How to RP the Cataclysm?

Everyone has been speculating on a possible timejump by now, granted Deathwing goes on a rampage and our world how we know it changes ALOT but how to rp all this?

New towns have been built or rebuilt, but over which timespan? The words about a 3 year jump is rather ridiculous and farfetched, considering that WoTLK -> Cata has been 2 years, many of the incomming changes should be happening in our rp already. Due to it being a static game they aren't there ofcourse. So if we start with 3 years minus 2 that we have played we'll have to jump a year ahead in time.

But in the end, aside from some changes in places, lore and the like how does it REALLY affect our roleplay. We haven't rp'ed new contacts, haven't involved in the relationships we have with people but in the end a year later we'll still have our same ranks in rp guilds, hold the same positions in community but can claim to be a year older. We'll have seen more battles, have done more but none of that has been actually "done" by us ingame.

I'll take a look at my huntress in the Empire, only recently walking a path of magic/voodoo so within a few weeks I can skip the entire trainingprocess of mastering new skills and go POOF "I'm powerfull"
My warrior, young and inexperienced, A crusader will suddenly have one more year of experience which will make her better in combat without me rp'ing the changes.
How does my Paladins marriage look in a year?

So many questions but in the end, aside from "Oh well a year has gone by" how much will our RP truly change? We still know the same people, who haven't gotten the chance in rp either to evolve just like you.
Cataclysm is near, and yet most of these things haven't been clarified and I'm -not- looking forward to the confusion that will be caused the moment we suddenly will indeed jump ahead in time (or do you think the new graveyard appeared over night in Stormwind?)
So Defias, how will you, your guilds etc do this? Do we all just make a story just as if we started roleplaying just now? And go on from there. Any ideas, hints or tricks? because ... Cata has me lost atleast :p

I won't RP a sudden time skip, if I see you one week before the cataclym and then 3 weeks later (wich is after the cataclysm) it'll be 4 weeks for me and I won't instantly go "It's been over a year since I saw you the last time."

I think I'll just follow the events for now, and see how it's going.

So the fortifications of Brill, Orgrimmar etc etc all those major changes would be over the span of a few weeks, or do we count it as what should be already occuring right now over the past months and years?

They're happening, or have been happening. There doesn't have to be a massive sudden jump. Just assume things are in motion we don't see or know all of. There can be secrets of State you know... And skilled labourers (lets face it and slaves, and magic) could probably get some stuff up and active very quickly.

What I mean is...

Undue worrying about a timescale of a few weeks, maybe months. When it really doesn't matter. Not really.

Well that was the entire point of the topic, to see how others will use the changes and how they think things should be handled in rp

Urgh, all because of people's ability to misread a simple text they thought Cata would be a ten year jump (Or around that anyway) which was not the case.

Though I do see your point Gallyndra but in honesty I would already percieve the changes as "Happening". Trying to incorperate too much logic into WoW is a vein popping procedure as it is. I won't acknowledge a long time jump, a little I can handle but I do not think its resorting to that. . If a time jump did happen, say a year... Yeah, Snow would have had her kid for a few months. <_<

Ah I never missunderstood the jump to be 10 years like many did ^^
But yeah I think most will pretend a few weeks/months passed so they can actually stick to how things have been rp'ed instead of making crap up

The term 'timejump' has been deliberately not been said lately for a reason. The original claim was; "The Shattering will occur one year after the fall of the Lich King." But the Lich King fell in February, so that's nearly eleven months. So even if there WAS a timejump it'd minimum be a month or two. I doubt there will be.

Gallyndra/Najwah wrote:Ah I never missunderstood the jump to be 10 years like many did ^^
But yeah I think most will pretend a few weeks/months passed so they can actually stick to how things have been rp'ed instead of making crap up

Yeah, figured that much. . Though yes we'll see I guess. Blizzard might pop up some other random text in the future that says otherwise, who knows.

How to RP the Cataclysm? Simple, run around in circles, panicing and crying.

Indeed it should be growing tension. Currently at least in stormwind there's alot of panic and confusion with people going missing and doomsayers on the streets.. perfectly setting up the mood before what comes next (I wont say for spoilers for those that don't know)

As far as SI:7 goes the place is working overtime investigating all these missing persons cases, recieving reports from around the known continents about increased and sporadic elemental manifestation activity in what appears to be every territory and attacking villages and outposts they come across.

And putting together the peices regarding the twilights hammer at a pace determined by the lore events. In essence there's plenty for everyone to capitalise on

With SI:7 wouldn't it get to a point (and with guard guilds etc) where there really were too many of these things (the missing people, investigating seditious literature etc) that you'd actually, in a way, start doing a worse job?

Like any civil service you're under staffed (and under funded?) and as such will get stretched, and stretched....

Until you go ping? Or you need to start getting more ruthless with what you can help with? Or what you'll even look at?

Maybe the people don't like this... and well...

The Mob speaks afterall.

Yes gruft that is exactly right.

Anaei/Vezullia wrote:The term 'timejump' has been deliberately not been said lately for a reason. The original claim was; "The Shattering will occur one year after the fall of the Lich King." But the Lich King fell in February, so that's nearly eleven months. So even if there WAS a timejump it'd minimum be a month or two. I doubt there will be.

Indeed tis how IM gona work it,.. two of my toons are away when the event happens and the one I am currently on is seeing the changers currently with supprise and shock wondering what exactly to do

It seems there are still people who are RPing a jump of a year from next wednesday, I really don't see how this is the needed, or accurate. First there was the 10 year thing that was cleared up, now there's this 1 year gap which I don't see reason for. People say it's cos it took a year to kill the Lich King but he's Icecrown has been out for a year. People say that the new buildings would take ages to build, but as people said in this thread, it's assumed that was happening in the last few weeks/months anyway. Buidlings wouldn't take a year to make either. Anything that takes a while surely would have started already.

So, is there anybody who is actually going to RP a time gap?:S

No, there is no time gap.

That's what I thought!!

It's still all very unclear, we can jump a month a head in time but then ... which Eloresh pointed out.
Our calendar, ingame events like winterveil? If it's not a year then suddenly we have winterveil and are rp'ing to be in a different time?

This entire Cata-stuff confuses me, a year jump is annoying as fuck and we -can- work around it but how? no gap at all or afew months? Because we can't go rp around with one person saying it's been a year while another says it's not and yet again another one claiming it was a few months.

Why would we suddenly jump a year, where is the need?

The changes in the world are just catching up with us, there's no time gap. We've, without noticing, RPed the time. The Shattering happens in real time, the current events are happening in real time.

There's no gaps.

Perturbo wrote:Why would we suddenly jump a year, where is the need?

*sigh. None of you seem to understand that it is not what WE the RP community want, but what Blizzard does. We do not have the support from Blizzard, nothing, cero, none. They do what ever they want without thinking on what the RP players will do or not do thinking about that year, if it is true or not.

But blizzard haven't stated there is a gap. That's why I asked why RPers want to do it. The book the shattering http://www.wowpedia.org/The_Shattering explains the events before Cataclysm, which all happened before the Cataclysm.

They haven't stated there's a gap, because there isn't one.