Aurorae doesn't mind that you're inexperienced, as long as you try. You can check out our site in my signature, and if you go to the roleplaying thread on our site forum there's both some discussion about roleplaying and a link to a great beginner's guide that I heartily recommend. Hope it helps.
The best advice for new roleplayers is actually pretty simple:
"Know your character."
What that means is that you really should take some time to figure out your character's past. What his motivations are. What makes him happy or angry. Once you get a real feel for who your character is you'll find that roleplaying isn't very difficult.
Good luck and have a great time! 
yeah.. you have to get a hero persona. Once you have that, you should be fine.. coh has a really good sense of community too... it should be easy to to role play
Thanks for the info guys. Since im based mostly on the virtue server, is there a way for my to get into Aurorae? Is there someone to contact in-game?
Just pretend the your in the real city of Heroes and not playing a game.
For example, don't talk directly about the game like saying there is no XP in this mission for me, instead say this mission is not helping me to evolve. or somthing
If some Baddies are to high of a level for you to fight, don't say oh no guys these are Level 16 and we are only Level 8's, say somthing like, these foes are to powerfull for us and we should try another time and move on for now.
Get it?
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Just pretend the your in the real city of Heroes and not playing a game.
For example, don't talk directly about the game like saying there is no XP in this mission for me, instead say this mission is not helping me to evolve. or somthing
If some Baddies are to high of a level for you to fight, don't say oh no guys these are Level 16 and we are only Level 8's, say somthing like, these foes are to powerfull for us and we should try another time and move on for now.
Get it?
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Although, in this game (regarding the level comment) Security levels ARE a part of the RP atmosphere, so mentioning Security level is usually OK (Heck even contacts do it... instead of saying "You are not powerful enough." the actually say "You need to achieve security level 9 first".)
Here is a good guide for how to role-play.
The guide was made for another MMORPG (neverwinter nights) but it can certainly be used for any game as such.
I'm not saying it is the right way (because we all do it differently), but it is a good guide.
The link
Find the download on the page.
Note: It's a PDF file
OK, so I think I know how to roleplay. At the very least, I'm ready to give it a try. But how do I find someone(s) to roleplay with. Roleplaying alone gets old pretty quick. I know about Gemini Park on Virtue, but I'm looking more for someone to team up with for some IC crime-fighting. Do roleplayers use "Seek Team"? Should I go to a gathering of roleplayers (Gemini Park, for example) and ask if anyone can help me with a mission or say "I'm new to town, can someone show me around?"? Should I use an OOC broadcast asking for other RPers (seems paradoxical)? I suppose once I find a like-minded group, this won't be a problem, but for now it's annoying. All suggestions welcome.
A couple of people use in character broadcasts and then tag on any OOC information afterwards. I can't think of any good examples of how to do that at the moment as I've never tried that method, but I've responded to one or two of them so they work some of the time at least.
The Elysienne; Magical controller
Silent Sickle; Natural scrapper
And many more.
Aenigma Rebis: "Actually, Ely's more like Jean Grey. Only... smart."
Someone suggested putting something in the character description indicating that you roleplay. I don't remember what that item is. Any suggestions?
I've also seen people change the color of the message. When the person is OOC, they have, for example, white bubbles. When they are in character, they use a color bubble.
Now I need some help, I want to set-up a command that when I am talking and it's me, it's just normal bubbles, but when I'm roleplaying, the bubbles are colored. I want to bind a command to a key and have it change the color of my chat bubbles. How do you change the color of the chat bubbles? Thank you for your help.
A lot of roleplayers put <Roleplayer> or <RP> as the first word of their bio in-game.
to change your colors it's simple :
bind KEY "beginchat <bgcolor COLOR><color COLOR><bordercolor COLOR>
stuff in caps are variables, but you knew that ;-D
You are the best. Thank you so much. Now after I run to the store, I'll go add that to all my characters and set up that bind.
I play on Protector if anyone else is there.
My characters are:
Dark Hunt - Level 6 Magic Defender w/Storm Summoning and Dark Blast (she's a vampire) - She's my newest character, but also the one I'm playing.
Dragoness - Level 13 Mutant Fire Blaster
Mind Mage - Level 7 Magic Controller w/healing
Ms. Vendetta - Level 6 Technology Rifle Blaster
Earth Force - Level 6 Magic Gravity Controller
Dark Huntress - Level 5 Mutant Claw Scrapper
Dark Jane - Level 5 Magic Dark Defender
Lady Icewraith - Level 5 (?) Science Ice Blaster
I find that if you RP enough in your requests for team and whatnot, you seldom attract any responses except from people who desire (or at least tolerate) RPing. Someone posted in another thread an example where it was obvious the speaker was talking as if to a general radio broadcast. You get the idea, I hope.
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My name is Doctor Why, and I approved this message.
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I've been playing this game since launch and have enjoyed it so much, although I am never able to experience the higher level content due to the fact that I keep creating new characters. In total to date I've created 28 characters on many different servers. My highest toon was 22. Maybe I keep creating and deleting characters because I don't feel like a real hero. This is my first MMO and I would like to know how to go about roleplaying. Maybe giving my characters a little depth will make them fun to play with and allow me to stick with them till the end. I am seeking advice from hardcore RP'ers on how to roleplay in COH.
Would also like to know if there are any RPing SGs out there on the virtue server that will take in a hardcore gamer but a newbie roleplayer... 
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I sympathize deeply with your problem. I suffer the exact same mallady (sp?). I create each new alt with and extensive backstory and visions of them one day achieving legendary status in the high end game. It's always very exciting for the first ten level. then it become anticipation of the travel power which will further build my characters identity. after that I find it starts to become a grind if your main objective is not min/maxing. Once the grind sets in my mind begins to wander. i start to come up with new ideas for character and back stories. maybe i'll run across someone with a really cool costume that will inspir me to roll another alt. Once i actually break down and do so my previous character always pales in comparison no matter how much work i've put into them (although my higest level hero to date was only lvl 16)
i too beleive that some good healthy roleplaying would inspire me to play a character beyond the mid teens. Currently i am playing a hero on Freedom and must roleplay on my own to get any satisfaction. Colossal is based on the Captain America mythos and is you typical stalwart hero. if he sees any civilian in danger he will come to their aid no matter what. I spend a lot of time stopping to crush muggers several levels below me for no exp and have often challenged mobs several levels above me for harrassing police officers. i die but it doens't matter. There ae things more important than debt.
Eventhough Virtue was the community elected "roleplay" server, there are a LOT of roleplayers on every server. If you are looking for Roleplay, just about any place will yield a response if you stick with it some.
I'll give my personal guidelines to role-playing in an MMORPG:
1. Try it even if you think that you aren't good at it. I have never encountered a role-player that will put down another roleplayer regardless of the level of RP experience
2. Your Bio is your friend. Take a minute to think up a bit of backstory for your character and add it to your ID card. Not sure what to say? Take some time near Miss Liberty or the Brawler and look at the info of other people. There are a lot of people that have their bio filled in. You'll see some good story ideas ranging from funny to horrific.
3. Speaking of Backstory.. think of one. It can be a few sentences or it can be a long drawn out epic story that fills in every detail of your characters life. As an example.. I ran a defender named Stormshade. She was a Weather/Darkness defender. She had a metal plate on her face, wore a cloth mask over the lower part of her face, and had one robotic arm. She was a mutant, but her story involved being a Vahzilok guinea pig. The good doctor had the idea that using a mutants organs would help to increase the power of his creations. So..Stormshade was one of his victims. This once very beautiful woman was taken apart by the Vahz minions but kept alive to ensure the usefulness of other organs. She was rescued by a group of heros and the scientists at DATA put her back together again. This left her with a self-consciousness about her appearance, a driving hatred of the Vahzilok, a desire to save others from the good doctors plans, and added darkness control to her previously possessed weather control abilities. The whole idea was spawned by the costume generator while I was just messing with it.
4. Make it personal. There are a great number of choices of villian groups. Most heroes in comics have one or more specific foes that they fight against. If the character's backstory has a personal attachment to one or more of the villian groups, it will help you choose contacts when given the choice, give the missions you do more meaning for your character, and help spark personal involvement in the story arcs that you complete.
5. Talk in Character . Say the things your character would say. Avoid talking about the real world, game mechanics, or in game terms unless you use something to separate the in character from out of character. I generally just type normally for in character chat and use << >> around text that is out of character. Others type OOC: before typing out of character chat. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you are consistent. Those you group with will quickly recognize it.
6: use emotes Emotes add flavor to your characters actions. Shrug, smile, laugh, scowl, etc... If the emote doesn't have an animation you can still just type a semicolon and some text ( ie: ; glares at the Hellion thug.) to emote. The result will be a thought bubble with the text in it. The chat window will show <your name> glares at the hellion in italics to show that it was an emote.
7. Lastly...try it. You don't have to be good at it to give it a shot. It will help improve the immersiveness of the game and increase the attachment to a specific character.
All MMORPGs are really little more than Kill X, get experience, Kill X, get experience, Kill X, Level up...lather rinse and repeat. Sure..some have crafting and loot, but then you are still just going out to Kill X and get experience to level up. Roleplay can help make a grind seem less like a grind and more like something you are doing for a reason beyond just getting to the next level.
I have been roleplaying since I was in 7th grade. I am now a 36 year old mother of two. So I have been around the roleplaying block a little
I am going to expand on some of the advice you have already been given. This might make things a little easier
If you are going to roleplay your character, it is IMPERATIVE to know who and what your character is. That is why a back story is so important.
It should answer certain questions, even if those questions are only answered for yourself. Most important question is this.... why did you become a hero? Very few superheros, (or player characters in any roleplaying game) just woke up one morning and say..."wow, I think I will become a superhero, and fight violence in the streets" or "I think I want to dedicate my life to saving the world." That is a life altering decision.... something happened to make your character decide to do what he/ she does. Maybe a hero saved her life, and she vowed to be just like that hero. Maybe as a child he watched his entire family gunned down in the streets, and vowed he would not rest until the murderers were brought to justice. Maybe it was decreed by the gods that she would be so.... there are a lot of different things that could have happened to make that character a hero.
Next question. Why do you have the powers that you do? Were you orphaned by a child, and adopted by a sensei? Did you develope mutant powers at a young age? Are you the son or daughter of a long and prosperous line of witches? Were your powers bequethed to you by the gods? and if so, why?
What brought you to Paragon City? Were you running from the law in a community where vigilantiism is against the law? Are you chasing a fugitive that has personally caused you harm, or pain? Have you lived in Paragon all your life, and therefore are used to seeing heros around?
Take some time and think about why your character is the way he/ she is. Once this is done, the next part is easier....
Just do it! There is only one surefire method to start roleplaying, that is to just start. Make a comment in a crowd one day regarding your character and see how people respond. It may not work the first time.... so try it again, in different places. There are a lot of roleplayers out there, eventually SOMEONE will understand what you are doing, and they will respond in kind.
For example: on Guardian, I have a lvl 11 illusion/storm controller. Her name is Scaryb. Quick rundown on her backstory.... she is over 2500 years old. She was born Nefriti, youngest daughter to the pharoh during Moses' time. the pharoh, her father, was cursed by God to convince him to set free the people of Israel.
The Egyptian gods decided this curse was not enough for the evil he had done. So they cursed him further. He could not enter the land of Sleeping Kings (Heaven) until he had attoned for his evil ways. Pharoh died before his attonement was complete, so Nefriti prayed to the gods, and sacrificed herself to complete her fathers' attonement. The term of her sacrifice is this : she must do her part to rid the world of evil, and continue to do so, until the gods decree that her father's attonement is complete. Because she is pure of heart, she sleeps in hidden Eden, when not needed...sometimes for a century or two.
Now... Scaryb is not used to the modern, western world. Well, roleplaying her is very easy. I can walk up anywhere, hear any comment for instance : Scaryb walks up to HQ in Galaxy, and sees a group of heros dancing around a boombox. She runs over, squats down and cries 'What magic is this! minstral entrapped in a tiny box? Please sirs, set them free!"
Someone looks at her funny, and explains it is a boombox. Scaryb shakes her head and says "I do not understand the strange ways of the new western world! This is nothing like my native Egypt!"
Just throw the comments out there.... sooner or later you will find other roleplayers that will take what you say and run with it... before you know it, you are roleplaying! And it definately brings a new fun element to the game.
Hope this helps you
I've been playing this game since launch and have enjoyed it so much, although I am never able to experience the higher level content due to the fact that I keep creating new characters. In total to date I've created 28 characters on many different servers. My highest toon was 22. Maybe I keep creating and deleting characters because I don't feel like a real hero. This is my first MMO and I would like to know how to go about roleplaying. Maybe giving my characters a little depth will make them fun to play with and allow me to stick with them till the end. I am seeking advice from hardcore RP'ers on how to roleplay in COH.
Would also like to know if there are any RPing SGs out there on the virtue server that will take in a hardcore gamer but a newbie roleplayer...