In my couple of years in WoW, I have heard on more than one occasion players lament the apparent lack of quality RP on the side of the Horde. I have been quick to push aside this notion, because I have seen many good RP’ers within the Horde. However, after doing research for this article, and comparing that with last weeks’ article, I am beginning to see a great imbalance in quality places for Horde RP’ers to gather and meet. Maybe this is one of the causes for that line of thinking, maybe not. I do know that I will be following up on this in the near future, so stay tuned.
As a prime example for comparison, count up the places for possible RP in Stormwind. I count thirteen. Now, I’d like to think that the city designer for Stormwind was a really good roleplayer, hence, the high number of open buildings which can be used for RP there. I’m also thinking whoever designed the Horde cities of Orgrimmar and Thunder Bluff were adamantly against RP, because the sad lack of possible places for RP events is a slap-in-the-face. Even with my rather vivid and rampant imagination, I found it very difficult to imagine anything to draw the interest of RP’ers within these two Horde strongholds. However, that’s not to say I came up with a complete blank. I’ll show what I did find.
First off, let’s get Orgrimmar out of the way. Through the entrance and behind the high rock walls that protect the city, I simply couldn’t find anywhere that I thought would be a good place for a potential RP group meeting, especially when compared to Stormwind. There are no empty buildings, large open out-of-the-way areas conducive to quality RP, and I don’t even remember seeing any usable chairs throughout the entire city. What an incredible shame!
In fact, I only found two places that would lend themselves to hosting an RP group, and they are both outside the walls to the front of Orgrimmar. One is called Rocktusk Farm (above pic), and the other is another farm near the zeppelin tower. Both have an open house with no NPC’s (again, no usable chairs), a couple of cots, and a small round fenced area with wandering swine. About the only thing they offer is some elbow room, and a relative proximity to the heart of Orgrimmar without being in the path of city traffic. I could see them being claimed by players as an RP home for characters, or as a quick gathering for some imaginative RP event. Sorry, folks, there’s just not much else to see here, move along…
Sadly, Thunder Bluff isn’t a much better place for RP’ers. Taking a look at the map above, you’ll notice there are two main points I’ve marked, other than the yellow stars. The orange dot on Spirit Rise marks an empty teepee, probably just large enough for maybe five characters. The green triangle on the main center rise marks some fireside seating shaped stadium-style, where a larger gathering could be had. The yellow stars indicate bridge houses, buildings linking to the rope bridges extending out from the main rise to the surrounding smaller rises. These buildings are spacious enough for a number of activities, yet small enough to preclude about the same number. Lack of chairs is as much a disgrace here as in Orgrimmar. Still, they could perhaps be something for some creative RP’er.
There is one place here that I have used for one RP meeting, and that is the below the covered walkway and lift platforms that link the top of Thunder Bluff with the valley floor of Mulgore. It’s roomy, plenty of ground seating with room for a small fire, and when the Darkmoon Faire is Horde side, makes for a great location to take a stroll down and enjoy the festivities. Alas, that’s about it.
I’m hoping to get some feedback from my fellow RP’ers telling me I’ve missed something in these two cities. As always, I’m very interested in hearing about any RP events that have been held in either Orgrimmar and/or Thunder Bluff, for my own edification, and to help the rest of us in sparking some excellent RP idea. I’ll cover the other two Horde cities, Silvermoon City and The Undercity, on an upcoming article, and I think they may prove to be better for our RP purposes. I could be wrong, however. For the next article, expect a tour of the city under the mountain, Ironforge, which I believe will prove on par with Stormwind.
