How Sha'tar players got into roleplay

Forum topic @ wow-europe.com
Original post by Lèon :
A simple little topic for appreciation and curious people. I'm sure there'll be alot of 'Played DnD =D' - And 'Pen and Paper (;' - and thats perfectly alright, However i'm sure some people will have a large story to tell about how they got into all of this.
Ed: User identities for characters were best guesses based on knowledge or on the most recent editor of the character page. Please change them if they are wrong.
The characters listed are the characters on which the post was made on the thread.
==Adera==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
I quess we all have RP'ed in a way when we were kids, be it playing with barbie dolls or cops & robbers out in the yard. I've always liked writing stories, so I guess that's from where I got my kick-start for RP. We even had an imaginary dog-kennel with my friend when we were about 10 years old, and it worked mostly by us taking turns to write short stories about the daily activities of the kennel. We even drew blueprints for the buildings and the layout of the land, hehe.
A few years later me and a small group of friends decided to try out LARP, and we played out a few home-made scenarios. It was fun while it lasted, but I suck at acting so it never got any bigger than that and later the group fell apart when people moved, changed schools etc. Anyway, that's how I started "proper" RP.
After that I took a small break from RP, but I still wrote stories. They were mostly a few pages in length, and usually unrelated to eachother. Funnily enough, I've never liked the sort of Open RP stories we have here on the WoW forums. They feel so very limited to me, I just can't write a post that's only one or two paragraphs long. I think I've only taken part in one Open RP, and that was years ago in a different game. I remember that one story because the character I played was so horribly full of clichés that her name could have very well been Mary-Sue. I still have her backstory which I occasionally read for laughs and to remind myself on how not to do character creation.
My first MMORPG was a small game called Horizons, a game I picked only because it had dragons as playable race. The game was a big disappointment but I still love my blue-white Helian dragon Lucas, he's one of my all-time favourite characters. When Horizons went downhill, I moved to EQ2 and played on an RP server for a couple of months, though I never actually got to RP much. WoW had been out for a few months as well at that point, and finally my brother convinced me to try it out. I played on normal server for some time before I discovered the wonderful world of WoW RP. Back then we had only two RP servers, and I chose Earthen Ring, got one character to 60 and re-rolled on Moonglade from where I moved to Sha'tar when it was launched.
==Anàrriah==
User - Character
After hearing a -lot- of good things about WoW (and, initially, telling those friends to fudge off) I finally decided to buy it. Started a human warrior (*shudders*) on a Normal server (Khadgar) and leveled to about 27 before rerolling... And again... And again...
Well, I finally decided to go poke around RP servers for a while, a few failed attempts at seeing the difference later (got to about level 5 each time before deciding normal was the same as RP) I actually went on the internet (google ftw!) to read what the fudge RP actually was.
I learned what RP was, I read about "my" race on wowwiki and I rolled a little Nelf on Darkmoon Faire (R.I.P.). Me, being the idiot I was (and am), went to Goldshire and looked for RP there and, by chance, I found it! A bit of silly (but not lorelol-ish) RP during the halloween event.
After DMF got crappy and overrun by OOCers I finally left the server to go to the newborn Sha'tar. Haven't left since.
==Caileath==
User - Character
I'm an old timer when it comes to roleplaying. I started over ten years ago, with pen and paper games (Cyberpunk, Vampire: the Masquerade, Call of Cthulhu - D&D I tried only years later), IRC text based roleplay and even LARPing. As a clueless teenager, I did the impossible and the unthinkable: I read up on rp theory and actually took the advice to heart. I was also lucky to quickly find a somewhat solid community of real life people to explore this new hobby with, so I never made too much of a fool of myself.
Now, I never meant to get into WoW. The friends I, at the time, played PnP games with, were largely obsessed with the game and talked about it all the time, so I swore I'd never touch something so nefarious. Well, until, just a bit over a year ago, said friends got me the classic + TBC Battlechest for Christmas. Gee, thanks. What could I do? So I rolled a draenei mage, and started off.
WoW was the only game I ever made any lorelol mistakes in. I didn't read up on the lore beforehand this time, I rushed headfirst into levelling, and learned the ropes only gradually. But what was clear from the start was that I'd rp. I never even considered a non-rp realm. I've since then fallen out with the friends who got me the game, and ironically, I'm now completely hooked on WoW after they've largely quit. But overall, it was a smooth transition into a new medium.
==Cenariath==
User - Character
I played D&D when I was about 8, with no real idea what was going on. Then I started playing the World of Darkness games at 16 or so.
I don't play RPGs much these days, as I no longer do it for work (which was the main reason I stayed at it) and WoW eats up the time I'd have spent doing it, anyway. When I started WoW, it was specifically to see how the RP was in the game, and I've stuck with it since then. I don't necessarily think it's better or worse than traditional RPGs, but it's certainly different enough to stay interesting.
==Coldhoof==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
Three people got me into RP.
 Kaleas. Akalin. Ranishara.
It was around the time of The Cult of Chaos, and coldhooff was a level 14 warrior with 2 eff's in his name.
Me and Kaleas were hanging around Silvermoon, and then we met Akalin. We tried chatting her up ( IN RP) and then we find out her little secret, so we stopped.
Kaleas then got me to join The Cult of Chaos, I became a Hell Knight, the guild split.
 Still amazingly amazing.
==Dacianna==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
Hmm. 1988, 3rd edition of swedens "drakar och demoner" rpg.
==Dalvoron==
User page not found - Character
Add another [writer] to the list!
I think it all started in my first year of secondary school, when English class became more than just spelling, and grammar. Part of the exams we took meant we had to write some sort of short story. After trying and failing to imagine a story that interested me, I looked to games. After that, Dalvy came into being, the hero in a world based loosely on Hyrule, of the Legend of Zelda (and Dalvy was a Link sort of person).
Dalvoron (some may be interested to know) was originally a human, blonde, and a ranger. He was a tomb raider of sorts. Later (after more Legend of Zelda inspiration), I created the Gods, Godesses, and high priests of Dalvy's world. The gems from his world are inspired by the Din's Fire, Farore's Wind, and Nayru's Love. Instead, they each contained a portion of the Gods' power (one for fire, water, time, etc etc, I think there were 24).
But anyway, after a spout of DnD, Dalvy became a High Elf Mage instead, gained a surname, 2 brothers, a sister, and a wife (whose name was taken from a dragon in previous stories). Several years later, my cousin bought WoW, and I got it too, so I could play with him. Unlike a lot of people in this thread, and a few others I've talked to, I started on The Sha'Tar because it was a roleplaying realm, and I wanted to roleplay right from the start! (My cousin's sub started after mine, so I got to choose the realm! :D )
==Deadren==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
I started when I picked up DAOC (Dark age of Camelot) and after sampling the various servers, found RP servers to have the nicest people on. So originally I didn't go for the RP, I went for the "nicer people" when compared to lolboy insult throwers on other servers.
I found a nice guild in Daoc and my RP grew from there.
==Eyel==
User - Character
Ok I had no RP experience (board or PnP or whatever, well perhaps for the odd RPG, but that barely counts ;) )
Anyways when I bought WoW I started out on Dragonblight (normal) and rolled a dorf priest. I joined a guild which in hindsight might -borderline- "light" rp (in the sense that we had guildmeetings).
One day I was having fun speaking with an dwarvish accent and some random person, who walked past me at the SW gate said the magical words that inspired me to roll on a RP realm: "lolz u shud try RPrealm nub" <= no kidding.
Confused with what RP was I read EVERY guide that was available at the time (on the WoW RPforums and some off sites). Meanwhile rolled on Moonglade and... well the rest is less interesting (unless you care about Giszle and his ingame history..)
==Flameweaver==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
Ugh... long story.
I got a copy of WoW (without TBC) when TBC came out. WoW was my first ever online game, so as you might guess I quicly got sucked in by the stupidity. You know what I'm talking about: using lol as a punctuation mark, shortening the words to the point they were around 2 letters big, inability to form a gramatically correct sentance (not sure if I got better in that department >.>), etc.
Rolled a Nelf Druid on Hellfire . Mainly because I liked the Nelf and druid lore. I suppose I liked RP before even knowing what it was. Named him Nozrodom. I intended to name him after the Bronze Dragon Aspect (Nozdormu), but I forgot exact name, and I was too excited about playing the game to alt-tab and check the official WoW website. Only got him to 39, I think. Was a noob, so bad talent and gear choices. When about WotLK launched, I got back on him just to spec properly, gear properly, and buy the level 30 mount.
Two months later, I got TBC. Rolled a Draenei Paladin on the Wildhammer server ( again, I suppose I liked the combination between the race of light and the class of light ) and abandoned the Nelf Druid. Named him Masahiro, which means Hero in Japenese ( kind of what kids do these days >.>). I formed a guild which ICly served the Dragons (despite the server was normal, and I had no idea what IC or even RP means). Played him for a month, then my game time ran out and I stoped playing until about 2-3 months later. I deleted him at a certain point in the timeline, though the exact time and reason escape me at the moment.
During the 2-3 months away from WoW, I saw a friend of mine RPing on the Ravenholdt server (RPPvP, if memory serves). Despite the fact that when I stoped playing I thought I would continue where I left off with the Paladin, when I bought game time again (Sometime in June). Several things happened however during my inactivity: 1. I stoped using so many lols and short forms of words, etc 2. I started using the forums and inspected each of the RP realms forums. 3. I finnaly understood a little what RP means, so I decided to roll on the Sha'tar. 4. During my Druid/Paladin times, I alwasy got jelous when I saw a Hunter because I wanted a pet. 5. I decided to see what Horde is like, so I rolled a Belf.
Yeah, I was on of the kids which fit the description: Ex-Alliance, rerolled a Blood Elf Hunter, bad RP knoledge.
I made a big list of names which sounded Elfish to me (inspired myself from the Heroes in the Heroes III game). In the end, I woke up one day with the name Eldberoth stuck in my head, so I chose that name. Thus, Eldberoth, the Belf Hunter was borned.
Went through a lot of guilds, some defending the Horde, some serving somone or something evil, changing Eldberoth's personality from guild to guild, until I settled for the Lyceum guild, in which I stayed until it disbanded. It was a small guild, with the most active members being me, Shalya and Carsaib. And most of my RP education was given by them two (sometimes also involving some Essence members back in the day *trails off*), so if you're reading this, I owe you one :).
The first RP event I took part in was the Ahn'Qiraj Battle Effort Caravan organised by Faern, which started in Orgrimmar, went through Barrens, Stonetalon, Desolace, Feralas, Tanaris, Un'goro and finnaly Silithus. That was my first bit of RP I had outside Silvermoon, and I enjoyed it greatly.
I suppose over the time I got better and better at RPing. And that is the long story of how I got into RP. I'd rather not go into the other long story including Flameweaver's and some of Eldberoth's history :)
==Gehax==
User page not found - Character
I learned about rp from leveling VEEEEEEEEEEEERY slowly and being in GS or at least hanging out there while i was bettween lvl 6-40 Remember that was about... pfft I donno 3 months or something and the last 20 of those were in kinda... boardline almost okay guilds that still were in gs alot like Shadow league and so on... Eventually I started rping okayish if confused in sw its not like I knew about any rp terms, channels, guilds or hangouts so I worked it out for myself. Eventually I got into GHE then holy templars (the orginal one), about 6 months ago I developed Gehax's character and so on made friends with a few people joined theif and so on... its been a bumpy road though given a few more months and I would of just given up.
==Gremgo==
User - Character
 Hi!
I've been writing fiction since I was 5. I started off writing crappy cops and robbers stories which sometimes lasted two A4 pages, and sometimes lasted two lines. I was very inconsistent, being a wee nipper. As the years went by, I developed my writing skills, and it became my biggest creative hobby. When I was 11, I started work on a novel called Afterlife, which was about a modern-day war between Hell and Heaven, with lots of pop culture references and tedious jokes. It started pretty well, for an 11 year old, and then went rapidly downhill as the plot got more and more irrelevant.
Roleplaying was always something I did unknowingly. I used to have a miniature wrestling ring with lots of toy wrestlers, and I had my own wrestling federation which I forget the name of. I used to have lots of storylines and things like that. Y'know, kid stuff.
Eventually, having watched Lord of the Rings and really, really, really digging fantasy (of which I'd always been interested in but as more of an occasional diversion), I started writing my own fantasy stuff. The world was called Eggsic, and it started off as a parody to most fiction. One of these unfunny fantasies that kids write when they're 13, thinking they're God's gift to witty literature. I started to read Discworld, and took a lot of influence (read: shamelessly plagiarised) from that. But over the years, it's became darker, more serious, and much more developed - it's become its own world, and whilst it takes inspiration from Warcraft, Discworld, LOTR, The Witcher, and other stuff, it's not a copy anymore. I've my own ideas and my own way of presenting them.
World of Warcraft was like... the game for me. Whilst they were, and still are, aspects of the game's world that I find too advanced for my kinda liking of fantasy (I don't even like guns, nevermind flying spaceships!), it's also incredibly rich, and presents an entire world to explore. MMOs really intrigued me, when I first heard about them, the idea of socialising with people you met out in the wild was mint. Like Junka, I started off on Kul'Tiras, on a normal realm. I did very rare bits of RP there, poking at the ideas behind it, and... well, I found them relevant to my interests. I realized that there were such things as RP realms, which sounded incredibly novel, and interesting. Back then, I wasn't so much of a consistent WOW player as I am now, taking long, frequent breaks and finding the levelling game insurmountable (Hello, two 80s!), so it was only when TBC came out, and a new realm was launched that I... well... I wanted to give it a proper shot.
I am so very glad I did.
==Inifay==
User page not found - Character
Wow there's a good question....
Well, I started off as a writer, and so I often was inside the ehads of my characters, always imaginign how they thought and felt.... So rp came kind of naturally from that.
Way back when I'd be on those rp chatrooms which where so big, fighting the good fight and having a great time.
Then the age of those chatrooms ended. They grew empty.... Still they sit there to this day infact, totally empty. So my rp stopped for a while, and I continued to write and then eventually began to draw, all the while 'being' characters as I made their stories.
Then one day a friend said they'd started WoW. I had said I'd never get the game, but, then of course I caved. I got WoW and started on a normal server with my friend. After a while he left and I began to grow bored so in the end I too left...
My good friend Pyx then took over my account as I wasn't using it and still had a sub going. She eventually roped me back into playing on the RP servers.
I was reluctant at first, having not rp'd in forever and this was a totaly new way of doing it. But once I got to grips with it I was entralled and haven't looked back sicne. (So ty Pyx) I was lucky to be introduced to some great people who take the time to rp with me most everyday. (ty, you know who you are!) And now yuor stuck with me.
==Junka==
Character
Warhammer).
months).
==Kall/Ursala==
User - Character/Character
*glances at Hare meaningfully*
My earliest memory is of watching a family friend spin cotton with a drop spindle at a re-enactment festival or something. I must have been three or so - I was in nursery.
Quite a few people at the gaming convention I went to last month recognised me better when Hare reminded them of an instance when I was - what, six? Seven? of me roleplaying his hawk familiar at a Sabreenar game. I ran around and shouted "caw" and, once, I got to deliver a message to another table. That was the highlight of my seven-year-old day...
All of the games I played in the playground whilst everyone else was playing football or tag were roleplays, too, in retrospect. I grew out of the mary-sue phase when I started doing it for real, tabletops and online.
So yeah. I was basically brought up into it :)
==Lèon ==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
The first Realm I ever played on was The Sha'Tar. -It was Recommended at the time, hehe. And, as you might be able to guess... Lèon was my first character. His name was based of 'Lèon' - The movie about a french Sniper I particually enjoyed. If you want a job done well hire a professional.
I hadnt a clue what type of Realm I was joining, 'RP' was just a term - Or, simply two conjoined letters for me then. However, as I began to level - I realised what community I had joined, and gave it a try.
I was an immediate LoreLol/Fool/Idiot that hadnt a clue what he was doing. I played Leon with a number of curses upon his right arm, with was covered in fur, and had long claw-like hands, so he couldnt use it... His eye was bloodshot and he always had to keep his eyelids closed or else he'd enter a state of 'Bestial Wrath' - I then joined 'Nocturne', as a rebellious and cocky IC Player. (And OOC too!) -Krisom, Javea - and many others, became good friends of mine - The guild, in itself, was slightly 'Lol' - But... The RP We took place in, was fantastic - and, most of all - Fun!
After a few months of RP'ing, I gained a better perspective of RP - Pulled my Arm and Eye out of the picture, and just became a Rebellious Ranger.
On the fall of Nocturne ( It had gained a very, bad image ) - Esoteric Illusion was borne, I left immediatly - I deemed the Rules to strict, but I shortly realised how much fun I had with the guys there - and how much I missed them, my standards of Roleplay raised even moreso to match the CoC. When having re-joined, Leon was still his same old self, and while I was having a break from WoW - The guild leader, Krisom )Kilam( Left - Reason's I wont mention, :]. I was part of the guild for a good seven months, perhaps a little less - when I finally left complications - Almost all my own doing.
Kilam and Javea, Aèrandir and Sinkalia, Kelnas, Heh - Natiel/Hannah, are the people I have to thank, because they showed me how to Roleplay - Without making myself look like a Demi-Jesus-Dragon-Warlord-Commander-God.
Thank you, all of you, I certainly wouldnt be at a stage I am now if I hadnt come across you glorious people - And, The Sha'tar!
Léon! Since there are few ways to find old people these days I will try here. If you wish to get back in touch I would like that very much. I've been trying to find my dear Javea, without any success. I will keep tabs here in case you reply somehow! Thanks for all the years otherwise. :) 
==Marflina==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
Gaia online.
I don't deserve to live.
==Myrion==
User - Character
Like most other people, I guess it started with my own little fantasy adventures as a child, be it alone or with friends. Heck, before I gained various step-siblings, I was the sole child for a long time, and within solitude, one finds both madness and creativity :3
But to be totally honest, what first got me into the scene of MMOs and roleplaying, was the cringe-worthy java game, RuneScape. The graphics were/are bad, and the lollers were aplenty, but a friend had convinced me to join, and we had some fun, even if it was just questing and chatting. It had great castle, knights, peasants, unusual creatures, classic foes such as dragons and giants. All my favourite creatures of fantasy tales, and myths from my childhood, placed into an interactive environment, it was quite pleasing for me at the time. Towards the end of my time, I started looking on their RP forums, and creating backstories for my own characters, this eventually sent me towards WoW, since the friend that had got me interested in RuneScape had bought it.
I played, like Zal, on Emerald Dream PvE for a long time, as Alliance (Night Elf Warrior - Moonguard <3). I didn't realise his name even had anything to do with the lore at the time, it just seemed apt given what I knew of the race. I didn't consciously roleplay there, but we'd occasionally meet up in an inn, sit, drink, and chat. Not only that, I was in the <Royal Night Elves>, a racially restricted guild, seemingly odd for a PvE server, and unknowingly, I guess a lot of us in that guild were beginner roleplayers. I took a long break from WoW, however, and when I came back, I found myself guildless, so I joined <Legion of Rabid Ferrets>, not so lore-accurate, with my mate. Made a lot of friends in there, some that I still hold connections to (you know who you are <3), before I decided it was time for a change.
Around January 2008, Tendrial was born, a level 1 Night Elf Druid, on The Sha'tar EU. I instantly joined Lfrp, and Lfrpooc, and was a bit overwhelmed by the first two guilds I joined (<TelMithrim> and <Earth Mothers Project>), who had been recruiting around Darnassus. Both guilds turned out to be bad fits for me. But the channels I'd joined, turned out to be a source of constant creativity, be it with Heydrick planning to murder a sin'dorei child, or Chingo complaining about the state of affairs. Soon enough, I was in love with the server, and transfered Moonguard over, renaming him in the process. He then became Myrion, who joined Horizon, and became my passion.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
==Nhaera==
User - Character
I got into roleplay after being introduced to Ultima Online (go go Europa server) way back in... 2003ish? However, I'm pretty sure I'd been roleplaying for a long time before that in one guise or another, just never in pixelated form. After playing UO on and off for a year or more, I stood in front of the PC Games shelf in my local Game and tried to choose between Star Wars Galaxies and WoW. I had the SWG box in my hand and was about to pay until an assistant came over and "persuaded" me to buy WoW instead. "Go Horde, go PvP" were his final words.
I ignored him entirely and rolled my first ever character - a nelf druid - on Earthen Ring. I'm pretty sure I got her to level eight, lolling all the way...
...I stayed on ER and made a human rogue, who was slightly more successful. She made her mid-twenties before Defias Brotherhood opened, and I was persuaded to join a nelf-only RPPvP guild. My priest there got to forty before I decided I wanted a break. I uninstalled WoW and quit playing, and roleplaying, for a year or so...
...but like all good addictions, this one urged me back. I messed around levelling various lowbie alts on various servers, before eventually settling on my belf rogue Corelei, here. That was a year ago.
Also, I write. I'm by no means "a writer", but I like to scribble down snippets and stories (some long, some short) quite often. I only know one Writer-with-a-capital-W on this realm who has been published, though.
==Rhistel==
No Sha'tar Wiki information available on this player
Hmm,
Started roleplaying mostly by playing lots of DnD (mostly 2nd edition and a bit of 3rd edition but quit playing it during that time) and making up stories about lots of characters. Think i got my alt-addiction from that. Funny thing is that my most favorite story character would be a Dwarf Fighter and yet somehow i never managed to get a Dwarf Fighter/Paladin at high levels in WoW..
I have always been a huge fan of RPG Games. My first RPG was Ultima 7 the Black Gate, followed by The Serpent Isle, Ultima 8. After that, became totally addicted to Baldur's Gate and the whole saga (including the best RPG ever Planescape: Torment). Even though i played WoW during closed EU beta, i totally didnt liked it at first and it wasnt until after TBC was long out, that i started playing for real. I had chosen specifically for a RP server and the newest at that (Sha'tar), started a Belf Warlock but soon went to a pvp server because my brother played there (Burning Blade). After being grieved a bit too much, i went back to this realm and my brother followed me here.
Soraya
User - Character
Hrm... if the PvP changes that hit a little before TBC never happened, I doubt I would ever have started RPing. Before my first RP character, I was playing a level 19 twink on Lightning's Blade. I'd very recently gotten exalted with WSG, something I was very proud of, and wore my WSG tabard with pride. I planned to level and have a nice set of epics waiting for me for my effort.
BUT THEN
All my rep suddenly meant nothing, and people could buy my prized tabard for a measly 60 WSG marks. I quit and got very bored and though "I like stories, maybe I'll try this RP thingy" so went a made a nelfy on SSL, the very first incarnation of Soraya. I joined a Nelf only druid only RP guild, and to this day it remains some of the best RP I've had. But TBC sort of killed the already small guild, so I rerolled Soraya and the rest of history.
==Sunbeam==
User - Character
Hmmm, well as far back as i can remember i have been into RL acting. I did at primary school, high school, i went to a performing arts college and as an adult i worked in theatres. I loved doing shows for youngsters, they were allowed to shout, think pantomime style shows. What could be more rewarding?
I also enjoy going to see shows where there is audience fancy dress and participation, i have seen Rocky Horror sing-a-long film and stage show and many like it.
I also have done a little D&D paper and pen, but when i started WoW i was computer illiterate, quite game illiterate to be honest and i didnt really know what RP was (within a game) or that this server was an RP server.
I rolled a human and i remember having a discussion with someone, and them having to explain to me about the name above the head, and that it didnt really exist in the WoW world.  I was a total idiot newb (i dont claim to know everything now). But as soon as i found out about RP how could i not join in, when acting is in my blood.
So i came to Horde and at just level 8 i was accepted when i met this much higher level Belf and the rest, you will know.
I enjoy coming into game to relax and have fun, some great friendships have been made.
==Verdauga==
Character
Roleplay always came natural to me, I could never understand why people couldn't at least consider roleplaying and had to run around speaking in leetspeak!
I started playing on a normal realm on a trial account and was one day told to "f*** off to a rp realm" or something along those lines after roleplaying and so I did. And I never looked back. But there was one roleplayer I met on that normal realm who gave me hope in the community of rp. He was a Belf mage and he was vital I believe in setting me up as a WoW roleplayer.
I joined the Sha'Tar and was really pleased to be among like-minded people and that I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the roleplay aspect of the game. I also feel these days that another benefit of being a roleplayer is you can come across more intelligent and punctual, and if you really look you can distinguish who is a roleplayer and who is not through their typing even if they are OOC.
Roleplaying gives the game more depth, I would get bored without it and the pve and pvp, although good, would grow tedious. Its escaping into the game even more and you can meet alot of fasinating and great characters!
I always find it fasinating and count myself lucky that I can find people and just talk for ages with them about a fantasy world in character, its interesting who you can meet and what you can discuss it makes the game more of a rich experience.
==Vitanisus==
User - Character
I think i've said this before... but i'll say it again. :P
I started my Rp career on a Star Wars RP forum, about 4 years ago now. I started out like everyone else does, not really knowing what to do and what not to do. Ended up making a 3000 year old Jedi Master. :P
That forum went through several different incarnations, as did i with my characters. I eventually got better at the RPing side, and even became a moderator on the forum.
BUT THEN.
3 years later, my dear parents decided to order a free 10-day trial for World of Warcraft, from one of the newspapers. I installed it, played the 10-days (On a normal realm), and enjoyed it immensly. The following christmas, i got the retail versions, got set up on a Normal realm, and got my Human Paladin up to level 22.
BUT THEN.
I got bored of the Normal Realm. (Azshara, for those who want to know). I had noticed there were "RP Realms" on the list, so i decided to have a poke around on "The Sha'tar".
I haven't turned back since. :P
==Zalinjia==
User - Character
I grew up with my older brother and father being members of the Napoleonic Association, there was lots of dressing up and role play there. My dad's crap claim to fame: during an episode of Record Breakers Cheryl Baker was at an Nap. Ass. event in the midlands and my dad thinks he got shot by her.
We moved to Buckinghamshire in my early teens and during a stint as a voluntary worker in a museum I met the biggest nerd in the world who introduced me to Live Action Role Play (LARP). We also developed a passion for weekend long D&D campaigns fueled by real ale drinking sessions and chain smoking. We did 40K, Vampire Mas., some random odd anime RP stuff, munchkin, D&D original rules and 2nd ed and many other things that are lost in a boozy fog.
I moved away from Buckinghamshire and as I had left most of my friends behind I turned to the internet to keep in touch. In 2005 one of my friends made an off-the-cuff remark about being in WoW if anyone needed her and I bought the game the next day. Stupidly I didn't roll on her server. Doh.
I started on Emerald Dream PvE Alliance and a friend persuaded me to try Horde on Darkmoon Faire. I loved it and found a group of fellow nutters to play alongside. Those nutters later split from the original guild to form the original incarnation of Blades of Emorus. About 6 months later I found DMF to be a bit dull and the population of alliance/horde dreadfully unbalanced. After some exploring myself and my ex came to The Sha'tar. We started Alliance side then moved back to our beloved Horde. These days I swap between Horde and Alliance comfortably and I love the RP on both sides. And to make things better my old guild came here too, woot!
I no longer drink, smoke or have epic D&D sessions but I still RP like the big RP nerd that I am :) I'd love to meet D&D nerds round here but have no idea how to go about finding them. I spent some time in my local Games Workshop but most of the patrons are frighteningly young and cannot talk to a person with breasts.
==Zuljo==
Character
Hmm...me and my mate were bored one night, thought it would be fun to make characters on a RP realm, so i chose the Sha'tar (was the first one I saw). We made some night elves, got a little story going, and had a lot of fun. Eventually transfered 3 characters here (Zuljo, Analorian and Grakro) and i've never looked back since. Also, that same mate transfered some characters with me, and we've since convinced 2 of our other irl friends to transfer with us (although they don't rp *shakes head disaprovingly while sipping coffee*.
== Bob Namataki ==
I was tired of hearing the word "lol" and "n00b" because I had expected Paladins and Warlocks not "N00bs" and "Huntards" so I went to the Argent Dawn EU. But it was so full and the rp was so light hearted it was pointless. I was stuck listening to everyones Mary Sue characters. This realm was annoying so I went to here. The rp in here was fine, evil, good but nothing pointless. By the way I'm going to try D&D so you were almost right.
==Aenor==
Character - User
I started playing World of Warcraft near the end of 2005 when my older brother invited me to give it a try on his account. I played on a RP realm ever since the beginning even though I didn't really know at first what the server tag was supposed to mean: my character might have some kind of personality already back then, but it was probably more of a by-product of my vivid imagination (and/or LARPer's instinct) than a conscious decision to flesh my character out, given that I knew little about the lore back then.
Nevertheless, one day I got a whisper from a rogue who asked whether I wanted join a RP guild. This rogue would become my first roleplaying contact in WoW and teach me the wonderful world of speaking in-character, searching RP gear and learning more about the lore, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Unfortunately, when he changed servers and our guild fell apart, my RP fell rapidly into decline as well.
When The Burning Crusade was released, I decided to make my Horde characters on a different realm – The Sha'Tar. I didn't get back into roleplay until a real-life friend found out that we were playing Blood Elves on the same realm and asked me whether I'd like to adventure and quest with him in-character, and with him, I rediscovered the joy of roleplaying in WoW. Some time later I was invited to join Dawn Guard, my first heavy RP guild with such amazing things as an IC channel and guild meetings, and soon I also got introduced to the Wizards' Council. I began browsing the realm forums for useful and interesting threads, started attending events, participated in longer-term and more epic roleplay and expanded my social network in-game little by little...
And, well, here I am now.