WoW Rookie: Talking with the enemy
by Lisa Poisso 
Jun 24th 2009 at 6:30PM
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.You can't talk to the enemy in the World of Warcraft. Shouting "KEK" when you're on your Alliance character doesn't read as "LOL" to the Horde players, no matter how many times you've heard that rumor. You can't Mind Control the enemy and then babble away in your own tongue (although that did work for one amazing, once-upon-a-time period in a long-ago patch). The truth is, trying to leapfrog the Alliance/Horde language barrier is a bannable offense; you're just not supposed to talk to the enemy.
That said, there is a way you can make your intentions known to players of the opposite faction: standard, pre-set emotes. The only emotes that work between factions are the ones that are already in place in the game. Creating your own emote by typing "/e yourmessage" only works for players of your own faction; for others, it translates to "X makes some strange gestures" – pretty antagonistic, really, no matter what you're actually intending to convey.
The emotes you're looking for are the ones that involve any combination of set text, vocalization or character animation. While that may sound skimpy and potentially disappointing, you'll actually discover a fairly rich vocabulary.
Want to combine forces with an enemy player at a quest spawn? Look how clearly you can communicate your intentions with emotes.
/greet You greet <Enemy Player> warmly.
/introduce You introduce yourself to <Enemy Player>.
/talk You want to talk things over with <Enemy Player>.
/point You point at <Quest Target>.
/helpme You cry out for help!
/work You work with <Enemy Player>.
/volunteer You look at <Enemy Player> and raise your hand.
/knuckles You crack your knuckles while staring at <Quest Target>.
/ready You let <Enemy Player> know that you are ready!
/followme You motion for <Enemy Player> to follow.
/victory You bask in the glow of victory with <Enemy Player>.
/commend You commend <Enemy Player> on a job well done.
/salute You salute <Enemy Player> with respect.
/thank You thank <Enemy Player>.
/bye You wave goodbye to <Enemy Player>. Farewell!
Obviously, you don't need to get that long and involved to get your point across. The more emotes you make, however, the better your chance that the other player will realize that your gestures are not random and stop to listen to your message. Whether you come in peace or are seeking a more intimate connection with the object of your destructive affections, standard emotes help you make the statement.
/moon
/grin
WoW Rookie feeds you the basics to get you off to a good start in the World of Warcraft, from game lingo to joining your first guild and even what to do when you finally hit level 80.Filed under: Tips, How-tos, Features, WoW Rookie, Rumors
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Hamied Jun 24th 2009 11:42PM
But what about yell's that end up translated as "ME LOVE YOU" ? I've seen this since BC at least, normally after being ganked while questing.
livvie Jun 25th 2009 12:59AM
i've often said 'me love you' to ally, but only after nodding and pointing meant to show that i was willing to help them with a quest.
Saelorn Jun 24th 2009 7:58PM
Last I checked, Ironfoe still worked. Sure, it's completely impractical in almost every way, but not mentioning it at all implies that you didn't do the research.
Lisa Poisso Jun 24th 2009 8:31PM
Ironfoe's language proc is a novelty, offering nothing substantial or reliable toward useful communication solutions for a WoW Rookie.
For those who are curious: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=11684 is a rare drop from a level 54-56 dungeon boss with a proc (chance to cause an effect when the item is used/hits) that allows wielders to speak (but not understand) Dwarvish for 10 seconds.
t0ddd Jun 24th 2009 7:57PM
Had to communicate with a Draenei today trying to solo Arazzius the Cruel.
/point (you point at arazzius the cruel)
/no (you tell [draenei] no! not going to happen!)
After he attempted two more times and him trying to /e me it finally worked.
PsyWulf Jun 24th 2009 7:59PM
Remember a short while ago I was doing my dailies in Storm Peaks,used an Essence of Ice on a Smoldering scrap,then got jumped by a fire elemental. Tauren DK came and nabbed my scrap and mounted. At which point I /spit on him. He landed,used one of his own essences and /cry 'd to show he was sorry :)
Fung Jun 24th 2009 8:52PM
i want to buy that cow a beer
Quark1020 Jun 24th 2009 8:01PM
Whats the emote for "[player] Thinks you are the son/daughter of a motherless ogre"? I accidently found it once but i dont remember anymore :(
ReyesOfHope Jun 24th 2009 9:22PM
/insult
Rakah Jun 24th 2009 9:53PM
it's /insult
Haden Jun 24th 2009 8:15PM
in a WSG battleground i was in. 1of the ally guys was saying " We LOVE You" over and over. was really funny but dident get her name or sever x_x iv e always wanted to break the code. so if KeK = lol from horde to alliance and vice verruca. but saying Kek your self dosent come out as lol to the other side then what dose kek look like to them? me and a buddy tryed it once we did ABCDEF....... and tryed to see if we would find like E=H or z=a but nothing worked. Who knows maybe it was a GM playing with us
Secondaidkit Jun 24th 2009 8:25PM
It wasn't a GM. The allies actually do have ways of piecing together words to make a few phrases. "We love you" and "Use me lover" are two I have seen more than I care to. Horde has fewer things that actually work.
Gamer am I Jun 24th 2009 8:29PM
I'm fairly certain that the game replaces the words of the enemy with random words of equal length. Maybe they don't do that with individual letters, but they do with words, just so that it sounds like orcish/common would sound like to someone one the other side, and not like a jumbled mess.
dswdante Jun 24th 2009 8:52PM
ee oo ss = lo ve me (to the Horde)
ee oo ss LFAF = lo ve me RUFF
s3pticTank Jun 24th 2009 8:39PM
For alliance to horde messages, I often use "Ag ee ou p" which loosely translates to "Me love you"
I'd love to hear more messages that ar possible though
ltgalloway Jun 24th 2009 9:15PM
In the Ulduar cinematic how is it that Varian and Gromm could speak to (insult) one another if there's a language barrier? And then how could we understand them as the audience?!
I know, I know. First off it would hinder story telling, and second you could say that they're faction leaders and are more experienced/learned than the rest of us. Sure, Varian would have learned Orcish in the slave pits, and Thrall was "raised" by humans, but still.
Perhaps Rhonin cast a babblefish spell on everyone (because he can do anything, you know)
Rakah Jun 24th 2009 9:53PM
there are ways around it like 101 101 as horde goes to alliance as zug zug or U G U is L O L
or BAH BBB = LOK TAR allies get to say cooler stuff like D a p aa SS pp = Y o u re Me an
Rexton Jun 24th 2009 9:59PM
When I was leveling in Dragonblight with a hunter friend, we were doing a magnatar quest. Of course, the thing hit like a truck, with me, being a clothie, and my friend, not having a decent tanking pet on him, failing. Then along comes a Horde pally. He gets it down to about halfway and then we decide to jump in and help. Clearly my friend and I were on the same page as we both /point at the mob and /beg. The pally /laughed and then helped us. All in all, good times.
VoLiTioN Jun 24th 2009 10:59PM
I've had Horde manage to bypass the language barrier to use the n-word. Sadly, it's happened quite a few times. :|
Lisa Poisso Jun 24th 2009 11:26PM
We've deleted posts about that little gem from this post already, and we'll do it again if someone else re-posts. Please feel free to use the exclamation icon to report inappropriate posts that don't get immediately addressed.