Tasteless attempts of people trying to be grim and dark and gritty, but they are just jackasses banking on cheap shock value antics.
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This can simply be reported to Blizz, right?
I did, but this sort of IC behaviour should not exist in the first place, soâŚ
Anyway, another thing we (not me, already doing it) should do is bumping or commenting on good RP concepts on the forums. Often there are some very good ideas that barely get any attention, while the spam threads go like a TGV train in comparison. Just make things more visible.
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i donât like this rp and it should therefore not exist 
imagine unlikeable people existing, thatâs just so outlandish and failrp
Yeah, being sleezy and a ![:shower:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/shower.png?v=6" ":shower:")
is fine, but I think violating women isnât something we need in a 12+ game.
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on one hand i wanna agree, on the other it sounds like a great way to kickstart an IC manhunt against a vile character, which sounds hella fun.
The duality of Nerds.
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It seems like the Horde and the Alliance are sharing the issues of âbubble RPâ and division, albeit in different veins.
Can be quite disheartening to see RP going on, want to engage, but you know because such-and-such guild is so insular or so-and-so sticks with strictly âlow fantasyâ styles that your efforts would be for naught â if anyone even bothers in the first place. This appears to be more of an Alliance problem.
It isnât universal, of course; the rare instances of uninvited RP that Iâve been able to partake in were awesome. There definitely ARE still really great and welcoming folk out there IC, who wilfully and sensibly interact with not just their friends, but others who stumble along, which can make for some satisfying interactions if youâre around at the right times.
Alas, the atmosphere of âUs vs Themâ (us being any guild and them being everyone else) is pretty overwhelming. Feels as if guilds mutually distrust one another and the idea of collaborating with other groups or taking chances, which, I mean, itâs understandable but it also explains how we got to where we are.
I doubt folks are just going to wake up one day and be more out going or open-minded towards the rest of the community, but whatever is going on right now doesnât seem to be working, thatâs for sure. Which is such a shame, because AD has always given off good vibes!
Maybe it really is a BFA thing? Folks getting too comfortable? Canât wait to see the first House guild pop up on the Classic RP server and see how that pans out.
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Huh⌠Also Damnit!
Not happening. Not enough grim-dark armour models available in Classic!
Lots of bikini-armor and plate thongs, though.
Speaking of Alliance RP - I wait anxiously for the reactions to vanilla Stormwind City.
This and your call to give people a chance stands out to me - there is a distinct lack of trust to go around.
A lot of the time even I myself am wary about plots and subterfuge and power plays because I find myself wondering if there is an ulterior (OOC) motive, or if the person has considered how that kind of RP is going to affect my character and whether it will be enjoyable for me.
The times I have greatly enjoyed RP drama were usually times where I either trusted most people involved to just want to tell a cool story, or did not care about what happened to my character.
And of course that also facilitates the dreaded bubble RP. Why risk an evening of what could be an absolute headache of events that have long-term consequences I donât want to deal with when I could be playing with people I trust to not screw me over, with the additional bonus that they probably wonât be ripping me apart in their Discord?
I donât know the solution to that. I wish people were more mindful that roleplaying is about working together, even when your characters are at each otherâs throats. If you want to gang up on someone and beat them to a bloody pulp because your character has something to prove and a bad set of morals, I think you should make sure that being beaten up and humiliated is actually fun.
In the same vein, of course, it would do people good to learn to enjoy taking the L from time to time. Great things can happen when you take a leap of faith.
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I personally donât have a problem with house/noble roleplay, itâs an existing concept within the wow lore and should be done. Though the problem arises when there is literally 0 thought or research done within nobility, and players just act about on titles. House guilds have the stigma because there are simply too many examples of it being badly done, though alas Iâve seen some seriously realistic household/entourage rp, which I personally endorse. Sadly itâs become a rolling joke since some players like to just add and add and add, thinking itâll gain them more legitimacy.
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I am a bit guilty of that before, however in terms of research, anyone who decides to rp a noble should know that nobles, any noble even refrain themselves from swearing like a sailor. In which case is all over the noble rp scene âfâ this and âfâ that. Quite often throwing the âcâ word around.
I wonât act as if I know what nobles are like. But I do know that nobles donât swear like no tomorrow nor do they go around beating people up cause of a small insult. That is just my experience of noble rp from watching at least.
Maybe Iâm wrong but I feel like thereâs been some degree of pushback, however small, in recent years against attitudes like overly strict lore compliance that you correctly single out as barriers to a cooperative infrastructure, which as far as I could tell reached their nadir a couple of expansions ago when people would face pages of forum threads complaining if they dared to so much as host a campaign outside of a current patch content zone. Which I donât personally see as much now, though as I say I could be wrong. And that could possibly be explained by people retreating so far into their guilds that they canât even be bothered to criticize each other publically anymore.
All that to (overly?) optimistically suggest that maybe there might be slightly more of a collective appetite than you would expect for any attempt to rebuild that player infrastructure as you suggest. As much as I understand the weariness as no doubt the issues you highlight are still massive impediments.
I especially agree on the importance of when there used to be a general communal sense of knowledge of what was going on around the world. Now that no longer exists itâs a bit of a vicious circle, where new and returning players will probably find it more difficult to get the lay of the land (speaking for myself at least) and involve themselves in the realm community, unless theyâre fortunate enough that a campaign is active at the time, or if they still know any likeminded active roleplayers. Their best option in the current climate seems to be to directly look for a guild, which aside from being demoralizing in the difficulty to find one that suits you, just contributes to RP being more divided and cloistered.
I wish I could think of a potential solution to that but it seems to me like that aspect of a community awareness of the state of the world would be the final thing to follow on from rebuilding that infrastructure. Which increasingly looks to be the sort of keystone to all this if such a thing is possible.
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I think this is the case. Back in 2014 guilds like the Rotgarde and Arathi Honour Guard would face massive backlash over RP-PVPing in a time where one side of the community perceived there to be a strict truce between the factions whereas the others saw it more as the Cold War like Vanilla, with skirmishes appearing all over the globe.
This would go on well into Warlords of Draenor. I donât know when exactly it stopped appearing in excessive numbers on the forums, but eventually the only people posting their disagreements with a guildâs current doings that they believe goes against lore slightly are people posting one-liners and the like.
However, to me there is no doubt people are still in the habit of condemning one another excessively for going against their perception of the loreâs limits, yet it is now done in private Discords or guild chats. Take the current anti-Sylvanas versus Sylvanas-loyalists role-play in Orgrimmar, with Rogmasha from the Frozen Paw Clan as a point of focus. You wonât see too much of it on the forums, but having been in chats on both side of the spectrum there is massive disagreement between the two on whether or not the other group is wholly adhering to the settingâs lore. Players seem in the habit to ask their fellow guildmembers to ignore the other side because they donât fit into their narrative or make scandalous comparisons to certain dictators from some 80 years ago. Sometimes, this trashtalking gets out and breeds more and more resentment and distrust between the two groups.
Edit: Obviously, I canât say Iâm not guilty of it myself⌠
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This might have been covered already, but just adding my thoughts into the mix!
In my mind, there are quite a few problems with Alliance role-play and the way it is now. Most people lately seem to focus way too much on the OOC rather than the IC. In itâs current climate, itâs all about popularity. Who can be the most popular Lord or Lady, who has the most influence, who has the most power etc.
As someone who spends the mass majority of their time hanging around Stormwind, Iâve noticed a large increase of House guilds, nobility, Lords and Ladies springing up out of no where. Itâs evident that itâs a popularity contest with OOC goals, agendas and the focus isnât so much on the RP, but on the OOC aspect. This brews drama, lies and slander spread for gain, and it becomes a huge mess.
Then youâve got those who are unable to engage in RP themselves, and so they stand in Cathedral square or at Lionâs rest like statues, with the typical âwhisper me if alt-tabbedâ because they cannot be bothered to get that RP for themselves, theyâd rather it came to them instead, giving off a lazy and unapproachable vibe. Iâve also noticed now, there is an extreme lack of back-and-forth when it comes to conversations and character interactions, at least that Iâve noticed when interacting with people. Everyone seems to talk about themselves, listing all of their noble deeds, their heroics and their many titles, itâs all bragging and boasting but they very rarely give out hooks for you to grab onto. So you end up just standing and listening to them go on and on about themselves, when they arenât at all interested in what youâve got to say, if itâs not to do with themselves they arenât interested. There just isnât any give and take, making RP very self-centred, dull and tiresome.
The quality of Guilds in my opinion have decreased because drama consumes them, and nearly all of them are about boosting the GMâs ego rather than making it a fun environment for everyone. Then of course, youâve got the racial issue where if youâre not a Human, youâre going to struggle tremendously in getting roleplay that isnât from your own race, because you donât fit in with the âfantasyâ that is Human RP, and only Human RP.
So yeah, thatâs just my thoughts about Alliance RP at the moment, unsure if anyone else shares my views but itâs quite difficult to RP on Alliance for me at least.
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Another thing I noticed is that quite a few people seem to be rather paranoid OOC. I mean, those players donât RP, but think âwhat does he want from me?â, âdoes he have a poor reputation?â. They stand about and question everybodyâs motive for approaching them. There is a distinct lack of trust between roleplayers, so people close themselves off and sit alone for hours on end.
And, to be honest, this is something we have brought upon ourselves.
I canât say it is without reason, but it is one of the reasons why it becomes harder and harder to find and enjoy random RP.
People just donât really want to RP, and especially not with people they donât know.
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this in 10 characters
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Most of what you say is based, but the overall lack of devotion is strikingly true. On the other hand, how can players play with the same immersion of a 15 y/o when you are 23 or more?
I think one solution, possibility, might be to start a community in willing to take in initiatives rather than criticize them⌠but as a downside, it would still start as an secluded piece from the whole server - and should handle well the moments in which it backfires.
edit. Or the other way around, convince existing communities to strenghten their bonds. Not sure how and if it would work.
I have the answer to end all threads with.
The problems with RP aaaaaaare⌠drumrolling intensifiesâŚ:
Roleplayers.