What do you think about modern day real world influences in RP? This can mean a lot of things but generally I’m looking for opinion on how people interpret the setting and how closely they try to mirror the real world.
For a small example, I have seen things like disposable coffee cups (think Starbucks) in game being used in RP and I’m curious to see what people’s opinions may be as I have never seen it discussed.
Azeroth is an unholy amalgamation of cultural and historical influences crossing eras of technological development - including ‘future tech’ like teleporters, combined with adding magic on top to make the whole thing weirder still.
There’s never going to be a universal answer to this question other than trying to tailor your RP to the tone that you’re playing in at that moment. Disposable cups might feel appropriate for your noir murder investigation playing out on the dimly lit streets of Boralus, probably less so at the drum circle in Thunder Bluff.
Anything is possible in the right setting. If you are casually having fun in the city with your pals like Herbvendor and everyone shows consent to bringing real life things into the game - it’s cool. Alternatively, the conversation ends quickly after you realize your rp styles do not align.
Otherwise, during an event that is supposed to be as close to the game reality as possible it should be monitored and used with caution. Maybe borrowing ideas from the Earth and altering them WoW-style to fit the setting.
I think Blizzard’s world building in regards to that is some of the worst cases of their writing. While it is true that WoW’s setting certainly had a certain allure and charm to it when it was a mish-mash of “stuff” borrowed from other settings (think WC3 days), over time I feel it has lost its appeal and makes the setting feel like it doesn’t have an identity of its own.
Try describing the setting of World of Warcraft to a friend who is unfamiliar to it in one sentence and it will go along the lines of: “well, there’s a little bit of this, there’s a little bit of that, there’s Elves from Tolkien sorta, but there’s also aliens from space who look like they’re a scrapped faction from Starcraft, zaney Goblins who use modern linguo and buildings-in-boxes and…”
I don’t think the writers particularly care at this point either and they just insert whatever it is they feel is cool and trendy at the time. They have the same approach as Star Wars really. How about a planet that’s basically a Western paradise? Sure, why not. Except in Star Wars I feel like it doesn’t strike against the core identity of the setting. In WoW, I feel the line is blurred a lot more.
What’s the core identity of Warcraft or rather what it used to be? Well, high fantasy and orcs vs humans clashing, I guess, but the game has strayed far away from that since the release of the first strategy game and added many more elements, some of them that fit and the rest less so.
As for how all that translates into roleplay, I don’t think we are forced to follow Blizzard’s example here. I’m not saying those elements shouldn’t be included, but it should be done with taste and some thought applied. I personally shy away from characters who communicate like they’re a redditor or a twitter user, especially if it’s a city Elf, dear God.
Overall I feel like “shared immersion” for a lack of a better term is getting harder and harder to achieve since everyone and their mother has a different idea of what the setting is or maybe should be. Could be a reason why “bubble roleplay” has become increasingly popular or why we have been witnessing a slow decline of roleplay for years.
I can’t imagine a tauren would even approve of disposable cups/utensils, even if their society had progressed to the point of wide availability. They’re the types to bring their own metal or wooden straw to a restaurant.
damn tauren are cool
I personally hate this kind of thing as I feel like it cheapens the OG Warcraft fantasy, however, people are free to do what they want and Azeroth has seen a massive increase in modern day influences since Wrath/Catalcysm (though there were of course some before that too), so I can’t blame anyone for going by them.
It’s a matter of carving out one’s desired niche. I’m drawn to the setting mostly by the more fantasy elements and although I’ll readily dip into the sci-fi aspects, it’s whimsical and stylistic enough that it doesn’t exactly feel ‘right’ to just treat it like the modern day real world.
The setting itself has long since jumped the shark on many fronts but it’ll always come down to personal preferences as to how much of what has been added over time is actively embraced.
Personally I bounce between this game and The Elder Scrolls Online to get my role-play fix but I’m tentatively hoping that one of the upcoming ‘pure fantasy’ MMO’s proves to have more consistent world-building and role-play potential.
If someone serves me coffee in one of those, I’ll throw it in their face and demand a normal wooden mug, ain’t want nothing else.
Edit; on a more serious note, I keep seeing stupid things like politics and real-world drama seep into wow almost every time I resub and play just for the sake of nostalgia, and honestly, I’m getting tired off it, like TRP3’s new Pro-noun system, I personally dislike it because it promotes lazyness, you could flourish your profile with “Due to being very muscular, Avenia is often mistake for a man, but she is a woman through and through” instead its just “Big Beefy She/her”
I am personally not too fond of every IRL influence in the game. And before you get the wrong idea, no, I don’t mind inclusivity and all that, I’m happy that that’s ingame.
It’s more things like language that sound like modern day english, for instance when I see people in character use modern swear words or slang. And granted, sometimes on Desartin something slips into my language aswell, even if I do try to keep an eye on it.
Goblins on the other hand were always introduced with a modern accent, so for them it fits, so I guess it also comes down to the race you are playing.
They aired one little show called ‘Game of Thrones’ and the server has never been the same since. 
Never heard of it. 
I wish I’d never heard of it.
WoW is incredibly anachronistic, and I’ve always shamelessly enjoyed that it’s sci-fi as much as it’s fantasy. With all that combined, there’s a lot of room for really pushing past the expectation that everything must remain within the realm of medievil or low fantasy takes.
Saying, that, like with your example for technology and items and the like, I personally try to keep to around what existed around the 1920s-40s for an absolute top end of world influences.
A lot of what we see as strictly very contemporary is older than we think, and that era allows for a lot of stuff that I feel works with the level of tech we’re shown.
But even that has a lot of wiggle room when we consider that magical technology exists, and again we have sci-fi and so stuff that just are not real (or… yet discovered???) like alien space ships are not only known by people on Azeroth but are becoming a little less remarkable to them too.
I guess it comes to how you reference it, too, since WoW is quite keen on its comical versions of Earth things.
Like it’d be weird to go to Azeroth McDonalds, but going for a market stall named Boarger Warchief? Yeah, could do that.
I’m going on the record as saying that I won’t RP with anyone who uses disposable coffee cups.
Those were invented in 1907, so, can work!
As for modernity… I avoid modern slang and themes that are typically hipster era and beyond, and, as in the example above, I tend to think that what was around in roughly 1850 can plausibly work in the WoW setting. I think WoW is set before electricity becoming widespread, but most certainly after the medieval era.
Despite what might be popular belief, having pronouns as an option in a roleplay profile, or any profile at all, isn’t political. It’s just informative and you’re not forced to use it.
I think modern and real world influences are fine as long as it’s kept as that; influences.
Some influences, some references, and such things are fine, but there is a difference between that and making an undead blood mage with a magic item that works like a cellphone, with an automatic firearm with realistic flair, who only wears modern clothes, who talks in modern, casual slang, who works at a restaurant named just like a real world franchise except for two letters…
At that point, I’d just go roleplay in GTA or Vampire: The Masquerade, or may Metzen forgive me for saying this, go outside.
Notably also had disposable coffee cups in it!
Never heard of this game, is it on steam?