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Amongst the World of Warcraft roleplayers, there is a bit of a revolution currently happening. My apologies to fellow roleplayers in other MMORPGs, this edition of RoleCraft will focus on this instance, but I'm sure aspects of this event can be easily worked into your favorite roleplaying world. This revolution is a broad and public proclamation towards a paradigm shift of sorts that I have been an advocate of for many years, more recently and especially in this column, but have never given a name to. Thankfully, someone has, along with a detailed explanation and reasonings why. It's called Full Immersion Roleplaying, or FIRP, and it's a very good thing.
Over the last few months, there has been an increasingly intensifying rallying cry from WoW roleplayers on the official forums for us to pull together and engage in a greater collaborative effort in fostering RP. Blizzard still largely ignores or does very little to curb the immense number of anti-RP players and griefers on RP realms, so the only choice is for legitimate roleplayers to do what they can to insure their play sessions are fit according to their own whims and worthy of the monthly fee paid.
This two-fold conundrum has set roleplayers on a path towards two conclusions, led by the FIRP concept. One way is by joining with other FIRP-minded roleplayers under the principles it is setting forth. I have provided links at the end of the article for your own deep investigation if you wish, but the basic idea supporting FIRP is to raise one's involvement in RP to where it can absolutely no longer be raised due to game mechanics. While a good many of them can be adapted for and overcome through inventive RP, some cannot, and should never halt a roleplayer's fun.
FIRP is guided by four rules, and while I hesitate to calling them rules, they are nonetheless providing a fresh insight into RP, which I credit as the main reason this concept is seeing the success it is experiencing. The four rules are Rule of Story, Rule of Proximity, Rule of Guilding, and Rule of Truth. I'll just give brief explanations here, as you can visit the actual forum post linked to below for full details.
According to the Rule of Story, "As long as the decisions are governed by your story, your actions are never wrong." This rule sets a special importance on not only having and knowing your character's story, but in adamantly following it to the best of your ability. To this, I would add the game's overall story and lore should also be given like dedication. Each encounter your character, uhh, encounters, should be readily explained if asked, according to the story and personality of your character.
The Rule of Proximity looks to replace in game chat channels with a more literal purpose and usage. "Whispering, for instance, should only be engaged if you or someone suggests moving away from the general conversation and actually speaking in whispers - not from across vast differences." This means a whisper in game should be exactly that - a whisper, chat spoken softly between characters standing in close proximity to each other. It also includes a disregard to more public channels, like Trade and Party, in lieu of incorporating such communication where it is most proper, in RP form.
The Rule of Guilding, is perhaps the most difficult to administer and adhere to. I have not yet been a guildmaster in any MMORPG I play or have played, but when looking at it from an old Dungeon Master's point of view, I see it to certainly be the most challenging FIRP notion. Rule #3 states that " the chief concept to remember here is that guilds are assembled so that the members found within are able to contribute equally to the guild's objectives." This might be a little unclear for some, but I think I can clear it up a bit.
Historically, guilds were a gathering of people with a specific talent, such as weaving, or pottery. Members of a guild had a purpose: to perform their profession on a daily and as-needed basis. Roleplaying guilds, esp