Conquest of the Horde

First and foremost: Tell us about yourself, as a player:
I have been playing WoW since just about release. I have over ten years of background in various role-playing games, including MMOs, LARPing and tabletops. I have written WoW fanfiction and worked to develop a character storyline in retail over the last five years.

What country do you come from? What is your primary language?:
I come from the USA. My primary language is English.

How did you get into Warcraft?:
I've never had the patience to play Warcraft. RTS games are not my thing. However, with World of Warcraft, I rolled a character on a friend's account to see what all the fuss was about, and was hooked.

What made you seek our server over others?:
I actually found your server by accident while trying to find information on how to fix a mod I was using in retail WoW. I have been on numerous private servers over the past two years and I have found their player bases to be immature, selfish, greedy, illiterate, insensitive, racist, sexist, crass, unimaginative and downright obnoxious. I have often wished for a private WoW server dedicated to RP, but I didn't think such a thing actually existed. Therefore when I stumbled upon this site I _had_ to investigate.

What kinds of roleplay do you enjoy?:
I enjoy relaxing tavern roleplay as well as spirited and adventurous PvE-inspired roleplay. Romantic roleplay is okay too, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. I enjoy in-character chat that isn't necessarily "moving a story along." I don't need a specific plot or story to feel a true roleplay experience, though I am not against such. I enjoy just "being my character" and going from there. It's enough for me to just "exist" within a fantasy setting. I guess you could say I'm fairly immersive and social as opposed to goal-oriented. I like letting the stories build themselves around the characters, and not so much vice versa. I love helping others and I hate being alone.

I do not enjoy "adult" roleplay. I do not enjoy "combat-based" roleplay. In a game system which is more or less completely combat-oriented, the idea of solving combat through "rolls" or "roleplaying it out" seems redundant and unnecessary to me. I think it makes more sense to just /duel somewhere and let player skill and class mechanics determine the outcome. Simultaneously, I understand the need for "rolling" combat systems. Let's say a group of bandits want to rob a tavern in Stormwind. Since /duelling isn't allowed there, a rolling combat system would have to be used.

What is your favorite race/class? Why?:
I am drawn to Night Elves because of their beauty and grace, as well as their love for nature and their fallability. They are probably a little more proud than they ought to be, considering what their role has been in Azeroth's history, but their intentions seem to be mostly good. I think it's interesting that they shun arcane magic when so many other races embrace it. Also I think it's neat that they were approached by the dragon Aspects early on in Azeroth's history. The Druids, especially, are tied to Ysera and the Emerald Dream, and I find that fascinating in addition to their ties to nature. I wonder what the day will be like when all the old Druids awaken.


What are your expectations of this server?:
I'm hoping to be overwhelmed with amazing roleplay and I plan to give back as much as I can. I am also looking forward to a player base that understands basic English grammar and punctuation rules and doesn't think that misusing the word "rape" every forty seconds is cool.

Out of all of our rules and regulations listed on our server, which appeals to you the most?:
I think it is the "Language" rule. What especially appeals to me is the rule that adult RP and conversation must be kept segregated from that which is "publicly available" and that characters created exclusively for sexual situations are not permitted. Roleplayers are stigmatized by the non-RP crowd as notorious "cyb0rers" and I have been the victim of several RP sessions that I thought were standard enough but quickly devolved into something unsavory. And let's not forget that almost every server's Goldshire is practically a Petri dish overflowing with STDs. Adult RP has its place and time, and that place and time is not in the middle of Dalaran an hour after you've met a person. *frowns*

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!:
<OK - this is an excerpt from a story I'm writing for a friend. I'm _extremely_ paranoid about plagiarism so it won't be too long. Also please note that much of the context/character description is missing as it is understood or has been explained in a previous excerpt. This bit's not meant to stand alone. Hopefully through all the purple and the adverbs it will suffice. Heh. Thanks for reading. >

<P.S. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.>

***begin excerpt***

“I thought of you the other day,” Ilauraen smiled.



Aliaenna stood up from her seat at one of the The Phoenix's Wing Tavern's large tables and embraced her longtime friend. “Oh?” she asked, nodding for Ilauraen to sit beside her.



"Yes," the priestess confirmed as she sat down. "I was in Eamareldil City, and Father Sheldok summoned me to the Holy Sanctuary. How could I not think of you in that place?"



Aliaenna chuckled, narrowing her eyes as she took her seat. "Sheldok, huh? What did the old man want?"

"He wanted to speak to me about my studies." Ilauraen looked down as she unfolded the napkin at her place setting and spread it over her lap, but a hint of pride tinged her soft voice. She looked up into the eyes of a Gnome woman who had appeared at the two elves' table.


“What'll you have, ladies?” The pert gnome's cheery voice matched her bright demeanor.



“Ah, just lightleaf tea and warmed yelcheese, if you please,” Ilauraen smiled. She raised her eyebrows at Aliaenna, and the waitress turned to look at the other elf. 



“Uh…” Aliaenna's eyes lingered at the bar for a moment, as if she were trying to remember something. “The same, please,” she nodded confidently to the waitress, who gave a little half-bow and stepped briskly towards the kitchen.



Picking up where the conversation had left off, Aliaenna repeated, “Your studies?” "How are those coming along?" Her sly tone seemed to hide an ulterior motive. Lowering her eyes, she smiled as she took an orange from the table's fruit basket and began to slice it into wedges.



“Splendidly,” Ilauraen answered, satisfaction clear in her voice. She tucked a lock of golden hair behind one ear. “Father Sheldok has always been a sound advisor.”

Aliaenna offered an orange wedge to the priestess, who held out her plate to accept it. Then she bit into her own orange slice, pulling its flesh from the rind and tossing the rind on her plate. She eyed Ilauraen's brightly colored robes. “Looks like you've spent some time adventuring with Merront,” she chewed, arching an eyebrow at her friend. “What'd ye think?”



Ilauraen focused on her own orange slice, deftly cutting it into bite-size pieces with the table cutlery. Raising her eyes to meet Aliaenna's, she finally answered, “You were right. ….he ….was incredible.” Her cyan-colored cheeks purpled slightly. She looked down again as she placed the fruit-laden fork end in her mouth.



Aliaenna cocked her head with a satisfied smile. “I made such a mess of things in The Ruins, but he didn't say a word to me about it.” She shrugged and reached for another orange wedge, a teasing look in her eyes.



Ilauraen laid her cutlery on the table and rubbed her hands together. “Well, you know, sometimes his silence says more than his words.” Placing her hands in her lap, she began to adjust a ring on her right ring finger. “I try to follow my hunches, and I'm usually right. But I only really know for certain when I've done something wrong.” She took a deep breath and nodded as the gnome waitress returned with the women's order.



As the two elves began to eat, something behind Ilauraen made a small keening sound. Suddenly a tiny russet-colored drachling flapped up to hover over the meal, trilling and whistling in a hopeful tone.

“By the stars!” Aliaenna exclaimed in surprise. “What's this?” She sliced a thin sliver of cheese and held it out to the tiny drachling.



“It's Nothing,” Ilauraen smiled, sipping her tea.

“Psssshht,” Aliaenna grinned, smiling as the drachling sniffed her fingers. “Nothing. And where did this come from?”



“Why, from the market, of course,” Ilauraen answered elusively, slicing cheese and pairing it with fruit on her plate. She smiled as the baby drach landed on Aliaenna's arm and cautiously nibbled the cheese. Then it rose and fluttered back to Ilauraen, perching on her shoulder and wedging its head behind her ear. Ilauraen sighed, as if in relief, and closed her eyes as she pressed her ear and shoulder together in a gentle “hug.” The drachling trilled sweetly, its melodious voice a far cry from an adult drach's menacing roar.



Ilauraen opened her eyes again and smiled. Then she looked back down at her plate and slowly speared small chunks of fruit and cheese together with her fork. Without looking up, she asked, “Speaking of nothing… have you heard from Targalos?”



Aliaenna's drachling-induced amusement evaporated. "No,” she answered in a flat tone. She bit her lips together, laid her cutlery on the table and stared out again past Ilauraen towards the bar at the inn's far end. "I'm not sure what has happened to him."

***end excerpt***



Is there anything else you would like to add, ask, or otherwise clarify?:
I think it's fantastic that you have such a long and rigorous gauntlet for new players to run before they can be approved and allowed to create an account on your server. That must help tremendously in keeping the Non-RPers away.

I understand that my presence on this server is a privilege. I do not feel that I am "owed" anything by being here, rather, I have a responsibility to the server and its community to be a good, intelligent RPer and treat everyone with respect.

I am a bit curious to know if this server allows flying in Azeroth. I ask because I have such a great love for this game and all of its terrain, and I would love to be able to see all of it in its weird and wacky detail. I've flown around on some other private servers and what the devs have put together never ceases to amaze me.

I do hope that my application will be approved. Even though school consumes a lot of my time, I am looking forward to spending as much time here as I can. I recently told a friend about finding this server. He replied, "When are you going to learn that private servers suck and that 90% of RPers are only interested in one thing?"

Here's hoping you folks are that elusive 10%.

Thanks for your time.

Interesting. Welcome to the server.

Nice intro. And to answer your little question. I think they are the elusive 10%.