It’s in a weird place where it isn’t a general resource to do with the realm but a niche topic about one of like dozens types of magic in the setting
That said I don’t really care about it staying much - it does no harm. I guess it would be cool if you turned it into a mega thread for all magic themed RP - you would get serious social credit from me for that one
Not what people mean when they say OOCers - an alt of a roleplayer isn’t a distinct player lol
I think the latter have many bigger servers to jump off to to be honest
They have a very consistent opinion of “how long can I do nothing and farm the maximum 9.99/months from this” - ie. if people don’t kick up a stink they will allow literally anything
It doesn’t look like they have the money this kind of activity.
Best way to reach the developers would be to have a topic on both sides (US/EU) with the EU being the main one. The developers aren’t aware of the situation which is why it simply needs to be addressed so they can read it.
Blizzard owns the most profitable/successful MMO on the market, and the most profitable virtual cardgame. Not even to mention Activision. There’s 0 doubt in my mind they have ample money to buy out a small micro-nation, let alone enforce RP rules on their own servers.
You could always use the tools Blizzard give us to give yourself more space if you really wanted. I agree that some threads need updating but I reckon saying that an RP guide deserves its spot if it earns one. Mainly because it also helps draw people into the server with an interest in RP. (First search on google).
Dunno how plus I’m not enough of a socialite to do that seeing as there already exists several different Discords and those in-game conversations for Magic RP.
I see lots of people happily mislabel RPers and the like as OOCers because of world content or otherwise. My main concern is how easy it is for people to be labelled and vilified on this server without due cause. (Its happened before)
Maybe but hey, when a server is at maximum capacity its enticing to some because they want to be reminded this is an MMO.
To elaborate on this, cos I’ve asked Blues why they’ve taken a mostly ineffectual and lazy standpoint on actioning these types of people, they’ve mentioned that they tried before in the past; to no great effect and that was due to people kicking up a stink.
I hate to be that cynical guy and it’d be nice if something could be done, but for the most part Blizzard are a big corporation and I don’t think they’ll care unless the server unsubbed en massé.
I know the player and asked them about this once. Their in-game OOC name is not Deezmuttz at all, but it is their name on AA IIRC because someone took their character’s name there. Inaction on AA staff’s behalf lead to that name as a joke.
Im pretty confident that it is the RP communities that has carried the game numbers through the content drought patches like 4.3, 5.4 & the majority of WoD.
I recall during all of those times hearing that WoW just kinda soft-died on other servers, but the RP was still alive and well.
Maybe a Twitter profile that retweets screenshots / videos of cool RP scenes would be useful? What do you guys think of that one
Could be an extremely easy way to get word out there about the non-seedy cool parts of our hobby
I think social media stuff could really be used in general because Blizzard seem to look at that before EU forums … so if you have big ideas on those lines go ahead and post
Do you think it would help with our public image too to then tag the roleplay showcasing stuff with like #WoW or the main wow page? It would help boost the viewings for sure and make it more public.
Maybe that could include what Linrick mentioned of anecdotes or sharing interesting or funny dialogue as comments to the screenshots or videos, as well! Link to stories and threads that crop up on the backs of the cool RP people are having, too. Hmmm.
Although I haven’t been a member of this server for that long, I would like to raise a couple of suggestions of my own. Fundamentally, I don’t believe roleplaying is going to be taken seriously anytime soon - even ignoring the ERP problem making us seem even less credible and socially acceptable- and thus we are unlikely to receive more than the bare minimum of attention on Blizzard’s part, and media support would be a far fetched dream.
As such, I think eliminating the issues in question is pretty much impossible. Even if we could, troll would certainly find a way to squeeze in their trolling somehow. So here’s what I would suggest:
Take away their (Blizzard’s) excuses. Record with screenshots or even screen recording events of disruption that one believes Blizzard can act upon as an infringement on their own rules. This will probably not be that significant, but it may decrease incidents a little bit.
(Continue to) Keep a positive and welcoming community, specifically one that is present to aid newcomers. There are many ways to avoid the trolls or ignore them in the worst case scenario, such as roleplaying in zones outside of major cities/locations. A player that doesn’t feel particularly welcome though, or is too uninformed when they start out, could quickly get a very poor impression or find that the server isn’t worth the extra effort. I think keeping a community that is actively receptive towards newcomers, and willing to lend a hand and be positive (which indeed it has been, at least by my experience in my return to wow) can go a long way in helping people put up with the fringe issues and focus on the great things the server can offer.
I had a third suggestion but honestly forgot what it was while writing the other two…oops…
I think the most sensible thing to do is to make a reddit thread asking for /ignore to turn players invisible! Even OOCers would support it cause it would stop people on big mounts making people unable to interact with NPCs!
Trying to change the public perception on RPers / RP itself is a bit pointless imo when even RPers can’t even really get along / agree on proper definitions!
Has been tried I’m afraid, unfortunately on many occasions blizzard seems to just outright imply that screenshots can be “Tampered with” and give us the usual GM reply of “Please use our report feature” followed by a prompt closure of the ticket.
We try, but the server is very obviously factioned which can unfortunately lead to many newcomers being put against certain groups from the get go. Thankfully the more divisive members of the community tend to give away their biases rather easily these days.
How does that work in pvp and group content though?
It’s not as simple as people make out.
I think the social media drive may work, with some decent captions and community interaction.
We would have to initially post a bit after campaigns and the like, just to be sure we don’t attract griefing during, but visibility can go a long way.
While it’s not simple, it’s a swift solution that’s more likely to happen!
Why? Because it’s a one time spending of resources! Asking for better community management / GMs for RP servers would mean Blizzard would have to devote more resources indefinitely! And the more people on RP servers, the more reports, the more admins taking actions needed! The cost just persists forever!
And I just don’t think the common populace will become well informed with the ins and outs of real RP any time soon! It’s basically as likely as most RPers suddenly taking an interest in tryhard PvE / PvP!
I think vast majority of people, once they see stuff that happens on servers (rather than in Goldshire) have positive outlook on things. When we look at situations like sharding in Legion or Cross-RP being disabled in 8.1, community response was overall supportive to RP community because there were clear arguments provided there:
“We want to do huge community event that has been a thing for years, but sharding prevents us from doing so.”
“We want to do RP events where we can communicate with the other faction, but new update prevents us from doing so.”
And when you look at posts on r/wow that are not about Goldshire, you see that people are generally supportive of RP. Yes, you will never persuade a teenager who worships balding American living in his own filth, who was on verge of tears after someone beat him in mount showoff, that you are not a sad nolifer, but you can´t please them all.
But I don´t think it´s too far-fetched to say that if WoW community on Reddit or other media (although I think Reddit is the best place since you already have a big public online space dedicated to WoW where few hundred upvotes can make your post stick to the front page where 1,5 million people could see it) saw what RP really is and how some people on remaining few RP servers treat it, they would support us just like they supported us in other issues.
And while stuff like continued Blizzard moderation might be in land of dreams, making it that ignoring/reporting player makes them disappear would probably cost little to no resources on Blizzard side and would practically solve all the problems with griefing overnight.
Double post, but I think the system already makes it that if you ignore or report someone, you won´t be put into group with that person.
In terms of world PvP, it could work as it does now in Warmode, current content and on non-RP servers.
Plus, there´s already a precedent for something like that in form of sharding being disabled on RP servers. Sharding isn´t some technology that Blizzard hates but has to use, they are clearly content with how it works on Retail.
Yet, they have admitted that RP servers have special needs that outweigh other aspects of the game (like having less lag in capitals) after the issue became public knowledge among WoW community.
think of it as your big contribution to this thread’s goal