Interview: Thornroot #16

Firewire: I always start with three personal questions. Would you share your afk age, gender and home country with us?

Thornroot: 18/Male/England-UK if you want to be less specific.

Firewire: Is there a story behind your character's name?

Thornroot: Uh, not really - it's an invention from when I moved this character over to Argent Dawn. On my original server he was called Dannelor (his first name) but that was taken over here, so I thought I'd use his surname instead. In-character, like most elf names, it's linked to some kind of family history or mythology, but I've not properly thought up what yet. Might do one day.

Firewire: Why did you switch servers?

Thornroot: I moved over in late Cataclysm, because the RP community on Steamwheedle Cartel (the old server) felt a lot like it was dying. A bunch of mates and I all made the jump together. It had got to a point where we had all these ideas for projects and events but there simply weren't enough people around to get them off the ground, so we decided to seek out greener, more active pastures.

Firewire: Did you guys find what you were looking for on AD? Did the server give you the possiblities you needed to do your projects?

Thornroot: Definitely! With resources like the Argent Archives and a more active realm forum I've been able to branch out a bit, hosting the odd community event, expand my guild (we're still small, but concept wise it's a lot more detailed than it was back then), get involved with other players more, that kind of thing. I'm about to launch a guild coalition project called the Starhost with a handful of night elf guilds on the server, which I would never have been able to do back on SWC.

Firewire: What will this project, Starhost, be about? (or is it to early to tell?)

Thornroot: It's a loosely structured warhost coalition of night elf & Kalimdor based guilds. Lorewise night elves have a good history of banding together en mass when faced with big threats like the Legion or the qiraji, and I wanted to see if we could show what that might look like in our community. Especially with Legion on the horizon, which I am well excited for! There's a forum thread for it and an AA page if anybody wants to do any further reading.

Firewire: What things from Legion make you excited for it?

Thornroot: New zones with plenty of pretty elf themes, duh. And more Emerald Dream/Nightmare stuff, which'll give me plenty to write about in my druid guide, and the return of demon hunters - which I'm looking at with a bit of trepidation, because I don't know how they'll be handled lorewise, but either way, there's going to be something there for the Guardians to play with! And the whole thing about big lore characters potentially dying is really exciting. Shakes things up a bit. I'll put my hands up and say I hope Malfurion dies. That'll be fun.

Firewire: Could you tell me a bit about the role the Argent Archives has for you and your role playing? How do you use it? What does it achieve, etc.

Thornroot: Sure. I use the Archives to document conceptual stuff around my guild - I've come up with a series of rituals/traditions that the Guardians continue, for example, and put them up there if people want to know what they are, or do them themselves, or get into the history of my characters, or just for general writing. It's really great to be able to write sides of your character that might not often come up in role play but still have them easily accessible by your guildmates.

Firewire: Would the death of Malfurion influence your guild lorewise?

Thornroot: On its own maybe not, it really depends how everything around him changes as well; what kind of line the Cenarion Circle takes, who takes leadership there, how Tyrande and Darnassus reacts, that sort of thing. For Thornroot and the Guardians it might mean getting a lot more freedom to get involved in conflict openly and 'legally', if, say, the Cenarion Circle get a more active leader. In the context of wider night elf society, and the Guardians' standing there, it'd be interesting to see what role they take. Malfurion dying could either kick the night elves into modernising faster (Highborne, Alliance, demon hunters, etc.) in which case they'd be staunchly against that, or it could effect a rejection of modern changes and a retreat to conservative principles, which the Guardians would absolutely welcome. Might even get them out of Ashenvale and into Darnassus taking a more public role.

Firewire: Could you tell us a little bit about Thornroot? Who is he? Where does he come from? What does he want to achive?

Thornroot: Dannelor Thornroot - affectionately dubbed by Queteron as the 'Mad Druid of Ashenvale' - is these days something like a radical religious fundamentalist leader, really. Born shortly after the Sundering during the days when kaldorei society was being massively overhauled, he adopted all those kinds of revolutionary ideals about druidism and ecocentricity and the Balance and since then his history has been one of progressive radicalisation; He grew more and more convinced that the druidic/Elune-based ideology of the Night Elves that came about in the wake of the Sundering was the best way forward, and when he sees it challenged - by the Highborne, the orcs, integration with the Alliance - his instinct is to fight it. 'Balance before all,' is the Guardians' tagline these days. In a nutshell what he wants is for the night elves to go back to their pre-WC3 days. That's impossible, I know, but it's really interesting to explore.

Firewire: How would Thronroot treat Firewire if he would meet her IC?

Thornroot: He's ... a bit of an angry racist to be honest. Likely he'd lump her with all the other environmentally degradating goblins with their rampant consumerism and callous disregard for nature.

Firewire: Would you share your favorite story you played in WoW RP with us?

Thornroot: Tough question. I have to say the plotline the Guardians are on now, actually it's a story orchestrated by Yeneira, one of my guild mates, centered around her family's collective skeleton-in-the-closet (in the form of a sister who was a demon hunter). I can't tell you how it ends, because it hasn't yet, and I'm not in charge so I don't know any spoilers, but the role play we've had so far has been some of the most in-depth and interesting stuff we've ever done. The writing has been amazing, I really love the concept, some of the DMed events we've had in Barrow Dens and dreams and druidic rituals have been great, and I can't wait to see how it finishes.

Firewire: Warlords of Draenor goes for one of the weakest expansions as Blizzard lost about half of its subscriptions in a couple of months. How do you think about the situation RP on AD is currently in? Is it influenced in anyway by the subscription loss?

Thornroot: Yeh, tack that last comment on the end of there. WRT to WoD - When WoD was really in full swing, before Tanaan and the wind down to Legion, it was basically awful for us because we couldn't really find a good reason to go to Draenor, and even then actually RPing on the continent was nearly impossible. As for how sub drops have had an impact, I think there has been a decrease in the number of very big guilds, but not so much that the scene is completely dead, and nowhere near like it was on Steamwheedle Cartel when I left.

Firewire: Can you think of things you learned for your afk life through playing WoW and/or doing RP?

Thornroot: It's hard to pinpoint exactly what things come from where, whether my RP changes because of real life developments or real life changes because of things I've learnt while RPing, but one tangible thing is my confidence in leading things, or offering opinions, feeling confident that I have something to offer. That feeling that started with lore & role play in WoW has really made an impact on me outside of RP, which is great. I'm not worried of speaking my piece or offering an opinion if I feel I have something worth saying.

Firewire: Three short questions: Your favorite place to be in WoW, your favorite tavern and your favorite NPC?

Thornroot: Favourite place: Grizzly Hills, Grizzlemaw specifically. The tree within the bigger tree and all the furbolg houses and the lights in the air is such an amazing image

Favourite tavern; the Pig & Whistle in Stormwind has a ... special place in my heart, because of what it was like on Steamwheedle Cartel, but the tone is different on AD so I don't really know. Otherwise I love the dwarven inns.

Favourite NPC is a hard one. Fandral before they made him mad, maybe? Lorna Crowley. Maiev. Wrathion. Kelsey Steelspark. There's too many characters that I like.

Firewire: Is there anything else you want to add or to share? Any shout outs?

Thornroot: I'll give a big thank you to my guildies who sit so politely while pretending to listen to my crackpot theories about how night elves do this or that or whatever other thing. Shout out to Queteron for always making me laugh and his efforts to save my soul from atheism (they haven't worked). Apologies to Boush for not having an 'Enraged Thornroot' moment here, I'm sure there'll be one coming soon. Aaand that's about it! And you, for inviting me over and being a good interviewer, and Acrona for being so patient and amazing with us last night at the Snapshot event! So very helpful.

Firewire: Hey thank you. It was a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you for your time and this interview.

Interview: Nimsil #15

"Don't be honest. Be a goblin."

-Nimsil

 

Firewire:

1. If i understood you right, you are the founding father of Gearfist IBS correct?

Nimsil:

I am one of the three. Gearfist IBS was meant to have three leaders - one per division. Hence the IBS - Intelligence Battalion and Supplies.

Firewire:

Tell me a little bit about the founding days of Gearfist IBS? How did that project came to life?

Nimsil:

Before Gearfist IBS there weren't many Goblin RPers. There was a main guild: Blackwealth PMC. They acted like an IC gang or something like it. Unfortunately some of the IC "harassment" went OOC and people felt unconfortable by RPing a goblin that would be beaten and smuggled all day long. And, if ya wouldn't accept that, OOC arguments would start.

Gearfist IBS was founded to be the oposite. A place where people would feel welcome. Where they could learn RP without being judged. At the end of the day, made Goblin RP flourish.

Firewire:

What was/is the background story of the guild?

Nimsil:

Gearfist IBS is meant to be a semi-independent corporation. It fights for the Horde, because that is the contract to "rent" the north section of the Valley of Honor. The rent is paid by providing free gear for the Grunts, building of siege weapons and by salvaging the battlefield, before other factions do it (ex: Alliance). Gearfist IBS takes the salvaged stuff from battlefields, pillaged villages and "found items". It sells the good stuff, repairs the broken and smelts the bad.

By working with "garbage", it can easily bring "found items" (stolen) to the market again. Its basically a legit facade, for criminal activity. Dodging taxes as it can.

Firewire:

Whats the story about the guild having 3 founding fathers? How did that came to be?

Nimsil:

Nimsil was intended to be head of Intel - specially because most see him as trader. Lailar - former Blackwealth worked as a spy for Nimsil. She proposed him to start a guild where she would be the "official leader". While handling Battalion. Nims would lead Intel. And other guy (who left on 2nd day of guild creation) was handling the Supply division.

Firewire:

How did the goblin rp developed since than

Whats the situation now?

Nimsil:

With the end of OOC drama and an active guild, goblins started to pop up frequently. It begun with alts from other guilds (the race was quite new in Cataclysm). With time they were converted to main - but it has allways been a race of alts. Id say +90%.

Being alone for a while made Gearfist IBS grow fast. Some guilds rose and felt during IBS existance. But it kinda had the monopoly of Goblin RP, because alts want instant activity - they are not waiting for RP to happen. So they naturally merge into a big blob.

Today, Gearfist IBS is alive - never been trully off since 2011. And it is getting very active. We are holding GM elections this week. So the future is bright.

Firewire:

What has been your favorite story/event within Gearfist IBS until now?

Nimsil:

Tsk. Events? We have so many! LOlol. Our record (if I recall) is seven events in a day, started in a morning and ended... well in another morning. LOlol! But above all, my favorite thing is to see that we managed to teach RP to someone. That we contributed to the server quality.

Ah! Well, the Quickcoin's 11, 12 and 13. Clearly a reference to Ocean's triology. Three events at which we robbed: gambling tournament, goblin mafia bank and... I think we also robbed ourselves for insurance money - something between those lines.

Firewire:

How does someone do a gambling tournament within WoW?

Nimsil:

Well - was before Hearthstone so we had no real games. It was done with rolls. I can't remember with precision. But it was something like: Each player emoted taking a card then /random. Then stay in or go out like a poker game. At the end, each player sums his rolls. The one with higher, wins.

Firewire:
You told me about a project similar to Booty Bay Free Press back in the days.

Nimsil:

Its a newspaper we had in the past. But on GHI. Norionil (the only name I can recall) used to write books in GHI and sell them to people. My char took the oportunity to create a printing press. After all, who controls the media, controls public opinion. We had a couple of reporters - one per city

- they wrote one article each and we would compile them into an IC magazine. Unfortunately it lacked illustration... and people are lazy! LOlol! So it only sold a couple of copies. But had a small loyal group of buyers. I'm still interested in doing it, tho. *wink wink*

Firewire:

So you guys did IC interviews? What did you ask the citizens of Argent Dawn? Also was it Horde Only?

Nimsil:

Horde only. Yes. It had less of an inpact on my RP than other projects. But it was compleetly IC. Nimsil didn't do the questions. He just organized the people. I've been the chanel to many RP projects yannow? I introduce A to B and we form a group. Then C comes with an idea and I know D. And I join them too. Yada yada yada.

Firewire:

Did the game change for the better for RP over the years in your opinion?

Nimsil:

Yeah! Addons help a lot. GHI? MRP? Tsh! Can't live without them. They add A LOT!!! RP is preety much alive and kicking.

Firewire:
Is there anything else you want to add? Any shout outs?

Nimsil:

Yes. I would like to take this oportunity to shout for more interaction and less judging of new RPers.

AD is a great server. It stands as the bastion of RP in europe. Our lack of interaction with eachother - will be the downfall of RP. If we close ourserlves. if we choose not to give "noobs" a chance to learn RP. The server will die. Don't like the RP current quality? Do something about it. Teach RP. Teach =/= judge.

Gearfist IBS has new RPers. Allways had. And if depends on me? Allways will. It bothers me not what "elithists" think of our guild. Because my friends are making friends here. They are building a family. They learn RP. AND we are helping the server as a whole.

Do the same.

#

Interview: Auldring #14

Firewire: We are meeting in-game as goblin and human in a peaceful way today. Would that be something that would be possible for Auldring IC?

Auldring: It would certainly be possible, though improbable. His clashes with the Horde prior to the truce would make any meeting with them tense.

Firewire: I'm not totally up to date to the WoW lore. Could you tell us a little about Auldring's clashes with the Horde? Maybe some highlights, and also tell me a little bit more about this "truce" you mentioned. Is the truce official lore, or server/realm lore?

Auldring: Well, I hope I don't put my foot in my mouth here, but as a man of Arathor, Auldring has seen his fair share of fighting with the Forsaken in particular, so whilst he might have grudging respect for the noble tauren warrior, or the strong orc fighter, the Forsaken, and by extent, the whole Horde, have his contempt and hostility. In a grinding war of attrition that has been going on for many years, there aren't really any "highlights" so to speak.

And as for the truce, I believe since the Siege of Orgrimmar there has been a truce between the Alliance and the Horde that is official? Whether this will remain the case I don't know, and how seriously others on the server take it is up to them, but personally, I see it as an absolute barricade between any hostile actions against the Horde.

Firewire: Is peace between the factions a thing that Auldring would welcome?

Auldring: Well, that would certainly depend on some pretty extreme circumstances. A far greater threat to the safety of his family and household would have to arise for him to put aside his differences with the Horde.

Firewire: What are Auldring's goals in life. What does he want to achieve?

Auldring: Quite simply, he wants to be safe and secure, to prosper and to leave behind a good future for his children. Everlasting glory and renown would be the cherry on the cake ...

Firewire: So if there are children, is there also a wife in his life?

Auldring: There is indeed, Auldring is happily married.

Firewire: To a NPC, or a real player?

Auldring: A real player.

Firewire: How long have you been playing WoW, and how did you get into role-playing?

Auldring: I've played WoW for seven years. *Has a small panic attack over the amount of money spent then moves on* I've role-played for four of those years and truly, role-play is the only reason I continue to pay my subscription. Sure PvP can be fun, and occasionally I'll drop into LFR, but the role-playing community here on Argent Dawn is great. Lots of special people here.

Firewire: Why did you start role-playing? And who or what helped you to start with it?

Auldring: I remember idly flicking through the role-play forums one day and seeing a thread by the Three Hammers. Reading that got me super psyched to role-play with them, so I made an alt, joined their guild, and promptly forgot about that alt. I believe it got to level seven. A few weeks later I made a second character, leveled him up and joined the Blades for Hire on Defias Brotherhood. Amazing community, excellent officers, and I wish everyone I met there luck wherever they may be. They taught me most of the lessons you need to learn early on. My second guild after them was the Stormwind Regiment, also on Defias Brotherhood. I totally speak without any bias at all here when I say that they were the best guard role-playing guild ever.

Firewire: What made you switch to AD?

Auldring: I switched over with a couple of friends after a role-playing story line came to a close on Defias Brotherhood. Together we planned to make a new guild over here, The House of Strathmore. We did that, one of my friends leading that guild with myself as an officer at first, but eventually I ended up leading the guild when the first GM took a break from the game.

Firewire: If you break it down, what's the story of your guild?

Auldring: Well, this is a new guild. Its story is pretty simple. A human household community trying to get away from Arathor due to the losses sustained there. Seeking a new life with prosperity and peace.

Firewire: Why is it hard to get away from Arathor?

Auldring: Well, we're trying to think realistically. Financially, abandoning our homes is a big risk, yet the threat of the Witherbark trolls, the Syndicate, the ogres, and the looming Forsaken just over the border all make it worth that risk.

Firewire: Could you tell us about your favorite RP event, or your favorite story line you played in WoW?

Auldring: My favorite event was an impromptu one that happened down in Surwich. After an off-hand remark about a gnomish security team installing some gadgets in a house, we turned it into a night's worth of tripwires, booby traps, lions in pits and a shark-infested cellar. It was very silly, but very fun. Maybe you had to be there.

Firewire: Are there any RP events you look forward to?

Auldring: Hm ... good question. To be honest I'm a little out of the loop. I would love to be involved in any kind of RP events in the future to be honest, but there are none in particular I look forward to.

Firewire: Playing WoW I very often run into guys playing girls (including myself). What do you think is a reason why people play opposite gender characters?

Auldring: I haven't done so myself, but there are many reasons. One thing I see and love on Argent Dawn are the powerful female characters. Warriors, politicians, healers, mages, you name it, they are here. I think that is a big part of it, trying to portray powerful archetypes. As well as that this is a universe where we can portray whatever we want to. That must be a large reason why people explore other genders in role-play?

Firewire: People that don't play WoW or videogames talk about the terms Real Life and Game. How do you think about that? Would you say playing WoW had something to do with your real life or not at all?

Auldring: I think on some level, role-play has an element of escapism for everyone. Whether you're just bored and want a fantasy world, or for some other reason, we all come here to lose ourselves in this universe for a while, you know?

Firewire: If you could change the game to improve the RP experience, what would you change?

Auldring: Inter-faction communications would be a must. I'd love that. Other than that ... I don't know, more customisable options for armor. That's my final answer!

Firewire: Three short ones at the end: Favorite place to be, favorite tavern, favorite NPC.

Auldring: Favorite place to be, too many. This game has lots of special memories for me location wise. I like the Pig and Whistle in Stormwind, you can sit there and just listen to role-play, its pretty great. I guess that answers the first two questions :P

And favorite NPC ... it's got to be Gamon. Say what you like about him, he has dedication.

Firewire: Is there a person (or more) that you would like to see me interview next? And do you have a question you'd like to see answered by that person?

Auldring: Testaros, if you haven't caught him yet. Funny guy, good guild, and he's amazing in bed. Disclaimer: I haven't had relations of any kind with Testaros.

Firewire: Anything else you'd like to share or to add? Any shout outs?

Auldring: Shout out to my guild, I suppose, for being the best on AD (not biased). To Callistia, for being the best co-GM and partner anyone could ask for. That's about it.

Firewire: Thank you so much for your time and this interview. It was a pleasure to talk to you.