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 3 of 4)
Endless Jun 25th 2009 4:47AM
Why exactly would you delete that, yet leave all those other exploits in?
Mind you, I've been growing up in the communist bloc, but I've never seen such awful cases of self-censorship, self-constraint and self-imposed punishment. What happened to the "land of the free", if you aren't even allowed to say certain words? Do you slap yourself for *thinking* bad words, too? Do you turn yourself in to the authorities for thinking bad *thoughts*?
Until now, I've been thinking that "CSI: Miami" is just an agitprop crap. But it seems I've been mistaken: you guys really DO think and behave that way. Scary.
I never thought I'd be more free than Americans are. And yet, the day has come: Americans traded their free speech for a warm, fuzzy feeling of being nice to minorities. I just hope you don't expect them to return the favour someday. :P
DanH Jun 25th 2009 5:30AM
Endless:
You are free to use whatever words you like.
Wow.com is free to delete whatever posts they like.
"Freedom of speech" does not mean "freedom to say whatever you like and have nobody call you on your bullshit" nor does it mean "freedom to put whatever content you wish on other people's weblogs".
If you want to start your own weblog and fill it with ways to racially abuse people in World of Warcraft, go right ahead. It is, in fact, a free country, and you have the right to be as much of a racist asshole as you like. What you don't have is the right to expect other people to support you in it.
Amritrao Jun 25th 2009 9:27AM
I think it's also important to point out that there is an enormous difference between government-mandated free speech, which is a right, and the ability that editors have to ensure the smooth functioning of their work in the manner they see fit. In this case, it would be inadvisable for the government to intervene when the kids of comments referred to by the OP are posted, but the editors of this blog are well within their rights to delete and ban.
xavierlives Jun 25th 2009 11:15AM
Most people do not understand the Freedom of Speech clause. That is a limit on the government. Individuals are not limited to restricting the "speech" of others. Example, if you come onto my property I can tell you to STFU or get off.
Also, there are certain words which have been crudely called "fighting words." These type of words are so inflamatory, they are raised to a level that they are not be said in public place (or the beat-down, is forgiven).
The other type of lanaguage not acceptable in a public place would be imminent harm. This broadly is categorized with yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded theater.
oldwisemonk Jun 25th 2009 1:14PM
@DanH
I want to buy you a beer. You rock the casbah.
Aerislan Jun 24th 2009 11:41PM
what little gem?! I showed up late to the party apparently...
livvie Jun 25th 2009 12:58AM
how i long for the days of l33tsp34k battles in darkshire back in the days of original wow! you're a lowly level 25, hiding in the inn while a swarm of horde locusts descended on your town and the insults would just FLY. it was a giant band of all caps red text on the screen, generally denigrating people's mothers, people's sexual preferences, people's lack of skill.
i don't think i've ever laughed so hard when playing the game. well, that and the end moments of the LFG channel, where every jokester on the game was spamming lunatic non-sequiturs till the very end. tears were quite literally streaming down my face. :)
neminem Jun 25th 2009 1:26AM
:D
Two of my favorite moments in WoW, ever. One, hanging out in the Darkmoon Faire in Mulgore, on my 70 NE (back when 70 was the cap), trying to talk to lowbie tauren with /emotes. At least inasmuch as I could communicate that, while I didn't speak their language, I had no desire to kill them, and in fact, wished them all the best. And two, last lunar festival, walking all the way [i]through[/i] Mulgore, not stealthed, with an 80 undead beside me. No one attacked me all the way in and out. At the end, we bowed and waved.
It sort of makes me sad that we can't talk to the enemy, but then I realize... it's only because we can't, that make moments like these so special. Most of the time, playing a pacifist like I do, the only interaction between us non-flagged "enemies" is just completely ignoring each other.
Dranic Jun 25th 2009 1:28AM
Unfortunately, this is not true on Kirin Tor. As a RP Realm, Goldshire is a popular place, and with its popularity, Horde are attracted to it to mess with the RPers. More than once I have found Horde players yell out into what translates into a certain racial slur that begins with "N", has a middle of "I G", and ends in "G A." I was very offended the first time I saw this, and only recently did I bring up a ticket, but I had to leave before it was answered. I hate the fact that they have figured this out, so I wish it could be fixed so that it won't come up again.
wowinsider.5.omestes Jun 25th 2009 2:11PM
Wait, so you don't want to say it, PC sensitivity, but you spell it out anyway. Either say it or don't.
I don't get whats so bad about the shortened version of that famous racial epithet. Listen to rap music, its entered the vernacular, and obviously the people us white people are busy being offended for, ARE NOT offended by it.
orkgashmo Jun 25th 2009 3:28AM
I play Horde in a Spanish server and since I can remember allies are always shouting MANCO (armless, one-handed) again and again in every PvP encounter or just when passing by near our headquarters in Dalaran.
As we have one armless player in our guild, I find that insult disturbing and totally out of place. I can take hunreds of screenshots and complaint about it to GM's, but nobody is banned and the same idiots keep shouting that again and again over Dalaran and every PvP encounter.
GM's could report this problem to coders and fix it on any patch, or ban some players so at least they know it's not allowed, but they don't care and it keeps going.
It's so disgusting that I don't play PvP anymore, because fighting a bunch of idiots who make fun of disabled people is not my idea of fun. If anytime Blizzard releases a server without any kind of PvP involved (and I'm pretty sure they won't), I'll move all my characters even if that means playing alone.
Talaria Jun 25th 2009 7:25AM
Are you sure they are really trying to say 'MANCO' and it's not just a translation coincidence from Alliance to Horde?
It just sounds like a strange insult to me.. but them i'm English and
it may just be a language thing!
RControlFreak Jun 25th 2009 3:37AM
lol you CAN talk to horde or alli with just a certain combination of numbers, i cant count how many times ive seen "Love me" in alliance talk but it translates to that with a space between Lo and ve. ive also seen alli say You Lose with some spaces also, its possible.
jvelite Jun 25th 2009 4:13AM
For all the gnomes: H PalADin in gnomish. Everyone else will see "I HavAGun". I have a gun. It's just typical that it's Horde Paladin in our language though.
kmfolino Jun 25th 2009 4:25AM
When trying to finish the School of Hard Knocks achievement on my mage, I was having the hardest time in AV mostly because of my own faction teammates (alliance side). I finally got into IB tower and was about to take the tower when 4-5 horde came in and killed me after toying with me. I had an odd feeling, so I quickly rezzed and ran back to the tower. I ran up to the top, /point'ed and /plead'ed with the horde....who then stepped back and let me assault the tower. That tower was the last thing needed for the achievement & title, and when I got it, they all /cheer'ed and /clap'ed for me....and let me safely be on my way. One of those cooperative moments I'll always remember! =)
Isax Jun 25th 2009 5:08AM
It's things like that you remember. Getting to the top of a tower and a ally priest being there, being a holy pally, we realised after about 3 minutes we couldn't really kill each other. Sat down, made a fire.
Eventually a load of allies turned up and ruined the party but it is these moments that you remember.
Tyfo Jun 25th 2009 4:24AM
In the old days, as a priest, you could MC the enemy and do "/e text" to communicate. Does this not work anymore?
Averna Jun 25th 2009 12:12PM
A direct quote from the first paragraph:
"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)."
Talaria Jun 25th 2009 6:44AM
Last night my undead mage got involved in a large fight outside Goldshire while on the way to complete the achievement for putting out the alliance fires.
Was lots of fun as it's not often i get any non-BG PvP on a PVE server and ended with Alliance having far too many players for the mob of horde to handle. A Human paladin managed to Say "ME L OV E YOU" ? As we waited for the 5 mins PvP tag to expire before portaling off! :D
How did he do that then?? Confused.
Blombomb Jun 25th 2009 7:47AM
This is a great website for inter-fraction chatting: http://projectazeroth.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome. If you are a gnome, while talking in gnomish you can talk to the horde quite easily (for some reason, in gnomish the translations are easier).
For example use the below phases (they are taken from wowhead "Cluck!" quest comments)
(in gnomish)
speak -> "frend"
a e t b -> "g i f t"
B g ad Q a a -> "T a ke E g g"