Here is Asyria's easy-but-it-requires-a-bit-of-work solution to RPing through game storyline without making it exclusive:
Step 1. Figure out a storyline for your group of RPers to play through.
Step 2. Adapt the actual storyline NP'C names and plots to your storyline.
Step 3. RP through the storyline accordingly.
Step 4. Impress your friends with your stories without spoiling the actual game storyline for them or causing impossibility conflicts (how could you have killed that guy last month if I did it yesterday?)
The solution in action:
Step 1. You ask your friends to help you defeat the villain that's been plaguing your life all this time.
Step 2. You introduce the villain as Bob, your arch-enemy, even though the villain is actually Joe in the game story and he of course never had anything to do with you.
Step3. You and your friend RP along and the final confrontation ends with Bob's death, meaning you are finally free!
Step 4. You tell your friends how relived you are, and they don't even know where you all got this from!
In CO, the Nemesis system kinda sucked in certain things, but its presence was awesome, as it let you do exactly that, with the additional perks of customizing your enemy's look and powers. You couldn't customize quests, but lots of RPers used the above method to develop their storylines.
If you choose to really use the cannon storyline as is... I'm afraid many RPers will find it rather annoying that you'd claim you've done this and that, including, I'm sorry to say, myself. As you said "if someone has already taken down the lich king, they're obviously out of your RP scenario, and you can make your character not hear them (because it would be impossible for them to exist)" and this goes both ways! ^^;
It's your game as much as mine and everyone else's of course, so feel free to RP through it as you like!
I'm just saying it's kind of a peeve to many people Even though it does sound pretty fun, it's a RPing style better suited to multiplayer as opposed to massively multiplayer.
Therefore, when RPing with others outside of your Party, I would suggest you keep the storyline references to a minimum. ^^
Step 1. Figure out a storyline for your group of RPers to play through.
Step 2. Adapt the actual storyline NP'C names and plots to your storyline.
Step 3. RP through the storyline accordingly.
Step 4. Impress your friends with your stories without spoiling the actual game storyline for them or causing impossibility conflicts (how could you have killed that guy last month if I did it yesterday?)
The solution in action:
Step 1. You ask your friends to help you defeat the villain that's been plaguing your life all this time.
Step 2. You introduce the villain as Bob, your arch-enemy, even though the villain is actually Joe in the game story and he of course never had anything to do with you.
Step3. You and your friend RP along and the final confrontation ends with Bob's death, meaning you are finally free!
Step 4. You tell your friends how relived you are, and they don't even know where you all got this from!
In CO, the Nemesis system kinda sucked in certain things, but its presence was awesome, as it let you do exactly that, with the additional perks of customizing your enemy's look and powers. You couldn't customize quests, but lots of RPers used the above method to develop their storylines.
If you choose to really use the cannon storyline as is... I'm afraid many RPers will find it rather annoying that you'd claim you've done this and that, including, I'm sorry to say, myself. As you said "if someone has already taken down the lich king, they're obviously out of your RP scenario, and you can make your character not hear them (because it would be impossible for them to exist)" and this goes both ways! ^^;
It's your game as much as mine and everyone else's of course, so feel free to RP through it as you like!
I'm just saying it's kind of a peeve to many people Even though it does sound pretty fun, it's a RPing style better suited to multiplayer as opposed to massively multiplayer.
Therefore, when RPing with others outside of your Party, I would suggest you keep the storyline references to a minimum. ^^
