Potential new player

[Alfa Kilo]

Hi, I have been thinking of getting into WoW (semi-casually, I am now currently playing the Starter Edition) but for it to be feasible I need something more than just pure mechanics of the game and your guild certainly caught my eye.

I have been wondering if I might, eventually, participate in some of your events, despite not being a member of the guild, in order to find out whether your guild and WoW RP in general is to my style before I commit to it?
I have a general idea of a character I want to play (and will put it to paper when I flesh it out a bit more and find the time to do it (exam period is a ****)) and I have previous RP experience from Neverwinter Nights so hopefuly it will be the right fit for me.

I wanted to ask which addons, if any, does your guild use to enhance their game so I might get them and get myself familiar with them?

[Sadok]

Howdy, Alfa Kilo! Thanks for contacting us.

You don't have to be a member of the guild (or even an orc for that matter) to participate in our RP events, although down the road, you'll of course have to be an orc to join. We accept people of all experience levels and we're more than happy to give help and advice where required, so don't worry about that.

Two things I'd be aware of, however:
1- We're currently on Defias Brotherhood RP-PvP until the 9th of June, when we transfer to Argent Dawn RP. More information about that is on our front-page.
2- We're currently RPing in the high-level Draenor zones, however starting on the evening of Tuesday 26th May, we'll be returning to the starter zone of Durotar -- so while you may find it difficult to attend any events prior to Tuesday, we should be able to accommodate you fine from that point onwards, be it for RP events or casual RP around our campfires!

As for add-ons, our members generally use MyRolePlay (MRP) or Total RolePlay 2 (TRP2), both of which are compatible with one another and allow you to see information like character surnames, titles, descriptions, etcetera. I personally prefer MRP because it's more lightweight and simple, but either should do.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to post in this thread or contact an officer in-game for more information: Kozgugore, Rhonya, Therak, Gridish or myself, Sadok.

[Alfa Kilo]

Thank you for the answer.

I read about the transfer and I will start the character (an orc) on Argent Dawn. It's great that you are moving back to the old zones since I won't be able to get to Draenor until I get the expansion (which won't be any time soon).

How much is your tribe based on the known lore of Warcraft/orcs?


And some more basic WoW questions:
Cataclysm brought quite a lot of changes to the old zones, were the expansion zones (TBC, WotLK) affected as well (in terms of lore, quests, etc. not game mechanics)?

How do the expansion work now, lore/RP-wise? I mean they happened several years ago, how should I go about RP me playing in those zones (once/if I get the full game)?

WoD happen in alternate reality/the past, correct, and I assume travel between the past and the present is relatively easy? How do your characters deal with that?

[Sadok]

I read about the transfer and I will start the character (an orc) on Argent Dawn. It's great that you are moving back to the old zones since I won't be able to get to Draenor until I get the expansion (which won't be any time soon).

Great stuff! If you give your Battletag, we should be able to invite you over on demand, so you can RP on Defias for the time being despite being on AD, then you won't have to incur a transfer fee!

How much is your tribe based on the known lore of Warcraft/orcs?

We're all roleplaying in the Warcraft universe, so its pre-established lore is sacrosanct to us. The Red Blade tribe isn't an actual group in the Warcraft canon obviously, but we're very tied to the Thrall-era New Horde principles of strength, honour, unity and the like. That's had some interesting in-character ramifications as the Horde changed under Garrosh, but we're now back in our comfort zone under Vol'jin, as it were.

The primary focus of the Red Blade tribe in an in-character sense is to gather together orcs of all clans (and clanless orcs) to form an effective vanguard against the Horde's enemies. But far from being your average warband, we have a relatively self-sufficient tribal culture with craftsmen, shaman, warriors and sneaks amongst others.

And some more basic WoW questions:
Cataclysm brought quite a lot of changes to the old zones, were the expansion zones (TBC, WotLK) affected as well (in terms of lore, quests, etc. not game mechanics)?

Generally, our in-character perception of Azeroth as a living, changing world has to be reconciled with the in-game reality of a static world with content several expansions out of date. We've been back to Northrend and Outland after their respective expansions, and they're generally RPed as being not much different from how they were a couple of years back -- but of course, the Big Bads like Arthas and Illidan aren't around, and their respective strongholds aren't the same world-threatening danger.

For instance, one of our plotlines last year involved returning to Borean Tundra to help the skeleton crew at Warsong Hold, since so much of the focus was now elsewhere -- there were some Scourge remnants in keeping with the static in-game world, but they were more less potent threats than in the WotLK years.

How do the expansion work now, lore/RP-wise? I mean they happened several years ago, how should I go about RP me playing in those zones (once/if I get the full game)?

Warlords of Draenor takes place in an alternate timeline rather than the past. Here's Doctor Emmet Brown to explain it:


In essence, anyone RPing through those zones would have had to be involved in the vanguard of Horde or Alliance troops that stormed the Dark Portal, or came in one of the later waves of reinforcements in the weeks and months thereafter.

WoD happen in alternate reality/the past, correct, and I assume travel between the past and the present is relatively easy? How do your characters deal with that?

We've been on Draenor since November without returning to Azeroth, and while we initially RPed out being stranded there with no return back (the initial premise of the Dark Portal assault was a suicide mission, after all), at this point there is limited access to transdimensional portals at the likes of Warspear. Because we seek to balance the sense of out-of-character convenience with our ultimate immersion in the setting, portals are employed only rarely.

Hope that answered some of your questions, at least!

EDIT: Realised your question about playing through past expansions wasn't about WoD, the expansion set in the past. Stupid Blizzard, making this needlessly complex.

As for past expansions, you don't need to be in-character 24/7 when it comes to levelling and such -- indeed, most of our members are out-of-character unless they're engaging with other roleplayers. If you want to add your quest content to your character's in-character background, you could either consider it to be in the past by a couple of years, or don't engage with any details that would date the setting (like the Lich King still wandering around Northern), or simply hand-wave it. xD

[Alfa Kilo]

Great stuff! If you give your Battletag, we should be able to invite you over on demand, so you can RP on Defias for the time being despite being on AD, then you won't have to incur a transfer fee!

My Battletag is AlfaKilo#2819  , however I'm not sure if cross-realm invites are enabled for Starter Edition.

[Sadok]

My Battletag is AlfaKilo#2819  , however I'm not sure if cross-realm invites are enabled for Starter Edition.

Only one way to find out, I guess! 

[Sadok]

Sent a Battletag request now!

[Alfa Kilo]

I have not noticed anything in game nor at the Blizzard website. I suppose there should have been some sort of pop-up or something similar?

[Sadok]

I did a Google search, and apparently Starter Edition accounts can't use Real-ID or Battletag. So it may be that, if you're still running the Starter Edition.

[Revax]

If you RAF him you can add him

[Sadok]

If you RAF him you can add him

...I'm gonna sound like an old fogey, but how does that work? Like, how do I do that?

[Revax]

https://eu.battle.net/support/en/article/recruit-a-friend

[Alfa Kilo]

Recruit A Friend is available to players in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom. Players outside these countries are ineligible

I am in Czech Republic, so I guess this won't work either (unless it means I can be recruited but can't recruit myself)

[Alfa Kilo]

Another general question regarding WoW:

Is it possible to IC communicate with Alliance character in any other way than emotes? Last time I tried WoW (long, long years ago) it was, as far as I remember, impossible, which seems a shame (and tad nonsensical, since in W3 orcs and humans communicated regularly and I presume they do the same in the books and comic books as well).

[Therak]

Not possible, other then using RealID or Battletag whispers. Any coustum emotes "/e waves his weapon" for example will only show up as "Example makes some strange gestures"
So it is a little difficult like that.