Hey everyone! US player here considering making the leap to EU. I’ve been looking for a change in scenery for awhile, the RP scene in the US is getting kind of stale and from what I’ve seen lurking on the AD forums it seems like things are lively over here. I haven’t made a decision yet but I’m getting a feel for things over here and trying to see what it’s like. The community here feels pretty collaborative from what I’ve seen.
IC Info: Vokur here is an old character of mine I plan on bringing back. He’s an MU Stonemaul Ogre Shaman, a loyal soldier of the Horde since the Second War. He’s been involved in much of the Horde’s major events, from Outland to Northrend and even Draenor.
OOC Info: I’m a pretty laid back player. Writing is a hobby of mine and I’ve fallen in love with WoW’s story. I’ve been playing WoW since 2014 and spent 5 of those years on Wyrmrest Accord. I try to stay as lore abiding as possible! I’m also a major Ogre fanatic (surprise surprise).
How’s the Horde scene over here? From what I’ve read RP seems to be guild based. Is the server balanced between both factions? Would Vokur fit into any of the guilds? I’ve seen some complaints about Americans, so beyond being courteous and respectful with others, are there any tips for retaining a warm welcome? Finally, what’s PCU stand for?
Firstly:
Welcome to Argent Dawn. I hope you have some fun adventurers here with all of us.
How’s the Horde scene over here?
Mainly guild focused but there is activity in the Valley of Honor most nights as well as some other selected areas.
Is the server balanced between both factions?
Not really.
Would Vokur fit into any of the guilds?
I believe so. I don’t know all of the guilds but there is bound to be some who will gladly take an ogre.
Are there any tips for retaining a warm welcome?
Smile, treat IC as IC, respect the rules of the realm and you’ll be fine.
What’s PCU stand for?
Perroy’s Cinematic Universe.
It is a community of like minded guilds who have come together to do roleplay events and such for this server, ranging from guards to grunts to mercenaries and traders.
The name itself was a gift from the server, who in their attempt to mock the community, gave it said name.
Took the name and wore it as a badge.
The Horde scene is far quieter than Alliance-side. The server’s RP community has a heavy Alliance lean, though if you’re interested in finding a specific guild to mainly RP within, Horde should be fine. Generally though, on either side, especially within the typical active US hours, there are far less people online and actively RPing than you might see on MG or WrA. There are certainly guilds on Hordeside where your character concept’d fit, I’m not sure I’ve personally seen any issues with American players.
For a warm welcome, just stay chill and positive really, wholesome people rarely attract anyone’s ire. The one major difference you’ll run into is that people don’t use quotation marks in /say, which seems to be a big thing US-side, but other than that, I’m sure you won’t need to make any changes to the way you play.
Argent Dawn does seem to have a higher rate of public RP events and initiatives than US servers, which as far as I’ve seen tend to have a heavier focus on just casual RP. The downside you’ll hear about AD though is that it can be very cliquey, and our inter-guild and OOC community politics get legendarily toxic and unhealthy at times.
PCU stands for Perroy Cinematic Universe, which is a set of guilds founded by a group of long-term players of Argent Dawn to sort of coalesce people with the same mindset about RP together. It’s a fairly divisive project that a bunch of folks have quite extreme opinions about though, since the senior members have been active in the community long enough to have a lot of old e-drama behind them - some people will tell you they’re saving the server, others will tell you they’re ruining it. I’m sure either side’ll turn up in here to bang their respective drums. You’re better off forming your own opinion on that one.
For help getting into things if you decide to move, we have an RP community site, Argent Archives, that’s used alongside the forums here. People use it to host info for their RP guilds, upload their art, keep little scrapbooks for their characters and advertise events they’ll be hosting.
AD-EU is, for the last 2-3 years I’ve been on it, FAR tamer than the American servers. Very laid back, very chill, though I do come from Earthen Ring-US after it’s explosive community collapse so I may be alittle biased.
Horde-scene is VERY solid! Like the US, it’s largely guild-centric but you can still find a ton of walk-up RP. If your Ogre is looking into the Clan scene, it’s alive and popping. There’s a heavy Alliance lean, but there’s been quite a few VERY solid cross-over RP campaigns in the last few months.
Best advice I can give as an NA ‘crossing the pond,’ chill vibes until you catch how people talk. It’s a bit more conservative and reserved, but you’ll also find people are a LOT more honest and direct in how they talk. It can be jarring, but just about everyone you’ll meet is really solid.
In terms of Shamanistic/Clan style guilds I can think of:
Iron Wolf Clan is a post-Hellscream Warband-turned-Clan, and they take all kinds as long as you can fight. I would check in with their GM, as they have certain restrictions on Races.
Orcs of the Red Blade are another REALLY solid bunch, working on representing the best interpretation of traditional Clan Life you can get. Once again, race restrictions; I’m not sure their policy on Ogres.
And I’d be remiss not to include my own; the Frozen Paw Clan is a Thrall-styled New Horde Clan. Focused more on shamanism and honourable service to the world and the Horde, they have no race restrictions but are fairly nomadic.
Just thought I’d point out given that you say you’re in the US, obviously you’re aware that timezones are a thing so peak RP hours over there might not be peak RP hours over here, but an important thing to know (in my opinion) is that a lot of guilds will have their events at 8pm realm time, or 7pm GMT. Events aren’t the be-all end-all, but they can be a big part of the guild’s development.
Also, a personal curiosity if you don’t mind me asking: how do you RP an ogre? Do you do the whole reflecting prism dance, or do you pick one of the larger races, grab a growth pot and wear a suitably ogre-ish transmog?
Think others have covered much better than I can already
I’ll add that the best advice re: PCU is to ignore a lot of the forum drama. It’s become background noise at this point. Ive never been a ‘part’ of it (i.e. never been in a PCU guild) but I’ve had good and bad interactions in the past, and that’s ok! I take as I find in-game, and the majority of times have been fine.
People here just love their forum drama. Safest way to win that ‘game’ is to never take part, I find
I’ve seen quite a few ogre characters on the server and I think 98% of people are totally fine with you asking to help prism etc. if it’s needed. Hordeside is probably most active around 7-8pm UK time since, unlike the Alliance, Horde players are sensible and reasonable individuals who are employed or in education.
The PCU’s fine, for the the most part, and I’d honestly say you’re better off trying them out rather than listening to any of the rumor-monging some folks do.
I’ll state this upfront; you will have a hard time participating in EU roleplay if you aren’t from the East Coast. EST time zone is a bit more forgiving if you are able to drop by in the afternoon, but major RP happenings will still play out between 2pm and 4pm your time. That’s most campaigns, most open RP events, most public events organized. I experienced the same in reverse as for 4 years I’ve been part of a US roleplay community.
Your character doesn’t sound wacky at all, in fact, I’d find it a very nice concept. There’s been an ogre announcer in Orgrimmar roleplayed with a prism; I also know two Horde-side guilds with an ogron and ogre members respectively.
Chill, condensed, active, cozy. Those are the words I’d use to describe it. It is very important that you join a guild as most events / roleplay is guild or cross-guild centric.
Not at all, but don’t let this bother you for a moment. There’s a lot more alliance players; call me an elitist but I do think the actual, worthwhile roleplayers are similar in count between the two factions. Stormwind looks alive from a distance but a single night’s stroll will reveal to you the wacky side.
Disregard anyone who claims there’s no cultural differences between the US and Europe; you’ll find that RP itself will be different. European players are far less lenient to bend/mould lore, both in the positive and the negative sense. From my experience EU players also prefer more bureaucracy and organization where American playstyle is overwhelmingly laissez-faire.
Last but not least; a snippet from PCU/Horde - the award ceremony to conclude the most recent campaign.
Anyone who says Horde is “dead”, “inactive”, or “not alive” is a naysayer.
First off, thank you all so much for the responses, they’ve been really helpful. I’m blown away by the picture, I can’t remember the last time I saw a gathering that big. The PCU sounds interesting, I know MG Alliance has a collaborative effort but nothing of that scale. I’d definitely like to check that out.
I’m on the east coast so I’d probably be active with RP on the weekends. I remember seeing the Argent Archives years ago, that’s cool it’s still around and used actively. As for the question of how I RP an Ogre, I pickpocket the form with a Rogue and pass it off to my character. If I make the jump it’ll probably be awhile before I can do that while I level up and save up money for prisms.
Thanks again for all the responses! I really appreciate all the help. Hope I see you all in game!
In regards to Horde-side, I’d say it’s mostly guild-based. There hubs here and there but not to the extent that there might be on Alliance-side. If you do consider Horde, I’d encourage taking a look at the guild posts on the forums and the Argent Archives to see if there’s anything that seems interesting to you. Same goes for Alliance of course, but I think more so on Horde.
Also check out the RP in Dalaran, the community is pretty active and there’s a bunch of stuff happening almost everyday.
I plan on checking out the public RP scene soon just to see what it’s like, possibly reach out to a few guilds to see what they think about the character and if they’d be willing to do some RP just so I can get a feel for things here. Starting over is a big commitment so I want to be sure I can call AD home before I make the leap. I do enjoy how friendly and welcoming everyone has been and appreciate that.
Hey friend, welcome to Argent Dawn. Most of the things that needed saying have already been said, so I can only add one more thing:
As much as this server is home to wonderful people, we sadly also have a number of downright creepy, disturbed or simply rude people. But, the gems are out there! I hope you will have fun on Argent Dawn, and although I barely play on the Horde myself, maybe we’ll run into each other some day.
