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 4 of 4)
Tribunal Jun 25th 2009 9:58AM
That would where "trying to leapfrog the Alliance/Horde language barrier is a bannable offense" fits in.
Also, Gnomish is easiest because Gnomes are the most puntable.
jay Jun 25th 2009 8:24AM
The blizzard trailers would be a lot funnier if they enforced the same limitations on their characters...with the Alliance and Horde leaders simply emoting back and forth. Instead you get these in depth conversations between factions that aren't supposed to be able to understand each other.
McDuff Jun 25th 2009 10:48AM
Yes, it said that /e emotes themselves don't work. I'm talking about /e emotes while putting a player under mind control, which at least -used- to work.
Stansok Jun 25th 2009 11:00AM
Only been playing bout a year now but had the best in-game experience while my Horde Druid was trying to get the "Nesingwary" achievement in STV. After dying to Sin Dall's adds upon rezzing and returning I found 2 Alliance female chars waiting for the respawn. When he did I took the adds for them and they somehow responded to me thanking me and asked me to wait. I took that as they were going to help me finish the quest. While waiting for the respawn we all started dancing (and you know how well NELF's can dance) then we started taking our clothes off and slept for a while and in general had a great time then killed the white tiger and all was well with the world.
xavierlives Jun 25th 2009 11:24AM
If your emoting doesn't work out, you can always kill them and then /camp.
Amaxe Jun 25th 2009 11:49AM
Occasionally I run into a Horde I've cooperated with. A tauren druid and I helped each other with the faction quest for the Oracle/Wolvar guy you have to kill. I'm sure there was a lot of "Is this guy going to screw me over" on both sides, but with pointing and bowing to each other, we tore down the mobs health for each other.
Tyfo Jun 25th 2009 1:28PM
I did see that, but I figured she was refering to /say, not /e.
Dreyja Jun 25th 2009 5:45PM
I just wish they'd open up faction choices a little bit. Why not open up an experimental server where you can join the Argent Dawn or something. The strict Horde vs. Alliance thing frustrates the hell out of me and makes me want to quit the game.
In the lore and even in the game with NPCs there are inter-factional relationships. Why not? If it destroys pvp (personally I don't care) but then, experiment over. :)
I see no reason at all why I couldn't be working with the Taurens. And don't even get me started on why any self-respecting druid would ever attack another druid for no reason. I know, kind of rp but /shrug. :-D
Drahliana Jun 26th 2009 1:17PM
As Varian and Garrosh serve to remind us, despite all the common threats that both factions face... fact is the name of the game is WARCRAFT. While you may find peace between individuals, what you're not allowed to opt out of as long as you play this game is the eternal war between the Alliance and Horde.
This applies to Druid on Druid combat as well. On my Druid her position is this... Within Moonglade and the Cenarian Hold, she will hold to the peace mandated by the Druidic order. Outside those places though, she won't seek out fights with Tauren Druids, but she won't shy away from one if they're participating in a Horde attack on Kaldorei or allied lands.
As long as you don't roll on a PVP server, you can stay as clear away from the main conflict as you desire.
Anne Jun 27th 2009 9:28AM
After spending over 9 months on a PvP server, I transfered my main to a normal realm to get away from the lvl 80 horde who ganked anything under lvl 70 just for the fun of it.
Since then, every time I run into Horde, I stop and /kiss or /hug them. I think of it as repittance - a way to make peace with my character's past. Most horde, especially low lvl, run for the hills when I do that, especially if I sneak up to them while they're in battle with some creature and surprise them at the end with a smooch. LOL It's quite fun to watch.... Yes, I can be evil sometimes. LOL
I've also used emotes to antagonize horde. One guy was taking out out the camp in STV when I rode up. Considering there was only a couple lvls between us (me - lvl 75, him - lvl 73), I didn't feel like dealing with him, so I started to spam him with /kiss and /hug. That got his attention and he mounted up and headed for the border. I chased him until he entered Darkshore. We stood there for a few minutes exchanging emotes (/chicken, /flex and /pick are great to egg them on) before I returned to camp. Of course, he followed, staying right on my butt the whole way. We arrived in camp as a lvl 80 alliance landed and between the 2 of us, we mopped the floor with the horde. LOL
Freyal Jun 27th 2009 7:02PM
I make my home on shadow council, and it thankfully allows for us to be able to make both horde and alliance toons. There have been a few times when an enemy player has done something that has made me so angry I've simply logged out on my alliance charchter and bit said charchter a new one, on the other end. (Like the time at 70 when I mindcontroled an orc hunter on the isle of quel'danas when he was low on health to buff/heal him, and his response for my curtousey was to promptly kill my holy priest the min MC wore off)
I've also had those conversations go in unexpected ways. During the fire festival, when I went to go steal the horde's fire I decided to try and get my diplomacy fishing achievement for fishing in orgrimarr as in all honesty I hate pvp and try to make my forrays into hostile territory as little as possible. I kept repeatedly getting ganked, with quite a savage force, to the point I couldn't even rez between the players and the guards. I had to finally log in on a horde alt and ask the main attacker to stop. Mostly I was upset because not only was he killing me but he was emoting things like /spit on me.
It turns out other alliance members had been raising havoc that night and they thought I was one of the bunch. Once they realized I wasn't one of those people a level 80 BE pally actually helped show me where to go in ogrimarr on my main.
The next day (this time on my warlock alt) the same shaman kept ganking her when trying to get the thunderbluff fire. I logged out after the 2nd death and kindly said that it was enough now I had other things to do that day could they please stop. By some twist of fate a friend of mine whose returning to the game asked me to level a toon on the horde side on my server with her. I later that day found myself in conversation with the same shaman. After talking for a bit I said something to the effect of "you're pretty nice for a murderous bastard." Their response was "you're actually pretty cool for an alliance member!"
If they let us talk to the other side we'd probably all become friends, or worse turn on our own kind if given the option. There are a few alliance members who are just as bad if not worse than the jerky horde i've run into that I wouldn't have minded been able to turn to and kill. lol.
orkgashmo Jun 29th 2009 8:12PM
Yes, I'm absolutely sure that is what they are trying to say, any player who spents a day playing on a Spanish server knows the meaning. It's a pretty common insult and I think it's a big mistake by Blizzard to allow it.
Tori Aug 7th 2009 1:54PM
So with freedom to create whichever faction we want on a PVP realm now, I wonder how many times people will create an alt of the opposite faction just to whisper people that gank them, etc. >.>
Oneiroi Sep 3rd 2009 12:02PM
Since the only time lately I've been really interacting with the other faction, is when I'm low 70's in the middle of doing a quest, and a level 80 drops from the sky and ganks me.
I usually try to come back and < golfclap > and < laugh > to show my disdain that they had to gank me in the middle of a fight even if I'm a lower level.
I don't know if they get the message, but they usually oblige and kill me again.