Hi! I’m new to modern MG, but I’ve been playing WoW since its inception. I’ve been leveling some characters here, including a Warlock, and I’ve been noticing some things in others’ TRPs that’ve made me worried about rping him.
I’ve seen a few things ranging from ‘Reminder: Warlocks can’t have demons out’ to ‘I will not RP with you if you have a demon’ on TRPs and I’m wondering if that idea isn’t a little… dated?
You’ve got ex-scourge and their undead minions running around, void-infused elves, demon hunters, aliens, hunter pets of all shapes and arguably dangerous sizes, robots, so on and so forth, but the last taboo that some RPers will try to arrest you ICly over is a demonic minion?
The death knights proved themselves to be valuable allies, so did the void elves and demon hunters, so they have a safe space in the Alliance. Can’t it be argued that warlocks, who’ve been present in Azeroth’s major campaigns, especially Legion, have also proved themselves to not be an issue? The undead have caused major damage to Azeroth similar to the Legion, the demon hunters are a big taboo, void elves are scary, dark iron are shady, etc etc. I’m not trying to troll or start a major argument; I honestly am unsure why one is okay the other is still not okay.
I’d just like to write him occasionally using a demon as a sassy assistant to his work, not as an antagonist or anything. I’d be bummed if most people were judging me hard for doing it, but if there are lore reasons I’m missing for demons being an arrest-on-sight no-no, I am happy to listen. I don’t mind if ICly people might judge him or be wary, but I’d be bummed if OOCly people thought I was some lore-breaking terrible rper to avoid forever. Thank you!
1 Like
The idea isn’t exactly dated: it’s widely accepted fanon, if not canon. Warlocks are accepted within the Alliance, but their demons are not allowed within the city limits.
Why? They’re demons. Demons bound by warlocks are done by contract, and demons are always trying to find ways out of contracts they make. Having a demon roam freely in Stormwind is dangerous. It’s like having a rabid animal testing the tension strength on a leash and barking and biting at anyone who even looks their way, and the one holding the leash says “He’s actually real friendly!”
You certainly can have a secretarial demon or an assistant to your warlock’s work, but they are more dangerous than a death knight or void elf would be. Be smart, keep your friends at home!
11 Likes
I get that, but couldn’t the same be said about Death Knights and their minions? Or demon hunters and their bound demon souls? They’re all extremely dangerous, especially compared to minor demons. A simple imp/felhunter is not on the same level as them. It just seems strange to me to look at a dk/dh/void elf/giant hunter trexes and to say ‘all good’ and look at someone with a tiny useless imp out and say ‘illegal. Bad rp, don’t talk to me’
There’s also Warlocks in the military in at least one of the books. Varian mentions having them specifically. To me it really seems like there are few lore reasons left to really bar a law-abiding ‘lock from practicing their magic anymore.
2 Likes
The same is said, and typically in more private settings (like events) DK minions will be asked to leave or attacked. DH can get the same treatment. Certain aspects of RP get handwaved due to the public nature of it, nobody gets to enforce anything really in a public setting - but in spaces where rules are allowed to be set, things can definitely get touchy when undead minions and demons are out.
It’s been specifically said (by devs) that demons would not be tolerated in civil society, and almost anywhere you see them summoned in cities, they’re hidden in the shadiest parts of town and mostly away from prying eyes.
It is important to remember the difference between you - the player character - and most of Azeroth’s denizens, who aren’t heroes and just live regular lives. Most citizens have either never experienced demons first-hand, or experienced them incredibly up-close and personal when they actively invaded the planet the last three times.
There are a lot of lore reasons why practicing fel would be distrusted and be considered disadvantageous to be conducting publicly in the streets. It is a chaotic magic that often deeply corrupts the user. The Kirin Tor has outright banned it, and demons are known to be destructive, violent little creatures at the best of times.
7 Likes
Another question worth asking would be:
What sort of sane Warlock would even WANT to have their Demon minion out in the city?
They KNOW it’s going to alarm the citizens.
They KNOW that their minion would love nothing more than to be free of their control.
They KNOW that the city is the safest place around and highly unlikely to be in life or death scenarios.
So why on Azeroth would they want their demon minion present, when they can just summon them if needed?
From the POV of my characters personally and I know a few others, only a madman, or someone who is completely oblivious to everything around them and quite frankly, must be rather dumb, would even WANT to have their demons around. Demons aren’t friends, they’re tools. Tools that would rather kill you.
That being said, I’m against any kind of “Licenses” or other forms of control over other peoples RP. I think that’s just rude and unwanted. Though I would personally be tempted to just move on and ignore any demons I see walking around.
If you absolutely MUST have a demon minion around, well the Succubus has a permanent invisibility right? The only ones who could see that would be Demon Hunters so it seems like the safest bet.
5 Likes
I had a Fel Orc Warlock character I played for awhile. Given their history, Fel Orcs are EXTREMELY disliked and are border line KOS. I kept this character hidden and tucked away deep inside the Cleft of Shadow because of that fact. Despite the fact he had demonic servants, these summons were never brought out within the confines of Orgrimmar, even within the caves. Any time I was outside in the city with him he was OOC.
It’s your $15/month, you can play anything you want, and you absolutely should! The point I’m trying to illustrate though is that there are lots of people who prefer lore abiding experiences, and it may be difficult to find interactions if you have a character or perform actions that are outside of that esablished lore.
I took a character that people could consider to be lore breaking and found a way to make him work within the confines of the lore. I had a blast doing this and had some great interactions. I could have easily strutted him around the Valley of Honor with a Felguard demon, but where’s the fun in that? Where’s the creativity, the problem solving?
If you want to play around with demonic RP, maybe you could do something in the catacombs of SW with a summoning. Or you could gather some friends and trek out to Duskwood to engage in the unholy arts. Take creative, out of the box ideas and find a way to make them fit.
Happy Warlocking! 
5 Likes
If you’re looking for ways to have your pets out in-game, maybe consider using one of the battle pets for a substitute. It isn’t like demons can’t shapeshift into other things. Just look at how many demons hide in mortal forms that we have to go around looking for.
In an ideal game setting, your demon pet would just be unsummoned when you entered a city. You’d have to actively re-summon it, and the guards should attack it if it’s seen–much like other-faction players at the moment.
THAT SAID–I get the frustration of what’s present in the game for players not always being lore-abiding or “according to official lore.” A lot of that has more to do with player enjoyment than anything else. After all, when they made it so that you couldn’t use your Shadowlands stuff in Azeroth (or the universe outside of the Shadowlands), people on the beta forums had an aneurysm. The policy was almost immediately reversed.
MORE TO THE POINT–don’t worry about what other RPer’s do or don’t like unless you want to participate in RP with them. Since RP is a collaborative endeavor, there are always going to be instances where someone just…doesn’t like what you’re doing or how you’re doing it. That’s fine. And if it bothers you, as I mentioned above, there are creative solutions on hand to mitigate those issues so that you can RP with the people you’d like to RP with.
Role-playing communities are fractious even in the most forgiving and accepting of groups. Find people that you enjoy and who enjoy what you have to offer and do your best to accept those who don’t want or aren’t willing to accept your RP. And if you aren’t having fun, but don’t want to compromise, consider alternatives that -will- make you happy.
Hope this helps, and I hope you’re able to find those who are willing to accept your RPs. 
2 Likes
I’m new to the realm, so I don’t have anyone to hang out in underpopulated areas with. I’m still confused as to why this specifically is so hated compared to the other potentially evil and dangerous things running around. I don’t want to be so controversial for having a little imp assistant though, so I’ll just make him a mage with an arcane familiar or something, I guess.
1 Like
OOCly, there has been a long history of warlock players with out-demons getting upset because characters react negatively towards them, despite there being pleanty of reasons why anyone would hate any and all demons.
This hasn’t really been the issue with most DKs, maybe perhaps because their pets aren’t permanent. With that said, its not uncommon to see “no dks/warlocks/dh” on rp-guild recruitment, specifically because their themes aren’t always inherently simpatico with a lot of guilds.
In the dev discussion they noted that even voidwalkers would cause mass panic in stormwind. Bells ringing and guards swarming.
If you really want to have an imp out in public, do it! Just don’t interract with the people who don’t accept it, it’s your game
2 Likes
I decided to scrap the idea since it is so heavily disliked. I am already harassed on my DK for just standing around, and I’m… kinda’ tired of it, so I’d rather not keep going through that.
this makes me sad for you… 
I have seen some Warlock friendly RP Groups / Guilds in the community if that helps. I’d be happy to help you find some here on MG.
1 Like
I know there are a lot of guilds that have no issues with warlocks having their demons out. It’s just the randos in Stormwind you’d have to worry about. If you’re looking for Stormwind specific roleplay with your warlock, or if that’s an important part of your character while in Stormwind, unfortunately you’ll likely headbutt with people ICly. I still don’t think that should discourage you! It’s not lore breaking for warlocks to practice their magic and skills outside of the city!
You should never let someone else tell you you’re playing online make-believe wrong. And you damn sure shouldn’t let it discourage you.
Like I said in the old god character thread, haters will hate. Even “perfect lore abiding characters” can get nitpicked.
Just ask yourself is the person telling you “you’re doing it wrong” really the one you wanna rp with in the first place?
7 Likes
Yea we went through that back on KT in Vanilla. Its a bit easier on the Horde. I mean Undercity was made to parade around the little nether-bastids.
If it was an area were we wanted to RP their effect on the general public we usually gave them an OOC reminder before doing any kind of IC reaction. It’s only polite.
Can run a demonic sacrifice build and when they say something you can gobble down their essence so they know who they are dealing with 
As most people stated here, demons - particularly in Stormwind - are heavily frowned upon and considered illegal when summoned in the city streets; it’s an unwritten rule that has been accepted by the community and supported by the devs in the past. That being said, you’re still free to RP whatever you want since it’s your $15, but expect pushback. If you do want to use your demons in the city, my suggestion would be to only summon them under the Slaughtered Lamb when in the presence of other Warlocks and Darkcasters. Generally, this area is widely accepted as the haven for demonic magic - just don’t go summoning things like dreadlords or other catastrophic greater demons: that’ll probably get you on someone’s /ignore list really quickly.
4 Likes
just like the interracial relationships that have gone on in RP, they’d have been publicly executed.
And the pregnant DKS who aren’t DKs for reasons
While I’m obviously not condoning harassment, DKs are an adversarial role. You are, most likely, playing a character that the average citizen does not trust. If you’re interacting with a follower of the Light (Paladins in particular), you’re a member of an organization that murdered several of them and tried to resurrect one of the most famous Paladins as a Death Knight, and this happened while you were supposedly cooperating with them to fight the Legion.
You’re an undead, unstoppable juggernaut, and that’s naturally going to put characters in a state of dis-ease.
1 Like
As it’s been said multiple time RP how you wish, but don’t expect everyone to subscribe to your way either. But here’s my question to all those DKs, DHs, and/or Warlocks:
You all play that class for some reasons acknowledging your borderline evil, or at some point were considered, why are you upset that characters would still see you as that?
That is rhetorical, just food for thought.
Eh there’s a lot of reasons why someone might be those classes but not be inherently evil (maybe with the exception of dks). DH and warlocks specifically want to protect Azeroth.