Wow, that was a great guide... however, for some reason afterwards I actually sat and read all the replies... One hour (and some tired eyes) later, what I've truly learned is that you can more or less do what you want in the RP world as long as it's in terms with your character and isn't ridiculously annoying to others. Clearly you can't please everyone, because it seems people have different opinions over what is RP and what is not.
Regardless, this was very helpful. I had created a back story with one of my characters, but being as she is lvl 27 already and I haven't really been playing her as an RP, I'll need to create a new one before I break into the RP world (or else, wouldn't it just seem weird to the friends she has made already, for her to suddenly break into RP or OOC chat?).
Anyways, hope to see some of you there.