Hello, and welcome!
Getting into RP is fun, but can be daunting! You’ll generally find people are very welcoming of new RPers and will be glad to share pointers, help you work out lore and point you in the direction of good reference materials for when it comes to working out your character.
Some tips that I think have always served me well in RP and perhaps are a bit “outside of the box”
Seek first to understand as opposed to being understood:
We’ve all met characters who tell us ever facet of their lives within the first 30 minutes of meeting, and sure some folks IRL are like that, most of us don’t have a character creation sheet or back story to recite from! Instead telling us about your character, make it a point to ask the right questions of other people’s characters. You’ll get a conversation going and thats the space for more of your characters thoughts, feelings and sentiments to show.
When writing a characters, always take off the last character trait you put on:
People, like characters, are a complex web of different facets, interests, inspirations and experiences. However unlike our lives, we can be at risk of attaching a few too many cliches to our characters. When you’re siting down and thinking about the person you want to RP don’t be afraid to start out with less, and slowly let more develop based on their experiences. We don’t enter the world fully formed, and our characters shouldn’t either!
Say “Yes”:
Don’t be afraid to take someone up on their offer of a drink, or join someone for a walk or go on a random adventure someone has organised and will DM. Obviously don’t say “Yes” to everything, especially if its dodgy or doesn’t line up with what your character would do, but don’t forsake experiences because you think your character wouldn’t enjoy them, you the player might still have fun!
IC stays IC. OOC stays OOC, but we’re still people:
You’re going to see a lot of people state in their profiles that happens “In Character” (IC) stays In Character, and same with what happens “Out of Character” (OOC). That is to say, a character might be rude to you, but that doesn’t mean the player is being rude to you, or dislikes you. However, we are people with feelings and we are social creatures and its ok, in my view, to let your OOC feelings and sentiments help guide you through things you want to experience in RP, and things you don’t. Some of the people and organisations who scream the loudest about IC being IC and OOC being OOC are also the most hypocritical. Don’t stress about it, we all feel a certain way some times.
Have Fun:
This goes without saying, but you’re paying for this experience. If that experience isn’t fun, then stop. If you find you don’t like something about your character of your circumstances you’re not bound in chains, you can change things.
Read around:
My current character and guild were so greatly inspired by reading the World of Warcraft book: Before the Storm. There is so much rich material out there, that adds a lot of flesh and details and nuance to the world you’ll digitally stand in. I’d suggest reading that book, or listening to it online, as its a good place to start to getting a shape of recent events.
I think thats pretty much all that comes to mind to start with, if you’re ever around on Horde or ever want some pointers feel free to drop me a whisper! Best of luck!