All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. Roleplaying is a journey of trust you take with strangers. You may now and then start out with a group of people you know in real life, but for the most part, the people you roleplay with have no idea who you really are, or why you are sitting here at the computer. You can tell them if you want to, but most people don't ask. Roleplayers tend to keep personal details private, and don't intrude on one another's space. Besides, other roleplayers don't necessarily care that much about who you "really are" either. They're there to get to know your character, not you as a person, unless your character first makes a very good impression and they decide that they actually want to be friends as real people. Even though you respect each other as people who share the same interest, there's still a distance between you which either (or both) of you may wish to maintain. And yet, the relationship you have is one of trust. It's not at all at the same level as a best friend of course, but you still have to trust one another in a very creative sense -- you rely on each other to create interesting things for your characters to share with one another. You're not just buying a shirt from a salesperson or holding the door for a passerby -- you're exchanging behavior and language in an unpredictable and totally interconnected way. Any little surprise a stranger brings to an interaction may completely alter the whole game session and stick in your mind as one of your most memorable gaming experiences. Roleplayers have to trust other roleplayers to help make those experiences positive, even without knowing anything at all about one another. Sometimes two characters can even become very close friends, even though the real people behind them do not.Continue reading All the World's a Stage: AnonymosityFiled under: WoW Social Conventions, Virtual selves, RP, (Roleplaying) All the World's a StageAll the World's a Stage: Anonymosity originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments - 8 hours ago

Reader comments -- ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week. Where do you get your meat? We suspect that the answers of these WoW players wouldn't do the neighbors much good ... Rmschoir: Yogg-Dixie, unless they are having a sale at Publich. Dragundam: And everyone not from the South goes ... "What?" wilsona36: Where shopping is a pleasure ... Tirrimas: Albearson's or Freya Meyer Gimmlette: Total win comment. Piggy Wiggy or Hy-Vee, anyone? KJP: Kor'Kroger But it's not only where players get their meat that's a little unusual. After reading this next reader comment, WoW.com's Robin Torres abashedly observed, "I feel so insensitive, never having considered the feelings of my banker before." Alchemistmerlin: I just make sure I grab some rhino meat whenever I'm doing Sons of Hodir dailies. I have a back stock of about 100 pieces of rhino meat, and 100 chilled meat just sitting in my bank. It occurs to me that my banker probably hates me. "Here, have some more bloody meat. Oh, and this pilgrim hat." More warped perspectives from your fellow players, after the break.Continue reading [1.Local]: Where WoW players get their meatFiled under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Humor, [1.Local][1.Local]: Where WoW players get their meat originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments - 10 hours ago

Up on eBay until December 7th at 5:00 p.m. PST is this World of Warcraft: Cataclysm poster signed by Blizzard designers and other members of the WoW team. This auction is entirely for charity, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue. We've been able to verify this auction's authenticity through an anonymous source. We are certain all of the signatures are from the World of Warcraft team at Blizzard. However, this is not an official Blizzard auction -- but just something that everyone participated in as a nice thing to do. This is the kind of collectible anyone reading this site would probably want. I know the WoW.com team began bidding furiously when we learned of its legitimacy. I imagine many of you will as well. When we learned of the poster the top bid was at $42, however now it's up to $100. Something tells me it won't stay there for long. Update: We want to note the person running the auction has updated their post to say that this is a print of the original item. Filed under: Fan stuff, News itemsSigned World of Warcraft: Cataclysm poster up for auction on eBay originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments - 11 hours ago

Funcom, WarCry and IGN are proud to offer you a chance to win 1 of 100 Beta Keys to the upcoming MMO Age of Conan. Based on the works of Robert E. Howard, this game offers players the chance to explore the mature and gritty world of Hyboria. Contest winners will be notified via email on Monday April 28th with instructions on how to get a hold of their copy of the game. For more information on AoC, check out Age of Conan WarCry and check back regularly for updates on the beta and upcoming launch of Age of Conan. - 2 years ago

It's tonight! Flying Lab Software live on our IRC servers to talk about Pirates of the Burning Sea. For four lucky fans, some time cards await in a random draw, and one will get a t-shirt. So stop in at 8:00pm EST to talk to the developers. Here are the details: When: 04/09/2008 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific (Wednesday) Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncilGeneral chat will be available in #warcry Who: The following Flying Lab developers will be on hand.Russell Williams (FLS CEO)Kevin Maginn (Lead Game Designer)Joe Ludwig (Producer)David Hunt (Game Designer)Drew Clowery (Game Designer)Troy Hewitt (Director of Community Relations)Tom Atkinson-Edwards (Community Specialist)Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client , Chatspike's IRC Client or an mIRC Client. We look forward to seeing you there! - 2 years ago

In on week's time, we'll have ourselves another developer chat with Pirates of the Burning Sea. This is your chance to talk to the people behind the biggest MMO launch of 2008. The chat is on Wednesday April 9th at 8:00pm Eastern (5:00pm Pacific)! Your details: When: 04/09/2008 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific (Wednesday) Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncilGeneral chat will be available in #warcry Who: The following Flying Lab developers will be on hand.Russell Williams (FLS CEO)Kevin Maginn (Lead Game Designer)Joe Ludwig (Producer)David Hunt (Game Designer)Drew Clowery (Game Designer)Troy Hewitt (Director of Community Relations)Tom Atkinson-Edwards (Community Specialist)Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client , Chatspike's IRC Client or an mIRC Client. We look forward to seeing you there! - 2 years ago