All the World's a Stage: Throwing a bachelor party in Azeroth
Not only is one of your intrepid WoW.com staff getting married this weekend, but another has been hosting a bachelor party for a friend. Now, this was a fairly low-key afternoon kind of thing, where we cluttered around a grill, drank beer, and ate steak. However, that friend of mine is obviously a World of Warcraft player, and he has a history of roleplaying. (Much, much history of roleplay.) So, of course, we made a few jokes about how we could have held this bachelor party off in Azeroth.
It got me to thinking about the idea of roleplaying bachelor parties in WoW. Certainly people get married, and certainly there are marital traditions. If a character's getting married, and it's time for a bachelor party or a bacholerette party, how would the characters throw it? How could I roleplay through it? There are no doubt many different traditions for different races, but I'd like to believe the bachelor and bachelorette parties are fairly universal.
The drinks
Okay, let's be honest. There's not many bachelor parties that don't intimately involve alcohol. I've attended more than a few, and I've never managed to make it through one without spying at least a single beer. I usually recommend not drinking and playing WoW at the same time, since that can lead to all kinds of embarassing situations. However, the characters certainly will be inclined to knock back a few drinks. After all, our characters would have just as much fun getting a buddy rip-roaring drunk as we have in real life.
WoW comes with built-in roleplay emotes for drinking. You've probably seen them: "Michael seems completely smashed!" Buy all the varieties of in-game alcohol you can find, and get your married-to-be character as trashed as you can. It's a simple, silly little form of roleplay, but it is always these subtle minute things that build up to become a better roleplay experience. So rock out, and pass the dwarven stout.
The location
While I'm sure someone will disagree with me, I'm forced to argue that Icecrown Citadel is not the place to hold a bridal party. I mean, don't get me wrong. Lord Marrowgar would make a totally awesome tattoo. But his pit isn't really the place to throw back and have a party.
I still like Dalaran for the perfect celebration location. Both the beer garden on the Alliance side and the Filthy Animal on Horde side just scream "party" to me. If you can't or won't do Dalaran, there's obvious the option of old world capitals. I think Silvermoon feels a little more like a serene, bridal shower kind of place, but everyone has their own preferences. And hey, if you want some place hot to rock out ... there's always Molten Core.
The details
Don't forget the details of the party. You know "that guy"? You know the one. He's the one who gets a little too much to drink, gets a little soused, and all of turns stupid aggressive. Or, even worse, he gets completely out of control and starts hitting on anyone who will let him. Yeah, in real life, he's about the most annoying thing possible.
But in roleplay, he's a detail that helps reinforce immersion! Get someone in your group to agree ahead of time to be "that guy." You should probably spell out exactly what antics he's going to use to bring this touch of realism, so that people don't hold the behavior against the player instead of the character. But if you can handle that little challenge, rock out and have that guy.
There's also the possibility of a party crash. Just imagine you're hanging out in the Filthy Animal with the bachelor and groomsmen, when all of a sudden the bridesmaids and bride show up. Awkward, right? But this awkward moment is absolutely the fodder from which drama and roleplay can be drawn.
The story
The last thought I want to raise about a roleplay bachelor party is that of the story twist. Imagine that a group of Sindorei are huddled around a table, drinking and playing poker. With a sad face, the bride looks up and admits that she won't marry her groom. Instead, she insists, she will kill herself the night before. Or what if the groom lets his baser nature get away with him, and cheats on his wife-to-be?
These horrible and dramatic moments happen in real life. Why can't they happen in game? And wouldn't the awful, public nature of these events make them wonderful roleplay material?
In conclusion, you should treat a bachelor or bachelorette party the same way you treat any other in-game event. Give it some thought and detail. You should not only roleplay that exact moment, but you should also use the experience to build more roleplay down the line. This provides you a sustainable, enjoyable roleplay experience.
Also, try and have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.
All the World's a Stage is your source for roleplaying ideas, innovations and ironies. You might wonder what it's like to sacrifice spells for the story, or to totally immerse yourself in your roleplaying, or even how to RP on a non-RP server!
