#47 - Aug. 1, 2008, 3:55 p.m.
Q u o t e:
I remember when Blizzard cared about their RP community. Oh, wait... No I don't.
Let's not derail the thread please. I'm going to be a bit firm with you here because I know you can take it. I myself both RP and PvP (not necessarily at the same time given that's hazardous to your health).
There is an inherent problem with enforcing RP, and that comes down to "what exactly is or isn't in need of being enforced and how do you do it?" There is no way that GMs can go around and police who is RPing correctly or not. Now, aside from that, for those that are on RP realms and running into people that don't respect the very nature of the realm, they can report them to the GMs for things such as name violations or disrupting the realm.
Aside from that, there are things going into Wrath of the Lich King that perhaps people will find some renewed excitement for in the RP realm. Take Dalaran for instance. I have to say, our props team has been working extremely hard to make the city feel alive, lived in, magical, and truly an amazing place to work, live, play, visit, vacation in or what have you. Inns have a bigger feel to them and are perfect setups for guild meetings, events and gatherings. There are many little touches throughout that hopefully people will take the time to notice and appreciate. (Dalaran is but one example btw.)
The GM department does the best they can to enforce what they can, but there are too many cases where perception of what is and isn't Role-play is wholly subjective. You know this, I know this. The best thing you and all the rest of the Role-play community can do, is to do what you do to the best of your ability and don't let anyone stop you from having fun the way you want. As long as you aren't breaking the rules of the game, nothing they say can stop you except if you let them.
There will always be people who don't understand why people role-play. They won't understand what the fascination is in living through your character and telling a tale of why they are who they are. It's a creative release that many people are even intimidated by because they don't want to look silly or do it wrong also. Just let your characters come alive and don't worry about the small things or the small people that don't understand it.
On the flip side, be patient with those that don't understand it or maybe don't live up to your standards of what RP is. Everyone needs a chance to play their own way and being open and understanding of new people trying something new, goes a long way to making the entire environment a better place to play.
In this case, RP isn't what the GMs do or what we do on our end. It's what you do with what you have and how you make it work. We have a very very creative community here.
That said, we have a Suggestion forum and a Customer Service forum. If you have suggestions on how we can make the RP realm of the game better, post in the suggestions forums. If you want to voice concerns that fall into the realm of Customer Service, please talk to our Customer Service people. They'll listen and they'll give you the best possible answers they can.