What is roleplaying according to Blizzard?
Roleplaying
This time we will take a look behind the curtain of the roleplayer’s stage and talk about an aspect of the World of Warcraft that has the potential to deeply enrich your gameplay experience, regardless of whether you’d want to focus on it or rather practice it in addition to the many other things you may do whilst being logged in. Contrary to popular belief, many roleplayers do participate in all forms of PvE and PvP, which is why our realms are reflecting this mindset by offering special RP-PvE as well as RP-PvP realms with expanded policies in addition to the normal realms. Did you know that RP-PvP realms did not exist right from the start? However, with Patch 1.8, were added to our pools due to specific requests by our players?
The intention of this spotlight is to offer something of value for almost every kind of reader: For curious players we will explain the basics of roleplaying and for those who are already roleplaying we will talk about potential ways to enhance and/or protect their experience. Naturally, we will also take a quick excursion to the aforementioned expanded policies, which have to be followed by everyone playing on either of the two roleplaying realm types, regardless of whether they are roleplayers themselves or just playing on one of these specially protected realms because of their friends.
What exactly is roleplaying?
In short, roleplaying is exactly what it says on the tin. Just like actors in a movie or theatre play, gamers assume the role of a self-created character from the World of Warcraft and act accordingly, with the only difference being that there is no script and everyone has to improvise his character’s reaction. In a way, it is as if many players would gather to write a piece of literature with no one knowing right away where exactly it could lead to. Will it be a piece of comedy, an epic tale of heroes or a romantic drama? You decide!
In its oldschool meaning, roleplaying refers to a bunch of friends getting together at a table to play a pen and paper game, so called because all you needed in addition to the rules was a pen and a piece of paper. This kind of roleplaying also required a Dungeon Master (DM) who controlled the enemies the players would face during their adventure. In the computer age, this task can be taken over by the game itself, though classic P&P games usually offer more freedom, so both ways of roleplaying have their own right to exist, each offering a unique take on the general idea. The most obvious advantage of roleplaying in an online computer game is that you do not depend on the availability of a few nearby friends but can simply log on and join a world with thousands of other people, though you may have to look around for a bit before you find an opportunity.
One of the most important things to remember whilst you are roleplaying is the difference between in-character (IC) and out-of-character (OOC). When you appear playing in-character, everything you say and do in the game will usually be considered the words and actions of your character, not yourself as a player. At times you may have to make ‘real world’-related comments on something, such as telling everyone that you have to log off now or clarifying a misunderstanding. Often you can circumvent ‘breaking character’ by simply emoting the correction (“/me ‘s shield actually bears the crest of Theramore, not Stormwind.”) or finding an in-character excuse for an OOC action (such as having your character go elsewhere before logging out).
A Beginner’s Guide
So we piqued your curiosity and you want to give roleplaying a try? Very well! The following
The first question will be: What kind of character do you want to play? Should you not already have something in mind, take a look at the many stories taking place in Azeroth and let yourself be inspired by the many different types of heroes and villains you see. Other movies, games or books can also provide ample inspiration, though it is advised that you try to make the character you come up with conform to the game’s own setting. For example, an evil drow elf sorcerer can easily be converted into a blood elf mage with few changes to appearance and history whilst keeping personality and style intact. Many players also have a lot of fun working out a rough concept of their character’s history, family and profession, as such topics may come up during your RP at one point or another.
This, of course, leads us directly to the next issue you’ll find yourself facing: choosing a name for your character. It is a fairly common practice to adopt popular names of existing characters from the Warcraft franchise or even entirely other settings, though it is also one frowned upon by most roleplayers. If you want your character to be taken seriously, it would be best to give names such as Legolaas, Dàrthvàdr or Uthér a wide berth. However, minor characters are always a good source of inspiration and may give you a good impression on what kind of names fit into the game world. You can also use the internet to find fantasy-themed random name generators or similar resources. Lastly, keep in mind that your character’s name does not necessarily have to be his first name, but could also be a nickname, as long as it is a fitting one.
Please keep in mind that, regardless of what kind of name you choose for your character, it needs to conform to both our standard as well as the extended naming policy. You can find everything here: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/135764
If it is already too late and you feel a character you have has a less than perfect roleplaying name, you could consider using our Character Name Change service. Should your character’s name violate one of our policies you may also report yourself via the ticket function and have one of our Game Masters take a look at your case.
Next up is the choice of realms, although this is a far less complicated process than many assume. After you have decided on whether you prefer the somewhat gritty realism of open world PvP combat or the more serene nature of the PvE ruleset, you are still left with a couple of different realms to choose from. Naturally, asking around will usually result in everyone claiming that their realm is the best one, so we recommend taking a look through the various realm forums (https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/) and check out ongoing events or the existence of theme guilds and player groups that might be relevant to your interests. Once you have narrowed down the number of your choices, feel free to take a look on the realm itself before starting to play for real.
The most obvious places to find roleplaying are the major cities as most of them are frequently used by everyone and, as such, provide many opportunities to make your first contacts with other roleplayers or simply listen in when other characters meet to discuss the latest news about the ongoing war effort, the supposed supremacy of Goblin engineering or matters of faith and the arcane. Many realms also have a special chat channel created and moderated by the roleplaying community for the purpose of providing a platform for communication similar to the realm forum (which is where you will be able to learn about this custom channel’s specific name). In there you will find many roleplayers willing to help you find out what’s currently going on or assisting with any questions you might have. A few roleplaying realms even have websites and wiki pages, and some also sport additional custom channels specifically for individual races and sub-factions!
To begin with, it is always best to play something easy that doesn’t require much ‘insider’ knowledge. The Warrior and Rogue classes make excellent options for various types of mercenaries – an archetype that provides your character with a certain level of freedom as well as great oppurtunities to travel and meet other people. Of course, your character could just as well be an errant adept of sorcery or a young cleric on pilgrimage. The creativity of your imagination is the only limit!
Keep in mind, however, that a character is primarily defined by their flaws, as opposed to their strengths. The greatest stories would not exist should the characters in them be infallible or invincible: Prince Arthas Menethil’s arrogance, Grom Hellscream’s blind fury, Illidan Stormrage’s addiction, Kael’thas Sunstrider’s pride and General Brigitte Abbendis’ vengefulness have all contributed to the tragic fall of these once great heroes of their people, but in doing so they have allowed us to play through or read about epic tales of hope and betrayal, of courage in the face of imminent doom, and salvation at the last possible moment.
Of course, nobody suggests that your character has tread exactly the same dark path as them and indeed it is greatly recommended that you start out small, for the lower you keep your profile, the easier you will find it to integrate your character into your chosen realm’s community. After all, each of the aforementioned personae did the same, be it as a squire of the Silver Hand, an ambitious young tribal warrior or as a student of magic.
The Lore and How to Swing It
Although by no means a ‘law’ enforced by our policies, the game ultimately supports roleplaying within the boundaries of its own setting. Whether it be due to the appearance of your avatar or the availability and style of the various locations throughout the continents you get to visit, it comes as no surprise that a large part of the roleplaying community prefers to stick close to the descriptions of history, culture and magic provided throughout various ‘official’ sources. This kind of information is commonly referred to as the lore of the World of Warcraft – a term that you will undoubtedly find mentioned often on the Roleplaying Forums whenever an aspect of the official background is being discussed.
Should you opt to play within the scope of the lore, you may want to read as much about it as possible. Once again we point you to the Roleplaying Forums, where a lot of players have compiled a great deal of helpful information in several handy guides. If you do not find what you are looking for, simply ask your fellow roleplayers! The forums are always full of interesting discussions, and for some, talking about the lore is as interesting as actually playing it. It’s like a group of historians evaluating and debating their research!
Some basic information that will help you get an idea of how members of a certain race ‘tick’ can be found on our website (https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/game/races), which also contains an ever-growing section on other background material (https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/story). World of Warcraft itself, as well as other titles of the franchise (Warcraft I-III), contains a wealth of information hidden within and between their missions.
Another source of lore are the various novels and comics set in the World of Warcraft Universe, which you may purchase or order either in your local bookstore or directly through online retailers. Particularly noteworthy are the various sourcebooks of the official Warcraft Roleplaying Game (no longer considered canon - look for the Chronicles books for a more updated list), our excursion into the aforementioned market of pen and paper games. Chris Metzen, Blizzard’s Vice President of Creative Development, has worked on many of these books himself, so you’re bound to find a lot of interesting stuff in there!
Given that a computer game can rarely go into the level of detail appreciated by many roleplayers (with a notable exception being the many small clickable tomes and letters you may find distributed all over the world), the RPG sourcebooks enable us to tell you about facets of Azeroth and Outland that you don’t see or are barely touched upon in the MMO: Did you ever wonder what the exact population of Goldshire is? Do you know the history of Raven Hill? Are you aware of the dangers of arcane corruption? Have you heard what trolls do with their deceased?
It is of note that the World of Warcraft is an ever-evolving setting, and as such, some of the details you find in these various sources may be outdated – obviously it is much easier to update a website or patch a game than changing what stands written in books that were printed months, if not years ago. It is a generally accepted practice to assume that a newer source overrides the older, though even outdated information can still be valuable when it contains details omitted from the new release.
Refining Your Experience
After you have taken your first few steps into the world of roleplaying, you may want to connect better with your fellow players. Aside from the aforementioned realm forums and custom channels, there are two ways to do this:
‘Theme’ guilds often dominate a specific location or an aspect of daily life on a roleplaying realm, or at least share it with other groups of their kind. The sheer number of members often allows these guilds to provide players with the basis for an accurate portrayal of their chosen theme, be it with a working hierarchy or a uniform appearance. Popular examples include City Watch units, blood elven noble houses, detachments of the night elven Sentinel Army, paladin orders, militia companies and troll tribes. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, ask around on your chosen realm’s forum or hit them up directly in-game!
Many of these guilds have certain requirements, such as only accepting specific races or classes, so it is always better to check whatever information they offer on their homepage or via a public forum post. Don’t be afraid of politely contacting one of their members via a whisper message should you have further questions – most of these groups will enjoy the prospect of gaining reinforcements, so their members will gladly answer your questions, or at least redirect you to someone who can.
Another very popular way of boosting one’s contact chance and enhancing the roleplaying experience is the usage of special interface add-ons created specifically for supporting RP. Common features include the additional display of a family name or a custom title as well as a short description of your character. This will not only allow others to get a better idea of your character, it will also make them see on the first glance that you’re obviously a roleplayer as well! This kind of additional data can only be seen by players who use similar add-ons, and participation in this exchange is, of course, entirely voluntary.
There are also other add-ons that allow you to do things such as sharing self-generated ‘fake’ items, or add-ons which automatically trigger pre-written battle cries and catchphrases while in combat. Whilst generally not seen as useful as the other category mentioned above, you might find them suitable depending on the kind of roleplaying you are aiming for.
However, please keep in mind that the usage of any interface modifications is not supported by Blizzard. Using outdated or conflicting add-ons may result in serious interface issues, and thus you should use them at your own risk. If you’re still interested and require further assistance/advice with finding or installing any of the aforementioned add-on types, feel free to head over to the Interface and Macros Forum (https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/c/guides/interface-and-macros/239) or the Roleplaying Forum (https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/c/lore/role-playing/237).
Play and Let Play
Whenever people get together to roleplay in the World of Warcraft, they require rules to regulate their interaction and ensure everyone is having a good time.
Many roleplayers value their immersion, the feeling of being ‘drawn-in’ by the story unfolding before their eyes. However, this immersion can easily be broken by things that do not quite fit into the picture. For this reason, our policies include a ban on out-of-character or non-fantasy related dialogue in the /say and /yell channels. In theory, even party chat is restricted in this way, though you will find many roleplayers who are perfectly okay with using OOC there, depending on the circumstances. Character names and certain kinds of disruptive behaviour are likewise restricted.
In the end, nobody is forcing you to actually roleplay on an RP-realm – but you still have to stick to the rules and respect the reason for why other players have rolled their characters on this realm. Naturally, this includes taking an appropriate medieval/fantasy-sounding name as touched upon in section #2 of this spotlight. Remember that you’re a guest there and it would be wise to act accordingly!
If you are roleplaying and feel disturbed by someone violating the policies you may open a ticket and tell us. Our Game Masters will investigate the case and act according to our guidelines, dishing out account penalties if deemed necessary. Remember to always ask the offender to cease his behaviour before contacting us, though. Many situations can be defused with a friendly request, making it unnecessary for us to intervene and granting you a quicker resolution!
In case you decide to open a ticket, it should contain the following information:
- The name of the offender’s character
- A short(!) description of the incident (not necessary for naming policy violations)
- An approximate timeframe (not necessary for naming policy violations)
We will investigate the case, and we will most likely instantly see for ourselves what is wrong. However, feel free to add any additional information that feel is relevant. This is especially true for potential violations of our naming policy, even though this applies more to ‘normal’ violations than ones connected to our extended roleplaying policies. If someone’s character has a name that contains a semi-hidden innuendo to something forbidden (for example if it’s a rather exotic term, something from another language, or perhaps the name of an institution or group that has been banned by law) you are welcome to give us pointers. Whilst it is quite likely that we will know or at least find out what is wrong about a name, this additional information will be appreciated.
Regardless of whether your report deals with a violation of our naming or our roleplaying policy, each incident will be looked at and judged on a case-by-case basis. There are many ‘grey’ areas and misconceptions and we generally believe in the idea of giving the benefit of doubt to our players. As always, any report you file with our Game Masters will be handled anonymously (meaning the offender won’t get to know who made the report), but likewise you will not be informed of the outcome of our investigation. Please note that a lack of immediate action does not equal inaction. If a name you reported has not been changed it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not going to change it.
Finally, keep in mind that we do not judge the quality of someone’s RP. Whilst different player’s preferences, beliefs and ideas will invariably clash and lead to the existence of ‘sub-groups’ of roleplayers (just take a look at the discussions in the respective forums!), our policies exist to protect the masses, not just those who wish to roleplay in a certain way. Many of the reports we receive are coming from people with very high standards and expectations on how others should play their characters, and some the people they report are in fact roleplaying, too, just in a more relaxed manner. World of Warcraft, however, exists to appeal to all kinds of players, and if you find yourself not taking kindly to someone’s style of RP without an actual violation of the rules having taken place, it would be better to simply let them enjoy themselves and focus on your own fun. As the saying goes: Play and Let Play!