There are a couple of them, out there, but what I'm interested isn't the colors of the rainbow.
I'm interested in black. Evil, manipulating, scheming black.
I've been mulling the idea of bringing my main over, and RPing him as a black dragon. It'd be a little difficult to do solo, so I thought I'd even start a guild while I'm at it, a la Creed in 4.3.
The dragon's goal is to cause as much strife for the Alliance as possible while mantaining the illusion that he's helping. An example is inciting riots and battles with the horde.
However, that doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate the heat of battle himself, as his class is warrior.
Thoughts/ideas/critisisms/gtfos? I'd like responses to this idea!
There's only one uncorrupted black dragon. His name is Wrathion, and he's the star of the new legendary quest line in 4.3. You can see his origins by the doing the main quest line in the Badlands, which details the deep, incurable corruption of the Black Flight and the one "miracle" that resulted in a purified egg that Deathwing wants destroyed more than anything.
In short, if you're a black dragon, you're a servant of Deathwing and you're evil, and to do otherwise is contradictory to the established lore of the game. Also keep in mind, regardless of if you want to be "evil" or not, black dragons are public enemy number one. If someone finds out you're a black dragon, consider yourself dead.
Wanted to add: You know you're doing it right when nobody notices anything, but wonders about everything you do.
Also, theres a Dragon RP guide, here
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1063306712
I suppose the question I have to ask is "Why?"
I'm not the kind of guy that's going to tell people what they can and can't RP, but it always makes me wince when people want to play dragons. It has frequently become free license to godmode people in the past, and its heavy reliance on emoted stuff and suspension of disbelief makes it troublesome to communicate.
I know it's cool to play a dragon. I know the old MMO Horizons was neat for that, because it was a player race with a special advancement track, and the game worked hard to make you feel like a dragon complete with abilities and lairs and such. In Warcraft, dragons are frequently antagonists that are jerked about at the whim of the writers to do any number of wacky things, from creating Lich King replacements to going mad and trying to kill the world with fire.
Anyway, I don't want to get into a tirade of my personal feelings on the matter. Seems as though you've decided that's what you want to play, and that should be respected. If I were to offer advice though, it would be not to godmode anyone, never to change shape in front of them unless you can back it up (Vial of the Sands or something), and never use it as a cudgel for how people should treat you (awe/fear/undeserved respect).
Remember, some roleplayers make it a point to hunt and kill dragons. Some even have the Dragonslayer title, making it quite clear what they are capable of doing. Even dragons shouldn't be so arrogant as to think they are invulnerable to us puny mortals. :D
I have a question, and please forgive me if this is the wrong place for it, but I know at least two dragon roleplayers are reading this topic. If the idea of rping a dragon is that no one knows, or should know, and you make a big deal out of people NOT knowing, why not just rp a regular person? So much work is done to hide being a dragon, or preventing god-moding or what have you. It seems to be that you could avoid all of these hardships by simply NEVER saying your character is one in any forum or post or conversation, or just being a normal person.
I guess my main question is if you do all this work to hide being one, what is the effective draw of being one that couldn't be gotten from RPing something else that doesn't garner so much attention (negative or otherwise) or criticism? Could you not simply be an evil human? If you never turn into a dragon, never rp being a dragon except incredibly rare circumstances and no one should ever know you are one, isn't just being a human or elf or dwarf or anything else that much more practical?
I just guess I don't understand the draw of playing a character that 98% of the other rp'ers aren't supossed to know anything about, yet that small point is the basis of the entirety of your rp.
All I have to say on the matter of the MRP is, alright so you are OOCly warned that this person is a dragon and therefor you have a CHOICE to interact with it or not. I don't see where the problem is with that.
If you want to play a blackdragon, go ahead. There are always exceptions to the rule, you encounter in-game those exceptions (though they are very rare). Just do as much of your homework as you can and let people know and oocly they can make the choice.
I've roleplayed dragons in many different places for a long time, and only coming to WoW and specific servers have I noticed such heavy prejudices against people playing them. Of course I understand the godmoding (as it is a worry anywhere else), but if such a thing is a problem shouldn't both parties talk BEFORE hand on a fight and discuss what they will allow/will not allow? This was practiced a lot from where I came from, you discussed or asked permission on injuries you could inflict on someones character, as it could effect how they can roleplay that character (or do not want it dead).
No one wants their character dead, as I've seen multiple times of people bringing their characters back to life through resurrection, or even some of those who play a Faceless. Wouldn't they be kind of powerful in that sense?
All I know is, I put it out there OOCly that my character is a dragon, ICly nobody would know unless somehow they saw her tranform. As far as I know, a large chunk of people probably just see Reinheit as an annoying arrogant kaldorei who wanders around causing some trouble. And thats fun AND fine. Or probably people who look on me negatively altogether because of the fact I put shes a dragon out there oocly.
The whole not seeing the point to me seems silly, as you could play a mass murderer and nobody would know unless you made it public, or a character that suffers insanity and yet -nobody would know-. You go through LIFE not knowing a lot of things about people and not showing that side to others. I don't see how its any different.
You should always give somebody the benefit of the doubt and a chance. Them spending 14 dollars a month (or more) on this game, they have a -right- to do as they please whetehr they have the respect or acceptance from any sort of 'community'. Where some people shun that person others will happily RP with them - good or bad. And they'll have fun, regardless of what anyone thinks.
If nobody wants to interact with me because of that, then oh well. I don't go out of my way to try and ruin anyones fun or make my character a super boss. I'm here to have fun, with my long time character Noh (Reinheit) on a place I have a lot of fun going to.
Reinheit (Tiamagosa) said:
All I have to say on the matter of the MRP is, alright so you are OOCly warned that this person is a dragon and therefor you have a CHOICE to interact with it or not. I don't see where the problem is with that.
...
All I know is, I put it out there OOCly that my character is a dragon, ICly nobody would know unless somehow they saw her tranform....
Ok you are right, people should be able to seperate IC and OOC information, but lets be honest, people can't.
You are right, put whatever you want in your MRP, you can list that you are a mass murderer, that you are thrall's step daughter, and your character's entire history. But if you do, don't be annoyed if people decide not to interact with you.
I actually read a MRP once that said "Yes, I am a dragon, but you can't possibly know that so don't bring it up I don't play with metagamers" Well... why list it.
I still would prefer for those who want to RP dragons, or Murders, or step-children of thrall to not put that information in the MRP. Maybe I'm just old fashioned like that.
Reinheit (Tiamagosa) said:
All I have to say on the matter of the MRP is, alright so you are OOCly warned that this person is a dragon and therefor you have a CHOICE to interact with it or not. I don't see where the problem is with that.
If you want to play a blackdragon, go ahead. There are always exceptions to the rule, you encounter in-game those exceptions (though they are very rare). Just do as much of your homework as you can and let people know and oocly they can make the choice.
I've roleplayed dragons in many different places for a long time, and only coming to WoW and specific servers have I noticed such heavy prejudices against people playing them. Of course I understand the godmoding (as it is a worry anywhere else), but if such a thing is a problem shouldn't both parties talk BEFORE hand on a fight and discuss what they will allow/will not allow? This was practiced a lot from where I came from, you discussed or asked permission on injuries you could inflict on someones character, as it could effect how they can roleplay that character (or do not want it dead).
No one wants their character dead, as I've seen multiple times of people bringing their characters back to life through resurrection, or even some of those who play a Faceless. Wouldn't they be kind of powerful in that sense?
All I know is, I put it out there OOCly that my character is a dragon, ICly nobody would know unless somehow they saw her tranform. As far as I know, a large chunk of people probably just see Reinheit as an annoying arrogant kaldorei who wanders around causing some trouble. And thats fun AND fine. Or probably people who look on me negatively altogether because of the fact I put shes a dragon out there oocly.
The whole not seeing the point to me seems silly, as you could play a mass murderer and nobody would know unless you made it public, or a character that suffers insanity and yet -nobody would know-. You go through LIFE not knowing a lot of things about people and not showing that side to others. I don't see how its any different.
You should always give somebody the benefit of the doubt and a chance. Them spending 14 dollars a month (or more) on this game, they have a -right- to do as they please whetehr they have the respect or acceptance from any sort of 'community'. Where some people shun that person others will happily RP with them - good or bad. And they'll have fun, regardless of what anyone thinks.
If nobody wants to interact with me because of that, then oh well. I don't go out of my way to try and ruin anyones fun or make my character a super boss. I'm here to have fun, with my long time character Noh (Reinheit) on a place I have a lot of fun going to.
You just became my favorite person on the server :)
Reinheit (Tiamagosa) said:
I've roleplayed dragons in many different places for a long time, and only coming to WoW and specific servers have I noticed such heavy prejudices against people playing them. Of course I understand the godmoding (as it is a worry anywhere else), but if such a thing is a problem shouldn't both parties talk BEFORE hand on a fight and discuss what they will allow/will not allow? This was practiced a lot from where I came from, you discussed or asked permission on injuries you could inflict on someones character, as it could effect how they can roleplay that character (or do not want it dead).
In many other games it's acceptable and common place. My question to you is, why not try something different? I don't mean to be contrary but your entire post seemed to me like, "This is what I do and I'll defend it because I do it everywhere I RP." Do you rp other things or just dragons? In other games is it as rare to be a dragon as it is in wow?
Also, I could be wrong but I thought the idea of MRP was to describe things people can see. A character description that lets others know what they would see when they first looked on you, or during an ordinary day. If, again, I can't see that you are a dragon, and I can't know anyhow or it's bad juju, why include it? Isn't it enough for you to know you're a dragon, and then it's only unless you let something slip that anyone else would know? I'm trying to understand the mindset of show not tell, but having a big secret for everyone to see. If you don't let us in on the secret, it will always be kept, no one can judge you unless you purposefully let them in on it, and you avoid all the other connotations. Like this line of questioning for example. I'm really just trying to understand where you're coming from.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not telling you not to do something or trying to repress your creativity of being a dragon everywhere, I'm just trying to understand why, when there's a myriad of other things to do that garner way less attention.
And yes, you COULD be a mass murderer, by why not just kill a lot of people rather than put it in your MRP and then advertize looking for more sociopaths?
As a game mechanic, worgens transform in battle though. You'd have to never duel or fight in front of anyone or just oocly tell absolutely everyone else that all combat is ooc. Or you could roll a human and claim to be from Gilneas. Would other worgen be able to sniff you out? Would people who can detect curses find you? Why bother being a worgen then in the first place? Also, no offense but it's not daring if, as in the above example, they rp a Dragon all the time. Or if you're actively flaunting it. Why warn me if it wil never come up? It's like saying there are bears around inside an office building that contains no bears. Simply warning me of bears says, "HEY LOOK WE GOT BEARS!" Whereas not telling me, I would never assume there was a bear around at all, and we'd avoid a conversation as to why you have bears in an office.
Eitraou Bitterblade said:
The dragon's goal is to cause as much strife for the Alliance as possible while mantaining the illusion that he's helping. An example is inciting riots and battles with the horde.
These are questions I ask myself whenever I come up with an off the wall idea for a character for myself, so I'm not meaning any offense when I put these here. In fact they're good questions for anyone to ask themselves when they want to stray too far from the common theme.
Why is being a black dragon required for the concept? Can this concept be achieved with a "normal human"?
How does being a black dragon as opposed to a human agent of the Black Flight enhance your ability to tell this story?
What does bieng a black dragon as opposed to a human with these same goals enhance the stories of others you enteract with?
What about the character makes me concerned enough to seek peer-approval?
What would my first reaction be to someone else playing this exact same concept?
Questions aside, from a timing perspective the concept is a bit odd. The black flight is having some issues and may have some major storyline changes happen in 4.3 (right around the corner) As others have said, most of the black flight has recently gone insane or been recruited by Deathwing. The one exception is an egg that was cultured and saved by the Red Dragonflight (quest chains in blasted lands).
That aside, this exact storyline has happened in recent Stormwind history. (Read: Katrina Prestor aka Onyxia and friends)
Asherrean Koth said:
....
That aside, this exact storyline has happened in recent Stormwind history. (Read: Katrina Prestor aka Onyxia and friends)
/like button
In many other games it's acceptable and common place. My question to you is, why not try something different? I don't mean to be contrary but your entire post seemed to me like, "This is what I do and I'll defend it because I do it everywhere I RP." Do you rp other things or just dragons? In other games is it as rare to be a dragon as it is in wow?
Also, I could be wrong but I thought the idea of MRP was to describe things people can see. A character description that lets others know what they would see when they first looked on you, or during an ordinary day. If, again, I can't see that you are a dragon, and I can't know anyhow or it's bad juju, why include it? Isn't it enough for you to know you're a dragon, and then it's only unless you let something slip that anyone else would know? I'm trying to understand the mindset of show not tell, but having a big secret for everyone to see. If you don't let us in on the secret, it will always be kept, no one can judge you unless you purposefully let them in on it, and you avoid all the other connotations. Like this line of questioning for example. I'm really just trying to understand where you're coming from.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not telling you not to do something or trying to repress your creativity of being a dragon everywhere, I'm just trying to understand why, when there's a myriad of other things to do that garner way less attention.
And yes, you COULD be a mass murderer, by why not just kill a lot of people rather than put it in your MRP and then advertize looking for more sociopaths?
I'm not offended by your questions, I just feel to an extent they are questions that can only be answered with more questions. Why a dragon? Why not. Why a human? Why not. It's what I want.
Dragons are not the only things I roleplay; they are merely my favorite mytholigical creature and I enjoy roleplaying Noh (Reinheit) who happens to BE a dragon.
And why put it in your MRP? MRP to an extent from what I have seen and in using it, is a mix of what you can see of a character ICly and a mix of OOC information. The point in putting that down? Someone OOCly may NOT be comfortable roleplaying with a mass murdering character. Someone may feel angry/uncomfortable roleplaying with Reinheit because she is a dragon. I put that there so people can make their own decisions on whether they want to interact with me/respond to me or not.
Personally if I have drama in my life and I come on to roleplay to have fun, and I unknowingly rp with someone who's character does cause drama because of their personality (there isn't anything wrong with drama, I'm just saying some people do not want to deal with -any-) that person can feel trapped in a roleplay they don't want. And could probably be afraid to leave the roleplay due to damaging their reputation or what have you or hurting the other persons feelings.
I feel it saves A LOT of drama and problems. And honestly I'd want to roleplay with someone who wanted to roleplay with me, as I'm sure anyone else would. I wouldn't want to cause un-needed stress and frustration towards someone oocly because of the story.
But at the end of the day its my opinion. And everyone will still think the way they do, I just hope that people gives other a chance before making judgments like that. You never know - the roleplay and person might be -very- fun.
Sanctis Lightborne said:
We have taken quite a tangent here, and I suppose that I must accept atleast some responsibility for it, but I stand firm in the idea that MRP is for displaying information that my character can detect by looking at you. If you have a secret that you don't want my character to know then don't list it. Even though people should be able to sepearate IC information from OOC information, they can't. Even though I shouldn't know ICLY that you are a dragon unless you tell me or transform, if it is in your character description then I'm (as a player) going to treat you differently than if I had no suspcisions at all. Its called priming. By all means play what you want, list what you want, but be prepared for people to treat your character differently if you list secrets in your MRP. The only conceiveable reason for you to list that you are a dragon in your MRP is because you want to stand out and attract attention for something that your character wants to keep a secret. That is my last two cents on this topic.
That is a serious assumption you laid down there. Assumptions aren't facts, they are guesses and when you put them as if they are fact - you make yourself look bad. : /
And like I said before, if you don't wanna interact with a dragon you know and thus you don't have too.
Reinheit (Tiamagosa) said:
That is a serious assumption you laid down there. Assumptions aren't facts, they are guesses and when you put them as if they are fact - you make yourself look bad. : /
And like I said before, if you don't wanna interact with a dragon you know and thus you don't have too.
You assume every day of your life, without question. If you didn't assume that when you woke up gravity would still be working you'd think you'd float away. If you didn't assume the Earth's air was gravity rich you might panic that you couldn't breath. Assumptions are made based on previous data, based on facts. If you bought bread yesterday you assume you'll have some when you go check. When you mainline the "makes an ass out of u and me" as an argument you look silly.
I understand your point though, you do it because you enjoy it. Quite frankly, I can't really question personal taste or anything. I feel like I'm not any closer to understanding why a group of people do it, but I can't deny you the pleasure of playing how you like. I would just ask that you do think about my point of keeping a secret wholly secret, so that there's no reason to question the validity of your character's story. By that I mean, if your dragon has a supposed backstory cover as a human or elf or *race x* why not just include that in your MRP and leave the draon part out, since other than slight character concept it sounds like you don't fully make use of the template. As in, if you know you're a dragon, why isn't that good enough? Why spoil it and then deny anyone the ability to make use of it as well, aside from a small club of other individuals.
I assume that regardless of the outcome of this discussion, people will RP what is most fun for them, and find others who share the same expectations, stories will be crafted, some posted on the ERN, some not.
Like all things at their start, some assumptions are terrible, others are not.
I'm part of the school of thought that MRP or RSPs should only contain physical information unless specified - but MRP has a History section that is entirely up to the player's discretion. I've seen blank History sections, a sentence or two, and entire novel's worth of text. I've seen it written from third-person perspectives or narratives. And truly, some have been great, regardless of the writing approach they take. Others notsomuch.
Roleplay a dragon if you like, it is entirely your choice. Understand why some don't understand it, and may pose questions till they do. Some may even decide to avoid you, for x or y reasons. That is their prerogative, as is roleplaying mythological creature is yours. But really, elves, dwarfs, gnomes, draenei, etcetera are all mythological creatures, dragons just happen to be a non-playable class in World of Warcraft. They exist in-game, but they are not available to the playerbase to choose and level.
If someone undertakes that mantle in roleplay, they have the choice to roleplay it however they wish, and players have the choice to engage, acknowledge or avoid however they wish. When it comes down to it, the only thing that each side should attempt to come to is a mutual understanding. A degree of respect - I see what you're doing, I don't necessarily agree to it, but hey - we're paying the same monthly amount to be here. Have fun, fellow roleplayer.
For roleplay, it's all in the execution. I've seen terrible non-traditional race roleplay and roleplay that has knocked my socks off. Roleplay what you like, understand what you undertake when you do, and don't be surprised when you see fellow players question it. That is the nature and weight of those who roleplay outside the race selection norm - you will receive questions, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is an opportunity to come to an understanding, which is often far too underrated when non-traditional race roleplayers shoot only for acceptance. Understanding part of why comes first.
Step-by-step, and as always, just have fun. It's your game.
Sanctis Lightborne said:
Wanted to add: You know you're doing it right when nobody notices anything, but wonders about everything you do.
Also, theres a Dragon RP guide, here
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1063306712
I was reading this and I think the Dragonsworn concept is pretty neat considering no one does it.
Just 2 cent on a re-read of the thread ~