So, you bit the bullet and started a worgen. Congratulations! You've just become a diseased, unclean beast; most people will think you belong in a hobo's shallow grave, or perhaps locked up in the city zoo. The sight of your slavering fangs and mottled fur will inspire fear, horror, and fainting spells.

Or rather ... it should. You see, unlike the phased entry animations and yells for Death Knights on their way back from the Lich King, or heroes in Northrend who get saluted by the guards, the city guards - especially in a place as idyllic as Stormwind - are total wooden boards. No reaction, no comments, no animations. It's almost as if they're mindlessly following the same path without regard to what happens right in front of them as long as no Horde is involved.

Instead, what we get is a kind of general acceptance, a malaise if you will. So let's look at the ways that your abilities could affect the world, and how you can role-play that kind of interaction.

City Guards

First, we have the City Guard. Each city has it's own racial culture, so remember to allow for how each race views you. For instance, the humans of Stormwind are assuredly a lot more uptight than the elves of Darnassus.

Stormwind City
The glorious Human kingdom of Azeroth has known the fury of the Orcs, the grace of the Elves, the stoutness of the Dwarves. Spared from the worst of the ravages of the Plague, those citizens who remember the orcs and the razing of stormwind are all old-timers now. The city guard is young and brash, eager for battle but largely untested outside of barroom brawls. So imagine their reaction to you on a dark and foggy night. The lights barely push back the fog, their eyes peering over the walls. A howl sounds, then another. The wolves of Elwynn Forest? Yes ... but another note as well. Loping along on great furred arms and powerful legs sprints a hunched figure, bestial yet not a wolf. Arrows are called for, and torches; the Guard rides out to meet the figure at the gate and finds a monster of nightmare, snarling, feral, blood-crusted talons and glinting fangs. To protect their citizens, they execute it and quietly dump it's corpse into the woods.

Rewind. That's you, in your Running Wild form, just trying to get back to the Auction House to sell some neat but useless trinket. In your haste, you forgot what you looked like, and got killed for it. How can we do this better?

First: NEVER "Run Wild" in a town, city, etc. It's much slower, but you need to pass for human. Therefor, be sure to always stop before you hit the edge of town, stand up, dust off your knees and hands, and shift back into human form. Walk into the city a proud Human, and go about your business without setting off a full-scale alert. Remember that if you have Exalted reputation with another faction (like, say, Darnassus - from whom you get LOTS of rep very quickly questing in Darkshore and Ashenvale if you're following the "natural" gilneas quest progression. Don't forget to get a Darnassus tabard and run some dungeons), you can buy a mount from them and mount it in your human form. This will allow you to look human as you ride into town, again not setting off the guard.

Second: If you're a class with some kind of movement speed buff, do it. Hunters have Aspect of the Cheetah, druids have their Travel form, etc. Many of these abilities are passive, working even when you're human. Some, like druid forms, have become commonplace as the elves come and go through stormwind - though, remember that most guards aren't going to recognize a beast as a druid if they see it running in the street.

Ironforge
Great city of the dwarves, Ironforge is the seat of power for the three clans once again. Ancient beyond knowing, the dwarves were once the Earthen, creations of the Titans to shape and guild Azeroth while they were away. Afflicted by the Curse of Flesh, their racial history stretches back THOUSANDS of years. Yet, they have NEVER seen a worgen. Gilneas locked itself away behind the wall after the second war, well before the scourge - so it's possible that you've never met a dwarf before, either. The same considerations apply here, especially since this city is home to no natural pests except the inevitable rats and spiders. Running Wild is strongly discouraged, but so are Druid forms - a wild animal running through the corridors of the Great Forge would cause a minor stir, but you might be mistaken for some Hunters pet. Weigh your chances carefully.

Darnassus
This is perhaps the only city in which you can feel free to be yourself. The first Worgen were the Night Elf druids of the pack, who went wild and got stuck in the Emerald Dream. It was the Night Elves who rescued you and your people, helped you control your inner beast, and brought you to their city. So to see you standing around in your natural form, or running wild through the canopy of Teldrassil, is at least expected. Here they know you, accept you, and are ready to welcome you with open arms.

The Exodar
The Draenai have been through some rough and interesting times, and have seen their share of horrors. The same considerations from Stormwind apply here, with one exception - once they have had the chance to absorb some Worgen into their culture, they will likely be just as accepting as the Elves. So give it a while before you shift, but then shift with joy.

City Guards, Part Deux

One often-lost consideration of the guard is what they do inside the city walls. Here they are peacekeepers, police, fire-men. They handle citizen inquiries, help find lost kittens, and provide examples of stunning jawlines for future boys to emulate. So there you are, having a pint, looking human. So far, so good. The guards didn't murder you and the innkeeper didn't run screaming at the slavering nightmare standing in his bar, growling. Suddenly, you see a rat in the corner; you recall seeing that sexy little guild achievement for killing critters just sitting there, waiting, beaconing. You draw your knife and go over to kill the rat, and as you swing you feel the red mist coming down. You snarl, tear through your clothes, shift and go feral. Patrons scream. The guard is called. You end up a perforated wolf-sicle in the city morgue, your death a regrettable tragedy.

Rewind. How can we do this better? First, remember that while most other players won't care or even particularly notice, two categories of people will. the NPC guards, and other role-players. A good roleplayer will see you shift and - unless familiar with you, or your kind - assume the worst. Guards would also have the same reaction. So a good rule of thumb is to try to stay out of combat in cities. This also means no dueling in city walls.

Questing

Ah, the open air! No guards to hold you back, no screaming citizenry to worry about - just you and your mane, running free. Well, as long as you want to solo your content, you're fine! Just remember to shift back before you enter quest hubs. But what happens when you want to start grouping with other role-players out in the world?

Most individuals won't have met a worgen before, so you will be a mystery to them. If you choose to tell them in advance, you'll face a few days of awkwardness as they get to know your two forms, but you may soon find them understanding. Of course, each species has it's speciesists, so don't be surprised to hear some pointed remarks, and see some people storming off in a huff. This is unavoidable.

The second route is to try and hide it. This works best if you're a damage class, as nobody is really paying attention to you. YOu cna then shift, kill the thing, and shift back hopefully before anybody notices. For bonus role-playing opportunities, you could even then play up the "corner of the eye" phenominon - was that a giant wolf we saw while we were killing that ogre? It seems to be following us ... etc, etc, etc. The possibilities are endless. The big thing to remember here is that if you've not told your party that you're a worgen, they will be very surprised when you roar with bestial vigor and turn furry right before their eyes.

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These are just the basic aspects of role-playing a Worgen, but they are the ones most often overlooked because they impact the way you play. It's easy to come up with a backstory; it's hard to consciously not be a wolfman in cities, or quest hubs, or even while questing with others. Play well, have fun, and good luck!