Jonas brings up a valid point in regards to RP servers, and how players on them overcompensate with flowery language of the “thee and thou” sort. I suspect it’s only natural, though, for those that haven’t done a lot of RP before. WoW has, as its baseline, a medieval fantasy backdrop, and for some, their exposure to that genre has maybe only been a rented copy of Excalibur and a community college production of Twelfth Night, and perhaps a dinner at Medieval Times or a trip to the local Renaissance Faire. Not sure of where to start, many go with what they think is correct.
Of course, WoW takes a different slant, what with all the modern-day references present in all levels of the game. Then there’s the character voice emotes, all thoroughly modern, Millie. “I’m feeling very feminine, and I’ll beat the crap out of anyone who disagrees” is not the utterance of your average orc in a serious setting.
Now, to be honest, running into someone who abuses the language in the name of character portrayal isn’t going to put me off. Let’s face it, half the people out there can’t even type well. (Or won’t, having adopted the habit of chat shortcuts to send off quick messages during raids and big fights. It’s understandable.) On the other hand, I’m not going to ignore it, either.
SirGibberlad: Prithee, my good man, might thou know where I could find somewhere to sell the gains of an expedition?
Me: Yeah, you got several options. There’s a couple towns nearby… Hey Flo! FLO!
Flo: WHAT.
Me: WHAT. I got a guy from out of town looking for a place to sell his stuff. What’s the closest place he could go?
Flo: Hold on, hold on.
SirGibberlad: …Out of town?
Me: Well you don’t sound like you’re from around here.
Flo: Tell him to go to Goldshire, that’s the quickest from here.
SirGibberlad: Sir, I speak merely the King’s English!
Me: You’re kidding me, the king’s ten years old. Have you seen him?
Flo: And hey, thanks for the help with that wolf attacking me while you were having your little conversation.
Me: My bad.
SirGibberlad: I see… Goldshire, sayest thou? I thank thee, and take my leave.
Flo: …You do that.
Me: Take it, don’t shake it.
Though I should be so lucky to have such a conversation with someone on an RP server. Another thing I’ve noticed in my short stints on RP servers are that some people feel like it’s necessary to talk to every single other player they come across, as if our party is there to entertain them. That seems odd to me, since I don’t do that sort of thing in real life… say, walk up to a group of people standing on the corner and strike up a conversation, without intention. In those situations, my friends and I have had to come up with responses similar to ones you’d prattle off at parties when people you don’t want to talk to come right up to your conversation. You can be polite about it, answering any questions before coming up with an “out” to get on with your quests. (Or you can talk about cursing the righteous and making killer fudge, your call. Either works.) Better to cut to the chase and ask for what you want, though perhaps not as abruptly as the warrior in Jonas’ example did.
One thing my regular group that plays on an RP-PvP server still needs to work on is our shtick… how we’ll interact with other people is something we haven’t decided on, but we’ll need to figure it out soon. Even if you’re not talking in a fake British accent, you still need some idea of who your character is. I’m inclined to say we should all wing it, suggesting the basic rules of improvisational comedy as a way to proceed. (We do intend a comedic route; one player, playing a Tauren, wants to get to the point where we can survive the human lands so they can run around killing cows, just to see the reactions of “That’s not right…”)
The third pitfall, and one where all rules are off, was described as “TinySex” in my MUSHing days. I think you can guess what I mean, but if you want confirmation, the “YAR YAR HUMP HUMP!” scenario gives an example, and is as good a way as any to handle those sorts of encounters.
Posted by jaschu 