(Many thanks to Moon Guard's Aquataine for his excellent article, "FIRPing 101".)

These days I am playing WoW exclusively. I play mostly on the Moon Guard RP server although I have had forays onto Twisting Nether and some of the other RP/PvP realms as well. Moon Guard seems to suit my style best though.

One day, I read an article on the WoW forums called "FIRPing 101" (See: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5754667213&sid=1) I didn't just read, I read with great interest and intensity, and as I read, a new light dawned. Yes, this was the RP experience I had been missing! This is what I experienced while playing SWG, not in every detail of course, but this was FIRPing as I understood it.

What follows are, according to the author "FIRPing 101", the 4 rules of FIRPing (in bold text), intermixed with my commentary.

Rule #1 is known as the Rule of Story. Basically, if something doesn't fit within the story you're playing out, then discard it, but at the same time, everything you encounter must be explained by your story before you move on. Rival faction members running through the Eastern Plaguelands should not be ignored. A priest, who's story has lead her to promote peace even in the face of extreme prejudice, may simply wave at them. A hunter, on the other hand, who's been grievously wronged by a member of the rival faction at some point in his past, might track these rivals throughout the wilderness for hours. As long as the decisions are governed by your story, your actions are never wrong.

Here, I have a few problems. First, I see a great advantage as far as immersion to simply setting my PvP flag and forgetting it. When rival factions collide there will be conflict. There is no dancing around from the safety of being non-flagged /rude and getting away with it. For immersion's sake, when factions collide there is the real possibility of conflict. And then, thee is also the real expectation on my part that I will accomplish what I set out to in a given game session. For true FIRP, I must set these expectations aside and learn to live with the consequences.

Rule #2 is known as the Rule of Proximity. One of the hardest rules to apply to your gameplay, the Rule of Proximity dispenses with the many conveniences of the game. Whispering, for instance, should only be engaged if you or someone suggests moving away from the general conversation and actually speaking in whispers – not from across vast differences. Party invitations should only be accepted if the party leader stands directly before you, and party chat should be incorporated in some way to accommodate your story (Rule #1). Channels such as /Trade and /General and should be shut off, referenced only as bulletin boards within major cities from time to time, if the need arises. Consider all the extra comments colorful graffiti. The end point being that to FIRP, you must treat everything as literally as you can. Which is what makes Rule #3 that much more difficult, and that much more rewarding.

Yes, a hard rule, especially since those who do not know me will want to whisper or use party chat across zones, but it is also very easy for me. I do not believe in magical goblin transmitters or hearthstone communication. My characters are simple humans living in a time of swords and sorcery. If I need to talk to someone I can send a message (mail) or I can stand near them and speak. Sure, it is a little more inconvenient, but, to me, it is a lot more realistic.

Rule #3 is known as the Rule of Guilding. A FIRP guild is something truly special. To find that many players that respect who you represent, and what your goals are, goes beyond the borders of a casual playing guild. A FIRP guild will vary in size, and vary in purpose, but the chief concept to remember here is that guilds are assembled so that the members found within are able to contribute equally to the guild's objectives. The reason why FIRP guilds are so rare and special is because the members therein must all be able to honestly apply Rule #1 and Rule #2 at all times, even amongst themselves. Meeting with guild members must happen regularly, and it must fit your storyline, and it must fit theirs. Be wary, then, of joining guilds who are on the move when you are settled, or are set in their ways while you are still on the move. Such FIRP guilds make great contacts, but should not be your guildmates unless there is a strong need for that opposite nature to exist.

So far, my search for a guild that truly supports the goals of FIRP has been fruitless. Guilds with IC guild chat, especially those that insist that IC RP takes place at a specific location, and guilds that insist on guild members participating in an OOC channel are far too common, and, in my opinion, totally counter to FIRP immersion.

Rule #4 is known as the Rule of Truth, and it is the last Rule, and the most important one. World of Warcraft is huge game, and millions of people play it, and are allowed to play it in whichever fashion they choose. When you choose to FIRP, you are committing to being a character that knows this, intimately, in one way or another. Therefore, my advice is to be true to yourself, and thereby true to other players. Ask questions. Be honest (in some way) with those that you meet. The greatest FIRPs have character traits and motives that are well known within the circles they want knowing, and have reputations that go on before them as a result of them having been true to themselves through the entire process. FIRPing can be difficult, and lonely, but the results of it can be more rewarding and fulfilling than anything you've ever done before.

I played my first MMO video game in 1999 when Everquest was released. I was fascinated by the idea of a role play game played in the same universe as hundreds or thousands of other players, and the fascination is still with me nine years later.

After playing for some time I heard of a new server being introduced, a role play server with a special rule set and several restrictions that were unique to the server, The server was named Firiona Vie, and I created a character there as soon as I heard about it.

In my early RP days, I struggled, I could never settle on a character and I was never as comfortable IC as I would have liked. I had several characters on FV and never got any of them very far, but it did serve to keep my fascination alive until 2003 when Star Wars Galaxies was introduced.

My first character in SWG was an RP character, created on the Kettemoor server. At first I struggled with this character too, but then something amazing happened. Something clicked, and I suddenly knew everything about my character, Iwen Molidi. I knew her background, her emotions, motivations, everything! Though she was nothing like me I knew her!

I got involved in a form of RP that seemed quite natural to me given the character I was playing. I never defined it or even tried until long after the experience had ended and I had moved on to another game. But when I did name the RP form, the name I used was Full Immersion Role Play.

My time in SWG came and went. New games came along, Lineage 2, Saga of Ryzom, others. There was always RP, and sometimes it even approached the top of what I had come to think of as my "RP Yardstick", with no RP at all at the bottom and FIRP at the top. But as time went on, FIRP, for me, became more diluted and more of a memory than a fact.