RP standards

Argent Dawn
21

I think there’s a difference between being ‘strict’ and ‘no fun allowed’. Strict can mean all sorts in the ways of actually limiting things. Some say strict is when you can’t do X but can bend it, and some say strict is only when they say you can’t do X at all, no matter what. Lore-bending can be controversial at times. But I believe it’s best to only bend it in ways where it makes sense to, like where it doesn’t contradict anything else. But then comes in where it can be considered strict and all that; is it strict to allow no bending at all? Or is it still strict to allow only a minimal amount/certain things? Hm!

I dunno. Waffling a little. I personally love it when people get creative with the lore and don’t break it. I know I do it at times, and I find that more fun. Like finding the little things in the lore that most people don’t know about and making that be a part of a character. So I do find it utterly boring when people are super strict and don’t allow even that. Boring people.

4 Likes
22

i think staying true to the setting’s core vibes is cool :slight_smile: lokter

23

lokters

1 Like
24

I think there´s also one additional issue, which can often be totally out of control of the players, and it´s that the other RPers react to what they´ve created in unexpected, and often lorebending ways.
Tenasa´s example with gnoll in Stormwind is a good one. Imagine you create a human whose parents were eaten by gnolls and that character just really, really hates these vicious beasts…only to be met by angry crowd that defends a nice wholesome gnoll in the middle of Stormwind.
Alternatively, you create an advocate for the rights of gnolls (OK, might be a far-fetched example, but this is just to illustrate my point) with the expectations of being viewed as crazy and even hated by the people of Stormwind…and everyone agrees with you.

That´s not to say that people RPing these concepts aren´t responsible for how they portray their characters, but I understand how it might be a bit difficult to RP how you´re hated and struggling with this dark magic within you when everyone is fine with you and you´ve met five people in last month who use the same magic and as it turns out, dealing with it is super easy, barely an inconvenience.

3 Likes
25

I think it’s a shame that our community isn’t taken seriously because of a few bad apples. But it’s up to the rest of us to show people that Vulpera are equally valid!

2 Likes
26

Shut up Ronjo, we know who you are.

5 Likes
27

The pain and suffering continues. :weary:

2 Likes
28

Come on now

4 Likes
29

Hey. There is nothing wrong with arcanists using their power to aid in architectural crises.

https://i.redd.it/7uwjf4upyux81.jpg

30

Some cars dont fit in all circuits unless you tweak them.
said car also need a good driver to work with the design you made the car for.

You can be powerful, or influental, the key thing is that you act it out in a manner that gives room for others, aswell as know your limits.

I’ve roleplayed for 11+ years myself and navigating the mazes of mary sue traps and other common pitfalls is a learning experience, but i’ve also learnt that there will always be people that absolutely will never accept your character concept because it’s “to high fantasy” or “even if you make improvisations in lore that downright dont explain things you cant do that” etc etc. the most petty ones will begin the metagame/powergamer dramastorms. I do however understand them a little since for every person that actually can drive such an intricate character car concept and not crash it via the usual pitfalls there are 20 that are the son of arthas and wielder of sargeras’ soulstone etc etc.

Rule of cool is also a nice motto to have, coolness for yourself, and those you RP with.

31

When I started out it was extremely strict, years a go now… and now-… well, most people are quite relaxed. I dare say the community, depending on where you linger, but generally, have become quite chilled out!

It feels like I don’t have to hold my breath anymore, or look over my shoulder scared to make a single misstep.

Perhaps a result of many people growing older and got more things in life going on for them!

2 Likes
32

The RP scene is a shared hobby, and a shared space. In this shared space, for better or for worse, we sometimes have to give other people and their characters the room, the spotlight and the moment – though within reason, no one should realistically be put always in the spotlight, and not the other way around either.

Being “strict”, is nuanced and I believe that the OP has made their point clear through the follow-up posts, and strict is a good thing since it makes that shared space, just that - shared. I am a huge enjoyer of strict guidelines, since it leaves no error for misinterpretation, it leaves little room to err - you may find it constricting, maybe it is ? But it ensures that you do not end up accidently causing [The Incident], and helps your Co-RPers to not do the same. It ensures that you end up with the same rights, same rules, and the same responsibilities towards one another, and the same general feeling of the RP you are about to embark on. A community is a good way towards this, since it offers easy access to a similar set of goals.

Random RP will always have that charm, and chaos - of being completely unknowning of what the other person(s) on the other end wants out of the RP, you can be a traditional low-fantasy warrior with the battle chain gloves (Why do they always wear them…?) and you end up RPing together, against or at the side of a high-fantasy artificer with crystallised weaponry and thats -fine- … If that’s what you are both wanting, and willing to RP. The Lore of the game is ambigious, and with TBC forever marring the concept of Fantasy sci-fi, and the inclusion of rocket ships, lasers, ethereal aliens and whatever else whacky concepts it gave us, and forced into our collective memories and stages; and there are leeways in many, many ways and concepts and arguably, most concepts can be made and played very well even, but – and I say this out of the most well-meaning intentions that I have, not everyone can be a space-laser bartender tattoo artist fashion model engineer and archmage. It has been said before in the thread, that when everyones special - no one is. And that’s true! But on the other hand, not everyone has to be Common Joe the Turnip Farmer who will die of pneumonia if he forgets to put his mittens on when walking down the Cathedral Square loop one crispy morning.

… Even if that’s a concept that I will now steal and use. Original the character, donut steal.

When I began roleplaying in WoW in 2005 - I wasn’t very good at it, and arguably, can still improve, and thats fine! We can all get better, we can all improve ourselves and the weird internet hobby we all have. Give everyone a fair chance - everyone was new once.
Have fun, be friendly - and help each other out, the entire community will be better off for it and we all want that.

7 Likes
33

this is a fair assessment - though I dread to ask about [The Incident]. Is this an AD Urban Legend of sorts?

34

There’s always an [The Incident].

Everyone knows atleast one [The Incident].

6 Likes
35

This is true!

2 Likes
36

I feel like I should be afraid

37

After so many years the only real standards I hold to now are A) respect the situation (if everyone is doing a solemn situation, don’t burst in shooting finger guns screaming about how you rode a wild hog). B) stay within the lore as much as possible, bending is fine, breaking not so much. C) don’t be a div. Mostly covered by A really, but still.

8 Likes
38

I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I like to say we should try to not directly contradict the lore and the world that we play in. I’ve also been in circles where anything other than a grey blob was unacceptable, which grew incredibly frustrating since WoW is an immensely colorful setting.

Some quality control is good, and sometimes RP “rules” are used as a stick to beat other people over their heads just because they’re jealous of other folks creativity and ideas.

3 Likes
39

Without common ground in established canon, groups can only diverge further into mutually exclusive headcanon.

I’m not entirely against making up new things but there’s a hard cap on what’s viable if you ever want to RP with other people outside your guild/group.

Sure, make a heretical cult guild but don’t expect other people to accept you taking over the cathedral in a grand reformation.

5 Likes
40

Often the sole difference between a good and bad use of headcanon/lorebending is whether it’s portrayed as an opinion or as a fact.

Imagine a mage who has a theory on how the mechanics of making a portal work. They can share that theory, debate it, even say that their teacher taught it that way, but in the end it’s all an opinion that can be discarded by anyone.
Now imagine the same mage saying the same theory, except stating it’s not a theory but a discovery they did as a Kirin Tor archmage and has been part of Kirin Tor’s teachings for decades.

The first, made up example is an opinion with no assumed authority behind it. The second, not made up example, is a case of bad RP where one person is trying to force their headcanon on others.
If you want to create RP centered around headcanon, you need to craft it in a way that gives an out for people who don’t like it. Because, even if someone doesn’t like your headcanon, they may still interact with you. But if the only way people can interact with you is by accepting your headcanon as canon, they won’t ever bother with you.

3 Likes