This is where I’d put a witty hello greeting, if I could think of one.
The title of the thread says it all. After some time away from Argent Dawn I’m planning on coming back very soon after living in Asia for the past 5 years and will soon be moving back to the UK. I used to stalk these forums quite frequently back in the day but now I’m feeling a wee bit lost in terms of how’re things going and the general state of things.
To that end, I’ve a few questions if you got a minute (I can offer dad jokes in return)
PCU still stands for Perroy Cinematic Universe right? Last time I was around it was only Rotgarde, Highblood Myrmidons and I think one other guild. It looks like y’all have exploded since then. Is every thread with PCU part of the coalition?
How’s good old Red side? I’ve seen the usual doom and gloom threads of “HORDE IS DEAD” which we’ve had since like WoD so I’m not paying much attention to those. What I AM surprised by though is people saying Blood Elf RP has taken a dip. At one point a good 50% of Horde was BElves it felt like.
How’s your day going? It’s -4 degrees for me and hecking cold.
In your opinion, for you old timers, what do you think has been the biggest change since Legion? Since that was roughly the time I last properly played on AD and took part in RP.
This is less general and more personal, but would you happen to know of any RP guilds that fill the “Adventurer” niche? Lionheart from back in the day is a good example. I’ve always been a sucker for the classic adventurer archetype, though it’s always been a tad rare in my opinion.
That’s all that’s on my mind right now. And honestly I think I just made this thread 10% to get answers and 90% because I just want to chat with folks from AD again cuz I have missed this place. Wyrmrest Accord and Moon Guard aren’t nearly as fun as AD was.
PCU is now over 20 guilds from both factions who often roleplay together, sometimes in large campaigns. Quite successful, which also gets some hate as well.
Horde RP is fine, although Orgrimmar is not a hub anymore. Right now you will find a lot of horde guilds exploring the dragon isles, while others want to establish Crossroads as a hub. With Rendorei as alliance race, some belve players switched to the blue side to play highelves.
The biggest change since Legion is the end of the faction war. Not everyone likes this, but lorewise, there was a five year peace period (with a three year timeskip) and there are no hints that a fifth war is coming any time soon.
They’ve had somewhat of a golden age during BFA, where the faction war exploded.
Regrettably, high levels of toxicity due to different expectations about the faction conflict (among other things) increased a divide between horde players, with groups that now barely acknowledge each other.
In general, it remains true that Horde-side is “guild-centric” but, unlike before, the numbers have dropped substantially (in part due to toxic attitudes, in part due to a general population drop, in part due to void elves receiving a high elf skin option, which caused several elves to reconsider their alliances). Also I would argue that the idea of a shared community is no longer a thing and people have a hard time when it comes to role-playing their character in a casual setting.
(I haven’t been playing in the new year so I may be wrong, others are free to correct me).
That’s a good question. I’d love to know of a guild like that! You’ll find your luck in the dragon isles perhaps, but it has become harder to find groups as the /who function is essentially broken.
20?! Sweet green jesus that’s a lotta guilds. If they’re all getting along and working together then holy heck.
That’s a shame to hear about Orgrimmar. I’ll admit I enjoyed the casual Horde RP in the Valley but Horde always felt better when it was out in the world with your guildies.
True. I can definitely see how some folks might not take kindly to the lack of a faction war. Personally I super loved the Horde VS Alliance years in Cata and MoP but I’m equally just as excited about the prospect of actual cooperation between the two. Besides, there’s always the option to play an actual villain like a Twilight fanboy or a criminal for that conflict RP.
That’s unfortunate to hear some folks are ignoring each other. Maybe it was because I just hung out in the right circles but I always felt that Hordeside always felt more familial due to the lower numbers everyone knew everyone.
I’d honestly have to check it out for myself to believe it. I’m quite alright expecting to find the Valley empty outside of perfect peak hours but the thought that all casual RP has dried up is a hard pill to swallow. But that’s probably cause I’m in denial.
Thanks very much for the link! I’ll proceed to stalk the thread like a good forum goblin
If you look out for it, you are bound to find something. Being excessively pessimistic helps no one and many people are still out there looking to have a proper RP experience - I’ve heard rumors about Crossroad trying to become an RP hub, and as far as I recall, Dalaran still has neutral role-play, though the style is more a “slice of life” RP rather than adventurer’s “let’s slay Deathwing 2.0!” vibe.
Nevertheless, guilds are still out there and, being strongholds of socialization, are not likely to go away anytime soon.
I’m on phone and my brain is too small to figure out how to post links.
I can recommend Red Venturers, they’re a Horde mercenary/adventurer guild that accepts all races.
Then there are Dust Devils who are more focused on crazy adventures all over the world (I’m 95,47% sure they also accept all races).
Can’t think of any on the Alliance side at the moment.
All part of a federation of evil. PCU guilds have frequent cross-faction and cross-guild RP. It’s not only faction war; there’s a plethora of PvE stuff as well. I hosted some campaigns myself.
Blood elf RP really did take a bit, largely because of high elves (with optional void elf customization for the rare few) were added to Alliance. Horde in general is less in numbers, and Ogrimmar is a city less conductive to RP. However, if you find your favourite niche and join a guild roleplaying in it, you’ll have just as much fun.
Been cold all day with sweeping snow. Unfortunately didn’t stick around, but I’m living downtown so it’s expected. Second time I saw any snow this winter…
BfA and early Shadowlands was a golden era, since a lot of pandemic-struck players found their way to RP. Unfortunately, this influx was wholly missed by Blizzard as it coincided with the worst wave of content and lore we’ve been given for a decade.
Now numbers are largely back to mid-Legion. I started RPing there and the main thing I would say changed is some reluctance for random, roadside interactions. In the past year or so I’ve seen much more ((We aren’t actually here IC)) or ((We are doing an event - please don’t interrupt)) than before. I hope that’s gonna change.
If you’d dip into the PCU, Red Venturers are the definition horde side.
Welcome back to AD, and I hope you’ll find your place & enjoy some good RP.
Thanks for the recommendation! We are indeed an adventuring guild and we are coming to a close on our first expedition that has seen us travel through the Barrens and deep into Dustwallow Marsh. We’re out on the road and away from the hubs for quite a time so that has limited some of us from taking part in the Crossroads and any Orgrimmar RP! That said, we’ll be back in Orgrimmar next week (and our recruitment doors will be open again) and while we arrange our next arc, we’ll be looking to get stuck in with some good old Valley RP and also checking out the Crossroads hub, too!
As for the other questions, everyone else has answered them pretty well and I can only really echo what has been said! Red side does lack in the standard ‘walk-up’ RP numbers you can find in places like Stormwind and Duskwood on Alliance but there are efforts to spring some life into that scene, too. I at least know that before we set out from Orgrimmar, I was seeing some more activity around the Valley of Honour too. I’m hopeful that with Dragonflight bringing more people back to the game, we’ll see the Valley revitalised a bit more as a decent place to find that walk-up stuff, along with the Crossroads. Options are good!
