Role Play: Legion roleplay and leveling

Legion is right around the corner! For most players, it means a flurry of leveling through new content in a rush to get to max level. For roleplayers, it means leveling, yes, but also a veritable mountain of new roleplay opportunities. There will be new places to explore, new hangouts to discover, new plot lines to contend with…and that can be just a little overwhelming.

For roleplayers that either have a regular group or guild, leveling may not be the highest priority. Some members may rush through content, others may take their time. Regardless of which path you choose, the point is to get along with your fellow roleplayers, not to annoy them – so some common courtesy is advised when playing through new content.

Getting on the same page

First of all, if you’re in a group or a guild, you may want to check in and see what expectations there are for Legion roleplay. See if there are any plans being made for leveling, or if you’re on your own. If an event is planned around a particular zone, find out if it requires unlocking certain content to get to. If so, take a look and see if you’re all going to unlock that content together, or if you need to do so in advance.

Check to see how fast people are planning on leveling — is the group or guild leveling as a whole, or are people going to level at their own pace? How soon are people expected to be max level, or does it make a difference? Are there any guild rules for new expansions? Do your fellow group members want to tackle one zone in particular before they hit the rest?

It’s all about getting on the same page with everyone, and making sure you’ve got a good idea of what’s expected of you. Leveling may not be the single most important thing to a roleplayer, but a new expansion means that there’s new content to explore — and your guild may temporarily place more importance on that.

Roleplaying while leveling

Some guilds and groups like to take a more active approach to leveling and roleplay while they’re exploring and completing new quests. Others would rather have their fellow guildmates or group members complete content on their own, and worry about roleplaying in downtime when there’s no questing going on. And others may leave the question of whether or not to roleplay while you level entirely up to you.

There are upsides and downsides to both options. On the one hand, roleplaying as you level means that you’ve got a constant stream of roleplay relevant to what’s going on in the current expansion. Your character and your friend’s characters can talk about what you’ve discovered, lore-wise, and may even come up with some new plot ideas while you’re at it.

On the other hand, roleplaying while you’re leveling can drastically slow you down. Stopping to comment on quests or type out long responses to roleplay prompts takes time away from leveling, and means you won’t be progressing as quickly as some players. If that doesn’t really matter to you, by all means take your time – you don’t get opportunities like this often! If it does, try setting a time at the end of the day where everyone can get together and catch up on what they’ve been doing. Make it a group event.

Spoilers

Of course, you can’t really talk about new content without talking about how to treat spoilers. In Legion, you can choose from four different zones to level through. It makes no difference which one you choose first, because the zone actively scale to whatever level you happen to be. Your group or guild may be scattered throughout all four zones as they experience that new lore.

And if you’re in Stormheim and someone is in guild chat talking about the latest goings-on in Val’Sharah, you might not appreciate it. Likewise, there are those who probably wouldn’t appreciate you spoiling all the secrets of Stormheim. It may be wise to check in with your group or your guild leader and find out how the guild treats spoilers — if they view them as fine to talk about, or if they’d rather avoid them.

One easy solution to the spoiler issue is to keep your guild chat a designated spoiler-free zone, and create separate spoiler-happy channels for each of the four zones. If you don’t care about spoilers, you can join the appropriate channel for the zone you’re leveling in. If you don’t want to hear spoilers, you can skip the channels and remain blissfully unaware.

Establish deadlines

There is, of course, a time where spoilers no longer matter. When I’m writing about novels and other material in lore columns, I give it at least a month before I stop slapping spoiler warnings on everything. A roleplaying guild or group may want to extend that even further, or make it shorter. Either way, you want to make sure everyone in your guild is aware of when they can expect to start hearing or talking about possible spoilers in guild chat.

And although leveling may not be a priority, you may want to check in and see if there are any kind of deadlines involved for getting your main characters to max level. Legion’s array of dungeons and raids are shaping up to be really fun, and if you’re with a group that likes to roleplay in instances, you’ll want to make sure you’re at an appropriate level to participate.

The launch of a new expansion is pretty much the most active time in the game, both for dungeons and raids, and for roleplaying as well. Take advantage of the rush of new people, and get to know your fellow roleplayers while you’re out in the world — you may just find some new members for your group or guild. Remember to be polite to people. Everyone out there is just as excited as you are to start leveling, get into Legion roleplay, and dream up new stories to tell.