Here you will find a collection of all our members' comments and testimonials on the guild's 15 year anniversary. Since the guild's community has primarily shifted to its Discord channel for ease of use, this forum thread serves to preserve the comments given for future reviewing.
Kozgugore
I figured I may as well break the ice here and get started! Suffice to say that ORB has meant a whole lot to me over the years. In fact, it feels like I've pretty much grown up alongside ORB, given that I spent the latter half of my teenage years with it as well, in addition to all my twenties. It's pretty much become a part of my life. And as a result, the people in it have become a huge influence on me and who I am. I consider myself a richer person for it, as the people that I've shared this guild with are truly some of the loveliest people I have had the pleasure to meet. In fact, the majority of people that I call friends nowadays all come from ORB. Even people who have long since moved on from the guild and the game.
Of course, there have been times that even I needed my breaks from the game - some longer than others. But every time that I have managed to recharge my batteries or my RL woes have been dealt with, the guild has always been there when I return. And when I do, it very quickly tends to feel like I've barely even been away. Like an old, trusty shoe, the guild always fits perfectly. And its members welcome you back like you haven't even been gone in the first place.
In fact, for all its many strengths, I would dare say that is in fact the greatest strength of this guild: Its incredibly welcoming, committed, social, mature, yet playful, tolerant and talented community. No guild lasts as long as it does without an adequate amount of core members keeping it alive and well. Frankly, there's no gaming community that I have enjoyed being a part of more than this one. So thank you, to ever single one of you, for being here and for being you. <3 You are all wonderful people. And I'm happy to call you all friends of mine.


And now, as for my favourite screenshot, this is what came out after sifting through a screenshots folder worth 3082 screenshots (yes, I counted) over the course of the past 15 years. And with that many to choose from, I'm going to just go ahead and be a bit lenient on my own rule and choose two at the very least instead!
First screenshot was taken during our final confrontation with the AU version of Akesh the Poisoner during our final WoD campaign. Good times were had all in all in general, but Sadok in particular hosted a great event (who else to perfectly act as Akesh?), with as its highlight a spell that turned half of the orcs against us. I managed to resist the spell, then went on to knock out three orcs who specifically came at me through the power of amazingly lucky rolls. It was as hilarious as it was epic, with all the banter that went on in RedOrc. Here's Kargnar and Therak floored by Koz, with another one yet to follow.
My second screenshot was taken during a Tribe Meeting (because that's what they were still called back then) back in TBC, when Akesha decided to step down and officially offer Kozgugore the title of Chieftain. We had of course discussed the matter OOC before that, but it still felt like an overwhelming moment, being the foolish, inexperienced 17 year old that I was at the time (with a very questionable sense of shoulder pad fashion, but hey, this was TBC which didn't exactly offer much in terms of pretty armour). I still remember my heart pounding, being set in the spotlight like that. No way I would have believed you if you told me that I'd still be around in such a position 13 years later, but here we are.
Rhonya / Kyrazha / Meri
Oh gosh. I already wrote one of these before, only that's somewhere on the forum I think, for.. the 10th anniversary..? Or the hiatus? I don't even remember.

Either way, 15 years is looooong, and it surprises me even more that I've been here nearly 10 of those 15 years. Only few still rp right now from around the time I joined, people went away, others joined. Many friends were made over time <3 And many of my IRL friends are in here as well, which makes it extra special because I can enjoy some time with all of you online even though we live pretty far away from one another.
I joined by accident, the tribe as it was back then saving Rhonya's ass from a Forsaken in Silvermoon (the coincidences and luck involved there, hah) and travelled along a while before being forced to join, ic story wise.
The only real long break I took from the guild was during the hiatus, besides that I can't remember ever being gone for more than a few weeks or a month. And that's thanks to the people here as well, so.. thank you, everyone who made events in the past, who gave me random rp, who listened to my stories during storynights, who suffered through my newblood/Gosh'kar/Gul'thauk trainings, etc etc. <3
There's way too many good times for me to call out here really. xD But I suppose I could name a few of the obvious ones. The day I joined officially of course! The moment I became a proper Gosh'kar (In the past you did your tasks before you earned the rank), and later became Thur'ruk on Rhonya.
Some rp moments like bloodbrother and sister bonds, relationships being build in rp, some plotlines I still remember vividly like our 'back from hiatus' campaign (Still one of my most favorites!)
I'm sad to say I lost most my old screenshots though.
But here's one of my first campaign with the tribe, and the first orcs I connected with! Yay for crappy old models. xD

And a second one then... Our first foray into Pandaria when it came out! Which of course we crashed into. Rhonya is .. on the left. With short hair, yes, cause she lost her hair in a ritual before. xD It was a multiguild thing and pandaria was beautiful to rp in.

The thing I most appreciate here though is the way we stand together even through tough times (when we moved to AD for example) and the community is just a very strong thing, which I hope will stay around for a long time still! <3 Ya'll great.
Eliff / Realyn
I joined about 5 years ago, completely new to everything in World of Warcraft thanks to a CERTAIN person never stopping yapping about the game and rp in many train rides home from work, and then eventually more people joined in to talking me into it...
Make an orc they said! So I did and rather quickly joined the tribe back then and there started my adventure with Realyn.
Being so new to everything and being in a guild this big and amazing I was always very afraid of doing something wrong and just remained quiet and on the background, even though I knew none would hold it against me.
I was very intimidated at the beginning because everyone was soooo amazing with their rp and then there was me... :3
But being that new to it all and having not rp'd ever before I disappear often, then appeard again, only to disappear again.
But having so many friends within the guild, and others too, always asking when I would come back, always warmed my heart!
Even on my undead I was always welcome to tag along, and gosh that where great times as well!
It always felt like coming home, and no one ever blamed me for leaving for a while again.
But now that I have a lot more experience, and my new char it's a big difference.
I'm where I should be, with all of you crazies, those I know IRL but also those only online, you are all amazing, and cant wait for many more years with all of you. <3
I lost tons of old screenies thanks to a motherboard dying on me, so lets do this one;
A screentshot from the first campaign after the hiatus, which was amazing. <3

Razaron
Me and my brother rolled on Defias Brotherhood after we heard about this amazing new server type being introduced, RP-PVP! Before that we played on the US servers, our first characters on Defias were actually alliance toons. I made a human warrior and he made Nina, a female dwarf paladin, we joined and then Nina lead a guild called Crimson Gauntlet. Back then we use to do all the vanilla and TBC raids. You’ll see this a lot during my post, I had a loyalty to playing with my brother. Whilst Ragnaros and co we’re being downed weekly I would make a orc shaman, I always wanted to play an orc, I was a massive fan. The only thing that kept me playing him more was Crimson Gauntlet. When the guild took a hiatus in TBC I played my orc more, my brother then choose to make a tauren druid, funny enough that was his favourite class combination too. We also heard about the Orcs of the Red Blade, we knew they were highly respected on Defias. I always kept a eye on what they were doing but I knew I would never be able to join as that would mean I would be in a separate guild to my brother. Because he was a Tauren.
Years went by and my brother would go back and forth playing the game, it was then I took the plunge 10 years ago to join the Red Blades. I wasn’t disappointed, I remember meeting up with Morgeth and having a interview. Instantly I knew my past feelings towards the guild was well founded, I really enjoyed my short stay back then with the guild but it didn’t last. My brother came back and again I was torn, I choose to leave the guild and play with my brother. I still regret that decision to this day, I missed out on a lot and seeing all your old pictures makes me even more green then Raz already is. Over the years I always followed what the Orcs of the Red Blade were doing, so highly was my respect for the guild that when I saw them leave for Argent Dawn I too transferred my characters. The Red Blades would never know that was the main reason for my server transfer but I held the guild in such esteem that if they were leaving then there must of been a good reason.
I don’t know how long ago I rejoined the Red Blades, I think it’s maybe 5 years now? It’s something like that and before I rejoined I had the same question. Do I leave the guild I was in with my brother or join the Red Blades? This time after years of regret I told my brother I was moving to the Orcs of the Red Blade, I felt sad in doing in but in the end it was the right decision. I still play with my brother when he’s active, but now I have my roleplay with the Orcs of the Red Blade too. You guys aren’t just my roleplay bit on the side, your my online family. No matter what happens to the World of Warcraft in the future, I will remain in this community forever, thus is the blood bond in-game and out.
Now some of my favorite characters I’ve met in the guild? I think you’re all amazing but I will highlight a few that are important to me.
First would have to be Morgeth, she doesn’t even know who I am as she left before I rejoined. But like I previously said, it was when I met her in-character I knew everything I thought about the Red Blades was true.
Then we have the chief himself, Kozgugore, there’s something about this orc that just demands respect. If it’s not his ability to talk his way through a clan gathering with an elegant silver tongue, it’s also his charm and wit in his responses to all the diplomats that come to his door. Shrewd’s not half bad either.

Rhonya’s is a massive part of what I like to call, the heart of the guild. This goes IC and OOC. Always approachable, making everyone feel at home. Rhon has always given me that winter cottage feeling, it’s snowing out side but you’re all tucked up in the warm, throwing another log on the fire. She’s the Denmother!
Nakobu, I think first met you in the crossroads with Rhonya a few years ago? You were playing Nar’thak and ever since then I knew you were golden. You actually remind me of my brother a lot, you have that same sort of persona. I really enjoyed the banter our characters have shared on either of your toons, I actually really liked Nar’thak so it was a surprise to me when you made another character. But it’s amazing what you’ve done with Nakobu, I love his back story with the draenei and you roleplay him very well. Long may it continue Exarch Nakobu!
There’s many other characters I’d love to mention but I’ll leave it there. I think you’re all awesome and I love roleplaying with you all.
My favorite events has to be the big campaign that the guild does, I especially love the granduer of Koz’s campaigns and I’m looking forward to participating in more in the future! There’s also the Kosh’harg, it’s amazing how we all come together and make it work for the entire server! Special shout out to Nosh’s Challenge of the Wyvern, it’s genius!
I think some of my favorite moments in the guild was my character achieving what he first set out to do, to be respected. Despite being an oddball Razaron has always wanted to prove himself to the clan, when Kozgugore himself made Razaron a Varog’Gor I can’t tell you how happy I was. Then there’s my first big campaign that was inspired by Koz’s work, I tried to make Whispers of the Shadows as epic as I could. Not only did we bring back the Path of Cunning but we also made a new greater spirit! Raz then died early on and got resurrected right at the end. Over the months I worked with Kogra to make Sharguul come to life (Kogs did it all!) and I was a massive advocate for bringing the Path of Cunning back. Then having to write out a whole path of the guild, re-imagining it whilst try to keep to some of the old ways, I just hope I’ve done it justice for you all? In fact the whole ordeal made me take a few months break after, I was exhausted and stressed, I wanted to make it as perfect as possible.
Here’s some screenshots of Razaron dying in the Whispers of the Shadow campaign and being promoted to Varog'Gor. Also a sneak shot of Razaron in the Ten Years Strong video, 1:02 Raz was cooking for everyone.

RIP Razaron's spider armour chest piece that was only made to be destroyed by Glub the crawg that impaled him.

Tagrok
Many of you probably heard the story because I am fond of retelling but I've arrived at the guild through a series of events. I never RP'd before, only had one good DnD session with my friends because all but one of them were grade A tier normies. The decision to come to Argent Dawn was after a bad string of raids and experiences in a semi-cesspool guild at the tail end of WoD. Me and two other people wanted to start over after falling out with the previous guild leader and so I just followed the two of them to Argent Dawn. I did not plan to RP, just to have fun with two people that I befriended over the past several months. They both quit within two weeks of us being on AD and so I was left alone with my orc hunter, farming nodes and making my way to 110.
Being left alone meant that I could try out stuff - like RP, something the "die hard" PvErs wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. I bounced onto the forums, had a look at several guilds. I don't know why I chose Red Blade, I guess it sounded the most "non-military" of the lot. There were many Vanguards, but I was afraid my inexperience and possible holes in knowledge would come to bite me in the arse - so I went to Razor Hill one day. I can't quite remember if I met Kargnar and Kronnor back then immediately, but I ended up almost crashing the guild meet and was politely whispered to stay away. So I just sat there, dork that I am and listened to them. It didn't take long for me to join and that was that, for the time being.
I was pulled into a string of events covering ashenvale, dustvallow marsh (kogra shatterspine LOL) and the (in)famous campaign spanning from Tanaris to Silithus, fighting demons and getting to know people better - especially a CERTAIN SOMEONE, who surprised me with the depth characters can have - something I did not expect back then. I will always remember these first few months very fondly, they were integral to me being who I am.
Things took a turn a few months after the campaign while we were in outland, with reduced activity, certain OOC gripes I had, the everpresent quest for money as a student and I eventually quit. I came back again during the revival campaign and enjoyed myself greatly, beleiving I would definitely stay this time. No cigar, even after Kargnar was so nice as to buy me a month of gametime. I think there was also the whole being conscripted into the army thing, but eh. Fast forward to last july-ish where I off-handedly decided to try BFA with my shiny new laptop - and my surprise of still being in the guild. It took a lot of prodding from you guys to get me back but I've been here for the better part of the last year.
I've had fun. Lots of fun, with most of you. You people are crazy and unbelievable at times, so forgiving and friendly and loving - it just blows my mind. I've been through quite a few guilds in my 15 years in this game and none have reached the level of humanity you lot did. I've been in guilds where tight-knit groups existed. The officers eventually turned on us. I've been to guilds that were run by families and claimed to treat each other like family. Bull@$&^. This community is one of a kind and I would not trade it for any other, even if I complain and you have to drag me screaming to events. Koz and everyone here, you've build something unique.
This post is a shoutout to all of you. To Kyra for showing me the the depth and joy of RP. To Nosh and Vrax and Kogra for just being plain awesome IC and OCC. To Nakobu for his laid-back personality and bothering to deal with my shenanigans and Tahara for making me iterate on a character I all but abandoned. I don't list all of you because I'd be typing for a while, but you know who you are.
I don't have any old memory of a screenshot to share, so you'll have to do with the tasty two.

Nosh'marak
Alright, time for me to toss my lot in to the ring as well. I joined this guild in 2015, almost exactly five years ago, and it's possibly been one of the biggest and most concrete parts of my life despite all the ups and downs it's brought with it. I've had many late nights (or rather early mornings) of RP on campaign days, staying up until the sun went up and occassionally even when it went down again. Is that healthy? Probably not tbh, but it's been so much bloody fun.
I recall joining during a time of rest in Stranglethorn, and I'm quite frankly still a little embarrassed from those days. I was 13, only just started RPing frequently and there was a whole new guild I needed to make an impression on. Honestly? I think that impression was a bit shit to begin with, which is hilarious; I was stubborn, edgy, blissfully unaware of what "adult" social norms even meant, and above all young and dumb. I tried my best to fit in but... a guild filled with many people well in to their 20s is hard to interact with when you've only just gotten in to puberty.

Regardless, after I made Nosh'marak my main character and he had a worthy introduction I feel like I was really on my feet. There were times I flat out said I would quit, times where I did actually disappear for a few days or weeks at a time but something kept pulling me back and honestly I never knew what that thing was until I grew up. It was everyone who made up the guild, from the ones who came and went over the course of a few weeks to the old veterans who had been there almost as long as I'd been alive, and now that I'm older and (hopefully) wiser I've realized there's no other guild I'd rather have stuck with. You people literally shaped my teens, helped me grow up, and made me a better person. <3
As for people I wanna thank... Boy oh boy that's a big list, but I'll go with a select few that have REALLY impacted me. First of all, @Azolg, Lewis my dear dear friend. You've always been there to sort of guide my hand to do what's right; you were the first to vouch for me as an officer and you really heightened my self esteem in tough times. With time I've come to love you like a brother even if you're not around as much anymore. <3
@Rhonya and @Srelok, you two have always played a monumental role in ensuring that I've felt welcome and understood. But you've also granted me the wisdom of telling me when it's time to STFU - which is absolutely invaluable.
@Elder Koz, Kogra, Vraxxar, Razaron, Verzan, Za'karah, Nakobu, and Trakmar for having been the best officer team I could have ever imagined. We've all always been good friends despite internal disputes, and honestly? When I finally leave for the military I KNOW I'm leaving the guild in good hands. I trust you all to the maximum, and I love you for the work you put in.
@Tagrok - I shouldn't even have to say anything. You made me cry on the train (I hate you for that) when I passed my military assessments because you truly made me realize the extent of your support to me; it's been unending support and love, and I don't think anything can ever change that. You're one of the few people in life that I strive to make proud.
Finally @Magrahra. A gentle guiding hand where it's needed, you've been like a wonderful concoction of all the positives above. I never thought anyone could put up with playing Nosh'marak's mate IC, but here we are and honestly it's been the most fun trip I could have ever imagined. Late nights of doodling, timewalking, PvP, or simply just nattering about the night's awkward RP have probably played the biggest part in keeping me sane during current events.
Of course I love you all unconditionally. It doesn't matter who might accidentally get on my nerves, who might say something that upsets me or who might quite frankly dislike me. I'm far from perfect, but the one thing I feel like I've really got a grasp on here in life is my love for you. The guild that's helped me grow, helped shape me in to the man I am today, and been the cause of a few late assignment turn-ins or late attendance marks in school. Just a few. I love y'all, and I leave you with my all-time favourite screenshot, from an event in the reboot campaign where I truly felt at home. Love you long time, I'll make sure to do my darndest to be back after my military training!
