Grrrr.....

There isn't much that can be done to stop the plague of LOLers on RP servers, as the Blizzard staff don't do anything. Which leaves us with petty revenge, which is the sweetest kind...

20 days of Warcraft - favourite emote

Coming from an RP-server, I've had occasion to use most of the built-in game emotes from time to time. But most of the time, they're too basic a tool for what I'm trying to convey. For example, /kiss doesn't tell you what kind of kiss it is - is it a peck on the cheek, an insincere air-kiss or a passionate snog.

That's why my favourite emote is ... /emote itself. With that, I can communicate greater nuances of meaning than a basic emote. Sven smiles coldly says something completely different to Sven smiles warmly or Sven smiles through the tears.

With /em , it's possible to say things without speaking, much as actors use their expressions and body language to convey mood. /dance just makes your character dance on screen; Sven dances with technical perfection, but without passion conveys volumes about your character and his emotional state.


The great thing about /em is that it can be used to add layers of characterisation in almost very RP situation. It's that flexibility that makes it so powerful.

20 Days Warcraft - favourite race

One of the problems of designing a virtual world is drawing the balance between making it different enough to be interesting and being so alien and strange that people can't relate to it without making a huge investment of time and effort. This particularly applies to playable races - you can make alien NPCs mysterious and incomprehensible, because players don't have to be able to think like them to play the game, but player races have to be something that people can identify with.

The lazy default for fantasy MMOs is the Tolkein-lite world. Humans (white, european-looking ones, of course - in the clichéd world of the hack MMO, nobody looks african or asian), elves (beautiful but aloof ... yawn), dwarves (like a drink, grumpy ... seriously - what happened to sneezy, dopey, happy and bashful dwarves?), plus a smattering of ugly green-skinned races to be the bad guys.

The trouble with Cataclysm

In general, I'm a huge fan of the latest WOW expansion, Cataclysm. Blizzard have introduced widespread changes to the game (to the extent that it can almost be considered WOW 2) and advanced the broader plot and relations between the Horde and Alliance in a realistic way.

Remind me who the good guys are again...

Warning - the remainder of this post contains Cataclysm lore spoilers. Don't read any further if you want to keep the plot fresh.

Strong Voodoo (part 3)

"Well dat be up ta yas. Ya wan' stay 'ere, dat be fine. Ya get back on ya box. But if yas wan' live, ya come feel da see breeze on ya."

"I have never been. It is near the sea I hear...?"

All polite an' propah, but Doll look frighten'. Maybe she like bein' in dat cage. Troll be use' ta dat. Elfie scared oh wild place an' dis one be tiny, a lil wide-eyed rabbit. Maybe I play a little.

"Oh ya. Sun an' sea an' jungle."

"Jungle!?"

"Oh ya, on dem islan' nearby. Darkspear islan', I might add. Wid raptas and tigers an' all maner o'dangerous ting. Jus' waitin' fa a tasty morsel."

"Oh!"

"Dem gobble ya right up if ya don' learn ta move right."

"Now I feel you are just trying to scare me,"

Strong Voodoo (part 2)

I feel dat jungle callin'. Tiger may be cage', but 'e still feel dat 'untin' urge.

"'ey der, elfie. What you doin' on dat box, eh? 'e 'ired ya ta bring in dem customer, eh?"

I looks over at snot-boy by dem boxes. 'e like me even less now. Troll be use' ta dat. We bin makin' war, makin' peace an makin' baby since time began. We seen us empire rise, an' we seen us empire fall. Elfie tink 'e been aroun' so long dat 'e can fahget where 'e came from. 'e tink dat 'e ain' troll no more, 'e civilise', 'e superiah. Troll know 'e ain' civilise'. Troll know 'e jungle.

"Good evening... troll." 

Hehe. Elfie tongue-tied. Doll speak fah 'im:

"And I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

Doll know jus' fine, I reckon. We play a little.

"Well why else a lady sittin' on a box den? Should ya no be dancin' or sometin'?"

"Dancing? Do I really look like that's something I would indulge in?"

I shrugs. What wrong wid dancin? It be fun, eh? Ya can get all 'igh an' fancy wid ya civilise' way, but if ya no 'appy...

"I seen a lot o'dat roun' 'ere. I tink it be da custom..."

"I think it depends on the 'class' of elf you associate with." 

Strong Voodoo (part 1)

This is part one of a set of posts in response to Pilf's exceptional "Pure Shores" series. Think of it as a reflection of what she wrote, but in a distorted mirror.

Since I can't match her rate of production, I'll split the posts over a few days.

Troll ain’ made fa city. We got jungle in us ‘eart’, raptah in us eye an’ drum-beat’ in us ear.  Sure, we built 'em. Great one’ dat take an hour ta ride across. City a 'undred time biggah dan dem tiny place dey young one build. Fah a t’ousan’ generation we done da same ting. Troll build city ta escape da jungle, but den we bring it inside da wall. 

Ya evah seen a tiger in a cage? ‘alf broken, but ‘alf savage. Dat be a troll in a city. Darkness always overtake us in da en’. We go crazy. We kill us own god.

So when I go ta city, I keeps it short. I don’ stop ta look roun’. I use ma magic ta fin’ what I wan’, den I ‘ead out, ‘fore dat cage door close. Silvahmoon may be a gilded cage, made pretty wid gold an’ magic, but it still be a cage. So today I drif’ away intah ma farsight an’ fin’ da fellah I wants. Get a few ting an’ get back ta da beach.

Der ‘e be, all fancy ‘air an’ snot. Dem elfies don’ like troll ‘ere, but dey ‘orde now, so ‘im got serve me. ‘im won’ like it, though. Nex’ ta ‘im be what ya see all da time in’dis place. Dem dancin’ girl ya see on dey mailbox, ‘opin’ ta charge fa what’s free. Troll ain’ da only fella dat go crazy in city.

Dis one be differen’, tho. She ain’ dancin’. Jus’ collapse on da box next ta ‘im. A broken voodoo doll, t’rown away aftah da magic be spent. Wooden, wid limb arrange wrong, like she been drop der, pierced t’rough wid invisible pin. ‘er face ‘idden behin’ pale powdah, more dead dan livin’. Oo call dis spirit up, I wondah.

 “ ‘ey der elfie”.

Everybody's wearing a disguise

One of the perennial topics of debate about role-playing games is the relationship between our character's behaviour and our own real-life personality. This is most commonly framed in terms of the bad acts our characters carry out, such as mass slaughter of enemies in battlegrounds. By any real world standards, these acts are evil, yet most roleplayers wouldn't decide that the player behind the character is also evil. We see it as acting, not a reflection of our true selves, so we can easily refrain from doing those things in real life.

Sic semper tyrannis

Sic semper tyrannis is a latin phrase, that roughly translates to "thus always to tyrants". It was attributed to Brutus upon the killing of Julius Caesar, although that's probably an early example of a retcon, as none of the contemporary sources mention it. The right to kill (perceived) tyrants that it implies has been a huge influence in the history of the USA, from the founding of the country, through the assassination of Abraham Lincoln to the Oklahoma bombing.

The rise of Garrosh in Cataclysm puts us in a very similar situation, and hence opens up some interesting roleplaying opportunities. His style is likely to be very different to that of Thrall, which means that there are bound to be some disaffected people in the Horde who don't like the new regime and see it as tyrannical. However, this puts us in a difficult position as roleplayers. Our character may indeed oppose Garrosh and wish to be rid of him, but the game mechanics simply don't permit us to assassinate our own leaders. This means that we have to think of reasons why our characters can't achieve their goal and how they would cope with that.

The resistance starts here

Massive spoiler alert

If what I'm about to discuss is true, this is a massive spoiler for Cataclysm, so I'm going to hide it away behind the "read more" link below. Please don't continue if you want Cataclysm to be a surprise.

There may be trouble ahead

There's new information up on MMO Champion about the home city the trolls will acquire in Cataclysm.

It looks wonderfully trollish, if a little empty in these screenshots. But what interests me is the quote from Wryxian about the lore behind the new starter zone. Wryxian says:

"The impending cataclysm will spark rivalry among the Horde leadership"

and

"But it won't be long before Vol'jin trusts you with vital -- and potentially dangerous -- information about the political struggles plaguing the Horde and, ultimately, the fellow members of your tribe."

What could this possibly mean? Vol'jin and Cairne are the two wise heads in the current Horde leadership (after Thrall himself). There have been rumours that Cairne will be killed in the new expansion and if Vol'jin is exiled as well, that sounds like bad news. With Thrall missiing, will there be anybody left to hold back Warchief Dumberer from the road to war? I fear Saurfang's days may be numbered.

The sun will rise

For me, one of the most interesting changes in Cataclysm is the introduction of Tauren paladins, or Sunwalkers. Of course all the existing races are getting additional classes in Cataclysm, so what makes the sunwalkers special? Most of the other new classes are a natural extension of what the race already has or had. For example, Wildhammer Dwarves already have shamanic powers and the Night Elves used to practice magic in the past.

The Tauren have no history of links to the holy light - they are a simple people who worship nature as personified by the Earthmother. however, in Tauren mythos, the Earthmother's eyes are themselves special - they are known as An'she (the sun) and Mu'sha (the moon). Mu'sha is a deity that is familiar to many players under her night elf name of Elune; she is strongly associated with the druidic powers shared by the  Tauren and Night Elves.

An'she has been barely discussed in lore so far. The only real reference is a vague hint that can be found in the conversation between Tahu Sagewind and Aponi Brightmane that can be heard if you follow the quest An Injured Colleague. Superficially, this is one of the strangest quests in the game. You pick it up just next to the portal to Thunder Bluff in Dalaran, jump straight through and drop it off. There is no challenge, no continuation. The only reason it exists is to take players to a place they might not normally visit so that they overhear the conversation. Tahu and Aponi are talking about the lack of balance in the current Tauren beliefs - they give great reverence to the moon, but ignore the sun. In all likelihood, this is Blizzard's way of introducing the beliefs behind the sunwalkers into the game.

War in the Ghostlands

"Tell us! Tell us what ya see, ol' man, Be dis da en' time?"

The old Amani shaman focussed his mind once more and gazed out from the hills, his magic taking him far away.

"I sees a big army o'da Bright Ones. Dey gather in dat village dem dead fellas smashed."

"Dey comin' fa us?" 

"Maybe, maybe. We all gotta die some day, even da loa."

But this army was not for the Amani. A force was coming from the south: humans, dwarves, more elves and those tiny children they send into battle as a strange sacrifice. Even trolls gods aren't that cruel.

These two armies fought for hours, over a stretch of barren wasteland. Nobody was defending their home, nobody was defending their family. Just fighting over flags. The shaman though back to the tales he'd heard of the old Gurubashi Empire, their ancient rivals. Their world fell like that... fighting, brother against brother, until nothing was left but a few ruins.

"Dey fightin' each othas! All dem new-fellas are fightin' 'emselves. Akil'zon be laughin' tonight!"

The troll watched as the Alliance army advanced, confident of victory from the initial skirmishes, then was driven back as they encountered the main Sin'dorei forces. Back down the road, back to the Plagueland. He watched the final insult, as they killed the prisoners and didn't even eat them. Consuming your foes is respect - it shows their strength is worth stealing.

"Dem Bright Ones be crueller dan any troll, dat's fa shu."

How Blizzard supports roleplayers

One of the great joys of playing on an RP server is the wide range of player-organised events, such as the superb Strongest of the Horde tournament on Argent Dawn (EU). It's hard to describe how huge and well-organised this event is, but there were hundreds of spectators from both Horde & Alliance (viewing distance limits mean that the picture above doesn't do it justice) and there were player performers, gladiators and drink vendors. The spectacle went on for hours and left some my fellow SANers who weren't from RP realms stunned.

The problem is, that at any event like this, some people see it as an opportunity for attention seeking. In this case, our "hero" was a human paladin who tried to interfere with the duels by running into the arena and deliberately attacking one of the contestants. The organisers had tried to anticipate this by posting guards around the arena, but there's a limit to what you can do when the person involved doesn't care about dying in the process - they can live long enough to significantly interfere with the event.

Introduction to roleplaying: part 5 - the art of darkness

This is the final part of a series of posts designed to introduce fellow MMO players to roleplaying. Part 1 covered the basics of what roleplaying is, part 2 described how you can decide what your character is like as a person, part 3 discussed how you can portray that to others and part 4 explained how you can get involved. This last post deals with some of the problems you may encounter and makes some suggestions about how you can deal with them.

An introduction to roleplaying: part 4 - meeting others

This is part 4 of a series of posts designed to introduce fellow MMO players to roleplaying. Part 1 covered the basics of what roleplaying is, part 2 described how you can decide what your character is like as a person and part 3 discussed how you can portray that to others. This post addresses how you can meet up with like minded people and actually start roleplaying.

An introduction to roleplaying: part 3 - finding a voice

This is part 3 of a series of posts designed to introduce fellow MMO players to roleplaying. Part 1 covered the basics of what roleplaying is and part 2 described how you can decide what your character is like as a person. This installment talks about how you portray your new character to the outside world. In part 4, I'll go on to discuss how you can meet up with like minded people and actually start roleplaying.

Introduction to roleplaying, part 2: find out who you are

This is part 2 of a series of posts designed to introduce fellow MMO players to roleplaying. Part 1 covered the basics of what roleplaying is, hopefully in enough detail for people to decide whether they want to get involved or not. Here, I'll assume that you're interested enough to want to give RP a try and want some starter tips about how to go about it. I've listed the process in terms of three steps, but it's important to understand that these aren't linear - it's perfectly OK to switch between these as you refine your ideas and even go back and change things if a better idea comes to you later on. Step one of this process is deciding what you character is like as a person, which is what I'll be discussing in here. Step 2 is about how you portray your character to the world around you and step 3 is about how you interact with other people - I'll cover those in future posts.

Introduction to roleplaying, part 1: settling in

A lot of my fellow guild members from Single Abstract Noun are new to roleplaying servers and I've noticed a lot of questions cropping up in guild chat about what's going on and how to react to this unfamiliar way of playing the game. So I thought I'd write a little introductory guide to help them out and perhaps help others too. This first section is presented as a series of questions and answers covering the basics: I'll try to go into more detail in future posts. I've deliberately started from a very simple level, so if you find a question that you already know the answer to, feel free to skip ahead.