I figured I’d add my insights/experiences with anything night elf related - most of the general questions have already been handled by others, so I’ll leave those out.
As I’ll touch on more in one of the next paragraphs, the night elf scene is fragmented without hub. Alone, you’ll need to do some searching to find out where certain guilds/initiatives are based currently. Naturally, you’ll have an easier time finding roleplay in a guild.
Most of the time, people strive to follow lore as much as they can. You may spot a questionable egg now and then, but people generally follow canon lore to the best of their ability.
For night elves, you’ll find that it’s fairly fragmented/split; there’s plenty of guilds but, as has been an issue for a while now, there’s not really any established hubs. Several of the night elf guilds move around a lot, and thus never really settle long enough in one place to draw people. In turn, that makes the night elf scene more guild-based than anything.
If yoiu’re interested in finding out more on the various night elven guilds, there is a list on the night elf RP thread that Manata also posted earlier (thank you!).
It definitely has its highs and lows. Usually it depends on the time of year (holidays are often slower) and other game releases (Classic WoW currently taking a chunk of players’ time), but I have yet to see AD entirely emptied of RP.
It isn’t. Orgrimmar’s Valley of Honor usually has people loitering about and RPing, and Silvermoon has a somewhat active population as well. As mentioned above however, the number of people lured to Classic has thinned the ranks a little for the time being. I think we are all sort of waiting for patch day in retail.
I would also suggest checking out the Argent Archives: https://www.argentarchives.org/ for public events, stories or guilds that might appeal to you.
You will come across zany-forced-meme RP to somber gothic RP, and everything in between. Players are usually in agreement on sticking to the established lore though.
Some do, some don’t. I guess it’s a matter of personal taste and inspiration in the moment.
Others have come with some good suggestions in this regard. TRP is the only one I really consider important enough to emphasize.
I gather some Horde players are starting up Night Elf RP as well, so that might be worthwhile looking into. Otherwise there’s the lovely lore threads linked above for reference, and we recently had some ritualistic event in Ashenvale to boot.
Blood Elves are (I think) the most frequently played race on the Horde. There are guilds linked above, and some of them have been around for quite a long time at this point. I have only recently involved myself with the Blood Elf scene again however, so I am not intimately familiar with who is and isn’t the more active atm.
There is also a sin’dorei Discord channel, though I can’t for the life of me find the link right now.
I would say it is done to a degree. If you look to Booty Bay in specific. But otherwise the Pot is just used for RP-PVP.
RP Horde side is generally decent. Strict-Loose types. Some even having like a conclave of guilds that can act as NPCs for each other instead of staring at Raid Markers for a year. With of course the variety of Militarisic guilds between. Forsaken, Goblin, Orc/Troll/Tauren and elves? Decent amount.
Alliance side. Stormwind side is the general hub. However it doesn’t mean you should necessarily stay there on constant. Quite afew people have the odd questionable TRPs that all that’s best to do is walk away. With a fair amount of Military type guilds. Whether human specific or otherwise.
I just have to say you guys have been amazing in answering all of my questions. I doubted posting initially but this is pretty good. Something however crossed my mind.
How do people deal with character wealth? I anticipate it is separate from your game wealth.
Are certain parts of the game considered game mechanics or actual parts of the character/RP world?
Does your capability and knowledge of a class GAME WISE, not lore wise, influence RP a lot? Say I am a competent hunter, but I want to RP something else. Except I’m not as good. Would you advise me to stick to my lane or to explore and try and “git gud”.
Are professions relevant to roleplay? Say roleplaying a tailor or even a cook.
I don’t think I know of anyone who apply their actual game wealth to RP. Then again, currency is one of the less clear cut topics in the lore. How much can you buy for a copper at the market etc, the lore isn’t really clear there, so most people don’t attach a specific amount of coinage to their character’s bank account.
Most people I know just go with their characters being affluent, dirt poor or somewhere in between and RP with that in mind.
I’m not entirely sure I understand the question. If we are talking in terms of game mechanics, then there are indeed some things that are considered less RP relevant. Hearthstones come to mind. We all have them in the game (except those good for nothing lazy mages), but they are supposedly quite rare artifacts in the lore. So most people forgo them IC (In-Character).
Go with what you enjoy the most. Always. I don’t know the first thing about playing the lute in actual life, but Alendari absolutely can.
Or if we’re talking classes, you can absolutely RP a Warlock even though you don’t know the first thing about playing the actual class, though obviously I’d suggest you read the lore of the class.
If you want them to be. And you can obviously incorporate professions that aren’t game professions as well, such as a poet, lumberjack or whatever else you prefer.
Professions. Yes they can definitely work. Quite afew rp cooks or cooking on the side or what they do. Hell this character is a chef in his spare time. Same can he said with Tailors(Because first aid), Engineers (Vehicles and gadgets like deep dive helmets) and other sorts. Professions are always somewhere in someone’s character.
Game Mechanics and such wise? It’s a 50/50. We use abilities and such to simulate actions as we go along. Including Stealth. But if this is in regards to the acknowledgement of events or areas of combat. Then yes. Though a lot of people try not to acknowledge some as soon as word of patch notes appear or things regarding to what only the story player character has seen. It’s why Nelf RPers don’t go around Darnassus and (Mostly) Astrannar since the burning. And consider Ashenvale and Darkshore as active warzones. Just like Northern Eastern Kingdoms and the like.
And game wise for a class? Not at all really. You don’t need to be good (necessarily) or a PVP god just to RP a certain class. You rp a class you wish to look into and have the time to keep appearances is all there is to it. Hell quite a lot don’t really even RP their class fully. Some Warriors act as Spellblades, normal soldiers, Combat Medics,etc. It doesn’t really matter on Ingame skill as long as it isn’t to such a degree that you don’t know how Flare works.
