So, what am I getting myself into?

I haven't played City Of Heroes in a while. Used to play on Protector as a Stone/Stone tanker. I've been contemplating getting on Virtue and trying some of the Role-playing that I have heard about. I used to Role-play on forums, but I assume this is quite different, role-playing on a game, I mean. I just kinda want to know what I may be getting into, what I should do to prepare, and just some general advice. It would be greatly appreciated. I have a character on Virtue already, a Dark/Dark Scrapper with the Magic origin, and I'm working on some background story for him. So once again, any advice, preferably leaning towards the good, constructive side, would be greatly appreciated.

Just pretend you are the character in question and speak and react in character as he, or she would.

When you want to speak out of character, ((use double parentheses around what you type, like I did here)).

It's quite easy to RP, if you're willing to become an actor, because that's exactly what it is; becoming your character. Like the person above stated, react how they would react, add an accent if he/she's from somewhere, etc. Figure out a backstory for your character first, that generally helps with figuring out who your person is emotionally.

and beware of the Pocket D...

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

I have said too much...

*hides*

What's so bad about the Pocket D? I hope to not have to experience it myself, so I shall ask here.

Once every blue moon, there will come an RPer in Pocket D who will actually RP with you randomly. As bad as the D may seem, that's actually where I've met some pretty cool people.

But as Deej has said, be careful when you're in Pocket D. I have since gotten the impression that it is mostly unfriendly to passerbys and most other characters who don't already have a circle of friends to RP with. One thing you'll notice is that you'll mostly see the same set of people in there only conversing amongst themselves. Sometimes, on a nightly basis.

On the other hand, I would suggest that you at least attempt to start conversations with characters who seem to be alone. Especially if they're at the bar. I see the same set of people in the D who are always by themselves and won't RP with anyone unless THEY are approached. And in a way, it's off-putting.

Pocket D, as a whole, isn't a bad place. It's just that you have to find the right people.

If you want a tour of the D, look me up in-game some time. I spend enough time in there (usually while LFT or working on something out-of-game) that I've a fairly clear idea of the regular groups and so forth.

Global is @Emgro, surprisingly.

Speaking of Pocket D. If you're not a single "attractive" female, don't expect many people to approach you.

At least, that's what I have noticed.

It's truly not that bad, but amid some great RP characters there, there's also a few late-night Erotic Roleplayers (ERP) and (not sure what the term is) text/tell-challenging wherin they expect you to engage them in texted battles usually resulting in nothing short of them stating they have killed you with a thermonuclear weapon as you stand there, while all others in the Pocket D are unaffected (don't laugh; this actually happened to me a year ago).

My level of belief in quality RP character interface in the D went out the window shortly thereafter.

As I've rolled through there a few times (like, for doing V-Day mishes of late), some of the local chats up in the redside and blueside bar area were enough to make this die-hard veteran "swear-like-a-sailor" submariner blush. Most of those conversations didn't have a bloody thing to do with roleplaying, just verbal abuse.

If that, however, is something you desire, all the more power to you, however, since your OP, to me, implied you are just starting out some character RP here on CoH, this may not be the first place to jump into and garner a proper 'first impression' of Virtue's RP community.

Thank you all, I appreciate the responses. Friendlier than I am used to on a forum of any sort, really.

With City of Heroes, these forums and forumites are a huge cut above the rest. There are some incredible people, quality players, and thoughtful devs and community relations folks here, all for us to communicate with.

The bashing and gouging usually seem on 'other' gaming forums doesn't exist here to any of that degree. Granted, there will be heated discusssions, 'rage quit' posts, etc, but those are in the true low-percentage minority vice the helpfulness you will get here (high -precentage majority).

So generally the best way to get into any sort of Role-playing is to simply jump in, but not interrupting an on going RP?

By the way, welcome to Virtue. Don't carry any opened cans of cat food, tuna, or such in your pockets. The catgirls WILL steal your pants.

You may also want to hang out under the Atlas statue in AP. There is plenty of ARR PEE around there, much of the time.

This community is definitely more helpful than I am used to... Thanks for all the advice, Virtue! I appreciate it. Maybe I will run into a few of you In-game.

I'm mostly elaborating on what others have already said, but if you hit the D try to think of it like it was a real nightclub, not like it's all-purpose RP space. People standing by themselves won't approach you, because if they were so inclined they'd have already done it. The odds are good, though, that they're hoping you approach them and say hello. Groups may or may not appreciate a stranger intruding on their conversation, because just like in real life sometimes people just want to hang out with their friends. You aren't owed anything just because you zoned into the D, so it's important to understand the social environment you're going into and how to make it work for you. The more you think of it like it were a real place, the more you'll get out of it.

As far as women being approached more often than men... well, it wouldn't surprise me, but I mainly play attractive women and I've very rarely been approached when I was there alone. When I was already RPing with someone, though, yeah. If people see you RPing and having fun they'll know that that's what you're there for and that you have the social skills for it, and they'll want to be around you. Again, much like in real life.

I'll usually sit the D. Silently watching some funny stuff go down. Including attempts at getting ERP.

...I have no soul.

Actually, another thing that may be obvious but I've met people who needed to hear it: it is very likely you will see people doing things in the D that you do not like, or whose bios suggest you may not like them. It will inevitably happen. Super Pro Ancient RP Wisdom: do not go up to these people and antagonize them. Think twice before approaching them at all, if you're really bothered by them. Maybe they're ERPing in public, maybe they're textfighting and you don't like that, maybe they have something distasteful in their bio. Whatever. Let them be, the D is very large and there is plenty of room to avoid people and activities you dislike. If you absolutely must say something, a polite and non-confrontational tell is the best way to go. Don't be that guy that starts a public scene, comes back to the boards raging about it, and has to be reminded that it was his own damn fault for making a point of interacting with these people in the first place. That guy is always a bigger jerk than the people he's complaining about.