Ask anyone you want some questions - forum fun thread

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one is bad enough already but three…?

I guess I’d go with proper high elves for Alliance, with racials that focus on spellcasting or having some cool Arcane themed active ability. Maybe something crazy like being able to open a portal to where their hearthstone is set, but on a longer cooldown. I’d rather have those instead of void elves which were just a complete mistake, most people use velves to play as helves anyway.

I honestly don’t know what else I could tolerate being added. I never subscribed to the ogre fanclub and I feel like it’s way too late to add them now. I feel like both them and Naga would have the same transmog issues that Dracthyr currently have and I doubt Blizzard would want to bother adressing that.

It’s also hard for me to pinpoint what races I’d like for Horde nowadays because it’s such a mess of a faction with its old faction identity long gone, especially now that they have dwarves… So yeah, I think I’ll just go with helves.

Question for @Shogganosh - what is the character you enjoyed roleplaying as the most and is there anything you’re looking for roleplay wise in the coming months, maybe you have plans of your own?

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Time’s up! @Galek ask a question from someone else please.

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:frowning:
A question for @Acrona then.

Describe your best and if you wish, worst roleplay experience on the server!

If we don’t get a reply after twelve hours, I’ll let the first poster take over the chain and ask a question of their own to whoever they like.

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Uuh, there’s a lot to choose from 20 years!

I’m really enjoying a storyline that Ryldor has been steadfastly DMing for us over the past 3+ years, but it’d take six hours to even make a synopsis of all that has happened. So I’ll go for something else that’s stuck with me as perhaps the most memorable.

It’s spring 2005. I’ve freshly started playing World of Warcraft, having finally made the leap from Ultima Online when I got a PC able to run WoW. The guild me and my friend applied to, the Silvereye, had invited us to meet them during an event they were involved in hosting in Darnassus.

So on the day, me and my friend start making our way to the city through Teldrassil where we had been leveling a bit. He played a hunter who was Acrona’s adoptive father, and Acrona was a novice druid in training at the time. Of course born in Teldrassil before I knew better.

Anyway.

Entering Darnassus… it’s like entering this cinematic movie scene of a city filled with people, fanfare and confetti - except it’s running on 2 FPS because of all the lag, but brought to 60 FPS in my rose-tinted imagining. So many people it was insane. Sure, I had been part of big MMO events in Ultima Online, but this hit different and immersive on a whole new scale because of the 3D graphics feeling more like being in the world instead of looking at it from far above with a fixed camera.

I don’t remember what the festival was about anymore, but it was absolutely thrilling walking through the city and seeing all the activities happening around us. It was the first moment for me where WoW felt absolutely HUGE as an MMORPG. It was awe-inspiring and thrilling, full of life.

We headed to the Cenarion Enclave where the GM of the guild received us, leading us inside that tree-den for a quick chat. The guild wasn’t particularly looking for new druids as they had plenty already, but they made an exception as we were eager to join together. A brief talk later, we happily donned the guild tag above our heads, received a warm welcome, and went back out to check out the remainder of the festivities brimming throughout the city. As much as the lag could permit us, anyway.

I’ll rank this as my favourite experience for the following reasons:

  1. It made me absolutely enthralled about the possibilities of WoW as a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game
  1. It inspired me to organize events of my own, to see if I could recapture the magic and inspiring vibes, both for myself and other players
  1. I joined my first WoW guild during the event, with whom I enjoyed roleplaying a lot the next few years, and who largely helped me develop as a roleplayer and learn more about the night elf & Warcraft lore. The Silvereye also came up with some headcanon concepts like the Elunarian calendar events that are still carried on by other guilds to this day, such as Byltan, Lughnasad, Jurin’Atore etc. so a part of its legacy still lives on unbeknowns to many. Though most of the players have long since left the game, I’m still in touch with many of its members on a daily basis two decades later. Instead of a WoW guild, we’ve transitioned into being a solid group of friends sharing the joys and burdens of life with each other and I’m forever grateful for getting to know them. We do weekly DnD and movie nights together. It’s the best guild I’ve ever been part of to this day, even if it had its ups and downs like any guild would.

Unfortunately I don’t have time to mull on my worst experience right now, so I’ll move on to the next question:

Telaryn, our resident lorebook, what’s your absolute favorite piece of established WoW lore as well as your favorite headcanon?

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There are too many things I like from different areas of the lore, but for once I’ll share something more obscure other than a snippet from The Last Guardian (though make no mistake, it’s still my favourite WoW novel—I’ve read it 4 times and call back to its concepts often in RP as they’ve stood against the test of time and retcons remarkably well).

According to Shadow of the Horde...

The apocryphal origin of all modern Pandaren fighting styles are rooted in twelve monks who defended the Kun-Lai Pass for twelve years. Each of them held the pass solo for a month, then spent the rest of the year perfecting their style. But Pandaren folklore has a problem where they love telling a grand story, and with enough time the kernel of truth is lost with each retelling of the story—it’s the duty of the Lorewalkers to divide fact from myth.

Vol’jin, in his study of Pandaern military history, concludes that there likely were twelve master monks who are the fathers of all modern Pandaren fighting styles, each having pioneered one from which all else is descended one way or another during a time when the Kun-Lai Pass needed to be secured.

We know of the Four Celestial styles by name, but there’s 8 other primary styles out there without a name! Not to mention all the styles descended from them as people innovate—the only common thread is that if you trace a style’s lineage back long enough, you will end up at one of these twelve monks. My guess would be that some of them have to include fighting styles that revolve around weapon use.

As for headcanon...

I try to keep mine rooted in lore so they have a canon basis and fit into the world. There are gaps, and my headcanons usually revolve around filling those in with a flavour of IC bias.

With that preface, allow me to equip my tinfoil hat and introduce you to my main RP character’s interpretation of the cosmology chart. This’ll be a long one, so bare with me. I made it years ago during BFA, but since then they’ve slowly validated it with obscure little references added to in-game in the last few expansions.

https://i.gyazo.com/018b8a4a33628dda734d3af2df054407.png

In this interpretation of the cosmology wheel, the prime elements and cosmic forces are on equal standing, instead of 6 prime forces and 4 elemental forces. The reason for this is that my character sees no functional difference between them and interprets them only as different elements that make up the building blocks of the universe. The Veil separates our reality from other adjacent planes, but the Emerald Dream isn’t mentioned due to my character’s lack of familiarity with it—this is an intentional IC flaw in the chart which could and should be rectified if and when she learns more of its nature. She acknowledges there’s a myriad of other planes out there, but doesn’t think they’re fundamental to the structure of reality.

You will also notice that Fel is missing from the chart and Arcane is conspicuously placed in the middle. The reason for this is that my mage views Arcane as the fundamental Force of Creation in the universe and Fel as its antithesis Force of Destruction as the other side of the coin. It is the interplay of these two forces that creates the spoke around which all else revolves around. The reason for this choice was that we have canon examples of Arcane and Fel dominating other cosmic forces through out this franchise’s long history, because they fundamentally manipulate reality itself.

The Arathi also have a book in TWW which talks about magical equilibrium, with combination magic being more stable. Holy Fire is actually Light + Fire, not Light manfiesting itself as a flame as previously thought. Thus it circles back to Arcane and Fel combining with others to manipulate them.

This interpretation was also validated in Shadowlands with that one in-game book series written by a Broker and scattered around the Tazavesh dungeon. In it the author is on a quest to find the Cosmic Truth:tm: of the First Ones. Before he bluescreens himself to death, he wrote about how he saw a One Source from which all magic originates, then splits into 6, which split into countless more, birthing new magic types in an infinite gradient of colours where they intersect.

My mage obviously doesn’t know about the First Ones, and so (incorrectly) believes Arcane magic to be the fundamental force from which everything originates by observing how Arcane magic reacts with everything else.

I apologise for the long winded post, but I thought it best to give necessary context for also explaining the philosophy behind the design and sources to validate it with. Everything is connected, and affecting one casts ripples that will affect the others.

@Loras What kind of stories are you currently cooking up in RP? What’s the biggest dilemma your character struggles with?

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Yes, hello. That’s me.

The story kitchen

I’m currently edging my way back into roleplay after a month or two away from the hobby — time away to refresh the creative juices and enthusiasm. Consequently, the stories I’ve been working on have been of the slow burn variety.

If we’re talking about intended character arcs, it would be apt to say that I treat my OCs as if they were Dragon Age companions; they have their own plots running concurrent with whatever their group is getting up to that they open up about as their trust is gradually earned.

The first ‘chapter’ of that has been centred on a return to her roots — quite literally, both in the sense that she wields nature magic and that she’s made a return to her homeland after years away.

If by stories you mean the ‘post adventure on AA’ variety, then that’s simple: since I’ve stepped back for a while to reinvigorate my enthusiasm, I’ve been primarily dwelling on events and occurrences related to her background — to further flesh out the character.

I’m already more than satisfied with her characterisation, but it’s always interesting to remember that a character should have had rich lived experiences prior to their story being picked up the player.

Dilemmas

I try to blend the high fantasy of Azeroth with some more, very basic human struggles. Identity, purpose, contending with one’s own hypocrisies and idiosyncrasies. Her biggest dilemma, after years of effectively running from the duties she was the heir to, is coming home to find that she’s the only person left to actually bear the weight of those responsibilities. Everything her found family had built has been left in ruins and she’s the one who’s picking up the pieces, because there’s nobody else who can.

The purpose of these is, in part, to cultivate roleplay with others. She’s not capable of succeeding on her own and consequently needs friends, allies, contacts. That means cooking up ways and reasons for her to become involved in the stories of others.

@Vixí
Do you take any inspiration from other games, stories, and settings external to Warcraft for your roleplay? If so, how do you use them to influence your character design and stories?

Would also be interested to read which ones specifically you like to draw ideas from.

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Yes I do alot of the time! Usually it comes in the form of me finding a character or thr concept of a certain character very interesting!

The way I use these influences though is I first try and think of the basis what I like about it, then see if there is anything in WoW lore that matches or is similliar enough to tie on.

My current roleplay character for example is a Forsaken. My initial inspiration for the character was Areelu Vorlesh from pathfinder. So I decided first that they share voice. Then I drew inspiration from the characters lore and personality to tweak it. So from Areelu, my character Margiette, is an obsessive scientist who also took part in spreading the original plague of Lordaeron.

And as from where I take inspiration, its from games movies and books I read! Pathfinder is a goid example :slight_smile:

My next question is for @Croecell

Do you have any particular favourites among the characters you roleplay or play and if so how come, like what do you like about them in particular?

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When I used to play Hibani more, I liked her almost encyclopedic knowledge on beasts but then was very naive (she is a younger zandalari) on anything outside of beasts.

I do really enjoy RPing the interaction between my hunters and their pets. Take my current RP main, Tavarius-- absolutely babies his drust cat, something I think most people don’t expect out of him when you catch him without her.

@Distantpeak

Where and when can you usually be found RPing?

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Me again eh?
Righto!
I can usually be found in Twilight Grove on my green dragon Solanikus. Usually hover in front of the Dream portal. (I have a few dragon chars and I love dragon lore)

I play several Earthen that are sworn to aforementioned dragon who serve the druids happily.

I have been RPing a goblin in Stormwind for a while called Lario Spitfario.
A lot of “how is a goblin in Stormwind?!” they somehow miss the NPCs year round appearing.

Outside of that, I want to get back into Horde activity but I’m not sure Arathi Highlands is me.

Neeeext on the list!
Elfculler what’s going on with you?
What do you RP where and what draws you to the character?

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Undermine talks about this, and the crux of it is that goblins are fundamentally neutral—even Bilgewater’s Undermine branch. They may sign contracts with factions like the Kezanite branch of Bilgewater did, but the Cartels are constantly poaching promising talent, so a past contract has little to no bearing. Gazlowe was poached by the Bilgewater after there was a vacancy, and Bilgewater poaches others with the promise of higher pay to offset the loss of profits from exclusivity with the Horde. Their only loyalty is to the terms of their current contract, and Renzik had one with the SI:7.

The holiday event companies are permitted in Stormwind, and in Pearl of Pandaria we see a goblin enter without a second glance from the guards, because the baseline assumption in-universe is neutrality. If you’re uncertain, ask to see the goblin’s contract—they always carry a copy because of how important legalese is in their society.

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Gentle reminder about:

It’s @Elfculler’s turn to reply and ask his question. :slight_smile:

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As of now I’m playing a Kul Tiran warlock, a mercenary and brute at heart who out of necessity learned to master the Dark Arts. It’s one of several concepts I’ve been enjoying lately, particularly as he’s neither good or downright evil and, with his penchant for working for coin, I can generally justify his presence almost everywhere bar the Stormwind Cathedral.

Hence I don’t really have a usual haunt right now. He goes where the guild I’m part of goes, whether that’s Duskwood (bleh!), Alterac, Outland or Khaz Algar.

My next question goes to @Halfbrand : What’s the plan with the ? When can we see it taking off proper and how can others help with setting things in motion?

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Oh golly gee, it’s my turn to hold the talking stick (although without my Bo Peep tmog, the forums haven’t updated yet “”“sadly”“”)

You know I love my cycles, Santern. We started with the Highmaw Ogre Gaming™ (where we first met, even!), moved onto Albanian Alteraci separatism, back to the Highmaw, and with the Free-State ‘community’ having celebrated it’s 10th anniversary OOC it’s only natural we’d make a formal return under the Oxblood Banner for a lengthy tenure.

When? (publicly) soon! Especially as my day-job is getting less hectic post-crunch time. We’ve already been kicking around for a while off the radar, especially in Duskwood where our shadowy conspiracy and militant obsession with the most forgotten of the kingdoms has been warmly welcomed between fighting world-ending threats from beyond the veil. Small steps, so we don’t end up in a stockade before the big fire show can kick off IC.

How? Go out there, talk to these fine people that burn so brightly for Alterac! Networking, contacts, sporadic RP, it’s all the name of the game. Whether IC hostility/conflict, sympathy for the cause, wanting to engage in organized crime/trade/dealings, all’s welcome!*

*(mostly because our previous “tax-exempt incomes” from our former benefactor dried up, and the bank of Stormwind isn’t playing ball with us, smh)

I take this chance to continue shilling player conflict RP (and the Oxbloods) by asking @Redchalice:

With the supposed “truce” and DM’ed/event fights being a more and more common concept in RP, as well as Blizzard shifting (currently) gear towards more faction-neutrality and shared spaces; what do you think the future for direct (faction) conflict-oriented and generally outliers/non-conforming guilds looks like? Is either direction just a fad/current flavor of AD, or something espoused by a very vocal minority?

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Ah yes, a topic near and dear to all of us. Honestly, my opinion on this seems to fluctuate a lot recently. I think it sort of falls into two camps in my head.

a)Faction conflict (in my opinion) is the very core of Warcraft. It is what makes moments where we unite to slay the big bad that much more meaningful. In my opinion, it also gives us lower, simpler stakes to engage in cross-faction RP i.e “Why are you here?” “To punch the guy wearing red/blue/green.” rather than coming up with convoluted reasons (or excuses) as to why our characters are in certain places. Although, not all conflict needs to be cross-faction. Dissenters, back-stabbers and separatists… all those no-gooders having a face make the story and events more compelling. However, I appreciate that sometimes this escalates IC conflict to OOC conflict, due to differing approaches to RP but I think in the year of our lord 2025, we can all give each other some benefit of the doubt and be more communicative should that ever happen.

b)With how Blizzard itself seems to be veering away from the two separate factions dynamic, or just straight up down playing one of them (only having a single Horde character on the box art for example), as cross faction RP-PvP goes, perhaps it is also time to move on and swallow the bitter pill that the days of war and thunder are in the past. This somewhat leads into more of a D&D style misadventures (Player versus Marker/Prism) or more civilian everyday life RP, since if your character is not out there with the vanguard fighting the expansions big bad, what’s there to fight? Not to say it’s bad or worse in comparison but different.

Some people will find themselves in camp A, some in B and definitely a healthy chunk somewhere in between and that is the beauty of RP. I don’t think the current shift is a fad though, rather players trying to follow the general theme set out by Blizzard, and in their own way interpret the current state of the lore and implement it to their RP. Which is what we have always done. To varying degrees. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Anyway, my rambling aside, sadly I don’t have people to tag into this thread that has not already been tagged. So I ask dogtor @Obahar, what inspires you to write/RP your character(s)? Do you have a set process in mind or do you just let the juices flow?

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Time’s up, please fire a question at someone else or if you prefer, pass it up to the first lucky (and quick) poster. :smiley:

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I tried contacting someone to confirm their character name but was unable to do so. In order to not further clog the thread I think it’s best that I pass and open the floor to others.

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I’m going to slip in and ask a few questions back to Gruggethy.

Gruggs!
How’s HoC? Still shouting “Thirteenth!”?
Where are you generally based?
How are you finding other RP outside of that? You seem to float around the Alliance a bit.
On top of those, are you enjoying TWW?

(this is where he doesn’t respond and makes me look awful)

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We’re doing well—still rallying under the old Thirteenth, though we’ve also taken up names like Varok’kra, partly inspired by my love for the Bloodsworn comic, which influenced that direction. I’d say the guild’s concept and focus have shifted again, this time leaning even further into the spirit of a traditional Warcraft III-era Horde army. I see that as a positive development—it adds a stronger sense of identity.

As you know, we used to spend a lot of time in Kalimdor, but since the Heartlands novella released, we’ve shifted our focus to the Arathi Highlands and the broader Eastern Kingdoms. With orcs beginning to properly settle those lands, we’re doing our part to support that effort.

You’re right about me being around the Alliance too—we’ve got a sister guild called the Sword of Triumph, which I also write for. So I occasionally spend time on that side as well.

As for The War Within—I’m genuinely enjoying the gameplay; it’s been a blast. Story-wise, there’s still room for improvement, but it’s definitely reignited my enthusiasm for Warcraft’s future—something I haven’t felt in quite a while. So yes, all in all, I’m having a good time!

I’m actually interested to hear from @Jesper of the Holy Order of Lordain—we haven’t spoken in some time and I’m genuinely curious to catch up! I’d like to know how you’ve been enjoying the expansion so far—and whether you’re feeling optimistic about what’s ahead for Warcraft. And of course, how has RP been on your end?

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Hello, old friend.

Played a little bit after expansion launch, got to 80 & tried some of the new stuff, but stopped soon after due a difficult IRL situation and bereavement.

Guild was brought out of hiatus in the New Year so I decided to hop on the train again - resubbed, soon started PVPing with a few weeks left, got the cool holy fire enchant which was my goal.

Overall I’m enjoying the expansion, narratively the best since Legion, personally like the systems & glad borrowed power has firmly been put in the bin. (For now)

Enjoying S2, got my Elite set, going to dabble in PVE & step away from my wheelchair spec comfort zone, thinking Troll Shaman? I’m sure you would approve of such.

Lordain itself is enjoying Ortellus’s addon, as we stress test & give feedback - we’re all massive fans and I hope others in the community will give it a shot! Currently involved in two storylines that’ve lasted since Shadowlands - think we might be bring a forum thread back soon so they’ll be posted on that for the enjoyment of all!

My question goes to @Lotheridan (or whoever you’re currently playing!) - funny April Fool’s, you made me and Ortellus giggle.

I understand you’re leading/officering two guilds + a community? How’s the workload of that & are you enjoying the current expansion? What’re your plans? Will we be getting a 3rd guild sometime soon - Path of Glory perhaps?

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Hello and thanks for the tag!

I’m running two guilds (The Starfallen & Lionheart) as well as the Assembly of Dusk, which sounds like a lot and absolutely was in the beginning. I’m feeling a little called out, in fact…

It requires a lot of planning to pull this all off, and no small amount of luck. I got some returning members + lovely new people for the Lionheart and we’re finally at a point where I feel we’re ‘stable’ after a year. I run campaigns every few months, while my officer does some smaller things to fill in the void.

The Starfallen I created some time before that and similarly took a lot of reiterating before it resonated with enough people. And the people I got are nothing short of amazing. They’re super invested in the story and guild - which has resulted in some of them running their own stories for the guild. The fun part here is the focus lies on player interaction and I do an event very sporadically.

The Assembly was a year long of monthly meetings as well as some mini-campaigns to get interest in the concept, which means I can dial back the frequency of the meetings and make them feel more important. There’s even a third campaign in the making to tie up a trilogy! :eyes:

So, with things falling in place now, my workload is actually decreasing which means I can focus more on RL + RP. As for plans… well, there are a lot of them. My Lionheart/Starfallen storyline is something that’s been brewing in my mind since the end of Legion and I’m aiming for a grand finale in TLT (stupidly ambitious, I know!).

A third guild, though? Not in the works. Time-wise + narratively, I don’t see why I would add one more. I tried to bring PoG back before Starfallen/LH, but the interest in RP-PvP was simply not there. It’s fine, it happens!

The current expansion/‘arc’ is exactly what I’d hoped Blizzard would tackle next and it fits so well with the plans I’ve had, so I’m enjoying it a lot. It also gives me a ton of inspiration which further fuels my insane desire to finish this story I’ve worked so long on. But that’s enough about me and my ramblings…

@Aerilen, I see you reading buddy… I know RP has been pretty quiet on your end, but do you have any cool future plans in mind? Or are you content with how things are as they are?

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