Let me start this thread off by saying that I am personally not at all against people playing characters like Half-Draenei Orcs, but I am also of the mindset that these instances should also not be as common place as others have wanted them to be. I am especially also a fan of the artistic touches some artists have provided their characters through these elements.
I’d want to open up discussion about this from both sides. Those whom RP specific Half-Blood characters/Generally like the concept of mixed species characters and those who do not RP said characters/do not like the concept.
These characters can so often make other characters ICly question a lot of things and reflect on themselves if done well, so I’d love to hear any stories and RP experiences as well!
It’s one of those things that are quite alright on paper, but usually falls flat in practice.
While the concept can be quite interesting like you mention, I feel a lot of halfblood characters are made halfblood to compensate for a lack of depth. I usually go by the rule of “If my character would be exactly the same if they weren’t x race x clan x class” then there’s no reason for your character to be that.
Not if the only point of the character is to be mixed-race. Trying to make a character unique by compiling lots of niche traits does the opposite imho. If it’s something that impacts the character and their story beyond them emoting the fact they have a pair of pointy ears and the orb toy from Sunwell Plateau I’m all for it.
As much as I love the half-races in other medium, such as DnD, I think that generally wow currently has little reason to play one, be it that aesthetically you’ll look nothing like what a half-race would look, but also, let’s be real, nine times out of ten these concepts are pulled off horribly or add nothing and you could just as simply play a full blooded race.
I can honestly say that i have never seen halfies RP’d in an interesting way or a way that adds anything to the character at all, to the point where I question if it is possible at all (even with MY magnificent prowess).
This is probably it. But I find that a lot of role players have developed a blind eye to ‘special’ concepts due to them being so saturated across the RP community.
So instead the simplest concepts seem to be the best, coming across as unique and fresh.
There is a lot you can unpack and influence with such a character, but to me too it depends heavily on the execution.
Their half-blood nature should be something that changes them from the ground-up and not just some sticker tagged on them to make them look different. I’ve met a few people who have created really interesting stories and conflicts for their characters this way and it has honestly been great fun to see how all of that has unfolded, but unfortunantly for a lot of people it’s just a quick way to make a shallow character into something “Special”, but I am not at all against attempting the concept in RP.
Playing a hybrid/half-blood means accepting there will be a lot of negativity IC. Social isolation, questions of racial identity, mistreatment and hostility by allies and enemies alike.
Most of the people who RP hybrids do not want to face or even acknowledge this. They want to have a character with a major quirk (she is half elf! Doesn’t that make her whimsical and different) but suffer none of the actual circumstances or RP that would make that character actually exciting or interesting to play, and play with.
While during my 9 years of RP I have seen plenty of people like this, I have also seen a few who have made great use of this fact in both storytelling and character deveploment.
I mean in-general personal hardships are great stepping stones to developing your character, their personality and view on the world. Just imagine how a half-blood’s views would have/would be shaped by the different interactions and opinions. Pretty interesting stuff in the right places.
But yes. There are plenty of people who don’t want any hardships to come to their characters as it is.
I find that often enough there’s also the effect where a lot of players make their characters really extremely woke, in the sense where we see people who stand up for the downtrodden, which in itself is not a bad thing, but is increasingly common and thus playing say a half-elf in Stormwind will simply end up with said half elf being easily accepted by everyone and probably some rich noble will also give them bazillion gold.
It is indeed.
If you are the sort of RPer who would genuinely be excited and fulfilled by all manner of interraction; including the potential for drama, depth and character development that can arise from facing that stigma, from suffering that scrutiny and mistreatment…
Then I dare say you can probably do the concept better justice than the many others who did it purely to add an easy interest to a character.
I always think, however, one needs to really consider what these attributes mean longterm and whether those struggles are something you want to RP with and around. If they are… great!
The main problem is over saturation of these concepts, especially in Alliance RP. Fly around Stormwind checking peoples profiles for a few minutes and ‘Half Elf’ will be more common than most other races in the city. Overall I really think that people see characters like Arator and think ‘oh that’s interesting’, not realising that him being a half breed has left him with a thousand questions and a lacking sense of belonging throughout his life and that it’s rare or even EXCEPTIONAL for someone like him to exist.
I also adressed this in my initial post. There are 4, yes FOUR Canon Half-Elves.
Arator
Alodi
Giramar
Galadin
While in practice Half-Elves wouldn’t be THAT out there, the fact that there are so many compared to the actual Lore depictions of them just speaks volumes of that oversaturation.
Especially since they aren’t like the Mok’nathal, an actual Half-Blooded people.
Still waiting for the day that having a character hating a half-blood for being impure or being of a race that your character consider it’s enemy does not make you a racist OOC.