World of Warcraft®

((OOC information in the next post))

Hiding off the side of the road, the young, newly-minted sentinel held her bow trepidaciously. She'd been warned, perhaps out of sheer honesty, that the training wasn't what it used to be - some had even said that half of new sentinels did not make it out of their first engagement. A few weeks ago, she may have appreciated that honesty, but with mortality hanging over her head like a vulture over a carcass, she would have taken all the fairy stories in the world over the truth.

There was supposed to be a signal, but she didn't see it. Instead, the flaming arrows went up almost in synchronization all of the sudden, hitting different wagons along the caravan as planned. In a hurry, she sprung up to do her part, catching the immediate attention of about six heavily armored Orcs who had been bringing up the rear. She shot at one of them instead and missed horribly. In sheer terror, she dropped the bow and ran. The Orcs weren't far behind.

She'd often recalled watching nightsabers chase down hapless gazelles, but she never thought she'd be in the position of the latter. The Orcs were faster, more numerous, and better armed. In the clearing ahead, she finally turned to face the oncoming attackers as they tore out of the woods. She threw herself out of the way of the first axeswing - a move which was almost predicted by the one with the hammer, who replied with a strike that landed her flat on her back. The wind had been knocked out of her lungs and the glaive out her hand and she knew this was it. The last glimpse she caught was of a very large owl perched on one of the overhanging branches. - Except it wasn't an owl.

The other elf dropped down on two of them, her knife-ridden cloak flapping down unceremoniously down behind her. The other three turned around to see her pull two small knives out of each of her victim's necks, hurling one into the face of one of the Orcs flawlessly, but hitting a tree instead when she attempted to do the same with the other. Regaining her breath, the sentinel on the ground could only watch the ensuing melee, looking on with a sickening reaction building in her stomach to the warden's quick and brutal strikes - a far cry from the elaborate dance that had become almost romanticized in training. Within a few moments, both Orcs were dead - joining a macabre collection of mangled and bleeding corpses.

The sentinel scrambled up, watching the warden as she began to collect things from the corpses, pausing as she shot her a look. "Next time..." The warden started. "Don't try to be elegant... but congratulations, you survived your first engagement... pick some of this armor up, you're going to need it."

"Wait a minute, how do you know this is my first?"

"You were integral to the plan.." The Warden said flatly, rummaging through one of the Orc's bags. "Speaking of which.." She stopped and pulled what looked like a pilfered radio of goblin make out from under her cloak. "Did you get it?"

Another voice, that of a male, came crackling through the radio. "We did. Your little gambit opened a hole in the rear and we walked right in. - Is the recruit still alive?"

"As promised." Kyalin reported back.

"You used me as bait." Muttered the recruit as her eyes widened. "I could have been killed!"

"You were dead the moment you were inducted." Kyalin ever-so-nonchalantly retorted. "With the lessons you learned here today, you might live a little bit longer, but death in combat is the destiny of people like us."

"Warden" The pilfered radio clattered back. "The wood from these axes - they don't come from Ashenvale at all... or anywhere in Kalimdor."

"Are you sure?"

"The druids say they're from Pandaria... Krasarang."

The warden was finally still, shaking her head before she replied. "Get back underground as soon as possible. Take what you can, and we'll meet you there." She stowed the radio back under her cloak, her attention finally landing on the recruit. "Have you ever wanted to see new places?"

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<OOC information below>

OOC:

It's been a while since we had a good RP-PVP event. I figured with landfall now out, we should probably fix that!

Sub-Operation Shieldspike is an RP-PVP event that will take place in the Krasarang Wilds on January 4th, lasting from 7pm to 9pm (note: date is tentative. I reserve the right to change it should something come up. I'll try to give at least two day's notice, but that also is not a guarantee).

The event will start with an Alliance landing at Domination point. The objective of this landing will be to take and hold all three nodes (the oil fields, the tower, and the graveyard) for at least ten minutes. This part of the event will last for one hour, or until the Alliance accomplishes this objective.

Immediately following this event, the Horde is expected to counterattack lion's landing, with the same objective of taking and holding all three nodes for at least ten minutes.

The winner is the faction that is able to hold at least one out of the three of their own nodes, while being able to say that they held all three for ten minutes. (My advice, stretch to fifteen.)


I would ask, out of courtesy, that participants agree to follow the following rules:

1. Flying mounts should only be used during the initial attack (descending upon Domination point/Lion's landing). Other than that, they should not be used (looking at you, people who sit on flying mounts right after you've had it handed to you so that you don't have to retreat).

2. Don't resurrect in an open combat area just to rejoin it. Wait until combat in that area is over, or leave the vicinity as soon as you resurrect. On that same note, if you've won in an area, unless it's a node, please move on.

3. Remain flagged during the entire event - both before and after you attack.


In preparation, Alliance side, we will probably hold an IC meeting before the attack, and if you are on the Alliance side and need PVP gear. I will be glad to run people through BGs. Otherwise, we still need leaders on both sides of this. I leave the Horde side's organization to the Horde, but can take questions on Sihung (just send me a piece of mail, I'll try to respond within 24 hours).

OOC:

Tonight, eight Horde rampaged through all four of the capital cities, meeting little to no resistance, as those who did try to fight them saw their calls for help largely unanswered. In the wake of that, I can only conclude that there will not be sufficient interest, Alliance side, for an event of this sort, and am therefore postponing it until conditions change.

I apologize to people on both sides who may have been looking forward to this, but if the Alliance can't even protect its capital cities, then we really shouldn't expect a different outcome elsewhere. This one goes to the Horde.

((You also have to note, Kyalin, that it's winter veil. The hordies were just as likely going for the achievement for pelting the enemy leaders with bb guns while our own guys are cooking or killing Greenches. It's not a lack of interest in general, it's just a holiday that only comes up once a year.))

((On another note, when you DO get this going, if there's ever any IC need for someone to throw a monkey wrench in (though for the event's mechanic's sake, that might not be necessary), you know who to call.))

((You also have to note, Kyalin, that it's winter veil. The hordies were just as likely going for the achievement for pelting the enemy leaders with bb guns while our own guys are cooking or killing Greenches. It's not a lack of interest in general, it's just a holiday that only comes up once a year.))

((On another note, when you DO get this going, if there's ever any IC need for someone to throw a monkey wrench in (though for the event's mechanic's sake, that might not be necessary), you know who to call.))

((The raid didn't go anywhere near the leaders, and it went on for about an hour without a real response. This event was a pretty damning indictment of our ability and interest in general as a faction, and there has to be a serious shift before we can consider RP-PVP events from this side.))

12/15/2012 11:08 PMPosted by Tyrynna

((You also have to note, Kyalin, that it's winter veil. The hordies were just as likely going for the achievement for pelting the enemy leaders with bb guns while our own guys are cooking or killing Greenches. It's not a lack of interest in general, it's just a holiday that only comes up once a year.))

((This. People from my guild were just going after achieves, as we had a Winter Veil party earlier tonight, along with a transmog contest and several other activities.
You also might want to note the time that they entered the alliance cities, as it was around 9pm server, which is pretty late for most people.
Still think you should reconsider and continue with the event, I'm sure after the holidays a lot of people would have interest in it))

It was late. Most people were already doing other things. Many who commented on it said they thought it was horde going after achieves.

If you want to do the event do it. If you don't want to do the event, don't do it.

(( I see no reason to cancel an RPPvP event over a completely unrelated incident.

So you got thrown around in world PvP. It happens.

Most people don't give a !@#$ if there are people of the opposite faction in a city, and as the people said above, it was relatively late and during the holidays.

On top of that, chances are these people aren't even the ones that'd be involved in the RPPvP to begin with.

Then again, RPPvP seems pretty high stress to run. You should probably reconsider your attitude on this sort of thing if you're going to expect to run RPPvP events in the open world, because they tend to be frustrating and chaotic. If one, unrelated event makes you give up on the RPPvP, I can only imagine what an actual RPPvP event gone wrong would do - because trust me, they do.

PvP is herding cats. Trying to manage /two factions/ of people, in a PvP situation, while also trying to make sure everyone remains happy?

Far more difficult. ))

OOC:

Arothand, I can probably not blame you for not knowing me, but you should know that I rarely come to a decision like this over one event in isolation. This was not an exception.

Apart from this raid being the second of the day, and the second of which where only three people showed up to defend against larger, more geared raids, I've noticed a pattern with any responses to requests for anything PVP related. Many people don't have 90s yet, or are refraining from joining because of a lack of gear. I got that every so often too when I was asking for help over the channels, again over the course of an hour. This event was really a wake-up call, and an indicator that more preparation needs to be done before the Alliance can consider RP-PVP events. I'm actually glad that I had it, because now I can take steps to help people with gearing, leveling, and the like, so that we will be ready for the next time.

That's why I said that I'm postponing it, not cancelling it outright. I do expect to move forward with this event (or something similar) at a later date, but given what I've seen so far, I don't believe that we're going to be ready.

((This sounds like a really fun idea...worth lvling for I think! If you DO decide to go ahead please let us know because I think it would be awesome! :D ))