Not all Roleplay is valid

Argent Dawn
478

that’s kind of what the thread is about m8
and its not weird to assume to assume that when someone says all, they mean all
that’s what the word means after all

Breastfeeding DK’s and child characters who were dating mature characters just running around the big RPhub in Orgrimmar, another (unaffiliated group) of Scourge RPers who just hanged out in Orgrimmar insisting they had a place there, they were constantly informed that its weird, first nicely, then firmly, now Orgrimmar is pretty much a wasteland last I checked because nearly if not all guilds just stopped going there to get away from these players.
I’d say it warrants adressing

10 Likes
479

To depict Hruroth’s argument in a different light:

In this game, the only forms of invalid roleplay are the ones that go against Blizzard’s Terms of Service and the rules set by Activision Blizzard, since this is their platform that we are roleplaying on. Lore adherence and maintenance of verisimilitude are not necessarily required, as they are not mentioned in any rules Blizzard gives regarding roleplaying.

As individuals and communities, we are allowed to have our own subjective ideas of validity - how much we’re willing to accept until we decide that no, this person isn’t the sort of person that you want to roleplay with. There is nothing wrong with this and in fact, I encourage communities and individuals to have their own standards. No one should be forced to have to accept the lowest common denominator if they don’t want to.

However, even if the vast majority of this thread considers certain things like lore adherence a requirement for one’s roleplaying to be valid, that is not an objective standard. The bare minimum is the Terms of Services and so long as a roleplayer follows those rules, they can roleplay on this platform and their roleplay is valid in the eyes of Blizzard. This isn’t something that we can argue against.

All you can do is try to create a large roleplaying community that actively shuns anyone who doesn’t follow the community’s standards for roleplaying. I’m quite sure that loads of these communities already exist, in fact. But this doesn’t change the fact that so long as they don’t break the Terms of Service or any other rules set by Blizzard, all of the roleplay of these dark ranger permit roleplayers and shapeshifting dragon roleplayers and city death knight roleplayers is legitimate.

1 Like
480

in so far as one can call it roleplay rather than a chatroom with a (mediocre) aesthetic

481

Late to the party and surely avoided reading through all. But I think the whole point is that you play with people that have the same Idea of what is valid and what is not. Everything else you can and should simply avoid. If you hate the “I have permission from the SI7 because I am a Dark Ranger Dwagon and that’s ok, oc don’t steal” then avoid them. I am not saying ignoring as that I feel can lead to even more awkward situations, but just avoiding. The real problem comes when it reaches a point when you can’t anymore, when it reaches things like the child erp that happened in Orgrimmar, that are just not ok and against the terms of service. Where much drama comes from though, is that that line is so different for everybody. Someone will go ape for a tiny lore mistake, another will accept everything aside from erp and maybe even call it “creative”.
In the end you can’t, and against some perception, no one wants to police all the rp on ad. Because in the end, if you have a different Idea of rp than another person you can simply right click and ignore. Since this is such a personal hobby where many people put a lot of time and effort in, we can be offended quite easily sometimes and I think we should remember that we are here to have fun. So simply find the people that have the same Idea of fun than you have and avoid those that don’t.

3 Likes
482

Don’t forget.

If the RP doesn’t lead to me winning the conflict with your character, your RP is not valid.

3 Likes
483

And you forgot, to avoid all consequences of your character’s actions.

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484

The only consequence my character’s actions has is the demise of all others who challenge me. With my endless ancient power, there’d be no negative consequences for me to begin with, that I’d need to avoid. :triumph:

485

I wonder which new show or game inspired that one.

1 Like
486

If I’m re-treading already spoken ground, forgive me (:pray:) since I’ve only read the OP.

All roleplay is valid when it isn’t forced on unwilling participants, but validity doesn’t obligate you to engage with anything you don’t enjoy. Death Knights having coffee dates with their mortal gal pals–for example–is absolutely valid even if I won’t interact with it.

That being said, as mentioned in the OP, anything that relates to unfounded clique accusations, pushing authority, and any other forms of interaction that breaks RP etiquette is absolutely a big :poop:.

While rude/belligerent from the people who say it, I actually think it’s a valid approach to the game. It’s a big server, and ignoring the things we don’t like rather than aggravating ourselves trying to ‘solve’ it is the best approach in most situations online.

Argent Dawn, even if it’s long-past its population peak, has hundreds (thousands?) of characters so you will never reach any kind of consensus on what’s right or wrong. The best alternative is to just broadly keep to those who share your perspective.

2 Likes
487

Reminder, though, that education only comes with consent. You can’t–and shouldn’t–educate another player without their agreement, and generally shouldn’t unless they’re actively seeking assistance.

If they either directly ask for it or their roleplay profile makes it clear they welcome it, then fair play. If not, just leave them to it.

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488

I just wish people would pay attention to the lore and respect the context of what they’re doing.

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489

In my ideal server I’d wish for the same, absolutely. But at the same time, I’m not in a position to arbitrate what’s good or bad - and nor would I want to be. That sounds like a lot of effort I’d be better off investing into my own roleplay and enjoyment.

If they’re having fun doing their thing, regardless of its adherence to the lore, then I’m happy to let them crack on with it. I won’t force my views on them and hope they offer me the same courtesy. Roleplay is a casual hobby, I don’t want to turn it into anything more than that.

4 Likes
490

i agree
but to be fair the lore is sometimes flawed itself. like that Blood elf in Ashenvale who is apparently older than Quel’thalas and has a living mother.

or that blood elf Dark ranger who apparently remembers Shandris from the Highborne days

1 Like
491

I disagree.

Ignoring what you don’t like only drives more wedges between the people in this already so niche roleplay community. The server is big for an RP server, but roleplayers are the vast minority of WoW players in total.

We already have so many groups ignoring each other, big and small, that coexisting in the same space becomes almost impossible. Orgrimmar is dead because of this. Outside of the communities that frequent them, Stormwind and Duskwood are considered a laughing stock.

Every instance of deviancy from the lore sets a new standard for every interaction, and if you bring it all into the same melting pot, all you get is either a bunch of people stuck in a loop of miscommunication and sisyphean arguments, or a bunch of people ignoring each other.

This makes RP unnecessarily tedious, for we already have a common standard, an even ground to roleplay on, do we not? Behold: :sparkles: The Lore! :sparkles:

Why not use it?

Ignorance breeds contempt. Standards maintain cohesion.

5 Likes
492

Thing is though the chances of getting everyone to adher to basic rp standards and lore is futile, your never gunna reach everyone and end cringerp, also the argument for ignoring/blanking those you dont wish to rp with is a two way street, we can ignore those we find to be too awkward/too unwilling to rp to a set standard ect but those who pay their subs n wish to rp cringe concepts are just as entitled to ignore us, or communities who dont wish to engage with other communities ect, trying to force everyone to interact and not ignore eachother is silly because it’ll always be a two way street, people are entitled to not engage others regardless of quality of rp or other reasons
Edit: To add, Ive noticed a few times in similar discussions there does seem to be a culture with some people on AD of “We can ignore you for xyz, but dont ignore us” and life doesnt work that way lol

493

I disagree on your disagreement

Ironically, it was communities trying to enforce their standards and expectations that has caused huge drifts in the community.

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494

Conversely, I think that attempting to educate (or castigate) everyone who deviates from the majority consensus creates those wedges just as quickly – and more aggressively. Either way, you’re never going to get everyone to agree and conform. Live and Let Live is the path of least resistance and allows us to focus on the aspects of the game and roleplay that we enjoy.

We can curate our guilds, groups, and private communities, because those are more controlled environments. If someone doesn’t fit what the group wants to achieve or do, then they can be removed, and everybody wins. We can’t remove someone from the server and nor should we.

The lore has about as much consistency and fidelity as Donald Trump’s marriages. Why hold something sacred that Blizzard chops and changes every five minutes?

I’m not advocating for disregarding the canon–because I do agree that it’s the best base for any community on the server to work with–but I hope you can see the point I’m trying to make. Deviating from what’s stated in lore is basically necessary at this point in a great many cases.

But otherwise, if I reply to any more specific parts of your reply, I think I’d just be repeating myself – because I’m pretty set in my position and I imagine you are too. Which is fine, I’m not trying to say that I’m right and you’re wrong. I just think it’s an exercise in futility to try to ‘combat’ players who don’t adhere to the wider consensus.

Because the thing is, if you try to push people to do x and y in the way that you–and your circle/community–think is the correct way, many are just going to dig in their heels and it’s going to result in more e-feuds, grudges, and arguments. These types of threads have been ongoing for as long as I’ve been on AD – and I’ve been here for well over a decade now.

I understand where you’re coming from and why, because I used to share your sentiments, but the server has never been a roleplay idyll and never will be. People can and will do what brings them the most fun. If that’s being a demon hunter bartender in the Pig’n’Whistle, then that’s what they’ll do.

Let me ask, and this is a genuine question, what do you want to achieve with these discussions? What do you expect to achieve?

2 Likes
495

Blizzard writers lazily losing track of their own lore is really no excuse to ignore it…

21 Likes
496

I like to see it as a sanity check whether Im out of touch with the RP community or if holding myself to certain standards is still the way to go.

Luckily the contrarian idealists in this thread reinforced the latter point and the community hasnt warped into a sludge of Second Life roleplay in its entirety yet.

497

ignoring shadowlands lore is valid

ignoring long established lore thats actually coherent, setting friendly, and, i cannot stress this in simple terms enough, MAKES SENSE is not valid and foolish