rp-guide
Latest
The fine line of roleplaying a dual-class character
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. If we as roleplayers take the stance of roleplaying the role written for us by the developers over at Blizzard, our characters are automatically in a pretty heroic role. While some choose to forgo the option and roleplay the more mundane roles in Azeroth life, others happily embrace that role of the hero without question. Within that role is a variety of different areas you can tweak to your heart's content, but you can rest easy knowing that your character is at least in some small way a part of this giant, ever-evolving storyline Blizzard has to tell. But what if you'd like to step out of that role of the Blizzard hero -- not into the territory of the everyday mundane, but into a space where you amp up your character a notch or two? @kremlincardinal originally asked this question for The Queue, but it's far more complex than a simple Queue answer could really encompass. From a roleplay standpoint, are hybrid classes possible (within reason)? Like a rogue with minor magical (mage-like) powers? Is it possible? Yes. Should you do it? Well ... that's entirely open to interpretation, but we've got a few tips if you're thinking of giving it a try.
Know Your Lore: The Blackrock Legacy
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. They claimed to be the true Horde. They may yet prove it. The Blackrock orcs seem, on the surface, to be a relic of a bygone age. A tribe of orcs holding on to a past swept aside by Turalyon's hand clutching Lothar's broken sword, a defeated remnant of Gul'dan's legacy. Once led by Blackhand the Destroyer, the Blackrock clan rose to prominence when Blackhand became Gul'dan's proxy as Warchief of the newborn Horde. And it remained central when Orgrim Doomhammer, Blackhand's second in command, slew Blackhand and seized power, for Doomhammer too was a member of the Blackrock clan. After the final defeat of the Horde atop Blackrock Spire, it seemed certain that the Blackrocks would trouble Azeroth no more. Yet Blackhand's sons Rend and Maim, who had served Doomhammer even after he killed their father as leaders of the splinter clan the Black Tooth Grin, led the Blackrocks into the mountain that bore the same name and set about rebuilding them. When Teron Gorefiend came to Blackrock Spire, the brothers Blackhand refused his call to join Ner'zhul's Horde, seeing themselves as the true inheritors of Blackhand's legacy. In time, the Black Dragonflight came to the mountain, attracted by the reds still held in bondage there, and Nefarian brought the Blackrocks into his service. Maim Blackhand died in the war with the Dark Iron Dwarves to determine which force would rule the mountain, while Rend died when Thrall sent members of the Horde to kill him for his claim to the title of Warchief that Doomhammer had bestowed upon the shaman. And yet, the Blackrocks were not done. Ironically, it may have been one of Thrall's most loyal supporters who brought one of Garrosh Hellscream's most dangerous enforcers into the fold.
Know Your Lore: The genesis of Garrosh Hellscream
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Garrosh Hellscream is almost an enigma in his own right. You wouldn't think that, by first glance -- after all, right now he fits the bill of brutal orc bent on global domination. But Garrosh's story has had so many moments between the depressed and unwilling would-be leader of Garadar, and the bloodthirsty warleader of Mists of Pandaria that it's difficult to determine where, exactly, he went from point A to point B. I've been asked about it before by many, but KyleCaligiuri phrased it really well, so I'll reprint the question here. Is there some piece of lore I'm missing explaining Garrosh's actions between Cataclysm and Tides of War? Shattering helped put a *bit* of a positive light on Garrosh after WotLK, I felt, since he was remorseful about what happened with Cairne (in that he didn't want to win by cheating...) and I felt his leader short story did as well, if I remember correctly. I'm now playing through the Horde campaign finally, and the events in Stonetalon further point that he is all about honor and pride in the Horde. Also, Ragefire Chasm is all about defeating the dark shaman so that they don't end up with another threat like the Twilight's Hammer or Burning Blade. Yet, this is all contradicted in Tides of War, where he drops a bomb just as Krom'gar did in Stonetalon, and embraces the dark shaman. I'm only up to Desolace right now in the Horde campaign, so do we see his progression toward the more corrupt Garrosh, or is this still yet to be explained? It's that disconnect between moments that confuses people. Garrosh may be many things, but two-dimensional is not one of them. Who is Garrosh Hellscream, and how did he find his way to this path that flies in the face of his previous actions?
Roleplaying the mundane side of the Alliance
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. Last week, we discussed the mundane side of the Horde -- what a roleplayed character who has not traveled to Pandaria would see if he were to remain in Azeroth. We also discussed some alternatives to traveling to Pandaria that don't involve joining the militia as a happy member of the Horde's wrecking crew. The Horde side of the equation at the moment is not really a happy one, the various factions almost seem to splintering apart, with nothing to bind them together as a cohesive whole. For the Alliance side of things ... there isn't quite as much to talk about. This shouldn't be taken as a bad thing, because it means that the Alliance is finally starting to stand together again. There's not as much to talk about, because the Alliance isn't really fracturing apart or experiencing any major upheavals from a political standpoint. This doesn't mean that a character remaining in Azeroth would have very little to keep him occupied, however.
Know Your Lore: The Heart of Thunder
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Spoilers for Patch 5.2 and the Throne of Thunder raid Patch 5.2 promises to move the story along, but it also hints at a darker mystery. I'm still musing about what all of it means, but one thing is for sure - we know much more about the mogu than we did before. We were told before that the mogu reverse-engineered the Curse of Flesh, now we know that they were originally affected by it. Much like the tol'vir, vrykul, and earthen the mogu were once stone servants: The Mogu were children as well. Children of the Titans. They were once a legion of stone. Heartless and obedient. By the Titan's command, they fought the terrible servants of the Old Gods. They shaped the mountains and carved the rivers of the land. And they created a magical cradle of life in a hidden valley that we now call The Vale of Eternal Blossoms. But eventually, the Titans fell silent, and their creations were cursed with flesh. The Mogu grew restless. Many generations later, when the Thunder King united them, they seized upon their legacy. I truly believe now that the Mogu thought they were doing the work of the Titans. They fought against the mantid and used the powers of the Vale to create new life. Oh, but such terrible works! It's an interesting idea where the state of being stone, emotionless, is seen as the pure, uncorrupted one and that of being a living being of flesh is the corrupted, impure state. The Old Gods made the rocky children of the Titans more like themselves, for the purpose of easier absorption. Not all the native people of Azeroth were so created, of course - it seems that the trolls, the tauren, and the various descendents of the aqir - the qiraji, nerubians and mantid - were never Titan creations.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: In the beginning
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. In the beginning, the Titans created Azeroth. They set the world in motion, and then left to continue on whatever path it was that the mysterious beings followed. Yet something happened to the planet, something bad enough that it warranted the return of the Titans. Upon their return, they discovered the Old Gods, a malignant group of entities that were intent upon sowing chaos. Perturbed, the Titans tried to kill an Old God -- and they discovered to their horror that killing the Old Gods would kill the very planet itself. And yet, instead of simply rebooting and starting over anew, they kept Azeroth. They imprisoned the Old Gods beneath the surface of the world, and planted various fail-safes to make sure the creatures were never freed. And just in case an Old God managed to escape, Algalon the Observer would visit and determine the status of the world. If it was deemed too far gone, he would activate a signal that would re-originate the world -- Azeroth would be destroyed and rebooted. Why did they leave Azeroth alone? Why didn't they simply re-originate the world at the first sign of trouble? Why put in a failsafe to do so, instead of taking care of the problem immediately? But perhaps most importantly ... What is Azeroth? Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on how it happened. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore. Please note: This edition of KYL also contains some spoilers for patch 5.2 content.
Roleplaying the mundane side of the Horde
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. Last week, we discussed the ongoing situation in Pandaria, and how your character's journey through Pandaria colors character development in the face of current events. Keep in mind that the column was written for those that wish to take that questing experience and use that to develop their character -- but that's not necessarily the only way to roleplay. The column brought up a really good comment from reader Musicita, who pointed out the following: When I'm out questing, I don't feel like the quest text is referring to *my* character. My character would not be doing these things. The quest givers are talking to the fictional hero that Blizzard has invented for us to play. It's the Blizzard Hero who does all the brave things, who is the trusted agent of the King, etc., etc. I am not roleplaying that character; questing is an out of character experience. This is an equally valid form of roleplay -- there are just as many people that would rather ignore the questing element in regards to character story as there are those that would like to embrace it. But if your character isn't embroiled in Pandaria, what sorts of things would they notice around the world? What's going on with the rest of Azeroth, if you're a member of the Horde? It's not pretty.
Know Your Lore: Missed opportunities of 2012, part 2
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Last week, we covered Deathwing's shortcomings and the non-reappearance of Kul Tiras. This week, we'll talk about my biggest beef with the run up to Mists of Pandaria, and then segue into a general complaint I had about Cataclysm as a whole. Some of this actually predates 2012, but it's easier to see in the hindsight we all get once enough time passed, so it serves us as well to discuss it now as it would at any other time. So let's get started by saying this: I really disliked the lack of a pre-expansion event. The ones for Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King and even Cataclysm weren't always spectacular, but they did a really good job of giving you the feeling that everything was about to change. The lead-up to Wrath with the zombie plague was controversial at times, but it was memorable, it served as a really clear line of demarcation and set up a lot of elements that would be taken up later. Garrosh Hellscream went from 'whiny dude crying in Nagrand' to 'warrior willing to challenge his warchief to Mak'Gora' in a pre-expansion event. The Cataclysm pre-launch event had some excellent little moments in it, the return of Rexxar, and gave us the first new AQ content in years. I understand that Pandaria didn't pose the same kind of situation - instead of Pandaria hosting a threat that comes forth to affect the wider world, the Horde and Alliance bring their war to Pandaria and threaten it - but I still lamented this lack. Something as simple as a Horde/Alliance airship battle that ended with us crashing on the new continent could have worked.
Know Your Lore: Hands drenched in blood
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The Sin'dorei have been a presence in WoW since The Burning Crusade -- and surprisingly enough, as members of the Horde rather than members of the Alliance. This turnaround in events was largely due to the treatment of the blood elves by the Alliance during Warcraft III. Kael'thas Sunstrider watched as his people were slaughtered by the Scourge, and set out to lend a helping hand to his supposed allies, hoping that they would lend a hand in return. However, he was sent to help Garithos, a man who was -- let's face it -- incredibly racist. And in the face of that not-quite-blatant racism, Kael'thas turned to the only people offering any sort of real alliance; the naga. While Vashj and company helped Kael'thas far more than any of his supposed Alliance allies, Garithos was happy to find an excuse to condemn the leader of the sin'dorei, and had him imprisoned in Dalaran for his supposed treasonous actions. It was this waterfall effect that eventually led to the sin'dorei's withdrawal from the Alliance, and into the arms of the Horde. Which makes the events of patch 5.1 all the more ironically interesting ... because it's happening all over again, but wearing a slightly different face. Please note: This Know Your Lore contains spoilers for Tides of War as well as patch 5.1 content from both Operation: Shieldwall and the Dominance Offensive. If you have yet to complete these stories, you may want to veer away.
When lore and roleplay collide
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. By and large, we didn't really have to worry too much about expansion storyline and how it related to roleplay in Cataclysm, or even Wrath and Burning Crusade. The most complex quandary for a roleplayer to consider in those days was a matter of who, exactly, killed the final boss of the expansion, and when that final boss died. Who dealt the final blow to Arthas? When exactly did he die? But in Mists of Pandaria, the story has taken a far more personal turn. Rather than the simple question of end bosses, roleplayers are presented with a multitude of emotional situations. And on top of that, there has been plenty of political movement from both Alliance and Horde. Instead of being a character acting on his own, roleplayers are now far more intimately involved with the inner workings of their respective factions, for better or for worse. How does one incorporate lore into roleplay, when the lore turns personal?
Know Your Lore: Missed opportunities of 2012 Part 1
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Okay, not everything is good. As much of a fan as I am of World of Warcraft and the story of the game, there have been times I've been kind of disappointed in something, or felt like we could have seen more than we did. One example I have is the Dragon Soul raid, but not for the reasons I see around the web. I'll go into what I mean in this very article. What I'm talking about this time isn't necessarily bad stuff, as much as it is things I wish had happened, or had happened more. I'm not numbering them because I don't think of them in a particular best to worst scheme, they're just places where I felt like more could have been done with the story as it was presented to us.
My 5 favorite lore moments in WoW
Trying to pick out five favorite lore moments from WoW is almost an impossible task. The problem with WoW lore is that there is simply so much of it out there that most people will get lost trying to follow it all. While yes, it's an engaging and very rich story, it's the sort of complex tapestry that will make you dizzy if you stare at it for too long. The other problem, of course, is that picking only five from the giant list of lore that we've witnessed in WoW means that there are countless other moments that are going to be ignored, and I hate that. But for my list, my personal list, you'll find very few of those giant, epic, sweeping battles that everyone would automatically call a pinnacle. I tend to like the more personal stuff.
Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2012, part 3
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. If you happened to miss the first two parts of our year-end countdown, I'd suggest going back and reading over both part one and part two before continuing on with the final four developments featured today. I love the lore in Mists of Pandaria, and it's mainly because everything is so completely new that it is almost impossible to predict what's going to happen next. This doesn't stop Matthew Rossi and myself from coming up with any number of crazy theories, but it does make it harder to see where the story is going to go next. That's actually a pretty good thing. Without that continual introduction of new material, the story, and the game itself, would get pretty old and stale. And while the rest of the top ten for 2012 offered plenty of points where Blizzard could improve on existing methods of storytelling, the top four are a little more absent of criticism. It's because there are points, in Mists, where success has been achieved to a point where it's hard to say something needs work. That doesn't mean that I'm not critical, however.
The grace between Light and dark: Roleplaying the priest
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. One might assume that a priest is a benevolent servant of the Light, or Elune, or An'she, or whatever deity they happen to follow. Consumed with the Light's grace, a priest seeks to heal, drawn to the task by an innate need to heal and mend. For a priest, the world is a place full of lost, suffering souls waiting to be mended and healed, the gratitude of those mended being all that a priest needs. Humble, polite, quiet, the priest is a creature of benevolence and purity, an example for all those lost souls to follow. One would be quite wrong in that assumption. Priests are just as complex, perhaps even more so than every other class on Azeroth. While some are drawn to healing like a moth to a flame, there are others drawn to the darker side. A priest can harm just as well as heal -- in fact, they may be more deadly than even those dark practitioners of fel magics. For what makes for suffering more than a creature who knows quite intimately, inside and out, the inner workings of organs and mind? Priests are terribly interesting creatures, and make for even more interesting roleplay.
Know Your Lore: The limits of perspective
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Last week we talked about wild speculation. But since then, Anne and I each talked about our characters and the way they view the Warchief of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream, and that got me thinking about the perspective we as players have versus the perspective the characters in the game have. It's easy for me as a player to be uncomfortable with things that my character would not be, and vice versa, because as a player I have access to sources of information no one in the world of Azeroth does. Garrosh Hellscream has intelligence reports. Varian Wrynn has spies. But neither of them can go to a bookstore and pick up Tides of War and get to read scenes from inside their opposite number's war councils. Neither of them can go play a character inside the opposite faction. Players of the game have the ability to achieve a much broader perspective than anyone within that setting, and draw parallels to a real world history none of these characters can be aware of. Garrosh Hellscream doesn't know he's fictional. And frankly I wouldn't recommend telling him, dude has a temper. The lore of the game, the story, is always predicated upon the fact that the people within that story act according to their own motivations, and none of them are omniscient. We know that Garona didn't want to kill Llane Wrynn but that Shadow Council conditioning and torture, combined with what she saw within Karazhan, left her convinced she had no choice. We know that, but Varian Wrynn doesn't know that. He only knows that an orc that his father trusted cut out his father's heart. He knows that because he saw it, and it's easy for us to know that not all orcs are like that. Try and imagine it from his perspective, and you understand why he believes what he believes. The same goes for Jaina, or Arthas, or any of the big names of the Warcraft setting - they're limited to their own perspective. They can't know what we know.
Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2012, part 2
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. In part one of our look back at 2012's best lore developments, we looked at the various aspects introduced to better introduce lore to those that had only a passing interest in it. While the Lorewalkers, print media and instance developments were also tremendously appealing to those that already have a handle on Warcraft lore, they also served as a method of getting the lore out to those that weren't really interested in the minutiae of mogu and mantid. And that's honestly pretty important. There are plenty of players that play the game simply to play it, not paying attention to why they are playing at all. By implementing subtle elements that introduce the lore in an unobtrusive fashion, the developers have quietly found a way to make sure that regardless of how or why you play the game, you still have some sort of basic understanding of what is going on. Cataclysm had a story, but it was so complex that it was difficult even for those with a strong grasp of lore to puzzle out exactly what was going on and why we were doing what we were doing. But the fun doesn't stop there -- and today's picks are those that are slightly less unobtrusive in regards to lore and story.
Embracing the darkness: Roleplaying the warlock
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. You want evil? Forget the warriors of the world, scoff at the rogues and give the mages of Azeroth a collective raspberry. Let's face it, nothing is as seductive as embracing the powers of darkness, harnessing fel energies and twisting them at your whim. Nothing is as addictive as the sweet thrill of control, and warlocks are all about control. You want danger? How about following a path that leads to ultimate corruption for the majority of those that choose to tread it? How about harnessing demonic entities, never knowing whether they will serve you, or turn on you -- crushing your body into a fine mist, your bones to dust? How about having your very soul hang in balance between control and chaos, ready to teeter either way at a moment's notice? The life of a warlock is incredibly interesting, and far from what any would call remotely sane.
Know Your Lore: Wild Speculations for 2013 Part 1
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. We've had some clues about patch 5.2, and we know that we're getting a new raid zone, with an advancement of the mogu/Zandalari storyline. Now, I'm really looking forward to Thunder Isle and to hopefully finding out some of the story behind the mogu 'return', the fate of Zandalar Isle, and to seeing the fallout from the Divine Bell incident. We already know a few things, which I won't mention here (yes, there will be spoilers for patch 5.2 in this article) but what we don't yet know is far more interesting to me than what we do know. For starters, just how does the Thunder King intend to reclaim his lost empire? Why did he share the means to return him from death with the Zandalari? Why have the mogu suddenly returned to using magic after having lost the ability for generations? Why are there Korune suddenly challenging Sha magic in Kun-Lai Summit? (You'll remember we speculated on the Sha being tied to the mogu this year and now here they are, channeling mogu power) There's a lot we don't know about patch 5.2, and beyond it. So let's talk about that. What's really going on, and once we face down the Thunder King, where do we go from there?
Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2012, part 1
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. 2012 was a bit of an odd year for World of Warcraft. While yes, we did see the successful launch of Mists of Pandaria, that didn't happen until September. Prior to that? There was a whole lot of nothing in game. Patch 4.3 came out in November of 2011, which meant that players had nothing new or exciting to look at for nine months -- an astonishingly long period of time. So why bother doing a top 10 lore developments for 2012, you may ask? Because the moment Mists of Pandaria hit live servers, we were inundated with so many different lore developments, changes and tweaks that there is more than enough material for this list. Oddly enough, although we definitely spent far more time this year entrenched in Cataclysm, it already feels like there's been more time spent in Pandaria overall. And the changes made to lore development between Cataclysm and Mists are something we should pay attention to, because they spell the beginnings of a very bright future for further Warcraft lore.
The hero you once were: Roleplaying the death knight
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. A hero... that's what you once were. You stood boldly against the Shadow and purchased another dawn for the world... with your life. The death knight class was introduced in Wrath of the Lich King as the first, and to date only, hero class. Former minions and soldiers of the Lich King, these warriors of darkness have now risen against their dark master and obtained their own freedom, of sorts. But the path to acceptance is much more difficult for a death knight than any other class in the game. After all, you were a tool of darkness at its finest, when you were "born." This makes death knights a really unique opportunity for roleplay, because they essentially have two lives -- the life before they died, and the life after. It's that reconciliation between the two that offers the most fascinating moments for roleplay. How does a person come to terms with the fact that they were turned from hero to butcher in what should have been their final moment of saving grace?
