disruptive, they will eventually take action.

In the case of roleplaying events, the same rules apply — if someone shows up and starts disrupting an event, politely ask them to leave. If they continue disrupting, put them on ignore — and if they continue after that, report them. Have everyone at the event report them. Multiple reports are a little more likely to get an answer, but again, you’re not going to see the results of that answer. More importantly, that answer isn’t likely going to be immediate, so you’ve got a choice to make — you can either continue to ignore the disruptive player, or you can quietly move your event to somewhere else.

The point is that you never want to actively engage problematic players. It might seem like fun, but most of the time players like this are looking for validation, they want to know that they’re getting under your skin. And it’s difficult to ignore people that are deliberately trying to give you a hard time, but the ignore feature is there so that you don’t have to listen to them — and if they roll an alt specifically to continue harassing you, they’re very deliberately breaking the rules, and they will be dealt with accordingly.

Most of the time, playing on a roleplaying server is just like playing on any other server out there — you’re going to have the people you get along with, and you’re going to have the people that, for whatever reason, you don’t care to associate with. Just remember when you’re interacting with other players that they’re more than likely on a roleplaying realm for the same major reason you are: To have fun. Be polite, be friendly, be the kind of person you’d like to be friends with, and you’ll have a much easier time getting along.

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