Not rping Shadowlands?

Does anyone else kind of just not roleplay the Shadowlands?
Should I put it in my TRP that I don’t?

Unless someone else mentions SL, my characters remain on Azeroth after Nzoth died but before the second invasion of the undead. (basicly the content drought before the pre patch)

Keeping it short as much as I can. I don’t like SL’s story as a warcraft story, and it has caused some problems for my characters. One of my character’s story is almost completely ruined. So I have some personal spite, on top of my general dislike of it.

As a work around, I just don’t rp in SL areas nor do my characters make references to the current happenings. (Unless someone else brings it up and kind of forces my hand)

I wonder if any one else rps like this, and if it’s a good idea to put it in my trp so there’s less confusion from both parties if it’s brought up.

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While I have not leveled this character to current content just yet, you can bet if he can find a way into the shadowlands without you know, dying first, he’s going there to search for his lost Lifemate. She was thought lost and killed by the Scourge way back during pre-Wrath. Not sure if it was pre-wow aka Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, or the Pre-patch. He’d been searching for answers ever since.

Traveling to Northrend in hopes of either finding her, and getting revenge on the Lich King. Having failed in that attempt he didn’t start searching again until he learned of the Legion and their involvement. Supposedly gathering specimens for study. So he’d go to Argus, hoping to find her alive. He didn’t.

He mostly stayed out of BFA, partly because it didn’t go with his story, and also because I lost my gaming rig in a house fire. So Once I get him to cap, he’ll be RPing looking for her through the different covenants and even the Maw.

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I don’t roleplay in SL and I try to keep it out of my character’s world.

I have put “Not IC while in Shadowlands” in my ooc notes since I have no interest in the story nor do I feel like it’s realistic for my character to be there.

On occasion I will run into other roleplayers who talk about Shadowlands but even then I try to skirt around it as much as I can, without shutting down their roleplay of course. It has not happened too often but I am kind of also wondering if it is because of the ooc note I have. Either way, it’s just not my cup of tea.

I am just hoping we can stay on Azeroth next expansion and not in another weird universe that relates nothing to my characters.

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You haven’t been paying attention. The game conceit is that you aren’t dying but actually enttering the Shadowlands as a LIVING MORTAL.

That’s what gets so many of the natives worked up about you, for good or ill.

“First new soul I see in ages and it’s alive!” -Venthyr quote of dissappointment

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None of my characters will go. Most have loved ones they’d love to see again, but considering they aren’t remotely heroic and/or have no other reason to go, they can’t.
My main, as much as he’d love to get back in touch with his wife, knows he won’t willingly return, and he has loved ones on Azeroth to take care of. He knows his wife would give him literal heck if he didn’t go back.

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My character went on the odd chance that she’d see her mother who was killed when Darnassus burned and her father who died during Deathwing’s social call on Auberdine.

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Actually I have…
While I’ve not been able to play Shadowlands, or Warcraft as a whole until about a month ago, I have been watching Videos on Youtube the entire time. Belular, Accolorn, T&E ((one of my fav to watch)), and others that cruise the actual story.

Read my Post:

It’s not about Game mechanics, or even the Story Blizzard has put forward. It’s about my Character and his story. Echey’Neahok not some hero, He wasn’t part of the Hunter Lodge in legion… He actually was hoping the Legion would win. His world was taken from him when his Lifemate disappeared, so why should he care about yours?

While he was on Draenor during Warlords, it was as a foot soldier of the Horde, not someone leading it. He wasn’t in outland, nor did he travel to Pandaria. The closest he ever came to doing actual story, was Wrath. Echey’Neahok did most of the story and even raided a little with a guild until I moved to another character. He made it to Icecrown but not ICC.

So when I say, if he can find a way into the Shadowlands to look for her that didn’t involve dying he would. I just haven’t figured out his “Hook” just yet.

It is tricky for me to rp in the Shadowlands. Yes your alt can technically go there while being alive but I generally figure the people heading to Shadowlands are mainly warriors of some type or healers to support them under the direction of the covenants.

I mostly have more merchants or alts that have heard of the horrors happening in that realm and just said ‘nope’. A few do have souls they would probably know over there then it would be more a hook to go there. Long story short, most of my alts won’t set foot in Shadowlands due to the risk aside from a few that might take that risk… which would be interesting to explore if I can find the right reasons. I also have a discord with some rp resources (and more) if anyone likes ( https*//discord.gg/An4tgWt2 ).

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And that’s all well and good. But quite frankly, if your story is “that I’m a shopkeeper” it’s not going to engage me.

I don’t RP in the Shadowlands and my entire guild does not RP in the Shadowlands. We don’t recognize it as a place that you can freely waltz in and out of. The portals are a game mechanic and took the quest literal when it says something more powerful will be needed to get the ‘hero’ home. And since none of the leaders just popped through a portal to summon an army to go after the maw and whatnot, just further tells me that portals are just game mechanics, so no RP there for me.

(I realize this is a huge sticking point for a lot of people, but this is how we see it.)

Outside of that, our guild concept doesn’t lend itself well to Shadowlands at this time. We are a shipping and trading company with sometimes dark business dealings with old ties to the Blackwater Raiders. I mean some call us pirates, I like to say privateers, but you get the idea.

We are not going to bring a ship through to float through the non-existent ocean

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Dedaru went because as a Lorewalker with an interest in learning new cultures and discovering the unknown (she was an archaeologist before joining), she definitely went in with her wife and her wife’s volunteered militia.

Now that Zereth Mortis is coming around, Dedaru cannot wait to learn the Cypher and learn the history of the universe.

While I find the universe of the Shadowlands rather cool, it is definitely difficult to RP in.

I find it is mainly the case because the story is uniquely made for the Horde or the Alliance Champion. The overpowered character necessary to gameplay mechanics, but the one that nearly no one RP as.

In Legion for example, you could be in your order hall without RPing as the leader of it.

You could be in AU Draenor without being the leader of the Garrison.

In SL it’s impossible. Canonically, there is ONE person being sent to the SL by the story, and it is the Champion.

No one else should be in the Shadowlands unless you are a DK close to Bolvar.

( And yes, I am pretty sure the portals to Oribos are just à gameplay mechanic because there is no reference in the story as the SL having a huge influx of people from Azeroth, which would happen if the portals were truly there )

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Something I’ve been brainstorming lately, to get around this limitation, is that while the Champion is the person who actively got sent at first, it is possible that Horde/Alliance might be seeking out individuals to send to assist the Champion; something I incorporated in some scrapped fanfics during the pre-patch was that the Horde (and likely the Alliance, as well) sent missives out to individuals they knew had experience combatting the Scourge, be it from the Northrend campaign (Wrath) or something else.

There’s also something to be said for willpower (“where there’s a will, there’s a way”)-- however, getting characters to the realms of the afterlife in a way that doesn’t glorify self-harm takes some creativity. Then again, think about IRL parallels: the people who claim to be visited by deceased loved ones, those who perform occult rituals in an attempt to reach out to the other side, etc. It would seem pretty easy to use stuff like that as a framework to get living characters to cross over in a way that does not involve their actual demise.

Of course, take this all with a grain of salt, as this is written from the perspective of a fanfic writer and not an RPer. Regardless, I hope it offers some help to you!

I really like you brainstorming on this, and Alliance and Horde would certainly wish to help their « champion », but the wall I always hit when trying to go that route is :

Let’s say I was one of the person chose to help the champion, I would I explain going freely from the Maw to Oribos while canonically strong characters like Baine and Jaina are unable to? How would my character have escaped the Maw the first time since the Maw is now the only entry point of the SL?

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Spitballing here:

The Champion’s actions within the maw (namely moving about it freely) involves activating the First Ones tech, the magic of which resonates within all living mortals. The souls of the deceased condemned to the Maw cannot access this energy/ability.

Powerful lore figures didn’t access this energy/ability because they were either unaware of it entirely, or blocked from accessing it. However, due to the Maw Walker’s repeated forays into the Maw, the magic that restrains this magic has been weakened, allowing for free movement within the Maw by those with the know-how.

This is based off part of a rework of the Shadowlands lore post I’ve been working on since October off and on (ultimately got scrapped), in which the whole “shattering of the sky above Northrend” had to be prefaced by N’zoth’s dimensional overlay of Ny’alotha onto Azeroth. This caused a weakening of the barrier between the cosmic planes of existence; the Void sees all but knows not the true path, and was therefore able to brute force its way to Azeroth. With the barrier breached like this, it becomes easier for others to follow suit. The next entity to do this was the Jailer, however he needed a surge of energy to do this, which was obtained by the influx of souls from the casualties of the Legion invasion and Fourth War, and not the shattering of the Helm of Domination (to the contrary, this was a necessary evil as, due to the surge of anima caused by the Legion, Teldrassil, etc, the Jailer was beginning to override Bolvar’s willpower. Yes, it frenzied the Scourge, but it kept that potent weapon out of the Jailer’s hands).

Similarly, the First Ones were able to freely move throughout the Maw, using a power that somehow links living mortals, titans, and world souls. Seeing as the entities in the Maw are either restrained or none of the afore-mentioned entities, escape from the Maw was impossible. Until the Maw Walker - a living mortal with power tied to the titans and a world soul - activated the First Ones magic. With the magic activated, the Maw’s grip began to weaken. With repeated outings into the Maw, it weakened further, again allowing those with the know-how to move about it.

Alternatively, our characters could be timing their movements with the Champion, or could be “hitching a ride” with covenant beings capable of traversing the Maw freely.

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Except that in game you have multiple references to the fact that there are multiple Maw Walkers. Pay attention to those times that you’re referred to as A Maw Walker as oppose to THE Maw Walker.

Like I’ve said before canonicity is a multi-threaded affair. Sometimes the story is that you are the unique hero others that you’re one of a crowd. Especially when the NPC tells you to gather your best friends to help.

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Still haven’t done anything in the Shadowlands with this character just yet but I do like where your head is at. Farmer John up in the fields probably isn’t being recruited into any type of “task force” alliance, Horde, or otherwise any more than a local merchant.

However “champions” of a particular faction might just have been called to arms after news of what transpired up North reached Faction Capitals. The Disappearances of Faction Leaders such as Anduin and Baine wouldn’t go unnoticed either I’m sure. While Echey’Neahok here isn’t as closely connected to the Horde army, let alone his fellow Tauren as a whole; and wouldn’t have direct knowledge of Baine’s kidnapping he could still have received word while living in Org about needing able bodied individuals for a trip into the Shadowlands. Had he been in Northrend at the time of Sylvanas’ trip to ICC he likely would have witnessed the sky breaking open. Traveling to one of the main hubs, he could overhear and be recruited.

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Isn’t the disappearance of the faction leaders already part of the reason why the events in Northrend happen? The lore/story is so muddy it feel like its being both redundant and purposefully vague.

Either way I could imagine that, with the shattered skies over Icecrown and more & more people disappearing during the time of crisis (first the leaders, then the “champion”, then the “strike force”, and so on) that ‘recruitment’ back home could possibly turn into ‘conscription’ as subordinates are forced to fill the duties of upper ranks and panic/action overrides patience/planning.

All I know, from a personal standpoint, is that I’ve only written 1 piece this expansion and even then it was a response to a prompt. There’s several ideas/concepts I’d like to explore and a handful of scenes I’ve gotten roughly planned, but Shadowlands’ writing just makes it so bloody difficult to piece those all together, and to reconcile a living mortal’s physical body being present in a metaphysical realm. I’d imagine Tan would get summoned to Northrend early to help with the efforts against the Scourge frenzy since she dealt with them before, but as far as actually getting into the Shadowlands, I keep wanting to default to her pulling a Tyrande & belly-flopping into the portal the soon-to-be-christened “Maw Walker” opens up with the remnants of the Lich King’s helm-- something that is incredibly badly planned/written.

The only other option I can think of would be incredibly easy to misconstrue as glorifying self-harm, and that’s just a path I will not go down.

That Shadowlands are just as “physical” as any other realm, so there’s no issue with you having your body there. Heck… they do this in comic books, (especially in DC books written by Neil Gaiman or featuring John Constantine) all the time.

For me to make sense of this xpac, I only needed a soft retcon to the idea that only one Champion jumped into the Maw with the DKs. And then, since more DKs - including Bolvar - show up later in the intro, it’s not hard for me to imagine that happening again to bring another handful of Adventurers along.

Then again, I actually thought the expansion would make sense at first, so I was just running with it. I’m not certain that any of my characters really know what’s going on or why, or even if they’re making any real difference; they just have a strong feeling that they’ve arrived where they need to be.

Requisite edit: ok so the above might have helped Tan but wouldn’t do much for Echey’Neahok and those like him, unless he knows any death knights who’d think he could do something to help.

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