Draenei role-play

A chubby Draenei in plate armor. Go go!

Also I think Kristeas means in lore. You only got Velen. And on rare occasions Maraad.

Emrys wrote:

Lexgrad wrote:I disagree, RPers make a char boring. Lore is just a back ground it is the probs on a stage show. A Good RPer can make any char of any flavour interesting. Most Chars of whatever race are boring if you open your eyes.

Thelos, you are one of my fav RPers and I love ya bro. Keep the faith and dont let it get you down

But (as has been mentioned) if you start out RPing, would you not pick a race you like instead of something that may just work if you are very good but does not really speak to you?

I believe there is still such a thing as personal tastes and doing what you enjoy in a game. On top of that you will probably do better at playing something that you like -because- you like it.

True, I started as a human (Dreth) as humans were something I thought I could easily do. I made a few humans and reciently I have made a few alien races and enjoyed it as much, Una and Una 2 on AD, Another AD Belf.

I have never made a goat mostly as.. idk I dont feel I could carry it off. I always think that willing the suspention of disbelief is the arbiter of a char. I dont mind dragon RPers if they can make me believe they are a dragon I am RPing with, If I made a Squid I am not sue I could convince people they are RPing with a wise old goat of thousands of years.

Ildranor / Odgan wrote:A chubby Draenei in plate armor. Go go!

Also I think Kristeas means in lore. You only got Velen. And on rare occasions Maraad.

I mean players. People are lazy and can be unmotivated, so other people are needed to keep things going.

Their culture doesn't really appeal to me from an RP point of view.

When I try to make this point about pandaren everyone gets butthurt and I get flamed to fuck.

But if people can accept pandaren that were magically hidden in a huge mist for 10k years while sailing on a turtle and having their entire culture and aesthetic taken from stereotypical ancient China, that suddenly appeared when a ship crashed into their island with absolutely no prior lore (yeah, having 1 appear as a gimmick in WC3 isn't lore) and barely any existing lore integrated into them and that look like a child's panda plushie, I really don't understand why people complain about draenei lore lacking depth, or why people complain about draenei looking bad, or how people can seriously believe they don't fit in.

Not trying to start a flamewar, I just genuinely don't understand.

I agree Raen. idk Look at th hated races really... Squids and Belfs, then DKs then Worgens then and now Pandas. All of them are addon Races which might have something to do with it.

If you dont like a races lore thats cool,, dont RP then But really trying to wipe them out from RP is silly.

Lexgrad wrote:I agree Raen. idk Look at th hated races really... Squids and Belfs, then DKs then Worgens then and now Pandas. All of them are addon Races which might have something to do with it.

If you dont like a races lore thats cool,, dont RP then But really trying to wipe them out from RP is silly.

Is anybody actually trying to wipe them out of RP?

Ixirar/Kavalis wrote:

Lexgrad wrote:I agree Raen. idk Look at th hated races really... Squids and Belfs, then DKs then Worgens then and now Pandas. All of them are addon Races which might have something to do with it.

If you dont like a races lore thats cool,, dont RP then But really trying to wipe them out from RP is silly.

Is anybody actually trying to wipe them out of RP?

Except for DK's... have you ever met the Forsaken?

Kristeas Sunbinder wrote:

Ixirar/Kavalis wrote:

Lexgrad wrote:I agree Raen. idk Look at th hated races really... Squids and Belfs, then DKs then Worgens then and now Pandas. All of them are addon Races which might have something to do with it.

If you dont like a races lore thats cool,, dont RP then But really trying to wipe them out from RP is silly.

Is anybody actually trying to wipe them out of RP?

Except for DK's... have you ever met the Forsaken?

I beg your pardon..

Ixirar/Kavalis wrote:

Kristeas Sunbinder wrote:

Ixirar/Kavalis wrote:

Lexgrad wrote:I agree Raen. idk Look at th hated races really... Squids and Belfs, then DKs then Worgens then and now Pandas. All of them are addon Races which might have something to do with it.

If you dont like a races lore thats cool,, dont RP then But really trying to wipe them out from RP is silly.

Is anybody actually trying to wipe them out of RP?

Except for DK's... have you ever met the Forsaken?

I beg your pardon..

"Death to the Living"?

It's a matter of advertising, I find. Draenei are underplayed because A) they haven't had any real lore development since TBC, and B ) there were never any really "big" names amongst the draenei, and the ones that were there were Broken, not draenei. Even years after the expansion launched, the draenei most often emulated isn't even a character in-game, it's the paladin in the TBC movie. A guy with a couple of seconds of screentime and no character beyond being badass, which therefore resulted in many RP draenei paladin badasses with no character or personality that don't last more than a few weeks.

I personally don't understand the "they're boring and bland!" idea. They might be a Lawful Good race but that doesn't make them boring or bland. They can have just as many nuances and flaws as any other character, just in a different way. Though I suppose the fact that there are such differences in the first place are what makes people find them so alien and hard to understand. But still, you can't look at the Auchenai, or Khan, or the Hand of Argus, and then say that all draenei are perfectly good. If anything, I'd say the draenei persona gives more room for anti-heroes than any other race, because the draenei attachment to good means that even their darker characters should still be trying to be heroic or good. Akama is one example, and it's something I've always tried to maintain with Dru.

It again comes down to advertising, I think. Those nuances and flaws were always rather quiet, side-stories that most players just gloss over. The Auchenai especially were wasted potential, seeing as they had very little overt lore.

Also, the religious aspect. Very, very few people know how to play a religious character, or want to play one. Atheism is very common in today's world and more and more people find religion pointless. Humans do get a lot of people "claiming" to be religious characters, but even then very few have any real substance as most play them for the fancy Light magic rather than the actual religion. Religion should be a journey, not a tool. As a race so focused on religion, draenei are therefore both offputting to people, and difficult to play for the few who do try to do it.

I'll be terribly blunt here: draenei, as well as worgen, goblins and all races/classes added to the game after vanilla, with the partial exception of blood elves, but because they are, afaIK(and I could be wrong), roleplayed as the Horde humans, have had a very hard time in being accepted by roleplayers, especially by 'aged' rpers. Roleplayers are conservative animals. It's hard they like something new, especially if collides on what they think the lore and the world of it should be. I didn't check the old wow forums, but I'm gonna bet a month of sub on the fact that, when TBC first came along, all rpers and lore nazis were all: "OMG, aliens, this game is over, lore is absurd" and so on, and the same when dks came along in wotlk. Dks are frowned upon even now, and I've even heard of players frowning upon rping a worgen.

It seems that it's terribly hard to get accepted new classes and races from the communities of rpers. That's probably because often these new features are a challenge to the roleplayer(and tipically picked up in the hype of the new expansion), leading to a failure in portraying them in a 'good' way(whatever this term means, a way accepted b other rpers, and this brings often them to a secluded rp or, if they're very unlucky, to the direct boycotting of their rp. This said, often it's always Blizzard's fault. Let's say this, the lore of the races and classes added in expansions is typically neglected in the long run. Happened with draeneis and belves, happened with dks, happened with worgen and goblins, will happen to monks and pandas. TBC and MOP at least had in their favor that the races added were deepily rooted in their expansions, and so much lore given in them.

Draenei are victims of this situation, even, and the fact, as stated, that they are typically hard to portray in a convincing way but also that makes them interesting as chars. They have, as background, seemingly reached a sort of unwaverable peace, which makes them engaging for the fellow roleplayer, but hardly engaging for the roleplayer who actually plays them. A char without conflict is an uninteresting char, to most.

Also, the religious aspect. Very, very few people know how to play a religious character, or want to play one. Atheism is very common in today's world and more and more people find religion pointless. Humans do get a lot of people "claiming" to be religious characters, but even then very few have any real substance as most play them for the fancy Light magic rather than the actual religion. Religion should be a journey, not a tool. As a race so focused on religion, draenei are therefore both offputting to people, and difficult to play for the few who do try to do it.

I feel I can quote this very much. I always tend to implement the religion element into my chars, in a way or another, but I'd honestly find hard to portray a really religious character, or one who has religion not as a part of himself, but as his focus. Aside of my personal beliefs, I like to play a lot more a char conflicting with the religious side of matters, than one who has faith and accepts his religion and believes.

On a side note, imho pandas fit more than draenei wow setting, but I do love both races.

I have to disagree with both Dec and Dru.

Dru: I think advertising plays a very minor role in the reasons why Draenai are not popular. The lore is a large leap from the standard of Warcraft lore and the race itself has a very different outlook on things in comparison to your usual fantasy races. Perhaps if the Broken were the playable race, it would be slightly different. Not much - I don't like their lore. I liked them in WC3 when they served a smaller purpose, but that's about it. As for religious RP, I don't think it is a difficult thing to RP in the slightest. It does have a tedious aspect to it (as a guy who went to a Catholic school and has been to around 100 masses, I think I can speak with some insight into that!). The more fun parts of religious rp come from zealot actions and embracing the light in times of war.
EDIT: I also think it is pretty closed minded to say that there are very few people who know how to play a religious character properly. I've seen some very successful characters that are focused around religion.

Dec: Worgen are extremely popular on Alliance. Goblins would probably be a lot more popular if Horde side had twice the player count. DKs are loved and embraced by role-players as it grants internal conflict. I don't think it has anything to do with people set in their ways. I didn't start RPing on WoW until late TBC and my reasoning for dislike Draenai is very different to how you perceive us 'haters' to see things.

Dec: Worgen are extremely popular on Alliance. Goblins would probably be a lot more popular if Horde side had twice the player count. DKs are loved and embraced by role-players as it grants internal conflict. I don't think it has anything to do with people set in their ways. I didn't start RPing on WoW until late TBC and my reasoning for dislike Draenai is very different to how you perceive us 'haters' to see things.

I didn't say -you- 'hate' draeneis. Tbh, I wouldn't play one, but not because I find them boring or because they're too alien. To me, almost any char/class of wow is 'alien' almost on the same level, but I just don't find them entertaining, as a roleplayer(though they can be played by other players who can make them entertaining, yes, looking at you, Thelos). I don't find in draeneis the potential to explore some conflicts I'd like to explore and see.

Worgen are popular. Yes, but mostly not as Gilnean worgen: usually they're played just as humans, and the background/lore identity given to them is pt on a second or third stage. As in: I'm a Gilnean, but mostly I'm just another human with werewolf power.
Dks are popular? Yes and no. As much as there are some dk roleplayers, typically their rp is very closed and typically a dk rper will have a very hard time to get accepted as a good dk rper, or a good rper altogether, 'cause of the hugely bad reputation the class has been given from an OOC pov.

Longknife/Decurius wrote: "OMG, aliens, this game is over, lore is absurd" and so on, and the same when dks came along in wotlk. Dks are frowned upon even now, and I've even heard of players frowning upon rping a worgen.

When TBC came along we were mostly, pissed at the Complete retcon of Sargeras and the eredar. I.e before TBC, cannon lore had the eredar corrupt sargeras, after TBC, sargeras corrupted eredar. not so much the fact about the space-ships, but the fact that an evil race was basically retconned into fitting the alliance

incidentally, thats also the point i stopped caring about warcraft lore

Amaryl wrote:

Longknife/Decurius wrote: "OMG, aliens, this game is over, lore is absurd" and so on, and the same when dks came along in wotlk. Dks are frowned upon even now, and I've even heard of players frowning upon rping a worgen.

When TBC came along we were mostly, pissed at the Complete retcon of Sargeras and the eredar. I.e before TBC, cannon lore had the eredar corrupt sargeras, after TBC, sargeras corrupted eredar. not so much the fact about the space-ships, but the fact that an evil race was basically retconned into fitting the alliance

incidentally, thats also the point i stopped caring about warcraft lore

I never understood why this was such a big deal. I've always been a lore enthousiast, and this retcton did not bother me in the slightest. I just shrugged and moved on. Chicken and the egg, eh?

Pao wrote:

Amaryl wrote:

Longknife/Decurius wrote: "OMG, aliens, this game is over, lore is absurd" and so on, and the same when dks came along in wotlk. Dks are frowned upon even now, and I've even heard of players frowning upon rping a worgen.

When TBC came along we were mostly, pissed at the Complete retcon of Sargeras and the eredar. I.e before TBC, cannon lore had the eredar corrupt sargeras, after TBC, sargeras corrupted eredar. not so much the fact about the space-ships, but the fact that an evil race was basically retconned into fitting the alliance

incidentally, thats also the point i stopped caring about warcraft lore

I never understood why this was such a big deal. I've always been a lore enthousiast, and this retcton did not bother me in the slightest. I just shrugged and moved on. Chicken and the egg, eh?

Likewise. I can understand if it was something that had an immediate significance on RP, but this was something that most if not all characters would have no information about anyway. Retcons are not bad just because of being retcons; they can actually be a good thing. Retcons are only bad when they seriously disrupt immediate story flow.

In this case, the retcon is superior to the old lore, IMO.

I have to agree with ;

Dec: I remember pretty much all the new races being rejected, especially on alliance side, people complained about Squiddies and so many people complained about Worgen to no end, and now with the pandas I know people that actually avoid them at all costs to try and "pretend" they don't exist to whatever extent they can.

I think thats a big problem with the draenei, from what I have seen when some people have played them (Just speculating here) A lot of people avoid RPing with them, or just don't go to in depth, which is not all that fun for the draenei rper, at least that was what situation I had with my Draenei, but that was years back.

I guess the retcon makes Sargaras less tragic a villain, or something? I don't know. Personally I don't give a damn how the WoW equivalent of the devil turned evil.

He's the devil.

Anyhow, I'm going to sniff around some other role-playing servers to see how the draenei role-play is elsewhere. Having my priest sitting around doing nothing just makes me uncomfortable.

Pao wrote:

I never understood why this was such a big deal. I've always been a lore enthousiast, and this retcton did not bother me in the slightest. I just shrugged and moved on. Chicken and the egg, eh?

you are sincerely overstating the deal. it was never a big deal. Nothing wow related is ever or has ever been a big deal. Lol.

Well, not in the grand scheme of things, no, but we're talking on a WoW message board so when I say something is a big deal it feels kind of superfluous to add "...For WoW" after everything.

Queen Beatrix announcing she's stepping down, however, that's a big deal! No konigingendag

...Boy, that came out of nowhere.

Where as Elizi will outlast Charles XD

xD

Yeah, but honestly still in the scope of things, that wasn't even a big deal for wow.

Bigger shitfits were thrown, because PvPers ganked A shadow-mass in stormwind.

bigger shitfits are thrown when someone says: warriors are OP, or Mages get nerfed.

Mages getting nurf'd :DDDDDDDDDDDDD

If im honest I love draenic rp I love it to my core.. im sure most peopole here have seen my draenei in red in one way or another as with drue.. the fact there is little lore on draenei is what I love.. it allows me to push things and play around, Like the fact she currently is in possetion of (a porly working) hand held draenic holographic emiter that acts as her diery and notebook.. amonst a few other things,

i know of a few in server things that happend that has killed draenic rp at times im not going to say it thow as I know it will cause a shit storm and some upset and returns of hurt memories..

we did however for a while have nerly 4 months of a growing large draenic base of rp'ers for a while but it just died after the what I can only saw was the last draenic rp event we had, for a good long time My monny was the only draenei i could find in rp.. dur was moving countries, thelos had a few holidays /wow breaks, delidah stopped logigng his paladin alt.. and prity much all draenic rp just vanished,

needless to say I think there is enough interest.. but what few draenei there are are .. scatterd.. however monrena joining the disciples.. she will be slowly reverting back to her priestly ways *nods*

ps: I would say my monny is far from a generic bouring personality and is also not inherently evil but is actualy a good kind soul who always wants to help..

Sup