Conquest of the Horde

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I took this waaaaay away from the Draenei Race guide discussion... to point out something general about the server.

Now... I hear a lot of things like... "Your' character wouldn't do that" Or "That wouldn't happen". And most of these are based on cultural beliefs about the race of one or both of the characters in question.

I want to tell you all right now... If my Draenei wants to love an Orc or a Sin'Dorei... she will. If My Female Druid wants to lead a group of male druids... she will, as long as those players choose to follow.

Our characters are not Draenei... nor Human, nor Orc... though they might be Sin'Dorei. They are ADVENTURERS AND HEROES!

Here are some names for you...

Maleeka
Nerethor
Walter
Derick
Zernor
Cassius
Aellia
Celes
Kapre
Ishani
Kyramu

Those are just a few of the people who My characters know in-game. And you want to know something? Not a single one of those, nor any unmentioned people... did any of my characters happen to know because they were both training under the same master, and happened to be paired up as sparring partners. Not a single character that I know of, got to know my character because my character owns a shop and they happen to buy things from there a lot. Or any such situations!

Every single person I know on this server... Every single character My characters meet, are special. They are all unique.

Aadora does not know Nerethor because he is a guard she asks for directions a lot. She knows him because he is a person that gets angered very easily from insults, and is very forgetful. But he has become very protective of her because of the characters personality.

Aadora does not know Celes because she went to her for matchmaking help. She knows her because they met in the Booty Bay BaY and Celes made jokes about being a man and relationships... that Aadora just couldn't understand.

Everyone I knoW on Conquest of the Horde... has made a great character. Everyone I know has made my experience here fantastic. And it is all because not a single character I know is just "A Stormwind Guard that gives directions with a smile." It is because these characters... are like real people. They are their own person, both in beliefs, and in personality.

This is not a rant for the sake of telling you people I will do what I want when I want. This is a thank you for everyone making my time here so great. And a call to stop calling people out for their race or gender on what can or can't happen because of that. Let people RP the character they want, not the character Lore wants!

Notice:
This post does not intend for people to go make Gnome Paladins or Dwarf Mages and in fact only says that you should make a character... and RP it like you believe that character SHOULD be RP'd!

It's your story, so make your own destiny!
And yes I know I got away from the actual topic of races... but the point is, Race does not mean you HAVE to be an Orc hating vengeful Draenei, or any other stereotype form lore!
I dont really understand the point of this post... well, blog. People will always do what they want with limitations, and if someone criticized you then you can just tell them you dont care or prove them wrong in-game. That being said there are a thousand special snowflakes and if everybody does their own cross-species loving, society-overthrowing actions then lore becomes a cheap thing indeed. You don't have to follow the stereotypes exactly but when more people are breaking them than otherwise, why even bother with lore?

(Im not saying this is the case, but these templates, hell the very notion of Alliance and Horde exist for a reason.)
Not all posts in this forum have points. This ones point? Is not to tell people not to follow Lore. It is to encourage people to make unique characters and develop them. And as well to thank the community for my time here.
While I agree with the general point of this thread, I do have to beg to differ on some raised points. While it's true that no one is the same and uniqueness should be taken in open arms, there are still some racial standards that could be a huge obstacle in the way. Orcs helped in a huge slaughter against the Draenei. Okay, so they changed, try telling that to the insane numbers of people who's lives were ruined. Some racial standards will exist for a large gap of time.

I suppose the main point of my blabbering is, while unique is good, there should be consideration for some factors.

Posted from the magical iPod.
/points to my post in the Draenei racial guide.

I covered that. It depends on the Draenei.
Two cents;

If you truly want to be unique on CotH... then follow the culture and faiths to the letter cause on this realm most snowflakes are so unique they look like that Mary Sue fellar. To date all the characters I have made has been very strictly formed after the stereotype and the race/faith/faction in general and I have more often than not been praised on their depth and so on.
I'll just leave this here for you. Clickies.

I tell people to follow Lore, and I tell them to create unique and interesting characters, with plenty of opportunity for growth and development.

A common misconception exists that a Lore-wise plausible character is some sort of unfeeling robot bound to stereotype - a one-of-a-thousand, if you will.

Not by a long shot. Let me give you a few examples of Lore-wise plausible, yet completely rebellious characters:

Sagi Nightwhisper. Night Elves typically adhere to faith in Elune in the same way they cling to their own lives and to nature, yet he has made a plausible, well-reasoned, well-fleshed out train of thought that explains just why he diverged from the faith and ended up an exile, and studied shadow. And by whatever gods are to your preference, there has been more development around Sagi than around almost anyone I've ever known. The name of Heretic Circus still brings back memories to connoisseurs.

Naiti Moonpetal. Kaldorei, going in the opposite direction. Rather than diverging from the faith, she ended up believing herself a sort of divine emissary of the Goddess Elune, and started a drunk-on-power crusade of her own, abusing the divine might granted to her.

Avints Bronzecrest. Human Paladins are Light-faithful. Though this one was, and practiced the Virtues, the Light didn't quite answer him all the time in full, until faith was reaffirmed. Being recruited into an unlikely band of vigilantes, he ended up an Exemplar, and the (unfortunate) mate of a (very angry) Kaldorei Huntress.

Tirius Cloudbreaker. A Night Elven Hunter. Men were rare in this profession, yet he followed in the footsteps of his father, eventually becoming a Beastmaster and vigilante alongside the former. He was crazy amounts of fun to be around, and went through a -lot- of developmental stages(Not the least of which was one where he figured that nature was intended to -serve- rather than be an ally to be fought alongside with, a view unthinkable to the Kaldorei).

Fala'thorei Duskrunner, a Night Elven rogue turned Demon Hunter, rather than choosing the seclusion the class is known for, he spearheaded one of the largest meta-organizations I've ever known to exist on CoTH, by allying together over half a dozen guilds, and creating the Force of Reckoning, all with the singular purpose of wiping out a monumental enemy.

Sanya Athaedrys. Blood Elven Death Knight and Steamwarrior. A life-long follower of engineering, she dedicated the tattered and torn shreds of her unlife to her pursuit, and studied under a Goblin, ending up with her own Phlogiston-powered mech suit.

Uthaniel Runewalker, BElf Mage and jerk with a heart of gold, he figured that the best thing to do with all the class, power and prestige of the Arcane abilities of the Sin'dorei was to have -fun-. He did some pretty crazy things, like making illusions of Thrall fight in the Arena in Orgrimmar, or engaging in combat whilst in a pretty pink dress, wielding a sausage, he did everything in a manner that was within the limits of what Lore says can and cannot happen.

Thani Deepriver, Blood Elven doctor and scientist, with some mage skills thrown in. Now, most Blood Elves are much above the mundane means of naturally healing wounds, or surgery, or engineering, but this one wasn't. A quirky, witty and well-reasoned individual, she ended up my favorite researcher/doctor, and I heartily recommend a visit to Deepriver Labs to any who (don't) value their sanity.

There are so, so many more I could list, as I think that in the two years I've been here, I've had the honor to meet a good number of plausible and absolutely incredible characters, with fully-fleshed out backgrounds, personalities, quirks and traits, each making them unique and set apart from the norm, and -even further- blending them into the Lore of their chosen race, class, culture, etc.

I think people shouldn't believe that what is in-game is all there is. Not at all. There's a much larger, much more complete and complex world out there, full of cultural mish-mash, clashes you never knew you had, even races that are barely represented in a videogame, if at all.

The World of Warcraft is a rich place, filled with living, breathing people, with actual psyches and societies, cultures, beliefs, hatreds, likes, dislikes, love lives and everything real individuals possess. To deny them that, and portray them as robots is nothing short of sacrilege.

But it is no greater crime than to go outside the plausible and possible, and into the impossible. Lore has shades of grey, some lighter and some darker, though when you tread on unsteady ground, I urge that you err on the side of caution and step into the light, before treading to the darkness.

Back to bed for me... /yawn.
(01-04-2012, 01:57 AM)Psycho Wrote: [ -> ]While I agree with the general point of this thread, I do have to beg to differ on some raised points. While it's true that no one is the same and uniqueness should be taken in open arms, there are still some racial standards that could be a huge obstacle in the way. Orcs helped in a huge slaughter against the Draenei. Okay, so they changed, try telling that to the insane numbers of people who's lives were ruined. Some racial standards will exist for a large gap of time.

I suppose the main point of my blabbering is, while unique is good, there should be consideration for some factors.

Posted from the magical iPod.

I agree with Psycho on this, but I also have a personal input, and that is: You have met Maleeka while she's talked to other races, for instance Blood Elves and Trolls, but you have never met Maleeka with an Orc. While she tries to ignore her nature as a Death Knight, arguing with Orcs has a tendency to lure it out. She'll be more like how she treated Baas yesterday, if you remember, and more like the stereotype Death Knight who glares, snarls, hisses, growls and snaps. But then she calmed down, realizing there were children (KIDding) present.

My point is exactly the same as Psycho's: Unique is good, but don't go too far. My Maleeka has a very forgiving nature, and finds it extremely hard to forgive the Orcs for what happened to the Draenei. This is based on the story of her race, and of her own life.

But also, I support what you say. We have enough smiling guards waving and giving directions in the cities. Haters could say: "Oh, man... All the characters people play thesedays are heroes! Not everyone are heroes!"
What I find amusing with that is that technically we have NPCs to be the normal people. To be the guards, the innkeepers and the beggars. If you wanna play those, feel free, but don't complain that all the players are heroes, 'cause we got cityfulls of normal people.

With my little comment over, I'd like to say that I support the meaning of this thread. And you're welcome for the good time here, Aadora! :D
Thank you very much Maleeka!

And no, I am not saying that people should be mindless robots. I am not saying too many people are too lore specific. I am just saying hey... stop getting on to others for their characters choices, what happens IC should stay IC.
I understand some things are too far, but things like one race loving another that they should hate, or Male Druids following a female... is really not your business to decide whether that should or should not be.


Some reason, this thread reminds me of this song. Grin2
So many likes given on this thread. I think I've beaten a personal record.
I honestly agree with both Bovel and Flammos, for different reasons each. The "stereotypes" are what make our character who s/he is. I try to uphold the good, that separate one race from another. It's safe to play around inside those bounds, but not to use, "I think this should be the norm" to justify your Kaldorei being friendly with a Sin'Dorei, Orc or any other race like that.
I shall give an example to that, with one of my own characters.
I talk about Shadoria, my night elven druidess. She truly believes orcs that believe in shamanism and peace, rather than pure blood shed and being nothing but brutes to be her friends. The fact that she is a druidess has given her a better understanding on the orcish nature than, say, a hunter (or whatever the night elven hunters are called; I seem to have forgotten)

What I mean to say is, a druid would understand orcs and their strong wills to surpass their once-demon masters much better than a hunter that has been just fighting them. Again, this does not mean that a hunter will not understand this, shall a druid teach and/or show him/her.

My two cents.




EDIT: I truly have to agree to Bovel. In a world where all characters are speshul, none are actually speshul. CotH nowadays has a very little number of characters that follow stereotypes. If you want to be speshul nowadays, you have to make a stereotyped character. Or so I see.
Agreed, Bovel.
All of this is going along my same point. That the problem is not people staying too close to the -stereotypes-... it is people complaining when others stray away from it.
As far as all that goes...

People play what they want to play. Period.

Personally, I won't care too much what others base their characters on as long as they hold the lore in regard (even if they don't follow the racial or factional stereotypes). If it strays too far from what is possible with the race, class, faction, whathaveyou, I'll have something to say about it (as a moderator). Though, as long as it's an idea and a concept that is possible (likely or usual/unusual has very little to do with it), there's no reason to complain about it even though the character in question isn't what you'd call stereotypically correct. If they explain it and make a believable character out of their idea, why should anyone complain?

While it is true that a majority of the characters we play stray from the "norm", that shouldn't have much of a bearing. It might make it tough for those who prefer to RP something more "traditional" in a sense, but not everyone enjoys that kind of RP and will make up new ideas for concepts they'd rather enjoy instead. And when it comes down to it, everyone will simply play what they feel like playing. Regardless of whether it's close to the stereotypes or not.

Don't spend so much time explaining to someone why they are playing their character wrong, or why their ideas are bad. You're not helping anyone. Least of all the player in question.

The best way of opening people up to other kinds of RP or other ideas than they usually embrace is to invite them over, regardless of their current character concept. Invite them in to play with the traditional groups and they might just get a taste for it. Don't force it upon anyone because that removes part of the reason why we're all here in the first place.

To have fun and enjoy ourselves. :3 /salute
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