Guild Wars 2 is a controversial game these days. Arena Net seems to be in disarray and many fans worry for the game’s future. Hopefully, the upcoming DLC, End of Dragons, will give it a well-needed boost. In the meantime, gamers are enjoying what Guild Wars 2 still has to offer.
Guild Wars 2 is an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) with a diverse and fantastical universe full of lore to explore. Is it any wonder that roleplayers are drawn to it? RP (roleplay) exists in lots of MMORPGs, but Guild Wars 2 is known for having a particularly vibrant community. Here are some etiquette tips for beginners who want to get into roleplay.
If You Want To Join Public RP, Get Caught Up First
It’s not very unusual to stumble across public RP sessions in Guild Wars 2. The player homes and guild halls are often lovely spots for a session but they don’t provide a great variety of locations. There are a lot of hidden spots where roleplayers may stuff themselves, or they could just be walking down one of the main roads.
Wherever you find a public roleplay, if you’re interested in joining in on the fun, be sure to catch up on the details first. What are the players talking about? Is it something your character could join naturally? Do they seem like they’re in the middle of a continuing story, or might they be open to another character?
Indicate When You’re Not Done Typing
This tip isn’t very complicated, but it saves a world of hurt. Fans who begin to roleplay in Guild Wars 2 may come from other video games, from a Discord server, or anywhere else where the text limit is much longer than in Guild Wars. This can lead to a lot of confusion when your sentence ends halfway through.
Roleplayers usually add some kind of symbol to the end of their text if they haven’t finished responding. It’s often a plus sign (+) but could also be a slash (/) or any number of others. If you don’t know what a particular RP group uses, stick to something self-explanatory, like the plus sign.
Don’t Derail Roleplays In Progress
This one is common sense. It’s not very nice to go into a PvP match and act like an idiot — your team would probably be ticked off. In the same sense, it’s rude to purposefully derail a roleplay that you have access to.
Derailing might take a number of forms. A player who doesn’t roleplay might start jumping around in between the RPers and saying things in the public chat. An outside player who does roleplay may enter the session and make it all about themselves. Even a purposeful member of the roleplay could derail the session’s intentions.
Privately Message Roleplayers Before Joining In
Anyone who is roleplaying in public usually understands the ramifications of that decision: other players will see their interaction and may become curious. Thus, it’s not a horrible faux-pas to join in on a public roleplay session without warning, if you’re interested.
However, the extra-polite thing to do would be to privately message (use the /whisper command) one of the players and ask if they’re comfortable for you to join in. Keep in mind that if they’re typing a response, it may take a moment to get back to you. The added benefit is that this creates a personal connection between you and the roleplayer, so you may have just made a new friend (or found a new guild)!
Keep It Safe For Teens In Public
Guild Wars 2 is rated T for “Teens” for a reason. The gameplay, including story and side content, is all designed with this in mind. Now, there’s no reason that the RP community shouldn’t get graphic if it wants to — but consent is an important part of that process.
Being excessively violent or doing ERP (erotic roleplay) in public forums means that not everyone involved has consented to be in this environment. These RPers are changing the game’s rating without letting anyone know. Take it to a private session, like a player home or guildhall.
Tailor Your Text Length To The Group’s Speed
This topic is heavily debated in Guild Wars roleplaying communities: is it rude for RPers to write exceedingly long blocks of text? Those o one side of the argument feel as though players who write blocks of text are not usually saying anything important, but are forcing everyone else to wait for them. The other side suggests that roleplay is about self-expression and description, and to force them not to do that would be missing the point.
The best rule a player who is new to RP or new to a particular group can stick to is to tailor the text length to everyone else’s. A fast-moving bar scene might require shorter text than an emotional balcony chat between two characters. If you do choose to write longer text, you have to be prepared for the fact that it might get a little lost.
Don’t Roleplay The Commander
“The Commander” is the generic way that the game, its NPCs, and the players refer to the main character of Guild Wars 2. That means that every person who plays Guild Wars 2 has been “The Commander” in its story.
It’s considered pretty rude to roleplay as the player character of the entire game. What would happen if two people wanted or tried to roleplay as the Commander? Besides, it would be hard to justify why the game’s main character was even present in any given RP session anyway. Its generally accepted that, since everyone can’t, no one can.
Keep It In The Lore
Guild Wars 2 has extensive lore that’s easily accessible to read up on online. When roleplaying with others, don’t drift too far from the understood lore. Some things are generally understood to be foggy — for example, Guild Wars lore states that all Nightmare Court members are evil and irredeemable, and many roleplayers ignore or tweak this detail.
However, unless you’re interacting with a group that has an accepted collective canon, or you understand the nuances of accepted canon well enough, stick to the basics.
Avoid Interrupting Someone Mid-Type (Unless It’s The Understood Norm)
If a player has indicated that they’re not finished typing by placing a “+” sign (or some other indication) at the end of their text, it’s usually considered rude to type something and send it out before that player has finished their thought.
To be fair, some communities welcome interruptions as a way to redirect and orient the flow of conversation — so if you know that this RP group doesn’t care, then interrupt away (assuming your character is intending to interrupt a character, and you’re not just impatient or rude).
Keep IC and OOC Discussions Separate
Nothing is more frustrating for roleplayers in Guild Wars 2 (and almost any game) than when the roleplaying chat is spammed with irrelevant messages. If they’re using a public channel to roleplay like the /say command, they have to accept that other people’s conversations may bleed into the session.
However, if the roleplayers begin to have out-of-character (OOC) discussions in any channel being used for in-character (IC) interactions, it’s very bad form. Most roleplayers are members of a guild with one another, or at least in a party together, so those channels are excellent alternatives.
NEXT: 10 Guild Wars 2 Memes For Veterans
