Hey-o~ Welcome to the RPC and Roleplaying in general, the lore is pretty simple to pick up. In most MMOs it's not very relevant in RP besides your connection to things, such as the Aether, or the Gods. Getting super deep into the lore will more or less sate your own tastes for story, but I don't see it as -too- relevant. I haven't run into any more thumps in my time RPing.
Onto the questions!
1) Completely up to you from a personal standpoint. Due to ARR's character models and base gear, I'd say it's perfectly possible to jump right in because you already look awesome enough to do it! But I'm extremely fashion orientated, I worry about my clothes more than my level. Not that I want the prettiest dress or the shinest armor, I simply want something that reflects my character. If you wish to jump in at level 1, you totally can. It's up to you weather you want to go out and find the perfect outfit first or not.
2) Background are completely up to you. Most people don't judge on backstories, and some people don't flesh them out at all. They prefer to grow the character 'organically' which means they develop things through roleplay itself, or maybe make something up on the spot with their history. The fact that you have such a fleshed out history is impressive! It's completely average to have that level of depth, a simple backstory as to how he got to where he is now. Some people go into detail, past friends, branching out into the personalities and qualities of their deceased relaitives, etc etc. -All- of that is totally up to you, and if you want a place to flesh it out and write it all down. You could make a wiki page on the website about your character!
3) Again, you can jump in instantly after the tutorial, or you can wait it out. It's perfectly accepted to jump in, just as it is perfectly acceptable to not touch RP till max level. Personally I don't public RP at all till I'm max level, just because I enjoy playing the actual game way too much, and I want to look pretty, but again. Completely subjective!
4) Both styles are completely fine and accepted, usually they alter depending on circumstance. For exmaple if you're in a populated area you might want to stick to /say and just regular emotes such as /grin. Simply because it causes less clog and the RP can roll faster. However, most people view the other way as bog standard, the majority of RPers in my personal experience and personal use, lean towards emoting in as much detail as possible, some going as far to post paragraphs of detail for simple actions. - Adding the layers of detail make the picture more painted in your mind, in my opinion. So, I'd personally say lean towards detailed custom emotes. (For a side note you can type '/em' and it will start an emote, so you can write out your action.)
5) Again this is up to you, but my opinion would be on the lower scale. I try to avoid them as much as possible. Even if the animations are fun to watch, usually they don't display what I'm trying to get off, and on top of that each one fills up a line in your chat box. Using them constantly would start to flood your chat. However, if you enjoy using the animations and such I say the more power to you!
6) Usually you simply walk up and start roleplaying. I've never been asked OOCly if it's okay, nor have I asked permission... If it's obvious they're roleplaying at the moment then I'd assume they wouldn't mind getting some roleplay, right? So I'd say walk up and initiate conversation, as you would in real life.Â
Are you going to lean over, whisper in the hot guy's ear and say "Hey... Want to talk?" or are you going to just talk to him?.... Okay if you're super nervous about it I supoo- LOOK. You can walk up, RPers don't bite! Annnd if you don't know what to say, just try to think of the reason you want to talk to them in the first place. If worst comes to worst, walk up, tug up your belt and say "I am bored. I wish to chit chat, would you indulge me?"
Hope these helped, Good luck getting on one of the servers!
Onto the questions!
1) Completely up to you from a personal standpoint. Due to ARR's character models and base gear, I'd say it's perfectly possible to jump right in because you already look awesome enough to do it! But I'm extremely fashion orientated, I worry about my clothes more than my level. Not that I want the prettiest dress or the shinest armor, I simply want something that reflects my character. If you wish to jump in at level 1, you totally can. It's up to you weather you want to go out and find the perfect outfit first or not.
2) Background are completely up to you. Most people don't judge on backstories, and some people don't flesh them out at all. They prefer to grow the character 'organically' which means they develop things through roleplay itself, or maybe make something up on the spot with their history. The fact that you have such a fleshed out history is impressive! It's completely average to have that level of depth, a simple backstory as to how he got to where he is now. Some people go into detail, past friends, branching out into the personalities and qualities of their deceased relaitives, etc etc. -All- of that is totally up to you, and if you want a place to flesh it out and write it all down. You could make a wiki page on the website about your character!
3) Again, you can jump in instantly after the tutorial, or you can wait it out. It's perfectly accepted to jump in, just as it is perfectly acceptable to not touch RP till max level. Personally I don't public RP at all till I'm max level, just because I enjoy playing the actual game way too much, and I want to look pretty, but again. Completely subjective!
4) Both styles are completely fine and accepted, usually they alter depending on circumstance. For exmaple if you're in a populated area you might want to stick to /say and just regular emotes such as /grin. Simply because it causes less clog and the RP can roll faster. However, most people view the other way as bog standard, the majority of RPers in my personal experience and personal use, lean towards emoting in as much detail as possible, some going as far to post paragraphs of detail for simple actions. - Adding the layers of detail make the picture more painted in your mind, in my opinion. So, I'd personally say lean towards detailed custom emotes. (For a side note you can type '/em' and it will start an emote, so you can write out your action.)
5) Again this is up to you, but my opinion would be on the lower scale. I try to avoid them as much as possible. Even if the animations are fun to watch, usually they don't display what I'm trying to get off, and on top of that each one fills up a line in your chat box. Using them constantly would start to flood your chat. However, if you enjoy using the animations and such I say the more power to you!
6) Usually you simply walk up and start roleplaying. I've never been asked OOCly if it's okay, nor have I asked permission... If it's obvious they're roleplaying at the moment then I'd assume they wouldn't mind getting some roleplay, right? So I'd say walk up and initiate conversation, as you would in real life.Â
Are you going to lean over, whisper in the hot guy's ear and say "Hey... Want to talk?" or are you going to just talk to him?.... Okay if you're super nervous about it I supoo- LOOK. You can walk up, RPers don't bite! Annnd if you don't know what to say, just try to think of the reason you want to talk to them in the first place. If worst comes to worst, walk up, tug up your belt and say "I am bored. I wish to chit chat, would you indulge me?"
Hope these helped, Good luck getting on one of the servers!
~