Taken directly from my article "Taking It Out of the Game" as located on the Sisters of Elune WordPress Community site: http://soe4rp.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/taking-it-out-of-the-game/
Stop by for a visit, and be sure to subscribe! :) ~Bells
There are some that prefer to leave their roleplaying in World of Warcraft right where it started: in the game. There is nothing wrong with the personal choice, of course, and it is completely at the discretion of the player.
Though these folks exist, there are others of us that have found that being in-game all the time isn’t possible for one reason or another. Some of us might have fluctuating schedules, want to tell parts of a story that can’t be played out perfectly due to game restrictions, or want to go above and beyond what is available just with our monthly WoW subscription.
In addition, if you are like me, you might find that the flow of ideas do not stop when you log out of the game. You type /exit and you still have all these wonderful things that pop into your head, all building off that which occurs and what you play out with others while logged in. Where the creativity doesn’t stop once you have logged out is where the out-of-game experience and branching out comes into play.
A Testimonial
A Beginning
I started Bells on SoE in August of 2007. I had no plans to roleplay, and honestly never had RP’d before in any medium. By the time my little Blood Elf Protection Paladin left Ghostlands, however, I had met a number of roleplayers, formulated a shell of her back story, and had started wrapping my head around the larger concepts of Lore.
Admittedly, I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, even in naming my main character (‘Bellamuerte’ was given as a moniker with no thought to roleplaying, Lore, or anything as such since I had only planned on PvE). However, I have tried my best to learn from all the errors I have made, and have grown to love and appreciate WoW, Lore, and roleplay itself. Now? Bells is known as Bells (among other things), and she wouldn’t really be her by any other name.
A Step Further
Taking things out of game began for me when I hit the brick wall where imagination is impeded by sheer mechanics. Some of the characters I played could not interact with each other in-game since they were on one account. Because of this and to kind of keep track of things that went on in my head regarding “behind the scenes” actions, I started using Microsoft Word documents to house these little interactions I needed played out for storytelling purposes. Soon, I began contributing to the official Sisters of Elune boards with stories and posts, and built a little library of collaborations and history for Bella. This really took off near the end of BC when I partnered up with the person who writes Kalico (or Kylea Boldvalor), Bella’s wife. Since then, we have created enough out-of-game writing to fill about 300 pages.
Luckily, I had a good portion of said writings saved to various spots when my PC died last year. Not too long before that, however, I had begun initially creating everything I posted out of game to LiveJournal. On March 20, 2011, I made the final post to the LJ account announcing I had moved to WordPress.com. Since moving Bella’s site here, I have expanded to three blogs (Genarianna and Chartreux, as well as Bella’s “main” storehouse), and I have gladly taken on a role here in the SoE WordPress Community site. Everything I write now goes directly into the WordPress site, and drafts are housed there, refreshing the save often. This saves me a good deal of heartache over what would happen if my computer bit the dust. Trust me; if you have never had it happen before, it really is heartbreaking.
Food For Thought
Someday – whether we want to admit it or not – World of Warcraft will come to an end. When it is all said and done, I know I would like to see what I spent so much time and energy on, being able to flip back through and see how I grew as a writer of sorts. Think of your out-of-game roleplay and the archives you can create as a keepsake. In time, you will be able to look back on that portion of your life and enjoy the good memories you are making right now.
As well, moving outside to other sources allows a freedom for collaboration that only our imaginations restrict. Roleplay without others is sometimes required (such as for creating back stories, filler content, and the like). However, interaction with others in your community makes roleplay a living, breathing effort that can take and test your talents beyond what you might believe them to be. In short, connecting with other folks is what really makes roleplay worthwhile, and using any method possible is a good way to keep things moving in the lives of your characters.
Stop by for a visit, and be sure to subscribe! :) ~Bells
There are some that prefer to leave their roleplaying in World of Warcraft right where it started: in the game. There is nothing wrong with the personal choice, of course, and it is completely at the discretion of the player.
Though these folks exist, there are others of us that have found that being in-game all the time isn’t possible for one reason or another. Some of us might have fluctuating schedules, want to tell parts of a story that can’t be played out perfectly due to game restrictions, or want to go above and beyond what is available just with our monthly WoW subscription.
In addition, if you are like me, you might find that the flow of ideas do not stop when you log out of the game. You type /exit and you still have all these wonderful things that pop into your head, all building off that which occurs and what you play out with others while logged in. Where the creativity doesn’t stop once you have logged out is where the out-of-game experience and branching out comes into play.
A Testimonial
A Beginning
I started Bells on SoE in August of 2007. I had no plans to roleplay, and honestly never had RP’d before in any medium. By the time my little Blood Elf Protection Paladin left Ghostlands, however, I had met a number of roleplayers, formulated a shell of her back story, and had started wrapping my head around the larger concepts of Lore.
Admittedly, I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, even in naming my main character (‘Bellamuerte’ was given as a moniker with no thought to roleplaying, Lore, or anything as such since I had only planned on PvE). However, I have tried my best to learn from all the errors I have made, and have grown to love and appreciate WoW, Lore, and roleplay itself. Now? Bells is known as Bells (among other things), and she wouldn’t really be her by any other name.
A Step Further
Taking things out of game began for me when I hit the brick wall where imagination is impeded by sheer mechanics. Some of the characters I played could not interact with each other in-game since they were on one account. Because of this and to kind of keep track of things that went on in my head regarding “behind the scenes” actions, I started using Microsoft Word documents to house these little interactions I needed played out for storytelling purposes. Soon, I began contributing to the official Sisters of Elune boards with stories and posts, and built a little library of collaborations and history for Bella. This really took off near the end of BC when I partnered up with the person who writes Kalico (or Kylea Boldvalor), Bella’s wife. Since then, we have created enough out-of-game writing to fill about 300 pages.
Luckily, I had a good portion of said writings saved to various spots when my PC died last year. Not too long before that, however, I had begun initially creating everything I posted out of game to LiveJournal. On March 20, 2011, I made the final post to the LJ account announcing I had moved to WordPress.com. Since moving Bella’s site here, I have expanded to three blogs (Genarianna and Chartreux, as well as Bella’s “main” storehouse), and I have gladly taken on a role here in the SoE WordPress Community site. Everything I write now goes directly into the WordPress site, and drafts are housed there, refreshing the save often. This saves me a good deal of heartache over what would happen if my computer bit the dust. Trust me; if you have never had it happen before, it really is heartbreaking.
Food For Thought
Someday – whether we want to admit it or not – World of Warcraft will come to an end. When it is all said and done, I know I would like to see what I spent so much time and energy on, being able to flip back through and see how I grew as a writer of sorts. Think of your out-of-game roleplay and the archives you can create as a keepsake. In time, you will be able to look back on that portion of your life and enjoy the good memories you are making right now.
As well, moving outside to other sources allows a freedom for collaboration that only our imaginations restrict. Roleplay without others is sometimes required (such as for creating back stories, filler content, and the like). However, interaction with others in your community makes roleplay a living, breathing effort that can take and test your talents beyond what you might believe them to be. In short, connecting with other folks is what really makes roleplay worthwhile, and using any method possible is a good way to keep things moving in the lives of your characters.
