WoW Moviewatch: Thunder Axe War Event Trailer
by Michael Gray 
Mar 1st 2011 at 1:00PM
The Thunder Axe War Event Trailer sets up the background for the roleplay. While the druids have been busily building "sandcastles" after Deathwing's passage, the Shadow Council is busy setting up the end of the world. The voiceover was surprisingly well done; I didn't think I'd like the gruff voice, originally, but it won me over by the end.
The landscape, character animation, and visual storytelling was noteworthy, especially for a roleplay trailer. I really do hope people check out the event; after this trailer, this group definitely deserves the attendance.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.Filed under: WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Léona Mar 1st 2011 1:30PM
Gogo Sha'tar! :D
Rioriel Mar 1st 2011 1:34PM
#GoGoShatar. What a rag tag bunch!
Doctorhuggles Mar 1st 2011 1:42PM
Inb4 we get swarmed by Loler subhumans.
The Hammer Mar 1st 2011 1:50PM
GO GO SHA'TAR.
Hope everyone enjoys the event!
(I'll try not to disappoint, etc etc)
Marcosius Mar 1st 2011 2:03PM
I'm a wolf :)
You're wolves.
Josho Mar 1st 2011 2:07PM
Well, this has me captured.
Segolia Mar 1st 2011 3:04PM
i'm a wolf :)
Best RP server, imho. Event is brilliant so far, as ever, Hammerman.
RetPallyJil Mar 1st 2011 2:50PM
.. and then what? I don't know how those events work. You just go somewhere where a ton of demon types spawn and amp up the RP?
Dreyja Mar 1st 2011 3:33PM
This was my question. How do you role-play Shadow-Council? Do you just get a bunch of warlocks together who are willing to take on the role of the UBER-Baddies?
I am curious about this. :)
The Hammer Mar 1st 2011 4:06PM
Hey there you two! Thanks for the interest! Allow me to be cheap and copy/paste - CURRENTLY LEADING THE EVENT, YOU SEE - the explanation post for the event.
"RP Conflicts are prolonged RP events that see a large group of RP characters working together to prepare for an eventual siege of the base that they inhabit. The aim of these projects is to invoke a "Helm's Deep atmosphere", wherein RPers spend long nights in and outside the base, getting on with jobs, socialising with other soldiers, training, drinking, accompanying supply caravans, participating in rituals, and performing all sorts of other activities.
The focus is on giving all attendees the power to influence the event, and in providing huge, varied opportunities for interaction on a very rare, ambitious scale. Main events happen just about every night the event runs for, but before and after those, RPers are encouraged to pursue their own stories inside of the Conflict's boundaries. The Main Events themselves are malleable, and could arise from the deeds of spontaneous RP carried out by players.
This will all culminate on the final day, when an epic, raid warning enabled siege will be set upon Karnum's Glade, and the event's RPers must work together to fend off the attack and save the precious work of the Cenarion Circle. During this last event, the things that transpired on the previous days will be taken into account; so if people built siege weapons, they will be deployed. If a warlock was captured and interrogated for information, that information will be reflected in the siege itself.
Synergy is the buzzword for this whole event. The idea scenario is that at any one time, loads of things will be happening within the Glade and the outside areas. The relatively low level range of the zone - 30-35 - ensures that recently made characters should still be able to survive beyond the safety of the base, but within the base there should always be fun things to get up to. People will be forging armour, people will be reinforcing the trees, people will be recuperating at the infirmary, people will be eating, people will be patrolling, researching, training, constructing catapults, and hopefully they'll be doing a fair bit of socialising with other roleplayers too!
Because that's what this event is really about. It's about getting loads of strangers together, and having a rocking good time. Guilds are allowed to come en masse, and indeed I'd love if it they did, because guilds always tend to represent themselves extremely well here; but it's also a chance to meet new people, form new friendships, and really get to know your character. In an urgent situation, wherein they're not quite sure if they're going to survive it all, your toons should become very interesting indeed.
Imaginary enemies, that are defeated via use of /e emotes will also be used in some sections, such as the Heroes' Society style events which are also planned, but also in the final battle. That's the only way we can do that. It'd be great to have thousands of Infernals attack us, but that's not gonna happen. The final battle will be as free for you to do your own thing as possible. Fire catapults, shoot arrows, remain behind the trees waiting for the enemy to break though... it's entirely up to you.
There'll also be missions that send you out to greater Azeroth, and one of the nice things about these Conflicts is that they encourage IC dungeon runs and, ha, boosts! So there's even, get this, a PVE aspect to this event as well!
Oh, and that special surprise that Nakrar mentioned? Yeah, that's a particular raid...
This event, by the way, is open for all. It's not going to be exclusive. Whether you're in a guild or not doesn't matter. Whether you're realm famous or a newcomer on the same day everything kicks off... again, it doesn't matter. What matters is that as many people as possible get as much enjoyment as possible out of something that could only ever be done in the context of RP. This event plays to the strengths of RP, and it's as democratic as I can possibly make it: this is not about one or two people making all the decisions, killing all the cool monsters, and getting all the credit. This is about the Sha'tar as a whole getting stuck into an exciting, interconnected, malleable story.
Yeah, passionate rant there.
If you want any information about this event, just give me a whisper on any of my characters. For now (and perhaps forever after) the chat channel for this event will be /join RollingHillsOOC. The event, as said, will take place from March the 1st to the 8th. There will be some prior events to build up to it too. "
Text walls, yay!
MightyMuffin Mar 1st 2011 3:45PM
This would be the only reason I'd love to be on an RP realm. But sadly, even though I can do RP-ish stuff, I'm not sure I could do it all the time. I always think it'd suck up my life too much, and WoW already does a good bit of that.
Not saying Roleplaying is a great thing to do, as I say I wish I had the ability, time, talent, and skill to do it. In the back of my head, I plan out how my characters all relate to each other. But sadly, I feel I am unable to do so.
Maybe I should give it a try though. See if that's where I truly want to be.
Marcosius Mar 1st 2011 4:19PM
You don't have to do "RP'ish stuff all the time", I personally spend a large part of my time out-of-character farming materials, honor or doing something else than roleplaying.
But come major events like these I'll be sure to take a gander, and of course I will at times take a few hours and sell those materials IC, just sit down at a tavern for some sharing of adventure stories, basicly, just do something in-character. But being in-character all the time is in no way a requirement to enjoy ones time in a RP realm.
Roleplaying is one of the few things that keeps me playing this game after four years, gearing up every expansion, doing quests, running a few battlegrounds and rolling alts only carry you so far (in fact I got bored of that in the first six months).
So, if you feel like trying your hand at roleplaying, roll an alt on a RP realm - preferably check out all of them since RP realms can be different like night and day, others are full of "lollers", others are full of "stuck up clique roleplayers" and others a happy mix of both.
wollsmoth Mar 1st 2011 4:54PM
Can Canadian players roll on EU servers?? If not, then I'll be a very sad panda :(
Tri Mar 1st 2011 6:01PM
You can, but only if you have an european account / client.. Add in the lag as well.
Loki Mar 1st 2011 6:00PM
Is this a Horde only scenario? If it is my two Horde toons will need some work.
The Hammer Mar 1st 2011 6:22PM
I'm afraid it IS Horde only, yes!
Running two events side-by-side is suicide of the brain, I've found!
Ronin Mar 1st 2011 6:27PM
This isn't intended to be personal, but it seems strange to have the Druids, who are not faction-specific, calling on the Horde for help (and having what will apparently be a Horde-only event in response).
I realize it might not work to have both factions involved-- although it would be fantastically interesting to try, IMO, and as a plus, if you have griefers show up, there would be those from both factions who are able to supply a "PvP Solution". But I digress. My main point is really this: why have a "Server-wide" event that is only for one faction, and if you do, why center the RP around helping a group that is made up of both factions? It seems like an odd choice to me.
However, I'm writing this in total ignorance of any details. All I know is what I saw in the video. So perhaps I'm misunderstanding the premise here.
At any rate, I'm sure it'll be a blast for everyone involved. Good luck!
Ronin Mar 1st 2011 6:37PM
@The Hammer-- sorry, your reply to Loki (above my post) didn't show on my screen until I wrote mine.
So I guess you've tried events involving both factions, and it just isn't doable. I can buy that.
The Hammer Mar 1st 2011 7:16PM
Hey Ronin!
Actually, the first ever RP conflict I ran (way back in 2008!) was set in Blasted Lands and was open to both Horde and Alliance! And I have to admit it was well fun to do, but also, at times, because I took on so much responsibility, very depressing and stressful.
I actually made a wiki page about the event - and what went right and wrong - here: http://theshatareu.wikia.com/wiki/The_Blasted_War Good read if you're interested!
Snuzzle Mar 1st 2011 6:56PM
That looks like a lot of fun. Especially since my main is a druid. Shame it's EU, else I'd love to be there!