Let's Talk: 5.0rcs

[LaCabra (Soda) 1519]

Yo, it's a long ways off but I'd like us to get an idea of our Orcish gameplan in 5.0.

 

City

There are a lot of roads we can take, but I'll boil it down to two main ones that we've thought of in the past.

 

- One option is, building a city to gather in. For the most part we have always built a large desert city on every map. This is what we know how to do, this is what has worked in the past. It allows for some security of roleplay, a basic hub to gather. It allows noobs to find a set place to start roleplaying. It also can stagnate, as we've seen in the past.

     - One option to spice things up is to try building in a red sand desert (think southern Utah or parts of Australia). Building in canyons/mountainous desert regions and all that jazz. 

 

- Another option we've talked about is roaming as a nomadic warband in 5.0. How would we do this? Set up 3-5 camps around the map (depending on its size), stay at one camp for 2-3 weeks or however long we're feelin it. Cause some mayhem from that camp and then move on to the next one. This would not exactly be secure roleplay, as we'd be very prone to attacks (I suppose we could build log walls or something). It might be a challenge for noob players to find us. Ideally, it'd allow us to not have stagnant RP since we'd be moving around, but we have not tried it out yet.

 

Roleplay

We've done very well bringing some culture back to the Orcs, but we can keep rolling with what we've got. We can do more.

 

- One goal is to cure us of our current plague - players that just run around in circles, not talking, and are only on to PvP. Any ideas on how we can fix this in 5.0, guys? Heck, even in Vailor would be great.

 

- The leadership has noticed something; not many Orcs have actual character... Yes, they are warriors, yes they are brutes, but not many people have unique Orcs. Not many of us, leaders guilty as well, roleplay emotions or anything like that. Hell, we barely have anyone roleplaying professions at all. We've been stuck in a mindset of just being raiders, not developing. I plead we change that.

 

Give some thoughts on what you'd like to see out of the Orcs in 5.0. I'll be updating this thread with ideas, so remember to check back on the main post!

[Smaw 2376]

City Living:

 

I would very much like for the entire Orcish community to dwell within one space. Forts far too often spread out RP to extremes where very little RP can be produced. In other communities this may bode well, but with such a small populace we can't afford to be spread far and few between.

 

I want a Goi. I feel as though we need one, because it allows us to centralise RP and provides perfect environments for people to RP. A central fire, a drinking den, a fight pit and so on. These things are important in our society and aren't utilised in the current city as well as they could be. Additionally, people want homes. They want something to call their own that they can alter and make to represent who they are as a character. 

 

A bigger, more diverse city will allow all of these points to be addressed and will promote RP.

 

BUT

 

Raiding is an important part of our culture as well. It's a means to satisfy the curse we were given, and I think we should look into ways of making raiding more RP-oriented and interesting. If the nomadic lifestyle is impossible, we could look into remaining within the Goi, but having a designated raid spot every IRL month or so where we can build a small camp if the initial raid is successful. 

 

People often complain that Antagonists are bad, and this is because they're not mortal. If the Orcs could be given some leeway in regards to raiding limitations, we can act as a mortal, persistent Antagonist across the land. Obviously this would be at the constraints of the code of conduct, and if our raids turn into PvP fests we would have this taken away from us.

 

 

Cultivating dynamic RP:

 

I think the current issue with our living condition is that it is so sparse and empty that the possibilities for RP are significantly decreased. If we had a mixture of different terrains, such as canyons, swamps and perhaps even jungles there would be more opportunity for different RP to take place.

 

I'd imagine it's much easier to RP in Shreck's swamp than it is anywhere else in the Uzg. Perhaps this doesn't apply to the more advanced Orc RP'ers out there, but for new players it can be difficult to come from a diverse, cramped environment to an open expanse of sand and the occasional tree.

 

Additionally, Wargoth need to take active steps to promote their unique cultures and utilise them properly to CREATE RP. I recently added jewelry as an important part of a Raguk's identity in order to give more purpose to grinding and raiding. Instead of attacking a town to kill everyone, we are taking fingers and ears and using them to make necklaces. This keeps the defending party alive and adds some degree of interesting RP to both sides. 

 

Running:

 

As with anything, persistent enforcement of the rules is the way to make someone learn what they can and cannot do. If someone is caught running around the campfire, challenge them to a klomp or scold them OOC for being unprofessional. We can't let this **** fly anymore.

 

Another issue is that when large groups assemble, everyone seems to watch as two characters engage in conversation. We should be promoting RP to all that are present, by encouraging them to talk to someone else and not rely on two or three people to run everything.

 

We as leaders must also stop following the same old patterns of RP. When we notice large groups of Orcs online, what do we do?

We organise a hunting event. In all honestly, those should come as the last resort. They're not very interesting and a lot of people struggle with the flood of emotes. Veteran Orcs should be communicating more to provide examples of GOOD and DIVERSE Orc RP for everyone else to follow.

 

 

[Smaw 2376]

Shamanism:

 

One of THE biggest aspects of Orc culture that we don't see nearly as often as we should. We need to be arranging festivals for spirits and having spirit walks to get people interested in the deeper parts of an Orc's life. If we could work with the ET to create a spirit realm, we could have more interest RP outings and events that allow people to progress their characters beyond klomping.

[herculean_wud 3662]

I'd like to see professions RP'd.

 

Say you bumped into someone grindin' away blacksmith, making chain booties and you asked them about their work IRP,  or merely interacted with them with a simple 'Ug' It'd be nice to see the person roleplay beating the boots into shape, or heating iron for further use, whilst the conversation unravelled. I myself tried to roleplay professions before I got banned, by say, using the head of a freshly slain dark elf to cook up a noice stew, then create a few of the mc reps and hand 'em out to people who may have been watching, or generally just randoms who were around the Uzg at the time. Though some may consider my rp poor in some respects, I'm fookin' trying, and I'd like to see others do it too!

 

[DrakeHaze. 2524]

I can't remember the last time all the Orcs lived in the city and Rp'd together, maybe Fringe. Orcs have tried having the 'rp hub city' for Orcs forever. It has hardly ever worked because not enough people want to put effort to create RP every single day for the few others that want to be spoon fed RP every single day. Go Nomadic, but at least have a common area or something within a region where Orcs can store their valuables without having to move them all the time, for example, I have 3 or 4 double chests of enchants I dont want to keep moving it every month.

I don't remember the last time Orcs were nomadic, most likely I was never playing my Orc during those times. I think it would be fun and generate a need for Orc players to be involved at least everytime the camp moves. If it doesn't work out the way you believe it should then you can settle down in the Orc region, get LC and create another city to stagnate in after 2 weeks.

[KarmaDelta 969]

To be honest, I always thought the Orcs should have some akin to Dwarven Clan Holds for living conditions. I want to call this the tribe system.

 

The Tribe System

What I mean is, is that you guys can have Clan Camps, such as Ugluk, Gorkil, Lur, etc., spread out within the deserts/swamps of 5.0.

To be honest, even though I don't play an Orc I just love their community, I think this would be pretty good for you guys. You guys have numbers and could most likely pull it off since you guys are trying to build yourselves up. You guys would have your own environments and **** that relate to your cultures too.

 

I think this could also bring in some cool **** too, like for example, new plays don't just wander into an Orc infested city where they may get klomped for being a stupid pinky. Instead, they would literally have to find an Orc camp and would interact with that clan. That way, in RP, they can probably have the mindset of, 'Oh god, those Orcs in the swamp, they almost killed me oh god. The Orcs are horrible.' or a nicer reaction to whichever Orc clan is more accepting of said race.

 

Then say if you guys want to have clan callings, you all could pitch in to make neutral grounds, so for example, you have those that are your more pronounced but not yet Elder Shamans find a place to build and bless with spirit power to give it an air and feeling of neutral territory.

 

 

Again, this is just what I think would work best for the Orcs, but there is that whole community thing. It works with the Dwarves though, no matter how many are in a clan, if you stick with them you will always have fun and interesting RP, especially since I was a new player.

[Korvic 930]

35 minutes ago, Smaw said:

Forts far too often spread out RP to extremes where very little RP can be produced.

 

I agree with this if the forts are all for one group, and if it's in high numbers. However, if we were to do like 2-3 across the entire map, I don't think that'd be too terrible. One major city & smaller camps so that the majority is still drawn maybe?

 

36 minutes ago, Smaw said:

I want a Goi.

 

Sorry for stupid but wat am Goi?

 

38 minutes ago, Smaw said:

If we had a mixture of different terrains, such as canyons, swamps

 

I would love for this. Swamps would be for more shaman/tribal orcs imho, canyons could be for more rugged-looking orcs with longer or broken tusks. Maybe the more aggro kind of personality. (In other words we can shove all the Klomp-on-sights into a canyon.)

 

39 minutes ago, Smaw said:

challenge them to a klomp or scold them OOC for being unprofessional. We can't let this **** fly anymore.

 

I personally love this idea the most. The reason I do, is because of the fact that the reason I don't use short-form for basically... anything (other than for ironic purposes) is due to people on LotC scolding me for improper English. I feel like people running around in circles often just disrupts RP and turns the entire session (as it were) into a joke. The moment one person starts running and no one scolds or disproves, everyone just assumes it's the norm, or that the RP isn't serious anymore.

 

40 minutes ago, Smaw said:

We should be promoting RP to all that are present, by encouraging them to talk to someone else and not rely on two or three people to run everything.

 

I always try to do this myself, and if we just get a few people in a crowd doing this it just makes it so much more lively without causing spam. Even if it's just as simple as cheering if it's a fight, idly standing while waving your hands between them to try to stop it, whatever. Just do something. Not many just stand 100% still while something's happening in normal day-to-day activities, and none the less in a crowd of people.

 

40 minutes ago, Smaw said:

We organise a hunting event. In all honestly, those should come as the last resort.

 

I'm sure we can create more creative activities, honestly. Let's have an Orc party! 1st to break the hanging halfling wins a gold trophy! Pin the tail on the lizard! Yes that's a cow's tail that we're pinning to a lizard. Both are alive, yes. 

 

9 minutes ago, KarmaDelta said:

The Tribe System

 

I personally am loving this idea. I personally play a whitewash orc who was raised by humans (not his choice! I swear!) and, call me lazy... because I am, but I haven't delved too much into clans, blah, history, etc. To people who don't regularly pay attention to clans (since it's like last names, only the most known get seen) it's really just lost on us. We need to solidify a naming style for clans that runs across the board for all clans, even OOCly. I've seen clan name before/after names. Not there at all. Spaces between, in their description. On top of that, there's no real reason for knowing the clan names if you don't regularly associate with them. Having separate clans or tribes, as it were, would not only let newbies choose ones that use more/less blah so that they can adapt slowly, see the difference and importance of clans, but also would allow them to get a good glance at the different styles of Orcs that exist. Maybe one clan is better at one profession, in general, than another. I.E. Dom clan being into black magic.

 

I really hope to get more into orcish life since I've gotten back on LoTC. As said, I play a whitewash because I don't know much about orcs, but the few that I've met that aren't total jerks klomp/pvp on sight are pretty sweet and I'd love to be part of a more developed culture with the kind of mentality where strength is awesome, but keeping your honor is just as important.

[ThumperJack 927]

 

30 minutes ago, KarmaDelta said:

To be honest, I always thought the Orcs should have some akin to Dwarven Clan Holds for living conditions. I want to call this the tribe system.

 

The Tribe System

 

Again, this is just what I think would work best for the Orcs, but there is that whole community thing. It works with the Dwarves though, no matter how many are in a clan, if you stick with them you will always have fun and interesting RP, especially since I was a new player.

As a dwarf (Also an orc, mind you), I can say this does work well so long as people are willing to listen to the Wargoth (Clan Father in a dwarf's case) when they call for a clan event.

 

Now, what I'm about to say will most likely get me some hate, but...

We need to quit using our bloodlust curse as an excuse to go pvp raiding. It's been the same for about 2-3 maps now, 'To much raiding you say? Sorry, but it's in the lore. We gotta raid, else we'll be breaking lore'. Yeah no. As some above have said, go and rp out a raid. I would love to walk into a town as my dwarf and see an rp battle between orcs and the locals, or to join an orc raiding party and actually earn scars and glory instead of making stuff up after a pvp fight (Yeah, I made up scars from pvp battles, it was sad because I was the only one who did it)

 

10 minutes ago, Korvic said:

 

 

To people who don't regularly pay attention to clans (since it's like last names, only the most known get seen) it's really just lost on us. We need to solidify a naming style for clans that runs across the board for all clans, even OOCly. I've seen clan name before/after names. Not there at all. Spaces between, in their description. On top of that, there's no real reason for knowing the clan names if you don't regularly associate with them. Having separate clans or tribes, as it were, would not only let newbies choose ones that use more/less blah so that they can adapt slowly, see the difference and importance of clans, but also would allow them to get a good glance at the different styles of Orcs that exist. Maybe one clan is better at one profession, in general, than another. I.E. Dom clan being into black magic.

 

I really hope to get more into orcish life since I've gotten back on LoTC. As said, I play a whitewash because I don't know much about orcs, but the few that I've met that aren't total jerks klomp/pvp on sight are pretty sweet and I'd love to be part of a more developed culture with the kind of mentality where strength is awesome, but keeping your honor is just as important.

 

There is a specific way to set your name with your clan name, it's, for example, Lurtz'Lur. You add your personal name, then '[clan name].

 

 

 

 

[Korvic 930]

2 minutes ago, Thumper said:

There is a specific way to set your name with your clan name, it's, for example, Lurtz'Lur. You add your personal name, then '[clan name].

 

I'd expect as much, but there's no real continuity that's used from what I've seen. :L

[KarmaDelta 969]

From what I saw in another thread, Orcs are starting to RP raids.

 

Speaking of that, with the Tribe system, I feel like you guys could raid each other too. You guys are all cool with each other so I am sure the leaders could be setting stuff up.

[Bardmancer 942]

City:

 

I'd like to see a combination of nomadic lifestyle and a central RP hub. A large open city with facilities scattered around a central focus point, maybe an oasis or other random structure/natural occurance, might benefit RP while making people feel like they can have a conversation with someone without everyone watching and not contributing. Maybe a food area, a shaman-friendly place, a drinking/tavern-type area, a campfire for relaxing, smithing and other crafting areas; try to draw in people who are grinding because they are bored and put a chance of RP into it, and also spread out the people who are roleplaying so it's not a cluster****.

 

I'd also like to see a dedicated Shaman area close to the city, so we can be called on for whatever reason, and to give us some room for important totems that affect every orc's life that can be easily accessed for RP purposes. I would imagine every orc, when wanting to win a fight, would quietly hope for some blessing from Enrohk even if they're not a Shaman and able to directly communicate with such spirits.

 

Having different sub-areas in this city for each clan could also benefit roleplay and prevent us from spreading out into random parts of the desert. We can have our own town clan areas for rallying and clan events, sure, but don't make these the centre of your roleplay.

 

Roleplay:

 

The idea of scolding people for running round aimlessly or punching people at random should go beyond OOC; it's an in-game occurrence, and should therefore be dealt with in RP. I remember Mog saying something about how when people would do such things they would be "exorcised" by the Shamans for acting so strangely and I think this is the way forward. Maybe not to that extreme, but we should definitely take action. 

 

I also agree that we should put more colour and flair into clans, such as having specific things that are known to that clan roleplayed more. Maybe also make clan and co-clan events more frequent, more interesting, and more imaginative. Also, try and encourage different clans to go to each other with problems that only someone else can solve. This might bring clan leaders more into profile and more well-known to everyone, bringing RP to them and to everyone else.

 

Shaman events are a must, and this is why I think we should have an area for them in the city where they can be found easily. Orcs have problems, and Shamans can help them with that. Even if it's something as simple as a chant before a fight, or wanting a profitable raid, strong cubs, success with crafting, more rain, less rain, whatever, we should be easily found and approachable. Pretty sure I've only been asked once or twice for stuff to do with it, and it's meant to be a central part of Orc culture. The spirits and ancestors are important to us, and we have to embrace that.

[the 1 bow 1112]

The main issue with orcs not having character is because basically, being an alpha generic hur hur hur Orc is our version of being edgy. Everyone wants to be perfect and flawless because they don't want to be bitchmeat, not realising this makes for a really **** character. So as a public service I will go on and break down how to have a rich, non one dimensional character. It's quite easy.

 

You must have an underlying flaw.

 

Doing so will avoid you being a Mary Sue type character where you're good at just everything. I'll use my character Kahn as an example.

 

At first glance he may seem like a god mode char and yes, too an extent he is. Wargoth, Targoth, Rex, has killed giant ****, "biggest Orc in Uzg" "strongest Orc in Rp" and all the other bullshit fluff right. Here's the thing though. When you compare him to the generic Orc grunt who is you're standard no fear, hates everything killer bad arse Kahn is frankly, a sooky *****.

 

Essientially he's spent his whole life butthurt that he's been thrust into power. Kayfabely speaking, as in, story and all that, he never wanted to be chief of the Braduk clan. He was pretty much forced into it because of the colour of his eyes, a Braduk thing. And even as he eventually comes to terms with his "destiny" of leading his clan, it's always there. That anger of, well, I never wanted this so you can shut the **** up you made me do this. This happened again when he got Rex. Again, speaking in kayfabe/story/Rp/you're mum, he didn't want to be Rex. He had no choice, he was picked and with no other option, had to take it. So with Kahn there is always this underlying aggression and bitterness, that whilst he has succeeded substantially, it's never something he wanted to do, but he never really had a say in the matter. The fact that he has this underside to him makes him an all around more interesting character and for me, more fun to play.

 

Moreover, he has fears. Not physical fears, which is a result of in game events (leaping inside a monster that was deemed unkillable and ripping out its heart, as well as bench pressing a "sand God" and throwing it into a Wall before disembowelling it tends to do that) not bullshit I made up to put him over. He is afraid of failure. He is deathly afraid of not reaching the expectations expected of him, even if he doesn't like them.

 

Do you see where I'm going with this? Having fears and flaws make the character better. You may think being a killer he hates everything fears nothing and etc etc is cool, but I'll tell you from experience, if you play a character like that's, you'll be stuck in runt to grunt purgatory you're whole time with orcs.

 

Now I get Kahn is a pretty hard case character because a lot of his gimmick is pretty far fetched for most orcs to achieve. So I'll list off a few more characters, or atleast my interpretation of them.

 

So quickly you've got 

 

Kahn, bitter and salty he was forced into power his whole life.

 

then you've got Subparsodapops Grothmar. His deal is basically he's constantly competing with the legendary Gorkil Wargoths of the past and is in constant struggletown because he has a legacy and a duty to uphold. It's honour at all costs. Hes constantly trying to do right by the ancestors and traditions, even if it's detrimental to himself. He's his own worst enemy.

 

Smawtons Kharak. He's been a bottom feeder his whole life, apart of a clan with a slandered and dishonoured name. He's always trying to prove his worth and that he means something and that he's relevant, even if it means slaughtering a host of people to show that he means business. Almost an inferiority complex.

 

Don't get me wrong, Kahn Grothmar Kharak, they're all sick ***** and are probably the three baddest mfers in the Uzg ay, but they have baggage. I've drawn blood out of a stone with a lot of these but it's to make a point. 

 

Stop all being a 1dimensional jobber, actually have some depth. For a final time, character flaw, fears, weaknesses, then your strengths, and develop them in Rp. If some **** happens to your character don't shrug it off, make it have an impact. Ilikefooddudes character Thurak's lifemate and daughter just up and died and it fucked him up with proverbial wounds that he still carries til this day.

 

ive gone on for a while at its 3am, so if this all doesn't make sense sue me.

[Angmarzku 1251]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.