Guild Wars 2

Firstly, let me introduce myself. I’m currently a player on Tarnished Coast and I’m maining a human warrior name Lord Bidwell.

Here’s my problem: when I selected Tarnished Coast I didn’t know that it had been designated as the unofficial RP server. I quickly noticed that every major city was filled with small huddles of characters in random locales speaking in plain “say” chat, a phenomenon I had not experienced much before coming from a WoW PvP server. What was more, they all seemed to be speaking with near perfect grammar and about issues relevant to the game, rather than about who’s mother was more promiscuous.

At first I thought to myself: “Oh, wow, how nerdy can you get” as that had been the general stigma associated with RPers during my time in WoW, and had thus been absorbed into my own views.

Over time, however, I realized that I was becoming genuinely intrigued, and even a bit jealous. of these people; for a number of reasons, several of which I will illustrate below:

• They find uses for parts of the game world that a traditional “race to the end” gamer would simply sprint through and never see again. And mind you I find the GW2 world to be astounding down to the last detail. I can imagine joining a group of guild mates beneath a cascading waterfall in Timberline Falls or beneath an enchanted canopy in some lesser-trodden glade in Caledon Forest.

• They form tight-knit social groups that facilitate cooperation and fun rather than competition and kitten wagging. They work together and, from what I understand, often form friendships that transcend a single game and spread to all forms of social media; meaning a friend I make in GW2 might be a friend I choose to play with when the next big title releases. As a person who still keeps in touch with several WoW friends who I met over four years ago, making lasting connections with MMO’ers is something that appeals to me greatly.

• They get to use creativity. For many people a game is simply a theme park. You pay a fee and spend a small burst of euphoric time riding each predefined “ride” but then burn out quickly once each manufactured challenge has been completed;. at which point you begin to crave a newer, more visceral experience. The modern gamer can devour content at a rate that no game company, no matter how dedicated or how large their budget is can compete with. RPers play the game as if it were a sandbox, constantly creating new scenarios and adventures in which they can be a noble hero or a rampaging villain, regardless of what the in-game story tries to pigeonhole you into. These scenarios can arise even in the most mundane of locales with no quantifiable form of actual ingame reward (to my knowledge), ehich means these interactions are PURELY FOR FUN.

Now here’s the debacle; the catch if you will. I have absolutely no idea, notion or even anything resembling a basic concept of how a person goes about RPing; even in the most base sense of the term. My primary concerns are as follows:

• How does one find other RPers? Are their guild that allow a person to RP but strictly on a voluntary basis (part of the reason I abandoned WoW was because it had become very heavily scheduled and felt more like an occupation than a pastime haha)? Must one commit exclusively to their RP guild and leave all others? I’m currently in a very casual guild with many people I very much like and would prefer to maintain contact with.

• Are RPers as heavily stigmatized in GW2 as they were in WoW? I remember a guild my friend was in at one point where they regularly scheduled “RP crashes” which were essentially just bouts of juvenile frivolity at the expense of people minding their own business trying to RP. Call me a coward if you must but I would prefer my in-game experience not be consistently kittenupon by immature idiots.

• I would love to learn how to RP, but how often would y’all estimate I would have to be “in character”. I mean sometimes I just like to cut loose on vent/mumble/skype and just shoot the shaith with my guildies and buddies. There are persistent rumors that RPers tend to be very authoritative about things like this and that kind of leadership style is an instant turnoff for me.

• How do RP story lines come into existence? Are they invented on the spot? Does each person’s character have a different personality and are their unique interactions the catalyst for a new story? Are stories prewritten or do they unfold organically in a more improvisational style? Is the dialogue scripted or does each play get to provide their own unique additions to the story?

• How much control do you have over your character’s actions and what limitations are in place to keep people from simply “Roleplaying God”? Are their rules that must be adhered to in order to be reinvited to subsequent events?

Fair warning, these next quandaries may seem rather selfish and stupid

• Is it permissible to be… effected in some way by a foreign agent, (Perhaps, say, a potion that has a rather well-known series of side-effects ranging from euphoria and frequent relief of the bladder to jumping off of rooftops with cardboard “wings” sloppily attached to your arms with a mixture of gorilla glue and duct tape); while RPing/participating in events? (Feeble attempts at humor aside, is it alright If I drink while I RP? I handle my liquor well and drinking while gaming is kind of my forte)

• This one is brief: is swearing in Gchat allowed typically? I know it’s uncivilized but my sense of humor is firmly lodged in the toilet and the gutter. I’m 22 years old and I laugh out loud every time I cut a fart, even when I’m alone (Don’t judge me).

In summation, I’m hoping many people will respond to this post so that I can kind of get an idea of what to expect on average. I know that many of my question are subjective and based on stereotypes (for which I truly apologize). I am also aware that many of these particular issues vary guild to guild which is why all inout is appreciated but will also be taken with a grain of salt.

Additional notes about myself, just in case any readers want to talk to me about joining their particular guild in the future (or right away): I like to play my way, as this is my free time. I don’t want to get involved in a guild where strictly enforced events are forced upon me. This post may be about RPing, but I absolutely love all aspects of this game. I am always down to run a dungeon, jump into WvWvW or participate in that Mist thingy which I haven’t tried yet, so don’t think of me as someone who wants to devote 100% of my in game time to RP. I also much prefer large guilds as I am a natural social butterfly and logging on to see dead guild chat makes me feel like a puppy in a pet store who has just watched his last brother get sold off and now has to grapple with the reality that not only is he alone, but he was the least likable one of the entire litter.

On that note, I look forward to reading your comments, suggestion and answers! You may contact me ingame on either Lord Bidwell (Human), Thud Rocklobber (Norn), Instructor Jaax (Asura), Hexus Aetherblade (Charr), or Taxus Annan (Sylvari). Additionally, you can add me to friends via my tag which is Fungalstorm.8593.

TL;DR: I googled “how to RP in GW2” and the answers I got were embarrassingly sub-satisfactory so I have turned to the community of the game in question for answers. While flamers may well find my post a veritable treasure trove of nerd-infused kindling, I will remain staunch in my pursuit of honest and polite answers.

Roleplay is simply just what it sounds like. you create a role in the game world (your character) and play it (using talking, walking and emotes) . There is not allot to it! it gets better when you establish who you are, and people you get to know start to know you back!

Cloud Windfoot Omega.7485:

Roleplay is simply just what it sounds like. you create a role in the game world (your character) and play it (using talking, walking and emotes) . There is not allot to it! it gets better when you establish who you are, and people you get to know start to know you back!

This. Decide on a back story for your character that defines their personality. As a newcomer, feel free to base your character’s personality on your own. If you decide you enjoy RP, and have become more confident with experience, consider making another character later on who’s personality is completely different from your own.

A rule of thumb to keep in mind is even if you know something about GW 2 lore as a player, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your character knows it. This can be key for keeping yourself in character vs out of character. I know I haven’t really answered all of your questions, but I’m pressed for time since I’m about to leave work.

I will add though, welcome to Tarnished Coast. I used to RP a lot when I was young, but not so much anymore. However, I recently moved to Tarnished Coast because whether you RP or not, RP communities tend to be far more pleasant than your typical MMO communities.

Edit: Add me to your friend list if you want and hit me up in game some time and I will go over the basics and other advanced RP tips with you sometime. I RP’ed for years in and out of video games along with running my own RP events for other players.

there is also a few kinds of rp. Hardcore which you abide to every law of the game world, soft using these to promote action and not fully abiding by the rules of the game world. so on so forth

You really seem to have some biased information about how RPing goes.
In general, RP players are very tolerant, there shouldn’t be stuff as “forcing you to RP when you don’t feel like it” or “RP raids” that everyone has to attend to. BUT if you are in an RP “event”, you can’t just randomly break character(because that would spoil it for others). You can, however excuse yourself and leave. The excuse would have to fit in the ongoing story though.
Whether you can just “let loose” depends on the rest. If everybody else is RPing, you can’t. It just isn’t…polite(would be like throwing a football on the chess table while people are playing chess and then laughing). BUT you can create your character in such way that it actually fits in(like…multiple personality disorder…hit on the head as a child and a bit slow…that kind of stuff).
As for how the story itself is created…one person(or a group) would come up with the theme. After that everyone just..rolls with it. As in, it’s not scripted, every participant contributes to it and it evolves in real time.
Limitations come from the big story itself(and from the game people are playing). Playing “god” is not really a good idea…unless everybody is playing a god(like,you are all pretending to be some ancient gods on a mission to do w/e). Bascially, your role has to fit in with others in some way.
Swearing….if you mean being “verbally abusive towards guild members”…I don’t think that’s allowed in any guild. Fart jokes….can be tolerated, depending on the situation and the character you’ve built for yourself. But don’t be surprised if you say smth fart-funny and it’s met with complete silence…
Ultimately, maintaining the story is the most(and only) important thing. You are free to do anything within it as long as it fits. And it’s up to your imagination and outside-the-box thinking that came make pretty much anything fit. Just dun randomly play god unless you got drunk before.

PS: General RP stuff, not GW2 specific.

Thanks for the brisk replies. As I mentioned in my OP, I do have a biased knowledge of how RP goes based on roughly 6 years of playing on a pvp server in wow; wherein saying you RP was met with unanimous cruelty and rudeness.

From these replies so far, I’v gathered that RPing is more of a persistent state of play rather than a scheduled or spontaneous event; i.e. my character Lord Bidwell is a certain way always and thus I personally respond to all situations as if I were him. That sounds fairly fun and immersive, however I must admit that constantly being in character sounds like a pretty daunting challenge. For example, if I accidentally say something out of character at the wrong time I could end up spoiling other peoples’ fun which is obviously the exact opposite of what I’m going for here.

Edit: This is an issue because I love to be part of gchat discussions, often regardless of topic.

Edit 2: Is it permissible to be member of multiple guilds at once and still be illegible for RP events? I just think that given my weakness for juvenile humor and pop-culture jokes it might be best for me to have a secondary place where that behavior is less damaging.

Fungalstorm.8593:

Thanks for the brisk replies. As I mentioned in my OP, I do have a biased knowledge of how RP goes based on roughly 6 years of playing on a pvp server in wow; wherein saying you RP was met with unanimous cruelty and rudeness.

From these replies so far, I’v gathered that RPing is more of a persistent state of play rather than a scheduled or spontaneous event; i.e. my character Lord Bidwell is a certain way always and thus I personally respond to all situations as if I were him. That sounds fairly fun and immersive, however I must admit that constantly being in character sounds like a pretty daunting challenge. For example, if I accidentally say something out of character at the wrong time I could end up spoiling other peoples’ fun which is obviously the exact opposite of what I’m going for here.

slipups are fine. seeing as you are new. and even pro’s sometimes slip up. just dont bring attention to yourself by saying sorry about it or explaining it. either pretend it did not happen or explain it in character like you meant to say it.

I know you’re all probably collapsing under the sheer mass of my incessant questions and newb-like wide-eyes curiosity, but to be quite frank I have no idea how to flesh out my character into a realistic person within Tyria. Currently he is little more than a sprite running around killing bandits for the heart juice and salvagable crap that they drop.

Is there a website or piece of software I could download which could help me properly increase the legitimacy of my character; or do I just have to try and flesh him out organically? Either way is fine but I’m definitely not opposed to expediting the process using third-party means.

I’m no Tolkien but I’m sure I could hash out a personality/backstory.

http://www.examiner.com/article/roleplaying-advice-creating-a-character-background

Check out that link. It may help you get started.

http://www.examiner.com/article/roleplaying-advice-creating-a-character-background
Check out that link. It may help you get started.

Thank you! This looks quite promising

Now I’m off to bed but please, continue responding. You are all being exceedingly helpful.

I’ll be checking this thread out first thing in the morning!

Fungalstorm.8593:

http://www.examiner.com/article/roleplaying-advice-creating-a-character-background
Check out that link. It may help you get started.

Thank you! This looks quite promising

Now I’m off to bed but please, continue responding. You are all being exceedingly helpful.

I’ll be checking this thread out first thing in the morning!

I’m headed to bed soon too, so it will be a while before I add anything else. I will keep my eye on it later though.

Fungalstorm.8593:

Thanks for the brisk replies. As I mentioned in my OP, I do have a biased knowledge of how RP goes based on roughly 6 years of playing on a pvp server in wow; wherein saying you RP was met with unanimous cruelty and rudeness.

From these replies so far, I’v gathered that RPing is more of a persistent state of play rather than a scheduled or spontaneous event; i.e. my character Lord Bidwell is a certain way always and thus I personally respond to all situations as if I were him. That sounds fairly fun and immersive, however I must admit that constantly being in character sounds like a pretty daunting challenge. For example, if I accidentally say something out of character at the wrong time I could end up spoiling other peoples’ fun which is obviously the exact opposite of what I’m going for here.

Edit: This is an issue because I love to be part of gchat discussions, often regardless of topic.

Edit 2: Is it permissible to be member of multiple guilds at once and still be illegible for RP events? I just think that given my weakness for juvenile humor and pop-culture jokes it might be best for me to have a secondary place where that behavior is less damaging.

Smb already suggested that you build your char around your personality. That way anything you say will basically be “in character”. It’s not like you have to create this very different person and GW2 allows for a good variety of char types. So, you are juvenile? What stops you from creating your persona to be juvenile and enjoy the same kind of humour and activities you do?
As for making your character “believable”….you don’t have to really. It’s your story. If it involves being raised by wolves(hey, that actually did happen in real life…sort of), that’s your choice. You just need to have a basic idea of what your character is like and how s/he would react to certain situations. Which is not that hard if you based it on yourself. You also don’t need a “full” story as it evolves every time you play. Some grey spots are allowed and can be cleared up in time(like, if you can’t come up with a good childhood story, play the mystery card….you just don’t want to talk about it…eventually smth will happen and give you an idea how to fill in the blanks…amnesia is also a good one for beginners…as in, you have no story).
As for guilds…you have to ask the guild you’d like to join. Afaik, there is no universal rule and I personally see no reason for anybody to stop you from joining another guild(heck, it can even be an RP story itself…your dark side…spying on smb…etc)

EDIT: Just realised smth…you talking about RPing as if you never did it before. But you have. probably still do. Think about the games you played as a kid. Table cloth around your neck, running around to save the world? Cowboys and indians? Pretending to be a cop/doctor/fireman/knight? All of those games are basically RP. And more recently…telling your friends a made-up story about a girl? Telling a girl a made-up story about a fight? Heck, every time you flirt with smb or tell a lie you are most likely RPing….

My roleplay experience consists of spamming stuff on /map and people telling me to shut up.
I guess I won’t qualify.

If your looking for a guild or just want to know more about the roleplay community, you should visit here: http://www.guildwars2roleplayers.com/

I RP a lot in game myself, but lately, I have gotten a lot of flak for things like the OP suggested. You really have to be careful who you spontaneously RP with, as you’ll be eventually eating your own character’s words.

Some people like to roleplay as a childish brat character; I say most do a good job at it.

I see problems with some RPers just as I see problems with some PvPers. I’ve known quite a few RPers who talk down to others and are unable to see any other side to something other than their own. Every community has its outliers.

There’s nothing wrong with valuing a personal take on your character. Even though I consider myself a PvPer, I have developed a backstory for each of my characters and tailored their personalities to fit.

Hey OP, this thread is great! Here’s my suggestion: RP is just as sunjective if not moreso than the other parts of the game, and depends entirely on who you hang with. Many guilds on tarnished coast contain players who RP (because either they form their own small groups inside the guild or else are members of a secondary RP guild). Some are freelance RPers. Your questions should be directed at those you wish to play with. Your drinking and playing is of course completely legal in your own home, for example, but (and I honestly don’t see it ever being a problem provided you’re not appaulingly rude or vulgar), but just as an example, some RPers might not be comfortable with it. This is an example. RPers take RP in various levels of seriousness and realism. You can be a silly and still be considered a serious RPer.

Bottom line: respect the fun others have while RPing, and have fun yourself. If you follow these, most people would be happy to indoctri— … show you the ropes and have you as a casual/infrequent/consistent roleplayer.

So much more I could say about so many many things. Best bet is to find someone/some people that are agreeable, and learn from them

Gluck, bro <3

remember that roleplay is there to be enjoyed and also respected. Dont fall into the RP Nazi trap that tarnished alot of RPing in games like WoW. Its still a game at the end of the day and your still only acting a role. if your in the middle of a RP session and you dont understand something or need to know how ya should be cos your all confused. Dont be afraid to ask. if your with good RPers they will help and guide you. If they are snide etc just walk away and add em to block cos those tools are the bane of RP.

If I remember correctly OOC = Out of Character, and using it before u say something shows those your RPing with that your asking something not to be taken as your character saying or asking whats to follow.

ei: OCC: sorry guys but Ive forgotten who this malcoms supposed to be.

EDIT: Also note that when you make your characters backstory and personality, give him/her faults and not just the usual sillyness you see. Standing before you is the most handsome man you have ever seen, he can also wrestle dragons and win, and outdrink a village full of vikings etc dont make people warm to your character. use novels, films as inspiration. Cos most of the most noteworthy fictional characters people love all have faults.

for example. Your character could be as brave as a lion, he will face death and laugh. But when faced with the undead he is terrified. For every positive try to add a negative, without it being over the top. If for instance your character was a total coward when faced with the undead it could hard work to step foot in Orr without breaking character. But being afraid but facing those fears are what heroes are all about.

Anyways enough of my random ramblings. I hope ya have fun with your RP

Role play can be amazing when done right and allow yourself to personify the characters. I haven’t participated in RP in a very long time (Nevrwinter Nights was the last time) but as an old table top Dungeons & Dragons player/gm it can make for some great memories, even if they are made up.

Go to Queensdale, go to the water pipes. Never leave the water pipes, that is all you do. Talk like the fisherman from Jaws, take the water supply very serious like its your sole reason for existence. Yelp out statements as the DE’s roll through it in proper accordance. Make it sound exciting and critical.

Eventually people will catch on that you are playing the role of the Water Works owner/manager/care person. You don’t need to be in a group, go to some place, make it yours and role play.

The GW2 Roleplayers site linked above will be a very good start for you. Also your OP shows a great awareness of what RP has to offer. A couple of points to add to what others have said:

If you play a brat or a jerk, make sure you are extra nice in OOC interactions so people know it’s the character being that way. And exercise some meta-control (that football on the chess board comment is dead on). If someone else is doing a scene important to them, don’t try to take it over.

TC does have some griefers. The least imaginative of them will, almost invariably, find a group of people talking IC and get in the middle of them and /dance, often stripping to do so. It’s mind boggling. Would they do that RL? I’ve even seen someone do that at an IC wedding (in WoW). Talk about rudeness and ruining screenshots! Anyway, it’s reportable if someone is clearly griefing your RP with random spell detonations, verbal or emote idiocy, etc. And ANet takes it seriously. More often you’ll have people stop to RP along with you if you are RPing in the visible world.

How much RP is “enforced” will depend on your individual guild. In my guild, gchat is OOC and full of silly banter and comments about the game, along with occasional swearing and good-natured insults we don’t actually mean. Mumble is OOC for coordinating dungeon runs and the like, with guild members encouraged to use in-game /say and /e purely IC, and RP encouraged to take priority over PvE/PvP without stopping anyone from doing all the PvE/PvP they want.

Fungalstorm.8593:

How does one find other RPers?

You’ve already found them.

Must one commit exclusively to their RP guild and leave all others?

I doubt it.

I’m sure there are guilds that demand total commitment, because there are always guilds that demand total commitment (something you should be more than familiar with, given your history). I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those guilds are RP guilds.

But no, such a thing is not a given in the larger roleplay community.

Are RPers as heavily stigmatized in GW2 as they were in WoW?

Based on what I’ve seen, no. At least not on Tarnished Coast.

But, if this is a concern for you, RP can be kept private, and its sometimes even easier to do it that way.

I would love to learn how to RP, but how often would y’all estimate I would have to be “in character”.

That’s entirely up to you.

There are persistent rumors that RPers tend to be very authoritative about things like this and that kind of leadership style is an instant turnoff for me.

This is another dynamic that is not limited to the roleplay community. You can find it, but it’s an exception, not the norm.

How do RP story lines come into existence? Are they invented on the spot? Does each person’s character have a different personality and are their unique interactions the catalyst for a new story? Are stories prewritten or do they unfold organically in a more improvisational style? Is the dialogue scripted or does each play get to provide their own unique additions to the story?

Yes.

A roleplaying community is as varied as any other. You determine your preferences and then gravitate to those of like mind.

I’ve been roleplaying online for a looong time. There are many approaches, many styles. The scripted/negotiated approach (what often used to be called “interactive noveling”) is something I’ve dabbled in, but it doesn’t interest me too much (I prefer the more organic approach). Other people love it. To each their own.

How much control do you have over your character’s actions and what limitations are in place to keep people from simply “Roleplaying God”?

In this context, you control your own character, period. Any authority another might have (a Storyteller, for example) must be first given by you, through consent.

Consent is also what keeps other people in line. Someone can certainly walk in and try to roleplay God. But I’m not going to consent to that, and it’s doubtful anyone else would either, so it’s not going to go anywhere. The person would just not be acknowledged.

Are their rules that must be adhered to in order to be reinvited to subsequent events?

This is, again, something that might depend on the dynamics and preferences of a particular group. But in general, no, no special rules. There are certain social faux pas that should be avoided, but these fall largely under the realm of common sense. “Power posing” or “godmoding” would be an example of this.

If you want to ask any more questions, or just generally pick the brain of someone who’s been at this for a long while, feel free to PM me.

And one final note…

In my view, players who belittle roleplayers suffer from cognitive dissonance. We have all chosen to play within a virtual world. That means we all, to one degree or another, value immersion as part of our gaming experience.

Roleplayers simply value it more. Roleplay is just immersion taken to the next logical step. It’s an extension upon one of the fundamental draws of the genre.

So, being in a game, on a character, and disparaging roleplayers is like being in a purple t-shirt and insulting the person next to you because their purple shirt has longer sleeves.

It’s really just that silly.

Keeping this in mind can help maintain perspective on the “stigma”. I’ve never taken it seriously, so I’ve always found it very easy to ignore.

Quick breakdown on some roleplay vocab:

IC: In Character. This is you talking as your character. What you usually talk in. General chat (/s) is usually IC.
OOC: Out of Character. This is where you’re speaking as yourself, rather than your character. When roleplaying, this is useful to ask questions, or to discuss the “meta” of your roleplay. Usually in (/m). (/g) and (/p) depend on the roleplay.

Godmodding: When you force another character to act without their permission. For example, you type, “I roar, scaring Billy into running away.” You’re forcing Billy to feel fear, and you’re forcing Billy to run away. However, if you instead type, “I let out a terrifying roar,” then you’ve let the other person know the intended effect, and they can choose how they want Billy to respond.
So you can offer someone a drink, but you can’t force them to drink. You can swing a sword at someone, but you can’t guarantee that it’ll hit (roleplaying combat generally sucks IMO).

You don’t have to use scripted roleplay. People use scripts in order to convey a plot or some idea that’s too complex to come up with spontaneously. And it’s ok to be lightearted. Sure, you won’t be allowed into darker themed roleplays, but GW2 setting is naturally lighthearted. There are plenty of characters out there that add a bit of comic relief. Just don’t get too crazy/spontaneous, as people will just think you’re trolling.

For starting out, I’d recommend just following some groups around for a little bit. Guilds especially meander around the world talking in character. It’s a good way to see how its done. And most don’t particularly care if they have a shadow following some distance behind them.

goto your local hobby shop and play some PnP roleplaying games. Its a much better experience than trying to RP in an MMORPG and you’ll understand the concept of RPing much better.

oflow.2157:

goto your local hobby shop and play some PnP roleplaying games. Its a much better experience than trying to RP in an MMORPG and you’ll understand the concept of RPing much better.

Ew.

No, I can’t say I agree with that at all.

I’d say it’s about the people, not the medium. Better to just find good people, no matter where they are.

Get in and try it out. Can be a lot of fun. Of all the RP interactions I’ve had with strangers, most of them took less than 5 minutes of my game time.

Like most social things you do with other people, there’s lots of different ways to approach it, and what seems like good fun to some not appeal to others.

In a game with /g and /p, you really don’t need to worry about people “trolling” you, if you don’t want it. /say means people are being open about it. Fact is, most places in Tyria are empty of people, so you’ll be fine as long as you don’t RP in the Lion’s Arch bank.

Sirge.8934:

Quick breakdown on some roleplay vocab:

IC: In Character. This is you talking as your character. What you usually talk in. General chat (/s) is usually IC.
OOC: Out of Character. This is where you’re speaking as yourself, rather than your character. When roleplaying, this is useful to ask questions, or to discuss the “meta” of your roleplay. Usually in (/m). (/g) and (/p) depend on the roleplay.

Godmodding: When you force another character to act without their permission. For example, you type, “I roar, scaring Billy into running away.” You’re forcing Billy to feel fear, and you’re forcing Billy to run away. However, if you instead type, “I let out a terrifying roar,” then you’ve let the other person know the intended effect, and they can choose how they want Billy to respond.
So you can offer someone a drink, but you can’t force them to drink. You can swing a sword at someone, but you can’t guarantee that it’ll hit (roleplaying combat generally sucks IMO).

You don’t have to use scripted roleplay. People use scripts in order to convey a plot or some idea that’s too complex to come up with spontaneously. And it’s ok to be lightearted. Sure, you won’t be allowed into darker themed roleplays, but GW2 setting is naturally lighthearted. There are plenty of characters out there that add a bit of comic relief. Just don’t get too crazy/spontaneous, as people will just think you’re trolling.

For starting out, I’d recommend just following some groups around for a little bit. Guilds especially meander around the world talking in character. It’s a good way to see how its done. And most don’t particularly care if they have a shadow following some distance behind them.

More on this:

If you must comment OOCly, in the say channel for instance, use ((text is here)) and for parties, (more on that below) use <text here> for actions that are not suitable for /me.

/me : is used for most actions and combined actions with dialogue. Ex: Yumiko Emi Ishida walks into the Busted Flagon with a smile on her face seeing that all her friends were waiting for her as promised. She waved and said a simple “Hi” as hugs were exchanged and hands were shook.

If it exceeds the max amount of lines, what is below is added in there someplace and the rest is continued in /say with the same conventions using double and single quotations (speech and thought), brackets/parenthesis for ooc, square brackets for in character optional text and etc.

<c> ©: is for continued text from after the limit of lines is reached. Yet most people have their own methods and you need to look out for those.

For certain RPs, usually for love scenes and intense relationships, it is to be done in Party chat. As who wants to hear you making love and all that jazz for everyone to hear in say? So when it gets serious, take it to your party chat. I do this often and most of my toons are more or less in well established relationship with other RPers now.

Guilds are strictly OOC unless otherwise noted. Yet there may a be guild or two that are always in character.

A good topic.

RPGs produces memories between player-npc.
MMORPGs produces memories between players-players.
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I can say many reasons towards why Guild Wars 2 severely lacks the RP elements.
Seasoned mmorpg’ers should have already seen the reasons.

1) Weak Social Interaction
Guilds are a replica of twitter and fb chat room. There’s no guild participation nor guild wars for the development of dramas and stories. You can join multiple guilds. Majority hold no loyalty because guilds are meaningless. You can have thousands of acquintances but no friendship developments. A real guild structure makes sure you progresses with your guildmates like a family. Social interaction like this is vital in MMORPGs. Disregard this and it creates a big hole in the game.

2) Non-realistic Utopia Equality Structure
MMORPGs must follow and accustom to the human nature and behaviour. If you want to create a good MMORPG that go against the traditional ways, you must put yourself in the shoes of a “God”. “Communism/Socialism” structure are bound to fail because they punishes the dedicated ones. The creator must know what kind of world he wants to make? What kind of world that can feed the humans’ needs? Why exclusive stuffs attracts humans’ desire? Why people want to feel special in life? Why people want to occupy their life with something? Traditional MMORPGs follow and suit the human nature of the real world for good reasons. It’s because MMORPGs is like a 2nd-world to the real mmorpg’ers. An alternate world based on fantasy but follows the nature of the real world and accustom with human behaviours.

3) GW2 = Action Game > Role-Playing Game
Guild Wars 2 is basically a MMO but mixed in structures of action-games like Tomb Raider and Ninja Gaiden. Players assume “RPG” is merely role-playing as the characters given to you. If that’s the truth, then why Tomb Raider wasn’t labelled as RPG? Didn’t you role-played as Lara Croft? This shows where RPGs and action-games are different. RPG rewards time dedication players. RPG is progressive and give constant rewards. You grow the character in RPGs in term of power, story, personality and lifestyle. In movies and storybooks, characters develop. Action games gives you harder challenges and doesn’t grow the character. In action games, you just have a character and challenge through obstacles.

Action gamers find pleasure in achieving something that they failed many times. RP gamers find pleasure in achieving something that they breed and dedicate the character in the alternate world. There’s a big difference.
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RP in mmorpg is role-playing as an avatar that doesn’t take in consideration of you. MMO in mmorpg is the world of massive player. Together, it’s an alternate fantasy world for your 2nd-life which you don’t want to involve anything from your 1st-life reality. This means that your character dedication has higher priority than your personal skills.

A MMORPG with good RP element will ensure that players creates bonds with group of people, create stories and adventures of their own between each and the rest of the players (npc are secondary), being able to feel like you can develop with people, have realism world where players can fold their own dramas and let individual players create their own storybooks. Afterall, light can only be created when there’s darkness. There are reasons why asian animes are much popular than children’s cartoon. Asian animes accustom with realistic human natures and behaviours.

Very good post above sums it nicely… and people get upset with me when I get “too” realistic at times… they say, “Go play sims 3 or second life if you want to do that!” with matters of relationships, children, matters of biology (Sylvari and their inherent curiosity do make for some interesting conversations), etc. I know some things are best left behind closed doors, (or in the RPer’s case, party or whisper or something else) yet its what makes us human to worry about every little detail and conditioning of ourselves to near perfection despite our flaws whether its vulgar or not (without making a big deal or issue over it). Its why even The Sims even got so popular. Yet Sims is more personal level than interpersonal as in GW 2 or other social environments.

Fungalstorm.8593:

• This one is brief: is swearing in Gchat allowed typically? I know it’s uncivilized but my sense of humor is firmly lodged in the toilet and the gutter. I’m 22 years old and I laugh out loud every time I cut a fart, even when I’m alone (Don’t judge me).

I think I love you.

Welcome to TC!

If you used to play with action figures or whatever as a kid, you know what it’s like to roleplay.

Regarding vulgarity: depends on the guild. Regarding speaking OOC: people can generally tell when one is roleplaying or not. If you want to talk OOC when approaching an RP hotspot, speak (( like this )) and folks will know you aren’t in character.

RPers on TC are mostly nice and mellow. There are a few weirdos (as there are in any human endeavor), but if people are rude or creepers, report and block. They’re the exception and not the rule.

Woodenpotatoes has a lore channel on youtube. You can also read up on the wiki. You can also visit guildwars2roleplayers.com and post in the ‘looking for guild’ topic, explaining that you are new to roleplaying and would like to join a guild or meet folks who can help ease you in.

Re: r-rated stuff: if you must (if you’re this new to RP I don’t see why it would come up but since someone above mentioned it!), do yourself a favor and do it in a home instance, or even more safely, offline. Regulars know that the /say range is ginormous and people always mischan. Since GW2 is a teen-rated game, keeping public channels clean is pretty important and is respectful of the wider community.

(Mine is only like four people and is not presently an RP guild, even though I am part of some RP guilds, or I would offer an invite.)

Wow! When I created this thread I had no idea I would get such a menagerie of awesome responses!

I now understand the fundamental misunderstanding that was keeping me from jumping in to an RP playstyle: I was looking at it like a raid in WoW.

In my mind the gchat in an RP guild would be almost exclusively OOC and that RPs were more like scheduled raids, as in the guild leader or RP leader would set up a time block for RP similar to how a raid leader would schedule a time block for their raid.

Now I understand that it isn’t just another extrinsic, planned and scheduled series of events; rather it’s a persistent playstyle. When I log into the game I am Lord Bidwell. Couple this newfound understanding with the knowledge that I can actually incororate my child-like sense of humor and alcohol abuse into my character’s personality makes me all atwitter with excitement! As soon as I get the chance I’m going to build a brief backstory and post it here to see if people think it’s solid.

Fungalstorm.8593:
This one is brief: is swearing in Gchat allowed typically? I know it’s uncivilized but my sense of humor is firmly lodged in the toilet and the gutter. I’m 22 years old and I laugh out loud every time I cut a fart, even when I’m alone (Don’t judge me).

I think I love you.

D’awww. Ya dun made me blush

There are more raid-like RP events planned occasionally but they are few and far between and are not mandatory. They are big server wide events hosted by certain RP guilds and what not and are open to all, not just that guild. They have a certain time to commence and go on until people get tired or everything runs its course.

Yet its usually just as spontaneous as everything else Its not like, “In this hour we will only RP and then that’s it, make the most of it!”

I really suggest going to the rp site as well, and post your profile, etc. It’s a good way to connect with folks.

Probably my favorite thing about RP is I can go like, “Hey, what if there was a person like this?”, then I make that person!

Thanks, Sylv! I totally overlooked your first post for which I apologize. It was a really good one. I’m going to visit the site immediately. Do you think that would be a better place for me to post my backstory, rather than here on the community forum? Or is it not a good idea to post them at all and just keep it to myself?

Fungalstorm, I added you in game yet I’m offline in game atm to work on getting sources for a paper. So if you want to RP or just chat or do an older dungeon or two. I’m usually always on from 12 noon EST to 3-4 am the next morning if I’m not tired. I RP more in the late night hours.

Awesome! I’ll add you as well