Folami's Guide to Roleplaying for Noobs (Part 1)

Introduction

As I write this, we're in the dreaded between-expansion lull.  Mist of Pandaria's story is over and Warlords of Draenor has been announced, but we're possibly weeks away from a beta and several months from a launch date.  In this quiet time when we're not panicking over the forthcoming class and talent changes—well, OK, most of us aren't panicking yet—I started to reflect upon my early days in Azeroth back when I foolishly believed I would never be anything other than a roleplayer in World of Warcraft.  I remember how exciting and terrifying those first days were, and as I came to WoW specifically to roleplay, I've been thinking about all the advice I wish I'd been given back then and the resources I had no idea existed.  Now, with two expansions under my belt and quite a bit of wisdom gained from experience, I thought it would be both fun and helpful to share that wisdom with the future roleplayers of Azeroth.  After all, new players are what keeps the game and story alive, and it's important to me that those of us already here make the community as welcoming and helpful as possible.

Whether you've never roleplayed once in your life or you're coming to the game with years of roleplay experience, this guide should help you get started roleplaying in WoW.  I'll walk you through the very basics of character creation and offer tips on how to navigate the lore and narrow down the information that's pertinent to your character(s).  Once we've covered the basics, we'll go on to discuss how to find a guild and/or a roleplay partner(s) and what to watch out for in terms of negative or outright abusive roleplaying situations.  Included will be links to many resources for lore, support, and other roleplaying guides.

This guide is not intended to be the "gospel truth" for roleplaying, and it's fine if it doesn't work for you.  Nothing is ever set in stone and roleplay is not one-size-fits all.  Again, I'll be linking to as many resources and guides as I can uncover so that even if my guide doesn't help, perhaps I can at least lead you to one that can.  One of the most important things to remember is that this is supposed to be fun.  If my guide does nothing else for you than to lead you toward avenues that makes your game play experience more enjoyable, then I'll consider it a resounding success.

With that said,  Lok'tar ogar, friend!  Let's get those creative gears cranking!

Part One: Folami's Rules for Character Creation

I know, I said nothing was set in stone—and it isn't—but there are some things I feel I have to put my foot down and say are necessary.  Don't worry, it's not what you think.

Rule #1: Don't get overwhelmed.

Who are all these people, anyway?

World of Warcraft is an expansive universe, and the game's story is built upon a foundation shoddily cemented in the original Warcraft real-time strategy games.  World of Warcraft itself is nine years old and we're about to enter into a fifth expansion.  According to a recently released info-graphic (link goes to a large image), there are roughly six million words of in-game text. And that's just in the game and doesn't include the many novels and comics that are considered canon.  Even for the most ardent bibliophile, that's a lot of reading and let's face it, you still need to have time to sleep, eat, and work.

But don't worry, you don't have to read several million words of quest text and even more of the books (some of which will are really crappy depending upon what sort of reader you are).  It's perfectly fine if you don't obsessively read every bit of quest text or don't complete every single quest in a zone.  Sure, it's perfectly fine if you do decide to do that, but you don't have to.  Furthermore, it's important to keep in mind that in Cataclysm, many quest zones in Azeroth changed and new quests were added in while others were taken away.  This means that questing, while certainly informative for many aspects of the lore, can be confusing and difficult to navigate, especially as you shift gears from expansion to expansion.  And I won't go into the fact that there are parts of the lore that directly contradict one another, which no newcomer should be expected to know or understand right out the gate.

"Don't let this guy give you directions."
And other jokes you'll get after you
learn more lore.

There are people out there who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Warcraft lore, but keep in mind some of those people get paid by Blizzard to know this stuff or that they've been playing in Azeroth since the first Warcraft game was released or since Vanilla WoW.  You are not them and you don't have to be.  You can jump into character creation without having to spend several weeks or months researching every aspect of lore.  I know because I did it, and while I definitely have a better handle on lore than I did three years ago and have read several of the most recent novels, I still haven't delved into every tidbit of the Warcraft universe and I have no desire to.  And there is no way in hell you'll make me read more of Knaak's writing unless, apparently, if it's for a podcast (shameful self promotion, go!).

That said, this does not mean you can just make up anything you want and other people will go along with it.  I said character creation and roleplay for beginners doesn't have to be hard and that you don't have to read everything available, but you should put forth some effort into learning about the world in which you wish to play.  Not only does it keep you on roughly the same page as your fellow roleplayers, it means other players will be forgiving of any minor inconsistencies or mistakes you might make and they'll be more willing to offer you a hand should you ask.

Remember, don't let yourself get intimidated by the wealth of information.  We're going to go through this one step at a time.

Rule #2: Start small.

Let's start first with a bare bones idea of who your character is, and I mean bare bones.  Focus solely on what's inside versus what's outside, which means don't even consider their faction or race for the moment.  (Don't worry if you've already created someone.  I just want you to consider who they are independent of the image on your monitor.)

What's their personality like?  Are they sarcastic, maybe a little jaded?  Do they greet every new person as a potential friend, or are they cautious and suspicious?  Do they have a strong sense of right versus wrong?  Are they a perfect angel, or do they wear that halo to camouflage the impish horns atop their head?  (Metaphorical horns, not the real ones you'll get as a draenei or tauren.)

You don't have to write an essay about their psychological makeup, or even a post-it note, but it is a good idea to at least think about what sort of person you want to roleplay before considering race and faction.  That said, it's OK if you create a character just because you like the way they look, or find the class itself appealing and a source of inspiration.  I knew I wanted to roleplay a blood elf paladin as a Blood Knight before I knew anything about him, and my sassy gnome mage was originally rolled so my friend could get an achievement for a world event.  Now, I know my paladin likes large fluffy pillows on his bed, and I love to take my gnome on the occasional stroll through Stormwind and chat up the locals while she searches for puddles to jump in.

Next, consider what they look like.  I know, I know, I said not to consider race, but there are physical characteristics that exist independent of your character's race.  Are they visibly scarred, or have tattoos or other body modification? Are they average, short, or tall?  Do you want to play someone who is considered above average in terms of physical attractiveness for their race?  (Yes, there are ways to do this without looking like you're trolling for erotic roleplay, or that you're a Mary Sue.  Note that I said "for their race."  Different races have different standards of beauty, and beyond that each individual will vary in terms of what they deem attractive.  Not every dwarf is going to think a draenei is hot, and not every draenei is going to think a dwarf is hideous.)

Rule #3: Break it down.

Not what I meant, but whatever.

With at least a general idea of personality and physical traits, now we can take a closer look at race.  On the surface, even this little bit can seem daunting no matter which race you choose.  Each of them has a history spanning back thousands upon thousands of years, and some histories are more vague than others.  Draenei, for example, left Argus 25,000 years ago and the most we know is that they hopped from planet to planet crossing dimensions until they landed on what they named Draenor (AKA Outland) somewhere between 200 and 1,000 years ago, depending upon which lore source you consider accurate (see, I told you there are contradictory bits of lore).  The intervening years between Argus and Draenor are a huge blank in terms of lore.  Literally nothing official has been said by Blizzard with regards to what happened except to say that those worlds were likely destroyed by Kil'jaeden and the Burning Legion.  For an experienced WoW roleplayer, that bit of information makes me giddy with the potential for character history.  For a newcomer, those three sentences meant absolutely nothing except to offer a bit of racial history and possibly confuse and overwhelm you.

Don't panic!  You'll learn everything you need to know, and faster than you think.  Just as I said with the lore in general, we don't need to read up on every detail of your chosen race's history.  Also, bear in mind that, apart from some extremely niche roleplay groups that I'm not even sure exist outside of forums, any roleplay you participate in will likely take place in the present time in Azeroth.  Sometimes, especially for guilds who spend a lot of time focused on lengthy story arcs, your events might be taking place a couple of months ago or even in the very near future (i.e. in an Orgrimmar where Vol'jin is Warchief and not the one we see in game at the moment with the Kor'kron running amok).  This means that you should start your focus on your race's current status in Azeroth and their most recent history as of the current expansion.

We can already form a story with two simple questions.  Who is your race's current faction leader?  How loyal does your character feel toward them?

Your answer to those two simple questions can give you so much direction in regards to character development.  No, really.  If your character hates their racial leader, you then get to ask yourself if they're involved in any sort of activism, or a member of a secret society whose goal it is to overthrow their leader.  Perhaps your human character hates Varian Wrynn, but figures that they just have to suffer through his reign because that's life.  Or maybe they admire the King and are working their way through the ranks of the Stormwind City Guard in order to hopefully have the honor of being a member of Varian's personal guard.  Obviously this is but one example of how to get started with an idea for character background, and there are other angles you could approach this from.

Think about how your character might feel about their faction as a whole.  Are they fiercely loyal to the Alliance and support its military's actions in Orgrimmar?  Did your orc support Garrosh in Mists of Pandaria, or did they run away to join the Darkspear Rebellion?

It's important to note that while you must choose to be either Alliance or Horde for the purposes of gameplay, for roleplay your character can be a member of a neutral faction such as the Cenarion Circle.  You might really love the idea of playing a troll druid but hate the actions of the Horde, in which case it's a good idea to investigate these other factions within the game with whom your character might ally.  (Of course, if you roll a troll and want to interact with your buddy who's playing a gnome in-game, you'll be stuck with simple emotes or will have to roleplay over Real ID/Battletag whispers/chats, but that's getting a bit ahead of the basics.)  There are many, many options to explore, and all you really need is a vague idea and the name of either an NPC or a group relevant to the story you wish to tell.  Once you've got that, the real fun begins.

It's time to do our research!

Rule #4: Know your resources.

Unlike quest givers, I won't make you sift through poop.

From the official Blizzard website to hundreds of fansites, podcasts, YouTube channels, and blogs, there's a plethora of information about World of Warcraft, but not all of them concern themselves with lore and most are best used for PvE and PvP questions.  Rather than leave you to Google, I've compiled a list of resources I use constantly and will talk about how to best utilize them.

List of Races from the Official Website - This is probably a big "duh!" to you, but with all the third-party fansites out there, it's easy to forget you can get mostly current and very basic lore from here.  I'm linking directly to the races page obviously, but you can also read about classes, factions, and other interesting tidbits of information.  It's a good place to start if you're trying to decide on a race to play.

WoW Expanded Universe - Perhaps one of the best things Blizzard has done in Mists of Pandaria is to revamp their section of short stories and other pertinent lore information.  In continuing from Rule #3, consider focusing on the leader short stories for now.  Some of them aren't necessarily current (Lor'themar Theron's, for example, takes place after Burning Crusade) and some are considered poorly written and/or constructed by other fans (Sylvanas's story is hotly debated by some fans); however, it will provide a general idea regarding some of the history and conflict within your character's racial faction and their current leader.  

WoWpedia - Hands down my favorite website for lore information.  After you've settled on a race and read about it on the official website, go here for a more detailed description and history.  Again, remember the goal is not to get overwhelmed.  Try to keep your focus on your character's race and a bit of what you know of what's currently happening in the game.  From there think about how they'd react to whatever is currently happening within the expansion.  You can write down your thoughts if you'd like, or you can just keep it in your head to ponder later.

WoWWiki - Similar to WoWpedia with a lot of the same information, but some prefer one over the other.  Sometimes one might have more links to sources, and it very much depends on what you like in a fansite.  Use it the same way you would WoWpedia.

WoWhead - WoWhead is better used as a general game guide versus one for roleplay.  However, I've found it's easier to look up locations and maps on WoWhead which comes in handy, especially when trying to figure out where your character might have lived or is living.  If you see a title you'd like to give your character  (i.e. "Ambassador"), WoWhead can help you figure out what achievement unlocks that title and give you tips on how to earn it faster than either WoWpedia or WoWWiki in my experience.

Lore 4 Noobs - Pride has done an excellent job of presenting lore in short, informative videos focusing on important characters from Azeroth's history.  For beginners, most of the names won't mean much to you, but if you're looking to dig a little deeper into Azeroth's lore, it's a good collection of videos.  I do, however, take issue with his Sylvanas Windrunner video and dislike how her story is framed and its dismissal of the problematic elements regarding Arthas's treatment of her.  (Some of the older videos might be found by searching through Jesse Cox's/OMFGCata channel as those were made before Pride formed his own channel.)  Pride also hosts a lore podcast/livestream called But Wait! There's Lore! that might be worth checking out once you feel comfortable with the lore.

WoW Insider's Know Your Lore - This regular column at WoW Insider is chocked full of information vital to many roleplayers' stories.  In addition to KYL, Anne Stickney also does a roleplay column there called All the World's a Stage which offers advice on how to roleplay and the relevant lore.

So You Want to RP - (Note: Some of this post contains ableist language.)  Speaking of Anne Stickney, here's a post she wrote on the Blizzard forums in 2010 that covers a lot of basics for roleplay.  I'll be covering many of the same topics in this guide, but as I said at the start, I am not the sole source of information, nor do I want to be.  It's always good to read as much as you can and get other perspectives.

WoW_Ladies - You have to have a LiveJournal account to join (it's free!) and read some of the private posts, but you can peruse the RP advice tag for many excellent posts about roleplay.  I also love this community for its focus on women who play WoW and some of the class advice was vital to me as a newbie raider in Cataclysm.

Tumblr - There's an excellent and active roleplay community on Tumblr if you search tags for "World of Warcraft," but I suggest this with the caveat that not all NSFW and pornographic material is tagged properly and avoidable.  

If all else fails, there's always Google.  I would suggest turning safe search on if you're squeamish about running afoul of pornographic fanfiction or roleplay, but if you keep your searches to phrases like "Varian Wrynn and Onyxia" for specific lore questions or "roleplaying in Mount Hyjal" for scenarios, you should be OK.  Definitely turn safe search on if you're doing any sort of image search, however, especially for WoW related images.

Beyond that, many roleplay servers offer corresponding websites and forums for players to post information about their characters, their writing, and public RP events.  You can Google your server's name and see if there's a website such as WyrmrestAccord.org for your specific server.  Also, each of the servers have their own section on WoW's official forum.  (Scroll down to the Realms section.  If you're logged into your account, it'll list the realms you have characters on and you can go from there.)  Roleplay server forums tend to be very active, and it's a good way to look for public RP events held in capital cities or other easily accessible areas in Azeroth.  Of course, being an RP server means you might have to sift through some threads that are riddled with drama and trolling.  Please, don't let this discourage you or give you a false impression of what the roleplay climate is like on that particular server.  Remember, people have a pretty dismal view of the official forums for a reason.  (We'll talk about choosing a server and guild in a later part.)

Still with me?

You can do it, future roleplayer!

Great, but we're only getting started!  However, as this post has grown quite large and is full of information and links to various resources, I'll stop here and encourage you to click on links and to read, read, and read some more.  I'll also remind you not to get too carried away or panic over just how much information there is to consider.  We're far from finished fleshing out a character and giving them a story.  Next post I'll discuss the importance of keeping things simple, the dangers of cribbing characters from sources other than WoW, and why you shouldn't let little mistakes discourage you.