Bonus Macro

Additionally, Riltia made this little macro to make it much more convenient to politely ask OOCers to stop doing so in public. What makes this even better is that a GM took a look at the macro, and said it was acceptable (he actually said a harsher version was acceptable, this is toned down).

/run local t="target" if (UnitName(t)~=nil) then SendChatMessage("Please talk in character, as Out Of Character (OOC) behaviour is against RP and server policy. Thank you for co-operating.","WHISPER",nil,UnitName(t)) end

Make it a button, then you can do this :
/target
Click the macro.
/ignore if needed.

If you want to change the message, just replace the part after SendChatMessage, in the quote marks, and leave the rest intact.

RP Policies, and how to deal with OOC

A guide by Cethiulta, Night Elf Death Knight.

Like any other Roleplay realm, The Sha'tar EU has it's own group of OOCers and Lollers. It is down to us, the roleplay community, to help rid the server of these players, or at least to try to bring them into roleplaying. We cannot, however, enforce the policies with bans and warnings ourselves. The Roleplaying Policy (http://www.wow-europe.com/en/policy/roleplaying.html) is short and blunt, but sadly very confusing, so this guide will try to help with that whilst also giving tips on how to help police our beloved realm. To sum it up, these are the policies :

1) If you see OOC behaviour, you must whisper that player and ask them to cease.
2) /s, /y, /e and /p are all IC channels, where OOC behaviour is prohibited.
3) /g, /o, /w and Private Channels are OOC channels, where IC is optional.
4) /general is only to be used for in-game discussion, such as asking lore questions and finding groups.
5) No non-fantasy or non-medieval names.

As you can see /raid, /guildrecruitment and /trade are not mentioned. Generally, one can take these channels to be OOC for pure convenience. Using GuildRecruitment IC can be quite fun, and I've had positive responses (someone joined my party just because I used it ICly once, and it was a good run).

I'm now going to expand on what each part of this policy means, using the numbering I've given above, and I'll keep it short and simple.

1) This is probably the worst part for me, as a roleplayer. It's not nice being told you're breaking the rules, especially if you're a new player. So politeness and care has to go into what you say. Try not to say "You're breaking the rules, you're going to get reported and maybe even banned". That's rude, offensive and just leaves you open to backlash. What you must do is be polite, for example, "Excuse me, but you've just spoken Out of Character, please respect the roleplaying policy. Have a good day". I've found being polite in a similar manner has resulted in more "Oh, I'm sorry!" than "Leave me alone, you annoying brat". I recently posted a macro on The Sha'tar EU and Roleplaying EU forums (http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=10222153494&sid=1), which has had approval by a GM.

If you get a negative response, do NOT allow yourself to be dragged into slinging insults or being rude. Stay calm, focused and stay polite. Explain you're just doing that which the RP policy tells you to do, and if they have any questions to ask on the relevant forum. If you feel you've been harassed, open a report and explain the situation with times, dates and channels. The same goes for if they continue OOC behaviour, ask them once, not twice. Report their behaviour after your "warning".

2) Probably the places you'll see the most OOC behaviour. It's a common misconception in the RP community that using double brackets to surround any OOC talk is acceptable. Whilst some players may agree with it, it is still against the policy. A good way to think of it is that anything after the "/s" (or other channels), has to be IC. The (( )) are after this, therefore are OOC and not allowed. Whilst /e is not mentioned within the terms, I've had word from the Lead GM (if not a very high ranking one) that it is an IC channel, which makes perfect sense. It's an action your character performs, and can be visible by anyone within a certain radius. If you wish to correct a typo or a grammatical error, maybe do a /cough and try again, or whisper the player you're with and send them the correct sentance/spelling. Maybe even use a private channel.

3) Nothing really needs to be said about this. Guilds often use /g for OOC and have a seperate IC channel, or vice versa. If you wish, you can start all whispers with [OOC] or [IC], and take it from there.

4) Again, a very flaunted rule. General is not for discussion about your mother's sexuality, the football game last night or which flavour of cheese is the best. It is supposed to be used to find groups, or for asking questions about the storyline (and lore) within the game. So :

/general That film on TV last night was great! < Unacceptable
/general Why is Stratholme full of Scourge? < Acceptable.
/general Looking for two people to kill Hogger < Acceptable

5) Very, very straight forward. But at the same time, it isn't. What you may think is correct, a GM may not. What you may think is wrong, a GM may allow it. My only advice for this rule is to not be silly. So, no Uberknight or Roflmao, but go for something like Lorquen or Marlia. Make it sound authentic, put some thought into it. Looking on WoW Wiki for NPCs of your chosen race is a great place to get ideas. Mix and match parts of names, for example. If you see any bad names, note them down and send maybe 10-20 to the GMs in a ticket. Don't open a ticket for just one name, unless you wish to explain it (e.g. Barbbwiyah, which could be a deliberate misspelling of a Pamela Anderson film).

There's really not much more to the policy than this. We, as Roleplayers, have to do our part. If we don't ask people to stop, and if we don't report, nothing will be done. I hope this guide has been useful to help you understand the policy and why/how we must enforce it. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and happy roleplaying!

- Written for the RP Advice blog by Myself (Riltia/Rulgya/Litrildia/Jaiurana/Cethiulta) on 30th July, also posted on the Roleplaying Forums. Any and All questions should be directed here.

So, a little about this particular iteration...

RPAdvice has already existed as a chat channel on the Sha'tar for a while now. The idea of a blog is a bit new, though - I've spoken about it in there, and thrown around a few ideas, but I've not run off with the idea until now (because I'm fairly lazy. And I have an opticians appointment.) Anyway, here's the basic idea;

This isn't a how to roleplay guide
Its main purpose is that of an archive; there are so many excellent little thoughts, tips and answers that pass through RPA any given day, I feel terrible that some of them slip away. Instead of having them vanish, I thought I'd keep them up here.

This isn't my soapbox
This is another user content blog. That means I'm not going to tell you how to roleplay. Instead, you get to tell me how to roleplay. I'll draft up submission rules shortly, so people can send in some of their larger thoughts about roleplaying.

Actually, I was lying
I'll be honest - this is actually a fairly good place for me to talk about why I do things the way I do things. I promise not to turn it into my LiveJournal, mind. (I actually use Twitter. No, don't search for me.)

My aim with this blog is to take the excellent RPAdvice concept, and expand it until it becomes even better at doing what it does best - supporting roleplayers and encouraging roleplaying.

RPAdvice: Now In Blog Form

What is RPAdvice?

RPAdvice is a chat channel on the Sha'tar EU, dedicated to roleplaying and the encouragement of roleplaying. RPA represents a different approach to helping people into the community, and into roleplaying. Instead of a criticism-laden environment or mentor/student relationships, we encourage a collaborative and consensus-based approach. RPAdvice isn't just about new players, however - it is also a forum for the discussion of projects, a place to encourage roleplaying initiatives, and an ideal setting in which to improve your roleplaying.

We think that the best roleplaying comes when everyone involved is having fun, everyone is enthusiastic, and everyone is working together. That is the spirit of RPAdvice. We don't send out personal invites - we don't think that's necessary. All we do is extend the offer of joining and participating to everyone, with the simple stipulation that people should be friendly and helpful.

Why join?

It's a fair question. For some people, the idea that they'd need help is alien. But the accusation that RPAdvice is unnecessary is clearly wrong; we've helped dozens of people with hundreds of issues, and sparked constructive roleplaying conversations.

Are you new to the realm?
Are you struggling to find roleplay?
Are you confused by roleplaying addons?
Do you need help organising an event?
Does the history of Azeroth puzzle you?

If you've ever needed help, this is the place to go. However...

Do you enjoy helping people?
Are you knowledgeable about lore?
Are you genuinely enthusiastic about spreading roleplaying?
Do you want to create great events, with great participants?
Are you a guild leader?

If you want to help people, then this is also the best place for you. I want to encourage you - you are the backbone of this server. The people who are willing to put their time into helping others are the most valuable component of this community, and RPAdvice is as much a place for you as the people who need your help.

RPAdvice is for people who want help, and people who want to help. If you're interested in co-operating for a more awesome server, then simply

/join RPAdvice