Conquest of the Horde - Articles & Guides

Simply Enchanting - A guide to the most magical of arts

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 01:13:07 -0700

Simply Enchanting
A guide to the most magical of arts

Enchanting is one of the most rewarding disciplines of crafting available to players. With it one can create powerful enchantments that increase the statistics of a character without sacrificing gear slots, gem sockets, or bag space. Because of its usefulness, enchanting is a profession chosen by many players in retail and on CotH across all classes and builds. But practicality isn't the only reason to choose enchanting. It is also one of the most wide-ranging, interesting, and useful professions Blizzard has made available to roleplayers. This guide is an attempt to reconcile the out of character and in character methods of enchanting and to inspire potential player enchanters to give this profession a chance.

How This Guide Works

Disclaimer: This guide is going to have a heavy dose of personal fanon and the opinions within are my own interpretation of Enchanting as an OOC profession and how it can fit into a roleplaying environment. I'll try my best to provide some evidence for why I have this perspective and how it relates to mechanics and lore, but for the many gaps and grey areas in described mechanics I can only add my speculation. This guide isn't made to tell you how to play an enchanter, but to give examples of how the profession and its effects can be used as a fun and valuable part of our roleplaying environment.

I feel I should also point out that the scope of the guide is limited to Arcane magic, since I'm only covering the Enchanting profession and its use both within and outside of the methods we see in the ingame mechanic.

That being said, the structure of this guide is as follows:

1. The Basics: A brief overview of Enchanting as an ingame and IC tool

2. Martial Enchantments: This section is devoted to the kind of enchanting we get to do ingame, represented by the Enchanting profession. This section and the other major section will offer various examples of play based on the ingame enchantments we can use in the Enchanting profession as-is. Subsections include Weapons and Armor.

3. Mundane Enchantment: This section is devoted to the kind of enchanting you might want to use more often as a player-character. This is a mix of canon and fanon, and will examine Blood Elf enchanting and others as a way of explaining what we know and can extrapolate about how people use enchanting in their daily lives.

Examples of Play: This is something that's often included in pen-and-paper RPGs to explain mechanics. I'm using sections like this to introduce different "flavor text" for enchantments as to how the items might be seen or wielded. This is intended to inspire people who aren't sure how an enchantment can be represented ingame. I won't go over every enchantment, but I'll try to get a few from every category. If you're a bit lost for ideas and have a request, feel free to ask in the thread below! I might not be able to give you my own interpretation, but I bet other people will have ideas as well.

The Basics

At its core, the discipline of enchanting involves imbuing an item with magical properties. In the method available through the game, sufficiently-trained enchanters can break open magical items to retrieve the succulent meat within- or something like that anyway. What is important about the method we use in-game is that it allows player-characters without magical talent to enchant items. While this is probably a matter of game mechanics, it comes packaged with nice explanations for why it could work in-character and how Enchanting can be RPed from both a magical and non-magical perspective.

The method of enchanting used ingame is relatively simple, though it is very destructive. An enchanted magical rod is used to pull the magical essence out of the material being disenchanted, destroying it utterly but creating either a powdered dust and a charged essence, or forming a shard or crystal. These reagents can be used with an enchanted rod and the appropriate rituals to imbue another item with an enchantment that the enchanter knows the ritual for. This can be done by anyone, even if they otherwise have no magical talent, however enchanting an item always takes more energy than you would get through disenchanting and destroying it. That makes this method a net loss despite its ease of use. Though it doesn't matter for tradesmen in enchanting guilds, who can simply purchase magical dust from the mages of Dalaran or their nation's capitol, the destructive nature of enchanting does pose a problem for adventurer-enchanters (like player-characters) who don't usually have the cash or connections to acquire materials and may not have the skill to conjure and refine the materials themselves. They will need to seek out magical items and recycle them in order to perform the craft, or find and befriend a mage willing to produce these items for them, both of which are very good sources of RP!

While enchanting ingame requires the destruction of existing items, it is also not a stretch to believe that magic users can draw power into an object in the same way that they draw power into their own spells. Even trafficking with unsavory entities such as demons could give a player the opportunity to acquire the magic or magical reagents for enchanting by proxy. In the same way, the kinds of items available for enchanting and the types of enchantments available can vary much more in a roleplaying environment.

The way I envision it, there are a few broadly-conceived methods that various types of casters can use in order to obtain their enchanting materials:

Channeling: The most direct method is to channel the arcane energies straight from the Twisting Nether or your magical source of choice and shape them into an item. That takes energy and a vast reserve of magic, which not all magic-users possess. It also means you need to complete the entire process at once, and have to know exactly what you want to create when you do it. This isn't necessarily useful for everyone. Mages and Warlocks (as well as their variants) are probably the most likely to use this method, especially on small trinkets and mundane objects they need right away.

This can be done in as many ways as you can think of to cast a spell, but in essence it is as simple as that. You are imbuing an item with a spell at the basic power of your character's spellcasts. Anything more and you risk your character's safety due to the vagaries of unrestrained magic.

Reagents: Creating the types of reagents used in "standard" Enchanting recipes is certainly another way to obtain the power required. Not only can a magic-user then spread out the stress of channeling across multiple days, but they can also accumulate a much greater wealth of magic power than they could channel on their own in a single session. By saving and refining these reagents, a very weak Mage could conceivably create the same type of item that even a powerful one could if he was skilled enough to channel and refine his reagents to a perfect quality over a long period of time. Again, Mages and Warlocks and their variants are likely to use this method in order to create materials. Even talented casters could use this method to create powerful items, though it would likely be used more by those with less magical talent, or variant classes who do not have much training with intense spellcasting.

I see this as the kind of method used by Arcane scientists. A Mage might sit in a lab channeling into a very complex focusing crystal which then focuses their powers into a vessel full of reactive solution that slowly grows a larger and larger crystal as more magic is put into it over time. Or perhaps a Warlock has written a special runic pattern that allows him to imbue plain chalk or sand with the eldritch power of the Twisting Nether, creating imbued dust. Again, the methods can easily be adapted to whatever type of character is using them.

By Proxy: Anything that can wield magic can create enchanted materials. Ergo anyone who can call on a being capable of wielding Arcane or Fel magic can have them perform the service (for a price). Though many classes can summon creatures, only Warlocks can summon beings with Arcane aptitude. The array of demons is quite broad, though spellcasting demons are few and powerful, making them a difficult prospect. Those demons with the aptitude to cast spells, such as Succubi, Eredar, Doomguards, Dreadlords, etc., will most likely demand a trade in return for their services. That's usually bad news for the Warlock in question. However, unwilling demons could be used as a source of magical reagents and magical energy even if they cannot cast spells. Every demon is rife with Fel magic, and some demons (notably Imps) are weak by themselves but can serve as massive vessels of eldritch energy for enterprising Warlocks. A Warlock who siphons uses the energy or blood of demons for their magic could certainly produce powerful items, but they will be necessarily tainted by the evil magics of their creation.

As an example, a Warlock could create a runic binding circle in order to trap an Eredar briefly and trade it souls, a favor, or some other sort of one-sided bargain in exchange for the enchantment of an item. A more powerful or foolhardy Warlock might imprison the same demon in a much more detailed ward, then siphon their blood or magic day by day until they had enough to enchant the item they wished. Doing so might be more cost-effective, but would almost certainly incur the wrath of said demon once released.

Bonus - Fel-Cursed Enchantments: Naturally, items enchanted with Fel magic will be tainted by the vile source of their power. That taint might come in a visually significant way (Fel Fire is green not orange) or some other significant indication of "wrongness," but it could also take the form of a curse caused by the evil magic seeping out into the world. A cursed sword that burns with Fel Fire might cause wounds that take longer to heal, but also be cursed to slowly burn the hand that wields it as well, preventing long battles. Fel-enchanted armor of strength might also cause the user to enter a berserk rage when wounded. If you want to add a curse to your item, flavor is key: try to envision something that would put your character in a negative situation that will also shift the narrative in an interesting way once it comes into effect.

Making a List

Enchanting is fueled by a few major types of materials, which are seen ingame as byproducts of the recycling of enchanted items or as extracts from specific elemental creatures:

Dusts

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Pure Essences

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Crystals and Shards

Spoiler:

Elemental Essences

Spoiler:

Martial Enchantments

Weapons

"The bandits laughed when they saw one of our guards pull out a sword-hilt. There wasn't a blade at all, how did he expect to defend himself? Well, he spoke a few words in that Elven riddle-speak and a gout of flame shot out- the thing leapt up into the shape of a sword just like that! Those bandits were laughing right up until he stuck their buddy with it. Light a'mighty I'll sure think twice before I cross an Elf."

-Thomas Darrow, Merchant.

Weapon effects are those that are applied to a character's weapons and give some kind of benefit when the weapon is used. These tend to be on-hit effects, and most are connected to one of the schools of magic (Nature, Holy, Shadow, Fire, Frost, Arcane). Higher-level enchantments tend to have unique effects that apply on-hit but don't have elemental properties. We have things like Enchant Weapon: Crusader and http://www.wowhead.com/item=38838 that add a magical effect when the weapon strikes, as well as enchantments like http://www.wowhead.com/item=52774 that have effects based on magic being channeled through the weapon. In addition, there are enchantments with effects based on the creature being hit (such as http://www.wowhead.com/item=52755) and those that simply apply a passive stat increase.

In-character, weapon effects seem to be used very rarely. I'd imagine that's because most people are either tired of seeing Retail's fiery-crusader-mongoose-enchanted hellblades or don't know how to RP acquiring and using enchantments in a fair way and are afraid that it won't be accepted on the server if they mess up. I can really only address the second one. Firstly, it's not necessary to have enchanted items on a character, but it's important to recognize both the relative rarity and potential plot benefits of a magic weapon. Though enchanted or imbued weapons seem to be fairly rare among normal folks (outside of Dalaran and Silvermoon, of course) it is fairly likely that our characters will see magical weapons in the course of their adventures. Whether wielded by an adversary or commissioned for a large sum of gold, these weapons can add flavor to the character and plot by reflecting characteristics of their wielder. Enchanted weapons and even simple trinkets can also serve as potent mementos of our favorite plots. It's hard to overlook the influence that objects can have over people when they hold a memory within them.

As to the effects of a magic weapon, one way of creating an IC description for an item is to think about how that enchantment might work in a "real" setting. Enchantments with beneficial stats can be easy in that regard. By wielding a sword that grants Agility, or another stat modifier, the character may become suddenly more capable at combat or gain an acute sense of balance that they didn't possess before. These effects are subtle but noticeable, potentially transforming a hopelessly outmatched civilian into a passable combatant in the blink of an eye. In other cases, a weapon enchanted with "+ Agility" might simply be far lighter or supernaturally balanced in comparison with a mundane counterpart. No matter what, enchantments that confer a statistical benefit to a character must usually augment some aspect of the weapon or the wielder to do so. How it does that can be up to your imagination.

The more visible effects are those that have on-hits or special modifiers. These are also fairly easy to imagine from an IC perspective, with enchantments of Scourgebane searing the flesh of the undead with holy magic or a weapon enchanted with ice causing frostbite.

More challenging are weapon enchantments that provide a boost to magic or a unique chance-on-hit. Personally I think magical empowerment (like elemental or stat enhancements) should be RPed based on how you feel the enchantment applies to your character. One person's object with http://www.wowhead.com/item=38924 might be a necromantic artifact stolen from a Scourge mausoleum, while for another it could be a personal memento of the brush with death that caused them to become a Shadow Priest. Each one carries a different sort of IC empowerment despite providing the same type of benefit. Since different classes use magic differently, these will most likely depend wholly on individual characters' tastes and methods. As for the unique chance-on-hit items like Crusader, I don't really know how they could be RPed effectively in the environment we tend to have our fights in. One possible way to use them would be to provide a bonus flavor-effect when you crit in roll-combat. Ultimately, like any other roleplaying decision, the use of enchantments is up to the players and their preferences.

Weapons - Examples of Play

http://www.wowhead.com/item=38838

Spoiler:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=38924

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http://www.wowhead.com/spell=74242

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Armor

Aidan stiffened, feeling the surge of runic magic that signaled the activation of one of his defensive runes. A stiff, hot wind blew past his cheek as the remnants of the fiery projectile dissipated out from where it had been absorbed. As he turned to engage this unknown foe, he let out a silent prayer to the Light that his enchantments had held.

Armor enchantments are something I use sometimes in RP, and I have at least two characters who have used them often in the past. I tend not to RP them in the ways that they're done ingame, but rather as a sense of flavor for fights. For example, Aidan has protective runes on his armor that absorb "blocked" spells during roll-fights. Since I don't feel like he's the sort who could swat a spell out of the sky or dodge lightly to the side, he avoids damage from them using a ward of absorption. It's a convenient way of catering to the flavor of his character whilst also not disrupting anyone else's RP. I feel that this is one of the best ways of using the beneficial qualities of enchanted armor without powergaming. After all, the kind of combat we do tends to make it seem like all our characters are equally badass in all areas and they aren't necessarily. What enchanted ability-boosting or defensive gear can do is fill in those gaps on a thematic level while also making sense with the lore of the world.

All that being said, I don't feel that enchanted armor is a necessity for everyone. In fact, just getting an enchanted weapon might be a struggle for adventurers of little means and even less formal training. Enchanting an entire suit of armor is the kind of undertaking that a veteran craftsman might balk at (before quoting you a princely sum). This could be used as a good explanation for why your warded plate chestguard sometimes doesn't protect you, if you'd like, or it could be a reason to cherish the set of Gauntlets of Ogre Strength you found in that tomb you robbed. Either way, these items (as well as other enchanted items) should represent something special that your character has something invested in either through its emotional value or through the time they spent painstakingly making or stealing it.

Armor - Examples of Play

It's more difficult to cater to a "style" with appropriate ingame enchantments because they don't have a visual indicator, but I'll give a few examples loosely based on the ingame enchantments just to give a feel for how they can be re-interpreted IC'ly in an interesting way. To a large degree how you use these enchantments is up to your style and imagination.

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=74254

Spoiler:

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=74252

Spoiler:

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=44591

Spoiler:

Mundane Enchantments

"Yeah, I bet you're thinking 'oh, it makes infinite food out of the aether, he must have made a fortune!' Well, have you ever actually tasted conjured wheat? I'm just glad I made it out of the showroom alive."

-Loriandel Sunlight, inventor of the unsuccessful "Sunlight Breadmaker"

Mundane enchantments are something that I particularly enjoy. They're enchantments that usually aren't valuable in a combat situation, but offer an interesting spice of variety to the usual things that an adventurer tends to carry with him. These range from items simple enough to be purchased from an itinerant hedge wizard, such as a self-sharpening knife, to the kind of architectural enchanting that allows Silvermoon's fountains to flow infinitely with a clever use of portals. The game itself has a few examples of enchantment used purely for convenience that I would like to point out before I delve into things that I think would be reasonable.

The first is the http://www.wowhead.com/item=44982, which is a pet-version of the same kind of enchanted brooms that are found in Silvermoon City and other Blood Elven areas. These are an interesting enchantment in that they show that convenience-enchantments can be commonplace and that animating an item is easy enough that the Elves are willing to do it on a massive scale. Similarly we also see such things as floating, rotating bookcases and my second example: infinite fountains. You can see the water running into the portal at the bottom and out of the portal at the top. Obviously a frivolous use of portals, but a very strong indication that the Blood Elves, at least, turn to magic to solve pretty much every kind of mundane problem. While not all societies are likely to do that (especially not those who distrust magic or rely on technology more), it shows an availability of these types of everyday enchanted items in certain parts of the world.

Items that fall into this category are things that people could use in many situations, and that means I really don't want to put the effort into this to explain them all. I'll cover a few examples of potential items from my imagination, as well as a few potential IC explanations of magical trinkets that a character might possess.

Examples of Play

Mundane Items

Spoiler:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=6948 and http://www.wowhead.com/item=44315

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Appendices

Appendix I - Enchanting Around the World

Since it came up in the comments, I'm going to try to address the place of professional enchanting in Azerothian society. While we don't get a whole lot stated outright, there are certainly enough hints given ingame to allow us to see just how most societies treat enchanters and other Arcane-users.

Humans: The "average" race of Warcraft. Humanity embraces all forms of magic in one way or another, and Arcane enchanting is no different. While Humans don't rely on magic items as much as the Blood Elves, they also seem the most likely to use enchantments when they seem to make things easier. We see the pinnacle of magic in Human society in Dalaran, where they reach Elven levels of magical decadence, and a reasonable application of that knowledge in Stormwind with the Mage's Quarter and the leeway given to its inhabitants. Variations on methods and views towards the craft are as wide-ranging as the human nations.

Dwarves: Dwarves are to some degree a magic-wielding race, and it shows in the way their home city views its enchanting. The enchanting shop in Ironforge sells both enchantments and inscriptions, which suggests to me that the professions are tied together very closely. Not to mention the fact that the Dwarves are some of the original Runemasters, who channeled the natural Arcane energy that their Titan masters left in Azeroth. It's also interesting to note that the enchanters and scribes are segregated racially - all the Dwarves in the shop are scribes and all the Gnomes are mages.

With the ancient history of the Dwarves and its ties to the runic mastery of the Titans, I would expect them to create artifacts of great quality using their runic magic. Because they take great pride in their crafting in every other way, it's no stretch to expect that many of these artifacts remain in Dwarven families as heirlooms or are buried with their honored dead (perhaps to be stolen later by an adventurer). It also may happen that a Dwarf recognizes the craftsmanship of their ancestors in the weapons or armor used by someone else, a signature mark or flourish, that might bring up interesting interactions between characters about how their items were acquired.

Gnomes: Gnomes are much more pretentious about their technology than Goblins, but are also a much more naturally magical race than the Goblins by far. Pioneers of technomancy on Azeroth, Goblins are, in my opinion, the most likely besides Blood Elves to have enchanted items. The difference would be that most of their items are likely enchanted specifically to function alongside technology. Imagine having a rock enchanted to always be hot so you can power a steam boiler without coal, or a gunsight that's enchanted to glow slightly in the dark to provide night vision. They might not have brooms sweeping the floor like the Elves or Humans, but their Broombot might shoot searing rays down onto the floor to scour away dirt (and small animals and toes).

Night Elves: To quote my earlier post:

Quote:For the Night Elves, I would say that enchanted items are probably somewhat prevalent but most of them are heirlooms and date back to before the explosion at the Well of Eternity. So someone from an old family might have a http://www.wowhead.com/item=64358 sitting in the back of their wardrobe that they got from their grandmother or something, and a few might still practice the craft, but I don't think it's a popular life choice outside of the Highborne (where it's probably incredibly popular).

To expand more on that, the Night Elves have had a serious problem with Arcane magic ever since the Well of Eternity imploded and broke the world in half. Their society is based on a rejection of ostentatious and frivolous things and looking back towards the beauty of nature and the simplicity of combat. While I imagine Enchanting is practiced because it's trained in Darnassus (and has been since vanilla), it's most likely treated as a trade and probably isn't a very popular or socially mobile one at that.

On the other hand the Highborne absolutely love magic. They're quite possibly more magically talented than the Blood Elves, at least considering the insane amount of time they've spent practicing it. The major difference is that, like Night Elves, they probably work on a different time scale to everyone else. A Highborne has had ten thousand years to live, which has probably led them to be perfectionist in their craft. I'd imagine they produce some of the finest enchanted craftsmanship but it takes them an incredibly long time to finish anything because they feel they have enough time to do it right. They may also potentially have artifacts from before the Sundering, since most of them are old enough to have been there when incredible magic was commonplace and they valued that enough to keep it (whereas some other Night Elves might have destroyed them in a massive bout of iconoclasm against magical items).

Draenei: The lords of technomagic, Draenei are absolutely the most likely to have enchanted items of all the Alliance races. But, like the Gnomes, that means something incredibly different from everyone else's use of magic. The Draenei use magic so inventive that it's practically scifi, and technology so advanced it might as well be magic, in order to create such things as dimension-traveling spaceships and handheld holoprojecting magical crystals. One only has to walk through the Exodar to see the ubiquitous and completely inscrutable nature of Draenei magitech. Of course much of that technology has been inherited from the Naaru, so while Draenei practice Arcane magic on par with their Eredar cousins, the technology aspect is something that most Draenei probably don't have experience with. That leaves magitech to the kinds of trained professionals and technicians that might use Enchanting or Inscription to roleplay their various talents.

Getting into specifics would take a very long time and involve a lot of fanon from my time playing Aun'la, but for a quick tl;dr: Draenei are incredibly in-tune with magic and technology but of a different kind than the Gnomes. Their technology relies much more heavily on magic, and it's more like an application of science to the practice of magic than it is applying magic to the practice of science.

Worgen: Though certainly Human enough, Worgen get a special category for two reasons: Harvest Witches, and their curse. I think it fits the tragic Victorian flavor of Worgen to use some cursed items. You don't have to, but it's kind of a neat extension of their already cursed existence and the dreary landscape of their homeland. On the other hand, Harvest Witches and natural magic make the Worgen more likely to use mundane enchanted items made by Hedge Wizards/Harvest Witches trying to help people in their communities. As well, runic magic might be more prevalent here than in other Human lands due to their focus on nature and natural magic.

Orcs: Interestingly enough, the enchanting supplier in Orgrimmar is called "Godan's Runeworks" and contains, among other things, a stack of runed stones that look like they were taken from the wilderness or an ancient Elven ruin. This seems to me to suggest that the Orcs view enchanting as a skilled trade in the same way that Inscription is, and have learned some Arcane patterns in the way that Runemasters do; copying the ley-line patterns of nature onto weapons and infusing them to do their enchanting. Equally important to this view of societal acceptance is that the Enchanting trainers aren't segregated in the Warlock cave with the rest of the Arcane users, but are on the Drag with the other tradesmen.

I'm led to believe that Orcs as a whole, though distrustful of magic, probaby have a respect for runic weapons due to the connection of runic magic with natural magic and its association with Shamanism, regardless of the actual source of power for their enchantments. I would also say that Orcs tend not to channel Arcane directly for their enchantments if they're the kind of professional tradesmen that work in the Drag. Most likely they get their supply of magical material from destroyed artifacts or other people handling magic.

Of course, considering the history of Warlocks in Orcish society, I'd say there are Orcs who do their own enchanting or even try to wrest that power from demons by proxy. If someone knew the Fel origin of an item like that it would probably be seen as cursed even if they weren't. I don't see that stopping anyone with the skill, however, especially if they're just going to keep it to themselves.

Trolls: Trolls are weird, and while I don't know a lot about them I do know that they have a mix of Witch-Doctors ranging from Mages and Warlocks to Priests and Druids. In their interaction with Loa spirits, it also really doesn't seem like they care where they get their power from so long as they get it. Trafficking with the Arcane or Demons or even just doing alchemy in a ritualized manner doesn't seem altogether to be that different from trafficking with Loa spirits like Hakkar except that Mages don't need to do blood sacrifice to maintain their powers (though I bet they'd do it anyway for tradition's sake).

I envision their method of enchanting as much more ritualized and complicated than any other race. Trolls have a long history of ritual and spirit-channeling that has always worked for them, and it seems like they'd try to apply the same strategies to every form of magic and stick with whatever worked, even if parts of it didn't actually influence the outcome. A Trollish enchanted item might be runed, or inlaid with teeth, or covered in feathers, or painted in elaborate colors, or drenched in the blood of a goat and washed clean. I'd expect them to use every broad type of enchanting I listed, and more, simply because of the breadth of rituals they've thought up to get it to work.

Tauren: Again I'm not too familiar with Tauren, but I'd like to think they look at enchanting in a similar way that the Orcs do. They've got plenty of Runemasters, and using enchanting in that way is probably very palatable to them because it's more natural. Their enchanter's shop in Thunder Bluff is also filled with runes. Tapestries, papers, maps with runes... I'd say they act much like the New Horde Orcs in the way that they use runes and reagent enchanting, mostly because they probably helped teach them those runes!

(If anyone knows more about Tauren and Trolls, feel free to correct me).

Forsaken The Forsaken are mostly like Humans in their magical practices, but are much more willing to accept corrupting and cursed magics into their lives due to their acceptance of undeath and the powers of Necromancy. Forsaken might not have many artifacts or enchanted items, but if they do have them they're more likely to be cursed or tainted by Ncromancy or Fel magic because the undead are cavalier about their safety and the safety of the world around them.

Blood Elves: I think it can be safely said that the Blood Elves have been covered well enough by this guide. Their society lives and breathes magic, and anything I've talked about is fair game for them. They're the most likely to possess enchanted goods of any race, and the most likely to practice the profession as a hobby or a trade.

Goblins: I almost forgot the Goblins, but then one of them shot my kneecaps. Goblins love technology, they absolutely breathe it. But Goblins also like to win, and they like getting an advantage over their adversaries. Goblin society could look pretty hypocritical when it comes to talking about magic, with some people jeering at enchanters as simpletons who can't use technology while at the same time paying a pretty penny to get magic-dampening runes inscribed on their Gabbersmacker M8 just in case. Ultimately it comes down to them wanting the best of the best, and if enchanting is a way to get an edge on somebody I can't see why they wouldn't take it.

Thanks for reading! I'd like to update this guide in the future with suggestions and my own experiences. If you have comments or suggestions please post below and I'll try to respond whenever. If I become less lazy with my storylines you can also look forward to further developments in enchanting and artifacts in the days to come!

Cataclysm And You (An Install Guide for PC)

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:16:01 -0700

Hello and good day everyone, this guide'll be targeting those the small or large group of people that are inevitably going to have troubles using torrents, and or are new to them, like me. Here's the link with the download URL in place. For the PC links, the second one is archived into separate .rar files; the first is just a folder with the exact files you need at once.

Step One: Torrenting Programs

Spoiler:

Step Two: Downloading

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Step Three: Extracting and Installing!

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Conclusion

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Please hand me feedback, specifically grammar and or technical mistakes and or suggestions.

YOU ARE BIG. THAT MEANS YOU MUST HAVE BIG GUTS. - A guide to injury and battle!

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:21:40 -0800

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
Bertrand Russell
~

You are big! That means you must have BIG GUTS! Rip and tear! - A guide to battle realism and the effects of it by Psycho.

READ THIS:

Spoiler:

Table of contents.

Chapter 1) Introduction.
Chapter 2) Light injuries and the dangers ignored!
Chapter 3) Mild injuries, from broken bones to damaged organs!
Chapter 4) Grievous injuries, from impalement to the effects afterwards.
Chapter 5) Death. Not as glorious as one would first think.
Chapter 6) Out of the body and into the mind, mental effects.
Chapter 7) The long term effects of warfare and the damage done.
Chapter 8 ) Of realism and weapons, the effects and uses.
Chapter 9) Healing and recovery.
Chapter 10) Of racial builds and strengths, their choices of weapons and why.
Chapter 11) Undead durability in battle, the ups and downs of a life beyond the grave.
Chapter 12) Examples of the real world.
Chapter 13) Conclusion.

Chapter 1.

"Lo and behold how torn am I!" - Sinner of the seventh Circle, violence. Dante's inferno, Canto XI.

War is not a pretty thing. Battle isn't some clashing of will in an honorable determination for supremacy or a righteous cause. War is two sides clashing their ideals and faith against one another, until one side is either too beaten and bloodied to continued, or at extreme cases, terminated. This guide is again, not meant to criticize any player in specific or force them to change how they roleplay. It aims to bring a new view on a subject so common in the universe of Warcraft, and that is both battle and war. In the guide I will discuss about the various natures of war and things that characters are more than likely to stumble upon their bloodied paths, and the horrid things that at times seem to be ignored.

But first, let's have a look at battle. What is a fight, to be exact? As quoted:

"Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to weaken or establish dominance over the opposition, or to kill the opposition, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not desired or needed."

What can one assume from this specific quote? For starters, the general purpose and nature of fighting or battle. It is the clashing of two opposing sides trying to asset their dominance or simply be rid of the other side. Now I want you to think for a moment, how does it feel. To be lost in such a state of primal hate that the only way you see possible to achieve your goals is by the application of force. To be in an eternal desire of war means that pretty much, the only solution you can see is by violence.

How many of us can honestly say they don't find the thought of smashing the face of someone who disagrees with us disgusting and barbaric? The mindset of a fighter, be it the ruthless pillaging barbarian or the protecting knight, is a thing to be very careful about. If your character thinks about fighting all the time, then it'll more than likely lash at the world around it. If your character doesn't think enough about fighting, when the battle comes, her / his determination could fall short of what is needed and he / she would be killed.

The path of war is not an easy one.

So a think to consider the next time you roll your fierce Orc Barbarian, or graceful Elven sentinel all out to defend their homes and honor. How do they view war? Better yet, do they view their cause as just enough to take the life of another? And don't just say to yourself, "Yeah they've been fighting for like, forever, they're totally up to brutally murder the opposing side 'cause war! F- yeah!" Take some time and put some thought into it, time as well.

Food for thought.

Chapter 2.

"'Tis but a flesh-wound!"- Monty Python.

There's no battle without a wound, so they say! And they're absolutely right! A thing that's more than common for soldiers and warriors of all end, is to be injured in battle. Injuries can range from a light tap to a brutal smashing of the skull, but in this chapter we'll discuss light injuries. Now, one would ask, what defines an injury to be light? And while a difficult question, the best answer I could offer would be, an injury that can be easily ignored and does not hinder the character for the duration of battle while not likely to cause any long-term damage. Light injuries can be a small nick on the leg, or a sore shoulder. And mostly, shouldn't be given too much thought about, as they seem simple... Right?

Wrong.

While most light injuries seem to be simple and easy to ignore, light injuries themselves are none-the-less, injuries. And here I will give off an example of just how dangerous a light injury can be. Attila the Hun. A fierce warlord that conquered a great part of Asia and Italy, and was pretty much a Warrior King.

Cause of death? Nosebleed.

"The conventional account, from Priscus, says that at a feast celebrating his latest marriage to the beautiful and young Ildico, he suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor."

It's the little things which can take down a giant. And here's a good example of a common mistake when done with light injuries. When a character gets cut upon a place on her body, she quickly rips off a bit of her clothes after the battle and uses it to bandage her injury to stop light bleeding! A fool-proof medical solution, surely. Except the fact that the clothes that the character wore during the battle are more than likely filthy, bloodied, soaked with sweat and mud, grime and other horrid things. And right now, it's kissing your open wound. A common source of limb amputation back in the days of old were cases of severe infection, often leading to Gangrene and the amputation of the infected limb. Ranging from a finger to an entire foot, and up to a leg. Infection is a dangerous thing that could enter the host's body from a small wound with ease...

No. This doesn't mean that every time you cut a finger and it touches mud you'll get it infected and lose a finger. Some environmental settings are more likely to host infections than others. Two extremes would be a lush jungle or rain forest, such as Stranglethorn, and the other would be a dry and barren desert such as Silithus.

The moist jungles of Stranglethorn are a perfect breeding house for various bacteria. The humidity and constant rain causes for a moist environment to be created, perfect for growing life. Life such as bacteria. Which could quite well end the life of a warrior for a character. While as the dry barren sands of Silithus are a hostile and dry terrain, that offer bacteria little to no room to grow within their sands.

This doesn't mean that infection comes only from the environment, mind you. A dirty rusting blade, the bite of a filthy mouth, dead skin untended, all are liable causes to bring forth infection. And infection, is not a pleasant thing.

Another small injury to consider is broken teeth. Teeth break, and they don't lead to a pretty visage at all... Usually helmets come with faceguards to help prevent teeth from being broken, but accidents happen. And despite what most think, teeth don't fly out of your mouth. They fly in. A strike of any form is more than likely to send sharp bits of tooth down your gullet. These small bits of tooth can quite easily choke a man, or even worst in more extreme scenarios, cut at his breathing vessels and even his lungs if broken to a sharp enough angle. Imagine how awful it must be, in the middle of a fight to choke on your own teeth .

And while we're at the oral section of the injuries, let's talk about the tongue. A piece of fleshy tendon that salivates, commonly found in your mouth. Soft and vulnerable. Imagine the following -

The big bad warlord is talking down to his enemy after having beaten the snot out of him. And the enemy, in a sudden jerk, rams his fist upwards into the jaw of the talking warlord. The warlord promptly bites at his tongue with enough force to remove it, and is then killed by either swallowing his tongue and choking on it, or by the distraction caused from the immense pain.

Sucks to be him.

It takes about 7 pounds of force (three kilograms or so.) to remove a tongue. Your character is no different. This is why one of the first rules of martial arts is, keep your damn mouth shut while fighting. Yes, your character may speak during a fight, but he best hope that his opponent won't take the opportunity to sucker punch him.

Light wounds, yes. Not to be taken so lightly.

Chapter 3

"Head cocked to the left, partial deafness in ear: first point of attack. Two: throat; paralyze vocal chords, stop scream. Three: got to be a heavy drinker, floating rib to the liver. Four: finally, drag in left leg, fist to patella. Summary prognosis: unconscious in ninety seconds, martial efficacy quarter of an hour at best. Full faculty recovery: unlikely." - Sherlock Holmes, the 2009 movie.

Next up comes the segment for more severe injuries, such as deeper cuts and broken bones. Alongside these injuries comes head trauma and organ damage as well. What defines a mild injury is that it will hinder the fighter during his battle, and if it will not be treated soon afterwards, it can easily become grievous and quite plainly kill the character. Be it by bleeding or the rupturing of organs.

The first injury I'll discuss is a deep cut. Now before anything, I want to bring up a point. Getting cut is not fun. If you've ever pricked your finger while cutting a salad, you know that getting cut and beholding your own blood is just unpleasant. And that literally just gently cuts through the finger. To get a deep cut means a blade just ran through your flesh, the layer of nerves, the layer of muscles, and more than likely cut open a vein or two. Imagine for just a second how that feels. Getting your leg, or arm, or even chest, cut open like it was wrapping paper on an excited child's birthday gift, revealing flesh and muscle, and at rare times even bones and organs.

Not a very pleasant thought, isn't it?

A character during a fight might receive one or even more of these injuries. Be it by the stray axe of an Orc, or even for a stupider reason such as an ally's misfire. And when one receives such an injury, there are a few things to consider;

First thing, the damaged limb. While not seemingly the most important thought, it is actually something to consider. A deep cut on the buttocks (yes, the butt. The rump. The behind.) is much less a menace than a deep cut on say, the abdomen or chest. The hips, and the buttocks are actually some of the most 'meatiest' parts of the body, having a large layer of both skin, fat, muscle, and most of what's in between. A deep cut on the hip may not reach the bone, but a cut of the same size on the arm could quite well mean the loss of a limb. A deep cut on the buttocks, while embarrassing and silly, is possibly the most safest of injuries, as no main blood vessels run through the buttcheeks, and they offer a layer before the pelvis-bone. A thought to consider.

Afterwards, one should consider what form of damage the cut actually left. Did it cut open a main artery, causing severe bleeding and blood-loss? Did it strike a sensitive nerve or two, bringing horrible anguish and pain? While these two are somewhat optional to the choosing, there is a specific damage which -always- occurs in deep cuts, and that is a cut to the fiber of the muscle. This alone could lead to long term crippling and inefficiency, but that will be covered later on in the guide.

The next time your character gets cut, look at more than just the skin.

The next kind of grievous injury is yet another common example, and that is broken bones! Needless to say, breaking a bone is not a fun thing, and more than often can mean the end of a battle. But it doesn't quite end there, as there's much to cover when it comes to broken bones.

The first detail to be discussed, will be the type of breaking! Yes, this matters. The bone has varying degrees of broken, but I will be discussing three general descriptors. The first off being fractured. A fractured bone still holds its integral structure, though its surface can hold cracks, and if too much stress is applied, these cracks can and will lead to the bone's breaking. The second state is broken, where-as a bone has a single area in which it is broken beyond its original structure, far more severe than a fracture, a broken bone can quite easily cripple for life and end one's warring days. And the last and most dangerous situation of a bone to be is shattered, where the bone breaks off in various and numerous areas, far beyond its original structure. After a bone is shattered, there is no hope of proper recovery.

Needless to say, a broken bone is a devastating blow. But its damage doesn't just end with the breaking of the bone. At times, the broken edge of the bone can pierce outwards from the skin, causing a grotesque sight and opening a bleeding wound, which is as well susceptible to infections. Alongside this, broken bone fragments within the skin can cause nerve damage and other unpleasant things, such as calcium poisoning.

Some bones are much more fragile than others, such as the lower ribs, joints, and the knees. While some are much more hardy, such as the skull or shoulderblades.

The next grievous injury that I'll be discussing is concussion. Now, concussion is purely head trauma, and the best way to describe it would be; having your brain bounce inside your skull from a severe impact. A concussion is a terrible thing because it not only hurts your brain, it has a myriad of side-effects which very well could last with you for all your life. These effects literally go as far as mental to the physical. There isn't a single aspect that wouldn't be affected by a concussion. Physically, it could lead to:

Headache
Fuzzy or blurry vision
Nausea and vomiting
Dizziness
Sensitivity to light or noise
Balance problems
Feeling tired or having no energy
Sleeping more than usual
Sleeping less than usual
Having a hard time falling asleep

Mentally:

Not thinking clearly
Feeling slowed down
Not being able to concentrate
Not being able to remember new information

Emotionally:

Easily upset or angered
Sad
Nervous or anxious
More emotional

Remember, the brain is the most important organ in the body. And the must vulnerable. A concussion is a thing not to take lightly.

The next injury will be organ damage. Not rupture, mind you. Organ damage can occur from blunt blows, to excessive drinking, to asthma, and to a hundred other causes. But the best thing to define a damaged organ is simple, it just doesn't work all too good. Weak lungs, such as often seen in asthma patients or heavy smokers. Kidney failure, leading to kidney stones. A lot of other symptoms.

I won't be detailing much of organ damage as the causes can be so wide and varied. But one should remember, that a life-time of war will leave one's internal organs not at a 100 percent.

Chapter 4.

"Never in all my life have I seen such savagery." - Exports of a German citizen during the Russian invasion to Berlin.

And now we come to the final episode of the injuries related segment of the guide. Grievous injuries. The best way to describe grievous injuries are as wounds that are fatal almost upon the moments of their infliction, and leave the fighter either unable to do anything or dead. Such injuries include the rupturing of vital organs, the loss of a limb, impalement, and the shattering of important bones such as the spine.

The first form of grievous I will discuss is impalement. Impalement is possibly the most dangerous of all grievous wounds as it may incorporate every last injury into one fatal blow. Be it from the head of a spear lodging into the chest of the brash fighter, or the broadsword sinking into the back of the unaware guard, impalement is when ones' body is pierced with a bladed end, either all the way through or simply enough to bury the weapon into his body. The first thing one should consider when his character is either impaled or impaling, stabbed or stabbing, is the location.

An impaled leg will be less devastating than a spear through one's chest. If one's leg is impaled by a spear for example, there's a good chance of it missing the bone, but that all depends on the spear-head. But an impaling of one's abdomen or chest is a 90% chance of death, with very slim chances of survival, and none existent chances of full recovery. The organs in danger of being cut open from a spear through one's general mid-section or torso are; the heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach, intestines, and a whole load of other organs that your character personally wants intact. However, the danger doesn't end there. The spear-head may as well break ribs upon its way, by bending within the wound and jerking the bone out of place, and with certain occasions it might even damage the spine or penetrate all the way. Should your character be fully impaled upon a spear or any weapon, their chances of survival are impossibly slim. Even with the application of healing magics, a priest would have to focus on mending atleast three ruptured organs, mending a bone, immense bleeding, physical trauma, and a hundred other details.

Not pleasant.

After the location of the impalement or stabbing is chosen, up next comes the type of weapon used that should also be considered. A spear, while long and thin, thus offering a much greater chance of penetration, will damage a bit less limbs on its course through the body. While a broad-sword will damage even more limbs and might even hurt the spine upon its murderous path. Afterwards, if the weapon has any jagged edges, it's much more likely to be either lodged within the body, and if it would be forced out, with it would come out plenty of flesh and muscle, dropping that stunning 1% chance of survival to a flat out zero.

Up next comes the second form of injury, which is ruptured organs. While mentioned earlier, ruptured organs can happen from severe blunt blows as well as immense stress unto the body, such as air pressure. A ruptured limb is not just damaged or functioning less than full capacity, it is on the verge of destruction, not able to function at all. The two biggest example of dangerous organs when penetrated are the lungs and heart.

Should your lungs be cut, blood will gush through the wound and more than likely widen it, forcing the character to pretty much choke to death from within as her sensitive breathing is drowned with her own blood from within. Coughing up blood? That happens from punctured or ruptured lungs. The heart in itself is an even more dangerous thing to damage due to its sensitivity and importance in the body. It supplies the blood, and should one of its main vessels be cut, your character will bleed its life out into its own body.

Other dangerous organs to puncture and ruin are the stomach, as it's filled with acid threatening to spill out, the kidneys, and of course the brain.

Up next, comes the loss of a limb. Amputation. While amputation is less of a threat to ones' life, it is never to be doubted. Losing a leg, or an arm, even an ear, can cause to severe imbalance within the living body. Don't believe me? Try looking ahead of you, then close your left eye. See how much of your seeing space you just lost? Still not convinced? Try walking with your head fully tilted sideways. That can imitate the loss an ear. Imagine having no leg or arm.

The first and most important thing to consider when an amputation happens, is where, and which limb. For starters, the loss of each limb can bring upon it different results, for example.

The ears could lead to a lack of balance and partial deafness. An eye, to the loss of depth perception and a wider view. An arm, reach and flexibility. Leg, mobility and speed.

Up next, if the amputation takes place upon a major limb such as a leg or an arm, the location of it is important. To remove one's arm beneath the elbow might leave him with a segment of his hand that can still bend with an elbow, allowing for the implantation of false limbs such as fake hands and the like. Same thing goes for the leg, so long as its beneath the knee. However, anything above it will render the limb even more useless.

Afterwards, another thing to greatly consider is how this effects the character. Does he/she learn his lesson and quits fighting? Does it affect his/her fighting in a significant way? How does he/she feel about the loss of such an important thing? Even the most deranged of creatures will not simply shrug off the loss of a limb. It will not be an experience to forget.

Up next in our list of grievous injuries, comes a thing often ignored is the damage of important bones such as the spine and skull. While one could in theory heal a broken shin to full health, if a lower spine is broken, it will either lead to death or to the loss of one's legs in a crippled fashion. Spinal injury is a dangerous thing that never heals fully. Olympic athletes which damaged a Disc in their spine, or the spine itself, often go through rigorous months of recovery, and even afterwards they'll never be at their fullest. A broken skull is fatal unless treated properly. While one of the most hardiest bones, a skull is still no match for a hammer, so put on that helmet if you're smart!

Chapter 5.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

So we've gone after the terrible wounds of battle... But at the end of war, there are always the dead. Men and women unfortunate enough to have been the victims of the conflict. And in this chapter, we will further detail the effects of death and some misconceptions often seen.

For starters, a glorious death. You often see this in popular media. The mighty hero has come to fight the evil warlord! They clash blades, and with an epic battle, the hero finally manages to fell the great villain with a swift blow of his blade! He raises his sword up to the heavens, about to proclaim his testimony of victory when suddenly-

Pthttbtbhtththttbhtbht~ A foul stench rises in the air, and our hero finds his shining knightly boots being littered upon by the villain's body emptying its bowels all over them.

One could think that the death of such a main figure in a story would be grand and majestic, with an entire choir of symphonic music to accommodate each stunning blow, but alas, this is but a facade of modern media and thought. In reality, death is a horrid messy thing. There's blood everywhere, the victim is likely crying for his mother and retching, all before comes the final slap to the face as his bowels empty themselves in gut-wrenching sounds and an equally horrid stench that rises through the air.

Death is not a glorious ending to a hero going out in the blaze of war. It is the horrid end of a life in a matter usually shameful, that leaves no room for cheer. There's nothing wrong with a cinematic death. But in all truths, such a death barely exists, unless you're lucky enough to have your entire body dissolved before the embarrassing functions of your dead cadaver come into play. Death is not pretty. Death is ugly. Death is disgusting and in no way appealing to most.

Having a character obsessed with death doesn't just mean it'll adorn itself with blood and skulls. It means it'll adorn itself with feces and vomit, it means it loves the scent of freshly discarded excrement and the sound of retching guts.

Not so badass anymore, isn't it?

Afterwards, comes guilt. The biggest remorse of war, the biggest tragedy is not only for the dead. Even to the undead creatures of Warcraft, those intelligent enough, there might be a value to life. A character doesn't just deal with the physically demanding task of battle, it's also bombarded by guilt afterwards. To know it ended a life, is a terrible fate. Some characters reason to themselves about it, either me or them they'll say. Some might become traumatized by this. While others will simply grin and bear their blades, proclaiming how much they love spreading death.

Out of those examples, which one would you think to be the least likely to be a member of any society? Number three. These sociopath murderers have no room in any society, even in those more war-centered. Each culture reacts differently to war, but in the end it all reaches the same conclusion. Meaningless death is bad. And these sociopaths who howl for blood are more than likely not going to be accepted in any culture, beyond the Scourge or Burning Legion atleast, or one of the villainous factions. For example; Orcish society. A common mistake in thought is thinking that all Orcs are war-hungry brutes that hunger for blood and death, and all that. In truth, Orcs do appreciate a good bout, but not the slaughter of their enemies. And why? Because they were once under thrall by the horrid Burning Legion and their curse of bloodlust, a thing which more than likely left its deep scar unto Orcish memory. Nobody wants to remember how bad they were, and the Orcs are no different. Any Orc which would conform to the same mindless savagery back from the days of the Burning Legion would probably be scolded fiercely and shunned away.

Often, many mistake a certain distaste of a race to be liable cause for ravenous behavior. The Night Elf's xenophobia, for example, or Orcish sense of battle. When in truth, it's like excusing the desire to murder another for a simple dislike about him. Yes, Orcs and Elves aren't going to go frolicking hand in hand in fields of daisies and roses. But it in no way means that Elves go around stringing Orcish guts from low hanging branches.

Any who would are probably deranged and on neither side.

A good thing to consider with a character's mentality is the reaction of the world around it, and what led him/her to either accept this mindset. Would the character's parents/love/siblings reply well to it being a crazy deranged murderer, addicted to death? It is often external reaction (or lack thereof) which can lead to self restraint, or its opposite, savagery.

Imagine the following. It'd be rather hard to do something when no one at all near to you supports it, and will scold you and shun you if you do it.

Any character that idly whistles jovially at the tune of war is not sane. And would often be treated as what it is.

Insane.

Chapter 6.

"Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now
Sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it somehow
More a man, more stripes you wear, glory seeker trends
Bodies fill the fields I see
The slaughter never ends" - Disposable heroes, Metallica.

To assume that the effects of battle are purely physical and short lasting is a foolish thing. In truth, and arguably, the most severe damage caused by war and battle in general, is mental. The most common myriad of symptoms cause by trauma are known as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and 17 types have been recognized in modern days. They can be divided into three categories;

Re-experience:

Frequently having upsetting thoughts or memories about a traumatic event.
Having recurrent nightmares.
Acting or feeling as though the traumatic event were happening again, sometimes called a "flashback."
Having strong feelings of distress when reminded of the traumatic event.
Being physically responsive, such as experiencing a surge in your heart rate or sweating, to reminders of the traumatic event.

Avoidance Symptoms:

Making an effort to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations about the traumatic event.
Making an effort to avoid places or people that remind you of the traumatic event.
Having a difficult time remembering important parts of the traumatic event.
A loss of interest in important, once positive, activities.
Feeling distant from others.
Experiencing difficulties having positive feelings, such as happiness or love.
Feeling as though your life may be cut short.

Hyperarousal Symptoms:

Having a difficult time falling or staying asleep.
Feeling more irritable or having outbursts of anger.
Having difficulty concentrating.
Feeling constantly "on guard" or like danger is lurking around every corner.
Being "jumpy" or easily startled.

Do note, these are just examples, and only those that are discovered. In theory, there could be hundreds more. Now imagine for a second, just having one of these effects and how difficult it could make your day to day life. Warfare does not simply scar the body. It scars the mind as well, and there are other syndromes beyond PTSD that could spur due to a life of consistent fighting. Now think of a character, and how it would deal with the mental stress of it all.

The shame. The Anger. The Regret. The fear.

All of it, warring inside of the character.

Doesn't look so simple anymore, doesn't it? However, some characters only seem to become more efficient as they are traumatized. And this is a point I'd greatly like to differ upon. Being traumatized doesn't make your character more of an efficient killing machine. It makes it an emotional and mental wreck, unable to cope in day to day life because of the actions of its' past. (I would like to note back to the thought of sociopath characters, that they may perceive it in their own deranged fashion, feeling no remorse. However, the world will have its own response to it.)

Another aspect to consider is other mental capabilities and disabilities. The first being the thought of a fury-fueled berserk. While lore backed and generally cool-sounding, to enter a fury in a battle can be a death sentence. You become reckless, a menace to both yourself and those around you. This is why trained Berserkers actually refrain from entering a Rage unless they must, as it makes them far more dangerous, to themselves and the enemy alike. I just spent three chapters detailing how badly a character can get hurt. Imagine a character which just stacks all these injuries because it's too far deep in a berserk to stop itself. Survival stops being an option, at this point.

So the next time you make a war hardened soldier. Try thinking of how he copes with all the mental stress. Which leads me to the archtypes of character mental coping mechanisms.

The first, is the Accepter. The Accepter believes what he did was necessary. It was ugly, horrid, but he did it for a good cause. Generally the healthiest Archtype, mentally, the Accepter will see the actions of his past as justified and forgivable, and he does not spiral into a self destructive spiral of guilt and regret. He may not feel the best of it, but he's come to terms with his actions.

Afterwards, is the Excuse-maker. A poor cheap knock-off the Accepter, the Excuse maker claims what he did was justified, but he doesn't believe in it. The Excuse-maker will try to drown the regret of his past in any way he can, from alcohol to carnal pleasures just to forget the imagery which he tries desperately to make up with.

The Bitter. The Bitter will not smile, he won't laugh. He hates himself for what he did, and he knows deep down that the whole affair was a big pile of dung. He doesn't care anymore, he did his duty. Now he just wants to spend his days in peace, drowning out the memories in alcohol and grumbling angrily.

The Wreck. Of all the archtypes, the Wreck signifies the loss of it all. No matter what the Wreck tries, he is forever stuck in his haunting nightmares. Depressed and morose, the Wreck is stuck upon a bitter lonely path of regret and shame, unable to ever come to terms to the things he's done. Emotionally distant and devastated, the Wreck is almost as unstable as its follow up.

The Nutjob. He doesn't care who's fighting, so long as there's a war. He wants war, he wants blood. Finally he has an excuse to kill stuff, just like his sociopath desires always told him to! The Nutjob is a trainwreck of trauma and scars, buried beneath a layer of insanity buttered up by deranged obsessions.

In the end of it all, the mind is just a victim as the body is in war.

Chapter 7.

"They're peasants, angry for what they've lost. They don't care who they're punishment, they just want retribution." - Vagabond.

To presume that the overall damage of war and battle ends at the character is a false statement. When there's war, the damage is entirely collateral. Families are left fatherless, land is left ruined and infertile, trade is damaged and much sorrow takes footing after war ends. This chapter will be generally short as most battles are indeed between two individual characters in CoTH, and thus most collateral damage doesn't quite exist. However, war is not uncommon in the world, and this chapter will detail further on how it affects day to day life.

When two nations war against one another, the results are often catastrophic, with hundreds of thousands dead, and many more left orphaned and abandoned behind. The first most notable and grim effect of war, is the loss of life on both sides. Friends are lost, children are left orphaned, and women are left widowed. A gap is made in the hearts of nations, one which can take years to fill out. Statistically, this gap affects the economy as well, often leading to times of economical depressions which leave nations in a rather poor state.

Another affect that's worth mentioning in Warcraft is the spiritual world and the world itself. As have been proven many times in Warcraft, Spirit Walkers interact with the spirits of the restless dead... Imagine what would happen if such a Spirit Walker would come upon the field of great battle. Alongside this, the thousands of corpses often just ruin a land entirely, leaving it unable to grow crops for many years afterwards. Such a task as purifying these lands would probably fall upon the shoulders of the Cenarion Circle.

While I won't further too much about the effects of war on nations, it will often lead to political strife and division among its people. It is best not to leave ones' character unaffected by the state of war. As war touches upon everyone at the end of it all.

Chapter 8.

"An elegant weapon, for a more civilized time." - Star Wars.

Within the World of Warcraft, and the world itself, there is at least one weapon for each man and woman alive on Earth. In this chapter, I'll be explaining a bit about each weapon arch-type and the useful benefits of each weapon type and shield. From axes to swords, to spears and shields, weaponry are as varied as the fighter which wields them, each adaptable for a fitting situation and advantage of its own. And we'll start off with a classic.

Swords. Nothing says knight more than a broadsword in hand, or Moojadin than a Scimitar. A sword is a piece of metal shaped to a desired form and posses either one or two sharpened edges. Mostly, a sword comes with a Finger guard meant to protect the wielder's hand. Swords come in all shapes in sized, but we can divide them by two simple subcategories. Curved, and Straight edged. One handed, or Two handed.

Curved swords are usually with a curved build, such as a Scimitar and a katana, and their form is meant entirely for slashing across the opponent's body and cut through flesh to cause bleeding and muscle damage. Most slashing weapons are highly inefficient against armor of harder variety, such as chainmail or plate. Most slashing swords are light and flexible, donned in one hand.

Straight Edged swords are of a straight build, narrowing at the end to a sharp tip meant to stab ahead. With reduced slashing capabilities, these swords make up for it by allowing for an option to stab, and better capabilities against armor as they may still bludgeon upon impact. Examples for this sword being broadswords, Claymores, and Zweihanders. A straight edged sword is meant to hack into the opponent then drawn out in a riposte.

Swords are flexible weapons which lack a punch against heavily armored foes, but are reliable and fitting for almost any case and fight. There's hardly any weapon out there which could match the sword's reliability and iconic appearance. Swords allow for maneuverability and proper parries.

The next weapon is no other than the popular Axe! Once a peasant's tool for cutting wood, the Axe became a favored weapon by barbarians and savages as its principles are simple and plain. Hit'em with the sharp bit for maximal effect. We can divide axes into subcategories as we did with the swords, one sided and dual-sided. The axe comes in both smaller and larger versions.

The one sided axe first made its appearance into the world as a peasant's tool for cutting and felling trees. The heavy iron head at the end of a usually curved handle allowed for a focused and hard blow that was easy enough to maneuver against the tree's surface to cut it down. However, the one sided axe also proved to have been a viable weapon upon the battle field as it offered enough swing to penetrate past armor and cause dignified damage in a single swing. However, the one sided axe proved to be unwieldy and rather clumsy. Alongside it was its fatal flaw. The axe tended to lodge too deeply into the area of blow, causing it to stay wedged in it. And so the Danish, created the Bearded variant of the one sided axe, fixing the problem of it lodging into the opponent and staying stuck. Easy to use, an axe is a simple weapon and can cause significant damage in strong hands, even those untrained. Examples for this would be the popular Danish axe, often associated with the Vikings.

The two sided axe came after its older brother, designed purely for warfare. A two sided axe, also known as a Battleaxe, is an axe that goes both ways upon a usually straight shaft for grip, allowing greater power into each swing and much more combat flexibility. Much favored and better than its one sided brother, the Battleaxe became an iconic symbol of Barbarians and for proper reason. A Battleaxe could puncture armor and remove limbs with a single mighty swing. However, it was still unwieldy and rather limited in its maneuvering. Its main advantage is that it offers a borderline between a sword and a hammer, with enough weight to damage heavy armor, but a bladed edge to continue its efficiency against flesh.

Afterwards comes no other than the hammer! Associated mostly with Dwarves and Blacksmithing, a Hammer is simple enough by design. A straight grip or shaft, that leads up to a shaped heavy iron weight. We can divide the Hammer into the following subcategories; One sided or two sided, mace or mallet. Of all the weapons out there, the Hammer is king of armor shattering.

First off, I will detail about the Mallet. A long or short straight shaft that leads to usually a square-shaped head of iron constructs the mallet's form. And the Mallet is often associated with masons or blacksmith. However, over the years, the Mallet has proven to be an admirable weapon upon the battlefield as it cracks armor and the opponent within it like a walnut from its mighty swings. The only difference that truly occurs if the iron head is only one sided is that it leaves the option for a spike or even an axe head to be left on the other side for flexibility of choice. A good example of this would be a Warhammer or even a Sledgehammer.

The secondary shape is the mace. Usually short and one handed, the mace differs from its brother by being simply a straight shaft that holds a ball or roundly shaped head, meant to batter at a closer distance and be more maneuverable than its counterpart. The mace still packs quite a wallop against armor, though not as much as its Hammer counterpart, as it is meant to be lighter and more maneuverable. A mace may come equipped with spikes or small metal nubs at its surface to increase its efficiency, and is not a weapon to be doubted on the battlefield.

The Hammer, be it mace or an actual hammer, is heavy and unwieldy, rendering it less fast or flexible than the sword or axe. However, a single blow from it could be utterly devastating, and on the battlefield there isn't a single weapon that could deliver such damage against armor upclose and live to tell the tale.

Next up comes the Reach Weapon category. To define a Reach Weapon as easily as I could, it's simply a longer shaft that holds a sharpened edge to allow the user extended range. And we could divide it mainly between Halberds and Spears, the two main categories of the weaponry used.

First off, we've the classical spear. A long shaft that holds a usually thin and sturdy Iron tip meant to stab into an enemy from afar. What started off as a hunter's tool, meant to be thrown or stabbed into fleeing prey, has become one of the most recognized and dangerous weapons on the battlefield. A deadly and simple idea of allowing the user more range in his attacks has made the spear one of the simplest and most dangerous tools of war, able to pierce both armor and flesh alike with stunning power. However, the spear's downside is that it is quite unusable in a closer range. The spear's most classical usage is in a defensive wall and against mounted cavalry.

We then move on to the Spear's younger brother, the Halberd. The halberd's main difference than the spear is, that instead of its thin metallic sharpened tip, it usually sports an axe-head or even a broad blade at its edge. The classical European halberd is a heavy weapon, meant to be used from horseback or in stationary positions. What the spear can't do, it makes up for. Instead of stabbing, it is meant to be swayed sideways in a large cleaving arc that could render some serious damage. However, this leaves this weapon as well like the Spear, useless in closer combat. The bladed spear in itself is a weapon category far unique than the spear, as its usage usually appears in martial arts as light and dexterous. While true, the bladed spear lacks a real hit to it, usually meant for unarmored targets as its light structure will not allow to much use against heavier armor.

No weapon allows for comfort and range in defense as much as the spear does, becoming an iconic symbol of a defensive position.

Up next comes the general descriptor of ranged weapons. However, I will be dividing this segment rather shortly, and focus mostly one the following. Bows and the like, thrown weapons, and tools of ranged weaponry.

The bow. Is there anything more iconic for the noble archer sending his arrows to fly, than Robin Hood stealing from the rich, or from Legolas being awesome with it in Lord of the Rings? I doubt it. One could divide bows into two categories. Bows, and Crossbows.

The bow is a simplistic idea enough. A curved bit of flexible wood with a string drawn upon it. An arrow is loaded unto the string, and the string itself is drawn back before it's released, sending the arrow ahead with speed in a arcing line. However, the bow comes in many variations, from a shorter lighter bow to a Power Bow, an enormous monster of a bow. All serve the same purpose, at simply different strengths. To attack from afar. The bow in itself is not the most accurate of weapons, being more difficult to aim, but one could fire a single arrow per three seconds if properly trained, rendering it excellent when used in squads. However, the bow is rather useless in close range and lacks punch to puncture through heavier armor.

Which is where the Crossbow comes in play. Imagine the Bow. Now imagine the bow started working out to the point it can't bend its arms over its head. That's the crossbow. Sacrificing flexibility for sheer power, the Crossbow punches through armor violently with shorter heavier bolts fired from its body. However, the average time to reload a crossbow is over 14 seconds, and requires quite a physical strain. Power over flexibility is the Crossbow's motto. And in many battlefield, it was a habit to take one loaded crossbow on your person to use, before you would discard it and move on to melee.

Thrown weapons are on their own, a simple category. The only note-while mention being javelins, which in short, are meant to jab into shields and weight them down to the point of uselessness.

An important note about weight. As of late there seems to be a trend with characters swinging enormously huge and heavy weapons one-handed... I'd like to make a point here. The average two handed executioner's axe, that MASSIVE LUMP OF AXE used to execute people before the guillotine weighed a simple 6 kilograms. The average war hammer, no more than two. It is, no matter how strong you are, not possible to swing over 10 kilogram of a weapon one handed without having your wrists break from the application of such force upon the delicate joint. To put to point, try holding a small coffee table from one of its legs and swing it with ease. Even people in the Strongman competition, those that drag train-cabooses, can not do such a thing.

That is a war hammer. See how small it is? How thin the head is? This still destroyed armor-users. You could say you rationalize your character's wielding of preposterous weapons with magic of high fantasy, but in truth, no magic or high fantasy can make your bones less brittle than they are.

Gear responsibly!

Chapter 9.

"Nothing a band-aid can't cure!"

So we've been through the turmoils of war, the usage of weapons and the different types of injuries out there. So now, if you think your character's been lucky enough to survive, let us go over healing! Now in difference between fiction and reality, there's usually some form of accelerated healing. Be it Sensu beans, Medigel, Stasis pods, or in our case, Divine magics, none of it acts to replace normal healing. Merely accelerate it. And remember, while Divine magic may seal wounds, it doesn't do the entire of medical process. It doesn't replenish lost liquids, it doesn't remove shrapnel from the skin, nor does it remove bone fragments from wounds. So with that in mind, let's begin!

Some injuries take far longer to recover than others. While others are much more simple to heal from. Some injuries may also leave little to no signs of ever existing while others will hinder the character. And so we'll divide each wound with two measures: Duration, and Time required to Heal. Some injuries will take longer to heal, while others less. And some injuries might leave long term damage, while others not at all. For example, injuries that heal quickly and leave no long term damage can be; a shallow small cut, small bop on the head, small bone stress-fracture, blue marks.

While things which could leave one with a much longer and rigorous healing process with long term effects are; Broken bones (Joints especially!), deep cuts that rend muscles, damaged organs, minor concussions.

There are also some injuries that fully recovering from is quite impossible, not without outside medical care, and even then it leaves one lacking; Shattered bones, heavy organ damage, mild concussions, amputation.

All of these and much, much more. I could go on detail about the healing recovery of each type of injury, but that alone would be longer than the entirety of what I already wrote thus far. Remember however, with the magical aid of the Warcraft lore, it is possible to cut back on just how long it takes to heal. As a rule of thumb, try saying by half or so. Depends on the attention the character could obtain for the wound, how much treatment and etc'.

However, while resting and healing may be healthy for the mind, they are often than naught quite problematic for the mentality of the wounded character. The last thing someone who just finished a war or a bloodied battle needs is time to rest and stew in his own thoughts. This could vary from character to character, but it is a thought worth considering. Did my character think about the actions of the battle when he rested? Was he distracted with something else? The time of recovery could be just as interesting as the battle itself, and perhaps even more for character development.

I personally think that one of the reasons that people like to avoid these 'recovery' roleplays are because they feel they're less active and interesting for a character. While not physically, mentally the are everything but quiet and boring.

Chapter 10.

"Small size is still bigger than you when you're at 0HP."

Now, I know that many of you posed the question as you read through this guide... "Hey wait, my character is a massive Tauren, that's atleast two times bigger than the other races! What gives?!" well then, don't fret! In this chapter we will speak of the types of bodies commonly found on Azeroth, which race is more common to have a certain body-type, and how these body-types affect a character at war. The body-types are;

Ectomorph - The first body-type I'll be discussing is the Ectomorph. The Ectomorph is a typical skinny character, with a light build and thin joints and thin athletic muscle. The most common race to be defined as Ectomorphs are Trolls, with a thin body-structure and narrow waists.

The most common attributes for an Ectomorph are often a thin 'fragile' build, fast metabolism, a tall height, difficulty to gain mass, a small bone-structure and body frame, and a flat chest.

The Ectomorph body type's main advantages are: Reach and flexibility, alongside speed. The small muscle structure and thin body allow the Ectomorph to easily brush by obstacles and densely packed terrains such as forests and jungles. The long wiry muscles of the Ectomorph also allow it a much greater reach and flexibility.

The Ectomorph body type's disadvantages are: The fact that the build is in itself fragile. An Ectomorph is usually not too resilient, with fragile thin wrists and joints and a small bone structure without much mass to soften blows and impact. Alongside it, the narrow body-build leaves the Ectomorph rather weaker than the other body-types.

The best attribute to define an Ectomorph is Agility.

Mesomorph - The next body type is the Mesomorph. Often viewed as the modern 'ideal' of masculinity, the Mesomorph body is a broad-shouldered build with a wide back, easily gaining both muscle and mass allowing to obtain the usually desired triangular build. The Mesomorph is a strong build that's determined by genetics alone, rather than the environment around the character, thus allowing the build to be seen across almost any race. Though model-wise, the Night Elves seem to fit the imagery best.

The Mesomorph's usual attributes are: Wide shoulders, easily gaining mass and strength, wide backs and a triangular body type, a large chest without much space between the pecs.

The Mesomorph's advantages are: The fact that it is a build encompassing much more strength in the upper torso. Not much body-types could match the Mesomorph's pure strength. Alongside this, the Mesomorph easily gains both muscle and fat, allowing the body to grow larger with more mass and weight, thus growing stronger and stronger.

The Mesomorph's disadvantages are however: The fact that while the Mesomorph body-type can easily gain mass, he can just as easily lose it. A character out of the fray as a Mesomorph for too long can quite easily fall out of its peak strength, and may very well lose what it earned through hard work by just a small episode of laziness or the inability to train.

The best attribute to define the Mesomorph is Strength.

Endomorph- Often called 'Bearmode', the Endomorph body-type has earned its title rightfully. While the Mesomorph is triangular and shapely, and the Ectomorph thin and lanky, the Endomorph is as its title implies, a sheer block of a person and mass. With a large and firm core, the Endomorph is a wide body that can be obtained usually by the environment around the character, and not just genetics. The Endomorph builds both fat and muscles rapidly. No other races can boast the body-type of the Endomorph as much as the hardy Dwarves.

The main attributes of the Endomorph are: Quickly gaining both mass and weight, short and stocky, a firm and round gut, and a slow metabolism.

The main advantages of the Endomorph are: A hardy and firm body-type that allows them far more resilience than the Ectomorph or the Mesomorph, as a layer of fat aids to soften the blows alongside its strong firm core. A low center of gravity, making the Endomorph a much more stable and hardier form, with focus on strong legs and thick short muscles.

The disadvantages of the Endomorph are: A lack of flexibility. Endomorphs are usually so bulky in their size and build, that they are less flexible than the other builds. It could be quite common for a character with this body-type to be unable to bend its arms over its head fully.

The attribute which best defines the Endomorph is Stamina and Toughness.

Now, an important note to make is: Not all body-types are set in stone. In fact, it's very rare to see a 'pure' body-type of any form. Usually, people will have a mixture of body-types. And each race is more likely to be drawn to certain body-types.

Dwarves, Orcs, and Tauren are more than likely to be drawn towards the Endomorph body-type due to their stocky staunch body-type.

Night Elves, Blood Elves and Trolls are more than likely to be drawn to the Ectomorph body-type, due to their thin athletic builds.

Humans, Draenei and Worgen, however, present a flexible range of body-types, allowing the player more freedom in how their body is built.

Mesomorphs can be seen in all races, as such a build usually depends on genetics which may be attributed to an individual rather than a race.

The smaller races of Azeroth such as Gnomes and Goblins all define their own forms uniquely.

The different types of bodies also effects the weapons of choice for each race. For example, a shorter stockier character can make much better use of a battleaxe than a lanky Hunter, while said Hunter could use the bow with much better efficiency than the bulky warrior. Each aspect of the character is to be considered when it comes to determining their body-type and how they view and use it.

Most weapon styles are determined by body-types and it's generally recommended to read up how they might affect one another.

Chapter 11.

"Braaaaaaaaains..."

The battlefield is a dangerous place to anyone, no matter whom. Battle hardened or fresh, none are spared in the fray. But there's another factor to determine in the field of battle, and that is of our friends from beyond the grave, the Forsaken and Death Knights! While similar in idea, both are an entirely different world. And before even reading this segment, I'd recommend reading Sachiko's amazing guide to Death Knights. As it helps clarify much about the beloved class. Though I however, will not be focusing on Forsaken and Death Knights individually, I will instead focus on the Undead body, mind, and mindset in battle instead as a whole.

For starters, the body! One of the main advantages of the Undead body, is just how hardy it is. No need to fear rot, no need to fear damage to most internal organs as they are mostly not necessary, one never tires, the Undead doesn't feel physical pain at most causes and cases (depends on how well preserved it is) and can survive fatal injuries with greater ease than most. Which might lead one to the conclusion that the Undead is the perfect killing machine. While in truth, the Undead were designed with that thought in mind, they were found lacking. Their very advantage acted against them.

The undead body is in all cases, dead. No heart-beat, no blood-flow... And no natural regeneration capabilities. The living body strengthens its muscles by slightly tearing the muscle-strands and repairing them with natural resources and nutrients, making it grow stronger and bigger. The Undead body, however, doesn't. Every blow dealt to an Undead's body will not naturally heal, ensuring that the more damage an Undead sustains, the more closer it comes to crumbling into nothingness, and that the Undead could never grow stronger in the physical sense of it. The only way for a Undead to truly fix himself is with the help of certain magics such as the Death Knight's Death Coil, and Shadow Priests. However, this weakening of the body doesn't just happen during battle. It could happen during forced marches, during lifting heavy things... This means the Undead Body takes quite a bit of maintenance. And with the mindset of an Undead, it could be potentially dangerous, as they do not feel the pain of fatigue and exhaustion, pushing their bodies to destruction without even knowing it.

The second advantage to the Undead body is their fearlessness. Knowing you can survive most injuries and feel no pain can fill most people with a great confidence, allowing them to fight with much greater vigor and daring, a great advantage at a fight. However, it's the same fearlessness which can become the Undead's downfall. The Undead may fight recklessly with this confidence, ignoring its own defense and the state of its body. Imagine for a moment, most human instincts stem from fear of pain which prevents us from performing reckless deeds. The Undeads may lack this instinct, adding another detail for their mind to task on as they fight; Themselves, having reduced instincts to allow them dodging or blocking.

It's for these reasons that both Undead factions are than likely to treat their members to certain tactics, such as the Forsaken's gas attacks, and regular checkups to ensure that their undead body is in a state of function. Remember, for the Undead of Warcraft, people are the most rare and expensive resources, as they currently can not produce any more.

Remember, while the Undead are a useful tool of war. They are not unstoppable machines of death and destruction.

Chapter 12.

"You had to see it to believe it!"

As we slowly near the end of the guide, I'd like to take a moment to share with people some examples of real life, from myths and facts to different fighting styles they can take inspiration from. These examples will help make the character's understanding of battle and warfare richer and more vivid! So without further ado;

Myths and Facts!

Spoiler:

Fighting styles!

These fighting styles will be divided into archtypes, and into categories!

Spoiler:

When in truth, these are just scraping the edge of the ice-berg, meant to set for examples. The last thing I'd like to leave by within this guide are a few outwards references to help expand one's understanding of warfare. Note, these are -external- things, and are to be viewed at one's own discretion and choice.

Vagabond - The amazing Manga works of Takehiko Inoue, focusing on the end of Feudal times within Japan and samurai at the time. Contains no elements of fantasy and portrays battle interestingly, alongside a stunning grasp of Japanese history.

Berserk - Few reading materials catch the brutality of war and its effect on a person as does Kentarou Miura's Berserk. Focused on a Medieval time within a strange world, Berserk catches the brutality of battle like no other.

Princess Mononoke - The animated film of Princess Mononoke takes place in a strange fantasy, detailing the effects of war on the surrounding in a beautiful and unforgettable fashion.

Stalingrad - Antony Beevor's masterly written historical documentation of one of the most brutal conflicts in human history gives an eerie and realistic peek into the true horrors of all out war.

World War Z - Written by Max Brooks, World War Z is a fictional writing of the world trapped within a full out Zombie apocalypse. Little to no other books could help one imagine and re-live the horrors of war with the undead such as this.

Chapter 13.

"And so the dust settles... And all is none."

And so, we reach the end of this lengthy guide. And I'll make sure not to make this conclusion any more longer... This guide was intended to solely act as an expansion to one's own views about war. Not make them feel bad, not force them to change. Simply to show another side that's worth considering. In no way is anything written here personal, or meant to be as such. And if you are indeed offended, take heed and know that in no way was this aimed against you.

Quote:There isn't really a good or bad to playing noblebright or grim and gritty, it's just a preference; people can play war-hardened and scarred veterans, or gleaming heroes who have ran through wars and are now happily married, championing goodness and generally normal. It's just the way they portray the setting-- it may be idealized, but some people enjoy that sort of thing. Kinda like escapism, playing out a hero without worrying about problems that are real and distressing in the real world. And of course, some enjoy playing it realistic, examining the troubles that one picks up off of being the hero.

So on, so forth.

Words of wisdom from our own Rigley.

Lok'tar!

The Healthy Discussion

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:12:55 -0700

The Healthy Discussion
-A guide to, you guessed it, a Healthy Discussion.

So, out of nowhere I decided to post this, hoping it would help someone / prove to be somewhat useful or present a good read.

In my opinion, a healthy discussion is where the people involved in said discussion listen to each other’s points, whether you view them as insignificant, poorly presented or otherwise at fault, before you reply with your own argument. This shows the other part that you not only respect them, but value their opinion and words without carelessly throwing them over your shoulder and not reviewing what they say and then replying with your own argument, stating that this is the only right option.

While you can put in your personal view on things, do not bluntly deny everyone else and perceive everything as an attack against you personally. A discussion is about a subject, the matter at hand, It’s not about hitting your opponent until he accepts your values or beliefs / agrees with you.

Listen.
Respect each other.
Keep to the subject of the discussion.
Do not get personal, nor shall you perceive anything as a personal attack against you unless that is the clear purpose of the statement.
Do not put words in your opponent’s mouth. They said what they said, not what you wanted them to say. If you’re confused, ask, and never think you heard differently and telling everyone what you heard, when in fact it was not at all what was said.

Below I shall post some examples:
EXAMPLE 1:
Subject 1: “I don’t believe that we should join in this assault on the village, sir. As it goes against my beliefs and the general order for which our country stands for.”
Subject 2: “Well, I say we attack right away, yes? Good. You’ll attack when I tell you damnit! Left flank advance!”

In the above example, subject 1 presents his views and case on the matter, while Subject 2 shows no signs of having listened or understood what Subject 1 was talking about. This is not a healthy discussion, infact, no discussion took place.
EXAMPLE 2:

Subject 1: “I don’t believe that we should join in this assault on the village, sir. As it goes against my beliefs and the general order for which our country stands for.”
Subject 2: “Your personal opinion means little, as we are a unit under a higher command, yet I understand your view. Our country might be just and proud, but we have our orders, recruit. Wether we like them or not.”

Now, in this example, subject 1 presents his case, while subject 2 replies to what he said, showing that he listened, and processed what was presented by subject 1. From this point, Subject 1 could continue to question the mentioned orders, and, if subject 2 continues to listen and respond accordingly, this would be a healthy discussion.

Sorry for the terribly coding of this thing..

A Practical Guide To Trust Duels

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:59:41 -0700

A Practical Guide To Trust Duels

We have all either seen or heard of it, two combatants locked in combat. The Victor is unknown, and the stakes are high. They exchange blows back and forth, neither able to get the upper hand… And 45 minutes later, neither side has taken a serious injury because neither one wants to loose, or worst, die.

This is an issue that can arise during trust duels, and it’s understandable why. No side rolls dice, both players trusting that the other will play fair, and allow some hits to take place. The sad truth is trust duels can be one of the most frustrating RP experiences. So I have made a practical guide that may help trust duels stay an epic combat, and not an annoying exchange of blows.

Disclaimer
This guide outlines one of many ways you can conduct a trust-duel, this manner of dueling is not for everyone, and players are encourages to take what is useful to them and leave the rest.
It is the duty of each participant to communicate how they wish to conduct the fight.

1- Determine each characters relative level of skill compared to their opponent:
This can be done in party chat, whisper, or even through a clever use of emotes. This is to ensure that descriptions of blows stay somewhat accurate to skill difference.
Ex. Little Timmy’s novice knight would not be able to nimbly dodge every attack by Big Mike’s seasoned assassin.

2- Determine the victor of the duel (Optional):
This can be done through dice roll, rock paper scissors, pick a number, and what not. The important thing is not how you decide victor, but who the victor is. This will ensure that there will be a foreseeable end to the duel and not a mindless throwing of blows. Also keep in mind, the planned victor is tentative and can be subject to change.
For example, I was in a trust fight with someone where a victor was chosen (me). at the end of the fight my opponent performs a combat roll to my right and throws two daggers at me. My character is blind in the right eye and would not have seen both daggers in time to avoid both. Needless to say, I lost the fight.
Ex. Little Timmy looses in a roll off to Big Mike to see who would win the fight.

(I would encourage determining this via whisper to not spoil the surprise of onlookers.)

*Know when to lose:
If you decide to forgo determining the victor, be sure you know when to lose.
As Rensin poetically put it "There's gotta be some moment where your character can't pull off that epic backflip and gets struck in the junk with a fireball. That might be time to say 'YEP he'd probably just ball up and cry now.'"

3- Determine the end result of the duel:
Nothing special here, just decides if the duel will end in player death, maiming, minor wounds, and so on. By doing this it insures that both players get to chime in on ideas of how to end it.
Ex. Since Little Timmy lost the roll he knows he will lose the fight, he works it out with big mike that the duel will result in him being left with a hideous scar on his face.

(I would encourage determining this via whisper to not spoil the surprise of onlookers.)

4- Determine how the fight will proceed:
This is where the player takes it upon him/herself to decide how the fight may go for the character. This is not a hit by hit plan of the fight, but more how your character will perform during the fight. This should be based off your players own personal abilities. Also keep in mind that even the best laid plans fall apart after first contact, so be flexible.
Ex. Little Timmy decides that it is within his characters ability to start the combat out strong and tapper off as he tires.

5- Have fun with it:
Trust duels can be some of the most entertaining RP experiences one could have. Don’t get discouraged if it is decided you will lose a fight, use that opportunity to flesh your character out further. Sure Little Timmy may have lost this fight to Big Mike, but as a result, Little Timmy started to step up his training and eventually becomes a master at arms of Stormwind.

How a pre-duel discusion might play out.

Little Timmy (LT): My character is a novice knight, though he regularly surpasses his fellow knights in training, he has no real combat experience.

Big Mike (BM): My Assassin was trained at a very young age in the art of combat, he has conducted many assassinations as is considered one of the best duelists in his guild.

LT: Ok, so you are probably going to show a lot more skill in combat than I will. Roll for Victor?

BM: Sounds good (Roll 83)

LT: (Roll 27) Damn, guess you win.

BM: How do you want it to end?

LT: I don't want him to die... can you live with a hideous scar across the face?

BM: Can do.

Little Timmy decides that his character, because of his lack of combat experience, would likely throw everything he has into the start of the fight, but tire as the fight draws on longer than he thinks it should.

LT: You attack first, Ready?

BM: Set!

Violence ensues!

Closing thoughts

If you take away nothing else, take away the need to communicate. If players communicate thoughts, concerns, and goals before/during the duel, each player will walk away happy and enjoy a fun RP experience!

Upcoming Practical Guide

I have currently started work on "A Practical Guide to Impromptu Roll Play Events" this will outline one, of many, ways a player can add some flair to open roll play (or guild roll plays) by adding possible/plausible plots, without annoying everyone in the area. I am taking input from anyone who has ideas to throw at me. Please PM me with your ideas and I will see about adding them to the list. .

Surviving CotH for New Players: A guide

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:56:06 -0700

Hello and welcome to Conquest of the Horde! Now that your introduction has been accepted and you're ready to log into our world, you may find yourself just a tad bit confused over things in-game and on the forums. This is a guide in order to help everyone get a better understanding so you may be prepared to log into the world of CotH!

I logged in, so, now what?

If you don't want to feel like leveling and want to get right into knowing the community, then chances are you'll want to head over to the OOC Zone in order to talk to people and get to know the community a bit more without RPing right away.

How can you do that?

With these little guys:

Spoiler:

Those things are OOC portals. They are your connection to the rest of the server. They take you to other cities, places made for role-play and as of recent event take you to current on-going event areas. There is a portal in every starting zone and ever city for each race.

Portal Locations: Horde

Blood Elves will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Blood Elf

Spoiler:

Silvermoon City: At the front gate.

Spoiler:

Forsaken will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Forsaken [Just up the Path]

Spoiler:

Undercity: In the Courtyard, leaving the throne room.

Spoiler:

Orcs/Trolls will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Orcs

Spoiler:

Starting Zone: Trolls

Spoiler:

Razor Hill: In the center of Town

Spoiler:

Orgrimmar: At the front gate

Spoiler:

Tauren will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Tauren

Spoiler:

Thunder Bluff: In between the lifts at the top.

Spoiler:

Portal Locations: Alliance

Draenei will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Draenei

Spoiler:

Exodar: In front of the gate.

Spoiler:

Dwarf/Gnomes will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Dwarf

Spoiler:

Starting Zone: Gnomes (Right behind where you spawn)

Spoiler:

Ironforge: Inside the city just past the gate.

Spoiler:

Humans will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Human

Spoiler:

Goldshire: Between the Forge and Inn

Spoiler:

Stormwind: In front of the bank

Spoiler:

Night Elves will find them in the following locations:

Starting Zone: Night Elf

Spoiler:

Darnassus: Next to the bank [The bear shaped tree]

Spoiler:

OOC Area: GM Island

When you make your way to the portal, the first place you're going to want to go when not RPing is the Out of character area [OOC Area]. This place is your one-stop shop for most everything. It has your class trainer, profession trainers, armor vendors and even custom items vendors that our GMs have been so kind to provide us with.

All the profession vendors are in the Airship in the sky. Use the portal on the hill near it in order to get up on there if you lack a flying mount. Class trainers are inside and on the top floor of the building on GMI. The tattoo, special weapons vendor, EXP eliminator, clothing/accessory vendors and the two NPCs involved in the gold quest are on the middle floor. The transmog, void storage, barbor chairs, level 85 gear vendors and the guild registry/tabard vendor are all on the bottom level. The riding trainer, Innkeeper and special mount vendor is are all on the outside of the GMI building. All off and alone, near the OOC portal on the dock, is the fishing trainer.

What's with that shrine to the side?

That is the Dice Shrine. Receive its blessings before you go out into the world in RP, for it may just turn the tide in your next roll battle. The dice dogs are cruel yet merciful, they teach us humility. Glory to the dice!

What's with the Slime by the trees?
WORGEN READ HERE.

Worgen learn all their racial abilities from the Oozling of training. Go to this NPC [near the dice shrine] in order to learn all worgen racial abilities, this includes the ability to shift forms as well as being able to use running wild. They're all free, just get the scrolls from the NPC, exit it's sales window and right click the scrolls to learn the ability.

Open Office

One of the many important things that goes on in OOC is Open Office. It is during this time that GMs will make a global announcement and take any questions, comments or concern that you may have. You can ask them about character concepts, have them take tokens to level you to 50 and even answer any tickets you may have open during the time. If other people are there and in the chair, it is asked that you remain quiet until they are finished asking and are satisfied with the answer they received.

When Open Office is not being held, but you need a GM, you can always contact one by using the .gm ingame command and whisper one of the GMs that appear on the list!

Playing Dress-up

Now that you know all about the OOCC, you might be wondering about everyone in all their fancy gear and...is that mage wearing a warlock raid set? What about that death knight decked up in paladin armor? Something seems a little off here...doesn't armor have restrictions?

Normal armor carries the same restrictions you may be used to, however RP items have lessened these restrictions.

What restrictions are still in place?

You cannot wear armor outside what your class can wear. Mages will not be running around in leather armor and priests cannot wield giant two-handed swords. We like to keep it in the realm of realism of what each class can wear and what weapons they would know how to use. Legendary items and lore items are also off-limits. Some items are restricted to faction but there is no set list on what is and is not.

Why do the items all have +25 stamina?

The RP items have minor states so that you are able to transmog them with real gear, this way you're not fully undefended when you go out to RP in areas with mobs. When a character hits 85, they gain access to two vendors who sell gear and weapons that you can use to transmog your RP sets. The two Orcs are located at the bottom level of GMI across from the tabard dealer.

How do I get these items?

There are a couple ways to go out about this. First off are the commands. The two commands you need to know are;

.lo rp [.lookup rpitem]
.add [.addrpitem]

The first command is for looking up an item in the database in order to preview it as well as being able to add it to your inventory easily. If an item does not show up on this list, it means it is a custom item, a Cata item or it is unavailable to players for whatever reason. The second command is for adding the item you want to your bags. Unless you have downloaded the fix, added items will come up as a giant red question mark. They also go invisible when you put them in your bank, but the item can be seen by hovering over the slot the item is in.

To add an item, just follow these simple steps:

Type .lo rp and part of the item's name. A list should come up like so [I used .lo rp Staff of for this example]

Spoiler:

From there, I decided that I want to add [Greatstaff of the Nexus]. I do this by typing in .add and then shift-clicking the name of the item in the list given and then hit enter. (.add [Greatstaff of the Nexus]) The item should be added to your bag and from there you can equip it to your character.

Another method you can use is by finding the item number of the item you want displayed. To do this, go to www.wowhead.com and search for the item you want. The item ID number will show up in the URL as the last part of the url. Once more I am using [Greatstaff of the Nexus] as an example.

wowhead.com/item=40489

Take the number at the end of the URL, in this case 40489, and add the number 200000 [five zeros] to it. The number will come out to be 240489. Once you have the proper item ID number with 200000 added to it just type in .add and the item number. For this example, it would be .add 240489. Once you hit enter, the item should have been added into your inventory.

A list of items that do not show up on wowhead, but are addable to your inventory can be found here, in Kretol's blog.

Profile section clarification

So now you're all snazzed up, strutting down the city streets with that fresh new look while you wait out your month to be able to apply for gruntship. You have an idea for your character and you're ready to share it to the world. It is time to put your lore knowledge out there and write a character profile to go though the submission process! Before we get to that though, it's best to explain what each section of the board means to avoid confusion.

Character profiles [The main section where all the sub-forums show]

This spot is for profiles that have been spell-checked, grammar checked and lore-checked by yourself. You only put a profile here when it is, to the best of your knowledge, as grammatically correct and lore friendly as you can possible make it. This is the first step of the profile approval process. In this section, GMs and Forum Helpers [FHs] will comment on your profile and help you out with anything they find that might be wrong! We will try to be as gentle with you as possible should mistakes be found and we want to work with you to make sure your knowledge in lore increases as you dive into our server!

Note: Just because we point something out is not a reason for panic! Everyone can only learn from the experience.

Note: Grunts and Peons are allowed to comment on profiles, but you do not have to take their word as finial. Don't shrug their comments off though, they might have a good point! If, at any moment, you feel as though someone is talking down to you or being rude to you about a profile, do not hesitate to speak to a GM about it. Rudeness is not tolerated.

Initial Approval

I was given initial approval in my profile, what does that mean? Did I do something wrong?

These are the most common questions I receive when someone gets an initial stamp on their profile. If something was off, a comment would follow the stamp. If you simply see the words 'Initial approval', don't fret! This section is for FHs/GMs to use when they think a profile is fine, but would like a second opinion on it before it makes it's way to being fully approved. It could be moved here for any number of reasons such as the reader not being sure with the lore of that race or they're not too sure if something should be an issue or not. This does not mean you did anything wrong, it is a tool for us to use to better ourselves with familiarizing with new things.

For example, I am horrible with Tauren, Gnome and Dwarf lore. Normally when I come across a profile that contains these races, I give it an initial if nothing sticks out to me as needing to be fixed. This is not because of the writer, it is because I am not good with the lore and fear that I might have missed something major because I am not the best with Gnomes. Another FH or Gm that knows the subject will then pick the profile up from there.

Workshop

This section is where you can post profiles that are a work-in-progress [WIP] and get feedback from the community about how to make it better before you even post it in the normal sections. Use and abuse this section as much as you want. Remember though, threads in this section will be automatically deleted after ninety [90] days of the last post.

Note: Inactive profiles are moved here after six days of no updates or response.

Approved Profiles Pending Gruntship

Approved profiles of Peons are moved here once they are given a full okay! Once you become a grunt, the profiles will be moved out to the 'Profiles to Wikify' sub-forum.

Profiles to Wikify

Fully approved profiles of Grunts, FHs and GMs will be moved here. Once the profile is put on the wiki, it will be moved to the 'Approved Profile Archives'.

Approved Profile Archives

Profiles that are fully approved and put onto the wiki get moved here for archiving purposes.

Special Profiles

See here for more information.

This section isn't something your really need to worry about until you become a grunt, as peons are not able to submit special profiles, but I will still give a bit of clarity on this section. Special profiles are for characters who are special classes, such as demon hunters, or who have any sort of influence or power on the character. The most common example of this is characters who are of nobility because they get wealth and influence due to being a noble. Special profiles are posted in the PD with a title such as:

Reigen [Blood Elf] [Death Knight] [Dragonsworn/Noble]

Note: Special profiles can only be approved by a GM, and require two approvals, thus they take a bit longer than a normal profile to get approved.

The following things are only allowable though special profiles or other special processes:

Nobles
Characters that are an officer or above [See here for ranks.]
Demon hunters
Dragonsworn
Felsworn
Guards/Wardens
Officials with political sway
Non-CMC ghoul minions.

Custom Model Characters [CMCs]
CMCs are granted to Grunts only, though getting one is a rare occurrence. Any race beyond what you see at the character creation screen is considered a CMC and must be applied for in the proper section. Kretol is the only one who may approve these.

Your first profile!

Now that you've got an understanding of the different sections in the Character Profile forum, it's time to write your very first profile. I highly suggest you work on it first in the workshop in order to receive help from other players before you post it in the main section, but that's up to you! I'll break down the template for you here to clear up any sort of confusion. The template for profiles can be found here.

General information:

Spoiler:

Weight and Height: This is part of the general info section, but broken off due for clarification.

Spoiler:

Appearance:

Spoiler:

Personality:

Spoiler:

History:

Spoiler:

When you feel your profile is ready to post in the main section, be sure to check that you have everything needed in order to make sure the profile passes though quickly. Before you post a profile you will want to take a look at this. Here's a checklist for you before you submit a profile:

All sections [alignment, other and skills and abilities excluded] are filled out.
The history and personality section comes out to at least ten full lines across when posted.
There are no colors, bolding and italic in the profile.
It has been proof-read for spelling and grammar errors. It is encouraged you get an outsider to proof-read it for you, or that you read it out loud.
The title of the thread contains the name, race and class of the character.

IMPORTANT

When writing a profile, know that it is okay to draw inspiration from other sources. There is a fine line between taking inspiration and stealing though and it is important you know the difference.

What is okay

Taking a character concept and fitting it with WoW lore and standards.
Twisting the name to be similar, yet different. [Leona - Lieonai]
Making hints to the original work. [Chosen by the sun - Character deluded into thinking the sun speaks to her]

Here is an example of a character that takes inspiration from a game:

My character Lieonai is a paladin who worships the sun due to a paranoia she had over the darkness. When visiting the Sunwell after it's restoration, she was deluded into thinking the sun was speaking to her though it, wanting her to do it's bidding. She now goes around protecting others who embrace the sun because she thinks that is her purpose in life.

The character she is based off of is Leona from League of Legends. In this case, the character was going to be killed for refusing to kill another, but the sun saved her and chose her to be its champion. This character is a tank with a large shield, thus it made sense to make it a blood elf paladin for me. The back stories are not the same at all and there is a hint or two to the original work.

What is not okay

Trying to make up your own lore in order to make the character fit.
Using exact names right down to the spelling.
Taking names, places and terms right from the original work. [City of Night - City of Night]

Here is an example of stealing a character:

Edward is a Night elf death knight who is in love with a human and has a rare skin condition which causes him to sparkle in the sunlight. His whole family are death knights who live in this super secret place that no one can find because of magic stones that the death knights made. The human wants to be turned into a death knight but he refuses because of how much he loves her. There's a worgen in there too causing problems for his Love.

END IMPORTANT

Private Discussion Forum

Have a concept that you're not sure will fly? Want to talk over a few event ideas with the GMs? This is the spot to go! The private discussion forum is a place where players can go and post ideas that that you would like GM feedback on before going public with it. Do not be afraid to use this section when you think of a pretty awesome idea. This way you can get the word of each GM so everyone can reach an understanding. Keep in mind you will not see any topics but your own, so don't think it's empty. Check back to the section often, as it will not pop up on the 'Latest Treads' list. It may take the GMs a bit to get to it, but rest assured they'll get to anything as fast as they can!

Obtaining Gruntship

All that's left after getting your first profile approved is to wait for your month to be up before you apply for gruntship. In this section, I'll highlight the requirements as well as mention how to make sure everything goes smoothly for your application, so that it can be approved as fast as possible.

Requirements:

A month of activity
One approved profile
A story in your introduction or somewhere on the forums

Tips for getting approved

Make sure you're actually active in the community.

If we don't know who you are, chances are we're not going to approve you unless we've seen you around. Posting on the forums helps a lot as well as making yourself known in-game as ready and willing to start some RP. Strike up friendly conversations in Barrens and in OOCC. The more vocal you are, the more we'll be able to look at an application and go "Oh hey, this person is totally active!".

Make sure you have a story in your introduction

Believe it or not, a lot of people forget to add in a story by the time they apply to be a grunt. If you posted a story, but it's somewhere else on the forums, link it in the application. We're not going to go searching though your posts on the off chance that you did post one somewhere beyond your introduction.

Give detailed answers

We want to know what you really think so the server can grow and improve to be a better place for everyone involved. If you give us short, vague answers we cannot possible learn from our mistakes in order to improve the community. The more detailed the answers are, the happier we are, even if it's pointing out things you dislike and wish would change. Please avoid one-lined answers and pour your heart out to us. No matter what you say, good or bad, it will not effect our decision in approving the questionnaire.

Have all eight questions answered.

Sometimes people forget to scroll down with the template and only end up with four out of the eight questions needed.

Ending Notes

Once all is said and done and you've made it past your first month on CoTH, give yourself a pat on the back!

Thanks for reading and I hope this guide helps you out though any confusion you may have about this server. If you still have questions, or think there's something that you'd like to see added for future users, shoot me a PM or post here and I'll go about adding it to the right section. I hope you enjoy your time while here and get to experience all the great things that keeps most of us here.

A special thanks to all the GMs and FHs who helped with making this guide as informative as possible.

'Kill On Sight' Guide

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:48:36 -0700

Seeing as this issue has come up recently, I've decided to write a guide to remedy the 'wait I can be killed here' thing.

Note. This is just how I have NPCs react when I'm controlling them as a GM. I do not know how other GMs will handle it. Do not treat this 'guide' as the gospel to entering hostile territories.

Righto. I'm going to list a number of places that faction NPCs will kill-on-sight members of the opposing faction in. Here we go.

Alliance Controlled
Elwynn Forest
Westfall
Duskwood
Redridge Mountains
Dun Morogh
Loch Modan
Azuremyst Isle
Bloodmyst Isle
Teldrassil
Darkshore
Mount Hyjal

Horde Controlled
Eversong Woods
Ghostlands
Tirisfal Glades
Isle of Quel'Danas (Save Neutral Zones)
Durotar
Mulgore

Predicted FAQ

What if my character is caught in one of these areas? Do I immediately die?

Spoiler:

Wait a minute. What about Ashenvale? Wouldn't the elves kill anyone who enters?

Spoiler:

What if I go near a town/settlement/fort/etc that isn't in a listed region?

Spoiler:

What are the severity of punishments?

Spoiler:

How should players react to seeing someone of the opposing faction in one of these areas?

Spoiler:

But 'X' is my character's snuggle muffin and she will vouch for h-

Spoiler:

Tourist Guide to OOC Cavern (v0.4b) - WIP

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:20:37 -0700

Tourist Guide to OOC Cavern

1. What is the OOC Cavern?

The OOC Cavern is CotH’s Out of Character zone, where you can socialize with other players OOCly, acquire some gear for yourself, level professions, buy goodies, train class abilities and get everything that you might want or need for your Roleplay experience on CotH. It is an uninstanced version of Onyxia’s Lair and can be accessed through any OOC Portal (Portal Main Menu -> Neutral Hubs -> OOC Cavern).
The OOC portals themselves can be found in all capitals, all starting zones, all Goblin cities and all custom RP locations.

2. General Map of the Cavern (Needs Improving)

Spoiler:

3. The NPCs (Screenshots - coming in future updates)
The South Side NPCs - they are the most commonly used for daily purposes

Spoiler:

The Professions Corner - Trainers and Suppliers (ordered from south to north)

Spoiler:

The Combat Mentors (Class Trainers and Weapon Masters)

Spoiler:

The Earthshakers

Spoiler:

The Clothiers

Spoiler:

The Armorers and the Heirloom Vendors

Spoiler:

And last, but not least... the useless

Spoiler:

4. Portals and Teleporters (Brief Guide)

The Transpolyporters

These are four Goblin devices, found on the south-west side of the main hall. Each of them leads to one of the four Steamwheedle Cartel towns – Everlook, Booty Bay, Ratchet and Gadgetzan.

The Argent Tournament (Icecrown) Portal

As you can guess, this portal will take you to the Argent Tournament in Icecrown. It’s a great place to farm gold through dailies once you ding 80. It is located just north of the Transpolyporters.

The Portal

Also known as The OOC Teleporter. It is the most important portal of all on CotH. It is present in every capital city, every goblin town, every custom RP location and every starting zone. It is located centrally at the entrance of the cavern and it can take you to the following places:

Spoiler:

The Portal also offers teleporting to all possible instances, sorted by level requirements.

5. The Other Goodies

Spoiler:

6. Credits, notes, impressions, yada-yada…

Spoiler:

Coming Soon

Spoiler:

Changelog

Spoiler:

WMV + GIMP = Animated Avatars

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:06:02 -0700

As requested, I've written up a fairly detailed tutorial designed to help people use the WoW Model Viewer (WMV) and GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) to create animated avatars.

Estimated time of completion: approximately thirty (30) minutes for a neophyte.

Requirements
In order to complete this tutorial, you will require:

Wow Model Viewer, a tool that allows us to view and capture models/animations from the World of Warcraft game and expansions; and
GNU Image Manipulation Program, free image editing software that is capable of producing animations.

Files
I have put together a compressed folder containing files related to this tutorial; you are encouraged to download it and use the provided files while following along with the steps. tutorial.zip contains the following files:

sg-combine-bg.scm: A GIMP script that adds two commands which either overlays or combines the background (bottom) layer to the rest of the visible layers. These commands can be accessed in Filters → Animation once installed.
goode-animation-settings.scm: A GIMP script that sets the Frame delay and mode of GIF animations by renaming visible layers. This command can be accessed in FX-Foundry → Animation → Change Settings... once installed.
jormungar.gif: The exported WMV animation that will be used to make the complete avatar.
background.jpeg: A background image that will be placed behind the jormungar animation.
frame.psd: A template used to frame-in the avatar and also give it its dimensions.

0: Preparation
Before beginning with the actual tutorial, lets get set up. These steps are optional, but I would strongly encourage you to do them in order to minimize the amount of work you'll do later.

Download and extract tutorial.zip.
Locate the two scripts (sg-combine-bg.scm and goode-animation-settings.scm) and install them by placing them in the folder from which scripts are loaded in GIMP.
- TIP
  By default, this folder is located in share/gimp/2.0/scripts of your install of GIMP.

1: WMV
I begin in GIMP, which is where I acquire the model animation that will be used in my animated avatar.

Open WMV.
A prompt should appear saying, "Would you like to load World of Warcraft right now?" Click Yes.
- NOTE
  You may get another prompt after this that says, "Compatible Wrath of the Lich King Version Found." This is a warning that informs you that while the program is currently able to read this not-current version of World of Warcraft, this may not be the case in the future. If you see this it is probably because the program is loading files from your Conquest of the Horde install, which is not currently up-to-date.
WMV will finish loading the libraries and then you can begin.
I begin by picking a background color (View → Background Color...).
- TIP
  An image's background color is the color that will become transparent when exporting the animation. It is therefore important that you pick a color that will not appear on your model. Green (RGB 0/255/0) and blue (RGB 0/0/255) tend to be excellent choices. As an aside, these are also the colors typically used for green/blue screen and chroma key effects because they are unlikely to be in the composition and are so saturated.
From the File List box select Creature. Pick Jormungar and then jormungar.m2.
Select the desired animation from the first drop-down in the Animation box.
- NOTE
  For those wishing to follow along with my efforts, I've chosen Stand [0].
Using your mouse, move the model around to get the view and perspective that you want.
- TIP
  The mousewheel zooms the model in and out. Dragging the mouse while holding the left button rotates the model. Dragging the mouse while holding the right button moves the model.
Select the desired skin from the second drop-down in the Animation box.
- NOTE
  For those wishing to follow along with my efforts, I've chosen JormungarBlue.
Go to View and then Model Control in the menu bar.
Once the dialogue box appears, uncheck Particles.
- TIP
  Particles are typically what gives the model its glowing effect. However, these often do not appear properly when you save the image (especially if you elect to have transparency). It is usually best to turn this off every time you save an image.
At this point, you should have something similar to this:
- QUESTION
  Why is your layout different from mine? All of the boxes displayed within WMV can be moved and docked to your heart's content. I've chosen to limit how much space they take up in order to have the greatest available space for my model. This helps ensure a larger image when exported, which in turn can help me make a better quality image.
Assuming that this is the final animation that I want, I can now export it. From the menu bar select File and then GIF/Sequence Export.
Choose the folder in which you'd like to save the animation and give the file a name if desired.
- NOTE
  I've chosen to store everything in a Tutorial folder on my Desktop. The file is called jormungar.gif.
Hit Save when you're satisfied.
A new dialogue box appears called the Animation Exporter.
- TIP
  Generally, there are two things with which I am concerned on this box: the Total Frames on the animation and ensuring that Transparency is selected. I generally want a relatively low number of frames for for a handful of reasons, including reducing the amount of work that I need to do and also in order to meet any file size restrictions that may exist on the site on which my avatar will appear.
- NOTE
  If the Transparency box is already selected, deselect and reselect it. WMV frequently will initially display this box as checked, but the final result will not be transparent. This occurs after you've already exported an animation during the same session.
Click Start.
Wait as the exporter does its work.
- QUESTION
  Why does the exporter seem to stop before the final frame? Is something wrong? You may find that the exporter will stop at the penultimate frame (in this case, 47 of 4. This does not mean that the animation is incomplete; for whatever reason, WMV will not display notification that the final frame has been complete or close the dialogue box. Your only options are to ignore it, attempt to export another animation and then cancel it, or close out the program entirely.
Once done, close WMV if desired.

2: GIMP
The animation has been selected, modified, positioned, and exported. I'm now ready to begin piecing together my final animation!

Open GIMP.
Open your animation. From the menu bar select File and then Open.... You can also open files with the (Windows) shortcut Ctrl-O.
- NOTE
  For those wishing to follow along with my efforts, the file is jormungar.gif. It has been included in the compressed file provided with this tutorial.
Change the mode of the image from Indexed to RGB: in the menu bar, select Image → Mode → RGB.
- NOTE
  The GIF originally has indexed colors. This is a limited palette with 256 or less colors. Many filters and tools will not work while in this mode. Though the final animation will be compressed back down to 256 or less colors, we'll be working on it in RGB mode.
- TIP
  We can test the unedited animation at any time using GIMP's Playback filter. I like to preview files before working just in case something happened to it during WMV's export. The Playback is accessible in the menu bar under Filters → Animation → Playback. This will open a new window; hit Play to see the animation. When completed, feel free to close this window.
Time to bring in the background! There are a number of ways to do this, but the easiest is to open the image as a new layer. This is done through the menu bar by selecting File → Open as Layers..., and then choosing the desired file.
- NOTE
  For those wishing to follow along with my efforts, I will use background.jpeg, which has been provided within the tutorial.zip compressed folder.
- QUESTION
  Why doesn't my background look right? The colors are all off! More likely than not, you did not complete the third step properly and the image continues to have indexed colors. This new layer is constrained by the palette of the original animation.
In the Layers window, move the new layer -- background.jpeg -- below the top frame of the animation in order to see how it looks.
- QUESTION
  Layers window? What? Where? The Layers window can be brought up either through the menu bar by clicking Windows → Dockable Dialogues →Layers or by using the (Windows) shortcut Ctrl-L.
- QUESTION
  How do I move layers? In the Layers window, you left-click on a layer and then drag it to the desired location. Alternatively, you can use the green down arrow to move the selected layer down one level; clicking this repeatedly will eventually bring it to the bottom.
- NOTE
  At this point, I can edit the background.jpeg layer to fit my needs. I could change the color, size, and location of the image using various tools within GIMP. However, I like it exactly as it is currently.
Place the background layer on every frame of the original animation.
- NOTE
  GIMP treats each layer as a frame when it makes an animation. Each frame can either replace or build upon the one proceeding it in the animation. As a result, each layer of the original animation needs to be placed on top of the background and then combined.
- TIP
  Did you install the scripts contained in the compressed folder? I hope so -- this is where they come in handy. Rather than duplicate the background.jpeg layer 47 times and then merge each frame of the original animation down onto one of these duplicated layers, we can use the script to automatically do this for us! Move background.jpeg to the very bottom of the list in the Layers window. Then, from the menu bar, select Filters → Animation → Combine background. Once the script is done running, delete the background.jpeg layer.
Resize the image by selecting Image → Scale Image from the menu bar.
- NOTE
  Based on the size of the images that I typically export from WMV, I tend to choose something around 200 pixels in height and then resize the image further based on my needs. In this case, however, I know that I want to see more of the jormungar in the finished animation, so I've chosen 125 pixels.
Import the frame.psd provided in the compressed folder by opening it as a new layer (in the menu bar, File → Open as Layers..., and then choosing the desired file).
Use the Move Tool (found in the Toolbox) to place the contents of frame.psd where you'd like it to be.
Crop the animation to the dimensions of the frame. With the frame.psd layer selected, go to Images in the menu bar and select Autocrop Image.
Like the background before, place frame.psd on every layer of the animation.
- TIP
  And just like before, it's much easier to let the provided script do this for you rather than go frame-by-frame. Move the frame.psd layer to the very bottom of the Layers window. Run the script by selecting Filters → Animation → Overlay background in the menu bar. Make sure to delete frame.psd when it is completed.
If we are satisfied with what we currently have, we can now optimize this animation in preparation for use. This is done by selecting Filters → Animation → Optimize (for GIF).
The optimized animation will open in a new window. Save the image by going to File → Save or using the (Windows) short Ctrl-S.
Choose the folder in which you'd like to save the animation and give the file a different name if desired.
- TIP
  Make sure to give your file name the .gif extension when you name it. By default, GIMP will save it as a GIMP XCF image which cannot be viewed as an animation in any browser.
Hit Save when you're satisfied.
A new dialogue box will appear. Select the Save as Animation radio button if it is not already checked and then Export.
Another dialogue box appears. The only one with which we are concerned is Loop forever; make sure that this is checked.
Hit Save.
That's it! Feel free to save your unoptimized file if desired and then close GIMP.

If you've been following along and working with the provided images, you should now have a spiffy animated jormungar avatar very similar to the one that I created earlier for use by the community.

He's beautiful!

Feel free to reply to this thread with your results!

Peerless Pressure - The Art of Making RP

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:38:31 -0800

So you want to start up some RP, eh?

I've noticed quite a bit of frustration lately due to what is coined as "fad RP", or when a certain place becomes "the hub" where most players goes to visit. It is not a new phenomenon, as when any place gets popular, the battle cry inevitably follows:

"RP AT ??? WHY IS THERE NEVER RP ANYWHERE ELSE?"

The problem isn't the call for variety. Everyone likes to mix things up sometimes and get a totally new and exciting experience out of their RP. So when "the hub" moves, the question becomes: why is the complaint still the exact same, even though people have gotten the change of venue they asked for? The answer is simple, and just a modification of the battle cry:

"RP AT ??? WHY IS THERE NEVER RP WHERE I WANT IT TO BE?"

This is the heart of the conflict. While people like variety, they inevitably favor certain things above all else. I like a good Dwarf RP myself, or a good Horde Clan gathering. Also, Undead Pirate RP is of particular interest. So when I'm in the mood for something, I have two choices:

Take my kind of RP to "the hub" and hope people there are into that kind of thing.
Start up my very own RP at the location I want it to happen in.

The first is the quickest solution, as there is already an audience for my shenanigans. But sometimes, "the hub" just doesn't fit my particular idea. I doubt a womanizing Dwarf can get much action in the catacombs, unless he's ready to get -really- nasty. Sometime, you just have to gather your own flock and lead them to the promised zone.

So sensei, how do I ever find the RP that -I- want?

I am so glad you asked! Or at least was thinking about asking...maybe...kinda sorta... Anyway, there is this assumption that if you don't go to the hub, no one will go anywhere else. And it's not a completely unfounded fear, as I've seen many a LFG message go unheeded. But fear not, oh ye of little faith, because I'm gonna teach you how to succeed at getting RP without really trying!

Now at least one of you will call BULLS---tuff because of my sheer number of alts. "OF COURSE -YOU- GET RP! YOU GOT, LIKE, 20 CHARACTERS TO CHOOSE FROM! I ONLY GOT 2 AT BEST!" This is true, but as an altoholic, I have learned many valuable lessons about characters as it pertains to getting RP.

Let me tell you a story about a man named Jeb---Jonoth....who joined this supercoolawesomedope RP server. He intended to only play 2 or 3 characters at best, and started with a superb, dashing, mysterious, insane bounty hunter (did I say handsome? I meant to put that in there somewhere). But...this awesome man had trouble fitting in with the RP that was going on in "the hub" of the time, and as a new player I didn't have the reputation...the "brand name"...to just attract RP to him like moths to light. Like metal to a magnet. Like a hipster to skinny jeans. So I started making alts. I figured If I had one of everything, I can end up where the action is! Which worked!...kinda.

Yes, alting like a baws helped me meet more RPers, but it leaves you with a dilemma. With so many characters, its hard to keep up with them all, and inevitably, some get neglected, which means people that play with them get neglected, which means that RP may not be there when you return, and the people you had fun with may not want to play with you again.

If not alting, then what can I do?

There is still lots you can do! Here I present to you.....

Jonoth's (Only) Five Commandments For Finding RP!

1. Thou shall not make plain, boring, generic requests for RP and expect to get any. I hear it all the time. "But I announced it in LFG! How come they aren't coming?" They aren't coming because your LFG post had about as much personality in it as a slice of white bread and a glass of water. Rule number 1 about RP: People want to enjoy RP. I know this sounds a little biased because some people are naturally more entertaining than others. But, if you put no pep at all into your request for RP, people are just going to assume that nothing interesting is going to happen.

So instead of "LF RP", or "RP in ", you have to sell it like something interesting will happen! "TUN'KAR, STRONGEST ORC THERE IS, GONNA HAGGLE THIS PRICE! WILL HE GET FOR ONE COPPER OR TWO? ONLY ONE WAY FIND OUT!" Mind you, you can't (and shouldn't) all caps in LFG, but I just made buying something from a Goblin sound like a heavyweight fight of epic proportions is going down! Even if a little silly, people will come because at the very least they will get a laugh out of it. Humor doesn't have to be involved in the request, just something that makes it sound like you are excited about what is going to happen, so they can get excited too.

2. Thou shall roll at least one alt that is not confined to a single place/region. This one is pretty important, because the next biggest complaints are "All the RP is RP!" and "My character isn't anywhere near !" Some days, you'll crave playing with a particular character. For everything else, there's Mast--there's the "everywhere" character.

I have a couple of these myself. One is a mage, who's teleporting provides her the ability to pop up anyplace, and her Argent Dawn background allows her to interact with any race in at least passing terms. Then there is Remyl, who by virtue of his womanizing will interact with any race as long as it has lady parts, and because he's not central in any story or plot, I can always make up an excuse why he's in any place (namely, that it has broads and booze).

If you are having troubles landing in some RP, having an "everywhere" character is a good way to meet people and establish your "brand", so when you want to explore the RP you like, people will remember having fun with you, and be excited to see what you have in store.

3. Thou shall not chastize people in the OOC zone. For how often it happens, this could be number one. "Get your bums out and RP! Why are you all not RPing on an RP server! You should all be ashamed of yourself for lounging around and having a good laugh out of character!" Okay, so I made that last one up, but it is essentially how such statements will be interpreted by the people hanging out in OOC. No one likes to be chastized, and even more certainly no one wants to be chastized into RP. So don't make the people you are trying to attract upset for taking things easy, because they'll remember, and there's a high chance you'll end up on the ignore list. And that will defeat the whole point of why you raged, which was to get people to RP.

4. No one wants to RP, but everyone wants to have a great RP. That sounds like an oxymoron, but let me explain. I work as a photographer by day, taking pictures of tourists. One thing we are told in the orientation is "No one wants to take a photo, but everyone wants to take a great photo." I kinda understood it in the beginning, but to see it in action was a revelation. People will fight you on taking a picture like the camera will steal their soul, then when they see the picture buy 3 copies of it. The thing is, as I pointed out in the first commandment, that people want to have fun, and if they take a chance on your RP, they want to be rewarded with a good experience. And rightfully so! This is why you've gotta be willing to explore places you wouldn't normally, and treat people the way you want to be treated and not berate them.

5. Thou shall roll a Dwarf. Sounds biased, but requires an explanation. You get a few things built in with a Dwarf due to both stereotype and lore.

Dwarves are explorers. They have the Explorer's League for crying out loud! If any race has an easy way to explain why they are traveling, it's them.
Dwarves know how to have a good time. They are loud, funny, uninhibited. It's really hard to start new RP with an introvert, so rolling a race that likes to party naturally opens up interactions.
Dwarves value a good fight. They have a tough, don't quit attitude that makes you feel like the hero you want to be, even with a diminuitive size.
Dwarves are stocky. Both genders. So no need to feel like you are rolling the "pretty" race. Though I find Dwarf girls to be gorgeous. Heyyy pretty momma!
Dwarves are smart too. Dwarves aren't the same level of genius per se as a Gnome, but they have their share of inventions. So if a Gnome is just too geeky for you, a smart Dwarf is a good compromise.
Yes, you can do the accent. And if not, you don't need a strong one. The accent is usually excuse number one of why people don't play Dwarves. But trying can be fun! And it really helps you immerse into the character. You can do it!

Any other advice, oh masterful master of mastering mastery?
What? You want more?! THERE AIN'T NO MORE! I mean...

I stand by my points above, because I've tried them and tested them. Obviously there are issues that will come up, like people who like to troll on your ideas, or some argument on the forum that's left people in a sour mood and unwanting to RP, but in general, this is meant to be a place to start, and a way to avoid the most common pratfalls of attaining maximum RPage. And remember why you RP in the first place: to enjoy yourself! Now get out there and have fun!

Power Scale: Keeping track of NPC strength for events!

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:27:34 -0700

Power Scale!

Keeping track of the strength of your NPCs!

I'll go out on a limb and state outright here that running events can be a nightmare. You have players to worry about. Enemies to handle. Potential drama to deal with because one of your players don't like something. Hopefully this can aid in relieving a player of his or her stress at least a tiny bit.

What does this guide do? Well, it's essentially just to give the DM an idea of how to scale his NPCs in regards to one another. See, I used to play this old game called 'City of Heroes'. And while I don't play it anymore, I liked how it classified the foes of the characters in a rather simply system.

Minions, Lieutenants, Bosses, Elite Bosses, and Archvillains.

A very simple power scale which allowed one to define the threat of a foe rather quickly. Minions were torn to shreds in an instant. Which Archvillains required the attention of the entire team to handle in most situations. Now, one could easily adjust this scale to apply to characters on CotH. Thus the system I like to use is essentially this.

Fodder --> Minion/Weak PC --> Lieutenant/Average PC --> Prestige Character --> Boss --> Elite Boss --> Archvillain.

But what does it mean, Xigo?

Well, I'll tell you here, anonymous reader!

Fodder: Fodder essentially relates to 'cannon fodder'. Minions that are below minions in strength. Their purpose is to live for short periods of time, and essentially distract the enemy from greater threats. Hey, maybe they'll do some damage. There's not much to say about them other than that they're one hit-point wonders.
Examples: Summoned Minions, Husks

Minion/Weak PC: The Minion is generally considered to be disposable. While not as stupid or weak as the Fodder, they tend to be controlled by morale and by a Lieutenant. Without the greater powers on the scale leading them, they have a tendency to be 'mindless' in a sense and dictated by what is essentially their 'instinct' (A guard raising a shield to arrows, for example, would be in the realm of 'instinct'). If the going gets tough, they tend to get going unless they're a race that cares little for their own safety. Without a Lieutenant supporting them, they should fall relatively easily to the blades of their foes, while still doing some damage. Should they gang up on a PC though, they can overcome them through numbers. A weak PC such as a non-combat character or someone with a glaring wound is also in this category.
Examples: City Guardsmen, Highwaymen, Minor Demons (Imps), Soldiers, Basic Beasts

Lieutenant/Average PC: The Lieutenant is generally above the Minion both in strength and authority. Whether or not the Lieutenant's orders are actually the best course of action to take, Minions and Fodder will most likely obey the commands of the Lieutenant. They can go toe to toe with the everyday PC character and potentially come out on top, though with how things work it's likely the PCs that are going to win the battle. A Lieutenant needs not be a monster on the battlefield though, he or she just needs something that elevates him or her above Minions. Like being a healer or a mage. The average everyday PC also falls into this category of strength. For the sake of balance, pets are considered to be part of a PC's strength, the PC losing personal power in compensation for having a pet.
Examples: Sergeants, Bandit Leaders, Demons (Felguards), Greater Beasts, Priests, Mages, Necromancers, Elementals

Prestige Character: The Prestige Character has the unique position of being above the Lieutenants and below the Bosses. This essentially means that Lieutenants will generally fall to the blade of the Prestige, while it would be an upwards battle one on one against a boss (except for certain situations, like a Demon Hunter against a greater Demon). Note that NPCs that represent Prestige Classes will essentially fall into this category as well, though they can potentially be bosses instead.
Examples: Demon Hunters, Wardens, Archmages, Mountain Kings, etc, etc.

Boss: The leader of a group of enemies. Generally the Boss doesn't bother with ordering troops around, letting the Lieutenants tend to their men so he can focus on greater things. Like the PCs. Bosses should be really damn hard for any sort of player to one on one without some sort of special situation coming into play. Expect them to dominate until focused on.
Examples: Drakes, Greater Demons (Infernals), Monstrous Creatures, Captains, Ancients, War Machines, Abominations, NPC Prestige Characters

Elite Boss: Essentially the boss of a story arc. The big cheese. The guy you're all working together to ultimately take down. He has all the power, and it shows when you fight him. Generally he will appear with paltry forces, he himself being a great enough threat to take out multiple players on his own. Place this sort of character into an event with extreme caution, and give the PCs a way to escape the fight if necessary (unless character warnings were given or something).
Examples: Liches, Dragons, Elite Demons (Pit Lords), 'Big Bads'.

Archvillain: Woah damn, this guy -should not- be used except in extreme circumstances. This sort of chap could potentially be lore changing, and really -should not be played in your event-. I repeat, you -should not have a character at this strength-. Such would be neigh impossible for the players to actually defeat without some sort of trick being pulled out of a hat. If you are going to use one, be -extremely careful- with its use. I believe having a foe of this strength is absolutely unnecessary in an event. Mind you, the examples are just examples, don't go using them in your events!
Examples: Lore characters such as Varian Wrynn, Garrosh Hellscream, Rhonin, Sylvanas, and Thrall

And there! Hopefully this lends you a hand in your events, and scaling the enemies of your players accordingly to avoid frustration and what not.

The Purpose of Your Life

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:25:44 -0700

The Purpose Of Your Existance

A Brief Discussion on Motivating Your Characters

The most basic question everyone faces in life is: Why am I here? What is my purpose?

The scientist says that lifeâ€™s purpose is the continuation of life through procreation.

The philosopher says that lifeâ€™s purpose is to find happiness through any means.

The preacher says that lifeâ€™s purpose is to lead a good and noble existence through an established dogma.

And Rosencrat? Rosencrat says that life is all about enjoying role-playing. And Rosencrat says that, to enjoy role-playing, you need to give your characters a purpose.

+-- Benefits of a Driven Life--+

â€When you have once devoted your life to your enterprises, you are no longer the equal of other men, or, rather, other men are no longer your equals. Whosoever has taken this resolution [of purpose] feels his strength and resources doubled.â€
-Edmond Dantes, The Count of Monte Cristo

The first thought that strikes is that of curiosity: Why must I give my imaginary character, my child born from my caffeine and action-movie addled consciousness, such a human aspect as a purpose?

To put it simply: It will make role-playing much more rewarding and drive you towards activities and endeavors.

The first impulse of a person, upon making a role-playing character, is to live out their ideal life. For many, their fantasy is living without rules or responsibilities. Freed from realistic constraints, they have no want for money and have no obligations to taxes. Drinking in a tavern all day. Running around battling or reading as the whim seizes them. Loving, hating and doing what they will without care or concern, firm in the knowledge that they live in a world without consequences.

I do not say that one must live the realistic life of toil and ignominy. Thatâ€™s boring. But this life of purposeless wandering, with no desires or goals, is one of slow decay. Without a passion to consume your life you are nothing but playing a playboy, a spoiled rich child who uses his resources and freedom to indulge his passing whims.

How many movies have you seen where the rich playboy, after living a life of fruitless passions, looks back and sees with regret what he has squandered? Would Batman be a gripping story if Bruce Wayne remained a playboy and never fought crime? Would people tune in to Big O if Roger Smith did nothing but putz around in his car and act snide? Would anyone enjoy Bill Gates if he just used his money to pay attractive people to give him high fives?

Living your life with a purpose grants you direction when you are bored and listless. To complete a goal you will venture to obtain a certain item or conquer a certain obstacle. It will drive you to hold events, involve character and make lasting friends.

Giving your character a life goal also gives your character depth and realism beyond petty emotions and back-story. It makes them seem more human and makes you a better role-player. Your skills as a writer and role-player will increase.

But most importantly: If you have spent your life working towards a goal, and the goal is either selfish or altruistic, you will receive fame or infamy in equal measure.

Fame. Activity in role-plays. Realism. This can all be received simply by giving your character a purpose and following it closely.

+-- How to Find Purpose --+

â€œA life without cause is a life without effect.â€
- Barbarella, Barbarella

The Meaning of Life has been something a lot of people have been searching for. Well, nuts to them. Finding your purpose wonâ€™t require shutting yourself off in a cave for seventy years, denying yourself earthly pleasures and only eating bits of ham and your own toenails.

The meaning of life is not found, it is made or born with based upon their histories and experiences.

You can give your character a purpose in one of three ways:

Using your characterâ€™s backstory as the basis, sculpt a reasonable life goal to fit his or her personality and past.
Based upon a life goal that you would enjoy following, sculpt a reasonable history and personality around it.
Create a character and then, through events in a role-play, come upon a life goal that you dedicate the character towards.

But what constitutes a good purpose?

First, the goal must not be easy to achieve. If your purpose in life is to make five dollars, eat a sandwich or kill a homeless person then you will have met your goal admirable afterâ€¦A day? A lifeâ€™s goal must be difficult. It must be time consuming. It must involve effort. It need not be achievable or perceived as such. Sometimes the most memorable and dramatic goals are born from insanity.

Secondly, the goal must be born from very reasonable emotions. A person who hates Night Elves would not, unless some great upheaval changed their state, desire to see them happy. One who fears dragons would not desire to own one as a pet. These are unrealistic and must be changed.

Thirdly, the goal must be made from an OOC desire. A person who loves to do only good must not create an evil goal and vice versa. A goal that is born from the creatorâ€™s heart springs forth unto their creation with greater strength and passion then one contrived from thin air. This allows you to create honest, realistic quests for your characters and to follow them religiously. I you simply create a goal for a desired purpose or to accrue fame/infamy, you will find little in the way of desire to work.

Fourthly, remember where to begin. Often starting from humble beginnings and climbing a ladder to reach an ultimate success is a rich and rewarding experience. Yet other times starting from a position of power and self-evaluating yourself is also a great way to go about things.

Lastly, follow your goals. Do not simply say them for the sake of role-play. Create events. Rally players. Drive yourself towards the end. The journey, not the end, is the true prize. Relish the former and mourn its passing when you reach the latter.

+-- Examples of Purposeful Activities --+

â€œAs we struggle to make sense of things, life looks on in repose.â€
-Author Unknown, Probably a Hippie

Included are some examples of hypothetical characters, their goals, their background, what they did to achieve their ends and if they are good goals or not.

Character Name
Jessica Pots

Background
A simple farmgirl, Jessica grew up knowing no strife or hatred. When bandits killed her father and brother, however, her thoughts turned bitter. She vowed to gain strength enough to fight against such cruelties and to become a champion of good and honesty.

Goals
To become a powerful practitioner of the Light and to destroy anyone she views as evil or corrupt.

Means
She studies beneath a powerful paladin for years. Honing her skills, she sets off to kill â€˜evilâ€™ and, in doing so, learns more about herself and what she has vowed to do.

Good or Bad?
On the whole, Good. Despite how arbitrary and hard to measure â€œgaining strengthâ€™ may be, it is still a long term goal that is both attainable and impossible. You can always become stronger. Can always fight more enemies. And the goal allows for self doubt and reflection, two aspects that make for good, realistic role-play.

+----------+

Character Name
Joe Kavalier

Background
Beginning as a poor boy in Stormwind, Joe had a singular talent: Painting. Orphaned and homeless, he looked upon the wealthy and nobility with envy.

Goals
To use his ability in art to attain wealth and fortune in Stormwind.

Means
Painting murals and small pictures, he will ingratiate himself with adventurers and nobles. He will skim off them, attaining rank and position as he leap-frogs from person to person, working his way to the top.

Good or Bad?
Good. This is a realistic goal that can be all-consuming and drive his actions and moods. The only tally against it is that the means are rather poor and that it will be rather difficult to hold events and involve other characters around such means as painting.

+----------+

Character Name
Jenetta Claymore

Background
A rich noblewomanâ€™s daughter, Jenetta is ugly and unattractive. She has money, wealth and power.

Goals
To kill women and men who think she is ugly.

Means
To use her wealth and power to mask her murdering.

Good or Bad?
Bad. The backstory doesnâ€™t really mesh well with the goal. That, and murdering people is a short-term gain that is more for the purpose of infamy-mongering then anything else. Not really honest and from the heart. However, the goal does allow for her to hold a lot of invents that get other characters involved.

Iâ€™ll update this as more comes to me. Currently, however, this is but a small guide.

Getting your profile accepted quickly: A guide

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:27:47 -0700

See, whenever I go about doing profiles and what not, I always encounter a few trappings that cause me to sigh. Why? Because I spot them so very often, and they usually prevent me from swiftly accepting an otherwise great profile. Thus, I figure I'd help you guys out by posting a list of things that prevent acceptance, and tell you how to avoid them.

Maybe you'll reference this guide when making a profile. Maybe you won't. Who knows. But hopefully those of you who do will get at least a little bit of help.

List is subject to change as I spot more things that slow down the profile process.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (yo)
-Spelling
-Commas
-Exact Dates
-Walls of Text
-Arguing with GM/Forum Helper
-Lore Figures

1) Spelling

The Problem: Usually when we see a spelling error in a problem, we let it slide. Generally only your fellow players will be so crazy as to spot out every single issue with every single word and tell you about them. So long as it's clear it's just a mistype and not you having no knowledge of how to spell a word, it'll go through. However, when we see a grand deal of words spelled incorrectly that's when we have to post 'Please spell check your profile'. It's really annoying to both parties and it just slows the whole thing down.

The Solution: Use an online spell check. Heck, google's your friend here. Just google 'online spell checker', copy/paste your profile into it, and let it help you spot out the issues. We understand that english might not be your first language. But just go the extra mile to make sure that 'asassin' is spelled correctly.

2) Commas

The Problem: The outstanding issue with commas is when there are too many of them, often cluttering up a profile, and creating run on sentences that drag on for almost the entire paragraph, sometimes more than a paragraph. We usually let one or two slide, but when we see that you could break up a good number of run ons into two different sentences instead, we have to post in your profile, telling you to break up run ons, and that just slows down the whole profile process, and it's annoying to both parties, and that's bad.

The Solution: Just read over your profile again, and look out for those commas! You can probably spot all the run ons if you look for them. Just give it a shot!

3) Exact Dates

The Problem: Well, when you put in a date like 'when I was six, I was in X battle', we have to check exactly when that happened. And if your timeline doesn't match up with WoW lore, we need to tell you this. Then it needs to go through the process again. Then it happens once more because you accidentally made an error. Then usually on the third go around, you nail all the times right.

The Solution: While it's nice to know that you understand your lore, exact dates aren't necessary. Really, they just make it take longer for a profile to be accepted. Avoid them. Say 'when Aziarion was a child' or 'during his adulthood'. No need for 'at the age of twenty-two'. Because then your entire timeline needs to be on the spot. But if you keep it vague, you can be off a little bit.

4) Walls of Text:

The Problem: You apparently forgot to hit that enter key, because you only have one big ol' massive paragraph. Here's what I refer to.

Spoiler:

We can't accept it. And we don't want to read it. It's ugly. We'll just end up telling you to split it up a bit with that fancy pants enter key, making paragraphs instead of a wall.

The Solution: Simple! Make paragraphs! About five sentences tends to make a good decent sized paragraph. So try to split it up into tinier paragraphs of five or so.

5) Arguing with GMs/Forum Helpers

The Problem: You're arguing with a GM in your profile. While there's nothing wrong with reminding a GM about some part of the lore he or she might have missed, there's something entirely different about arguing. It doesn't look good. It wastes time. And it just keeps the profile from being accepted.

The Solution: Don't argue. Or at least don't argue in your topic. While this isn't such a big deal with profiles not being bumped upon being posted in, it still makes people focus on the argument instead of getting the character approved. If you -really- gotta sort things out, talk with a GM ingame about it - preferably the one who you've been arguing with. (I know some of ya well enough. You run to the 'lenient' GMs when you want something approved. Well... don't do that.) Iron out the character together.

6) Lore Figures
The Problem: You have a lore figure in your profile. You sat down and had a chat with Arthas before becoming the Lich King, or had tea with Sylvanas, or you were personally trained by Uther. Any and all mention of lore character must be handled with extreme care, and not promote your character and Blizzard's character having a relationship of any sort. If it does, it has to be removed before being accepted.

The Solution: Keep lore characters out of your character's history. There's no need for them. And it's not like you're going to bring up 'ohoh, I had tea with Sylvanas fifty years ago'. They're not that important to a profile! If you bring up your character being at one of their speeches, make certain that he/she was just present there, and not the target of the speech. You must be extremely careful with lore figures. But really, it's just best to keep them out all together.

Shadow and Light: A Guide

Sun, 22 May 2011 19:52:01 -0700

In the world of Warcraft, it seems that there's no doubt in anyone's mind that the Light is the force of good and the Shadow is the force of evil. With shadow priests wielding the darkness and pain and everything and light priests wielding the heals and the goodness and the... well, light, it seems pretty plain to see that Light makes right.

However, the world doesn't really work like that. The world of Warcraft is no different, in all actuality. The Shadow isn't necessarily a force of evil, and people that worship the Light can sometimes be really, really messed up.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Inquisitor Whitemane.

"But wait, Scout," you must all be saying right now, "are you trying to say that people who worship the Shadow are actually good guys?!" The answer is no, not necessarily. Instead, you should all cast out the notion in your mind that the Shadow and the Light are actually moral forces, and that either is good or evil at all. It might be hard to do, but hear me out on this one, because I have a Reason why.

Imagine, for a moment, a world where people don't judge based on arbitrary moral designations of Right and Wrong, or Good and Evil. (Yes, I know it's hard.) Also imagine that in this same world, the Light and the Shadow exist in the exact same way that they do in Warcraft. How would you classify them? The Light obviously can't be good, and the Shadow obviously can't be evil, because the notions of good and evil don't exist! But, regardless, they're still different, and they have to be divided up somehow.

Basically, the Light corresponds with the ethical doctrine of Altruism, and the Shadow corresponds with Egoism. In simple terms, the Light renounces the self in favor of benefiting others, whereas the Shadow favors self-interest and personal goals over the interests of the whole.

Now, I know what you must be thinking. "That sounds kind of like good and evil!" And to that I would have to say, yes, it kind of does. The difference, however, is in that the intentions of each individual may be different. We see Altruism as Good, because our society perceives it to be a virtue, and something to strive for. However, Egoism is not immoral because of this. Attempting to advance yourself before helping others doesn't turn you into a cold-hearted, callous machine, it's simply a difference in priorities. You can still help others in Egoism; your interests merely come first in most circumstances.

Granted, it is hard to picture this as anything but pure evil.

It really can't be denied that each one attracts a certain type of person, but that's not what I'm addressing here. Intrinsically, Light and Shadow are not morally different, they're simply ethically different. This difference in ethics means that, when a priest of the Light encounters a priest of the Shadow, their first reaction is going to be "Your point of view is wrong! You must be evil!" However, it's good to note that the Shadow priest is also going to have that same reaction to the priest of the Light! Each side believes the other to be evil. Whether or not this is true... well, that depends on the individual.

A good example of this is that priests of the Light tend to gather together and form churches. A church, whether as a place of worship or as an organization, is a far-reaching institution that touches many people, and changes their lives significantly. Through the combined faith of every single member of the church, they are strong, and their will cannot be shaken. Basically, the Light is a hive mind.

Ha-HA!

On the other hand, Shadow priests tend to be solitary, quiet, introspective, and everything else that basically screams "antisocial!" to most people. Churches don't appeal to Shadow priests, because they would rather figure out their problems on their own, and learn from their mistakes, building their faith and character bit by bit through trial and error. This isn't to say, however, that Shadow priests never come together. On the contrary, they come together on a fairly regular basis. First the Heretic Circus, then the Saints of Shadow and Penumbra...you get the idea.

The thing about these Shadow organizations is that they aren't about the furthering of the group; they are about the furthering of each individual. Shadow priests come together to exchange knowledge and ideas, and occasionally to take on a challenge that's too much for any one of them by themselves. It's never about assisting others; it's all about the self. Shadow priests would love it if everyone would try to advance their sense of self, and they're kind of infuriated about how the Light brainwashes people into losing their individuality.

Or maybe they're just jealous of this.

Keeping all this in mind, I challenge you to make a shadow priest that isn't pure evil and out to destroy everyone for the lulz. On the same note, I challenge you to make a priest of the Light that doesn't necessarily do the right thing, even if it helps someone else. There is so much to be explored with priests and spirituality in general, but the trend seems to be that everyone worships the Light and the Shadow in the same old boring vanilla ice cream fashions.

So, in short, just remember that the Light is not necessarily good, and the Shadow is not necessarily evil, and the world will be a more interesting place.

This guy, though...

Articulate, Modulate, Communicate; A guide to communication!

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:38:20 -0700

Articulating, Modulating and Communicating 101.

Quote:The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Hannah Whitall Smith, 1902

That said, welcome to Psychyn's post regarding advice giving and thought expression (Or flat out communicating)! Hopefully after this post, you'll remember a bit of pointers when expressing your thoughts and views, and perhaps when you give advice. Maybe you'll even throw me some pointers after reading, meaning this post can improve even more!

Starting off with thoughts, because we all love to express them, and why shouldn't we? It's perfectly valid to express our views and thoughts regarding one or multiple subjects, in one thread over and over.. Right? Or perhaps we should post our opinion and thoughts, over several threads while all the posts say the same thing!

Think and read the above infamous quote again! It is the same for thoughts. The true secret of expressing one's thoughts is that you do not force them on somebody and let people find their own way with your thoughts in the back of their minds. How do you get in there? You don't, that's up to the player who is receiving your thoughts. You should never -force- your thoughts by repeatedly stating them, or telling people to do something.

Allow players their own creativity and RP, even if you find it lore breaking or breaking common sense. (I'll add something regarding common sense later) A golden rule I tend to say to myself is: "You don't have to like it." It truly is not hard to close your eyes, close the page and pretend you never saw something. (I'm not saying you should close your eyes to extreme things, such as players breaking the rules, but there's a method for how to be friendly and stating your thoughts regarding that as well.)

Here's a example:

Now, as player I got the idea in my head of a 'alive' Deathknight. Doable? Yes, allowed? Yes. Frowned upon by many? Triple yes, but regardless.. I've put up a personal post, as the pretty alive DK has lost his former girlfriend, and wants to find her to be reunited, and have exceptional amounts of fun! I aim for a relationship. What do you post in the personal thread when you find it?

Option A: "Please no, just.. No."

Option B: "Alive Deathknights are ridiculous, because it's stated not possible in *Lore example X & Y, while allowed, you should really reconsider this!"

Option C: "While I've solely played dead Deathknight's, I think this can be fun! However, are you truly sure you want your Deathknight to be 'alive'? Think of all the physiological trauma's he would feel as 'alive' DK, in general.. He'd be very depressed?"

Option D: You close the page and browse the rest of the CotH forum, not expressing anything.
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Now, let's be honest here. I think most of you picked option A and B, no? That's al right! But look at it from the player side that has posted it. Option A, would cause me to frown and ask for elaboration.

Option B would make me frustrated, because I'm honestly not asking for advice regarding my character; I'm asking who wants to get involved with it. Not who doesn't want to get involved with it, or why it shouldn't be done!

Option C, gives a smile on my face because someone is actually interested! It makes me think, as perhaps my opinion has some flaws? Perhaps it's something that I have missed upon developing the concept? This requires more discussion!

Option D: This truly does not bother me because I won't ever know your dislike, and I do not gain any dislikes because I'm given answers that belong in my personals thread.

So! What have we (learned or) read? Remember the above quote still? If someone puts up a thread in the personal section, asking for something you do not like, why do you respond? Telling people to change something, when they do not ask for tips or pointers hampers ones happiness. (Going paladin style here). They did not ask or wanted your answer, which can only create a discussion. If you truly feel good for telling someone to change something, at least double check your posts and thoughts to see if they actually -need- to be told to change something.

In the end, you should never tell others to change something or demand something changed. (Exceptions towards GMs/Admins, who are there to mention such changes) I am aware that I could have placed many more examples in here, apart from the personals one. Think of profiles, events, general discussions, and much more.

Pointers of giving thoughts:

* When expressing thoughts, never tell people to change something. 'I think you should', 'You should totally' 'This bit is wrong and should be changed.' Try to type it in; ' What I think is best for.. , 'Your story is great, but perhaps you've overlooked' and more.
* Never put the fault at the player. 'Alive Deathknights? Rubbish, it's your fault so reconsider this.' Could be written as 'Alive Deathknights? Perhaps you could look into this bit.'
* Never mention the same opinion twice in a thread, it makes it feel forced, especially if there is no change or addition to the previous post. Aka 'I agree!' posts. If you must post your agreement, you could consider hitting the thanks/like button.
* Not everyone is native English, or has had the fortune of getting proper English education on school. I myself had to learn and teach myself, and due to already knowing Basic English on school, the teachers always let me be and focused on the people who did need help. Hence, my grammar and spelling and even pronouncing of words is way behind. (As you may have noticed in this thread! ^^)
* Being nice doesn't kill anyone! Wording your sentences nicer, and with more care then mind-bashing your posts because you must give an opinion. Being nice gets the point across as well, possibly even better!
* You don't have to like it! And if you truly cannot find anything good in the post of someone else, it's perhaps a wise thing to refrain from posting? I believe it's an old saying that ; If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.^.~

Examples of lines that shouldn't be used (Thanks Karunzo):

"Everybody knows that..."
"You'd have to be an idiot not to know that.."
"Everyone with a bit of common sense would agree that..."

Is known as a Fallacy in Rhetoric. This one in particular is an attempt to exclude other opinions. By attempting to appeal to emotions. Noone would want to be known as dumb or stupid so you hope to discourage people from attacking your argument.
Appeal to emotion

Other common Fallacies are:
False Analogy. (You're comparing two things that are completly different.)
Attacking the person (Instead of tackling the argument given you attack the person on his character.)
Square logic (Your argument is the same as your opinion)
Appeal to authority (Claiming something is true because an authority shares your opinion)
Argument from silence (Claiming something is true because it has'nt been disproven)

Now for the advice part:

Advices, the power of words that most people have ready and prepared. To aid people with words, is perhaps one of the things that grant people the best feeling. The ability to raise someone's chin, when they feel down or are stuck with something. I know I find it an amazing feeling, if I can uplift someone's mood or make their problems go away with words.

But what should we look after when giving advice? First and foremost, like thoughts we should never force it. A lot of advice is given regarding profiles, which is grand. Without advice and help, some profiles would never have been made. BUT, when giving advice, people are not obliged to listen and follow it.
It is up to the person, to decide whether they want follow your advice or not.

Also, advice may at times be given unneeded and unwanted. When can advise be unwanted? In profiles outside the workshop, while planning an event or when writing storylines. Granted, I've seen little misplaced advices or people openly stating they do not want someone else their advice, but advice always comes paired with a thought. If you give a honest advice, you do not give it to get a thorn out of your eye, but to truly help the other person.

And remember there are many ways to help apart from giving your advice to a person. I'm not saying all advice should be held back, or that no advice should be given when not asked, but remember to place yourself in the position of the one you are giving advice to. It's fine to give advice, but to give advice over and over when none is asked may become frustrating. You can become frustrated when no advice of you is heard, and others may become frustrated when given advice they didn't want or need.

Also, there are two ways (as I see it) available when giving advice;

1. Is to give advice to help a user with a problem -you- see.
2. Is to give advice when you want to help a user with a problem -they- see.

The difference is, is that with the first option, is that you see it as a problem. You deem something illogical, incorrect or as a problem while the user you give advice to, may have a complete other opinion, reasoning or such. They might not even see it as a problem themselves. This has the problem of creating a situation in which arguments are thrown back and forth, about something that might not have been a problem at all. (Or might have been, such as a rule breaking but in this case, why step in?)

If you give advice in a way as the second option, then I applaud your efforts as you help a user with something -they- see as a problem and not you. You might like the idea, or want to advance it even further.

Brings me somewhat to a next point. When giving advice and expressing thoughts, remember that you are not a authority figure. GMs and Admins have the final say in things, and not the person giving the advice despite being a absolute lore fanatic and knowledge-base. When things do not add up, and while your argument contains so many good points that you in words won the forum debate, people are not obliged to follow it because your just as good as them. You are also a forum user, and therefore should never try to overthrow someone with lore evidence, arguments and opinions.

Once a argument has been given, it has been given and should not be repeated till something new has been added. Unless it's a clarification of previous argument. (That is my opinion naturally!) I'll add the bit to the main post, including the above links.

In other words, if somebody comes to you asking for advice, or you feel the need to advice at somebody's profile.. Do not advice them to change what you do not like, but advice people to change what is outside the realm of possibilities.

Speaking of the realm of possibilities, it brings me to common sense. The invisible barrier to what is doable, and what isn't. What is allowed to be done, and what is not. I'll throw it out bluntly, in a advice to each and every single one that reads the thread.

Never use common sense as an argument.

Three reasons as to why common sense shouldn't be used as argument:

* Common sense is based on real life, and possibilities within real life and not world of warcraft. What is common or uncommon in real life, is not common or uncommon in a fantasy world. The boundaries of real life do not exist in WoW. Real life logic is flawed.
* What is common for you may not be common for somebody else. What you deem to be logical and real, can and will be deemed illogical and unreal by someone else.
* Common sense is vague; the word itself indicates commonness, so anything that's not common does not make sense? Try to be as clear as possible with reasoning and advices, but keep it friendly! No mind-bashing your thoughts and advices onto the keyboard.

TL;DR Do not post when the only thing you can post sounds unfriendly, you do not have to like every single thing, try to stay away from the above Fallacy's, never use common sense as a argument, don't mind bash your thoughts onto the keyboard and into a post, always reread them. When giving advice, make sure it's with a problem that user sees and not you.

Quote:The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Hannah Whitall Smith, 1902

Feel free to comment!