World of Warcraft: Forever's decision to implement separate roleplaying (RP) servers has drawn scrutiny from a long-time MMO roleplayer, who argues that the division is unnecessary and ultimately detrimental to player experience. While acknowledging the generally more relaxed atmosphere on RP servers, the author suggests that the strict separation from standard 'PvE' rulesets limits interaction and does not align with how most players engage in roleplaying.
In a 15+ hour investigation, the writer found that the RP servers, while offering a chiller vibe and reduced toxicity, fail to integrate roleplaying into instanced or group content, which is where most RP naturally occurs spontaneously in the open world or at dedicated social hubs. The belief that roleplayers are inherently more considerate is highlighted, with the author recounting minimal negative interactions beyond minor passive aggression over in-game resources.
The implementation of a strict RP ruleset, including name conventions, has seen some adherence but not a universal change, with joke names still present and generally not causing immersion issues for the author. The core argument is that while a separate server architecture for RP might be beneficial to prevent dilution, the complete disallowance of travel or grouping with players on normal ruleset servers is unwarranted.
This separation, the author posits, prevents roleplayers from engaging in activities like raiding or gearing up with friends who play on standard servers, forcing them to choose between their RP identity and broader game engagement. The writer advocates for the option to migrate between RP and PvE rulesets, drawing a parallel to how roleplayers naturally switch between in-character and out-of-character modes. This flexibility, it is argued, would better serve the player base, especially as populations on any single server may fluctuate over time.
