[This is a response to the latest post over at Too Many Annas that started as a comment and gained a terrifically tl;dr life of its own.]
Being left out occasionally may be part of the RP, but there’s a difference between the ”occasional” and what I perceive as a deliberate “freeze out” that I think needs to be addressed from the eyes of someone new to WoW RP and that greater community, but not to RP in general.
The problem I’ve seen is not people “occasionally” being left out, it’s them being consistently left out.
I have an incredibly limited amount of RP time between my raiding schedules on Ashtoret and Ndiayne. Sometimes, my free time doesn’t end up lining up with other people’s schedules, and some nights by the time I log in people are in the middle of RP and I don’t feel comfortable or well-equipped to step in and interact. I understand I will not be involved in everything, and that’s okay.
But when I do have the time, and I make the effort to branch out, talk to people, and schedule RP with folks, then I expect to be a part of it. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation, either.
My problem with some of the less-open RP threads is this: Jack, Jane, Sarah, and Jill all interact in the same RP Storyline. Bob, a friend of Jack and Jane, does some casual RP, but is not involved in the Storyline. (Perhaps it’s closed, or perhaps Bob just hasn’t found his place in the Story yet.) Bob tells Jack and Jane, “Hey, I’m free from 2-4 PM on Saturday, do you think we could catch up in Ironforge?” They respond positively, and Bob logs in. Sarah and Jill find out about the RP, and head to IF as well, where they pull Jack and Jane into a conversation about the Storyline that Bob isn’t part of. Bob continues trying to interact with his friends and these newcomers, but after a half-hour of little to no response (or only “IC” responses that are rude, short, or otherwise very negative), becomes disheartened and logs off. He schedules RP again at a different point, and something similar happens, or it gets to the point where people just don’t respond to him when he asks if people are available and interested in doing some RP.
Do you see the problem in this?
For a new WoW RPer, it can be extremely difficult to get your feet wet and find your little spot in the wide world of RP. But you’ve got a character, a vague mental or pencil outline of what you want to see happen, some interesting backstory that doesn’t crush under the weight of the Mary Sue litmus test. You’ve picked a server based on friends you know that RP, or from the greater community as a whole. You’re ready, eager, and excited to get your feet wet and explore this new aspect of your online gaming time.
And then something like this happens. Sure, you may be able to brush it off the first time. But it happens again… and again. You get no responses when you DO ask questions about the Storylines your friends are involved in, or you get partial responses that make perfect sense to them but none to you since you aren’t involved. When you ask if people want to RP, you get crickets.
It can be crushing and disheartening. If you’re entirely new to RP, it can put you off to the entire community. I’ve heard people grumble about how “closed-off” the RP community in World of Warcraft can feel. If you’re only new to RP in WoW (or the “real-time” aspect of in-game RP), then you may wonder what you’re doing wrong. “Why don’t these people that seem open and friendly to others like me? Is it my character? Is it something with me, personally?”
Closed RP and some of the long ongoing storylines I’ve seen in WoW aren’t bad things, but I think people in the community (particularly well-established, long-time RPers) need to be aware of how some of their actions may be perceived by newcomers. If you’ve got a newcomer in the group and they take the time to seek out RP, encourage it. Don’t push them out or make them hate WoW RP/RPers by freezing them out when they’ve scheduled time with you. If a newcomer schedules RP with someone you have a Closed (or ongoing/semi-open) RP with, don’t join them and then only talk about things the newcomer isn’t able to be involved with.
DBAD: It applies to people established in the community just as much as it does to newcomers.
Tags: Blog Response, Community, DBAD, RP
19 March 2010 at 5:20 pm |
I absolutely agree on this. I think in my post I was trying to address the “nobody loves me” syndrome that happens sometimes – but we ALL need to remember that it’s not really that fun to be new, and that if you say you’re going to show up to RP with them, you have to both show up AND RP with them (barring legitimate excuses of course). There’s a big difference between necessary time spent in small group/partner RP and ONLY ever participating in that, and it’s good to remember to balance both “open group” RP and small group stuff.
19 March 2010 at 5:47 pm |
I know something that has been very different for me (going from forums/journal RP to “live” RP like what occurs in-game) has been adjusting to how quickly everything goes once you’ve got more than a party’s worth of people around. I’m a big fan of starting off small before leaping in headfirst to the more tavern-sized groups, but that’s mainly because I freak out a little bit mentally when trying to process so many ideas at once.
With forums and journals, you typically have a window of time to process what’s going on and come up wth a solid, creative response. That’s not always the case in a really large group of people, and I think that can be daunting for some of the shyer or perfectionistic newcomers. (It’s definitely a mental shutdown for me sometimes.)
19 March 2010 at 8:07 pm |
I totally know what you mean! At this point, I’ve been RPing in WoW for five years and I’m pretty well-seasoned in the MMORPG style of roleplay, but large group settings STILL freak me out sometimes. The text is scrolling in my chat window so fast I can barely keep up, and I’m still trying to figure out how to respond to a comment that’s already flown by.
Now, when I’m on my main, Corise, I can do okay in that sort of situation, because I’ve been playing her so long and know her so well that I usually don’t even need to think about what she’d say or do. But when I’m playing a different character and I need time to actually consider what their response to a situation might be? Oh yeah, that’s a recipe for stress.
And that’s definitely something I try to keep in mind, ‘cuz our guild’s pub night is where a lot of people (some of them totally new to RP) come to find out if they’d fit in well with the Boomstick Gang, and… well, like you said, tavern-sized groups are not always the easiest place to start out. So when I see someone who’s new to the group or who isn’t having the easiest time getting into the conversations, I try to make sure to drop a no-pressure “in” or two to whatever’s going on, even if I’m a bit proccupied RPing with my established group.
Like Anna said, it’s all about balance and consideration of others.
19 March 2010 at 8:22 pm |
Definitely. I am fairly comfortable RPing anything on Ndiayne (not that there’s much chance to do so, since I’m not on a RP server with her). I’m fine in tavern settings with my dwarf huntress (tavern + dwarf = easymode), but in a large group setting with my night elf priestess? (Or heck, even with my gnome priestess sometimes.) It’s much more difficult, especially when the RP is geared toward a long storyline that she’s only just getting involved in. It’s much easier to miss things, and I often end up just standing around completely lost as the conversation moves around me. Great for reading a live story, but not so great for actually getting involved!
It’s just something I think some seasoned RPers lose sight of, and something I’ve found extremely off-putting as I try to get into this part of the community. I figure if I’ve had the problem, then it’s possible others have as well.
20 March 2010 at 4:39 am |
Absolutely. I think it’s a really important thing to keep in mind.
btw, this is my first time reading your blog (came here via Too Many Annas), but I like what I’ve read so far!
20 March 2010 at 6:30 am |
Yay, I’m glad to hear that you like it so far!
20 March 2010 at 12:30 am |
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