Quitting the cult, and RP.

Hey everyone. First of all, if you are here to just reply "attention whore" at the end of the thread, then feel free to think so but just leave this thread now. Originally I didn't want to write a "Goodbye RP" post, but I got so many whispers questioning me I'll write one afterall and direct people to this post.

Right.. firstly, what many people seem to think, is I went crazy for epics and abondoned the Cult without second thoughts at once for them. FALSE. I've worked hard on the Cult, I've probably seen over 250 individual players pass through it in the last year and half, some remained very loyal players and friends, some left again within a week to continue their guildhopping in the server. There's a piece of me in that guild, and I enjoyed the many hours of fun roleplay I had with it.

The reason why I quit roleplaying. Well, I've been having a bad feeling about roleplay for quite a time actually. Oftenly, I just felt like doing /gdisband and doing other stuff in WoW. Leading the cult felt more and more as a job. Now that combined with the low quality roleplay I oftenly see on SSL, and massive disrespect of lore(I'm not going further into this, please do the same. I don't want this to be the start of flame wars), just made me feel more like quitting RP. And I finally decided it was time to do that.

There comes an end to everything, and I'm very proud my guild has lasted so long. Villain roleplay is a very hard type of roleplay and people oftenly simply don't realise this. Villain guilds oftenly don't last more than a month or two. I consider the Cult a huge succes, I've inspired people on other realms to start a likewise project even. I hope more will follow my example, and hopefully the Cult can be kept alive by my loyal officers, even if less active.

I want to thank every single person who has ever roleplayed with someone from the Cult, Stormwind Militia for being a great main enemy, Pilus for his amazing support in multiple ways, my loyal officers and members of the Cult, especially Tipsy, Arshes for helping me recruit some of the most loyal members back in the first days of serious Scourge roleplay, and Niana & Eldini for keeping me a bit sane while running the guild with their jokes.

Will I ever be back to roleplay? Most probably. But probably not on this server.

Thanks.

(dunno if this fits in this forum, feel free to move, Vypra)

Sorry to hear things have taken this course Xari. I do wish you a nice fun time with the spare time you have that comes from not leading the Cult.

well, tbh, i'd have put this post in Random Carp...however, i'd say the end of the cult is of enough interest to merit a post here.

I guess the plethora of happy clappy 'i wanna hug and be part of the alliance' death knights has taken its toll?

Still, its an all too familiar problem. Running a guild -does- end up becoming a job. If people simply soak up all the rp you create and don't give anything back it can be -very- draining.

Anyhow, good luck with whatever you choose to do next.

Xariandra wrote:

low quality roleplay I oftenly see on SSL, and massive disrespect of lore

It's a real shame that someone feels like this about the state of SSL at the moment, especially as, from what I can see, we've never had it so good! Sure, guilds like ToC have had better days but the overall RP content that seems to be very good on the server (and I have to admit that most of what I am saying is based on what the forum portrays as my gaming time has been next to non-existent in the last 2-3 weeks).
I know there are idiots around who will OOC and disrespect Rpers, but then you will get that anywhere, and I know there are very few GM's that are truly for the cause of RPers when complaints about behaviour are raised but that will be the same on any server.

As to the hassles of running a guild, whilst I have not had that experience I have heard about it from others and I can understand why that would get you down, but not to the point of quitting RP altogether. IMO I would not just immediately jump ship like this but would ask the advise of Vypra and Teeboppitty/Ashya as I know they felt particularly drained after leading ToC for a long time with very little support. If it still seems the right thing to do then by all means quit RP and find fun elsewhere, but don't take the snap decision to do it immediately as that could lead to regrets that cannot be gone back on.

Gurfang, are you talking from horde, alliance or both perspective? Because horde does seem a lot better at times. They seem to be much more careful about choosing what background their character will be and don't simply go "I'm gonna RP a halftroll now!" or "I wanna be a badass Warlock leader of an Alliance army!" and stuff like that. Even with a detailed background those things aren't possibly anyway. I could tolerate such things to a certain extent, but Vypra is right. The influx of badly roleplayed Death Knights made me "collapse".

I just don't understand. People keep wanting to make exceptions on the lore - why do they roleplay in WoW in the first place then?

Anyway, I already joined former <Blap> and I'm gonna do end-game raids. I'm sure I'll miss roleplay after a while, so I'll be back to it. Restarting the storyline of Xariandra on another RP realm is an idea that crossed my mind. Or rerolling horde on SSL and joining Archnazg.

Thanks for the nice comments anyhow, oh and Gurfang, even though we had a lot of bickering, I adore your style of bringing more darkness into Warcraft with your psycho stories. One thing that is a pity about WoW is that it doesn't reflect the dark and grim world it is almost at all (except in some awesome quests in Northrend/DK start zone) but luckily well written stories and roleplay can enhance that a bit.

Xariandra wrote:

Gurfang, are you talking from horde, alliance or both perspective? Because horde does seem a lot better at times. They seem to be much more careful about choosing what background their character will be and don't simply go "I'm gonna RP a halftroll now!" or "I wanna be a badass Warlock leader of an Alliance army!" and stuff like that. Even with a detailed background those things aren't possibly anyway. I could tolerate such things to a certain extent, but Vypra is right. The influx of badly roleplayed Death Knights made me "collapse".

I just don't understand. People keep wanting to make exceptions on the lore - why do they roleplay in WoW in the first place then?

Anyway, I already joined former <Blap> and I'm gonna do end-game raids. I'm sure I'll miss roleplay after a while, so I'll be back to it. Restarting the storyline of Xariandra on another RP realm is an idea that crossed my mind. Or rerolling horde on SSL and joining Archnazg.

Thanks for the nice comments anyhow, oh and Gurfang, even though we had a lot of bickering, I adore your style of bringing more darkness into Warcraft with your psycho stories. One thing that is a pity about WoW is that it doesn't reflect the dark and grim world it is almost at all (except in some awesome quests in Northrend/DK start zone) but luckily well written stories and roleplay can enhance that a bit.

Honestly, I am talking about both sides.
Now don't get me wrong, I think that quality is something that should be given time to as well in RP but after the dire levels that SSL dropped to where the number of RPers (good or bad) I would say that we are at an all-time high. The whole point is that once you have the numbers you can start to help build people's understanding of lore and how to create a suitable character for WoW. I have to point out that I still believe that you are too strict in your reading of lore, but I do agree that there are certain parameters that should be set to make it at least vaguely realistic. But the flexibility comes, as has been shown from the feudalism thread, from the fact that WoW is basically the modern world and mind-set put into a medieval fantasy setting with the occasional modern aspect (like the hogs).

I'll do an Oppy now and give you an example of what I mean from my own job. I am a church youth worker and part of my job is to tell the young people that I work with about the Christian story. However, that doesn't come from being battered at them until they give in and it doesn't come in big doses from the start. I have started off with a goup of 4 teenage lads, back in October. I have given them a 2 hour slot where it is 1hr 45min of general youth club games and activities and 15 mins of notices and a "God slot". I have kept the same set up for the whole term and the group size has increased to 11. My aim now is to see who engages most with the God slot and then look to talk in more depth about it whilst allowing those that simply tolerate it to carry on enjoying the club at the level they want to.
Likewise, if we have got people enjoying playing to the rules of an RP server and actually taking part then I would say that this is an excellent place to be. You can then take those that show an interest in finding out more and tell them or point them in the right place to read up and help them develop at their own speed. RP mentoring schemes ftw!

P.S.
Thanks for the compliments on the insanity. If I haven't said it before (though I'm fairly sure I have) it's been great to see some evil stuff from you and the Cult. In spite of the disagreements we have had I have respected the fact that you've gone and done it and made a success out of it.

What Gurf said.

Long though short: Dont make any drastic decisions, you could regret it. Besides I may upgrade my Alliance account from trial to normal and I wanted to RP with you! And then this!

Shiny armors, glowy things, "beautiful" character models, more alive starting areas, the general idea of "Ooh, I'm a hero, look at me roar!" and most of all Horde is ugly, bad and it stinks!

Alliance side attracts young people WAY much more than the horde side does. That also causes the problems which seems to be quite usual with the roleplay.
Noted, though that horde side has their shares of power rp's, lorebreakers, cat-girls and who knows what other abominations which crawl out when no-one's looking, but still alliance side seems to be full of this crap.

In the danger of generalisation, I still say that the more youngsters you have on your side of the fence, the more crap, whine and illegimate sons of Illidan and the nearest goat you get. Still there's the ones who have no idea of what RP-server or roleplay means in general in every age group that cannot be denied.

Horde side has "ugly" character models, it's more brutal, not heroic in the general term of the word. Also before Mr. Arthas decided to wake up from his nap, the itemisation and looks of the gear on horde race was at worst something out of the nightmares of circus clowns (Try to gear up a plate using tauren female and you see what I mean)

At least based on my own experiences the horde side seems to be more "mature" on every rp server. Altough there are some really great rp guilds in the alliance side in every server. Both sides are suffering from the "RP, what is that ?", "Arthas ? Who?" - type of players who have clearly came to a wrong server. There are servers for EVERYONE in this game, why to come into one which they really don't belong ? Actually I can answer to that myself from an answer I once heard "The name sounded cool, lol"

Also, I'm feeling grumpy at the moment, so if this text offended anyone, do take notice that it's written in the influence of general "Growl" - mood.

Don't listen to Gurfang, he is leader of an underground cult which poses as church youth workers but in reality wants to get close access to you, so it can drain your bank accounts, violate your pets, pull up your flowerbed and, oh, probably steal your lunchtime crisps too ...

p.s. Gurfang looks like a double for Tom Cruise, need I say more? (Other than 'here comes John Travolta's jet'?)

Gellion wrote:

Noted, though that horde side has their shares of power rp's, lorebreakers, cat-girls and who knows what other abominations which crawl out when no-one's looking, but still alliance side seems to be full of this crap.

I take offense to this.

Well, the last I checked Thrall wasn't wearing bunny ears and no-one haven't even heard of anything concidered to be an cat-girl.

Sticking to the lore, myself.

Gellion wrote:

Well, the last I checked Thrall wasn't wearing bunny ears and no-one haven't even heard of anything concidered to be an cat-girl.

Sticking to the lore, myself.

Gellion, are you getting old like me?

Gellion, are you getting old like me? [/quote]

Yup, dark cold times make the old bones ache.

@Gurfang, in response of the "Guiding other people and teaching them the lore" thing.

That's also one of the things that made me decide to quit RP - I've tried. Oh god I've tried so many times! I've given friendly advise, pointed out flaws in things as polite as possible, and what do I get? "Omg elitist" "Rofl are u the god of RP??" and stuff like that. It just sickens me how rapidly people take offense from friendly advise, perhaps their precious ego getting harmed?

And @ shadowtroll. I'll probably still be up for casual RP with friends Besides, I'm setting up a last event where Xariandra's storyline comes to an end.

Xariandra wrote:

@Gurfang, in response of the "Guiding other people and teaching them the lore" thing.

That's also one of the things that made me decide to quit RP - I've tried. Oh god I've tried so many times! I've given friendly advise, pointed out flaws in things as polite as possible, and what do I get? "Omg elitist" "Rofl are u the god of RP??" and stuff like that. It just sickens me how rapidly people take offense from friendly advise, perhaps their precious ego getting harmed?

And @ shadowtroll. I'll probably still be up for casual RP with friends Besides, I'm setting up a last event where Xariandra's storyline comes to an end.

Xari since my alliance is trial I cant whisp you ((Stupid blizz rules)) So how could I get in contact with ya? ^^ And since its a trial account I am going to let the char get IC killed somehow...just wondering how...hmm...where are these scourge warlocks when you need them?

Why do you think I stopped doing major events and trying to have guild meetings and all that crap? Because you have to be a no-lifer to do it ... and not get thanked either.

(Unless you're Vex and Vypra, who have special dispensation coz they don't shout at each other for playing a game)

Xariandra wrote:

@Gurfang, in response of the "Guiding other people and teaching them the lore" thing.

That's also one of the things that made me decide to quit RP - I've tried. Oh god I've tried so many times! I've given friendly advise, pointed out flaws in things as polite as possible, and what do I get? "Omg elitist" "Rofl are u the god of RP??" and stuff like that. It just sickens me how rapidly people take offense from friendly advise, perhaps their precious ego getting harmed?

And @ shadowtroll. I'll probably still be up for casual RP with friends Besides, I'm setting up a last event where Xariandra's storyline comes to an end.

I know that, I tried it with you and look what happened (note to all, never get pissed off whilst suffering from a slipped disc!). Since then I've changed my mind on that side of things and would suggest that the way to offer help is to wait for people to ask for it or who you could offer it to (as in say "Would you like any help in the creating of your char's back-story", for example) and only give the help to those that are definitely interested. Let the others carry on as they want and then most should be happy.
It's true that some people will react badly, but it's about trying to reduce the chances of pissing people off and putting people in positions where they might discover that they'd like to find out more.

Well one thing i'm starting to notice is that more roleplayers have lots of alts in other guilds.....

There is a very disproportionate (hope i got that right) number of characters to players.

Unfortunately it's very hard for RP realms to have very large numbers as too many people don't care and alot of people give up eventually because it just becomes a hassle.

It's a shame to see you quit Xari.

Pyschotaz wrote:

Well one thing i'm starting to notice is that more roleplayers have lots of alts in other guilds.....

There is a very disproportionate (hope i got that right) number of characters to players.

what gave it away?... *tries to cover her sig*

and I who wanted to write a "Finding Xari" story..

Anyways..

Good luck with the raiding. Must admit I'm tempted to pursue that part of the game myself. Sometimes RP just isn't enough to keep one entertained.

oh.. and "Once you think you're out...They pull you right back in"

Evil never dies, eh?

To keep it short... too bad shit hit the fan like this Xari and good luck with your new plans.

Quintilius wrote:

Evil never dies, eh?

It just takes another shape.

Leaf wrote:

It just takes another shape.

Like a robot in disguise?

@ Xari, have fun matey, its a passtime not a job.
Why do you think the Anglers stays small so we don't have to put up with people whining they are "bored" or "nothing happens"

Personally I love the concept of this board so people accross guilds can have fun together whilst still remaining in whatever guild works for them.

Like in Serenity? Or maybe like in Lost In Space? DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

I see this place more like the backstage area of a burlesque club, in a seedy Las Vegas joint in the 1950s ... what? Stop looking at me like that!

Opathu wrote:

Why do you think I stopped doing major events and trying to have guild meetings and all that crap? Because you have to be a no-lifer to do it ... and not get thanked either.

(Unless you're Vex and Vypra, who have special dispensation coz they don't shout at each other for playing a game)

That is just a question of habit and planning. We have had atleast one weekly meeting in the last 2½ year without missing one.