This is a little guide I wrote on roleplaying descriptions for my realm forum.
I thought I might share it here. Feel free to comment/flame...
1.your name
A.Name:
When creating your character choose a wise name. Roguestab may sound as a good idea at the time, but maybe when you hit 70 you’ll regret that name forever. Choose a name that is somewhat easy to pronounce and fits the world of Azeroth. John seems more likely than eveàlkùç or senbonzakura.
B.Suffix:
choose a last name. You can choose a name that is already ingame, even the more famous ones. Just don’t expect people to believe you’re the son/daughter of Illidan. Cousin or far relative seems more likely. Choose a name that fits your race. If you can’t come up with one directly, try walking around the starter area of your race and get a feel for the names.
C.Titles and prefixes:
Being humble won’t hurt here. There can’t be 500 supreme leaders of the Azerothian army and most of these titles (arch druid, archbishop, king, leader of sentinel army,…) are already taken by lorecharacters and npc’s.
Some suggestions are: conjurer, ley walker, monk, bishop, inquisitor, officer, sentinel, guardian etc.
Try to find one characteristic of your character you find important and work out a title on that.
A hunter can be a marksman or a beastmaster, a mage can be a conjurer or a monk etc.
2.your current mood
It could be nice to add a current mood in your description. More fun however would be to act this out in emotes and it gives the people that don’t have the same add-on a chance to role-play with you.
Example: current mood: somewhat withdrawn. Mind seems to wander off all the time.
Emote: /e stares of into the distance
/e seems a bit distracted
3.appearance
Keep to the most important things. If your character has a blonde ponytail, no need to repeat this in the description. The most effective descriptions are those short and to the point. You don’t feel like reading a whole book about some other dude, well neither does he.
NOTE: you may think your character is the most beautiful creature ever to set foot on Azeroth, but I’m sure not everyone shares that opinion. You may be the most beautiful Night elf in whole Teldrassil but that dwarf may still think you’re ugly as hell (no argument in taste). Better take a few characteristics and play on those. Your character may have very noticeable eyes or a very graceful way of walking. Besides if your whole description is about how beautiful you are, that will scare people off and they’ll think you’re a bit of a snob.
4.rumours:
A lot of people make the mistake of putting their life history in the description field. Unless we’re all clairvoyant, not everyone will know your father died trying to protect the farm from invading orcs.
You can however add some rumours. Perhaps people know you are from Westfall, or they can hear it on your accent (X speaks with a heavy Westfall accent). Perhaps the rumour on the street is you are having an affair with that pretty lady across town.
Some additional notes:
1.Things you can see by looking at her/him
Like said before, keep to the things that are common knowledge or can be seem with one glance.
Example: you may want to reconsider the title of Elite Assassin. If even the farmer at the bar knows you’re an assassin, perhaps you’re not such a good one after all. (Never kill and tell)
I will not discuss the idea of role-playing demons and vampires (you do what you think is fun to do) but if you were a demon hanging around the inn in Goldshire, you might not want everybody to know you are one (think the scene in Frankenstein when all the villagers go to the castle with hayforks and torches).
2.It’s a matter of experience
Don’t expect that level 70 to believe you’re a dragonslayer when you’re a level 1 running around in rags. It’s a bit of a tricky question how level reflects the role-playing part of the game.
Being a master Assassin (although I wouldn’t use that title) or a field marshal means you need some experience in battle (so get levelling).
The “I’m a good role-player I don’t need to level” excuse won’t cut it here. If you’re a good role-player you should be able to role-play and old villager, a farmer, a common thief, etc. just as well as a archbishop.
Some lower level titles can be: farmer, thief, villager, commoner, priest, patroller, defender etc. when you’re level 1 you can also take on a noble name (lady, lord, baron etc.). People of nobility usually don’t have any experience in the battlefield and prefer to roam around the capital feeling important. Just don’t expect that soldier who just came back from the war in Outlands to respect you if you can’t put your sword where your mouth is.
3.Alts and bank characters
We all have them. The characters used to stash gold and items on. (I even have 2, one for gold and AH items, and one to hold my none-souldbound rp cloth.)
Why would you call them piggybank when you can be creative with them as well?
Put the guy in a tuxedo, give him the title of banker or tradesman (mine is a bookkeeper) and roam around acting as if you’re the richest man in town. You know the market and you know when to buy or sell your goods. You don’t need experience in the battlefield. The biggest trip you’ll ever make is to the harbour to see if you’re goods came in safe.
Another possibility is to make them in to townsfolk. That old guy leaning on a stick might tell you an interesting story if you buy him a pint of ale.
More to come when I think of it…
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