You could then add it as a button for every realm. If you use it just to grief people you can easily be penalised.
This made me think of football (yes I make odd associations) but we have fans and supporters of football who love to go to their local football club to watch a match, to experience with others that vibrant atmosphere of watching your team play.
On the flip side we have âfootball hooligansâ who obviously disrupt the great atmosphere that the majority are there to enjoy. So is the solution that all are banned from attending a football match, or should authorities just crack down on the âhooligansâ?
So my argument is that Blizzard or Mods âcrack downâ on the perpetrators to stop the abuse that happens on RP realms and for myself personally I will always fully support any measures they put in place to do this. What I disagree with is the view that only dedicated Roleplayers roll a character on a RP realm.
I know we will never agree on this point, but to me it is restricting your own player base. Lets say you have 5 new players roll on the realm, each have an interest in trying out Roleplay, they level and play and learn and in the end only 2 or 3 decide they like to Roleplay and wish to continue, the remaining people stay on the realm but follow the rules/guidelines in place. So they are not disruptive, do not troll other roleplayers and are respectful of the Roleplay around them. In the end you gained 2 or 3 new active Roleplayers, that has to be a win right?
This football analogy has been used quite alot by rpers in these discussions, but itâs more often likened to this:
The roleplay server is a chessclub/house, and people who do roleplay are chessplayers/enthusiasts.
The average non-roleplayer is a football fan who just decides to go into the chessclub and talk football stuff while there, because chess doesnt interest them, and the disruptive ones are those who decide to play football directly over the chesstables and push the ânerdsâ aside and laugh etc.
Yet again I think we are at cross purposes, I am not and never have been advocating that those that disrupt Roleplay on RP realms should go unpunished. What I am advocating is that the Mods do âcrack downâ on such behaviour and punishes those that do this.
What I disagree with is this âonly RP should roll on a RP realmâ. How does giving people the opportunity to try out RP hurt? Again I say this about new or shall we say prospective Roleplayers, if 5 roll on the realm and 3 turn into active Roleplayers in my view this is a win for the RP community, if the 2 remaining do not Roleplay but respect the rules/guidlines for the realm, is this a loss?
I am not referring to trolls or disruptive players in any way at all.
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I think weâre missing eachother here! I am all for people trying out roleplay, and I think everyone is. New players are welcome, but what I/some other people ask is that they try out roleplay at a convinent/comfortable pace to see if its something that would interest them.
If it is, then great! If not, then prefferably they would look for another server that works better for them instead.
I am however opposed to those players(this is actually very common) who makes it a thing they proclaim loudly, that they dont like roleplay and never will but still decides to stay or roll onto an rp server because âI can, and you cant tell me what to doâ.
And this is where I guess we will always disagree, if somebody has levelled a character and tried out roleplay at a convenient and comfortable pace for themselves, then decide that Roleplay isnât really their thing, you would say they should find another server that works better for them. I would say that if they follow the rules/guidelines, then they also could be valued members of the community.
Forgive me if I am blunt, but people keep saying that AD is a very tolerant community and welcomes new players who are interested in RP, yet we do seem to also have that aspect of âif you are interested we welcome you, if you then decide not to roleplay go somewhere elseâ.
In the end I know these are my views only and will obviously differ to what others think, so we will have to agree to disagree 
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Yes, they have been removed from the game. Aka, they arenât valid rules. Using them as a source of authority is like thinking that the RPG books should be canon today.
The latter part is courtesy, not sure what you mean by social rule considering the other parties havenât agreed to it.
I honestly donât understand where the extreme hostility comes from, and I wouldnât take the vocal mewlings of a thin skinned minority to heart honestly. Argent Dawn is known for making a mountain out of molehills over the most asinine issues.
As you say, the simple fact is if new players are not allowed to watch and observe idly without causing disruption why would they be inclined to stay with such rabid hostility? Surely new roleplayers are the blood that keeps things fresh and moving?
From my own experiences Iâve seen that stagnation and snobbishness really sets in easily once you start putting the walls up and creating an enclosed system that deters new player interaction and gate keeps others.
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Amdusias puts very well my personal feelings on the matter as well. I have zero, absolutely zero, intentions to disrupt RP (I have been the moderator of a non-WoW roleplaying community that stretches past 200K users, and I very well know how much it can hurt to have your thing getting disrupted), but every day I worry if the mage I made just to experience the more unique environment of an RP realm will get my account banned for âdisruptionâ, âOOCâ, âunfitting nameâ, etc. all because I ventured in and made a misstep.
I understand this sentiment of keeping your âterritoryâ abiding by its goal. But if you guys are bent like this to shoo off everyone because âyou donât even deserve the spectation of an RP environment because you arenât engaging in it/arenât well versed in itâ is greatly souring my experience. I cannot RP because I cannot dedicate large chunks of time to an activity.
But I love storytelling, I love Warcraftâs worlds, and I genuinely want a chance to quietly watch those who make the most immersive use of the surroundings from one undisturbing corner.
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While on warmode do you play only with ppl on your RP server?
Yes, the RP servers all share one War Mode shard, which is separated from the non-RP shards.
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As someone who doing random hc dungeons usually, i can say that my parties had people from RP realms.
I can agree with the sentiments here, but I think a lot of people woefully misinterpret the RPers general stance and the âmindsetâ of being interpreted as a hostile force.
There isnât some arcane rulebook tucked away somewhere that has a gazillion rules that non RPers have to wrestle with and second guess In fear of being targeted. Anyone who claims such is running with a caricature of RPer behaviour probably forwarded by someone who has had one experience like that, and is generalising. Itâs naive to dismiss the entirety of PvE on the experience of one jerk, so it follows here.
Generally itâs actually mind numbingly easy to not fall foul of most RPers: donât disrupt them. Thatâs it.
If youâre the type who likes to watch other people RP, then either do it from a safe distance non intrusively or if you want to get closer, have the courtesy to whisper them first.
When youâre watching a performance piece, itâs considered pretty normal to be seated in a place where you wonât âget in the wayâ of the actors. People scratch their heads as to why RPers donât like having random individuals following them around and standing right next to them watching, imagine watching a play where the audience is on stage with the actors as they try to perform; itâs incredibly disturbing. If youâre on the stage itâs assumed you may participate, so being there and then throwing up your hands âoh no. Not here to RPâ is a problem that can easily be solved by moving to a more sensible locale.
At the end of the day courtesy would resolve nearly all of the issues involved. The principle issue is there is a lack of it. RP is ânice to watchâ etc but people only think of how they enjoy it theyâre not thinking of the one doing it and their feelings. Always have the courtesy to check, RPers do not exist as a show purely for others to view, and as weâve seen in this thread, there is a tendency to label them as âentitledâ and ânarcissticâ or whatever simply because some of them arenât happy to be gawked at on a server that is supposed to be a place for them to RP freely and feel safe doing so - not a zoo where theyâre being viewed and thereâs a risk of any member of the audience heckling them or worse.
For every person here whoâs experienced a âRPers made me feel unwelcome but I didnât do anythingâ Iâd wager thereâs ten or more occurrences of an RPer having their experiences interrupted by someone who just appeared to be âwatchingâ but decided to get involved in a negative way, or their friend did, or similar.
Even if I donât share the view of âno OOCers welcome whatsoeverâ I totally get the apprehensive stance because I really think people under estimate how often RP is disrupted when itâs done in places with OOC presence. You have entire parts of cities that are unusuable at current. Try RPing in Orgrimmar near main AH, you wonât be able to do so without at least one âspectatorâ hopping in and disrupting you, same for trade district. Entire locations of cities rendered entirely ineffective for RP on an RP server because of OOC presence and the RPers are expected to âroll with, because itâs trade districtâ which is nonsense.
This is why people get sketchy. Wherever OOcers congregate, that place becomes gradually less effective for RP. More OOcers equals more of them around which means more places become unusable.
There are many well intentioned OOCers, the issue is there are a ton who arenât and sending the message RP servers are as much for them as anyone else encourages these less savoury types as well, and contrary to popular belief blizzard are not âban happyâ on disruptions to RP, people arenât being banned for slight infractions, theyâre not being banned for major ones sometimes because beyond the RPers nobody reports it, so a vast majority of offences slide. This is why theyâre defensive, because there are no forces to help police their community at all, so as soon as the RP playerbase gives up due to feeling dispirited or whatever, thatâs it, the RP on the server is gone.
Blizzard are not going to stop this happening. In fact blue engagement with the topic has suggested that they view the moderation as quite a bit of trouble, so where it becomes too much, itâd just be easier to remove the RP distinction altogether thus causing RPers to lose even the safety of a label - surely people can understand their attitude? People coming to their server and messing up the vibe potentially causing them to lose the vibe altogether.
A simple set of questions needs to be asked if one doesnât intend to RP when rolling on an RP server:
- if Iâm coming âfor the vibeâ will I do my best to minimise disruption of that vibe? Will I ask them questions if Iâm unsure what to do? Will I offer them courtesy the server label affords?
- will I help keep the vibe by reporting disruptions to the vibe, even if itâs people Iâve invited to the server or who have invited me?
If the answer to those is yes, then jump aboard. If the answers are no, then Id consider going somewhere else because it youâre answering no to those questions you clearly donât care about the vibe all that much if youâre prepared to stand by and watch others chip away at it. I wouldnât call someone an animal lover if they stood by and watched their friends torment kittens and puppies either. Actions speak infinitely louder than words.
To all those non RPers who do step in, report infractions and generally keep the server purpose clean despite not actively partaking, keep it up and encourage those you know to do the same. Nobody, be it casual observers or participants will be able to enjoy any of it if the server community (RPer and non RPer) allows those determined to undermine it to go unchallenged.
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Pretty much everything Paxmillian wrote there. Also for some reason ânormalâ players get so up in arms when RPâers say things like âWell this is an RP server, for like, RP so maybe people should only come here if they want to RP?â
Suddenly -that- is a âHostile attitudeâ, which is just a surreal take on things.
Lemme just paint a picture here.
Someone joins a Dungeon, but has no intention of doing anything. they literally want to stand there and just watch as the rest of you do the dungeon, because they like the atmosphere. They could have read up on the Dungeon and contributed to the Party but thought ânah, Iâll just sign up for the Dungeon and do nothing, just watchâ
You know there is a Vote Kick option in that case, yeah?
Yet somehow whenever an RPer has the temerity to go âYeah, if youâre coming to an RP realm you really should be coming for the RPâ then -THAT- is the hostile attitude? Seriously?
There is literally an in game mechanic to eject people from an environment they have signed up for with no intention of getting involved and yet -weâre- hostile when we ask people not to join up if they have no intention of RPing?
That is just a bizarre stance to take, and Iâm not sure how people rationalise it when they say, âYeah, go to an RP realm, donât worry about the RP bitâŚâ âErr, why an RP Realm in particular? wouldnât a normal realm make more sense for the aspects of the game that interest meâ âOh, just because, and donât listen to those meanie RPâers, RP realms are for everyone!â
Just likeâŚWowâŚ
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lol, this is a nasty posting but itâs on point.
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Joys of purely text based communication, we have spoken before over discord, you know I am not a naturally hostile person, just forums can be really hard for conveying nuance, I always say people should read my posts imagining I am saying them in a gently mocking way, because that is generally how they are meant to be takenâŚ
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