Messages

Indeed things change. But change isn't always bad!

Good luck even if we never got to know overly much!

Indeed, change is often very good. I'm being very careful here because I don't want anything I say to be misinterpreted as criticism. I have nothing but admiration and respect for everyone in OotRB and especially it's officers.

Seeing old faces and new faces had done Akesha’s heart some good. After years in the wild, she longed for the company of her fellow orcs again. Most of all though, she longed for her clan. Her real family. They must be out there somewhere, the survivors of Clan Redblade. She and Azubal could not possibly be the only ones who had made it through the decades of conflict and, if they were out there, she would find them.

Packing her few meagre belongings, and with Magoth at her side, she sloped out of the camp in the dead of night. New adventures awaited.

So this is goodbye. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of months of being back in WoW. Orcs of the Red Blade is a fantastic guild, but it’s just not the guild for me. Ten years is a long time and things change. OotRB has evolved and changed and so have I, in different directions. The guild is amazing, the RP is amazing, but to paraphrase old Ben, this isn’t the RP I’m looking for.

Off to adventures new then. I wish you all the best. May OotRB continue to grow from strength to strength.

I've not been back long, but even in this short time it's clear that a Sadok is exactly what every grumpy old Wolfking needs.

I've just reread the whole of this thread.

Rehbande, those are some names that bring back memories. I think it's fair to say that in the early days of the guild, we really didn't know much about the lore and just made things up. The way that the guild's background and lore evolved as we learned more of the official lore probably worked to our advantage. I doubt I could have come up with Kraag the Wolf King and Akesh the Poisoner if I'd sat down to write it all from day 1. In fact I can remember the day when we discovered that there was a quest in TBC that gave out wolf masks and a few of us talking about how cool it would be if we all got wolf masks. The lore was written to justify it 

Kozgugore, I never actually thought about how young you were when you took over, I just think I made a choice based on the talent I could see. It's funny how the person behind the orc can be very different from the character in game. I've always avoided talking about myself, except for a few little details. I'd rather not break the immersion and relate to the orc in front of me, rather than the person I know is behind it. For me this is the best part about MMO RP as opposed to pen and paper RP. When I'm talking to an orc, I feel like I'm talking to an orc far more if it's not just a friend, sitting across a table from me and pretending to talk like an orc. That's just me though, and probably my way of hinting that I'm nothing like Akesh irl 

As one of the guild's newest recruits  I have to say how impressed I am by what I've seen. I think I've got a lot to relearn and I'm looking forward to it.

I must confess, when I started this guild I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I started playing WoW a few months after its release and my first character was a human rogue on Eathen Ring. I was totally new to the concept of roleplaying via MMO (although I'd played a little D&D in my teenage years) but I found nice little guild of about ten players, all rogues. I think that's what made me fall in love with the idea that RP guilds should have a strong theme.

That guild never really developed much and I started to hear talk from other players that the best RP was to be found on Defias Brotherhood, Horde side. Off I went and rolled, totally on a whim, an Orc rogue named Akesha - just to try things out, never actually intending to stick with the character and certainly without a plan.

After a few days I came across an all Orc guild The Sons of Draenor iirc and begged them to let me join. Unfortunately the whole guild just fell apart within weeks, the leaders disappeared (rumour had it they'd re rolled troll) and members were leaving fast. It was then, in a fit of pique I thought, sod it, I'll make my own guild. Before long, I was camped out in the barrens begging every unguided Orc, who looked like they might be a role player from their names, to join my new guild.

As far as highlights go, I'll never forget the great meeting of all the Horde RP guilds at Gurubashi arena. I had my speech prepared and spent the who time I was waiting to speak thinking, "don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up".

I'll never forget the other great event at Gurubashi arena, when we went to war against the Second Gurubashi Empire. They turned up with an absolute army of trolls but we had managed to muster virtually every member of ootrb and actually outnumbered them.

Mostly it's the people I remember though.

I can remember being in total awe of Kad, because he was the highest level Orc I'd ever seen and being to delighted when he joined us. We'd run into him purely by chance while running around, hunting Alliance. Kad was a fantastic second in command and greatly missed when he left.

For me though, the golden age of my leadership were the years when Rehbande, Varguhka, Oznack and Claws were my team. Reh and Varguhka were very much the ideas people and the real backbone of the tribe. Oznack was the Orc who got things done and Claws could always be relied upon to keep us grounded, telling us in no uncertain terms when we were getting things wrong. They were a fabulous team and I thought at the time they were irreplaceable.

I must mention Dogar (I hope I got his name right) who lead the tribe and kept it together during a spell when I needed a break. He did a fine job.

However it's Kozgugore who deserves the greatest praise. In hindsight it often feels like my greatest achievement with this tribe was choosing exactly the right person to take it over when I finally left. I see people calling him an RP legend and it's true. He's done more for this guild than anyone else in its ten year history and I doubt it would exist today if it wasn't for his leadership.

I left because I felt burned out. It felt like the right decision at the time and I still think it was the right thing to do. I did return briefly for Wrath of the Lich King and Kozgugore actually offered to step down and let me take over the tribe. I told him then, "this is your tribe now, not mine. It belongs to each and every Orc who makes it up." This guild has been blessed with great officers, but it has also been blessed with great members and you all should be proud of what it still is - the finest RP guild I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of.

I've returned now knowing that things will have changed and there are far more new faces than old ones, but I'm looking forward to being a part of this great adventure again, in my own small way. Expect me to take a back seat and just enjoy the ride.

Akesha Redblade.

I came across the contest on one of my occasional "drop by the old forums for a dose of nostalgia" visits. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading all of the entries and well done to the winner.

Hey Clawsiekins

Glad you're keeping out of trouble.

Kozzie, you consistently over estimate how much credit I deserve for this guild's success and underplay the massive amount of credit you and all the people who have been part of your guild for the last few years deserve. But, thanks.

It's genuinely great to see you guys going strong. Kudos to you all.

Wowsers, it's been absolutely ages since I looked at this forum but the pangs of nostalgic orciness got the better of me.

I have to say that I am totally impressed with how things are looking. I keep hearing sad tales from WoW refugees about the sorry state of WoW rp these days, so hats off to you guys for keeping it going. I really mean that. In the time I've been gone, I've seen several rp guilds come and go. The fact that Orcs of the Red Blade is still around is something I am certain you must all be very proud of.

Anyhow, keep having fun and keep it green. I miss you guys and I miss the orcs ( but I don't miss WoW).

Regards

Akesha

Yay! My brother's deciding to join in the RP fun
He's planning on making a Bounty Hunter. Want me to send him your way Akesha?
His name for his char is Arkanus.

Unfortunately any plans I might have nad to form some kind of guild have been abandoned indefinately. Pressure of work and other irl nonsense has meant that I simply cannot play very often atm. I'm still leveling my character at my usual snail's pace and then I might think about joining somebody else's guild - provided I can find one I like.

Yes, an MMO with a fully original world would be exiting as hell. But I seriously don't see any MMO really pulling that off ever. (AoC most def. did not do it since they went and made a game around a character older than LotR).

I do understand your point, I just don't really find it that relevant.
As long as the lore and world is solid (I'd say it really is).
The game works. And it suits roleplaying.
For an MMO? I am game.

I'm not asking for 'original' (hell, I'm playing a Star Wars MMO right now), but I am asking for a fantasy game where the setting is different from others out there. I don't mean cosmetically different, I mean actually different, otherwise what is the point? You argue that MMO's are different from mainstream fantasy novels etc. That doesn't interest me at all. I can count the number of fantasy novels I've read on the fingers of one hand (and they were all written by Tolkien). I am comparing GW2 with other fantasy MMOs, not books, films or any other media. When you compare it with other MMOs, it looks very samey.

To me this is absolutely relevant to whether or not I want to play a game. It's great that the developers of GW2 are putting in some nice tools for roleplayers, but there is no escaping the fact that their world has totally failed to pique my interest. Warriors with infeasibly large swords, humanoid bull creatures and little cute guys who are good at technology? I'm not saying they have copied WoW or Rift or Warhammer, but everything in GW2 feels like I've seen it before in another MMO and no amount of fancy new game mechanics, no matter how many times anyone trots out the phrase "next generation MMO" is going to make me want to play it. To be perfectly honest, game mechanics don't really interest me that much as long as the game is playable. I'm more interested in the setting, the characters and the art style. Don't get me started on the art style - but female wizard going into a fight wearing ball gowns? Really? What, really?

So, I'll shut up now, because I think I've made my point. This is a thread to discuss GW2 and I've explained why I won't be playing it. Thank you and goodnight

Well, the background stories and histories are far different than in WoW. Not sure what you mean with setting otherwise, rpg games are usually fantasy because if it was realistic then you would be playing real life on your computer.

MMOs seem to be locked into one style of late medieval inspired high fantasy though. There is actually very little difference between WoW, Rift and (at first sight) GW2 in terms of their settings. Yes, you can argue that actually everything in GW2 is different from everything in WoW ... but I would say that everything is a little bit different. It still boils down to plate armour, big swords and early firearms. If anyone thinks that this is what fantasy is, then I would say that they have a very narrow view of fantasy.

It saddens me that while some game companies are willing to try new things with the game mechanics, few seem to be daring to do much different with the setting. If fantasy were hot drinks, all we are being offered is different types of coffee and being told that they are very very different.

Where are the games offering a different style of fantasy? AoC did, but unfortunately the game itself was crap and bombed. I don't see anyone else trying and I think they are wrong not to. All the new MMOs claim to offer revolutionary new game play but a then give you that served up in a setting very similar to WoW.

Just wait till entertainment gets back to the scifi-theme I think we are currently in the fantasy-theme, according to games and movies that are being released.

But we will see everything once its released.

I would say that MMO players are not typical of film goers. Yes, fantasy MMOs seem to be more popular overall than sci fi ones. With film, it's the other way round. There are very few mainstream fantasy films made (by which I mean ones which are not straight to dvd and made on a budget that would not pay for the catering on the average Hollywood production). The few that have been successful, are exceptions not the norm. Sci fi, on the other hand, is big business and has been as long as film has been around.

The thing is Marogg, I look at the setting of GW2 and I see absolutely nothing that I have not seen countless times before. It seems to have become the norm in modern fantasy that you have a setting that is essentially late medieval with big swords and plate armour, then you throw in a race that has some later technology. It has become such a cliche. All the innovative game play in the world will not make me want to play yet another copy and paste fantasy setting.

We've seen loads of these MMO's come out in the last few years. All offering essentially a variant on the same setting, but with (what is always claimed is going to be) ground breaking new gameplay. None of them has been a big success. Certainly none of them has held my attention because I just don't see the point in investing maybe a couple of years of my spare time doing more RP in what is just a different flavour of the same thing.

The reason I'm playing SWTOR right now is not because its an amazing game - it's really not. It's good, but not great. The reason I'm playing SWTOR is because it's setting is different. It's refreshing to not be RPing yet another fantasy character. The fact that the gameplay is very much the same as WOW's in a lot of ways, is not a problem for me.

Anyway, I don't want this to sound like a sales pitch for SWTOR. What I'm really saying is that I want an MMO that is offering a setting that is new and different. I played AoC for years (despite it not being very good) because the setting is very different from WoW. SWTOR's setting is very different from both WoW and AoC. For my next MMO I want one that has a setting that does not remind me of WoW, AoC or SWTOR, because by the time I'm looking for a new one, I'll have done what I want to do in those places.

I very much doubt I'll be playing GW2. From what I've seen, the world appears to be a fantasy world, with some elements of steam-punk-esque technology - a bit like, WoW and Warhammer and Rift. I feel like I've done that to death.

Well atm, I'm not gonna RP on TOR yet until the RP community itself can sort out some ground rules. Well TOR is basically KOTOR 3 so everyone on the game is going to end up as the ultimate whatever by the end of the current story. Don't want to name specs since I know some peeps here hate spoilers.

And with the novels out there as well, people will be tempted to cite those as references for the powers that they'll RP their Jedi/Sith with. Not got a clue? Take a look at Force powers on http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_power

Now that you've seen the list of powers you can kinda see my worries...so for now on TOR, im focussing on just playing my guys storys on the Flames of the Crucible server (yeah thats right PvE, I'm doing PvE on there till I'm used to the new classes and stuff, then I'll go different routes with them on a PvP server)

I see where you're coming from on this, but its exactly the same in every other mmo really. Sit in Orgrimmar and everyone is some super warrior with a nine foot long sword and riding a dragon. The rp guilds I've come across so far seem to be emphasising the opposite though and taking the approach of playing rank and file members of their organisations. I know of a couple of excellent military guilds on the republic side playing troopers and some promising guilds on the Imperial side.

That said, all the guild which appeal to me are down playing the force. Some do not even allow force users as members. Fine by me, as the non force users in SW are far more interesting characters to me.

As for server choice, I'm now playing on Progenitor on the Imperial side (gone from WoW huntard to Sniper ). I'm not playing rp-pvp because after years of doing just that, I've come to the conclusion that the rp-pve servers generally have a more rp friendly community. By that I mean that the non-roleplayers roll there for the supposedly more mature attitude and just let the roleplayers get on with it. You tend not to get the retards who think it's funny to disrupt rp. You can still do all the organised rp-pvp stuff on an rp-pve server, without all the crap that comes with it.

I've completely shelved all plans to form a guild for one simple reason: having come up with an idea for the type of guild I wanted to form, I then discover that there is already one just like it. So, I'm going to apply to join that one instead. A kind of Imperial Intelligence thing with agents and bounty hunters and no stoopid Sith breathing down our necks.

The game so far is great if you can ignore all the bugs, which I can because whilst being annoying, none of them are game breaking. The only thing that really annoys me right now is the lack of chat bubbles - but I imagine they will be coming soon.

Anyway, feel free to say "Hello" to an old retired orc. I've finally decided on a main called Erion, a (male) Imperial Agent with magnificent sideburns.

Regards

Akesha