Getting RP out of Stormwind

[Aruen]

Words.

More words

Roll a a-- *swallows*

On a more serious note.. I can understand that, so far I've mainly played alliance characters. I know little about the horde side of the lore, which for me makes it a very hard step to roll a horde character. Though, I can't recall ever being asked to leave SW so someone else could join the RP. If I got asked, sure. I could have moved to Ratchet for a bit or such. (Though, I can't speak for everyone so consider this my opinion)

As for getting people out.. I can see a call for arms or such, maybe a disease as suggested or even the economy breaking down for a while. Would be fun and if Stormwind turned into a diseased hell hole, I don't think anyone would want to sit there for a while. I wouldn't. Though, I've seen the same city activity in Silvermoon with blood elves. But that's off topic.

Either way, hoping some nice story comes up that'll drag me out of SW. I'll try to get Arlaina more in duskwood at least, perhaps even further closer to actual horde territory if she gets ordered to.

Just mah 2 coppers.

[Vrahn]

The problem with what is being asked is that it's very hard to have prolonged RP between the Horde and the Alliance simply because it doesn't make much sense for there to be any. The Alliance is at war with the Horde which means their members are expected to be fighting on first sight, not really asking questions. Thus most encounters with the Horde will be combat encounters, most of which someone will die if it is being RPed without a bit of meta-gaming to protect both combatents from what would happen. In reality most people would not get away with just being injured unless they were under the cover of a large-scale battle. Most people do not want their characters to die, and so eventually such RP situations are avoided which is what I believe is partially the cause of the end of Strom RP. Of course there are other interactions that do not involve combat such as spying, scouting, etc. And these are fun for a while but when all is said and done people will return to the status quo.

The other option for inter-faction RP is neutral territories which can result in some interesting encounters and good tension when RPed properly, unfortunately most of these neutral zones only cater to a specific group of RPers, and there are other territories which captivate the interest of other players, which is perfectly acceptable as not everyone likes the same things.

It just happens on the server that a lot of players prefer the RP that can be created with the Alliance than they do to what is done with the Horde, but a lot of these players do have both Alliance and Horde characters. I think perhaps it was a mistake to create the Sin'sholai as it took the two most popular Horde races and split them off from the less liked races, effectively limiting the RP encounters even more by traditional Horde players.

Now, in terms of answers to these issues, I think that if your purpose is to increase Horde RP then the Sin'sholai should be brought back into the Horde fold, which will increase available options for Horde RP, further I believe that an event of some sort would be required to rekindle some strength in the Horde movement similar to the attack on the Barrens instigated by good old Walluce which brought about many new Horde characters. However, the strength of that movement will only be held as long as the leaders of the Horde guilds are able to maintain the momentum, which is a tough strain on any guild leader. As long as they can continue to provide interesting options for their members, they would be able to keep a higher vested interest in the Horde side of things. So, I suppose what I am saying is that the Horde movement will only work if it has strong, active members heading it with new and interesting ideas that will capture the imagination and creativity of the player base. That is, in my opinion, the only way any long-term stable Horde presence would ever be achieved on this server. Of course this concept also hinges on the fact that not too many players will attempt to lead Horde-side guilds and such, as the player base is simply not large enough to support it. Once again, a few strong leaders will make all the difference in the creation of a strong Horde following.

And as I just stated, this is -my- views on the matter, not all of you will agree with it.

[grembomb]

Well, for me the problem isn't getting the Alliance characters out of Stormwind, It's getting the Horde players and people with Horde characters to find a reason to play the characters. Now, most of my characters are in fact Horde and Sin'Sholai, the lack of RP I get with my characters on that side does upset me quite a bit as I've but a lot of thought into them.

So, Stormwind isn't really the problem it's the lack of interest in Horde-side RP. I also think that sometimes players can be quite scared to post about events or story lines they may have due to fear of rejection or that their event turns out to be non-populated, so I say, If you have an idea that seems like that just post it, at least you can say you pitched in and with the lack of Horde RP I think now would be an awesome time to share a few ideas, even if you have you're doubts.

[Hinbane]

It seems that the complaints listed against Stormwind RP seem to be of the "judging a book by its cover" mentality.

Vrahn and I are of the same mind in this. I wont argue anything, other than that it's too bad that this challenge is being issued without an inkling of what is truly going on in Stormwind.

To be fair though, I do feel bad for the Horde side of RP. Since the Sin'sholai split things clearly have been awkward. Obviously what we all want is for the Alliance and Horde to both have healthy community. The best potential cure for this I feel, like those before me have suggested, would be player-lead events in areas like Ashenvale, Barrens, Stonetalon Mountains or other core-Kalimdor regions which would hopefully liven up the Horde side of things.

I feel the cure lies with action from the Hordies not the Alliance.
-Hinbane

[Yukai]

I...don't see the problem with Stormwind.

/shrug That's all, really.

EDIT: Why is this turning into a battle of the essay posts? o.O Really now, it's as if you people enjoy complicating things.

[Monolith]

Ah, this old bickering. Stormwind is an RP hotspot indeed, but think of it this way. People would be complaining all the same if all the RP happened in Orgrimmar. Honestly, you don't wanna RP in Stormwind? Find a small group of people and go somewhere. Others will follow.

[Terant]

This is the exact same thing that everyone complains about every time there is an RP trend. Remember Death Knights? Remember Blood Elves? Honestly, I don't like Stormwind RP either. I've probably spent about 20 minutes of my total RP time on CotH there, and I don't plan on raising that number by much unless it's for some super-awesome event.

Still, it does no good whatsoever to make people RP a different way, nor is there a practical way to do so. If people want to stay in Stormwind for a while, then let them get it out of their system. They will get sick of it eventually and move onto something that you, as a Stormwind protester, will be able to join in on.

And as far as starting RP in other places, everyone who has mentioned it here is right. you need to start it. When you go to a random place, and maybe get one or two friends to come, then people see that the place is becoming active on the /Who list and the Player Map, both things that people like myself often use to find RP, and then before you know it you'll have a group of ten or more people in your new hotspot.

Complaining about the way that other people RP and trying to force them to agree with you just ruins the fun, and therefore ruins the entire motivation to RP in the first place. Just RP and let RP.

[Anski]

Well, I managed to take the time to rethink everything, which I apologize for blazing ahead. I was trying to keep off the topic of everyone rolling Horde characters instead of Alliance, coupled with RPing in Stormwind and that seemed to overshadow what I truly wanted to say, was about Neutral RP. I didn't mean for this to even for a second look like it was turning around and scolding Grakor for what he posted, which infact I was trying to keep mostly the opposite of, not exactly praising what he said but kind of mulling on my part.

What I said might have been seen as a little ignorant to what you've said, which again wasn't the intended part of my diction. I'm pretty good at going off on tangents for one point and ending up on the opposite point by the end, concluding one of my many, long, overbearing and indirect posts.

The point you really seemed to nail on the head out of my post most of all was being in places my characters wouldn't usually end up. I've been called out before for having characters in whack places for intangible reasons, and things i'm scolded for are often incredibly impressionable to me and I never try to make the mistake again. As such, all of my characters have been founded on reasons for being places, and it's something grounded into my playing style. You really hit the tuning fork on D Sharp by calling me out on that, and I suppose you can be right.

Maybe i've been too stuck to being that realistic?

I'm sure you probably don't regard me with as much respect as you may or may not have had before, and I suppose I deserve it for what was taken as calling you out for asking people to roll horde and not use Stormwind, when I must've not worded what I wanted to say right and it came off as such. I truly apologize.

[Grakor456]

Several comments to multiple people.

The problem with what is being asked is that it's very hard to have prolonged RP between the Horde and the Alliance simply because it doesn't make much sense for there to be any.

That's really just an opinion statement.

There's nothing inherently wrong with friendly RP between Horde and Alliance. It becomes a problem when it's the norm to the point where the aggressive characters are the ones ostracized. It needs to be handled well, but it *can* be done well.

Thus most encounters with the Horde will be combat encounters, most of which someone will die if it is being RPed without a bit of meta-gaming to protect both combatents from what would happen.

I don't think protecting characters from death is metagaming so much as it is common courtesy. Granted, a common courtesy that players about the server tend to lack. The character warning system was never put into play to cause mass deaths or discourage conflict, that came as a result of players abusing it.

I think that deserves a topic of its own, though, so someone feel free to start it.

The other option for inter-faction RP is neutral territories which can result in some interesting encounters and good tension when RPed properly, unfortunately most of these neutral zones only cater to a specific group of RPers, and there are other territories which captivate the interest of other players, which is perfectly acceptable as not everyone likes the same things.

I just have to wonder why this is the case.

There are a ton of RP opportunities in the goblin towns. If you like large cities, there are just as many in Shattrath and Dalaran. Considering how important they are in the lore, there's little reason why the usual type of thing that happens in Stormwind cannot happen there.

As for the Sin'sholai paragraph, I can't talk more about that beyond what I've already said...except that I didn't agree with the split, and how relations are between themselves and the Horde was never intended by Mikain.

I wont argue anything, other than that it's too bad that this challenge is being issued without an inkling of what is truly going on in Stormwind.

I find this offensive, primarily because it simply isn't true. I know a lot more than you give me credit for. I've RPed in Stormwind in the past, and since my return I've seen a bit of what's going on there now.

I feel the cure lies with action from the Hordies not the Alliance.

I cannot put to words adequately how much I believe this is simply not true. However, I'll explain it as best I can.

Hordies simply don't have the power right now to generate the RP that they need. That's simply fact. There's so very few of them around except for the random bursts of Horde RP, and the best many can do is just spam LFG looking for RP, waiting until someone takes pity on them to hop on over.

Events? That won't change a thing, and I will tell you why. For one, there are too few people Horde-side right now to actually run these things. For two, and this is important, *Horde events are being overshadowed by Alliance ones.* It doesn't matter if someone starts something in Stonetalon. You know why? Because they'll be too busy going to the Alliance event in Ashenvale. People might roll throw-away characters to take part in the sparce Horde events, but they'll keep going back to their Alliance characters who are getting far more events and player support. The players then turn around and complain that, of all things, there needs to be more Night Elf and Draenei RP, *when they're not the ones that need help.*

Alliance right now isn't just not helping at all, they're *hurting* Horde-side RP. This is not a problem that can simply be fixed by the few Horde RPers that remain, it's something much of the community will need to work on, collectively.

People would be complaining all the same if all the RP happened in Orgrimmar.

Except that Horde RP in Ratchet and Booty Bay, not Orgrimmar. The cruel irony of this situation is that, if this were reversed...for example, Horde primarily RPing in Org and Alliance primarily RPing in Booty Bay, then this would not be a problem.

Lots of words.

I'm not going to pick this apart and will just say I disagree with a lot of what was said here, but I'm going to say one thing, and this might actually shock or offend the more RP elitists out there...

Sometimes, you just need to accept certain breaks of character or breaks of realism in order to facilitate RP. Your character lives in Stormwind? So what? She doesn't have reason to be in a particular area? Create one, it's not that hard.

You, and others really, seem to be turning this around and saying that I want people to all just roll Horde characters, or I don't want people playing in Stormwind at all. I honestly don't care if people play Alliance, that's not the point here. People will play the characters they want to play. *That is, in fact, the reason I posted this.* If someone wants to play their Horde character, *then they should have just as much opportunity and right to RP that character as the Alliance player over there does.* It is therefore up to the players to work together to make that happen. Having all the Alliance sit in Stormwind isn't working together.

[Walrus]

Lulz... Wait, what?

It would appear CotH has stumbled upon a bit of a touchy subject, amongst the players.... Hrm... Well then, my obligatory two cents.

I encourage anyone posting in this forum to take one good re-read of Grakor's original post as I pick it apart without mercy.
1. That darned orcish maniac demands absolutely nothing from us! How dare that fool! Neither does the GM call us to re-roll Horde, nor does he ban us from using Stormwind! All he asks, that terrible fiend, is for us to widen our area in which we Role Play and thus invite in a wider range of character interactions as well as Role Playing styles and what have you!
2. He gives us that deplorable list of idea spawning reasons for which to seek out Roleplay outside the norm. Blast Him! It's as if he thinks Stromgarde sounds like a brilliant and exciting alternative to activity in Stormwind, or a rousing wilderness stroll can become more immersive then sitting in a tavern, the cad even suggests there should be combat in world of WARcraft!
3. Grakor even tries to call us to action! Us?! What the devil does he think he's doing? Asking us to come up with our own exciting story lines and movements? That's the job of a GM everyone knows that! He might as well advocate anarchy!
4. Grakor's a Witch! Burn the Witch!

Heheheh, in all seriousness, I myself prefer RP in more exotic environments such as Winterspring, Durotar, Tanaris, All of Northrend, Un'Goro, the Barrens, Arathi, Alterac, the Plaguelands, Stranglethorn, Dun Morogh, Loch Modan, Thousand Needles, Feralas, Dead Wind pass, a grand amount of Dungeons/instances, and many more zones, yet rarely send characters there due to nonexistant RP in those environments. Now, I'm not saying your humble blacksmith living in Stormwind should run off to Kalimdor, but perhaps you might consider widening their range of activity. Excuses to get out and about are easy, perhaps a merchant or artisan wants to sell goods in Booty Bay or weapons in Westfall, Redridge or Stromgarde (those areas need em too). Maybe a coven of Warlocks or evildoers moves their HQ to Deadwind or Duskwood or an abandoned shack in Westfall? Warriors may be drafted and sent away or hired and put on the job in far off lands or perhaps nearer ones like Westfall, Stromgarde, Redridge or Loch Modan.

This post was a petition to widen the area's roleplayed in not whine about how Hordies don't get no lovin'. By expanding the realms of activity, however I think players might find a much more enjoyable experience and perhaps a bit of conflict interaction with the braver sons of opposing factions.

Bah Humbug. But it doesn't matter to me. Heheh. Do as you wish, all I might do is suggest.

Edit - Didn't read Grak's last post before slammin' this'n down. Pardon it if I repeat the chap a little.

[Yukai]

If someone wants to play their Horde character, *then they should have just as much opportunity and right to RP that character as the Alliance player over there does.* It is therefore up to the players to work together to make that happen. Having all the Alliance sit in Stormwind isn't working together.

Whilst I do understand the point you're making with that - no. That wouldn't work; simply because we're not here to make this magically awesome happytime system where everything is a-ok for everybody. People Rp in Stormwind cause they obviously enjoy it - on that note, anyone who is Rping in Stormwind cause the majority do, don't, just flag up in LFG for anyone who might wanna start RP elsewhere.

Pointing to people in Stormwind and going 'Oi, Rp other characters cause other people want a turn' is kinda childish, but only in my opinion. Working together and being happy seem to be different things, if people are coerced (sp?) into Rping other races/characters/whatever when all they really wanna do is Rp their happy human in Stormwind, the Rp is gonna feel forced too - and where is the fun in that?

F**k, made an essay.

EDIT: Re-reading this, I kinda seem OMGPROStormwind. I'm not, I just think getting in a huff cause it seems to be the hub is pointless.

[Hinbane]

I wont argue anything, other than that it's too bad that this challenge is being issued without an inkling of what is truly going on in Stormwind.

I find this offensive, primarily because it simply isn't true. I know a lot more than you give me credit for. I've RPed in Stormwind in the past, and since my return I've seen a bit of what's going on there now.

I took the complaints to be ignorantly grounded simply because it seemed to baffle you that people would even conceive of having an enjoyable time in Stormwind, according to your OP:

Stormwind is, at this current point in time, the single most popular RP spot in the game. This is frustrating, as I cannot for the life of me figure out why.

I do apologize for the way I worded my previous statement, though. After contemplating more of what your suggestion looks like in practice, I see more of what you're getting at.

Alliance right now isn't just not helping at all, they're *hurting* Horde-side RP. This is not a problem that can simply be fixed by the few Horde RPers that remain, it's something much of the community will need to work on, collectively.

Agreed that the community needs to collectively work together. And perhaps your right, maybe the Alliance players need to be more flexible in this regard. But something needs to be provided for the player base to be convinced that the Horde side is where the party's at, and I suppose I don't know entirely what that is.

[Shivali]

*cough cough* Play more zombies, people.

(Orcs too.)

[Touchseed]

She doesn't have reason to be in a particular area? Create one, it's not that hard.

Can I get an aaaaay-man. Next time I hear 'dont have a reason' I'm going to poop some bricks.


Stormwind is the 'cop out' of RP venues, it's easy and accessible and lukewarm. It was OK for me when I was trying to break in a character, but staying in the armpit of the Alliance territories gets kinda boring for me. The opportunity to role-play somewhere dangerous, like Ashenvale, even with an INSANELY high chance of getting a character killed is so much more fun. (I was getting death threats shoved down my eye sockets for 30 mins one day.)

Now I don't wanna dump all over people's preferred RP zone, I needed to role-play in Stormwind for my 'baby stage' Ally's. However, people are frustrated having to play there and you should all recognize this. With that said, I ask that you get out of your comfort zones like Grakor is asking. But not just Stormwind, I mean your actual comfort zones. The rites of passage in ancient societies would cast an individual from where they are most secure out into the wild where they are tested. You come back home more in tune with yourself and essentially an adult. Now this is no veiled insult to the community, but for real for real: Get out of the boxes you made for yourselves and try something different, race, class, locations, plots.

[Grakor456]

Pointing to people in Stormwind and going 'Oi, Rp other characters cause other people want a turn' is kinda childish, but only in my opinion. Working together and being happy seem to be different things, if people are coerced (sp?) into Rping other races/characters/whatever when all they really wanna do is Rp their happy human in Stormwind, the Rp is gonna feel forced too - and where is the fun in that?

If you reread what I just said, you'll know I dislike forcing people to play other characters just as much as you do, so please don't attack a position I never took.

The point is that people need to be more flexible and work together to encourage RP for both sides. If player X plays Sally the Barmaid and doesn't really want to play anyone else, that's fine. But Sally the Barmaid doesn't need to spend every day of her waking life in Stormwind just because she works there.

Let's say there's RP getting started in Lakeshire. Why, I can come up with three reasons for Sally the Barmaid to be in Lakeshire, with less than a minute's thought.

1. Sally's Aunt Molly has come down with an illness, and she wanted to check to make sure she'd be okay...poor dear.
2. Sally is on vacation, and always did want to see Redridge.
3. She's on an errand for her job. Maybe she's off to pick up some special wine that the bar owner doesn't trust in anyone else's hands.

This is, of course, unless you're suggesting that there are players who can only find enjoyment RPing in one particular location. I would certainly hope that such players would be a minority.