Generally, you want people focusing on the content of your RP, not its format. The best way for RP format to be "invisible" is for it to be consistent. So here is what we shoot for as a group. Keep in mind, these guidelines are ONLY to facilitate forward movement and cohesiveness in real-time group RP. In your stories, journals, etc., use whatever style YOU would normally use!
Format Guidelines
Our format is inspired by stage plays and the game itself, rather than by novel-writing. In approximate order of priority:
- Present tense. In-game emotes are written in present tense, so we try to match that.
Example: Elohad frowned. Elohad frowns. - Brevity. Because we have Google Docs to flex our prose skills, in-game we aim for a back-and-forth that moves along. Except in specific circumstances (like a formal address to an audience), when we take our turn in RP we try to keep our comments within the in-game text buffer.
- Channel sorting. When possible, we put dialogue in /say and descriptions of our characters actions or expressions in /e. If it's necessary to mix them, we either add brief descriptions inside asterisks to our /say, or add brief dialogue in quotation marks to our /e.
Examples:
/e reels from the blow, but manages to keep his feet. "OW!" He glares at Elohad.
/say I know it was you who ate all our rations. Who else — *burps loudly* — could it have been? - Double parens for OOC. Unless you're in a channel that everyone has agreed is entirely OOC, please enclose OOC comments in ((double parens)). If it's only one line, closing parens are not necessary.
Example: /say ((sorry, cat sat on keyboard
Within-Guild RP Etiquette Guidelines
These are less about format and more about the collaborative process within the guild, making certain that we are telling a story together rather than inviting others to read our novel (we've got Writings for that!). Once again, these are in order of priority.
- Avoid Powerplaying. This is not a competition, but a collaboration. Do not focus on besting other characters, controlling them, or appearing superior to them. We're all in this together.
- Avoid Metagaming. Your character knows what your character knows. This is not always the same as what you know. If you're doing a Third War RP and sunny young paladin Arthas walks up and extends a hand, your character sees the young prince, not the Lich King.
- Avoid God Mode. Describe YOUR actions, not others'. The difference can be subtle sometimes. "/e slaps Elohad across the face" gives Elohad no control over his part of the event. "/e aims a slap at Elohad's face" allows Elohad to duck or get slapped as he prefers. If there's no obvious way to phrase your emote without godmoding, you can always send a whisper: "((Is it okay if Elohad shatters your window?"
- Avoid Broadcasting Thoughts. In novels, we can see inside the protagonist's head. In group RP, best to stick with what other characters can see and hear. Instead of "/e thinks Elohad is full of himself," consider what part of that is observable. "/e scoffs and shakes her head," maybe? This avoids accusations of metagaming if, in a quick read of fast-moving scroll, another character mistakes your inner monologue for outer monologue.
Inter-Guild RP Etiquette Guidelines
While you're not required to interact with the RP community at large, if you choose to do so, please reflect well on CC. In order of priority, here are the rules of engagement with players outside the guild:
- Ignore anyone who upsets you. Please don't participate in fights while wearing our guild tag. Don't try to "win" conflicts or "punish" other players. We're examples, not server police. If someone outright abuses you, /ignore and report to Blizzard. You may also report the incident to the Producer if it's egregious, so that I can issue an official ignore recommendation. Otherwise, just walk away.
- Avoid mentioning timelines/big events. Other RPers may be at a different point in the canon timeline from us, and that's okay! Also, in public RP it's frowned on to claim personal involvement in central events… events which are the whole point of our group story. Just remember that as far as the public is concerned, you didn't do any of those things. So in order to avoid the sort of situation that might necessitate rule #1, don't bring that stuff up in public.
- Abide by within-guild etiquette and style. See above.
- Let mistakes slide. People outside the guild are not beholden to our RP style and are not required to understand or abide by game lore. If another RPer claims to have grown up in Darnassus or whatever, please don't argue, even passive-aggressively ("And where did you live BEFORE Darnassus was founded just a few years ago?"). Just nod and move on to a new subject.
- Encourage great RPers. If someone walks up to you and is genuinely entertaining, or has a great TRP3 profile that invites walk-ups, be as friendly and extroverted with them as you can manage (while keeping #2 in mind). Every WoW RP server is full of great roleplayers who are wistfully longing for compelling interactions, so let's try to attract like-minded RPers everywhere we go!
AddOns & Macros
Total RP 3
We use TRP3, a widely used roleplay addon that gives us the ability to create descriptions, background information, and as much or as little detail as one is comfortable with sharing. Most of all, it is a clear signal that one is a roleplayer. Feel free to ask about it on Discord in #gamehelp if you're not sure why or how to install or use it. You can find the addon at CurseForge.
To assist with passive guild recruitment, we would love if you could put the following under Misc/other info/OOC:
Check out cobalt-company.wikidot.com for info on our guild!
Autofollow Macro
Habitual use of autofollow is vital for smooth IC PvE and RP-on-the-move. For that reason we use a simple autofollow macro that, with one click or keystroke, autofollows someone while you type your bit of RP and whispers them that you are following them. The announcement allows them to adjust their pathing to account for the follow.
The text of the macro looks like this:
/f
/run SendChatMessage("((autofollowing you))", "WHISPER", nil, GetUnitName("target", true));Target the person you want to follow, click the macro button, and then take your time typing your dialogue/emote. Or go afk to hug your kid. Either way, come back to find yourself still in /say range of the group, with no one noticing anything amiss! Huzzah!
If you want to get really fancy, you can add a second macro that is specifically for afks, one that alerts everyone in /say range to your absence before you begin autofollowing.
/f
/say ((Need an afk, autofollowing %t))
/afk