Some thoughts on roleplay

So I talked last time about the personae I've developed for my various characters -- which, again, is something I do even though I don't roleplay with them per se.  (Though an impromptu in-character interaction in Dalaran one day led to a reasonably important personal life event.)  Today I'd like to...well, okay, I'll be honest.  I was reading an article on WoW Insider and some of the commenters came up with some interesting points that I'd like to pass along. 

The theme of the article, for those who didn't click through, was Pandaren roleplay, and how you can reconcile your new pandaman going through Cataclysm events (let alone BC/Wrath -- no vanilla left, unfortunately/thank God) with the fact that "all" player pandaren are "just off the boat turtle," post-Cataclysm.  The article itself, frankly, wasn't stellar, but the comments were insightful.


The ideas presented are of use even if you're not Pandaren.  As an example, my monk, prior to the Fall of Theramore, was a non-adventuring mage-ineer living and working for the Kirin Tor in Theramore.  After the Horde's attack, he foreswore the use of magic henceforth and took up the mantle of the monk.  So why is he gone through the Dark Portal?  Why is he in Northrend?  Why is he in any of the post-Cataclysm vanilla zones (apart from Duskwallow)?  These experiences wouldn't be part of his backstory.

There are many ways of reconciling this apparent problem.  To wit:

1) Handwave.  This is perhaps easiest, if not as satisfying as some of the other options.  Bottom line, WoW is a game, and there are many, many concessions made for the sake of gameplay.  All the content I am playing through right now isn't happening and isn't part of the monk's story.  Once I get to 85 and start on Pandaria content, that's when the monk's story really begins.

There are several varieties of this handwaving, but they all amount to the same thing -- the means by which your character leveled up and the story of his leveling up are completely disconnected.  One is for mechanical purposes, the other is for the story.

2) The Bronze Dragonflight.  This one is perhaps the most common "in-story" explanation.  The Infinite Dragonflight is still out there, still a threat, because it was when the events were taking place.  Thus, we heroes have to keep going back through the time loops to make sure everything plays out as it should. 

There are some variations on this explanation -- a popular one is that the Bronze Flight (or someone else) is doing a "Danger Room"-type exercise, similar to what happened in one of the early episodes of Dragonball Z.  For those unfamiliar, the Z-warriors were sent back in time and across the galaxy to fight a couple of the bad guys who were coming to invade their planet, so that they'd have an idea of what they were up against and could prepare, but were in no actual danger.  This is particularly effective with the monk, as it's now established canon that going on "walkabout" away from their bodies is something monks can do.

3) Research.  The character didn't live through the events in question, he's merely reading accounts of them after the fact and "putting himself in the heroes' shoes."  Or he's adding some imagination-spice to the interminable training exercises that he's no doubt putting himself through to ready himself to be a part of the Alliance war effort.  Or he's throwing his mind into the akashic record and "reliving" those events by experiencing the shared memories of those who were actually there.

Commenter JohnBurgess puts forth the idea that the monk's first "Zen Pilgrimage" isn't actually an out-of-body experience, but the monk truly making his way to the hidden monastery, where he spends the next 65 levels training.  This training happens via reliving or re-enacting old battles, using a combination of explanations 2 and 3, above.  This is the explanation I'll be using for my monk, I think.

So there you go: three means by which you can have a high-level character who is familiar with all the old content without actually living through it.  Happy roleplaying!