06-21-2012, 10:32 AM
First and foremost: Tell us about yourself, as a player:
I am Keagan, a 20 year old University student living in England. Right now, I would say I am a casual World of Warcraft gamer, playing for the atmosphere of immersion rather than the thrill of end-game raiding. I enjoy a good challenge, often duelling someone if they have gear better than mine simply for the notion of being at a disadvantage and trying to overcome it. As a player, I value good company over good progress, hence why I would choose a roleplaying server over a hardcore raiding server or the like. This was not always the case - I had a phase a few years ago where I would get angry quite easily if someone was a noob or if they made obvious mistakes (an elitist WoW player, essentially), but that passed when my best friend basically told me I was being an ass and that it seemed I would log on to WoW like it was work rather than play. I’m looking for a group of people or place where I can log on and just ‘be’, or play a role, and not feel like I should be pushing for best-in-slot or keeping my bleed rotations perfect to the second… I hope that makes sense!
Essentially, I’m looking for a change in scenery from retail World of Warcraft, and I think this might be perfect.
What country do you come from? What is your primary language?:
I am originally from South Africa, although for the last 10 years I’ve lived in England. We moved over for reasons I’m sure I’ll be asked at some point if I am allowed to join your community, but I guess the main reason is so my family and I were not in a third world country any more. My primary language is English, my parents were of Afrikaans descent but chose to raise me speaking English for the versatility it would allowed me in choosing where to live later in life. I speak an ever so small amount of German – enough to hold conversation but I tend to avoid it when I can so I don’t insult anyone’s mother accidentally by misspelling something…
How did you get into Warcraft?:
As a kid in South Africa, we weren’t exactly on the forefront of gaming technology. Pretty much the only people I knew with computers in my area were my two grandmothers, who both used them for their businesses. One of those computers had Warcraft on it, and I fondly remember my pre-pubescent joy at controlling an army of barely discernible green things and reaping pixely justice during the times she would babysit me. When WCIII and The Frozen Throne came out, those were pretty much my vices until I turned 11 and my uncle bought me World of Warcraft. After 6 years of WoW, I took a long break and moved on to console gaming and furthering my passion, music composition, before finally coming back for a bit of nostalgic druid PvP halfway through my first year of University. I’m now finished my second year and looking to rejoin WoW for the reason I loved it so much in the first place: roleplay.
How did you find us? Did anything in particular draw you to the server?:
I’d be lying if I said my way of finding you was anything more glamorous than a Google Search. I had been looking for a way to roleplay on another MMORPG I’d been playing recently, DC Universe Online, but alas the community there isn’t as accepting of roleplay as many I’ve experienced in WoW. A quick google search led me here, and I spent a little while reading some posts and getting to grips with what you’re all about.
I enjoyed the general atmosphere of the forums, and some of the writing was interesting to read, but I was dubious – I had been swept up in the excitement of a roleplay server before this one, and was met with half-assed roleplayers ingame and a lot of people abusing their position of respect within a community by being an ass to anyone who could be seen as a dissident or non-conformist to “Okay, you’ve been here longer than me, you can lead the roleplay 100%.”
Fortunately, I read something on here that made me exceptionally hopeful that this server is what I’m looking for – the quote in Kretol’s signature.
“Try to never just say, "My character isn't interested in that adventure." A lot of people mistake this for good roleplaying, because you are asserting your character's personality. Wrong. Good roleplaying should never bring the game to a screeching halt. One of your jobs as a player is to come up with a reason why your character would be interested in a plot. After all, your personality is entirely in your hands, not the DM's. Come up with a reason why the adventure (or the reward) might appeal to you, no matter how esoteric or roundabout the reasoning.”
This showed a much deeper understanding of the fundamentals of roleplay than just “omg I am orc throm’ka bro” (massive exaggeration) – Without it seeming conceited, hopefully, I approach roleplay like the drama student I was in college; there are theories that can be employed and approaches that can be taken to really make a character meaningful or dynamic, and while I realise not many people want to go into that kind of detail, I’m hoping that there are a few on here who might.
Fingers crossed!
What kinds of roleplay do you enjoy?:
Large groups tend to get quite chaotic if they’re all trying to interact with each other, but at the same time I’ve been to a number of RP parties and it can be quite fun. Personally, I think my preferred style of roleplay is in groups of less than 5. This allows for every character to have a meaningful impact on the progression of the roleplay, and yet there can still be multiple dynamics between each. A night elf warrior who has a crush on a night elf druid, but the druid distrusts the gnome warlock they are travelling with, who is mistreated by the human paladin who is racist towards gnomes… There’s a lot of scope for a group like that to come up with an interesting, potentially very amusing storyline.
What is your favorite race/class? Why?:
I would have to say my favourite race is orc. While I’m not particularly well-versed in the lore of any race, the way orcs are portrayed in Warcraft really resonates with me as a race with a lot of history and substance to play with. As a practitioner of Stanislavskian method, this kind of rich culture is a goldmine of traits or attitudes to adopt into a character.
My favourite class is for far less complicated reasons – I played druid as my first class in WoW and pretty much stuck with it as a main until Death Knight. I enjoy death knight considerably, but I grew up as a druid and it will always be my class of choice.
What are your expectations of this server?:
If I am honest, I have no expectations. In NO WAY is that meant in disrespect, as you seem to really have a great community here – what I am implying is that I understand role play servers are really tough to develop and maintain, so I am not placing down any expectations on you guys. As far as I’m concerned, if I log in and meet someone and we have an interesting impromptu in-character meeting, you can colour me impressed and this application has been worth it.
Out of all of our rules and regulations listed on our server, which appeals to you the most?:
Without a doubt, it’s “Respect.” Without respect, roleplay can feel like you’re tagging along with someone else’s game, rather than being part of it yourself. If someone’s character does something that maybe you, as a player and roleplayer, think is a bit strange or you don’t really like in terms of your ‘vision’ of the roleplay encounter, RESPECT them enough to at least give it a shot. Some of my most fond memories of roleplay encounters have been when a player has decided to make a bold move or to take a step that leads a roleplay encounter down a path I didn’t forsee, and by respecting him enough to co-operate with him and just see where it going organically and naturally, the roleplay was enriched.
Lastly, tell us a story! It can be short, it can be long; but most importantly, we want to see your work in action. Go!:
This is something I wrote specifically for this application, as a kind of taster for my writing style:
“Where in the demons’ hells have you been?”
He’d seen her. She had tried to creep in from the rain, tried to get through the door and straight to her cot as quietly as she could, and be asleep before he noticed she was back, but he’d seen her.
“You didn’t cut the wood. That means father came back and made ME do it. What if I’d cut myself? What if a splinter of wood was sliced off and hit me in the eye? How would I perform the ritual then, hmm? You selfish little boar, your laziness makes me sick!”
He was on his feet now, walking towards her. Solive looked down at herself: her hands were rough and bleeding in places where she’d cut them pulling briarthorn for her mother; her bare feet calloused and raw from years treading on stones and hot earth to complete her chores. She looked back up at her half-brother as he crossed the room towards her. He was still speaking, but Solive didn’t need to hear the words – she already knew how this would end.
She thought about what he’d said. She was supposed to cut the wood before sundown, she knew that – but a pack of hyenas were roaming through her usual path back from the large growth of briarthorn just north of their home. She had to go the long way around the mountain, adding a good forty-five minutes to the journey; she even ran most of the way when she noticed the sun was waning.
She considered telling him about the hyenas and hoping he’d understand, but she knew it would be a waste. He had a reason now. He would not let go his reason for anything.
She saw the muscles in his arm tense; she knew what was coming.
Solive sucked in her stomach and tensed shoulders as hard as she could. Over the years she’d learned that at least by doing this she stood a better chance of not being knocked to the ground, as she had often been during her youth. Back then, he would leave her unable to find her feet again for hours at a time: Arklan liked to kick.
No, she knew she needed to stay upright for as long as possible, no matter how hard it would be.
No matter how hard he would be.
Solive caught the full impact of the blow right on her jaw, just beneath the sun-stained freckles on her left cheek. For a brief instant she could feel the resulting shockwave of force hurtle its way through her face and shoulders, but it only took a matter of seconds for her face to go numb from pain. Solive appreciated that - Arklan liked to slow after the first blow and watch her crumple; the numbness that ensued while he watched meant the second and third hit never hurt as bad. Solive appreciated anything that made them not hurt as bad.
She kept her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitable second blow.
Silence followed.
Solive could hear nothing but her own quick breathing. Could she dare to open her eyes? What if he was waiting for her to look at him before he hit her again? She could feel her legs quivering beneath her, threatening to give way. No, she had to stay upright, keep tensing and wait for it to come…
The silence continued.
To her it felt like minutes but in reality it had only been seconds. Solive mustered up her courage and dared a peek, opening her eyes fractionally to see what had kept her assailant, her own half-brother, from striking her again.
Arklan was blanching. His face was an ashen grey-green hue as he stared over her, towards the doorway. Solive just then noticed that the rain was quieter than it had been before. She turned slowly, her hand reaching up to cradle her cheek where it had been ripped by the fist of her sibling. There, a hulking frame in the doorway, was Grimbok.
“What is going on here?” he asked quietly.
“Father, you’re back early! How are the elders, are the preparations for the ritual almost complete?” Arklan’s voice cracked, the panic in his tone evident. Solive realised the blood from her cheek was starting to trickle down her wrist and over her arm – she mused that Arklan must have tightened his muscles chopping the wood that afternoon.
Her father remained in the doorway, unmoving, and asked again.
“What is going on here?”
“Solive tripped and hit her face on the floor, father. She’s awfully clumsy.” Arklan said quickly. “You’re awfully clumsy, aren’t you sister?”
Solive’s legs were still shaking. She looked at Arklan and saw the fear in his eyes. Her fingers were red with her own blood as she tried to straighten herself to turn to her father, but her quivering limbs refused to comply so easily. Grimbok’s grey eyes stared straight at his daughter, searchingly.
“Solive, is this true?”
She tried to open her mouth, but the pain of her cheek made the resulting words no more than a croak. She looked up at her father. She knew if she told him that Arklan had hit her, if she told him that she hadn’t fallen over at all, that he would beat Arklan – but this gave her no joy. Arklan was an infinitely patient orc; he would wait until she went out for more briarthorn, follow her, and make her regret ever saying a word. And with the ritual this close… Solive shuddered to think what he might do if she shamed him now.
“Answer me.”
She looked up at her father, and could manage only to nod weakly. His face was hard, eyes unblinking and feet unmoving. There was silence in the room for a few more seconds until finally he sighed and came inside.
“You should be more careful, girl. I don’t want a mess on my floor. Go and clean your face.”
Arklan visibly relaxed. He had been sweating from the tension of the situation. He stole a look of anger at her before walking back to where he was sitting before she arrived. Solive bit her tongue hard to stop herself from crying, and ran towards the door. In her haste, she stumbled and caught the clothes on her legs on some wood by the doorway. As she turned to unhook herself from the rogue piece of timber, she caught a glimpse of her father staring into the fire, and she stopped. His face held disappointment – in her, she assumed – but she could feel there was more. He scratched a big hand over the back of his neck and turned away from the fire, making eye contact with her briefly in the motion. He looked… sad.
Solive’s breath caught in her throat. She turned and ran out into the rain, one thought playing over and over in her head:
Did he know?
Is there anything else you would like to add, ask, or otherwise clarify?:
Well, other than to say that reading my application has made me realise I sound VERY tryhard, and that I’m far more easy going than maybe I have come across – but hopefully that’s something I can prove over time, given the opportunity.
Otherwise, I’ll happily answer any questions and all feedback is welcomed.
Sincerely,
Keagan
I am Keagan, a 20 year old University student living in England. Right now, I would say I am a casual World of Warcraft gamer, playing for the atmosphere of immersion rather than the thrill of end-game raiding. I enjoy a good challenge, often duelling someone if they have gear better than mine simply for the notion of being at a disadvantage and trying to overcome it. As a player, I value good company over good progress, hence why I would choose a roleplaying server over a hardcore raiding server or the like. This was not always the case - I had a phase a few years ago where I would get angry quite easily if someone was a noob or if they made obvious mistakes (an elitist WoW player, essentially), but that passed when my best friend basically told me I was being an ass and that it seemed I would log on to WoW like it was work rather than play. I’m looking for a group of people or place where I can log on and just ‘be’, or play a role, and not feel like I should be pushing for best-in-slot or keeping my bleed rotations perfect to the second… I hope that makes sense!
Essentially, I’m looking for a change in scenery from retail World of Warcraft, and I think this might be perfect.
What country do you come from? What is your primary language?:
I am originally from South Africa, although for the last 10 years I’ve lived in England. We moved over for reasons I’m sure I’ll be asked at some point if I am allowed to join your community, but I guess the main reason is so my family and I were not in a third world country any more. My primary language is English, my parents were of Afrikaans descent but chose to raise me speaking English for the versatility it would allowed me in choosing where to live later in life. I speak an ever so small amount of German – enough to hold conversation but I tend to avoid it when I can so I don’t insult anyone’s mother accidentally by misspelling something…
How did you get into Warcraft?:
As a kid in South Africa, we weren’t exactly on the forefront of gaming technology. Pretty much the only people I knew with computers in my area were my two grandmothers, who both used them for their businesses. One of those computers had Warcraft on it, and I fondly remember my pre-pubescent joy at controlling an army of barely discernible green things and reaping pixely justice during the times she would babysit me. When WCIII and The Frozen Throne came out, those were pretty much my vices until I turned 11 and my uncle bought me World of Warcraft. After 6 years of WoW, I took a long break and moved on to console gaming and furthering my passion, music composition, before finally coming back for a bit of nostalgic druid PvP halfway through my first year of University. I’m now finished my second year and looking to rejoin WoW for the reason I loved it so much in the first place: roleplay.
How did you find us? Did anything in particular draw you to the server?:
I’d be lying if I said my way of finding you was anything more glamorous than a Google Search. I had been looking for a way to roleplay on another MMORPG I’d been playing recently, DC Universe Online, but alas the community there isn’t as accepting of roleplay as many I’ve experienced in WoW. A quick google search led me here, and I spent a little while reading some posts and getting to grips with what you’re all about.
I enjoyed the general atmosphere of the forums, and some of the writing was interesting to read, but I was dubious – I had been swept up in the excitement of a roleplay server before this one, and was met with half-assed roleplayers ingame and a lot of people abusing their position of respect within a community by being an ass to anyone who could be seen as a dissident or non-conformist to “Okay, you’ve been here longer than me, you can lead the roleplay 100%.”
Fortunately, I read something on here that made me exceptionally hopeful that this server is what I’m looking for – the quote in Kretol’s signature.
“Try to never just say, "My character isn't interested in that adventure." A lot of people mistake this for good roleplaying, because you are asserting your character's personality. Wrong. Good roleplaying should never bring the game to a screeching halt. One of your jobs as a player is to come up with a reason why your character would be interested in a plot. After all, your personality is entirely in your hands, not the DM's. Come up with a reason why the adventure (or the reward) might appeal to you, no matter how esoteric or roundabout the reasoning.”
This showed a much deeper understanding of the fundamentals of roleplay than just “omg I am orc throm’ka bro” (massive exaggeration) – Without it seeming conceited, hopefully, I approach roleplay like the drama student I was in college; there are theories that can be employed and approaches that can be taken to really make a character meaningful or dynamic, and while I realise not many people want to go into that kind of detail, I’m hoping that there are a few on here who might.
Fingers crossed!
What kinds of roleplay do you enjoy?:
Large groups tend to get quite chaotic if they’re all trying to interact with each other, but at the same time I’ve been to a number of RP parties and it can be quite fun. Personally, I think my preferred style of roleplay is in groups of less than 5. This allows for every character to have a meaningful impact on the progression of the roleplay, and yet there can still be multiple dynamics between each. A night elf warrior who has a crush on a night elf druid, but the druid distrusts the gnome warlock they are travelling with, who is mistreated by the human paladin who is racist towards gnomes… There’s a lot of scope for a group like that to come up with an interesting, potentially very amusing storyline.
What is your favorite race/class? Why?:
I would have to say my favourite race is orc. While I’m not particularly well-versed in the lore of any race, the way orcs are portrayed in Warcraft really resonates with me as a race with a lot of history and substance to play with. As a practitioner of Stanislavskian method, this kind of rich culture is a goldmine of traits or attitudes to adopt into a character.
My favourite class is for far less complicated reasons – I played druid as my first class in WoW and pretty much stuck with it as a main until Death Knight. I enjoy death knight considerably, but I grew up as a druid and it will always be my class of choice.
What are your expectations of this server?:
If I am honest, I have no expectations. In NO WAY is that meant in disrespect, as you seem to really have a great community here – what I am implying is that I understand role play servers are really tough to develop and maintain, so I am not placing down any expectations on you guys. As far as I’m concerned, if I log in and meet someone and we have an interesting impromptu in-character meeting, you can colour me impressed and this application has been worth it.
Out of all of our rules and regulations listed on our server, which appeals to you the most?:
Without a doubt, it’s “Respect.” Without respect, roleplay can feel like you’re tagging along with someone else’s game, rather than being part of it yourself. If someone’s character does something that maybe you, as a player and roleplayer, think is a bit strange or you don’t really like in terms of your ‘vision’ of the roleplay encounter, RESPECT them enough to at least give it a shot. Some of my most fond memories of roleplay encounters have been when a player has decided to make a bold move or to take a step that leads a roleplay encounter down a path I didn’t forsee, and by respecting him enough to co-operate with him and just see where it going organically and naturally, the roleplay was enriched.
Lastly, tell us a story! It can be short, it can be long; but most importantly, we want to see your work in action. Go!:
This is something I wrote specifically for this application, as a kind of taster for my writing style:
“Where in the demons’ hells have you been?”
He’d seen her. She had tried to creep in from the rain, tried to get through the door and straight to her cot as quietly as she could, and be asleep before he noticed she was back, but he’d seen her.
“You didn’t cut the wood. That means father came back and made ME do it. What if I’d cut myself? What if a splinter of wood was sliced off and hit me in the eye? How would I perform the ritual then, hmm? You selfish little boar, your laziness makes me sick!”
He was on his feet now, walking towards her. Solive looked down at herself: her hands were rough and bleeding in places where she’d cut them pulling briarthorn for her mother; her bare feet calloused and raw from years treading on stones and hot earth to complete her chores. She looked back up at her half-brother as he crossed the room towards her. He was still speaking, but Solive didn’t need to hear the words – she already knew how this would end.
She thought about what he’d said. She was supposed to cut the wood before sundown, she knew that – but a pack of hyenas were roaming through her usual path back from the large growth of briarthorn just north of their home. She had to go the long way around the mountain, adding a good forty-five minutes to the journey; she even ran most of the way when she noticed the sun was waning.
She considered telling him about the hyenas and hoping he’d understand, but she knew it would be a waste. He had a reason now. He would not let go his reason for anything.
She saw the muscles in his arm tense; she knew what was coming.
Solive sucked in her stomach and tensed shoulders as hard as she could. Over the years she’d learned that at least by doing this she stood a better chance of not being knocked to the ground, as she had often been during her youth. Back then, he would leave her unable to find her feet again for hours at a time: Arklan liked to kick.
No, she knew she needed to stay upright for as long as possible, no matter how hard it would be.
No matter how hard he would be.
Solive caught the full impact of the blow right on her jaw, just beneath the sun-stained freckles on her left cheek. For a brief instant she could feel the resulting shockwave of force hurtle its way through her face and shoulders, but it only took a matter of seconds for her face to go numb from pain. Solive appreciated that - Arklan liked to slow after the first blow and watch her crumple; the numbness that ensued while he watched meant the second and third hit never hurt as bad. Solive appreciated anything that made them not hurt as bad.
She kept her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitable second blow.
Silence followed.
Solive could hear nothing but her own quick breathing. Could she dare to open her eyes? What if he was waiting for her to look at him before he hit her again? She could feel her legs quivering beneath her, threatening to give way. No, she had to stay upright, keep tensing and wait for it to come…
The silence continued.
To her it felt like minutes but in reality it had only been seconds. Solive mustered up her courage and dared a peek, opening her eyes fractionally to see what had kept her assailant, her own half-brother, from striking her again.
Arklan was blanching. His face was an ashen grey-green hue as he stared over her, towards the doorway. Solive just then noticed that the rain was quieter than it had been before. She turned slowly, her hand reaching up to cradle her cheek where it had been ripped by the fist of her sibling. There, a hulking frame in the doorway, was Grimbok.
“What is going on here?” he asked quietly.
“Father, you’re back early! How are the elders, are the preparations for the ritual almost complete?” Arklan’s voice cracked, the panic in his tone evident. Solive realised the blood from her cheek was starting to trickle down her wrist and over her arm – she mused that Arklan must have tightened his muscles chopping the wood that afternoon.
Her father remained in the doorway, unmoving, and asked again.
“What is going on here?”
“Solive tripped and hit her face on the floor, father. She’s awfully clumsy.” Arklan said quickly. “You’re awfully clumsy, aren’t you sister?”
Solive’s legs were still shaking. She looked at Arklan and saw the fear in his eyes. Her fingers were red with her own blood as she tried to straighten herself to turn to her father, but her quivering limbs refused to comply so easily. Grimbok’s grey eyes stared straight at his daughter, searchingly.
“Solive, is this true?”
She tried to open her mouth, but the pain of her cheek made the resulting words no more than a croak. She looked up at her father. She knew if she told him that Arklan had hit her, if she told him that she hadn’t fallen over at all, that he would beat Arklan – but this gave her no joy. Arklan was an infinitely patient orc; he would wait until she went out for more briarthorn, follow her, and make her regret ever saying a word. And with the ritual this close… Solive shuddered to think what he might do if she shamed him now.
“Answer me.”
She looked up at her father, and could manage only to nod weakly. His face was hard, eyes unblinking and feet unmoving. There was silence in the room for a few more seconds until finally he sighed and came inside.
“You should be more careful, girl. I don’t want a mess on my floor. Go and clean your face.”
Arklan visibly relaxed. He had been sweating from the tension of the situation. He stole a look of anger at her before walking back to where he was sitting before she arrived. Solive bit her tongue hard to stop herself from crying, and ran towards the door. In her haste, she stumbled and caught the clothes on her legs on some wood by the doorway. As she turned to unhook herself from the rogue piece of timber, she caught a glimpse of her father staring into the fire, and she stopped. His face held disappointment – in her, she assumed – but she could feel there was more. He scratched a big hand over the back of his neck and turned away from the fire, making eye contact with her briefly in the motion. He looked… sad.
Solive’s breath caught in her throat. She turned and ran out into the rain, one thought playing over and over in her head:
Did he know?
Is there anything else you would like to add, ask, or otherwise clarify?:
Well, other than to say that reading my application has made me realise I sound VERY tryhard, and that I’m far more easy going than maybe I have come across – but hopefully that’s something I can prove over time, given the opportunity.
Otherwise, I’ll happily answer any questions and all feedback is welcomed.
Sincerely,
Keagan