With the launch of Wyrmrest Accord, many rolelpayers have transferred there in hopes of finding others who enjoy to roleplay. You've said you'll enforce the server rules on this server, but yet, it's not happening. On top of that, we've seen a huge influx of griefers. For the last four years that I've played WoW, I've watched minimal action be taken. It's getting old.

I do realize we're but a small fraction of your player base, but I also believe unless things change then the roleplaying communities in WoW will be no more. We're being over-run by griefers on every roleplaying server in the game. So many new people are transferring tot he servers in hopes of easy PVE progression or PVP - that isn't what our servers are for.

It's very discouraging to see our rolelpaying communities just fall apart like this, but when no action is taken against those griefing...we just get tired of fighting a battle we cannot win. I've thrown together a small list of suggestions. Please help us keep this bumped, even if you don't roleplay. We need this to be addressed.

First of all, there are hundreds of guilds that openly brag about hating roleplay, not roleplaying, or refusing to follow the roleplay server rules. This isn't okay. Blizzard, you take no action on these guilds. I expect to have some non-roleplaying players on the server, but they should not be the majority. They also should not be allowed to stay on the server after proclaiming all of the previously mentioned. On Wyrmrest Accord, we have a guild, Mean Girls, who have openly said they came to the server for a server first achievement. They try to get reported and get kicked off the server, now that they have what they came for. This is NOT okay.

Secondly, we're on a recommended status. PLEASE remove Wyrmrest Accord from this status. This is where a lot of the griefers are coming from, I think. They see the tag and think "Oh, fresh roleplay server, let's have some fun." I don't think being on recommended is going to help our server. Only hurt it.

Also, I want to address enforcing the rules. Please make people agree to these rules and read them before rolling on our server. I hate having an open ticket every minute I play because I'm reporting names. I reported someone over two weeks ago with the name "Theedevil" and that player is still running around. That isn't a roleplaying name and he bragged to me about how he changed his name back to it without consequence. The amount of out of character is mind-boggling. Many players go around yelling, griefing, or even having full blown out of character conversations in /say and /yell. This is clearly against your rules, but again, reporting them does nothing.

On the website /party chat is said to be an in-character channel. I do not see the logic here. It is a private channel, therefore should be out of character. Please change this to an open channel - let the players decide.

Pleas help us keep our roleplaying servers clean. We NEED to have more than one community for the roleplayers to turn to. Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord are the only two servers that have a chance at staying active in the communities. Again, please take these suggestions seriously.

Other servers have RPers on them too. It'd be best to not forget that as well.

Small as a community we may be, there is a good number who have some misgivings. I'm not going to write up a wall of text saying the good and the bad about this and that. So, while it's here, I do want to see some sort of quality control for us that works in our favour. Without it things like the following happen, taken from the original post.

---

Q u o t e:
On Wyrmrest Accord, we have a guild, Mean Girls, who have openly said they came to the server for a server first achievement. They try to get reported and get kicked off the server, now that they have what they came for. This is NOT okay.

---

As it stands right now a number of the guild itself is griefing any role playing seen in Stormwind, Shattrath, or Dalaran, no matter the faction or the place. Added to this odd persistence we have a number of members and/or guilds following in their wake, being a general nuisance to both RPers and those that roll on the server for a mature community. This kind of thing has happened on the realms realms like Silver Hand and Shadow Council and, by now, something probably has to be done.

Edot: Revision.

I will add:

Please add the Trade channel to the Roleplaying Policy. As this is a public channel, like General chat, it should be subject at minimum to the same restrictions as General chat on RP realms - namely, "the General Chat Channel should NOT be used for any "Off-topic," Non-Storyline, or non game-related discussions." This alone would help cut down on immersion-breaking non-RP chat on RP realms.

Well said.

While I agree with all of these points, taking WA off the "Recommended" list and enforcing rules more actively are two places that will have significant impact.

The first is easily done and requires little attention from Blizzard staff. The server population is growing steadily, and many people who support RP are eager to move over as soon as paid transfers open up. Some may be because of the "Recommended" rating, but a lot of it is from word-of-mouth - there are dedicate players who want to play on a server supporting RP, and they are more likely to keep playing if they can find a good home like WA. You are rightly concerned about balancing populations between realms - this will happen in good time because many players want a solid RP server to play on.

The second takes more resources from you, but the members of WA are interested in helping by policing our own and submitting reports of rules violations to the GMs. But lately there has been frustration that these reports are not being taken seriously, and this is leading to players who do not feel that the server will continue to offer an enjoyable gaming experience for them. We are trying to use in-game methods first to address violations, but when there are players who specifically target RPers and intentionally undermine the RP environment, GM action is truly needed.

The RP category of server is no less definite than the PvP designation of other servers. The problem is that the latter is enforced through game settings; the former can only be enforced through collaboration between players and GMs. We will do our part by first asking violators to stop, then by filing a GM ticket. But we need you to deliver on your end too.

I almost canceled my account a couple weeks ago because I was getting bored. But after moving to WA, I have found a whole new aspect of the game to enjoy, and I foresee staying with WoW for a long time, provided that RP continues to be supported by Blizzard. I am a long-time fan of your games, and I recognize your customer service and game quality as being excellent. Please continue this tradition and support your player communities.

I agree with all that's been said.

And I have to offer my two copper as well.

When we report someone for something, and they get reported several times, they should get a perma-ban. By this I mean, say they get name reported a few times. After a set number of times, they get rejected from the server forever. Same policy should extent to griefer reports, etc.

Now, I realize this is probably a bit time consuming and all, and maybe a bit harsh as well, but it would help out the Role Playing community greatly.

At this point, perma-bans seems to me to be the only way to keep them off our wonderful realms. Otherwise they keep coming back.

Edit: Cause red text means I fixed something. ^.^

---

Q u o t e:
With the launch of Wyrmrest Accord, many rolelpayers have transferred there in hopes of finding others who enjoy to roleplay. You've said you'll enforce the server rules on this server, but yet, it's not happening. On top of that, we've seen a huge influx of griefers. For the last four years that I've played WoW, I've watched minimal action be taken. It's getting old.

I do realize we're but a small fraction of your player base, but I also believe unless things change then the roleplaying communities in WoW will be no more. We're being over-run by griefers on every roleplaying server in the game. So many new people are transferring tot he servers in hopes of easy PVE progression or PVP - that isn't what our servers are for.

It's very discouraging to see our rolelpaying communities just fall apart like this, but when no action is taken against those griefing...we just get tired of fighting a battle we cannot win. I've thrown together a small list of suggestions. Please help us keep this bumped, even if you don't roleplay. We need this to be addressed.

First of all, there are hundreds of guilds that openly brag about hating roleplay, not roleplaying, or refusing to follow the roleplay server rules. This isn't okay. Blizzard, you take no action on these guilds. I expect to have some non-roleplaying players on the server, but they should not be the majority. They also should not be allowed to stay on the server after proclaiming all of the previously mentioned. On Wyrmrest Accord, we have a guild, Mean Girls, who have openly said they came to the server for a server first achievement. They try to get reported and get kicked off the server, now that they have what they came for. This is NOT okay.

Secondly, we're on a recommended status. PLEASE remove Wyrmrest Accord from this status. This is where a lot of the griefers are coming from, I think. They see the tag and think "Oh, fresh roleplay server, let's have some fun." I don't think being on recommended is going to help our server. Only hurt it.

Also, I want to address enforcing the rules. Please make people agree to these rules and read them before rolling on our server. I hate having an open ticket every minute I play because I'm reporting names. I reported someone over two weeks ago with the name "Theedevil" and that player is still running around. That isn't a roleplaying name and he bragged to me about how he changed his name back to it without consequence. The amount of out of character is mind-boggling. Many players go around yelling, griefing, or even having full blown out of character conversations in /say and /yell. This is clearly against your rules, but again, reporting them does nothing.

On the website /party chat is said to be an in-character channel. I do not see the logic here. It is a private channel, therefore should be out of character. Please change this to an open channel - let the players decide.

Pleas help us keep our role-playing servers clean. We NEED to have more than one community for the roleplayers to turn to. Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord are the only two servers that have a chance at staying active in the communities. Again, please take these suggestions seriously.

---

^I support the above quote whole-heartedly. I joined this game because of what I read about the RP servers on the WoW website. Part of what I read was the alleged rules that were enforced on these servers. Since then I have quit this game twice due to Blizzard's false advertising, and the resulting decline of RP on my previous servers.

I'm now seeing a slow but steady decline in RP on my new servers, and a lack of action on the GM's part when I report blatant rule violations. If this continues it is likely that I'll be quitting again, and taking my money with me. Rest assured, I will not be the only one who does.

---

Q u o t e:
I agree with all that's been said.

---

It's very discouraging to see our rolelpaying communities just fall apart like this, but when no action is taken against those griefing

This has always been the problem.

Blizzard asks the player base to report, so you take time out of your game play to inform a Blizzard employee of a violation. Names, griefing, whatever the case may be. Its against the TOS, you speak to a GM, you get pacified...

Be nice if Blizzard could enforce its own TOS. RPers do pay for there accounts, go to a server designed for them, and yet, it continues

Love to see a Blue responce on this one :P

I would like to get rid of the reccomended status too. This is why Moon Gaurd ended up the way it did. Queues and non-rping guilds and players running around to the point I gave up reporting names because they never did anything about them.

Blizz needs to enforce its rules, we pay the same amount of money - and some of us are paying out of our own pockets, not mommy's and daddy's. We have the right to play on our chosen server without being harassed by lack-witted players who think its cool to toss racial slurs at you and make offensive named characters.

I vaguely remember reading that in Roleplaying servers people would be banned if they used OOC in the normal chat

Whatever happened to that rule?

Also, I support the perma-ban idea. I report names and harrassments on a regular basis, and while I do appreciate Blizzard's action on them, mostly I see the same character come back a few days later, only to have one or a few character changed.

"Smokinjoe" becomes "Smokin"
"Shapeshifta" becomes "Shapeshifte"
"Trackerspy" becomes "Trackrspy"

And the likes.

---

Q u o t e:
I vaguely remember reading that in Roleplaying servers people would be banned if they used OOC in the normal chat

Whatever happened to that rule?

---

I'd be quite happy if, after X number of RP violations, a player was thenceforth unable to play on RP realms. Note that in this case, said player could continue playing on PvE and PvP realms (assuming he/she hadn't yet reached the top of the penalty volcano), but as it stands, there is no incentive (other than the vague threat of an eventual possible account closure for repeated violations) for anyone to stop non-RP behavior on RP realms. Forced moves off, and disabling character creation on RP servers, would at least keep repeat offenders away from their victims even if Blizzard does not deem repeat RP violations worthy of account closure.

I approve this message!

I too got bored of the game and almost quit a year or so ago, before I discovered Role-Playing realms and found a whole new focus of interest.

For so long, I've put up with griefers, watching the RP on the realms I played on mostly be driven underground. It became almost a shameful thing, that people were embarrassed to be caught doing. Most of my RP is in whisper/partychat these days, simply to avoid the general idiocy of others attempting to mess up my immersion.

Wyrmrest Accord was so full of promise at the start. Everybody was determined to make it the best RP realm we possibly could.

And oh... those early days before the server was opened up, were blissful. Never mind that I couldn't get groups for instances, I was happy enough just wandering through the towns and cities randomly Roleplaying with whomever was there.

Now, sadly, I find myself in whisper and partychat again, a little nonplussed as to how I got there.

I'm doing my bit, reporting names and griefers, putting in a ticket every day. But I've only ever had two of those 'thankyou for contacting us' formletter responses even from Blizzard. Does that mean the other 20-odd tickets just got thrown away?

Please Blizzard, please help us police the rules that you set in place for this realm. I don't think it should be too much to ask.

---

Q u o t e:


I'd be quite happy if, after X number of RP violations, a player was thenceforth unable to play on RP realms. Note that in this case, said player could continue playing on PvE and PvP realms (assuming he/she hadn't yet reached the top of the penalty volcano), but as it stands, there is no incentive (other than the vague threat of an eventual possible account closure for repeated violations) for anyone to stop non-RP behavior on RP realms. Forced moves off, and disabling character creation on RP servers, would at least keep repeat offenders away from their victims even if Blizzard does not deem repeat RP violations worthy of account closure.

---

^This is a good idea too. I understand the reason Blizzard doesn't want to issue bans for rule violations is because those banned players might get irked and take their money to another game, but I think it's unlikely that someone who only joins RP servers to grief the RPers is going to quit WoW simply because they can no longer grief the RPers.

---

Q u o t e:
I
Now, sadly, I find myself in whisper and partychat again, a little nonplussed as to how I got there.

---

Aww...no wai. Alliance-side, open random RP is still strong. Keep RP-ing in the open! My point is that we are doing our best to help the realm, just as it is our responsibility to be proactive. At the same time, we are asking Blizzard to up the ante on enforcement, too.

This needs a bump.

Also, I'm seeing about a thousand humans at the Northshire Abbey. About half of them have non RP-friendly names and about 3/4ths I'm guessing, are not RPers.

:( It's a sad sight to see...

Yes. Blizzard needs to start enforcing their RP policies. We're not paying $14.95 a month to do the GM's jobs for them. We're trying to enjoy ourselves when we play, we're not looking out and reporting every problem we see. I understand Blizzard has a business to run and profit to make, but your product is being abuse and destroyed when it come to the RP servers.

I wish to link a thread which I think is relevant to our request to take WA off the Recommended realm list:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14990910000&sid=1

Newcomers who don't know better will most likely not be privy to the rules of an RP server, and this adds to the griefer problems that's already growing.

Not to sound rude but...

It is -very- difficult to take the OP seriously as they've posted on a -gnome death knight-. No, this has nothing to do with an elitist attitude or whatever, but merely a lore fallacy that gnomes cannot be death knights for quite a plethora of reasons.

During the Third War (Which playable Death Knights were supposed to have died in), all gnomes were in Gnomeregan. They didn't fight in the Third War. Yes, gnomish buildings and flying machines existed in WC3, but they were dwarven operated. Granted this reason alone also boggles my mind to how Draenei became Death Knights, since they weren't even on the planet. I could go on mentioning how dwarves have zero combat experience, I could argue that while they definatey possess the mental ability to master necromancy it by no means states they have the other necessary qualities (martial experience, the ability to command troops, the physical strength, etc)...

Anyways, a bit off track.

I agree, Blizzard should do something about enforcing RP rules on RP servers. Will it happen? Probably not. If the past is any indicator, blizzard caters to the majority whom at this point are the PvP'ers.