Does Blah put you off?

[Dromui 755]

36 minutes ago, Tox said:

Terrible playerbase for the race is off-putting not blah. Only people I've enjoyed RPing with when it came to orcs we're Shamans. Shamans typically have great rp.

 

34 minutes ago, Norvina said:

yeah, the playerbase is quite... bad? i never got committed to my (may she rest in peace) dark shaman because the other orcs were so unbearable. 

 

32 minutes ago, Dizzy771 said:

The thing that really makes me the most averse to blah is how some players use it as an excuse to have insults or language that has no place in the setting of LotC, or sometimes even on the server itself, exist. To give you an example; why do so many orcs use some variation of "Puzzih" or what have you? We all know what it is but it doesn't fit the orcs at all. It really makes them feel less like the honorable warrior race they are supposed to be and more like teenagers hurling nonsense insults.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Tbh

 

Anyway, if Blah is considered off putting when it's a language of primarily misspoken words with a few things tossed in like:

• Skah
• Klomp
• Flat
• Etc. . .

You really shouldn't be playing the race. The reason all characters feel like the same is because there is no standard set to differentiate races from one another on a cultural level. All Orcs are big and strong, all elves are big and strong, all humans are big and strong. They all speak common. Blah is a great way to separate the race from others, by giving them a unique language/dialect that is easy to learn and utilize. It isn't difficult. LotC Elven is stupid. LotC Blah is easy. If you have any semblance of common sense, context clues teach you the language. If you don't, asking players should help. It's unfortunate for the most part because those same players you'd ask, as mentioned above, are troll/memery bullshit that don't add anything to this server.

 

Orcs are more savage and tribal than other races. The other races should see them as moronic, but when you get to the base of it from an OOC perspective, you can't call them such because their culture is defined in a unique way that separates them from other races, if you know, it was done as anything more than a meme or a way to yeet leadership from one another to attack the Dominion.

[EagleEyeKK 69]

3 minutes ago, Tox said:

These should be a given for anyone honestly regardless of the race but these hit the mainstream problems with orcs and why I have such a distasted for roleplaying with them for the full like how many years I've been on here (Too many imo)

 

Yes I agree, I very much agree. It kinda makes me sad because the orcs have so much potential, such as cultural, roleplay, and magical aspects, but it makes me sad because it's not usually put to good use, or even listened to for that matter. That's why I made suggestions in hopes to improve orc roleplay for everyone (well, almost everyone).

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

I think Blah, being literally just clumsily pronounced english words, isnt really a language. Its a dialect at best and inherently cartoony. I think the Orcish language should probably be more unique than just mispronounced english (Which as I understand Old Blah is its own language).

[Eranikus 348]

I would absolutely make an orc if it weren't for the playerbase. It has nothing to do with a lack of culture or having to intentionally type everything I say phonetically and wrong (although that would irritate me to no end I could get past it). But when the vast majority of your playerbase is nothing short of memelords and pvp goons, its hard for players that just want RP to get really into it.

 

Had things kept to the course they were set in back in Vailor, I likely would have an orc character by now. But I went on hiatus, took one look at where they ended up, and went back to my old main character. They regressed right back to where they were before the Orgon debacle. Which was very, very sad to me because they were doing so well.

[Quirkyls 484]

shamans puts me off.

[loupgareu 23]

My dislike of blah stems from dyslexia and it becomes a lot of trouble to read it to the point of frustration because the way the lines overlap in my vision. With normal English I know how the lines overlap and know the pattern of letters. With blah many will have different ways to spell the word so it hard to understand the context or read the larger words (mostly those more then 5-6 letters.)  

[Ixli 1472]

At first, Blah was the reason I did not want to make an orc - yes, I didn't understand it and had trouble reading it.

 

But now, it is just the playerbase that makes me stay away. PapaAntGoon's current group is alright, but what was Krugmar really turns me away.

[Joltastik 506]

52 minutes ago, Tox said:

Terrible playerbase for the race is off-putting not blah. Only people I've enjoyed RPing with when it came to orcs we're Shamans. Shamans typically have great rp.

It may be painstakingly hard to find quality orc rp as a non-orc, that being because most of the RP interactions between the two happen on a hostile basis (Raids, pvp fests and the such); and lets face it, any and all nations are prone to toxic memery and lackluster rp when it comes to pvp. Most orcs barely rp outside of their designated Uzg, in which there's usually plenty of fun, wholesome, non-memey roleplay going on a daily basis. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as orc culture revolves around being alienated from the rest of the world due to the obvious cultural differences.

 

That being said, i do agree with Smaw to some extent. Blah may not be the main reason for which the orc community seems appalling to other players, but it could be a part of the problem. If you ask me, it restricts communication and rp possibilities. I sometimes find it quite hard to take my own character seriously when he speaks it, not to mention the other dozens of orc players saying the same **** over and over again. Its certainly not something that ruins all aspects of orc rp for me or other people, but it does prove to be a little bit frustrating sometimes. In my opinion, it restricts the full potential of their expansive culture, as well as proper character development.

 

At the same time, blah is not something that's hard to get used to. It's not necessarily "hard to learn", or brain-grazing enough to avoid any kind of orc rp. As long as a player is interested enough to explore the culture and lore of the orcs, they can get past the "ug-blug" dialect. Problem is, it will occasionally seem like a restrictive cave man meme catalyst, one which could be properly corrected and fixed in the future, given time and work. 

[Sky 0]

Blah is only a very small minute part of the problem, there are much more bigger issues.

[𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖍 2451]

10 minutes ago, Sky said:

Blah is only a very small minute part of the problem, there are much more bigger issues.

I couldn't agree more.

[Bucky_24 132]

I'm bias, I'll put this right here at the top for all to see. I love Orcs and have loved them since Aegis. I love blah, slavery, raiding, spirit worship, hunts, and tavern brawls. That might just be me, but this is why I'm putting a massive disclaimer before getting into the meat and potatoes.

 

Blah is imho, the most simple language we have on LotC outside of common, which is just English. There are only a handful of direct words to use, and it's a simple matter, again in my opinion, to replace letters with the phonetic transcription of what you're trying to say. I'm getting to the point where my own thoughts, the little voice in my head, is replacing words with their blah counterparts. 

 

That being said, I highly, highly encourage all new orcs to play Goblins. Goblins have considerably less restrictions on Blah, as they have the smaller tusks. It's an easier transition for new players to get into the spirit of the Orcish RP and provides an avenue to learn about the culture.

 

I get that most people don't like Orc RP, but what I don't understand is that everyone calls it 'memey'. Can someone PM me, or post examples of what they consider meme rp? Because that just seems to be a catch all with little actual substance.

 

I get no one wants to be the victim, everyone has a need for their character to be the hero, but I don't really see how Snaga (Slave) raids or sacrificial RP is memey, while The Church runs around and just kills anyone who doesn't worship their god. What makes Orc RP a memefest, but not human Cannonist RP?

 

I'm trying to understand, not attack anyone here. We need examples if we are to change. What we don't need is OOC drama everytime we interact because other players don't understand how the race is designed to function. It's not memey for an Olog to speak like an idiot, they /are/ idiots. It's not memey for us to gather a sacrifice, we need them for our RP and try to make it enjoyable for whomever is being sacrificed.

 

I will leave one last complaint geared towards the rest of the playerbase, which I just find ironic. We hangout in our city, yet no one every visits. So we are left to our own devices and only go into other lands when there is something to acquire. We are the literal embodiment of our lore in the sense of dealing with harrassment by other races, we face so much out of character harrassment that most of the Orcs I've spoken with don't even like to leave Orc lands, just like how the race is written in lore. People hate orcs, so when we lash out at the hate IRP, we are still the bad guys. We are pushed into isolation because other players do not want to be around us, then harrassed that we only leave the city to do villain RP. Imagine IC or OOC that everytime you leave your lands, you are harrassed, why would you welcome those same people with open arms either IC or OOC?

 

I refer back to Sutica just days ago where a band of Orcs were running about, and we found a Gypsy player claiming that something was trying to kill her. We then took her to the safety of a city, in case there was a monster outside, and were harrassed OOCly for villain RP. We saved a human, and still received harrassment. How exactly are we supposed to take this punishment everytime we play?

 

Help us improve, don't harrass us. Don't act like we are all bad because you heard that the RP was bad. Tell us how you think it would be better, and then we can make progress. PM me everything. Every grievance, every complaint, and every suggestion. I'm dying to hear it all. I'm serious.

[oblivionsbane 714]

Yeah, I've never liked blah. It takes a certain kind of person to say wub or shiniez and not feel like they're playing a moron. The words should be moved around to be more guttural. There are also words like latz and throm'ka, and the like that I think are pretty cool, and I wish all the words were like these.

[Pond 1069]

lol if u find blah hard to read/write, your dumb, its easy. u ppl just dont want to take the time to to click on 'wiki' at the top, and then goto orcs, and scroll down to blah  : ), it's quite easy !!! sry that orcs have a UNIQUE language and actually speak the native language instead of speaking common 100% of the time. you must also remember, some blah words seem 'dumb/cancer' because of the tusks that orcs have : D, it's quite easy to literally do /looc 'sorry but can u translate?', step out of your comfort zone and just ask for a translation, any orc will be happy to provide ?

 

 

[𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖍 2451]

4 minutes ago, Pond said:

lol if u find blah hard to read/write, your dumb, its easy. u ppl just dont want to take the time to to click on 'wiki' at the top, and then goto orcs, and scroll down to blah  : ), it's quite easy !!! sry that orcs have a UNIQUE language and actually speak the native language instead of speaking common 100% of the time. you must also remember, some blah words seem 'dumb/cancer' because of the tusks that orcs have : D, it's quite easy to literally do /looc 'sorry but can u translate?', step out of your comfort zone and just ask for a translation, any orc will be happy to provide ?

 

 

It's funny because people who are foreign to the English language that i've met have even said that if they never played an Orc and tried to learn Blah, they would have never learned how to speak English. Blah has legit helped foreign speakers how to communicate in English

[NotEvilAtAll 10906]

45 minutes ago, Bucky_24 said:

I get no one wants to be the victim, everyone has a need for their character to be the hero, but I don't really see how Snaga (Slave) raids or sacrificial RP is memey, while The Church runs around and just kills anyone who doesn't worship their god. What makes Orc RP a memefest, but not human Cannonist RP?

 

I agree with this, I've seen the Canonist Church do things far worse than what Orcs have done before, and with far less reasoning. 

 

Anyways, onto my opinions about blah. I've only tried to play an Orc once before, back when MicBox still played LOTC and the Orc/Halfling playerbases shared more players. I had a few issues with the blah language, although it wasn't the main reason for me dropping my Orc character to solely play Halflings. The main reason I stopped playing my Orc was because there just wasn't enough immediate sense of community like what I was getting with the Halflings. While I don't regret trying to play an Orc, I feel like you guys could try to be more warm and welcoming to new Orc players (giving them houses, giving them tasks to do, etc.) instead of having them try to find their own way in the world.

 

Other issues I think you guys have (Although I haven't seen many Orcs around recently, so my take on things might be outdated)

-Players very rarely get a chance to see the Orcs as "The good guys". Far too often people view the Orcs as "just those big bad meanies who raid this or that place every so often" instead of the interesting and developed race that they are. In order to fix this, I suggest you guys take a page out of the Halflings' book and have Festivals, Drinking/Tavern Brawl Nights, Market Days, and other things so that people have a chance to view the Orcs in a different light. You could even throw the odd Gladiator Tournament in there if you want to gives slaves something to do.

 

-Orc characters are very intimidating due to their size and strength, and thus people sometimes avoid Orcs whenever they see them on the Road or in settlements out of fear of getting attacked or killed (This also might be why you get so few visitors? People don't usually visit places if they fear getting killed there). In order to fix this, I suggest that you try playing Orc characters who are more benevolent and outgoing. Maybe go around giving people free cookies and cake, or go around engaging in normal small-talk RP instead of memey or combat RP/PvP. If more people see that the Orcs are truly nice on the inside and just misunderstood, they might be more willing to try playing an Orc themselves!

 

 

Other than this, the Orcs are pretty cool. Out of all the playerbases to raid Dunshire, the Orcs have been the most chill OOCly, and I respect them for that. Keep up the great work my dudes.