I’m in a bit of niche demographic in that I played the game consistently back in the 2010-15 days, and pretty much everyone I knew on the realm is now gone from the game.
On several occasions since I played consistently I’ve returned to the game, usually for 1-2 months, failing to find a consistent community/guild to play with and losing interest as a result. I just had a couple of questions for people…
Is it worth coming back these days/what is the realm pop like? Last time I played was early Legion, and with everything going on at Blizzard etc. I’m sceptical of even returning.
Any tips/recommendations for guilds/communities/places to look that offer engaging RP? Not looking for a production line guild that is on 24/7 recruitment drives, but something more narrative and community-based. I am basically interested in most concepts, race/faction doesn’t particularly matter, just want things to be like the old days, ya feel? I’ve always struggled to get into guilds without knowing people!
Population and quality varies. Hordeside stuff is a little more guild-focused and temperamental, but there are communities that are consistent in their quality and treatment of players - e.g. the Forlorn Order, Blazing Phoenix, etc.! I can’t speak so much for the Alliance side of things since I’ve mostly just done solo RP/guildless group adventures with IRL friends, but I know there are some really solid folks out there that would gladly welcome you.
I’ve had my fair share of numbers-obsessed recruitment centered guilds, but cutting them out has changed my attitude to RP a lot. It’s not something that should be a chore, especially for people that are busy with doing stuff with their life!
Thank you, I appreciate this info!
I do want to cut out the numbers-obsessed guilds but they are unfortunately the easiest ones to find, I suppose I just need to put some effort into finding the right guild for me
Doomsayers will say no but truth be told, there is still plenty of RP to find - the recent release of 9.1.5 bumped up the player count in RP hubs a little bit, which also helps. That said, your safest bet is still to find a guild, especially if you want to RP on the Horde side.
Don’t be afraid to approach guilds yourself that catch your eye and ask them about their concept, their RP, but also their recruitment policies to get an idea of whats out there before you join anything.
Depends on what you find engaging really! I can only echo what Faelenn said and recommend that you try and get in touch with guilds that catch your interest. Ask questions about their guild and their community and maybe ask if you can tag along for an event or 2 to get a feel for the kind of roleplay they do and the people in the guild.
If you are looking for a guild, but not sure, you can always check out one of the many PCU guilds. Most if not all have active events nearly every day, ranging from social talks and gatherings, to quests over multiple days, to full on campaigns where up to 200 people people collectively join up to play out a massive story.
I can only speak for my guild, the Ebon Onslaught, and if you are interesting in taking on the challenge of a death knight, or a necromancer, or even an undead monster, you are welcome to come by with us for a week and see if our roleplay appeals to you!
Can’t speak for other communities, but the Dalaran community is still active, I think. They had another Magic Faire recently, and today there will be another Poetry Appreciation Society meeting in Dalaran.
It’s a hard hit, but all in all, RP community is the least affected. We’ve the power to willfully ignore most new lore / Shadowlands and just do as we have always done with our own stories and quests.
Look around the forums, and look at some recent posts on forum threads. There’s quite a few guilds up there with consistent activity and some awesome events.
With some pointers, there could be recommendations. I understand you wrote:
… but, for example, do you have a preference for more high fantasy stuff? Or more low fantasy RP? Perhaps magic/caster kinda feel, or the mundane yeoman style? Do you want to be part of a larger guild with 10+ members around on a daily average, or a more tight-knit community?
The RP on Argent Dawn isn’t dead just a bit more focuse into Guilds, Groups and the main Hubs.
But there are also Events outside of it.
For a great overview check out www.ArgentArchives.org.
Also besides the PCU being one of the biggest collection of top RP Guilds, there are also many other smaller non-pcu RP Guilds that hold their own and co-exist.
Depending what you are looking for, I am sure you will find it.
And if you need help, we gladly provide it.
-Oari
As many stated above me; RP is still-kicking! With many different communities; both big and small!
Sadly I am mostly ally player here; but I can list of some notable places you could take a look at!
With an active Boralus community, filled with decent and of course a few unsavory characters of high excellence! With tavern brawls and happenings daily!
Dalaran, with a tight knit and lovely community for the more neutrally inclined. With events of both crazy and intriguing lore-based lectures; being there is very nice and immersive!
Stormwind, bustling capital … and as such it’s filled with both excellent … and “not” so excellent RP - a stroll through a weekday evening is bound to give you things to do!
And yes, small but big - Ironforge exists … but not many take the trip up north for the drinking alone. Me and a few others spend time here; feel free to stop by for a spell!
Of course; we also have Duskwood lakeshire and yee even Pandaria - smaller hubs with activity with local guilds there (much like Ironforge)
Even the north, with argents scarlets and undeads lurking; there is RP a bit all over!
Many of these have discord’s - if interested; you can always ask for the information
In the end, try / test and get a feel for what you “want” out of the RP! And go for there!
For RP definitely
For content eh try and see if you like it, power to you if you do.
There’s a few communities around, PCU is one of those but not the only ones, the idea is that we’re one group of seperately independant guilds that just have one shared lore and try to create a dynamic world. Many individual guilds in the community do things with other individual guilds anywhere between teaming up over shared interests or facing down because one of them is alliance and one of them is horde.
The actual community is an OOC thing, there is no such thing as the PCU IC
You can find most guilds from that community by looking at the tags in recruitment posts.
In general it consists of people who want to have fun RPing above everything, there’s fights, but also adventure, treasure and just social elements to the community. In general there’s no to little powergaming and everyone is very give and take when it comes to RP fighting, I have yet to see anyone powergame or godmode at me
A lot of the niches are covered by different individual guilds, some racially themed but not all of them, so what guild fits best depends more on what you want to play, I know you said it doesn’t matter but the choice simply is that big
Thank you all! I’m really encouraged by all these responses. Apologies for not replying to them individually but I have taken them all into account. I think I will resub this week and follow everyone’s advice.
Alliance is getting an awful lot like Horde in regards to Guild-based RP. I’d suggest checking AA guild list (active & recruiting) to get an idea of what is around at the moment. City Rp is active, much of it casual and not actually longevity-based. There are some Discord groups too if you have it?
