New to RP

[Kemosabi]

How do you RP? I want to try, as I feel it will add a new dimension to the game, but I'm unsure how unsure how to even go about it. And I aleays get anxious whrn i'm not leveling "efficiently". How do you counteract this?

My overall question: How do you get in the RP mindset and what do you do ingame that's RP?


I know it's a broad question, but any advice would be appreciated.

[captnamazing]

RP will never encourage efficient leveling, because it's more about falling in love with the journey than racing to the top.

One of my favorite ways to develop a character:

roll your toon. give it a name you like. Create an interesting class/race combo. Start leveling, but keep this in mind:
who is this character?
what drives them?
why are they fighting monsters here, and not there?
what do they love, what do they hate?

Imagine your character as an animate organism, acting independently of you. Your definition of the character will sharpen itself, so when you RP with a player character you'll be rich with creativity

[Kemosabi]

Thanks for the response. I'm trying to get away from the race to the top mentality. I appreciate your insight. So, to be clear, when you're questing, you imagine it as a plot that your character is taking part in?

That would be awesone for the epic questlines, but how would one do that for 'kill x and collect y' quests?

[Khazul]

Well, your character doesn't necessarily need to be part of the larger epic story, at least at first. You might just be a mercenary, making their way in the world, in which case it makes sense to be doing more mundane tasks like collecting croc skins. Or, if you for example play a paladin, you might see it as your duty to help those less fortunate whenever you have the opportunity, even if the task isn't so grand.

[captnamazing]

Sort of a plot. For me, my character has forgotten a lot of his past. He's acting on instinct. So, he really doesn't care what he's doing right now. People say, "go kill this and I'll give you money," he says yes. He has become a killing machine. Only through a long process of being alone in the wilderness and trying to remember who he was before the plague does he recover an identity that is deeper than assassin.

But yes, why would your character do that quest? It's not that HE or SHE would have reason for killing 12 skeletons, but that doing so will in some way help his or her own pursuit. Does it help provide the gold an undead female needs to buy the most beautiful wig? or is every quest in the Valley of Trials taken as serious as a death pact by an orc warlock who is looking to cut his way in the world?

[guidomil]

RP will never encourage efficient leveling, because it's more about falling in love with the journey than racing to the top.

One of my favorite ways to develop a character:

roll your toon. give it a name you like. Create an interesting class/race combo. Start leveling, but keep this in mind:
who is this character?
what drives them?
why are they fighting monsters here, and not there?
what do they love, what do they hate?

Imagine your character as an animate organism, acting independently of you. Your definition of the character will sharpen itself, so when you RP with a player character you'll be rich with creativity

Man you are the best, thats the best things on games. but now im 43 years old and that doesnt work....

Joke im 25.

[dxc]

I enjoy RPing a little. Vanilla WoW is the right pacing to make it feel like your character is growing in strength. I imagine that my character is growing in strength as I play more often. There's always going all out and creating backstory and all that jazz, but if you want to level quickly, you can just give basic backstory and level as fast as possible like many others.

[Uzephi]

One of the best things to do is find an RP add-on or have a .doc file with your character's story on it. Add to it when something happens like a journal. Make the story as you see fit. Like I am a dwarf priest who has lost his way and needs to prove himself in Azeroth. This makes the story viable for the fetch quests. The lore quest like the stalvan chain also fits a character of the light by letting the damned be free from the bonds of this world. You just have to really get into the story and read the quest text to get why you are doing that quest. There has been quests I completely ignore leveling as my RP doesn't fit with it. In those cases, I go and grind mobs as part of my story. I missed the exp from Ashenvale, but killed ghouls in Duskwood as my priest had a motive to do that rather than doing something for nature.

[PaleRaven17]

I'd strongly recommend researching WoW Lore, be it from people on YouTube - (Nobble87 is a good Lore channel on YouTube) Or looking up some lore on WoWpedia (WowWiki is updated less regularly, and Wowpedia is utilized and linked to by Blizzard Entertainment to help give more insight on canon Lore.) Learning lore has helped me form my entire character's backstory, and because of that I have had a solid, but flexible base to help create a dynamic character.

But It's also totally up to you at the end of the day what you want to do.