RP in games like WoW

I'm just going to come forward and say that I haven't really experienced Roleplaying in an online capacity that much. I did experiment with it some in Pardus. There was a chat channel dedicated to RP, but I didn't make use of it really. And in a MOBA like LoL, RP does not exist even in the slightest capacity. There's lore about the characters, but nobody gets "in character", and if they tried to, they'd likely be yelled at by a bunch of 14 year olds.

In the capacity of a lot of single player RPG's, roleplaying is a non-issue. Since you aren't interacting with anyone else, you don't have to worry about communicating in a specific way. In something like D&D, though, it can be a very large part of the game.

Single player games immerse you, but limit your participation in the narrative; like a book.

There are a few different ways to play D&D, and they involve varying levels of roleplaying. This does a pretty good job of telling the difference in how a specific group sets up a game. Usually our group was more Kick In The Door style - we alternated DM's between different members, played different campaigns sometimes, etc. Sometimes it was more of a mix. I hope to try Deep-Immersion Storytelling eventually, though.

In WoW (from what I've read again, and what I've heard), it's mostly the same as what you would try to do in person, playing something like D&D. For instance, you'll work out what your character's personality is like, what they wear and do (this is mostly covered by game mechanics, though), and a whole range of other things.

However, about WoW...well yeah, I've read some pretty graphic accounts of RP that I don't care to link to from this blog. Let it suffice that a lot of people who RP are interested mainly in adult content, speech, and actions. Not to say that there aren't legit non-pervy RPers in WoW, it's just that they're kind of infamous for their shenanigans; requiring GMs to police cities for overtly lewd speech out in the open, etc.

"Well and good, but how do they...do...anything?" you might ask.

Yep.

This could be a pretty good introduction of the basic ideas that surround it regular roleplaying on a dedicated RP server in WoW.

The point is to really get into your character and try to live sort of like a regular person in that actual world would live. Not to try to denigrate this style of play in any way, but I probably won't ever do it. It just doesn't seem like it would be something that I could "really" get into.

There are actually advantages to roleplaying online, though. Let's say that you sit down one night with some friends to play D&D and really get into the story with it. Everyone has drawn up their characters, rolled for stats, written elaborate backstories, etc. But if your 6' 2', 200lb guy friend insists that he's a female gnome, that's going to be a bit harder to take into consideration than if he decided to roll as a large human warrior. With online games, you can choose how your character looks, and other people can only really see the representation that you put forth with the game. So if this guy rolled as a gnome in WoW, for RP purposes, it would probably be a lot easier to swallow. (also means that that sexy elf chick might be a dude, but let's not go there...)

In the end, RP is basically just acting for fun or as part of a fantasy. The concept shouldn't be that foreign to anybody, but sometimes the goals are. There can be a lot of reasons that people like to RP; it's fun, it's a good storytelling medium, builds bonds between friends, etc. I probably couldn't enjoy playing RP all the time, and I'm not sure I would do it on an online game, but from the little I've done I know that it can be a great, fun experience, and the things that occur are going to be uniquely interesting!