How to Improve Roleplay on "World of Warcraft" Servers
"World of Warcraft" has a small roleplaying community, but most public servers are not heavy roleplaying environments. You can find RP opportunities within "World of Warcraft" by choosing your server and guild carefully, but you need some careful setup to create an immersive roleplay experience outside a private server. Although there are more RP opportunities on RP and RP PvP servers than on non-RP servers, most people join RP servers because they are looking for a family-friendly, helpful environment, not necessarily because they are involved in serious RP.
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Things You'll Need
- Character on an RP or RP PvP server
- Membership in an RP guild
- Access to "World of Warcraft" forums
Instructions
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Roleplaying on an RP Server
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Choose an RP or RP PvP server from the character creation menu when creating a new character. ("WoW" servers are divided into four classes: PvE, PvP, RP and RP PvP.)
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Do not violate RP protocol. Blizzard does not regularly monitor trade and general chat for RP violations. Instead, it relies on players to report violations. Naming violations and obscenity are usually reported quickly. A player named "Ipwnurface" on an RP server who runs to Orgrimmar and starts cursing on trade or general chat will be reported and banned almost instantly. Discussions about movies, television shows or other games are less common on RP trade and general chats than on other servers, and are also usually reported quickly.
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Don't feel you have to roleplay in trade or general chat; people generally do not roleplay in these channels, instead using them for assembling raids, buying or selling items or asking for information.
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Leave or hide trade and general chats from the chat options menu, accessible from the chat box on the lower left of your screen, for a better RP experience. Search for RP chat channels by looking through chat options for public channels or asking "WoW" friends about private channels.
Find or Create an RP Guild
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Choose the type of roleplaying guild that is right for you. Most roleplaying in "WoW" takes place inside roleplaying guilds, and there are "heavy" and "light" roleplaying guilds on most RP servers. The most dedicated RP guilds require that people stay in character on Ventrilo and in guild chat at all times.
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Find a heavy RP guild by searching the "WoW" forums. You can read over over existing posts in the Guild Recruitment forum, and also write a post explaining what sort of guild you are searching for.
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Try out a guild on a server on which you don't have any characters by starting a new character and spending a few days hanging out in the guild to see whether people actually do RP before you spend real money to transfer your existing character to the new server.
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Ask in trade, general and guild recruitment chat if any heavy RP guilds are recruiting if you already have a character on an RP server. Many guilds are actively recruiting good tanks and healers, but are overstocked on DPS classes.
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Start a heavy RP guild if you are on an RP server that does not have any such guilds. The key to a successful new guild is having a really strong main tank, as that is the hardest class to pug. Recruit on your own server and use the forums to attract people from other realms. A good website is a useful recruitment tool. And as guildmaster, you can enforce strict roleplaying rules in your own guild.
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Tips & Warnings
RP PvP servers, which allow players to attack players of the opposite faction anywhere outside starter and sanctuary areas, tend to have less active roleplaying than normal or PvE RP servers. On the other hand, they have slightly better raid and PvP progression.
Normal, or PvE, RP servers are where many "WoW" roleplayers congregate. Keep in mind that many people join RP servers because the stricter obscenity and naming rules create a more family-friendly and civil environment. In general, players on RP servers are politer and more helpful than those on normal or PvP servers. Unfortunately, RP servers are usually among the worst realms for raid and PvP progression.
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